The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Belichick-Brady, Cowboys, Patriots

Episode Date: September 29, 2021

Colin talks about a new book on the drama between Bill Belichick and Tom BradyMike McCarthy continues to have clock management issuesTom Brady was fed up in New England Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS-1, perhaps the biggest college football weekend of the year. Joel Clatt joined us in one hour. There's some spectacular games. It's a great weekend, not only for the NFL, but for college football, Joel Clatt in one hour. Joy Taylor, today, not on as many Tylenol. The teeth are feeling better, I imagine, this morning.

It's a little bit better. I actually haven't taken any Tylenol this morning. There you go. I try not to take too much medication. I'm the same one. It's not great for your liver. I do enough to damage that organ. Yeah, same.

Too much last night. He's got to play hurt. Deal with the pain. Well, there are always lots of movies made about monumental moments in World history, and there are books written about those. And in sports, most of your great books are written about dynasties and greatness. And there are several books. I've read a couple of them about the Patriots dynasty. And Jeff Benedict wrote one, Eno Connor, a terrific journalist, wrote the other. There is a new book out. It's not out yet. You can buy it. It's called It's

better to be feared by journalist Seth Wickersham. Some excerpts came out this morning. And the first excerpts came out this morning. It's pretty harsh on Bill Belichick. He may not have been the primary source for this book. He gets bludgeoned and books all have key sources. I say, when I read a book, I can generally tell who's talking and who's not talking. That's more interesting to me sometimes than actual books. Who's leaking what? Belichick gets clobbered here. and it makes it sound like Belichick's the reason it broke up. And I want to discuss this. I'm going to first share a couple of the excerpts.

One of them is, you know, Wickersham writes that Brady ultimately left New England, not only because both Belichick and Kraft refused to commit to his stated goal of playing to 45, but because he wanted to be in an organization that welcomed his input rather than ignored him. He wanted to be heard. All relationships are probably some degree like that. A second big excerpt from the book this morning. In 2018, a few years ago, they all met Belichick, Brady, Kraft, trying to set aside their grievances. Brady came out and, you know, was tired of taking team-friendly deals and then had no input on how the money was spent.

That's different than the Aaron Rogers situation where he's not, he or Russell Wilson, aren't taking team-friendly deals. Brady's saying, I'm giving you guys big pay cuts. how can we don't have any good receivers? How can we don't have any good tight ends? There's another moment. This is pretty harsh. Late September, Aspen, Colorado. Bob Kraft was there.

It was a wealthy guy conference, I'm sure. And he was telling people as he left the hotel, he had bumped in to many of his friends at the hotel. And he said, I have to leave. We're playing Detroit. And he told one of the guys, you know, I'm leaving the most brilliant people in the world. I'm getting smarter here. and I got to go hang out with the biggest blankety-blank person in my life, my head coach.

Doesn't look good for Belichick. Also here, Kraft sometimes groaned confidence that Belichick didn't show him any respect, but he was in no rush to get rid of him. I don't want to play for Bill anymore, Brady at one point said, in 2017. So there's also a moment here where Eric Mangini, when he was coaching the Jets, Belichick, there was a coach's dinner for the NFL wives were there, and Belichick ignored Mangini's wife, and Mangini went over to Bill and said, hey, blankety blank you confronted Bill about his grumpiness. So there's a lot there by the book. I already have. Listen, it, Belichick comes off as, you know,

grumpy and intense and caustic and incredibly difficult. You see a lot of this. I don't think think it's a, you know, it's a wild, crazy, hard-to-detect opinion. You see it at his weekly press conference. I am not going to defend Belichick, but I will say this, is that you had three very unique components to this relationship. You had Bill Belichick, the Northeast academic. That's where the Ivy League's at. Belichick's mom spoke seven languages.

His dad, big say in the history of. scouting. So you have the grumpy Northeast academic, very easy to play in a movie. Then you had Bob Kraft, the global visionary, likes to get along with people, but could squish him if they got in his way. And then you had the California athlete, joyful, fun, tends to, as this book says, be at his best, not with a chip on his shoulder, but when he's surrounded by loving and supportive people. And there's a Beatles feel to it. There really is.

