The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Aaron Rodgers is running out of options

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Colin starts with NFL free agency news as the Vikings have informed Aaron Rodgers they are not interested in signing him and the message teams around the NFL are trying to send to him Shohei Ohtani homers in another Dodger win to start the season 2-0 Colin gives his reasoning on why Nikola Jokic is still the best player in the NBASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jen can win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any service. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my

greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to you. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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It is an increasingly busy Wednesday live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. J-MAC, more baseball at 3.45 in the morning. Loved it. I hope a second night in a row. Little magnesium commitment to MLB action early. We've got news on Aaron Rogers.

Very interesting last night what developed with the Warriors and the Milwaukee Buck, something that's happening and pretty obvious. So you're ready to go? Are we ready to have a killer Wednesday show? He said he is. So here it's official. It is official. The Minnesota Vikings, the best option for Aaron Rogers. It's over.

they said not interested we're going to go with j j mccarthy so now aaron is left to the offensively tone deaf pittsburgh steelers who just lost their left tackling naji harris and can't get the old line right or the new york giants who have been in like eight nine 10 year rebuild that's what he's left with it's got a nicholas cage feel big production big personality big revenue once it dips movie studios and NFL teams are like, yeah, you're a little quirky for us. His best option, more walks on the beach in Malibu. Hey, the JFK files were released. Maybe that'll be it.

But his last 30 starts, two different organizations, one of them are really good one, 11 and 19, 24 giveaways, and a passer rating below 90. And a lot of moodiness and a lot of drama. And great NFL quarterbacks basically fall. into two categories. Great and low maintenance, Lamar Jackson, Mahomes, Brady, you know, Breeze, and then great quarterbacks with some maintenance, sometimes high maintenance, Cam Newton, Aaron Rogers, Big Ben. And here's what I know. That second group, they never age as well, ever, ever age as well. And that's Aaron's group. Now, he's always been, and I don't think I'm taking a shot

a little combative, even with his family. He's been moody. He's been at times arrogant. You could read Ian O'Connor's amazing book, I did. You could go back to NFL draft night. You can go back to Jeff Perlman's book or Ian O'Connor's when, you know, he's poking the great Brett Fav in the ribs. That's who he is.

And it's okay to be defiant for any of us in our prime. but you better pivot to compliant when you're out of your prime. A lot of movie stars don't, and they don't get the offers, and Aaron Rogers didn't, and he's not getting them either. Once you are out of the great years, you could be a high-end chef, a quarterback, a movie star, a law partner, you lose your fastball, you've got to go from defiant to compliant, at least occasionally. And I thought it was very interesting this week, as the Steelers are now one of his options,

the former Walter Payton Man of the Year, the highly respected team leader Cam Hayward talking about Aaron making teams like the Steelers wait. I ain't doing that darkness retreat. I don't mean any of that crap. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steel or you don't. That's simple. That's the pitch. Like, if you want me to recruit, that's the recruiting pitch.

You know, Pittsburgh Steelers, if you want to be part of it, so be if you don't. No, no scare on my back. That is one of the most respected NFL players, not just on the Steelers, top 10 in the league. I'm not into that darkness retreat crap. Let's be honest, if one of your friends went on one of those outside of Hollywood, it's kind of an eye roll, right? the woods of Oregon. I mean, I-Awaska, I get artists doing that. I'm all for ayahuasca.

Never going to take it, never did, but I get creative types. But when Cam Hayward's like, I'm not going to do that darkness retreat crap, I'm sorry, that's what a lot of people are saying. Like Nicholas Cage, once the production drops, people kind of feel like, yeah, maybe a little quirky for us. Not a bad guy, but a little quirky for us. It's now down to the Steelers. the Giants, or hey, the best option, in my opinion, walks on the beach in Malibu.

All right, well, once again, set the alarm clock. A little tougher to get up second morning in a row at the 3.50 in the morning. I'm not going to lie to you, but it was on FS1, and the greatest baseball player ever, yeah, it's not particularly close, ever put on a show. A two-two pitch, and he sends one deep. Out towards right center field, back at the wall, and it is off the very top of the wall. Nearly a home run. And now they're going to rule it perhaps as a home run.

