The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Love and Lafleur together are perfect, Marcus Freeman

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Colin loves what he's seeing from Green Bay following their defeat of the Saints on Monday Night Football, and Jordan Love and Matt Lafleur are the right quarterback-coach connection. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman joins Colin to discuss his team's victory over Indiana and the College Football Playoffs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the, IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off.

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Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at foxportsredio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the Heard podcast. Here we go. Christmas Eve, live.

in Los Angeles, probably a little warmer, just a little warmer than where many of you are at. It's the herd. Thanks for making us part of your day. Herd hierarchy, one hour from now, Green Bay will bolt up our hierarchy. Marcus Freeman, the Notre Dame football coach, is joining us later this hour. Mark Sanchez, Nick Wright. So we're off tomorrow, J. Mack. So we're bringing all the big guns out.

Notre Dame's football coach, Nick Wright, the hierarchy. Mark Sanchez, got your family. You know, he did invite me, J-Mack, full disclosure. He invited me over, and I'm like, can I bring gin and cigars? And, you know, it's inappropriate. He's got young kids. I'm the, I'm America's guest starting the show with Christmas Eve heat. Here we go.

So I'm going to get to Jordan Love and the Packers. I'm going to get to that in about four minutes. But I want to start the show with this, 34-0-0-0-win, and they didn't ask Jordan to do much. but there's a reason the Green Bay Packers, and only the Green Bay Packers, and they've done it twice, have drafted a really great quarterback in the first round and sat him for three years.

Because they have no owner. No ego, no meddling, no demands. Even the great owners, Stan Cronky, Jeffrey Lurie, Robert Kraft, they would want to see their investment. They wouldn't want a first round pick on the bench for three years, drafting and developing. Last week there's video of the crafts in their box wanting to be on camera reportedly telling CBS, get us on camera criticizing the coaches play calling. Last week a story out, the Jets, the Jets owners, the kids harassing Jets players in the locker room, yet the Packers clinched their 37th playoff appearance last night, number one all time.

You know who they surpassed? The Dallas Cowboys, whose owner and egot maniac needs to be on radio every one. week dissecting the win. The Panthers, seven coaches in six years if you count the interims. Look upstairs. That's why you're bad. Is it a shock? They're 4 and 11 in Carolina.

And here is Green Bay. No meddling, no owner. For years, I always saw it as a weakness. Now I see it as a strength. All Green Bay does is whatever is best for the development of their young quarterback. Three straight quarterbacks, star, star, star. All three, Farbs and the Hall of Fame, Rogers will be, and Love looks like he's on his way. It's all football.

Because as owners have gotten richer, all of them are billionaires now, and crazier and more impulsive, it gets in the way of the development of the most important position. Think it's a coincidence. Aaron Rogers is 4 and 11 and now irrelevant. And in Green Bay, he was a back-to-back MVP, and after Brady, the biggest star in the league, do you think it is a coincidence that the Cleveland quarterback situation is the worst and messiest in the league?

It's not the coach's fault. Stofansky's great. It's not the GM's fault. Andrew Barry's excellent. They draft well. It's the Haslam's. You think it's a coincidence that Sam Darnold is having an unbelievable year

and in Carolina and the Jets, he was a tire fire. No, the Wilf family in Minnesota has always been very low profile. 99% of you don't know what the Will family looks like. It is not a coincidence. Only the Packers, and I used to see it as a weakness, can draft a young quarterback who's talented,

and sit him and develop him for three years. Aaron could have played earlier. Jordan Love could have played earlier. But if you're just about football, no meddling, no ego, no impulsive crazy person, that's what you should do. Even these young quarterbacks now, Jaden Daniels, he's good enough to play.

But it wasn't the end of the world that Michael Pennix sat. It wouldn't have been at the end of the world if Drake May or Bo Nick sat. But I'm watching what Green Bay does. Even after their win last night, here's the locker room and what you don't see is an owner that needs attention. Listen, I love this team. I love this energy. And we've got something special here.

We just got to keep building on it. All right. Way to handle your business. we go into the playoffs. 37th playoff appearance number one all time for the smallest market in the NFL,

the smallest media surpassing Dallas who is Jerry has aged has regressed badly and his need to talk right after the game and be on radio has increased. I do not believe it's a coincidence.