You know, and I'm not some Beatles historian, but let's be honest, John Lennon was the academic, the brilliant mind. Paul McCartney was sort of the visionary. And Ringo Star, he lightened everybody up. All brilliant. But there is a price to be paid for winning. And that price is, as Ben Franklin said, if everybody thinks the same, nobody's thinking. I tell young broadcasters, willing to be hated, willing to sacrifice, willing to be told you're wrong.

Oh, you're not. Go to Twitter. Get likes. Success is hard. It's really hard. I was texting a general manager this weekend after a win. And he's like, it's so hard. That's why you have to put your arms around winning in the NFL.

It's so hard. You can have a great quarterback. You can have very few holes. This GM won on the road. He's like, it's so hard. So exhausting. And so much fun and exhilarating when you win. And when I look at this book is whoever's telling their story is going to come out looking better.

And whoever says, I'm not going to talk to this author in all these books, is going to come out looking worse. But in the end, none of this works without the vision of craft. the academic DNA of Belichick, and then Brady's ability to make, to be the glue, to make it all work, to take pay cuts, to be joyful, to make guys laugh. I mean, you've never heard a single ex-Bradie teammate. This is remarkable, ever criticize it. Like, every teammate likes it. Even the teammates that are difficult, Antonio Brown, even the teammates who could burn people out, Randy Moss,

Tom's had a lot of people. Wes Welker broke Tom's heart when they let him go and went to Peyton Manning, Tom's rival, and Wes and Brady still get along. Like, this is why it became great, because there's a sacrifice. This book could have been written about a law firm. It could have been written about the Beatles. It could have been written about a tech company. And I would say this, is that NBA,

in baseball dynasties do not last nearly as long as this football dynasty. And perhaps there's something to be learned here. In the NBA and in baseball, the players' unions are much, much stronger. And in football, the players have very little power. Aaron Rogers, I'm annoyed. Suck it up, Buttercup, see in camp. NBA, Ben Simmons and James Harden, I'm out. Teams are trapped. Owners are trapped. League is trapped.

Tom Brady's annoyed. All right. You'll have to redo your contract in a couple years. Maybe you can get out. Is that the NFL stars have no power. And so they have to sacrifice. Young professional millionaires have to sacrifice. Suck it up and deal with it. And it can actually extend a dynasty. Nobody ever wants to hear that. but maybe if you give employees in any business too much power, it's hard to sustain success.

Maybe the secret to the NFL and these long dynasties is the stars. Forget just average players. Tom Brady's got no power. It took him like 18 years to be able to move. Aaron Rogers has no power. But all I know is when I read this book, it's going to end up making certain people look bad. The excerpts this morning make, you know,

Belichick just looked like no fun. And he really just got in the way of the whole thing. but I think his sort of rigid academic nature worked perfectly with Tom Brady's sort of California, joyful, sort of loving personality. And it kind of, although it was caustic a lot, it probably somewhere psychologically drove Brady to prove to this academic who will never love him. You're going to love me. I mean, how many books and stories have we heard about that? The dad that's tough on their son.

and the son spends the rest of their life trying to prove to dad that he's worthy. And in a weird sort of way, this all worked perfectly. It really does. It feels like I'm reading about like Lennon and McCartney and Ringo Starr. And the greatest band ever, the greatest football team ever, none of it works without the vision of one, the academic nature of the other, and the loving joyfulness of Tom Brady, who was able to take hard coaching, Take the squabbles. Take the fight.

I mean, folks, the greatest basketball team ever. The Chicago Bulls. We all watched that documentary. My takeaway was, damn, there's a lot of conflict. I mean, Michael had his cigars. Michael's having his fun. And there's great joy. But, man, it is hard to be the greatest.

The greatest band, the greatest football team, the greatest law firm, the greatest tech company, the greatest basketball team. You know, I never thought the Patriots would be nearly as fun to look back on as Jordan's Bulls. Like, Jordan's Bulls was just crazy town. You got Rodman going to Vegas for a weekend. But you start looking, you start looking at the Jordan Bulls. Who's the academic? Phil Jackson.