They kept it in play for a moment, but Otani cranks one out, and he gives the fans what they've been waiting for, his first of the year. Man, is there anybody in sports right now that meets the moment like Shohei? It is very messy, an MJ, and Tiger. in his prime, Stefan LeBron. Dude meets the moment. And never forget this. He's a lead-off hitter. Okay. Why? Because he's so fast.

First 50-50 play. He's so fast, they bat him lean up. Lead-off. He could also bat second, third, fourth, fifth, six, seven. You could put him any way you want. And he could be an all-star pitcher. Half of his greatest skill he's not even using yet, the pitching part.

Mahomes can't play linebacker. Ovechkin's not a goalie. What you're seeing now is making Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge all-time great players feel small. You get no ego with Otani. So you take him off the Dodgers, they could still win the World Series. You put him on the Dodgers, I don't know who's stopping this freight train. They should change that Major League Baseball video game from MLB the show to MLB Showhay, because it feels like a video game.

leading base dealer, power hitter, for average, all-star pitcher. Again, you take him off the Dodgers when Freeman and Betts are there and Dusty Mays back, Dustin Mayback, still can be favorites to win the world's here. You put him on the Dodgers, and just think of the nerves and the electricity playing in Tokyo for Shohei. Yesterday, a couple of hits. Today the home run completely rises to the moment. Babe Ruth didn't run like this. Babe Ruth was cigars and beer and a belly, and this cat is totally different.

This is the best athlete in America. There's nothing like him. And forget Babe Ruth. There has never been a pro athlete in America like this. I mean, would any of you doubt if he put this into football, he'd be a tight end? Or if he wanted to play basketball? I mean, it's just, when you put him next to other great players, We are watching history.

Just put the camera on him. It's Tiger and his prime. Just watching him walk up the fairway is special. Here's Dave Roberts after. Shohei puts his pants on just like we all do, one leg at a time. But if there's ever a superhero, I think Shohei just seems like a superhero. And in the biggest of games or the biggest of moments,

he seems to always deliver. Yeah. Phenomenal. And I felt Cubs are going to be a good team. And last year the Yankees and the Padres and the Mets were good teams. But when you watch this All-Star team that includes Otani, man, everybody looks average. Cubs are a good team. But you go to the bullpen against the Dodgers.

We wish you the very best of luck. but they're, and they're doing it right now without a full lineup. They've got two potential all-star level pitchers, two all-star position players, not playing. Pretty special. Dodgers start the season, 2 and 0. So, J-Mack, the Aaron Rogers news is, you and I have kind of been confused by Minnesota. There was the Darnold May re-signed Daniel Jones last year, Aaron Rogers flirtation. I've not quite understood all of it.

My take is that November surgery, there's still some questions for J.J. McCarthy. But this was the best spot for Aaron. Left tackle, receivers, coach, momentum, playing doors, know the division. This was easily the best situation. Certainly, you know he wanted to be in Minnesota, right, given the setup there. But I just, you got to feel bad for the guy at this point. Do you know? Nobody wants them.

Well, I think people would take him, but the terms are different now. You know, the terms used to be, you know, when you're in your prime and you're great, the terms are your terms. You have the leverage. You have the pull, the levers. He doesn't. And so it's kind of dried up. And also, when you get to this age, you be one thing if you're 27 and you're like, listen, I'm going to go vacation. I'm going to come back.

I'm going to train. If you want me, I'm out there. It's not the way it works when you're forward. If you're not training every day, spending a million bucks to get elite and stay elite, you age, I mean, you age fast in this lead to begin with. You really age fast when you're not at practice every day. Remember Tom Brady was like, I'm leaving the Patriots, who's interested? And there were people clamoring for his services. Yeah.

Aaron Rogers now on the market, kind of crickets. Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

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I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

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And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there, myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. And we'll get to what Draymond did last night. He was remarkable against Janus, and I'll get to that in a couple of minutes.

He was shut him down to a large degree. So Steph takes the night off and the Warriors win, you know, kind of going away. And it's interesting when you watch Yokic over the last two to three years, and you watch Wemby last year as a rookie in this year. It makes Janus look much more incomplete. He doesn't shoot. He never developed a mid-range game. He doesn't shoot a three.