And now let's talk Jordan Love. I'm finding this to be true, especially with young quarterbacks, but old ones too. I can't separate the quarterback from the coach because there is such a huge gap between the really good coaches. And Jordan Love has one. And Matt Stafford has one. And Lamar has one. And Mahomes has one. And Justin Herbert has one.

And Bo Nicks has one. I can't separate them. the position's never been more important, and there's a huge gap between the really good coaches and the average ones. And I look at Jordan Love, and I see Matt LaFleur. Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh, they're considered offensive wizards. But deep down, they love the power run game.

I mean, you ever watch a Rams game? How often Kyron Williams? Tiny Notre Dame or Kyron Williams. Guy carries the ball 25 times a game. He's not Derek Henry. He's not built like that. Todd Gurley, if you go look at McVeigh's history, he wants to run the ball. Even with Stafford and with golf, two top 10 quarterbacks.

I mean, Shanahan, I mean, he has a losing record in San Francisco without Christian McCaffrey. The soul of Kyle Shanahan is the run game. And it's the same with Matt LaFleur. Where did he come from? Where did he build his resume? In Washington behind a Shanahan, a run coach, and in Tennessee with Derek Henry. So Jordan Love is throwing. fewer passes that he's ever thrown.

Six straight games under 30 attempts. And yet, five straight games scoring over 30. When I watch Jordan Love, I see Matt LaFleur. He has reduced his attempts. He's the captain, and Jordan Love is a great vessel. I feel the same way with Herbert. Jim Harbaugh is the captain. Herbert's the vessel.

And it's amazing that in both cases, and you're seeing this in Philadelphia, too, the quarterback is throwing less but is winning more, and the team is often scoring more as the quarterback throws less. And we all know quarterback's the most important position in the league. But what I'm finding in this league now, when I watch Green Bay, this is Matt LeVloire's team. This is basically Tennessee with a better quarterback. He had Derek Henry.

Now he's got Josh Jacobs, and I'm watching Josh Jacobs. like this, when Aaron and Matt were together, it was Aaron's team. There were concessions. You have to have concessions with Aaron. And it's not a cheap shot. Just Mike McCarthy found it out. You'll see the door if you don't. But when I watch Green Bay, and this is not a knock at Jordan Love, because I think he's a top

10 quarterback in this league or higher, there is a group of quarterbacks in this league, and they have a connection with the coach, and we can put it on the screen. But I can't think of Mahomes without Reed, and I can't think of staff. Stafford without McVeigh and Herbert and Lamar and Jordan and Sam Darnold, I just, I can't separate them. I mean, I see C.J. Stroud is great and D'Amico Ryans is a great coach. I don't see a connection there. They're both excellent. And here was Jordan Love after the shutout. I still think there's a lot of, a lot more points out there for us, a lot more big time plays. I just think it's little things that, you know, when we start being more consistent and dialing in on these things that, you know, the sky's the limit for the offense.

Yeah, it was, you know, something else that's happening, and I won't waste a lot of time on it because it may be boring. But this year, we have 10 teams in the NFL, 32% of the teams in the NFL, have five wins or fewer. And they're all going to mostly, if New Orleans doesn't win, and if you watch them last night, that was pretty ugly. I mean, they didn't compete. That was maybe the most lobsided game of the season. A third of the league, it's like the NBA now, is unwatchable. and non-competitive. Last year, it was only five teams.

Only five teams last year had five wins or fewer. We're at 10. And a lot of these teams are not getting to five wins. Forget five wins. We got one with two. We got five with three. We got three with four. And we got the Saints.

And when you watched last night, it's hard to deny what is happening. As quarterback has become more important, as billionaires are crazier and running through, coaching staffs, more chaos, the gap between the halves and the have-nots is huge. I mean, if Atlanta and Pennick staying first, there's a chance I'll get seven of the eight divisions right. I've predicted seven of eight. Why?

