The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Pro Bowl?

Episode Date: December 23, 2021

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb--in for Colin--ponders whether anyone actually cares about the Pro Bowl and why Pro Bowl voting wraps up with several weeks left in the regular season. Speaking of the Pro Bowl, Baltimore Raven quarterback Lamar Jackson is definitely a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback in Doug's eyes--but there are more deserving quarterbacks in the AFC this year. Also, Arizona Cardinal quarterback Kyler Murray must address the failures in his career so he can better respond to them in the future. Finally, do the Los Angeles Lakers have an identity crisis? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome in. This is the herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be making this part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb. In for Colin Cowherd. Merry Christmas. Happy Festivus. We may have the airing of some grievances later on the show. I'm sure I know how it is. You don't hear Uncle Colin on a Thursday. Get ready for Thursday night football between the Niners and the Titans, and you're thinking to yourself, self, I have a grievance with Fox Sports Radio, the I Heart Radio app. I want Uncle Colin.

I'm going to tell you. You stuck with me for the next three hours. We got a great show playing for you. Very few times can you point to one thing? One thing that leads to a franchise falling apart if it's not a big thing, right? Like when LeBron left Cleveland, that was a big thing. You could see the thing was kind of going to fall apart, right? But sometimes there's a one player that you're like, really?

But it becomes the butterfly effect. You guys know the butterfly effect? If this one thing didn't happen, the series, the succession of other things wouldn't have happened, I can point to the one thing that has changed the Lakers' trajectory. One singular guy, it's not Anthony Davis, not LeBron James. We'll get to that a little bit later in the show. I got some thoughts on Kyle Murray and the second half swoon.

the December struggles of the Arizona Cardinals. Jimmy G's going to play tonight against the Tennessee Titans. Anybody paying attention to the fact that Jimmy G's playing really, really good football? But I think I know who Jimmy G is, and I think the Niners have actually had him before and no, it's not Joe Montana. I got some Aaron Rogers stuff for you. I saw this.

There's some stories yesterday which are like, these are very 2,021 stories, right? is apparently going to play in the Gator Bowl. Anybody want to play in the Gator Bowl? I just, I do picture Greg Shianu calling some of his players and asking them if they want to play. Kind of like, remember the early scenes in Major League? They call down to Mexico and the catchers laying in the bed. Is that you, Jonesy?

I do picture calling these guys in there at home, like, hey, man, you want to go down to Florida and play some football? like, I don't know. Ma, can I go play football next weekend? Speaking of quarterback and playing football, one of the other bizarre stories is that yesterday, the preliminary Pro Bowl rosters were announced. Now, look, what you'll hear on most radio shows is that the Pro Bowl does, nobody likes the Pro Bowl.

And I would agree, I've actually never watched a series from the Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl is one of those, well, get it off my TV for me. Also, it's when college hoops and hoopsies and kind of cranks into gear. They've moved it around, but generally it's just not something that I care about. I will tell you that somebody cares about it because 5 million people watch it on average per year. Like, people still watch the Pro Bowl. Like, really?

Yeah. Which has to mean that people still bet on the Pro Bowl. and there's a couple of different things in which you do. You're like, if you're betting on the Pro Bowl, you might kind of counsel yourself on some issues that you might have. Nonetheless, the Pro Bowl still does exist. What's bizarre about the Pro Bowl is, and I understand that Major League Baseball's All-Star game is mid-season.

I know that the NBA's All-Star game is in February. But the Pro Bowl is a post-season event. It's after the playoffs with the exception of the Super Bowl. Okay, so it's supposed to take into account the entirety of the season. Pro Bowl voting was already done for most people in the can before last week. There's 17 games, 14 have been played, the last three of which will affect the playoffs more than maybe any, all the other games combined. I understand that we're very used to week 17, game 16. now it'll be week 18, game 17.

