The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Harbaugh, Rodgers

Episode Date: January 5, 2022

Thoughts on Jim Harbaugh possibly leaving for the NFLRelax, Aaron Rodgers will still be the MVPGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. 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. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

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From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians,

and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, it is a Wednesday, all sorts of news live in Los Angeles.

It's the herd wherever you may be. And however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Joel Clatt next hour on the Jim Harbaugh rumors. Aaron Rogers can't be an MVP because he's a bad guy. People are freaking out. Good to have you. Joy, Taylor's joining me. Joy, how are you?

Isn't it exhausting to be freaking out all the time? All the time, guys, all the time. It's all the time. I tell you this all the time. I don't get, unless I see somebody being bad to animals or kids, people without power, that bothers me. Sure. I'm probably not outraged more than once a year. There are people that live on the Internet that are outraged.

I'm sorry some of you conservatives are outraged every day. It's like I can't do it. I'm just not outraged that much. Look, wild injustice is going to make me enraged. That's about it. I've just got stuff to do today, guys. I got soup to eat. Right?

And I'm time to be outraged. You want to read a book with actual paper? Well, I'm going to get into that story in a second. I'm going to start with Jim Harbaugh. There are reports now from credible sources. Jim Harbaugh is strongly considering the NFL. many people think he's just trying to get more money at Michigan. But I'm going to talk about this several times today, Joel Clatt later.

Let's start with this. He could get any NFL job that's available right now, and he should be the number one choice. But he never won a championship. Oh, God, that's a bad, dumb guy argument. Either Sean McVeigh. If Belichick left tomorrow and McVeigh said, I want the Patriots job, he'd have it. Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. He's not great.

Barclay didn't win a title. He's not great. Get over it. Jordan didn't win a title until Pippin. You can't judge everything on there are context and nuance and layers. Jim Arball won 69% of his games in the NFL, 44 and 19. 69% better than Andy Reid, better than Parcells, better than Pete Carroll, better than Belichick. And he didn't have Brady.

He had Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith. the Niners had not had a winning season in eight years. They were terrible. They were the Jets now. He walked in, three playoff runs, Super Bowl. He leaves, they're awful. Stop arguing about championships. You might as well just put a big loser on your forehead.

Nobody that I know that's successful judges successful people based on, you've got to be number one in the world. Los Angeles has 25,000 real estate agents. You have to be the number one real estate agent in Los Angeles to be smart and successful. Being number one is timing and breaks and who's your quarterback. Belichick can't win without Brady. His Patriot team, they're not going to win their division. That team's not going to the Super Bowl.

Matt Castle with Belichick got not going to the Super Bowl. Belichick fired in Cleveland. Couldn't get the right quarterback. Kaepernick to a Super Bowl. and because he didn't have a succession plan and he was losing trust in that quarterback, Kaepernick, like he and Balky's, it just got worse and worse and worse, and he knew he could get the Michigan job and he took it. He's a great coach.

He's fantastic. So that's the number one thing is this guy's a, look at his winning percent. He's four for four in his career. San Diego Stanford, Niners, Michigan. He took over a mess. and within three years, they were all outstanding. I mean, they were all, his first two years of Michigan, he won 10 games. Brady Hoke, they were winning six and nobody was showing up.

But here's the second thing why I believe in this, because I think he would be the number one choice. I would hire him in Jacksonville tomorrow. Tomorrow, I don't care if they already had a college coach. I don't care. If you draft a cornerback and he's no good, I can't draft a cornerback the following year. Like, they're separate people. Urban's not Jim Harbaugh. Urban didn't even watch.

the NFL for years. Urban told me many times. I don't even watch Sunday football. Harbaugh played in it, watched it, coached in it. It was good in all of it. So I don't give a rip about, well, Urban didn't, who cares? Urban wasn't an NFL guy. Harbaugh was. He's in the ring of honor for the Colts. He was a pro bowler. The second thing why I believe this is, and I have strong feelings about this, you know I'm into player mobility. I'm into paying college players. I'm into the transfer portal. But some of the media in this America are just unrealistic. College football is a circus.

It's an $8 billion a year business. It's got no CEO. All you do-goaters love the transfer portal. In season, out of season? I mean, even the NFL's like there's restrictions on some player movement. You can go anywhere anytime, any team. It's like there's no restrictions.

Even the NFL has a salary cap. I mean, the NIL is just a wild, wild west. A car dealer's like, I'll go. give a million dollars for that. You can't have a country. We can't live in a country. We're all 50 states do whatever they want. You have to have structure to government.