There's a separation now. If you have the quarterback and you have a competent coach, I mean, you are looking in your rearview mirror with the rest of this nonsense by like two weeks after Thanksgiving. I mean, that thing last night, that was embarrassing. Like, nobody wanted to be there except Packer fans. Jay Mack, Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame coach this hour. I saw something.

We had Matt Hassel back on yesterday. I've got a bite from him. It was so good. I saw something that, and I know Christmas Day is generally an NBA day. It's not anymore. Two NFL games tomorrow. But I saw something about the NBA that is interesting. It's a player that you and I love.

but there was an alarming lack of attention being given to him. And we both loved this player. And last year at this time, he was thought of as the rising star in the league, and I'm not talking Wemby, and I'll get to that in a second. J-Lab, California-based, personal tech company, makes headphones, earbuds, a lot of stuff, mice, keyboards. They make products that fit your life, look cool, and have it. surprising value.

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J-Lab.com. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news.

We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall.

And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to point. game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that.

I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover

The Family Man on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed.

And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the civil war.

To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, season two goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit.

How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that. is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back. I saw this list, and I'm going to throw it to you. This is troubling. So last year at this time, Aunt Edwards was the star on the rise. Wembe was sort of awkward 7-4. He's the future. But Aunt Edwards was what he was the next MJ-ish Kobe-ish player

wildly dynamic great kid winning lots of games like he was it yesterday it came out the 10 most viewed players in this league based on clips ants nowhere in the top 10 what the hell happened

Clay Thompson makes the list Lamello ball? Why is Aunt Edwards not in the top 10? Because he's dunking half as much and shooting over 10 threes a game. I don't mind three-pointers from guys who are limited athletically. Lamello, Stefan Clay. Aunt Edwards has MJ and Kobe stuff. The league is becoming increasingly homogenous.

I thought Wemby, by the way, was a unicorn. I was lectured on his versatility. Now he's a 7-foot-4 step. I was told Aunt was going to be Kobe. He's shooting almost 11 3s a game. Tom Cruise is an action movie star. That's what Tom Cruise is. I don't want to see him in rom-coms.

I'm not interested. He could probably do them. I want to see The Rock and Tom Cruise. crews and certain actors. I want to see him in action movies. That gets me in. I don't want the NBA to become a sea of chain restaurants where I can tell you what the menu is before I walk in.

The NFL's got all sorts of unique players, even at quarterback. There's giant Josh Allen and tiny Kyler Murray. Mahomes plays one way. Goff plays another. Derek Henry, the running back, stylistic. different than Christian McCaffrey or Saquan Barclay. Wemby now shooting 10-3s and Edwards dunking half as much?

I don't think it's good for the league. He is the most dynamic athletic player, also a great kid, with a great personality, wins a lot of games. Clay Thompson's on the list? Nothing against Clay, but seems to me that that is one of the problems.

monotonous cookie cutter all looks the same jacac with the news no no no turn on the news this is the herd line news all right mr coward let's pivot to the NFL two weeks left in the regular season nFC north could go down to the final game between lions and vikings however detroit this week plays on monday night okay and they'll have a sense of where things stand with minnesota because Minnesota plays the Packers this weekend. Dan Campbell, however, said it does not matter.

He is playing his starters on Monday Night Football no matter what. Easy for everybody. That way all the critics can jump out and start attacking. But that way, you don't have to debate them anymore. We're bringing everything we got to this game and we are playing. I don't care what it looks like. And where it's at or who's this, who's that? We're going out to play and win this game out on the West Coast.

So there you go. Yeah. Belichick never rested starters. I think it was Tony Dungy who did a few times with the Colts. I don't think there's a right answer. One of the things that's overrated in the whole playoff thing is rest and buys. Remember the Tennessee Titans? Didn't they have a number one seed?

They got beat by Joe Burrow. Yeah. Like a team that came in from nowhere. I think if you have a young team, like you're really L.A. Rams. that is defensively a really, really young team. Those guys want to play. The Rams are red hot. I think if you have an older team, for instance, Kansas City, Chris Jones, Travis Kelsey, older players, Joe Tunney.