And so it's all about a physical mismatch and getting to the basket, which he does. But that takes a physical toll on you. All you have to do is go ask Shaq. But the time Shaq hit 32 and 33, he wasn't quite the same player. So Janus has become sort of like Lamar Jackson. if Lamar hadn't developed into a great pocket passer. Yet there's very little dimension to Janus's game. And especially when you watch Wembe and you watch Yokic,

you just see different dimensions. It's a space and shooting league, and he hasn't developed one. So don't get me wrong, he's an all-time great, and so was Shaq. And he gets to the free throw line a ton, but he's only shooting 60% from the free throw line. I think this morning we saw he has over 100 misses from the free throw line from second place in the league. So again, very much like Shaq, but Shaq played in a different era where bully ball was good enough.

Bulley ball can dominate. It doesn't anymore, especially if you don't hit your free throws. It's a space in shooting league, and you watch Yokic. He's a point center. You watch Wembe breaking guys down on the angle. So Yonis is a great athlete, but Draymond last night largely shut him down and here was Steve Kerr after. Draymond, that defense tonight on Janus was incredible to hold him to five field goals. Draymond showed why he's still one of the great defenders in the world and why he's so important to winning night after night.

Yeah, and again, nobody's, I'm not trying to dissuade you that Janus isn't an all-time great player and they got a title. But there aren't a lot of dimensions and when you start comparing him, it's like, yeah, it's, it's a It does feel like he's easier to defend. You're not going to hold Yokic to five field goals. In fact, Dramon Green would tell you, Yokic is the one guy that nobody can defend. I mean, Draymond can't, nobody can't. Rudy Gobert can't.

And that's because there are so many things he can do well. So, I mean, I still think he'd be a great fit to the New York Knicks. But, you know, the NBA, we always talked about Dwight Howard. You know, he aged really fast. and the big rebound block shot guy without a lot of post moves. One day it mattered. One day it didn't. And for Draymond to shut him down like that shows you, you can defend him.

Now, not a lot of guys are Draymond, but nobody's stopping Yokic consistently. J. Mack with the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Conall, let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. big, big week for them. They extended Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, making both of them two of the highest paid receivers in the NFL. Joe Burrow,

we know campaign big time for both of his guys, and now they're staying and he's thrilled. Burrow said, we're paying the right guys. Guys who work really hard for what they have. Guys who aren't going to get complacent or anything like that. Guys who really care about the product they put on the field

and care about the fans and the organization and the people in the locker room. So listen, Joe Burrow got what he wanted, right, franchise quarterback, went to the owner, went to the coach, we need to keep these guys, they kept them. And you almost never get in trouble. Kansas City is a great example, paying your greatest players for the record. You could eventually move off one of these players, Devonte Adams, you know, Green Bay,

Raiders, Jets, Rams, T. Higgins in a couple years. It doesn't mean you have to keep people forever. What it means is now with the Ravens having the best roster, Ramos. arguably in the sport, and all these AFC teams now getting legitimate quarterbacks, you got to bring the band back. Doesn't mean year to year you can't move off players. But letting him go is so bad for the locker room and send such a bad sign to free agents, draft picks, coaches, scouts, I think it's the right move.

So the counter would be the Cincinnati Bengals were the only team in the NFL paying three guys, 28 or more million dollars next year. That's why... That's a big experiment. It is a huge role of the dice. Yeah, and they will not win a Super Bowl because of it. Will they get to the playoffs? I have them making the playoffs. I think they're a playoff team,

but we know of the 14 playoff teams generally. There's about four to five that we think are complete enough to win a Super Bowl. They're going to be in the other 11 group or other 10 group, but I think there'll be a playoff team. And in Cincinnati, Borough, you just get them into the playoffs. Last time he got to a Super Bowl, he was a road quarterback. So, Colin, my argument would be when you look at T. Higgins, we love him, right? I know, he's a number two, maybe like a number one on some of the bad teams in the league.

Could you have paid two or three receivers 28 mil that you gave to T. Higgins, and then you have more margin for error. T. Higgins goes down with a broken hand or something. Out four or five games. They're cooked. Jamar Chase goes down for a little while. They don't have any margin for error. That would be my only cause for concern for the bank.