The NFL's got structure. You can make $500 million if it fits within the salary cap. And you have, otherwise it would just be Stan Cronkey would buy all the good players. He's the richest owner. You have to have, and in college football, of course, Alabama or an Ohio state can pay more than Oregon state. There's got to be some structure on the NIL or the Havs are going to, and there are already pulling away? Do you want it to be even greater? So I'm for paying players, but you need structure. I'm for transferring. Maybe in season you shouldn't be. Is that reasonable? You got players

bailing on bowls. I support mobility. But in the NFL, you can't just bail on a team in a playoff. There is no structure in college football. Jimmy Sexton and an agent has more control than Mark Emert who runs the NCAA. No agent has more power than Roger Goodell. That's the reason we have a president and governors and senators, you need some structure and college football, and I love it, it's just, it's the Wild Wild West. I can transfer, I can bail, I can get this, I can, and I'm for players getting paid. I'm for the transfer portal. I'm for it.

I'm also, I like ice cream. I don't eat it all day. I mean, there's got to be some structure in my diet. And so I think Harbaal looks at this and he's like, listen, I can't even keep us. He lost another assistant this morning to Michigan. In the NFL, you don't have the. NCAA. Players can't leave anytime they want. Players can get rich and make more money than you, but there's a structure to it. It's not just fend for yourself. Agents aren't controlling the sport.

And also in the NFL, coaches make really good pensions, like really good pensions. So it's much easier in the NFL to keep your staff. The only time you lose guys on the staff, A, you fire them, or B, you get a great coordinator like a Brian Dable or Brian Leftwich and everybody's like, okay, I got to hire that guy. Otherwise, you can keep your staff together. God, in Michigan, he's getting cherry-picked every 15 minutes. Pete Carroll told me that one time. He goes, I don't recruit players as much as I recruit coaches.

I can't keep them. And so I buy into this one. I think he should be the number one candidate. He's great. Number two is, and I love college football, and I'm for player mobility. But as Joyce said yesterday, you can think two things. I can be for player mobility, but could we cap it a little? Can I just leave after a game in September?

whoa, I lost my quarterback. I can think two things. I want players to get paid in college. Could we put a little fence around it? A little like, can a car dealer in Alabama just write a $10 million check? That's not what we want. That's not what it should be.

So you can do things at one time. But I do buy it. I think college football is a little bit of a circus, and I think Harbaugh and his personality, Jim likes structure. I don't know Jim well, but I know people that know him. He likes structure. The NFL is a league about structure and salary caps and player movement and college football right now is just, it is every

team for themselves, and I think it turns him off. So that's my takeaway this morning. The other thing is to remember the downside of the NFL, because there's so many advantages to coach in the NFL over college. You don't have to deal with donors and goofy boosters and NCAA and the transfer. You don't have to deal with all the stuff. The downside of the NFL where in college, if you, if you recruit a quarterback and he's no good, I can just bring in another one. In fact, I can recruit two to three a year. In the NFL, it is solely dependent on you don't want if you don't have a good quarterback. I mean, here's a great example. Matt Rule was an unbelievable college coach. No quarterback in the NFL, dumpster fire. Cliff Kingsbury, was a lot of the NFL. Cliff Kingsbury

was an average college coach, below average, got fired. He's got Kyler Murray. He's great. It's totally dependent. Even Belichick, you don't give him a star quarterback. You don't win Super Bowls. So that's the thing with Harbaugh is he's going to look. To me, I would go to Jacksonville and they got Trent Bolkees running it right now.

He and Harbaugh don't like each other. And bulky, he's kind of a rigid guy. He's been there a couple years. If I was Harba, I'd say, yeah, that guy's gone. I'll take that. But he should be the number one candidate. Folks, his winning percentage in the NFL is almost 70%. in the NFL, and he did it with Alex Smith.

I like Alex Smith. Tappernick, he was an interesting player. I mean, he kind of blew me away when he first came in. But in the end, he went in 70% with those guys. That's not Brady or Peyton Manning or Aaron Rogers or Russell Wilson or John Watson. So, like, he's the guy. If he's on the market, that's who you hire. And I do believe he is strongly considering it.

And he should strongly consider it. All right. You know, I want to get to this MVP thing, but I just start rambling. And I just went too long. I went nine, ten minutes on Harbaugh. So I'm going to talk about this. There's a writer, a sports writer in Chicago, and everybody freaked out.