Having guys sit out, I think this year will likely be different just because there's more playoff spots, there's more playoff teams fighting and jockeying for all that position. And there's only, remember, one buy. One team gets a buy. Home field advantage is a greater advantage than it's ever been for that team

that gets the number one overall seat. So the first thing that jumps out of you is well, why would you complete the voting now? And I understand that we've had some COVID games where you can't even pick out. Who is that? I have no idea who that is. Forget about he's still in the league. He's still alive?

Right? But the pro bowl voting being complete already with maybe the most important quarter of the season still to be played is at at least bizarre. At most, it, really takes away from anyone's argument over its actual validity and reward for a job well done in an overall season. The Pro Bowl exists because people still watch it and players get bonuses because they're in it. That's about it, right?

And look, I'll also tell you that by the time we actually get to the Pro Bowl, if it's actually played, there'll be three new players at every position. because either guys get hurt or just don't want to play. So if you have a pulse, if you survive the season, if you're a fairly reputable player, it stands to reason that you'll get the call and you'll be on the pro bowl roster. It's that party that everybody says, look,

we're going to cut the party off at 50 guests, first 50 people reply, and then you get to the party, there's a line around the corner, like, I thought you're cutting off at 50. Like, well, you know, all pro team, that's different. That's the exclusive party. That's the VIP section of the Pro Bowl party, which kind of everybody can sort of get into.

Lamar Jackson, though, is a pro bowler. Now, look, I will fully admit that after the draft and during the first couple of seasons, I was shorting Lamar and betting long on Sam Donald. Obviously, at this point in time, anyone can point out that Lamar Jackson has been far, a far better player than Sam Donald. And while Sam Donald has this supposed upside and he was playing very well three weeks into the season when they played three of the worst teams in the NFL,

the fact is that most people have deemed Sam Donald to be a bust and Lamar Jackson has been an MVP in the league. I'm not a complete idiot. But if we're honest with ourselves, Lamar Jackson being penciled in to being a pro bowler is the perfect sign of he's established a brand and we just all assumed, and he haven't actually paid attention.

Now, look, his best offensive lineman hasn't been healthy since he signed a big contract last year. He's gone through so many running backs. I give up. I don't even know who's running the football for the Baltimore Ravens. But he's had Hollywood Brown. They did go and get him Sammy Watkins. He obviously, I mean, they drafted Rashad Bateman, right?

and once he became healthy and eligible to play like he's, I mean, like they've gotten in weapons and he's got a stud tied end. Maybe the second best pass catching tight end in the NFL. Is that we okay with that? Kelsey being the best. So he's got dudes around him. He's not having a good year. There's no one that could argue that Lamar Jackson, based upon his standards or anybody's expectations of the Ravens, he's had a good year.

He's had a Pro Bowl. Now remember, the Pro Bowl means you're among the top three at your position in your conference. And it's fair to go like, all right, let's look around the AFC and yikes. You know, Tannenhill. You know, Teddy Bridgewater is constantly getting hurt. Plus, everyone loves Teddy, but everyone admits Teddy glorified backup. Right? There's some guys you could.

I mean, Houston, they're just terrible. Tua's played fine the past couple of weeks, but he's more game manager. Josh Allen hasn't been as good, nearly as good, as he was last year. But Lamar Jackson has 14 touchdowns, 13 receptions, 16 total turnovers, 18 total touchdowns. Can we be at least mildly critical of Lamar Jackson? Oh yeah, and by the way, he hadn't played the whole season. And Tyler Huntley's come in and been at least statistically better. I'm not sitting here telling you that he's a better player.

I'm telling you he's been statistically better over the past game and a half, leading at least some to start the conversation of, hey, are we sure that we want to pay $40 million a year to Lamar Jackson? Look, the market ultimately will correct itself. That's what's going to happen with the housing market, which is going just bananas. I think some of the spike in the inflation is the fact that the market needed to correct itself is a positive for a long time.

You know, I mean, after the housing crisis, it was so depleted. It was undervalued. Now it's gotten to the point we're overvalued, but there is kind of a magical spot in the middle. And so you could point out that these contracts for quarterbacks in many ways guys had been underpaid. the salary cap's going to spike at the end of this year. And there doesn't seem to be an end in sight in the increase in salaries because there's going to be an increase in revenue with new TV deals and with labor being solid for the next decade.