That is how top heavy teams operate. And there are very few Philadelphia Eagles. There's a lot more Dallas Cowboys and Bengals where you've got three or four great players. You pay them and you don't have a ton of depth. I mean, you saw the Rams made another move yesterday to go get an inside linebacker, Puna Ford. I mean, the Rams are well run,

and they're still going finding guys to plug gaps. So, you know, the best front office is beyond just the best players win. and Cincinnati doesn't qualify for that. They've always been on the frugal side. They're all in on offense, and I get that. It's an offensive league. If you're going to be all in on a side, we can bang on them, but Pittsburgh's all in on defense.

And that's not... At least Cincinnati's got the quarterback right, the weapons right, and they're spending money on the right side. Agree, totally. Let's move on to the next story, and that's college sports and NIL money. So our staff broke down something super interesting. If you take a look at the bracket for March Madness,

five of the top eight seats, are coached by guys who are 65 years or older, and that's including the retirements of Coach K, Jim Beheim, Roy Williams, and others. We had Tom Izzo on the show earlier this week. Listen to what he had to say about the status of college basketball. Like Jay Wright, like Nick Saban, you know, those guys are friends of mine. They decided to go another way. I'm too dumb and stubborn to do it, I guess.

I just figured that I got to get back to the basics last year. I was on all kinds of committees. I worried about it. This year I kind of stuck the coach in my team, and I've been lucky. Yeah, I mean, again, Rick Petino said you can complain or adapt. Yes. And I think in the end, you know, listen, I think the teams that are really in trouble are packed 12 teams like USCU, CLA, Oregon, Washington, who now forget football where there's one game a week and only six road games,

that you're constantly on the road with your second tier sports and college basketball is second tier compared to football. basketball. I think that, I think Big Ten teams will be fine. The most of the travel, the Midwest teams are playing each other all the time. They'll be fine. I mean, I don't think the Big Ten has the athletes as the SEC in football or basketball. But you can complain about all this stuff. California passed the legislation for NIL, you know, not shocking, kind of progressive. That's the future of college sports. So you can complain about it. Listen, if I was a college basketball coach, I've only got to recruit four guys a year. How about college football? It's 25 to 30. So college basketball coaches have it easy compared to other bigger roster sports. Yeah, I mean, I did not realize, you know, we know Izzo's 70, but Rick Barnes is 70. Yeah. Petino is 72. Yeah. I mean, Colin, let's be real, at 72 years old, you probably hope to be on a beach in St. Barts for like three months out of the year. No. Then maybe you're skiing for two months. Your bouncer, you're not coaching college basketball. I'll be on this mic into my mid-80s. I mean, it is weird because there's the whole year.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. And the Raiders going higher, what, 82-year-old Pete Carroll? But ask yourself this. I mean, who's the best? I know everybody, this really, the blogosphere won't want to hear this, but most people over 55 are better than most people at 25 at their jobs. Go look at Silicon Valley. Oh, it's a bunch of 20-year-olds.

Yeah, Zuckerberg and the Google guys are not 29 years old. Well, listen, it's tough to build something at 55 to 65 years old. At 25 years old, you got the energy, you got the time. But Tom Izzo's not building something. The program's rolling. He makes the tournament. Mark Fuse team makes the tournament every year. But Patino is the interesting one.

He's building something from St. John's, and he's like in his early 70s. Ask yourself in the last 25 years. Who are the best coaches in the NFL? Old Belichick, old Andy Reed, Harbaugh's no spring chicken. The Harbaugh's. You can get the occasional great young coach. But the league is, McVeigh's got one Super Bowl. Andy's got more.

Belichick's got more. The old Tom Coughlin's the last time the Giants were any good. I mean, when's the last time the New York Giants were viable every year? Old plumb-faced Tom Coughlin yelling at people. Sean Payton, one year turns around the Broncos. There is wisdom with age, and I have no, there's no better coach right now in college basketball than Rick Bettino. And Izzo and Bill Self were on a short list of the second best coach. Yeah, Duke's coach is what, like 35 years old John Shire?