Who's the visionary? Say what you want. Jerry Krause made that Scotty Pippin deal. And then you have the start. star-driven, aspirational, willful athlete. We all bang on Belichick and his grumpiness. We all bang on Jerry Krause and his personal insecurities. Part of the reason it worked is those guys, too.

If we're all thinking the same, nobody is thinking. Read the book. Sounds fun. A lot of sacrifices. And great is really hard to pull off. All right, Joel Klapp, Peter Schrager. A member of the Denver Broncos stopping by the show today. All that love seeping into the mile high city.

They're coming on our show today. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find him.

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah. But just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right. I'm going to finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

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he does. He was talking about Mike McCarthy, his head coach, and his clock management issues, which have surfaced twice, and we're only in week what, four? So Jerry Jones talked about that. Other teams have issues with clock management. That's part of the game. And so let's cut things some slack and realize that if you do enough plays, we were critical of Garrett when he was here. And don't you think that goes with the territory? I know first. in Mike's capabilities. I know how he approached it, the logic that he uses, and I'm not a bit concerned about his ability to manage a tight situation.

You do not need to be an A coach to win a Super Bowl. I went back and looked at the last 20 coaches to win the Super Bowl. Now, most, you're Sean Payton's, your Belichick, your Tony Dungies, your Andy Reid, you know, there are a lot of A's in there. But Gary Kubiak won one, Mike McCarthy, one, one. Doug Peterson and A. You don't have to have a Hall of Fame head coach, as my point, to win a Super Bowl. But if you don't, you have to have something that is above the league.

You have to have a component that's above the league somewhere else. I'll give you an example. Gary Kubiak, that defense had a nickname. When defenses are great, I can say, oh, they had a nickname, the steel curtain. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Monsters of the Midway. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. this was the no-fly zone.

It was the number one total defense. Vaughn Miller was young, healthy, and unblockable. That defense was sensational. So Gary Kubiak can get a ring. Gary's a fine coach, but we don't look at him as a first ballot hall of fame guy. Mike McCarthy, what did he have? Well, it was the Packers' best defense in the last 20 years. It was number two.

But they had Aaron Rogers healthy in his prime. Doug Peterson, you forget how dominating the eagle. offensive line was. It was the number one rated offensive line. They dominated the league in time of possession, and they were a top three running team. Now, the defense was good. And by the way, Denver and Kubiak had Peyton Manning's leadership. And Aaron Rogers had a good defense. And Doug Peterson, you know, the defense was good too. But they had this suffocating offensive line. And they just took the ball away from you. You couldn't get the ball back. Cleveland's got a little bit of that this year, where you just can end up sitting watching the Brown's

offense if you're a quarterback. And so now Dallas would say, what about our wide receivers? It's 2021. Bragging about your wide receiver unit is like being in Hawaii and bragging about your tan. Everybody's got one. You know, 15 years ago, I've got an iPhone. Woo, cool. In 2021 having an iPhone is the baseline standard for playing in the tech space.

Like that's the baseline. Yes, the Cowboys have a very good wide receiver unit. Just on the West Coast alone, so to the Seahawks and the Niners and the Rams and the Chargers and Arizona and Denver. Just the NFC West teams. Oh, the Raiders. Every single NFC and AFC West team, Kansas City is loaded at wide receivers. That can't be your thing. the standard in 2021 is you've got to have playmakers.

The best coach in the world, Bill Belichick, last three years, hasn't had them. Can't win games. So I don't think Dallas has the defense or the specialty like the no-fly zone, Aaron Rogers in his prime, the Philadelphia Eagles dominating O-line time of possession and running game. I don't think they have that. And the question now, as Kevin Clark said yesterday, are you wasting precious years of Dax Prime, which is probably about five, five and a half years left? I think that Kellan Moore is saving a job right now and Doc Prescott is saving his job right now.