I can see Kansas City. Give them a week off. But most of Detroit's players are ascending players just going into their prime. Amaran St. Brown, Gibbs, golf still in his prime. I think if you're a young or ascending team, Green Bay, they don't want any time off. Green Bay, the advantage Green Bay has is young energy, heal more quickly from injuries. You want Green Bay playing now. You don't want rest.

Yeah, I remember that the Titans loss. I just looked it up, 1916, Bengals won. That was a game where Burrow was sacked a billion times. Also had picks and they won. I mean, it was an ugly game that Burrow won. There's no right answer, like you said here. I don't know what I would do if I'm Dan Campbell. That being said, I think you've got to read your team.

and, you know, that's a banged-up Lions team. You don't need more injuries on top of what you already got. So, I mean, maybe he's going to play his guys for a quarter or a half. Yeah, I don't mind that. I want him to go through. I want them to hit. I don't want to want to get one. But, like, listen, you already lost Montgomery.

Like, I don't want to say Gibbs in bubble wrap, but Colin, if he goes down, you might lose your first game. He had 20 carries against Chicago in the first half. That's not ideal. Now, I got him in fantasy in the championship this week. So I'm hoping gives plays. but the reality is you've got to read your team in the injuries. It's not as cut and dry as, hey, let's bench this guy.

All right, next up, Colin, is Lamar and the Ravens. They head to Houston tomorrow to take on the Texans Christmas Day special, and Beyonce is going to be performing the halftime show. Lamar, like everyone else, is a huge fan of Beyonce, and Lamar was asked about it. Take a listen. A little disappointing that she's going to be performing at a halftime show that you can't watch?

Nah, because I'm going to go out there and watch. Yeah. I'm going to go out and watch, man. My first time seeing Beyonce perform and it's at our game, that's dope. I'm going to go out and watch. Sorry, how well. Sorry.

Sorry, fellas. I don't know if I love that, but I don't think, I don't know. My guess is there's not a lot that Lamar Jackson's going to glean at half. I say that, but I've been watching McVeigh and Stafford the last like month and a half,

and they've struggled early and done something at half and the offense has clicked. So it's one of the few times I don't, I don't think Lamar should have said that. I don't think that's what people want to hear. It's happened before, though. It's not the first time it's happened. Our guys got here got some notes. So Evan McPherson in the Super Bowl went out at halftime to watch Dr. Dre. And then Michael Irvin admitted that he skipped out on halftime to go watch Michael Jackson

during the Super Bowl 27 halftime show. Cowboys won a beatdown in that one. I don't have a huge issue with this. I mean, here's the more interesting, I think. This could be a rematch in a playoff game in three weeks. It's looking a lot like the Ravens will go to Houston or Pittsburgh. One of those two, whoever wins the division. I think if I'm, if I'm Baltimore, I'd rather face Houston.

I don't want to face Pittsburgh again. I don't like the idea of we just beat you soundly. I have to play you again. Well, if they win the division and they're the two seed, they would seemingly play, or they would be the three, I guess. They would maybe play Denver or the Chargers. Let me ask you this. I'm not afraid of Houston. Are you?

If I'm Baltimore, no. But George Pickens returns the games in Pittsburgh. That is just screaming Lamar goes down first round. That is screaming upset. That's, yes. I mean, honestly, because we know Pittsburgh is very Pickens reliant. We know the secondary for. Baltimore can be a liability.

And the Chargers are probably going to beat, I think they have the Patriots this week, their favorite on the road. So you're right. If there's a chance, you know, Baltimore going to Pittsburgh, not ideal. After this game, I don't know why anybody would bet the Texans here, though. I don't like what I've seen from them. The vibes are bad. They're the one team this year in the NFL.

I have no read on the Texans week to wait. Atlanta obviously is always in there, right? But this Ravens defense recently, I read an article about how, Kyle Hamilton has shifted back to his more natural safety spot. They had him in the box. They pushed him back to the back end. And the defense has gotten a little bit better. I don't know that we've seen the best Baltimore here in the last month.

And if we see the earlier season, Baltimore, this is Super Bowl worthy. This is a Super Bowl worthy roster, right? I think it's really close. It's one of the best six rosters. Baltimore is one of the six teams, I think, could win the Super Bowl. Give me your top three in the AFC right now. Best teams. Kansas City.