No, no, I think John Shire's done a great job. But he just doesn't have as much life experience as other guys do. And that stuff matters. It counts. I mean, I love sports, but I don't know that at 72 years old, I'll be firing off takes about. My takes. Oh, my takes will be hotter. The time I get to 80, you'll need, like, oven mitts to handle this microphone.

Jeez, all right. Final story, let's wrap up. Obviously, you were up early watching the Dodgers. Yes. To 2-0. You know, this Roki Sasaki got off to Amazing Star Touch 100 on the gun. 100 on the gun on his first three pitches. Hello.

He did walk a few guys, but only gave up one, one hit. Colin, Dodgers are going undefeated, right? 162 and out? Well, 159 and 3 is on the table. Yeah. Some play. There was a really good, I'm trying to think of a baseball team that didn't have a three-game losing streak or didn't lose a series.

It was a few years ago. In the last decade, I feel like there was a team that did not lose a series until, like, August. Whoa. I can't see the Dodgers unless they run into, I mean, they're doing this now without a full lineup. Four of their most viable players, you know, the Mookie Betts and the Freddie Freeman and May the pitcher and Shohei's not pitching yet. This is not a fully staffed team. I don't gamble on baseball personally. However, I already had two buddies text me, hey, are you fading the Dodgers when they returned from Tokyo?

Because of the trip and the trout, you know, all that stuff. And I was like, do I need to start looking at betting on the Dodgers? I think they gave both the cut. They gave him some time off. Yeah, they gave him time off. Yeah. But still, the bounce back after Tokyo is, ugh. Guys are already thinking about betting on the Dodgers,

because that's how hot they are. Such a great story. This kid, this Suzuki kid. Got some juice. Oh, yeah. I mean, he can blow you away off speed stuff. He's really good. J-Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So remember, it was a couple of days. It goes Monday. And I said there are certain sports debates that as an adult, they're beneath you, like arguing who the 68th best team in college basketball is. Remember, everybody was upset in West Virginia.

The governor is going to be legal action. And, oh, good hell. North Carolina only got in because they're a big brand. I don't have a problem with that if it's the last playing game. I mean, again, CBS and TNT pay for the wedding. They can't have one seating chart suggestion. So anyway, well, the AED was a committee chairman. Oh, boy.

They won by 27 last night, led by 40, which is unheard of in college basketball. And they're also favored over number six-seat Ole Miss from the best conference, the SEC, the hand-ringing, the pearl clutching, West Virginia outraged, once again, playing the victim. Oh, my God, people. I mean, again, the JFK files are out. There's a conspiracy theory you can all pursue. It just, it never fails. That whenever we bash a team for like being into the tournament,

they get inspired by that, like North Carolina, and play their butts off for the next two games. You see this in college football years ago, when a coach would complain about not getting a bowl. bid he wanted and that bled over to his team and that team would go into a bowl and get housed. And it's like if you enjoyed this 48-hour West Virginia embarrassing temper tantrum for a team that went 19 and 13, the coach was so much about West Virginia. A day later, he took the Indiana job.

Yeah, he was really, I'm fighting for us. I'm fighting for the university. Private Jet to Bloomington. It doesn't matter. Neither West Virginia or Carolina are winning three or four games, but the fact that Carolina, a bubble team, led by 40 last night, again, if they would have been beaten by 40, all you West Virginia fans would have rushed to the interweb to remind us you were right.

So we're here to remind you you weren't. If you lead by 40 in our favorite over an SEC team, it's not an egregious poll to get North Carolina in. Again, you to run to the internet if they got smoked last night. So don't. Well, this doesn't make it right. No, but it makes it legitimate. It's a legitimate team in the tournament if you're favored in your first official game in the tournament.

It's all arguing once you get to the end. Once you get out of the one, two, three, and four seeds and some automatic stuff, well, it's just all debates. So I will root for North Carolina. I've said before I had somebody last night. I remember her name was Jennifer, came up and said, well, you won me $700 last year because I took Connecticut looking at your bracket. Well, I said, who'd you take this year? She goes, I went to your bracket again and took Auburn.

And so I said, just to let you know, Auburn's not as good as Connecticut. The SEC's great. She took all four of my picks. You know why? You know, it's funny about this. A lot of people are saying, why didn't you take dude? I am always a little reluctant when your best players are freshmen.