And what's amazing about Dak Prescott is I think if you look at the 2016 quarterbacks, and that's Dak Prescott, Jared Gough, and Carson Wentz. The first two picks in the draft were propped up by the system around them, by the coaching staff, and by the talent around them and a good GM. Dak Prescott was doing it on his own. He was John Wick out there. But Dak Prescott is now the driving force of the Cowboys. And that's important to know.

And you need a coach who's up for it. Maybe that's Kellyn Moore next year. It's not Mike McCarthy. He's not helping them win games. There's other better coaches who are more in line for Dak Prescott. Do not waste Dak Prescott. Hire a better coach. Not the first person to say it won't be the last.

Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd. line news. Kevin O'Connor of the ringer had an interesting update on the Ben Simmons Sixers saga. So we know six weeks ago, Doc Rivers, Daryl Morey, Elton Brand flew to L.A. to try and convince Ben Simmons to return to training camp. And sources with knowledge of the meeting say Simmons gave no clear reason for why he demanded to be traded earlier in the offseason.

They also say that Simmons does feel slighted by the comments that Rivers and Joelle and Bees made after their playoff series lost to the Hawks, but the decision isn't based on that. And the Sixers Brass left the meeting feeling Simmons had essentially said, it's not you, it's me, which really means it's you. Yeah. Well, league sources say the primary motivation for the aggressive holdout is the serum to a team built around him on offense, which would make sense. We all know that this doesn't fit.

Because no matter what the roster is in Philadelphia, he's always going to be number two to Embed if Embedd is healthy. But Simmons apparently didn't make that clear in the meeting. Rivers asked him if the problem was his offensive role. He said no. So on Tuesday, the athletic reported that Simmons doesn't believe his style is conducive to playing with Embed. I agree. Zixers and the Simmons want some of the same things, but Simmons wants to be the man.

Well, first of all, Simmons is right. His style with Ambid does not work. Right, but we've seen that for years. Yeah, we know that. The second thing I want to be the man, be very careful. dames the man, Steph's the man, LeBron's the man. You can't be Kevin Durant's the man. Hard to be the man when you can't shoot. Or when you're afraid to shoot. Yeah, and you won't get better at it. You're indifferent to coaching apparently. That's my problem, is that I do think he's right on the fit in

Philly, and I do think he is better served surrounded by shooters and a team that plays more small ball. But the idea that I want to be the man, I'd get over yourself because in the end, in a scoring league now where like 118 to 115 is a Tuesday night, you're not offensively brilliant. Well, apparently it's more about being in like a Janus type of role. But we've never questioned that a team that Janus has been on isn't Janus is. Janus is very clearly the man. Do you feel that Simmons, I mean, there's a lot to say about personality. Do you feel like Ben Simmons is an alpha that a franchise?

No. I don't either. That's my thing. No, and we have enough evidence of what Ben Simmons is. You would have to completely reconstruct your entire roster around Ben Simmons in order for him to be that player. Let's just forget game, just personality. Dame, his personality is that of a one.

Janus, personality of a one. LeBron, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry. A lot of this is, do they have the personality? Get me the ball. I'm scoring. Ben's personality feels like a two to a three to me. He's in the first year of his brand new deal, and he's asking to be traded.

I mean, the season is starting when this is happening. So no, absolutely not. Like, you would have to completely reconstruct your roster in order to make this situation work. And listen, I think there's plenty of blame to go on both sides here. Like, we all saw this coming. This is not surprising that the situation has happened the way that it has. So while I'm generally on the player's side,

I am on Ben Simmons's side to some degree. I think there's more blame to go around. Mori also compared the Simmons situation to that of Aaron Rogers, who obviously had a lot of drama, but ended up staying for one more season. Well, but Aaron Rogers is wildly productive and has a history of winning at the highest

level. Correct. Yeah, Ben doesn't. I can say what I want about Aaron, but Aaron shows up on Sunday and is almost always offensively brilliant. Ben was terrified to shoot. He's like one of three people on Earth that can do what he does. I'm not sure if anybody could have done Sunday. He has a championship. and MVP is to prove it.