Number one? Yeah. Buffalo. Casey over Buffalo, Colin? Yeah, Casey, Buffalo. I would go Buffalo Ravens, Baltimore. Yeah.

Pittsburgh's not number three. We know they're starting to fade a little bit. But again, if Pittsburgh's at home, having just been dusted by Baltimore and Pickens returns, I think I would take Pittsburgh. And I like Baltimore and more. So it's all circumstantial. now it's at Pittsburgh.

Off an ugly loss to the Ravens three weeks earlier. Pickens is back. Now it's a different ball game. Then I like the Steelers at home to upset Baltimore in the first round. By the way, Beyonce Christmas Day, that's a nice old get for the NFL. Yeah, that's pretty good guess. I'll probably switch over from the NBA. No, just kidding.

Obviously, Beyonce at halftime rules. Final story, Colin. Oh, we got to talk about this guy. The football enigma, Aaron Rogers. Gosh, so in his weekly paid TV appearance, Rogers dropped some interesting lines yesterday, joking about being released in the offseason, perhaps by Woody Johnson and his son saying being released would be a first, being released by a teenager that would also be a first. Aaron Rogers poking fun at that athletic story.

About Woody Johnson's kids? Well, listen, it's true. Woody Johnson's kids are in the locker room handing out game balls. Like, that's nonsense. And Woody Johnson is. harassing and now acknowledges a former Jets quarterback Mike White. That's bad. Total dope.

I mean, listen, I always thought Aaron had a good relationship with Woody Johnson, so that comment to me was pretty telling. Yeah, I think he didn't know what he was getting into, and now he realizes like, okay, there's another thing. Rogers added that he would be willing to take a pay cut. Yeah, I heard the announcer say that Sunday. And mentor a young quarterback? I was surprised by both, but that's pretty cool.

That sounds like some guys. saying, hey, get me out of here. I'll go anywhere else and mentors. I don't want to be with this team. Come on. Aaron Rogers is going to sit around and mentor somebody? Well, I don't think, I will say this. I think Aaron was much more a mentor to Jordan Love than Farrv was to Aaron.

I don't think Aaron is selfish. I think he's a bit self-obsessed. He's rich. He's good looking. Blah, blah, blah. He's a superstar in America. I don't see Aaron is like a selfish guy. I think Aaron would help teammates.

The stories I heard, I have a pretty good source on this because I had a couple guys in the team I knew that Aaron was not standoffish, aloof, or prickly to Jordan Love. Like he was a good teammate to him. You go read the Aaron Rogers, Ian O'Connor book. I read that book.

I was angry at how Brett Farb treated Aaron. Like it was really, really petty. I would need to go back and look at the Jordan Love stuff, but I'm sure some of that was pre-COVID. I just think we've seen a different human since the pandemic hit. Aaron Rogers has completely become a different guy. Well, he's very...

Everything he says is told... You look at his interviews before the pandemic and after. And this stuff just got to him so bad. He just seems just angry at what went down. Which is understandable. I guess you can have that take. But he's not the same guy he was. So maybe he was a mentor before to Jordan Love.

Yeah. I think he was he was not hostile. He was professional with Jordan Love. And again, I'm trusting people who were in the building. He was professional with him. I mean, he didn't want to give him a lot of snaps. Brady wouldn't give Garoppolo snaps.

I mean, that's just what star quarterbacks do. I get it. Hey, listen, you don't want to give me a ton of snaps around here. I get it. You want six headline stories. I give you three begrudgingly. A little frustrating at times, but I'd roll with the punches, you know, team player. Jamek with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Caleb Williams actually set an NFL record, the Bears quarterback. He's gone over 320 pass attempts without a pick. It's the longest interceptionless rookie streak by over 100 attempts now. It's interesting. I've said this for, I think, 10 years.

In fact, I wrote about it in my first book. I think interceptions are overstated. Caleb Williams has no picks in nine straight games. He's 0 and 9. Elway threw him, Namath threw him, Peyton Manning threw him, Stafford throws him, Mahomes throws him, Josh Allen throws him, Andrew Luck threw him. Take chances. Throw the ball down the field.