But I think Baker Mayfield's the ultimate market correction. I think he's the guy that the Browns say, hey, look, we love you, but we're not going to pay you have 35, mate. You're just not, Baker's just not that good. That's just it. it's not that he's bad he's just not that good and if you're going to keep a guy because he has sweat equity is a former number of overall pick and build you know build because he's got great character and because he's a good leader and because he's good enough that's fine that's that's

20 25 million and then we can put better players around you so it it makes you look better Lamar is not that level Lamar is the next step up but he's not Aaron Rogers not Pat Mahomes not Brady he's not Breeze I don't need to not Derek Carr, but even getting out of the fact, the contract discussion, okay? Just be reasonable about it. If we're judging only based upon this year. Now, again, I understand in Major League Baseball, it's not just about reputation, right? For me, in Major League Baseball, when you've had it in the phone, the All-Star game,

the second half of the previous season has to at least come into play, right? There's like three factors. What have you done for your career? What have you done over the last calendar year? And what have you done to start the season? And if you hit two and three of those markers, you're probably going to get in the All-Star game, right? But that's not what the provost is supposed to be. Provo is supposed to be this season.

And Lamar's been hurt. Lamar's been sick. Lamar hasn't played as well as other quarterbacks, even in the AFC, which is a little bit quarterback starved. Like Justin Herbert, as of right now, is the starter. That means he's had the best season of anybody in the AFC. Hey, Derek Carr is on that list. I mean, look, Derek Carr is dealt with a lot. and I think he's earned a lot of people's respect.

But Pat Mahomes is always, so right now it's the two AFC West quarterbacks. Pat Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Lamar Jackson. And Mahomes hasn't had a great year, but as of late, and the plays that he still makes. And there's still, I mean, look at what he did in the fourth quarter against the Chargers this past, last Thursday. It's crazy. But Derek Carr and Joe Burr,

of had better years. Even Lamar Jackson, if he was honest with himself, would say that. Now, coming into a contract discussion, nobody's going to admit that. But we've gotten to the point where it's Lamar Jackson being in the Pro Bowl is like people anointing the Irishman a great film. Look, Scorsese did it. And you got all of the best actors who have been in all of the best gangster movie, you know, Italian gangster movies ever, right?

So if you have Scorsese and you have this laundry list of unbelievable cast members, you have to have a great movie. Have you watched The Irishman? It's really long. It's really wordy. It's a little bit sad because you feel like all these guys are now completely typecast. I can't get them out of my brain as being gangsters. And it's okay.

It's okay. I mean, thank God it's on a streaming service, right? So it's not like I came out of pocket. and then I had to, you know, wait through the previews and then watch it for three hours, go through a bunch of popcorn, miss something when I went back to the concession sand because it's so damn long that I had to go multiple times.

You know, my teeth are rotting because I had so many sour patch kids, right? Like, at least I was at home and I watched it and I turned it off. And if I didn't like it, I could watch it multiple times because it's so long. But the truth is that the Irishman is a C. And Lamar Jackson's going to have better years than he has this year.

But this is not, he's not a top three quarterback in the AFC. Right? He hadn't played all of the games. The team hasn't, the teams right now, not in the playoffs. He's turned the ball over almost as many times he scored touchdowns, which for Lamar Jackson is crazy time. There's a legit discussion in Baltimore, whether they're going to go through it or not, of, do we at least explore this idea of Huntley?

long term if we don't want to overpay for Lamar. So let's not just anoint a guy because of his name. Let's watch the games. But it's just another mark in what makes the Pro Bowl a total clown show. And it takes away from how many players had great years and deserve a Pro Bowl nomination or a Pro Bowl anointation. Is that a word? Do they make that up?