Like, this is a different tier. Everything is not linear here. So the Steelers are now one and two, having lost the Bengals at Hinesfield for the first time since 2015 on Sunday. And Mike Tomlin said his team is going to stay the course. Man, we're not going to push the panic button. What do I mean by the panic button? You know, we're not going to dramatically change who and what we are at this juncture.

We're not resisted to change for the purposes of getting better, but we're not going to be so unsteady that we move away from our compass. the identity that we worked hard to develop and will continue to work hard to develop and the emphasis on a style of play, whatever that may be in all three phases. Far be it for me to question Mike Tomlin, who has never had a losing season. Right. But whatever you're doing this season is not working. Well, organizationally, let me support Tomlin.

Did Tomlin want Ben back? Well, I mean, no. But will we ever know that? I don't know that if Tomlin wanted him back. We don't know if he wants him back. If you are this bad at quarterback, there's nothing Tomlin can do. I'm going to give Mike a pass on them. No, no, no.

I'm not putting this on Tomlin. I'm saying that they absolutely need to change what they're doing. They can't run the ball. They have major injuries on defense. Ben looks old. And they're asking him to throw it. The one thing that they do need to change is they're asking him to throw it 50 times a game. Yeah.

It's not reasonable. Now, I understand you can't run the ball. So what can you really do? but it's not like, what is, what is frustrating about the Steelers is, this is not surprising. You can't predict injuries. Okay, we all know that everyone's going to have injuries, but you can't plan your season around like,

well, you know, T.J. Watts's going to get injured in week two. We don't know that. Obviously. But you knew that Ben had limitations, despite the fact that he's coming in saying that he lost weight and he's in the best shape of his life. Like, it doesn't matter. He's still been at this point in his career.

If he's 1% better than he was last year, okay, you still need to prepare accordingly. So they have some real problems. They pay, and it doesn't get any easier. because now they have the Packers in Green Bay this weekend. They're currently favored by six and a half. So things to get from bad to worse really quickly, depending on how that game goes.

So the Colts and Marlon Mack have mutually agreed to seek a trade, according to Infel Network's Tom Pellasero. He reported it yesterday. He had a great rookie season. Jonathan Taylor has taken over as the starter, and the contract extension of Naim Hines has, you know, kind of sent this into motion. Yeah, but this is what we talked about when the Rams lost Cam Acres.

Yeah. Running back is one of those positions at the trading. deadline. There's going to be like, there's players. Marlon Mack's a nice player. He's more a two, but, you know, it's Sony Michelle. You absolutely can be productive. Listen, Jonathan Taylor is big time. So to be a backup to Jonathan Taylor is not a crime. Like this, Marlon Mack can play. He's not spectacular. He doesn't catch the ball like one back or run like the other. But this is a great opportunity for a team. There's teams out there right now that need, I'll tell you a team that would be interesting.

I'm not sure if they'd get him. Carolina with McCaffrey's now recent injury history. Or, by the way, a Pittsburgh, which has won back in Najee Harris. That we just talked about, who has the worst rushing offense in the league right now. Now, the Colts haven't really been electric running the ball so far this year either. They're 19th in rushing yards per game and 13 in rushing average per game. So they're around the middle of the league as far as rushing goes, so they need to get that going as well. But yeah, somebody will be able to pick him up and he'll contribute.

Good stuff, Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Oh, boy, Nick Wright, the Kansas City Chiefs lost. And I know it hurt all of us. I don't even know where I had him in my herd hierarchy. I think I had him, what, six or seven?

Six, yeah. I think that's totally reasonable. I had him. Green Bay, Denver. I had him had a Green Bay and. Green Bay, Denver. I had a three. Well, they should be behind Denver.