And, oh, my gosh. Oh, my guy's not going to vote for Aaron Rogers because he's a bad guy. I've got strong opinions on this. I'll give him to you next. It's the Herd. 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.

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. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care where you're talking about. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your problem.

podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 a 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. Thank you for 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 podcasts. Resumays matter in life. Remember when Drew Bree's got in trouble because of a sentence he said? And it's like, no, like he's got a career in a resume. He's been a good guy, charity, good family man, good dad, good teammate. And the media just crushed him because he said something. I thought he was tone deaf. It was during the Black Lives Matter.

I thought he was tone deaf. But his resume tells he's a great leader and a good guy. Like that matters, right? Like, we all make mistakes. Don't make a judgment. Does your family have anybody in it that's a train wreck? Does that mean your family is a train wreck? I watch the NFL every game every weekend.

And there's a terrible game every weekend. Does that mean the NFL is terrible? Antonio Brown is off the rails. Does it mean the buccaneers are off the rails? Can the media stop doing this? And by the way, fans, you stop doing it too. taking one and making it all. One voter of 50,

Hubarkish in Chicago, don't know him, longtime Chicago sports writer, says, I don't think I'd vote for Aaron Rogers. He's a bad guy. Well, it's subjective. There's no guidelines that you couldn't vote for him,

and it should be noted, if Aaron was a bad guy, and because of his off-season, he put up huge numbers this year, but they were like, you know, 10 and 7 and won the division. Bad guy could be used if you have good stats. What if Antonio Brown, by the way, very disruptive, had MVP level stats.

Could you say, I just don't think he's good for the locker room? I don't think he's a good guy. I don't think he's a good teammate. He's just talented. Could you use the bad guy argument in that instance? Well, yeah. I said yesterday I'd vote Aaron 1 and Joe Burrow 2. And there's people that have stats and can argue.

but I said one of the reasons, a strong reason for Joe Burrell being number two would be he has the poorest owner or the cheapest owner in sports. It's a dysfunctional organization. So I'm literally counting as general manager, the scouting, his owner. That's kind of subjective by me, isn't it? I say Derek Carr would get, if I had four or five votes for MVP, I'd give Derek Carr some. He may not make the playoffs. But poorest owner, interim head coach.

everybody's hurt. I'm counting all sorts of stuff. So personality, if it's disruptive and you have great stats, you can consider if you don't, if you think somebody hurts the locker room, because I think Green Bay's got really, really good players. If they were 10 and 7 after Aaron didn't show up and it was all this stuff, but he had great numbers, you could say, I think he's been disruptive. They should be like a 14, 13 win team. But let's not take one writer and say, well, that's what everybody thinks. That's just clickbait. I disagree with the writer. I don't think Aaron's a bad guy. And it clearly hasn't hurt the team. I think Aaron's complex. At times, he's a little condescending to everybody. I don't think he's a bad guy. I think he's a wildly complex guy and a very smart guy and a

incredibly talented guy. But it is not the most courteous or the most likable or the most relatable. It's not. We know that. But most valuable, valuable is very interesting. I've talked about this years and years and years. The most valuable person in my family, the most valuable thing in my life, is, well, is it my wife or my kids or it's my, I mean, there's, I consider different reasons for each one. I'm not the same person without my wife. I couldn't imagine my life without my kids. I couldn't, if you looked at your life, what's the most valuable thing? It would be your house.

Otherwise, you'd sleep on the street. Like, what, what is valuable mean? I think there's a lot of different arguments. I'm a Derek Carr, Joe Burrow, get two and three on my MVP list because they have kind of dysfunctional organizations historically. Does that count? Even in college football, college football demands that you give a preseason top 25 pull. Now, think about this. You haven't played a game, and you've all lost a third of year players.

I've graduated. Well, how do I do that? You know how I do it? I've said it for years, and it ticks people off. I go look at your recruiting last four years. I haven't seen these kids play. But I know Alabama recruits five-star kids, so even if they lose this, this, this, this, I look at their previous recruiting years.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I'll put them top two. So I'm looking at recruiting rankings because the sport demands that I put a top 25 vote in. You lost 27 players. You haven't played a game. I have no idea. You've got a new defensive coordinator.