I don't know. All right. Coming up next, we know finding a franchise quarterback. I'm like, look, part of the brilliance to Baltimore and the reluctance over turning it over to Huntley, even though he's a 2A to a 1A, which is Lamar Jackson, is once you find one of those guys, you hold on to him for dear life. That's why they overpay them because they're so hard to find. But there's a quarterback who I even have bought into the idea like this guy is a dude.

and there are some fissures. There are some holes there. And it happened last year this time. It's happening this year this time. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart 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, 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 which I'm saying. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness, in this month. I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Doug Gottlie been for calling. This is The Herd, wherever you're listening, however you may be. Thanks so much for spending some time with us, wishing you all a happy fest of us and Merry Christmas and a happy, happy and safe and healthy new year. Apparently a second in-home test was just approved. So you don't have to wait the long lines to find out.

If you're not feeling well, don't go anywhere. Just stay in. If you're listening to Southern California at AM 570, this is going to be an interesting afternoon, right? like Ryan music you can attest to it. We're supposed to get like two inches of rain over the next 24 hours. Two inches of rain. Now, if you're sitting in the Midwest, you're like, come on.

Really? Sitting in the South, you're like, come on. Really? But I want you to think about this, right? A lot of people aren't going into work this week anyway. But Thursday is a day in which you're like, ah, I'll get out of town Thursday because Friday is. You know, Christmas Eve.

And that's a time when everybody's going to be trying to get out of town or get into town or driving around. You mix in the fact that you still have tourists or vacationers or family, you know, visiting your friend. Everybody, like, let's go to California for Christmas, right? People who are shopping, people who are getting out of town, and some people who are working and getting home from work. And the fact that there's just too many cars and not enough space, I will tell you that unequivocally, and I have lived on both coasts, New York traffic is worse than California traffic. And I believe that Chicago traffic is the absolute worst. The older of the city, and they're just limited by the number of roads that you can build.

Now, what changes New York is you do have public transportation. And so that can, you're choosing traffic, whereas you don't really have a choice if you're in L.A. But an afternoon where you're getting two inches of rain in Southern California where people don't know how to drive in the rain anyway, let alone in California. Then there's massive rain and flooding, and it's, yeah, it's not good. Not good. You're looking for that drive home there, music? Well, I guess you're going to get home before the heavy stuff really comes down. That is the hope is that it's not too bad after the show.

Driving in this morning, the light rain had already begun. It was, you know, all good on the freeways thus far. But you are certainly accurate. People in Southern California start to lose all sense. on the road as soon as there's a slight bit of precipitation in the air. Yes, you have people who freak out and drive too slow. You have people who don't care and drive too fast. And I, like, everywhere you've ever been whenever there's bad weather, like,

nobody knows how to drive in the bad weather. Like, nobody knows that. You know why? Because you're not supposed to drive in the bad weather. But usually that means snow and sleet and hail and and all that freezing rain, which is the worst. I mean, the worst. It rains and it freezes.

Nothing good there. but in just a basic rainstorm, Southern California's got you beat. It's the worst. And then holiday season, zero people have any idea what they're doing, nor do they actually care. Look, I'm already agro because I can't find a parking spot

and I'm hungry and I'm going to buy gifts that people don't really appreciate. The last thing I knew it needed is be cut off on my way into finding that parking spot. Good times. Good times. This is, this is, happy holidays. This is Carson Palmer on with Dave. DePash. Day Pash is a podcast. Day Pash, by the way, is the play-by-play voice of the Arizona

Cardinals. And he was talking about Kyla Murray and his second consecutive season with second half struggles. The thing that concerns me is some of the leadership deficiencies that I've seen. I mean, some of the body language I've seen from Kyler, when you're down in Detroit, even though you're faking it, you need to keep rah-rah face on. There's just certain things you need to do as a quarterback that he's still young. He's still learning. He's still. still working his way through. It's a great point. By the way, I love listening to Carson, who

you hear, he's on Dan Patrick on a weekly basis. Doug Gottlieb in for calling. This is the herd on Fox Sports Radio, calling out for the day. I think he's going to be out tomorrow as well. Look, I think it's a fair critique because it doesn't come from a mean, spirited place. And he's not, he's admitting that

you know, when you're losing to Detroit, you are in fact faking it. But that's the job. And it's one of those things where franchise quarterbacks, I'm not going to say all this stuff is fair. Like, it's just not. But it's a job that is so all-encompassing. There are so many different factors.