Denver's undefeated and crushing everybody. Chiefs can't get anybody off the field. Rams, bucks. Nick Wright, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. All right, before we get to that, let's just, before we get to that, the obvious stuff, let's get to this. Yeah. Books out, punitive, harsh criticism of Belichick. And I said, hey, you can say what you want about the harshness or, or, but the bottom line is it worked in that room for a lot of

long time. Brady comes back to New England. What's your kind of takeaway on this wildly interesting night in Foxborough? All right. So the book is one thing and then the game's the other. I think your point was maybe the smartest and most important, which is whenever there is a tell all written. And Seth Wickersham is a fantastic journal. So this isn't a shot at him. But if one guy, and I obviously haven't read the book, I've just read the excerpts, because the book hadn't come out. If one guy is consistently getting hammered, then you know that guy did not participate, help at all, none of his people did. And Belichick, to his credit, I think, he has kept that M.O. his whole career and knowing it hasn't always made him, you know,

gotten him the greatest media profiles. There is no argument against the success Bill Belichick has had. But when it comes to Sunday night's game, Kevin Wilds, who's a big Patriots fan who who hosts the show with me, has brought up that he thinks Brady is going to be so overcome with emotion. It's going to be a setting he's never been in like that and that he's not going to play well. And I think he might be right. But I don't think it matters if Brady plays well. I think the Bucks could start Kyle Trask and walk all over the Patriots because the Patriots roster stinks. and that is an indictment on Belichick. I don't really care that he didn't go to Tom Brady's birthday parties.

I care more that he hasn't absolutely nailed a draft pick since Joe Tunney in 2016. That if you look at the Patriots roster right now, it's on the offensive side of the ball, it's like a house with a great foundation, but the house is sticks and straw. We've got this great offensive line. Yeah, but they're protecting a running back core that's no good, a group of wide receivers that's Kendrick-born and Nelson Aguilar. And the problem with that is they're Kendrick-born and Nelson Aguilar, two overpaid tight ends who haven't produced.

And Mack Jones out there, he has all the time in the world to throw three-yard checkdowns. So I just, I think the Patriots are so overmatched this weekend that even if Tom Brady doesn't play well, the buck should trounce them. And I do believe I'm not sure. I think Colin Coward had the Patriots going to the playoffs in his preseason stuff. Maybe that was an amendment. I'm not sure about that. But to me, they don't look like a playoff team.

All right. You know, it's only been three weeks. Yeah, now let's go to Nick's tears. So you do this. Your tears were actually physical last week as you were crying about Kansas City losing. But let's go to the tears with Nick. Now, a lot of what you and I see is the same. You have as co-favor.

I'm going to let you explain it. And then I'll have a question. Go ahead. Yeah, no. I mean, listen, you don't have to, you know, what did LeVar Burton just? you say on Reading Rainbow, you don't have to take my word favorite for it? Oh my God, Nick, you're such a homer. You have the Chiefs as co-favorers. Oh, is literally every sports book in Vegas,

including Fox Bet homers? Because they don't have the Chiefs as co-favorts. They have the Chiefs as the favorites. The fact that they've had two fourth down conversions go against them, so they've lost two games in the final moments after being lousy with turnovers does not change the fact that you and I both know Colin Cowherd, that if there were, if you had a draft, of possible opponents to play, every team in the league, their last draft pick would be to play the Chiefs. I need to see more than two fluky losses to change that. But if we could show my tiers as a whole just for a moment, because my big issue with your tears was you are, you're being bullied by the standings. So if you see there in the middle, I have the Raiders and the Broncos,

right where they should be. The Raiders are 3 and 0, two of those wins in overtime. The Broncos are 3 and 0 with winds over the Jets, the Giants, and the Jags. You have the Raiders right behind the Chiefs and the Broncos ahead of them. Colin Cowherd, it's just you and me talking and Joy, of course, as well. You don't actually think the Broncos are better than the Chiefs. You don't actually think the Broncos are one of the five best teams in football. I know you don't. Well, today, I believe the, today, September, if you had to go to mile high as the Chiefs,

I would take Denver today the way it's working, Denver would beat Kansas City in Denver if they played Sunday. Doesn't mean, doesn't mean I think the season will end a certain way. By the way, you can be in a loving marriage and have a bad weekend. I don't think Kansas City is right right now. I'm not crossing them out of the playoffs. I don't think they're right right now. I think Denver is playing better than they are.