In today's NFL, you have to throw with anticipation. You can't sit and wait for a guy to be open. That's high school and college. Matt Hasselbeck was on the show yesterday. on his concerns with Caleb Williams. This is a very strong rookie class of quarterbacks. And I just think that, like, Caleb is the one guy to me that I don't see the things that I believe

are really important, that I believe matter for sustained success for a long career. I haven't seen that so much. Body language is a huge thing to me. I don't love what I see out of him. You know, so are there wow plays? Are there splash plays? yeah, that's awesome.

That's why you were drafted so high. But if you're going to compare him, and if I was just going to like, nameless faces, I don't see the emblem on the helmet, I don't see the name on the jersey, I don't know who was picked, first, second, third, whatever. I'm putting all those other rookie quarterbacks,

Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Bo, Nicks. In a week, I might put panics up there above Caleb. And one of the concerns Hasselbeck has had with Caleb, he's not an anticipation thrower. he waits for you to be open. He plays it a bit safe. And I want my quarterback to be aggressive. And if you're not a anticipation thrower,

I don't think you're winning Super Bowls. Remember when Caitlin Clark had a lot of turnovers early for the Indiana fever? And I kept saying, stop. It's a bad team. She's creating offense. She'll finally, over time, reduce the turnovers. Steph has turnovers. LeBron has turnovers.

Peyton Manning had picks. Brady had a pick six and won a Super Bowl. By the way, Matt Stafford had two picks in a Super Bowl and won. Patrick Mahomes, three Super Bowls. He's thrown a pick in each one of them. As long as it's not a red zone pick, which Gino Smith to me throws too many red zone picks, as long as it's not a red zone pick, I'm okay with it. Jared Goff won a game this season with five picks.

Mahomes had a pick in the first seven games this year. He went seven and no. So the anticipation throws. What has been my criticism of Aaron Rogers in big games? If he gets an interception early, he really plays safe football. He has a very long memory of picks. He'll shut it down. He won't throw with anticipation.

And if you do, you're going to throw picks. You're throwing the ball and nobody's open. So it's one of those things. I'm not saying I'm rooting for picks. But I saw this this morning. the last five years in the NFL. If you think I'm wrong, you want to know who leads the NFL in interceptions?

Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, the best two quarterbacks in the league. Sorry, sometimes you've got to let it go and nobody's open. And that is, that's what concerns me, is Caleb now, because the team is losing, is he becoming a little obsessed and concerned about, okay, I don't want picks. I at least want to come out of these games

and people go, got to have a touchdown pass and no picks. And I get the psychology of that. But it's been the one thing with Aaron Rogers that's always made me a little uneasy in big games if Aaron has a blunder early. By the way, Stafford, Mahomes, Alan, they're aggressive.

They come out slinging. They get first half picks. You got to have a short memory. You just got to keep throwing the ball. Throw it down field. I can't watch Dinkin'Den. There's never been a Dinkin' Dunk quarterback that's won a Super Bowl.

Ever. It's never happened. You've got to let it go. And again, last five years, Alan Mahomes, most interceptions. I'm okay with it. Don't love it if it's in the red zone. But I'd rather have an aggressive guy throwing a pick every Sunday, like Mahomes did for the first seven weeks and went seven and oh.

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Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed. The first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast. for people could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an acapella 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas.

And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win, no matter. matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows, without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the

night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richard we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said,

you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became, someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy

idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong on what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed.

And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. in Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won,

and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean.

Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, there were rumors he was going to go to the NFL, and Notre Dame put a stop to that. They got an extension in front of Marcus Freeman, who's the Notre Dame football coach. They beat Indiana to start the first ever 12-team playoff, and he is joining us. It's Christmas Eve. He's in the office. You know he's in the office getting ready to play Georgia.

So first of all, the first thing, why I like the playoff. Because years ago, you guys lost early in the season in Northern Illinois at home, and you'd have been done. It's like, okay, you're not playing for the Natty. this allows a mulligan. Heck, I could argue, Alabama had two mulligans, Vandy, Oklahoma, and they still almost made it in. So when you lost in Northern Illinois, you had to really sell your team on, we're a good team.