I go to rankings. I go to recruiting rankings. So let's not overreact to one voter because Aaron's going to win the thing. And secondly, this stuff's always been much more subjective than you think. There are no guidelines on this. You should be able to consider a lot of things. If I had a vote, I would vote Aaron 1 and I would vote Joe Burrow 2, and it wouldn't

be that disparate. It would not be that disparate. Joe Burrow is not far behind. To me, Joe Burrow is an inch behind Aaron Rogers. I mean, Aaron Rogers has a great old line, a star receiver, no chaos, excellent front office. They develop players. I mean, it's just total structure. Cincinnati's a mess. Joe Burrow arrives. We don't even know if Zach Taylor's a good coach. Joe Burrow arrives, and they win an excellent division. Green Bay's division stinks. I mean, Mike McCarthy dominated that division.

So, let's, could we, the media stop overreacting, but fans stop overreacting. It's just, it's one voter. Tiger Woods has bad holes, and he won the masters. Like you can have a bad hole in golf, a bad game, a bad family member. Antonio Brown doesn't speak for the Buccaneers. He speaks for Antonio Brown. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line. Here's an interesting thing I didn't mention. The two greatest quarterback seasons ever in the history of the NFL. Tom Brady in 2007, Peyton in 2013. Neither was a unanimous MVP.

Now, think about that. the two greatest quarterback seasons were, this, it's only been unanimous twice. Well, yeah, I mean, it's a subjective award. It's just, you know, when someone puts out there why they're being subjective about it. One voter. No one would be outraged if Tom Brady got some votes for MVP. I think he has the second best odds.

He's 44 years old. I mean, he's having an unbelievable season. And nobody, like, I think he has the second best odds to win. Like, it would be completely reasonable for Tom Brady. I would put Burrell over him because I think Arients has a Super Bowl. I mean, so to me, I would put Burl over Brady because I think he's overcome more. Right, but the point is it's a subjective award. It's just when you put out there why you're being subjective and it has nothing to do with what's actually happened on the field.

Obviously, it's going to spark outrage. So Monday nights win against the Browns gave the Steelers an 8, 7, and 1 record. That means that Mike Tomlin will finish with his 15th straight winning season. And Tomlin was asked if that was a meaningful accomplishment to him. Now, as I sit here today, and I say that humbly, you know, our agenda this year is to get into single elimination tournament and then pit our skills against others in that single elimination tournament in an effort to win the world championship. And that's our mentality every year. And so with that mentality, it's just certain hardware that you expect to pick up along the way. and if you don't, you'd be seriously disappointed.

And so that's just an expectation that we have here in Pittsburgh. Perfect answer. He's right. That's part of the reason why he's had so many successful seasons because it is the standard in Pittsburgh to win championships. By the way, I made a mistake yesterday I was told by my staff. Big Ben has two Super Bowls, not one. I still stand by the fact that he wasted multiple years

because he didn't take care of himself like he should have. but what I don't think you get into a Hall of Fame if you're Mike Tomlin because you never stunk. I think you get in based on accomplishments. But I think what Tomlin brings to the table is when Mike Tomlin is the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they can have drama. They can lose games. He has never lost a locker room. He has absolute respect from the owner, the GM, the quarterback, and the assistants. And that's a big thing because there are good coaches that have lost locker rooms with

Mike, you never, that's never an issue. He has absolute respect in the room and a room of 60 alpha males all with their own agendas. He's never too high or too low. And when you're a leader that is an invaluable skill to have, because you have to be steady when everyone else is freaking out. You have to be steady when people are talking about your job. You have to be steady when you don't have a quarterback. And Mike Tomlin is just that.

He doesn't waste any words. The agenda is what it is. The goals are what they are. And everyone that's in that organization knows that. Not everything is going to be perfect. And I'm with you. I think there's some years where they had an obscene amount of talent for the way that the season's finished. But there is something to always being competitive because it's much easier to add a few pieces

and go from being competitive to contenders than it is for a complete rebuild, which we've seen good teams and good organizations have to go through. And I've really evolved on Tomlin. he used to drive me nuts because I didn't think he was buttoned down. But I think when I watched him go 500 with Duck Hodges, I was just like, wow. Like I would give him consideration for coach of the year. I mean, we see right now teams with weak quarterbacks, they win four and five games. Right.

They're a disaster. They were viable to the last week with really low-end quarterback play. So I initially, I just thought he was, there was, remember the time he ran to the sideline. You thought he was going to trip a player. I'm like, he's out of control. But in the end, that alpha and that motor and that intensity, I think it plays well in the room in Pittsburgh. But what I mired most about the Pittsburgh organization is that they don't have that panic in them. When you have been there before. Oh, later, I have a great segment on the Steelers. I think they're lucking out, Joy. I think in this quarterback succession plan, I think they're getting a huge break.