And I'm not saying Cooper Flag is not great, but Duke's got a couple of kids that are really young, whereas Arizona's got like a fifth year. Caleb loves like a fourth or fifth year senior. It's like I think age matters. We just talked about coaching age. I think it's hard, even if you have the best. I mean, look at John Calipari,

who's more than capable as a coach, won one title. Why? Because his teams were all freshmen, and he would get into these situational moments in a freshman guard, who, by the way, will get drafted number four and have a nice NBA career. At 18, the pressure of March Madness, playing a junior or a senior from Syracuse, I'll take the junior senior in that moment in that game.

That's a great point. UNC, though, has a good draw. They face Ole Miss next. And Ole Miss is on like a 3, 11, and 1 against the spread street. They're not really playing well. I think UNC could probably take down Michigan State. But your point on Duke is interesting. Because I know Cooper Flag is a freshman.

He's only 18. He started the season as a 17-year-old. But, Colin, you know the stat net rating in the NBA? Yes. You look at that a lot. Duke has the highest net rating in college basketball in the last 20 years, Colin. 20 years. That's insane.

The last 20 years, the highest net rating in the sport. Yeah. No, I mean, I understand why people are betting him. They've got the best player. It's a big brand, and they're very good. I'm not denying that. what I'm saying is the conference they were in this year was not close to the SEC. And I think what you're going to see, I think you're going to see Tennessee, Florida, Auburn.

You're going to see some of these SEC teams that were incredibly intense, sold out arenas, NBA bodies everywhere. We saw this for years in college football when the SEC ruled. Teams would go to the SEC from the SEC would be like a number five SEC team. they go to like the Sun Bowl or some bowl game, and they play a number two or three team from another conference and roll them because they've been in all these high leverage, intense games against pro-level athletes.

So I think the SEC is going to have, now they may not win it, but I think the SEC, by the end of this weekend, you're going to be like, yeah. So they have 14 teams in the field. Okay. What if they go, I don't know, like, you know,

they lose like five games on Thursday? That's possible. Are people going to be? Oh, SEC overrated. Yes. We've got 14 teams. Well, yes, people will say that, and they will have teams lose. Ole Miss could be one of them.

But if you, and again, you watch more college basketball than me, but I came to you mid-January on the air. Remember a couple times I said, are you watching some of these SEC games? They jumped off the TV. More skill from the perimeter. More, I would say, more balance offense to defense. Like the Big Ten, Michigan is size. Michigan State is defense.

Wisconsin, I'm not sure. but they are offensively. The Big Ten's got a style. SEC's got better athletes, and I think they have just more dexterity offensively. What's your excitement level on watching the games like all day? Are you like sitting from the team? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, I like. Marsmatism. Unless you want to go to a watering hole at some point and not back a few. I don't know. I just sit down. I like how they bring in new games, kind of red zone it. Yeah. Where you're getting, you know, I think it's one of the great

weekends in sports in America. A rocket is giving away every home one address. They're given every home one address. Rocket.com. A single seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance, or even refinance your home. Everything you need under one roof.

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Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Coveino and Rich. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called... Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies,

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicelive 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went.

I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHubb. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Interesting stuff. Jalen Milro, the Bama quarterback, just ran a 4-3-7 at the Alabama Pro Day, which that's an insane 40 time for a quarterback. It's good for every position in football. That is, and I think I told everybody here a month ago, I was told by an NFL exec. He was Anthony Richardson, except more explosive as a runner. So great kid, great family, unbelievable athlete, but had more rushing touchdowns at Alabama than passing touchdowns. I think he'll be as good as where he falls.