It's okay, it happens. Let's go back to that loss. What did you say that week of practice? Because you've played different, you've been more aggressive, you've gotten better each week. How did you sell your team after a devastating home loss? Well, I think immediately after the game, you tell them I've been here before, right?

I told him, listen, it's going to be a rough week. It's going to be a long week, but I've been here before. And I think it took me a day or two to figure out, okay, what was my messaging going to be? And what I told them on Monday in our meeting was there's schematic things we have to enhance and have to fix. But to me, the greater lesson to learn was we had to learn as a program. I had to learn as a head coach. how do we handle success? This was the first year. In my three years, the head coach that we've won that big game early. The first two years, we lost to Ohio State early in the season.

And I said, we have to learn how to handle success as a program. And we got to do those things that it takes to prepare mentally and physically for our opponent, no matter who it is. And all season long, I've continued to tell them, keep the pain, keep the pain, because we can't let a loss continue to teach us the lessons that we need to learn to prepare. So they've done wonderful job, continue to find ways to get better, but the preparation has been the key in the mindset. Okay, so you're playing Georgia. Both J-Mack and I said yesterday, I kind of like Notre Dame in this game, but you're facing Gunner Stockton and you have almost no footage on him. He's the backup quarterback, so I don't think he's the thrower that Beck is, but he may be just as good

a runner. What do you do when you don't know much about the quarterback? I think you look at the 13 games they've played. They're not going to be a completely different offense with a new quarterback, you evaluate. There's about 83 plays of him that we have in a cut up from the second half of the SEC championship and some other time during the season. And so there's some things he does really, really well within their system. He makes really good decisions. He makes fast decisions. He obviously can extend plays with his feet, a little bit more QB run. But we're still going to plan to see the things that we've seen their offense do no matter who's been at quarterback. Yeah. So it's interesting. I have been advocating. I believe Riley Leonard is going to end up being a third or a fourth round pick, and he will be a starter in the NFL. I've said there's a little bit of Josh Allen here, and a little Drake May, where he's not quite polished yet, but he went to Duke and Notre Dame. He's smart. He's 6'5. You just told me off the air. He's got a relentless work ethic. And I look at him, and you ask a lot more of him than Duke did. So tell me about. about Riley Leonard that I don't see. I can see the athletic ability. You told me the work ethic. What separates him?

What makes him special? Well, I think he's an ultra competitive individual. Now, you would talk to him, and he's going to be the nicest person in the world. But when he steps into the weight room, he steps into the meeting room, he steps on the practice field. He is a competitive individual. And I think the greatest thing for him was to learn in the first two weeks of the seasons, the highest of highs being a quarterback in Notre Dame to the lowest,

lows. You know, you can't worry about throwing an interception. You can't worry about what anybody's going to say. You've got to go out there with confidence and be the player that we know you can be. And so you've seen him grow in confidence, but also growing the preparation in terms of learning exactly what is demanded of him. And you've seen our coaching staff ask him to do things that he does really, really well. But he is a relentless competitor. He has a tremendous work ethic. and he'll continue to ascend as he goes throughout his football career. So listen, I like the 12-team playoff. I thought there were going to be closer games,

but, you know, what do I know? First round was ugly. I still, I would take that over the Pop-Tart Bowl, so I'm for this thing. Now, you guys, Marcus, because you don't have an official conference affiliation, you don't get a first-round buy. That'll never happen.

Now, I think stuff can be negotiated. Your take on if, even if you went 12-0, you wouldn't get a buy. Did that first game actually with Indiana? Did you like it? Did you like? Because you have a young team. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage?

Well, I have to look at it as an advantage, right? And not look at anything that happens to us as a disadvantage. To play a first round playoff game at home was an experience like no other. And to have our guys understand, okay, here's what the playoffs are all about. Because it's a first for everybody in terms of having. in four games or three games if you had a buy. And so it was to me a great advantage to go and prepare and to have that first game.

And now you've got to reset and get ready for your next opponent. Again, this is something I've never really had to deal it with because in the season, you know you got the next game. In a bowl game, you're preparing, you know that's the last one. And this is unique where you don't know if this is going to be your last game or not. And the minute we won that game, you had to reset your mind and say, okay, we've got to get ready for this next opponent, which is going to be a tall task.