I want to explain this later. Sorry to interrupt you. Interesting. Well, they could still make the playoffs this year. They can clinch a playoff berth with a win and Indy loss and a Vegas Chargers game that doesn't end in a tie. So it is still possible, although, you know, Indies probably not going to lose this weekend. They play the Ravens on Sunday and are currently five and a half point underdogs, according to Foxbat. So good news for the Titans. The Titans are expected to designate Derek Henry to return to practice from Injured Reserve today, according to Diana Rusini. Henry fractured his foot in the Titans 3431 victory over the Colts in week eight. He had surgery November 1st. It's usually a six to 10 week recovery period.

So this is great news for the Titans. Russell Wilson came back early. Cam Acres came back early. Derek Henry came back early. Mamo to reporters. When a team announces a timeline, these are the world's best athletes. And the world's best doctors working on them. They're going to come back sooner.

I mean, it's almost a rule, not half, but I just chop off 25%. of the out for 12 weeks is out for seven to eight weeks. Well, also, yeah, of course, when they are also guys that you know take care of their body. Right. And they're not older. Like, this is what's going to happen that he's going to come back. Now, obviously, they're going to want to ramp him up because he has been out for a sixth in rushing touchdown. He's just an insane player.

I think he's my favorite player in the league. He's just, he's so unique that he's just spectacular to watch. And he's actually, what really helps him is, is the game, the defenses have gotten a little smaller. Linebackers are smaller. Safeties are smaller. It's a speed game. It's a spacing game. And he's a throwback player. Yeah, he's a downhill power run. Very Earl Campbell. Like, he's 252.

The corner is 191. And they, I remember Earl Campbell, I'm old enough. Corners, you would see corners do like the, uh, well, hey, they would just, they would, what do you call the, the, the bullfighters. Right. Like, they would just kind of like, oh, I just missed him. They want no peace. You can see corners out there.

They want no peace of Derek Henry. He is just going to run you over. He's just a refrigerator downhill. Well, the Titans currently hold the number one spot in the AFC playoff standings at 11 and 5 with the same record as the Chiefs, but they can clinch the number one spot and a buy with a win or with a tie and a Kansas City loss or tie. They play the Texans on Sunday and are 10.5 point favorites.

Can we just say Mike Vrable coach of the year? I think he definitely deserves. Has to win. I was huge doubters of the, huge doubters, but I figured the Titans would be what they normally are, which is like a middle of the road team overachieve some Sundays, and I thought they would take a little bit of a setback this year,

and they've done a remarkable job. They can clinch the number one seat in the AFC this weekend. So T.J. Watt is the current favorite to win NFL defensive player of the year, but rookie linebacker Michael Parsons thinks he's given one a lot, a run for his money. I take complete pride in being the most versatile player in the NFL. I think

I would put myself up there with the elite guys around the league, I mean, in terms of impacting the game. And, you know, it definitely hasn't been a one-man job. I would say, you know, the DBs helped me a lot, be able to hold the receivers so that way I can get the pressure and the sacks and things like that. I just do a lot of very different things on the defense that changed the game. You know what's interesting, Joy, about this? The Cowboys didn't need a linebacker.

This is a classic example of, by the way, the Bengals didn't need a wide receiver. And they just drafted, they said, that's the best player available. The Cowboys had linebackers. And they said, that's the best player available. So I tend to be, give me the best. What do you need and fill it? But Micah and Jamar Chase are examples of these guys are so good. It doesn't matter that we've already got two good receivers.

There's nothing that duplicates Jamar Chase or Micah on the market, bring him in house. And we'll figure it out. We'll figure out our linebacking and receiving rotation after they're in-house. Well, when you have someone who is that far ahead with talent and is at a position that can be disruptive, then I would tend to agree with that as well. I mean, like if you need stuff all over the board, like, you know, you need an entire offensive line or something like, don't go and get one of those positions. But he's been remarkable this season.

13 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, and the league best 20 tackles for loss, three force fumbles, three pass deflections, 84 tackles, 64 solo tackles. But Watts had an incredible season as well, obviously. We know all of his numbers. He has the best odds at minus 550 to win in Parsons' second at plus 600 for defensive player of the year. And he'll certainly win defensive rookie of the year. Yep. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly news. Got so many things with Nick Wright. I want to talk about. Co-host's first things. First, let's bring him on. All right.