Baker isn't succeeding in Cleveland, mostly because he's just not good enough. Right? It's not people want to get, do I think his personality and reading everything on social? social media and and and having, you know, rabid ears over things Colin says or things other people. Do I think that's healthy?

No. But Aaron Rogers does the exact same thing. The difference is Aaron Rogers is so good, it doesn't matter. He checks every box. And as much as he has a, he has a very hot and cold relationship with the media, his dudes in the locker room like him. And I think Baker is much the same way, although the pushback you've got. and this year is because he's just not good enough.

This is what Carson's talking about. Like, Jay Cutler had the arm. Jay Cutler's a bright dude. Jay Cutler couldn't get other dudes to buy in and believe in him. And his body language shocked. And what Carson Palmer's saying is like, look, Kyler Murray, okay, hasn't seen failure and fixed it at the place where he's seen failure.

Does it make sense? If you, like, look, he's at TechS A&M as a freshman. He starts, he gets pulled, he transfers. He saw no failure when he went to Oklahoma. They win a national championship, like, no. But he goes, he plays baseball, first round pick. He goes to OU and plays, and as soon as, as good as Baker was, there appeared to be better.

right yeah he had to sit there and wait his turn but when he got his turn it was as good as they were with baker keiler did everything just a little bit better and as much as the first couple of seasons in arizona did not end up fruitful in terms of a playoff appearance it was he turned around the franchise he saved steve kime his job remember their general manager had drafted josh rosen the year before and hired a coach, drafted a quarterback, got rid of both of them, and tore it all down, and hired, took a chance on Cliff Kingsbury, all with the hope of Kyler Murray saving his job. And he did. But now, as you become a dude in the league, now we parse everything you do.

Now you can't, we can't look at you during the Detroit game and see bad body language. Every comment you make in the post game is cut up, is magnified. You're the face of a franchise. And that's why all of these things matter. That's why the grading scale is so hard. Chad Pennington is still like my favorite. You want to talk about all the intangibles it takes in. He just didn't have the arm.

Right? Just didn't have the arm. Case Keenham, it's the arm. It's the size. Kyler doesn't have the size. Unbelievable speed, feet. He's been doing, I mean, he's been playing this way his whole life. He has people's respect because he's won so much in high school and in college.

And he's got an absolute halitzer. He's accurate and he's got a cannon for an arm. The physical attributes, plus guys like him. But when you start getting bad by language, we start wondering, are you mad at Cliff? You mad at your teammates? You frustrated the franchise? Same old cardinals.

Are you mad that Larry Fitzgerald won't put down the golf clubs and pick up a helmet and come help you out when DeAndre Hopped. is hurt? Like, what is it? It leads us, you know, teammates aren't buying it. We're like, oh, bad body language leads us just all to speculate. He's ticked. But about what? I got no idea. And what Carson's point out is all these things matter. Because little things become big things. Let's get to rhyme music with the news. No, no, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Good morning, Doug. Good morning, Ryan.

Oh, great to be with you, my friend. Hello, Ryan. Sorry, for those. Seinfeld Fest of his. All right. Let's get things started with the NFL. You're a well-traveled man, Doug. Sure.

Both, yeah, both internationally and domestically. You know, you played overseas, you've traveled overseas, you've coached a team in Israel. Sure. But, you know, in your career as a college basketball analyst, you go all across the country to all different types of cities to see these college campuses and what have you. Yes. I was in San Diego last night. UC San Diego State.

Aztecs and the blowout over the Tritons. Go ahead. Very nice. What are your thoughts on Cincinnati? Okay. What is the place? Okay. Cincinnati, you want my honest traveler's thoughts in Cincinnati?

Sure. Yeah. Let's hear him. Unbelievable college basketball town. Right? You got UC and he got Xavier. He got Dayton. It's like 45 minutes of the road.