Okay, so Riley Mills is out for this game. Is that right? Riley Mills, the lineback. Yeah, he's a heck of a player. That's not great. How do you compensate for that? Well, I think all season long, which I'm sure every team deals with you deal with injuries. And we've lost some guys, the season ending injuries, some really important people.

and you feel horribly for them as an individual. Riley's a guy to decide to come back to try to improve his draft stock and he's a captain. But you've got to, you know what? The next man has to get the next opportunity and he's got to go do it. And I've always said this. You've earned the trust and the opportunity way before you get thrust out there in front of the national TV. You learn that, you earn that opportunity and practice and the trust from your coaches. And the guys will put out there have earned that trust.

and we'll do a great job. But you're not going to replace Riley Mills with one person. It's multiple people that have to make up for some of the production that he's had. But we'll have some guys ready to roll. Well, you've done a remarkable job. And I know college coaching with all the transfer portal and NIL stuff, I got three minutes left. I actually think you have an advantage in the transfer portal because I think kids that go to Notre Dame are special.

And they just don't go for a handout. Do you view it that way? We always say that the guys that choose Notre Dame choose hard. And there's some requirements that you have on you here that you might not have everywhere else in the country. But they've chosen this place and they understand the value of obviously the football program, but the education and what this university can do for you and the longevity of your life. And so it's a special place, special culture, special people. So we haven't had a guy since the portal was open in December, enter the portal.

And we'll see what happens after the season. But to me, it speaks volumes about the young people that are committed to this program. Well, when Notre Dame is rolling, college football is better. You're crushing it. Don't go to the NFL. Stay in college. You know what? Your winners are a little rough.

They'd be rough in Chicago or New York. Just stay at Notre Dame. All right, Marcus? Absolutely, man. I appreciate the advice, Colin. All right. Great coach. Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman. Good luck against the Georgia Bulldogs. So they're missing their best defensive player. George is missing their quarterback, Carson Beck. So he's out for the entire playoff. So we'll see. I was very impressed. Notre Dame just seized Ohio State and Notre Dame seized physical control of their games.

To me, like by the second series, you just felt they were physically taking over the game. Clemson hung. Clemson scored first against Texas. Clemson had a punch. I thought Notre Dame and Ohio State, the physicality early, there was a sense that, oh, you don't want to be Indiana and Tennessee. And I mean early, like second series. So I think I like Notre Dame.

I think Boise State keeps it close. I'm going to go Buckeyes and Texas. I think we're aligned. I do think Boise State is, it's hard to sell Penn State players who just routed SMU, and those players had heard of SMU. I think it's hard to get a dominant favorite ready to go for a second game when you cakewalk through the first. So I can see Penn. And by the way, Penn State could be looking ahead to a Notre Dame Georgia game.

I don't love this spot for Penn State. They're clearly the better team. Off a blowout, heavy favorite with Notre Dame Georgia. Yeah. I think, yeah, I'm aligned with you on that one. This Notre Dame Georgia game is going to be fascinating because you know all the subplots. Everybody wants the SEC to go down.

The SEC was a little overrated this year. They've struggled from the jump. The USCLSU game since that opening weekend. SEC struggled. And I think a lot of people would love to see the Irish. Because everybody remembers Notre Dame Alabama. in that national championship. Well, that was...

Remember of Manteo? Yeah, but that was way early, Brian Kelly. They didn't have the... They didn't have the personnel. And the SEC was totally dominant then. They're not dominant now. They have deep teams. Obviously, Texas could win at all.

But like Alabama, Georgia... They've progressed. They do not have the rosters they used to. When I saw Tennessee, that was a first round knockout. It was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I watched Tennessee play three or four times. When I watched Ohio State, that is a Tyson first round knockout.

You're like, Big Ten, best conference. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to us. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to

put it, but, you know, tired and sick, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? 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. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to him. know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is.

Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of family secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door. and he jumped in a car and drove off, and that was the last time I saw him.

Listen to season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio, nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worst that you must know. not quit. Don't quit.

Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. IHeart Radio. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.