You heard my spiel, perhaps, on the Hub-Arcish MVP. I don't know why one voter speaks for 50. This thing's always been wildly subjective. Your takeaway on the outrage that somebody would not vote MVP, Aaron Rogers, because he's quoted jerk to the writer. Yeah, well, first off, a little shout-out because, and by the way, I'm hearing myself in my ear, so if they can fix that, but I can power through it in the meantime. Colin, this interview was done.

it's kind of part of your coaching tree. It was on the Danny Parkin show in Chicago, and Danny's part of my coaching tree, and I'm part of your coaching tree. So like you're Mike Holmgren, I'm Andy Reed, and I guess Danny is Eric B. Enemy. I know he's a guy you have a lot of affection for. Yes.

But here's what I would say. We use off-the-field stuff all the time when it comes to evaluating close MVP races. Like, let's say Rogers and Braves. were very, very close. Would we not, I don't think it is. I think Rogers has run away with it. I think Rogers would have my vote.

But would we not say, ah? You know, Brady gets the team together in the offseason. Brady organizes workouts. Rogers is hanging out in Hawaii. Like, we very often use non-statistical metrics to break ties to help guys' cases. So if Hub's point was, I thought Rogers' offseason was a mess, I thought the fact that he missed the Chiefs game and that's why they lost. That was his own doing, at least partially.

And all of that, if he wants to use that as part of the metric, I think that's fair. Just like, Colin, how about this? And I know in NFL MVP, you only vote for one name. But let's say you voted for five names, one through five, like an NBA ballot. If the Raiders win this weekend and someone's like, you know what, I'm putting Derek Carr third. It's like, oh my God, you have Derek Carr hit him a Holmes.

look at the numbers. It's like, yeah, but the coach got fired in scandal. They lost a receiver in awful tragedy. He lost his safety to his own idiocy. He kept the team together. Those aren't metrics. That's the feel of what you do for the team. That's always happened with awards.

So I would still vote for Aaron Rogers. But to act like that it has to just be what are the numbers, well, then have robots to it. So no, Rogers is going to win the award going away. I have no, I have no issue with what Hubb said. I just don't think Rogers, he clearly didn't hurt the team. They're the

one scene and they have it all clinched. So I'd still vote for. You know, I've said this before. You know, sometimes couples stay together for the kids until they get out of the house. They stay together. And then there's moments when like we're not getting along, but now is the time to break up. And I look at Cleveland. Baker says he gets debt threats. Certain players in this locker room are not into Baker. There's going to be guys out there you can vie for. I would consider moving off Baker. I think Baker's too toxic.

The city now has turned on him. I do think he's a franchise quarterback when he's healthy. I do, and I think he deserves a second chance. And I do think Cleveland upstairs, they don't buy in him. They don't really buy into Baker. Privately, you can see the game plans a lot. They don't. What do you do with Baker?

Well, I think sometimes, you know, everyone is saying the same three names. Well, if you can get Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, or Deshawn Watson, you do, okay, well, you're certainly not getting Russell Wilson. You are certainly not getting Aaron Rogers. And the Deshawn Watson brings a totally different, much uglier set of baggage if he even can play. So take those names off it. Now we're talking about, you want to take a flyer in Tyler Huntley?

You want to draft, can he pick it? like sometimes, you know, dance with the one who brung you. Yeah. So I don't know that they have a ton of great other options. What I would say, though, is this, Colin. And I know you don't spend as much time on social media as myself or the wonderful Joy Taylor. But if you spend any time on it, you hear all these stories of bet on yourself. Oh, bet on yourself.

Look at me. I was working for the man. Now I own my own business. Bet on yourself. Look at what I've done. And that's great and good. good. But it's a bit of a fallacy because you never hear about the bet on yourself I'm now unemployed. Bet on yourself, I'm now divorced and despondent. Because no one tells those stories.