If he could get his Sean Payton, you said him for a year, interesting. But, I mean, that's just somebody, I said he's going to get drafted in the first round, 4-37 quarterback. Somebody's reaching on him, even though he's a bit mechanical and doesn't feel ready to start in the NFL. With that, Albert Breyer joins us live. That is an eye-popping 40-yard dash. Yeah. I have a couple, I had a couple scouts on the ground. I just texted with it. Both of them that I talked to so far were at 4-4-5, but that's still insane for a quarterback. It's very, very fast. I think like you said, though, Colin, sort of what we already knew about

him, you know, like that he does have freakish athletic ability. And like the easy comp is to another guy who played at Bama, which is Jalen Hertz, who had a long way to go as a pastor coming into the NFL. You know, but one thing, a couple of guys who evaluated both have told me is to be Jalen Milro, you're, to be Jalen Hertz, you're walking a very narrow path. He was special as a competitor, special from a work ethic standpoint, special football character. And I can get along with everybody. And I think that's been documented over the last couple of years, But, I mean, Jalen Hurst just as a worker as A-plus and worked himself into the player that he is now. And so, like, that's what's left for scouts now is to look at it with Jalen Milro and look at the distance he's got to go as a passer to be an effective NFL quarterback.

And then try to determine whether or not he's got, you know, upstairs and it's got what Jalen Hertz had to make himself into what he is today. Yeah. Okay, so listen, the Minnesota situation's been weird. They're going to keep Donald, Daniel Jones, they're interested in Aaron Rogers. It tells me that second surgery in mid-November, maybe did it take or are they not sure, whatever. So let's start with that before we get to Aaron. It's like been so many like quarterbacks that have been discussed, it leads me to be like suspicious of, is Jane J.J. McCarthy healthy? Yeah, so I think he is now.

And the second surgery was more of a cleanup. He did lose a lot of weight. And he lost four months of on-field development time. And I think I've been, you know, we've been through that, you and I on the show a couple of times now where, you know, I think they're optimistic about where he is. They liked where he was the first week of August, the point where it was, could we actually play this kid this year? That was the discussion at the time right before he got hurt. And so now I think they feel good about where he is going into the season. But, and this is a big but, do you feel comfortable enough where you're going to stake the team that you have to J.J. McCarthy and J.J. McCarthy alone.

And the answer to this point of the offseason has been no, right? Because they did make an offer to bring Sam Darnel back. They did make an offer to Daniel Jones to come back too. And that was in the ballpark of what Indianapolis gave him the one year $14 million deal that he signed there. with the Colts. So, you know, I think it's, I think it can be both things. They, they like JJ. They like where he is, but this is not a rebuilding team. This is a, this is a team that won 14 games a year ago. And you owe it if you're Kevin O'Connell, Coycea dafflemenza, all the guys there to the Harrison Smith, the Andrew Van Ginkles, the Jonathan Grenars, the Byroner, the Byron Murphy's, the Justin Jefferson's, the Christian Derisaws to give him the best possible answer you can at quarterback.

And so I think that's why they were looking at high-end insurance policies. I think that's what Darnold and Jones would have been. And that's why the discussion was different on Aaron Rogers, where if you bring an Aaron Rogers, that ain't an insurance policy. That's jamming on the pause button on the J.J. McCarthy era and say, you've got to wait another year, a kid, which could go a bunch of different ways. Aaron Rogers and retirement. It feels very real to me.

To me, it does it to you? I wouldn't rule anything out. You know, I mean, Aaron's his own guy. And, you know, I've said all along, this could happen in 10 minutes. This could happen in 10 days. This could happen in 10 weeks. You know, I don't think he wants to go out the way he went out last year. I had a long conversation with him over the summer where he said he didn't want to go out

the way he went out in 2023, which was with the Achilles injury. If he didn't want to go out hurt, I would assume he wouldn't want to go out playing the way the Jets did at the end of the year. last year, and that was just a dumpster fire of a season from start to finish for everyone involved. So I do think he has it, you know, in his head that he wants to take one more swing at it. It's what he actually said to the Jets in their exit meetings. You know, when they were deciding what to do was that he did plan on playing in 2025. Plans can change. And I think that's going to, you know, really ride on how he views the Steelers and how he views

the Jets. And right now to me, the Giants I meant, right now to me, right now to me, the giants and jet, the giants are sort of analogous to what the Jets were when he went there two years ago, where you've got a promising young core and you're asking Aaron Rogers to come in and lift all those guys up, right? So Malik neighbors, Andrew Thomas, you know, Dexter Lawrence, Kavon, Tibado, Brian Burns, they're asking him to come in and take a franchise that's been down for a while and lift it up, whereas with the Steelers, it's different. He's jumping on a moving train, you know, T.J. Watts's going to be 31, make a dispatcher, it's going to be 29.