I know it's a different city. It's much It's first of all It's close to everything It's like an hour and a half from Indy Hour and a half from Louisville A couple hours from all the other cities in Ohio But it's actually much more southern

Than it's definitely not northern Midwest It's more a little bit Because it borders Kentucky Airports of course in Kentucky Used to be a Delta Hub Feels like it's not a Delta Hub There's a restaurant down by the river Which is really cool I've been to

I don't know Why do you ask? Well I would like I generally like Cincinnati. I've had friends that live there that love living. It's good living city. Okay. Well, the Bengals have been fortunate enough up to this point to be one of the few teams in the NFL to not be completely decimated by COVID at any point throughout this year.

And, well, their franchise quarterback, Joe Burrow, had some thoughts on why that may be the case. And I'll let you be the judge here. We're doing a great job with our COVID protocols. Fortunately, there's not a ton of do in Cincinnati. so it's not, you know, nobody's going out to clubs and bars and getting COVID every weekend. But we've been healthy. So there you go. Not a lot to do in Cincinnati, according to their quarterback, Joe Burrow.

Oh, Pac-Man Jones would disagree greatly, right? I mean, like, and Roger Goodell. Right. The idea that this year, they used to be known as the Bungles, and they had the late Chris Henry, and, of course, you had Pac-Man Jones. And you had, it just, it only signifies that you can find, trouble anywhere, right? It also should be pointed out, like,

there's not a lot to do a lot of places in the NFL. You kind of don't realize that, right? Like, is there a lot to do in Cleveland? Yeah, you can go out. There's a lot to do in Jacksonville. Yeah, you can go out. Now, Miami? All right.

Vegas? Okay. L.A.? Yes. But there are some outpost towns, and that's one. You can get into something no matter where you are. Right. And I also, I do wonder if it's

the old, everybody in the Cincinnati Bengals front office is sitting there going like, don't jinx it, don't talk about COVID. Don't tempt the gods. Right, right. No, it is, I mean, you do bring up a great point. Like, there's always going to be stuff to do in any city that you're in. It's just a matter of, right. Right, like in indie.

Well, how about, Jim Jackson took me. There's a cigar bar in indie, right? But it's like, it's basically like a shot back in time. Like you walk in and you're like, where am I? What city are I in? There's a cigar bar. Jim Jackson was like, I'll meet you this cigar bar in Indy. I'm like, wow, I had no idea.

So there's stuff. Meet at the what? Where? Yeah. But now, and it reminds me of after the post game when Aaron Rogers talking to Aaron Andrews was like, Green Bay, Wisconsin, no better place to be for Christmas, right? Yeah, exactly. So you could certainly say that about a lot of places in the NFL.

sticking in the NFL somewhat. So the Buccaneers dealing with a lot of injury issues, they lost their running back Leonard Fournett. They're now going to sign and have signed Levyon Bell. After signing with the Buccaneers, Leveon Bell talked about his NFL career and where he thought it was heading, and he said, I'm not even going to lie.

I got to the point where I kind of thought about calling it quits just because of the fact that it wasn't working out for me in the last couple spots that I had been. But Tampa Bay, was one of the last spots that he felt like he could make an opportunity of it. This was like literally the only place that could have called me and got me to play, I was going to start focusing on boxing. Now, this is also in reference to Frank Gore.

Frank Gore and Jake Paul had the fight against Tyron Woodley. And after that, Levyon Bell actually tweeted at Jake Paul, challenging him to a fight. So apparently, Levy on Bell, almost a professional boxer. Yeah, these guys being pulled out of retirement, like ISO Joe Johnson, getting to run with the Celtics at 40 years old and getting a bucket last night is classic. Look, Levyon Bell wasn't almost out of the league because he didn't want to do it anymore. Levion Bell was almost out of league because he averaged 2.7 yards to carry this year with the Baltimore Ravens. Right?