Baker bet on himself and it blew up in his face. Because I would postulate this, Colin, if Baker would have taken the last contract offer the Browns made this offseason, I think he would have had the surgery he clearly and desperately needed. And we're not having any of this conversation. I think if you would have already had the contract when he gets hurt early in the year, the team makes him shut it down, he allows them to make him shut it down, because they're invested in him long term, he's got his money locked up, then maybe he's back by week nine healthy. Maybe the Browns didn't have another winner to, and they're alive for the postseason this week. But he bet on himself, and now it absolutely is in play. Forget what's

the next contract going to look like. It's in play that the next contract. contract, he's fighting for a job a la Ryan Tannehill, you know, in Tennessee. Now, Tano Hill ended up getting it, getting the job and getting the contract, but it also could go the Mitch Tremisky route. I don't think that's the way it'll go. But I think Baker, he's being honest, regrets not taking whatever deal they offered him a few months ago. Okay. Now, on Tuesday, I do my herd hierarchy. On Wednesday, you have, you know, it changes a lot. It's strata. Okay. So what is your, what do you call it? The tears. Okay, give me your tears this morning because I don't agree with this a lot.

Let me see it. Okay, well, our top two are the same. We both have Chiefs and Packers. I have them at the top. We can just reveal it. Here's the – pardon me, Colin. I apologize. Here's the gist of the tears.

I think we can show it. If not, I can just walk you through it verbally, audially. I think the Chiefs Packers is the most clear-cut, obvious Super Bowl we've had in years and years. and years. I don't think there is a close contender for third. I don't think there is a team nipping at the Chiefs heels and the AFC. And given what has happened, Colin, to the bucks with the injuries to the wide receivers and defense, with the Cowboys to me not playing anything close to their best football, Dak not looking great at all, McCarthy's still having problems telling time, the injuries to JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins that have clearly changed who Arizona is, and the inconsistency of Matt

Stafford, I think the Packers, if the Packers don't make the Super Bowl this year, to me, it's an all-time gag job. So I think there's two teams left that I'm excited for the playoffs, but I know how it's ending. I would be shocked at a level I can't remember if it's not Chiefs Packers at the end of the year. All right. Well, we disagree on that. I think Buffalo's starting to get healthy. Buffalo's playing.

Buffalo's playing really. Oh, you just, man, Buffalo is like, I didn't know a yet. young Colin Coward. But Buffalo is like the girl in high school that batted her eyes at you a couple times. And now every couple months, you're telling your buddies, I think she's going to, I think she's going to say yes this weekend. I think she's going to go out. Colin, she's not that into you and they're not that good.

Did you watch Josh Allen this weekend? He had zero touchdowns three picks. He had a passer rating of 17. There's the worst game of his career. We're not talking about it because they beat Atlanta. He can't trust Josh Allen. Can't trust it. I told you this last year.

I know. You just want to love Buffalo. There is a quality about it. They're my Shawshank Redemption. It doesn't matter whenever I turn in the movie. It could be 38 minutes in an hour and a half. I just stay and watch the movie. I fall in love very quickly.

Okay. LeBron James, you know, they're always who are the best player in the league stuff. And we all know he's good. What do you make of his last 7, 8, 9, 10 games? What do you make since he's back from the injury? Where does he rank on that best player thing? Listen, I think Janus earned the crown. I think you earned the crown in the playoffs,

and LeBron went out in round one, and Janus had one of the greatest NBA finals ever culminating in a 50-point game. So I think Janus deserves to be called the best player in basketball. I do not think there is another player in the league better than LeBron. That includes Steph, that includes KD. That certainly includes Yokic. And with respect to Janus,

Yonis is the only guy in the league, I think you might agree with me on this, that if you were to say I can have anybody I want for either one series or one game, that there's even a question that I would take above LeBron. Steph's been very, very good. He's cooled off a bit of late. Yokic, we know what he is. Obviously, Embed's excellent. Obviously, Katie's been sensational.

None of those guys, to me, it's even an argument if you would rather have them or LeBron for a playoff series. Now, because of his age, there's the injury concern. There's the can you do it every single night the way Yanis has? In December he did. In December, he averaged 31, 9, and 7 on 56% shooting. He's averaging the most points he's averaged in the season, Colin, since his final year in Cleveland the first time around.

He's 0.7 away from leading the league in scoring. He's second to KD as the most 30-point games despite missing a dozen games. The previous best year 19, Colin, we'd ever see. scene was Kareem. Kareem averaged 16 a game that year. LeBron's at 29. And so I think it's, I went into this year saying, listen, LeBron's probably the, you know, second, third, fourth best player in the league.

And I think a lot of people thought I was crazy that he could keep it up. I think at worst, he's the second best player in the league. We've never seen anything like it. Nick Wright, great seeing you. Like he bore a tie today on the show. He looks, you know what I mean? Like, even though you're- I've been busy.

Been running around. I couldn't change. I usually get casual for you, Colin. I almost missed the hit. See, I'm all choked up. I ran in here just to talk to you. Enjoy Taylor. Talk to you guys later.