Cam Hayward is at the very end of his career. They traded for D.K. McTaff. He's on his third contract. I think, you know, going to Pittsburgh, he'd be kind of syncing up with some more of his peers, and it'd be a different deal in Pittsburgh where he's more of the final piece than somebody who's going to lift all boats. Okay, so, you know, your feet on the ground, final question, Chador Sanders. I said yesterday, there's like four teams that have to get a quarterback. I mean, you can almost look at the draft. a year from now and you have a sense of who's going to be up there if they don't get one.

I can't see Shadur dropping. Is a lot of this just smoke messaging sent out by teams? Shadoor's dropping or is there some authentic authenticity to this rumor that he's dropping? I think Shador's just a type of prospect that like not everybody's going to love. And the reason I say that is because he doesn't have the special physical gifts that you normally see out of a top five. pick. Cam Ward, teams watch him and they could say, okay, like there's a ceiling there. He might be much greater in three or four years than he is right now. And we can chase that ceiling with him. And if you're, you know, the Titans or the Browns and you're in the

AFC and you've got to contend with Lamar and Burrow and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. And then, you know, on the next level below that guy's like C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert, you could, you can close your eyes and envision Cam Ward really elevating over the next couple of years, whereas with Chador Sanders, not a great athlete, doesn't have an explosive arm. And so for Chador, I think it's going to come down to fit. And that's where I think there's a little bit of a comp here to Bo Nix last year, where, you know, Bo Nix wasn't for everybody. And I had a hard time finding many teams that viewed Bo Nix as a first round prospect. But that didn't matter because Bo Nix had a team out there

that was a very good fit for him that had a quarterback need. And the Broncos wind up taking him 12th overall. He has a great rookie year. And now no one remembers how he was talked about a year ago. So for me, this is sort of, that's what it is for Sodor Sanders, is can you find a team that is that level of fit for you, the kind of fit that Bow Nix found with the Broncos? Yeah, that, you know, if you take out the all-time,

like Jaden Daniels, I think probably works everywhere it looks like now, But almost 90% of these quarterbacks are very beholden to fit, getting the sharp coordinator, good offensive line. I mean, as talented as Caleb was, it was a bit of a mess last year when they were on their third coach. So we'll just say once again that Jalen Milrow ran a historically fast 40. I don't know what it means. I know Pittsburgh had dinner with him last night. That's something, I guess, I don't know. I guess everybody does at some point.

He'd be a good fit for the Steelers, though. Like, I do, I mean, they have some of the stuff built in working with Justin Fields last year. And, you know, certainly, like you said, he's a good kid. So he'd probably be a program fit for them as well. All right, Albert Breer, yeah, 437. Are we looking at it right now? Is this live? Okay, here's your quarterback.

There you go. Man, he's a big kid, too, huh? Yeah, that's not Brady's Combine. Wow. All right. To jail and Jalen, Milroy doesn't need to wear the baggy white shirt that

Tom was wearing for his combine. Yeah, good stuff. Thanks, man. All right, thanks, Colin. Yeah, I mean, I've said this before. Mel Kiper once told me years ago, he said, I get lied to a lot in March and April. So sometimes with the Shadour stuff, I do wonder if it's just being thrown out there

and people are like, yeah, I don't know. And if you need a quarterback, he's definitely not a second or third. Kenny Pickett was drafted in the first round. I had an NFL exec with multiple rings that told me he's a third round prospect. Nobody has told me that was Shadoor. Some have said he could drop,

but he's not a mid-second. In this draft, a weak draft, Shadour's a first-round prospect. Remember when you showed the Jalen Milro thing? Everybody got excited when they met Anthony Richardson. He's this hulking humongous guy. Did you see Jalen Milro right there? He's running like the short shorts,

rocked up, looked like they're zero fat on him. He's going to meet teams. They're going to be like, I want that guy as my quarterback. Although historically, not a lot of six-pack abs and up the Hall of Fame at quarterback. You could take your dad bod Mahomes. He's all yours.

Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and tired. sick, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art.

The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. Jench won. She's an outsider to win the French fame.

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It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you.

He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.