Yeah. Like, do you think the Ravens wouldn't have held on to him if they thought he had any juice in the tank? The team that's just been absolutely ravaged by injuries and is like, yeah, no thanks. We're good here. Yeah, the question is always not, do you want to go if they call you? It's, are you really sure that you're ready? Because I think that's what happened with Adrian Peterson when he showed up in Tennessee. Like he was so happy to get a call, he shows up and then like, oy, boy.

Now, he's back in the league with somebody else, right? With the Raiders? The Seahawks, I believe. Seahawks. But, I mean, these guys, they just don't have any gas left. And, like, I thought about doing something else. Yeah, because he just don't have it. You can't run, you can't run.

There's nothing really more to it. If he can't make it work with Tom Brady, he ain't going to make it work anymore. And you can see Tom Brady's frustration over his backup running backs not being able to catch the ball to the backfield last week. Yeah. Where are you at, by the way? Colin loves the, you know, Jake Paul, Logan Paul, all these like pay-per-view fights. Like, are you a fan of these? Do you have any interest in these type of fights?

Do you think that they're going to, like, sort of become a more prevalent thing, like a celebrity boxing type of situation? Apparently it's a thing, and people are into it. It used to be Claymation, and now it's real. Right? Like, that's a really, like, Claymation kind of nailed this thing with celebrity boxing. They're always ahead of the curve, Doug. Really?

I mean, it's like South Park's always ahead of it, and so apparently it's Claymation. What do I really think of it? I think it's a show. It makes a far set of boxing. But this is what happens when you don't have, good leadership in boxing and, you know, we don't, we don't, we don't, for, for 15, 20 years, one of the Klitschko's was the heavyweight champion in the world and no one actually knew. How was that possible?

Right. So boxing kind of did this to itself, but it's awful. I know I have a good friend in the industry who has called, has been around, I called, has been around some of the planning of those matches. And they will say, unequivocally, he can't fight at all. No one who is a boxer would take him seriously. Now, Tywin Woodley was a wrestler who was an MMA fighter. Obviously, it's a different discipline. But, and he stepped in, obviously, to fill in there for Fury's brother, right?

Yes. But, I mean, like, look, I think it's- He lost the first time and then stepped in in a quote-unquote emergency situation at the last minute. He got knocked out. It was a hell of a punch. Yeah. There is a, there is part of the Jake Paul body transformation, which if you know, about body transformations, you're wondering about how he looks, but whatever. What do I think?

I think it's silly. But again, it's the great thing about, you know, where you have to pay-per-view is, if people don't want to watch it, they won't watch it. I don't understand why people watch it, but they do. There's other things on TV I also don't get. I would never pay pay-per-view for a Jake Paul fight. But again, it's like out in the open marketplace, and apparently people dig it. We'll wrap it up with this, Doug.

College football. The Texas A&M Aggies looks like they are going to officially be withdrawing from the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl. You mentioned this quickly earlier. They did withdraw, right? They're over.

They're out and it's expected that Rutgers is going to fill their place. The NCAA Football Oversight Committee is meeting today to determine an official policy that would name Rutgers as the fill-in opponent. I just, I love the, like, the visual, like, how my brain works. Is Greg Shiano calling up all his players?

And it's like the beginning of all of those different movies where you have, even Conair, where you get kind of the background stories. Like, I would love to know where all his guys were when they got the text or when they got the call. And how many guys, I mean, like, Shiano's a dude. Remember when he got fired by the Tampa Buccaneers came out that he wanted every room to be at 68 degrees, no matter what the temperature was outside? like he's a little bit of a nut.

Now, I think he's a very good football coach. And, you know, football players play football. Like, you guys want to go play football a week and a half and get some cool gear? Yeah, we get to go to Florida? Sure. We get out of Jersey? Let's do it.

Right? We get per diem? Okay. But I just, I want to know what all these guys were doing when they got the call. I think that would be absolutely hilarious. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The herd lie news. I also wonder, I just, I thought maybe you could pick one of the, like, San Diego State one the other night. Like, why couldn't you pick them? Or Army, they'd just a great win they had over Missouri. And you asked those guys in the Army like, hey, guys, you guys want to go play again next week? I would guess you would get mostly yeas and very few nays. Coming up next, things are not great for the Lakers. That's an understatement.