All right, Nick Wright, first things first. All right, it's the herd back in a second. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Here's my Carmen. I'm Dan Byrd. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday,

we come up with new episodes to not only, look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts. Fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmen and me, Dan Byer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you'll say. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where

you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your problem. podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 a 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 all 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

Yes. 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 podcasts. Not running your business on NetSuite,

like trying to sink a pup with a cap over your eyes. NetSuite by Oracle, number one cloud financial system, netsuite.com slash herd. Check it out. So I know a lot of you. I saw Aaron Rogers was on the Pat McAfee YouTube show, and he was saying like he was kind of self-evaluating and kind of evolving. I thought it was something.

You don't hear professional athletes admit they were something and they're moving on. And one of the quote was, He goes, I said, said Aaron Rogers, you know, I'm aging from making mistakes, from failing, from being too sensitive, from taking things too personal at times. I'm trying to get better at that. So first of all, Aaron deserves a lot of credit for that because most people don't like to do that. The second thing is, I know you guys all think I'm some California left-leaning liberal on social issues I am. And I took a shot at conservatives earlier on, so let me take a shot at liberals.

The worst quality of all liberals. And it literally, it's a horrible human quality. It speaks very poorly of a party. And not only liberals do it, but it's just constant. They demand that you evolve as a person, but yet hold your previous mistakes against you. We were all idiots in our 20s. I said and did probably stupid things. Don't even remember them.

It's like 35 years ago. People make mistakes. people evolve. People do bad things and they're good people. You can't demand people constantly evolve and then hold them accountable for a tweet nine years ago. Which is it? Sorry, we're not perfect.

It's a bad liberal quality. Total turnoff from me. There you go. I'm even. I ripped conservatives earlier and liberals. Okay. But what I like about this with Aaron Rogers is that Aaron is not a bad guy. He drives me nuts.

He's condescending. There's some leadership stuff I don't like, but he's also really complex. So Aaron's a very, very complex guy. And the truth is, I'd rather have complex athletes than simpletons. There's a lot to unpack with Aaron. His family, some teammates, but he owns it. I'm trying to get past it. I've been too sensitive to that.

He's my MVP. I totally appreciate it. And I've also come to terms with Aaron. And I put him in a very unique class, the John Elway. Peyton Manning class. I don't need another Super Bowl from Aaron. It will not ding him. Big Ben's got two, and I don't even put him in the same class with Aaron.

Eli needs a second Super Bowl to be a Hall of Famer. I didn't look at Eli and go, oh, my God, he's the second best Manning I've ever seen. He's not even the best guy in his own family at quarterback. In fact, there's an argument to me made Arch Manning, Archie Manning, is as was the best athlete of all the Manning family. But Eli needed that second Hall of Fame for me to kind of elevate him to a Hall of Fame. Once John Elway won one or Peyton Manning 1-1 and Aaron Rogers won one, he is so profoundly gifted, I don't need a second one.

I won't ding him for it. It's like, am I going to, I mean, I've always been an Aaron guy over a Fav guy. I've said that a hundred times on this show. I think Aaron has evolved. he's more coachable, fewer mistakes. You know, the gunslinger thing I thought was, you know, it was fun. It was a good story, but it lost a lot of games. I've always said, Aaron plays the position pre-snap, post-snap.

I think he plays it intellectually at an all-time high level, like a Peyton, Manning, Brady, like five guys ever. And a lot of smart guys don't always play smart football. Andrew Luck made a lot of bad throws. I mean, Russell Wilson, I love him. You know, families from Princeton. I mean, Aaron's a Russell's a smart guy.

He makes throws. I'm like, oh, yeah, y'ye. But, um, so I was always an Aaron over Fav guy. But I will say this is that it can't just be championships because Dan Marino, I mean, if you told me who are the five most talented quarterbacks you've ever seen? Marino's one of them. Got no championships.

Aaron's one of them. Peyton Manning's one of them. I'm not sure Brady's one of them. I think Brady's the most productive. Elway is one of them. him. Russell Wilson at his best, I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything. Nobody can hit him. He never gets hit. So I think I've moved as Aaron's evolving. I think I look at Aaron and my opinion of him has evolved. I've never seen anybody except Dan Marino make the game look

this easy. Marino made it look easy. But it felt like practice. He was just screwing around out there. Aaron's a close second. Hour two next. 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. 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. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but the show. celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.