Kansas City playing much worse defensively than they are. So today, this morning, I think Denver beats... Kansas City and mile high. Is that nutty? Is that crazy? Okay, but yeah, but to take, no, it is nutty. It is crazy. You are now saying I'll take Teddy Bridgewater and company over Patrick Mahomes because they

beat the Jets, Giants, and Jags. Again, Jets, Giants, Jags. To torture your analogy a little further, though, you can be in a loving marriage and have a fight, but that doesn't mean if the next day you're like, hey, all time, rank your partners that you have your ex ahead of your spouse. Like, no. And the other thing in the herd hierarchy, and I'm worried about it. you, Colin. You're drinking that

Bill's Kool-Aid again. Oh, love them. Now, I understand they had back-to-back dominant wins over the titan, not the actual Titans from Tennessee, but the Titans of the Miami Dolphins and the Washington football team. But the bills, we can't just act like week one

didn't happen. And Josh Allen was excellent. Outstanding in week three, which is good because it was his first truly great game of 2021. Not this season. this year, dating back to the playoffs last year. So let's just pump the brakes on the bills a bit, just a bit, because they do play the Chiefs in two weeks, and so we'll get to see that matchup.

Can't wait. By the way, Richard Sherman back in the league with Tampa. What do you make of it? All right, so off the field, I make of it this. No one should be defined by their worst moment ever, and I think Richard has done enough in his career where he shouldn't be defined by that worst moment. With that said, when that worst moment is on camera and very recent, and I think frightening for all involved, we can't act like it didn't happen. He deserves his day in court, but we've seen the video of what it was, and it was pretty scary. So I think that has to be included in the calculus on this.

And because it's included in the calculus, Callan, let me ask you, to me this shows, and I think they're right, but a little bit of desperation from Tampa in this regard. going into the year, I would have argued their biggest weakness was their secondary. Well, that's also the area they've had the most injuries, and that's the area through three weeks. Dak Prescott lit him up. Matt Ryan temporarily lit him up, and Matt Stafford lit him up. And so I think if you are, the whole league could have had Richard Sherman.

He was out, you know what I mean? He was a street-free agent up until today. I do think it shows a little kink in the Tampa armor that they are, maybe a little more concerned than others are about their secondary and about their defense as a whole. Yeah. All right. That was pretty good. You know, we disagree on stuff.

I do think Denver, I really do think there's a team every year in the NFL every year that shocks us. We're like, and I do think if Denver beats Baltimore this weekend and it's basically a pickum that we're going to have to acknowledge Denver's that team. And we're like, okay, they're just better. You know, we could argue it's the Raiders and maybe it's the Raiders. I figured you were going to make that team. I would have figured you'd make that team your beloved Sam Darnold Carolina Panthers. They're also 3-0.

Also, one last point. Oh, before I go, sorry. But, Joy, don't you, don't ever rob a bank with Colin Cowherd, by the way, because he's like, oh, I was texting with someone this weekend. Then he's like, it was a GM. His team won. They were on the road. Well, now we're down to seven people, Colin.

So, like, your sources are quickly being outed by you as you discuss it. Only seven teams won on the road this week. Got to be a little tighter to the vest, my friend. All right. Good seeing you, buddy. Nick Wright, first things first. See you. Bye.

All sorts of stuff in this Brady book. By the way, there's a, there really, I could do, I can do three hours on it. I don't want to, you know, bore you all. But there are really interesting excerpts on Belichick and Brady. It's fascinating stuff. More on that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb.

Podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it,

I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Alleeb on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day But just so y'all know I mean at this point Mark this is the second episode where we've discussed crack So I'm starting to see that there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now So

Thank you finishing that sentence I don't think there's a more important year for black people Really? Yeah For me it's one of the most important years For black people in American history Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app

Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcast Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

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When you hear the word healing, what does that mean for you? What came right back to mine are the three P's that I live by, I'll go through the process of healing so that patience, that perseverance, and that prayer equals healing to me. From understanding your mental health to doing the work,