What if it's worse than you think? I'll explain next. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is The Hurd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.

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

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

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English. We pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but 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 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, Korn, and I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing

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

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels. of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Doug Gottliebent for Colin, this is the heard Wolf and Shepherd is our favorite shoe brand.

When I say favorite, I'm not kidding, Wolf and Shepherd shoes are designed for comfort and performance wherever your field may be. Wolf and Shepard. for some amazing comfortable shoes. Yovan Buha will join us. He's Lakers Insider in, uh, what is it, uh, 30 minutes? It's 30 minutes? I'm just, I'm like trying to calculate east coast time, west coast time. 12.15.

It's an hour and a half. So wait, it's 1215 East Coast. So that's 1115 West Coast and it's nine. Okay, so an hour and a half. All right. 10 o'clock hours up. All right. On your ones and tens with the traffic, we'll go high above.

Okay. Let's. So, uh, LeBron James. had an interesting quote after the loss the other night for the Lakers. They lost to the Sons. Remember Anthony Davidson plays out with a sprained knee.

Here's LeBron talking about the team's identity crisis. You don't know. We have no idea what this team can be of. And when you have, you know, Tref, who's his first, just a second game back, no K-None. I missed a bunch of games in our 80s out, a bunch of guys in protocol or head coach is out.

So how can we really fully assess what we have, you know, when we haven't been holed. I can't remember the last time, you know, we, you know, played the same song lineup. I had the same rotation coming off the bench. It's been a long time. So it's hard to assess that. It's completely fair. Okay.

It's completely fair that LeBron says, hey, look, man, we haven't had our whole team. So it's hard to assess exactly who we are and what we are when, you know, like you said, Kendrick Dunn had even played yet. We're still trying to figure out now we're getting our everybody else back and Anthony Davis is. hurt. Plus you have the COVID stuff and you're just putting out fires. Here's the problem. Okay. One, by the time you get Anthony Davis back and assess what you do have is probably too late to make the type of moves it's going to take in order to fix it for this season. Two, you know, one of the things is interesting is, yes, LeBron tweaked his ankle, he missed some time

as well. But for the most part, the guys that have been hurt, been the younger guys. Like Anthony Davis is the youngest of their star players. Like we haven't, Russell Westbrook hasn't even missed stuff yet. Like the fear with the Lakers was twofold in terms of the age. One, it was guys getting hurt. And two, and this is also this has played out even more than guys getting hurt is they just can't guard anybody, especially out in the people. perimeter. And I would

tell you that the greatest sign for they didn't understand who they were and had an identity crisis even before this was when they allowed Alex Crusoe to walk out the door. Caruso was a beloved figure, not just by fans, but by teammates, because he could

guard. He didn't require the basketball offensively. Yeah, maybe there's some shortcomings in terms of shooting and shot making. And he's He's not, he's not even necessarily a starter, but he's the one guy who when you saw the Lakers allowed him to walk out the door

for what could have been the mid-level exception, and he would have taken less money than he took in Chicago by his own account to stay in L.A. because he liked it so much. And it's the Lakers. What a championship two years ago. But they chased the names. They chased the pedigrees and the stars.

And now you're stuck. You're not trading Russell. Westbrook, right? Pat McAfee, you know, spitting out nonsense about moving from LeBron. They're pot committed with LeBron, right? If you don't like LeBron in a Lakers uniform, guess what? Tough. He's going to be in Lakers uniform until Brony plays with him. You don't think that's all part of the plan? Of course. You know, they're not getting younger, they're getting older. They have immovable objects and irresistible forces altogether. they're stuck.

It's bad. And as much as everybody knows it, they're not going to know it until Anthony Davis comes back. And by then, it's too late. All right. Coming up next, we'll take a deep dive into my team in the NFL people aren't paying attention to. Next in the hurt.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, and 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. 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 suits. 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 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but 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 a podcast. 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. 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.