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It's Better to Be Feared is the book about the Patriots Dynasty. And there are many excerpts coming out this morning if you're on the West Coast or the afternoon if you're on the East Coast today. One of them is, quote, Brady was tired of taking team friendly deals with no input on how the money was being spent. Belichick told associates that every organizational decision now was in support of Brady geared toward pleasing him and making him successful and that craft meddled with a team, sometimes with opinions, sometimes with restrictive budgets. Well, owners have a right to opinions, by the way, and budgets as well. You don't want to be over the cap, right? So it is funny. We all know this, right? Like, it's easier to leave any company or

relationship if you're not having the success you want. It's hard to leave success. It's hard to walk away from big money, happiness, big success. Like, like, but there are some divorces, business, life, like, you're like, okay, it's really ugly and you're over it. And there are excerpts in the book where Brady is telling people in 2017, I'm out of here. But it was way easier to leave in 2020 when they had no skill people. And my question is, remember, the Patriots finished second on Stefan Diggs. They almost got him. They finished second, third maybe on D'Andre Hopkins.

if they land Stefan Diggs and they can draft a tight end and another receiver, does he leave? That's an interesting question. I think it's much harder to leave. So Bill, his mistake in all this, and by the way, most people in the media were making the same mistake. Bill's thinking Tom is really declining. And Tom is showing it wasn't the declining. It was you can't draft skill people. They're terrible.

Because right now I think the worst. receiving core in the league is New England. I said that last year. I said it the year before. I'm not doing rearview mirror stuff. So Tom made these sacrifices. And my question is, so we know Tom's not driven by money. Like he made sacrifices for 10, 15 years. We know he's not driven by money. And my question is, if Bill Belichick, we have found the hole in his game. He is not great drafting skill people. He drafted Sony Michelle over Nick Chubb. he drafted Nikiel Harry over Debo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown. And by the way, it's not like McKeel Harry is almost Debo Samuel. One's a star. One can't play.

So I think that's the interesting component here is it's easy to say I'm tired of it. Brady in 2017, I'm out of here. It made it really easy because he's looking around at what Mahomes has. And he's looking around is what Russell Wilson has. has. And he's looking at what James Winston has. And he's like, I can't do that. I do wonder if, you know, in his last year, one of those third round tight ends became gronk. And then they did land Stefan Diggs. Then do you look like a crazy person because you have the best coach, a great defense, a good offensive line. But I think these ugly books maybe don't get written as much. But I think every coach has a hole. You know, the Pete Carroll hole and the Mike Tomlin to some degree. They're so pro player that sometimes players take advantage of them. Big Ben has taken advantage of,

you know, Tomlin's willingness to heed some power to the players. Pete Carroll, we've had multiple players on this show that have been with the Seahawks that Pete is so pro player, sometimes players take advantage of them. And I think Tomlin and Pete are both loved by players, sometimes too much. They're too nice. They're too pro player. Belichick probably goes. the other way. He's a little too intense. But I think the book's going to be a fascinating read. Brady is a really interesting cat that money matters to him. He was tired of taking pay cuts, but it didn't matter enough that he wouldn't do it for winning. I think when Tom got upset is, okay, I'm taking these pay cuts. And we're not just bad at receiver. This is the worst wide

receiving core and tight end unit in the leak. And by the way, you can say, well, well, He got Aaron Hernandez, the late Aaron Hernandez. But remember, Aaron Hernandez fell because of his off-field stuff to like the fourth round. So it wasn't like it wasn't like Belichick was brilliant on Aaron Hernandez. He was just willing because of his power to roll the dice on him. Everybody, Bill passed on him three times. So that's not really a, oh, what a brilliant mind. Nobody wanted because of the late Aaron Hernandez resume and things people knew about him.

Nobody wanted him. Belichick's like, I'll take him. I'm not going to get fired for it. So I'm not going to give you a pass on that one. I mean, I guess, I mean, like Nick Wright said, Joe Tooney's the last great offensive draft pick. That's it. I mean, they got a six, three and a half left tackle.

They drafted in the first round. Sony Michelle over Nick Chubb. Joel clad around the corner, Hour 2, live in Los Angeles. It's The Hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests. from Bob Odenk 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal,

but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotes. Tessk, others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country.

country that shaped us. From IHeart podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patriots all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything.

Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Thank you.