The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - The Knicks are tough

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Colin gives the Knicks props for their toughness to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2nd round of the playoffs despite all their injuries He discusses Nikola Jokic winning his 3 MVP and why we are reluctant to acknowledge his greatness LeBron James and JJ Redick respond to Colin's thoughts on important people wearing their hat on backwardsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Knicks were so vulnerable last night. You got players missing. Biggs out. Brunson wobbly. and I felt more than the first game in the series, I felt clearly the Knicks were better. Never in the second half thought Indiana could win. Game one, it went back and forth,

and I kind of liked Indiana, but it feels like almost now, was that Indiana's best punch? Remember I said Pacer's money lot. It felt great about it for much of the game, and goodness gracious, can the Pacers get a stop ever? I mean, this Knicks team, whoof, what a game. Yeah.

So the playoffs unveil. The posers and the frauds, the fakers, that's the Pacers. I mean, what more could Indiana have in their favor? Julius Randall, second leading score, has been out the entire playoffs. And then it's announced Mitchell Robinson out for the rest of the playoffs. Jalen Brunson played early, then disappeared because he was hobbled, came back in the second half. Oh, geez, not at 100%.

Everything lined up for the Pacers. And we know the NBA officials have been doing this for the entire playoffs. They're letting players be physical. It's better basketball. And the Pacers are a tempo team, a finesse team, a get up and down the floor team, and they can't adjust on the fly. So it's like asking a finesse football team to go into Baltimore and face the Ravens. That's why the Ravens had like six blowouts this year at home.

The Knicks are shooting 55% from the floor in the playoffs. because Indiana won't put a body on them. But it's more than that. New York's DNA, they're a physical bunch of guys, and they're now being allowed to be even more physical. The Pacers are a finesse team, and they're trying to fake it, because now the league is set as a whole,

we're going to let everybody play. So you notice the teams that are flourishing in the playoffs. They're the physical teams that the NBA is allowing to be even more physical. It plays right into their style. the Celtics, the Knicks, the T-Wolves, O KC. But Rick Carlisle, no, no, no, no, he's blaming market size? We deserve a fair shot, you know, and it's just not. There's not a consistent balance.

Their physicality is rewarded and ours is penalized. Just, you know, time after time. Small market teams deserve an equal shot. They deserve a fair shot. No matter where they're playing. That sounds like a fan. Oklahoma City flourishing. Minnesota flourishing.

Spurs Dynasty. Bucks with a title. Major markets like New York previous to this year for 20 years. Atlanta, D.C., Chicago, Detroit, been in the toilet forever. both LA teams are out. The Bay Area teams out. Give me a break.

Philadelphia, big market, can't get past the second round. This is the first time New York's been relevant forever. Go look at the last four minutes of the game. Go look at the rebounds. Knicks have nine. Paisers have three. So the Indiana issue is that their construction is built for speed and tempo. And New York's construction.

instruction before the season started was built for toughness. And even when the Knicks lose a tough guy Randall or a tough guy Mitchell Robinson and Brunson, another tough guy is hobbled, their DNA is still built for these playoffs, as is OKC and Minnesota and Boston. I mean, this last night, it was served up for you. Brunson and O.G are hobbling around. Isn't about market size. you're getting bullied, especially in the fourth quarter, where the Knicks have been a good clutch time team this year.

But watch these fourth quarters. This is like a guy that's a finesse boxer trying to be a bully, and it's like a bully hobbled but still allowed to be a bully. Indy's a poser. This is not what they are. The league tweaked the rules, and they can't adjust because it's not the construction of the lineup. Here's Tibbs after.

We know we're not going to be able to shoot the ball. like that every night. So when we're not, we've got to be able to win with our defense and our rebounding, our hustle, and we're short-handed to start with. And maybe this might be a byproduct of being short-handed all year. We know that this is our

way. Our way is to play really hard all the time and to play together. And if we do that, we'll have a chance. This series is all about fight, determination, focus, and hustle and toughness. Check, check, check, check, check. Nick's winning all of those.

Okay, so Yokic, Nicola Yolkich won his third MVP in four years. And I don't think NBA players and former NBA players are rooting for this. Shack last night on TV, this is not who he wanted to win. You know, I love you, the best player in the league. I want to congratulate you. But I want you to hear from me first. I thought the SGA should have been the MVP. That's no disrespect to you.

but congratulations. Thank you, Shai. We don't judge people here, so that's fine. It's your opinion. I'm joking. Here's the thing. Yokic is the best player in the world.

Not having a great series, best player in the world. But aesthetically, it's not a very pretty game. And aesthetics have always mattered in the NBA, starting with Dr. J. On. They can sometimes fool us, but in this sport, they matter.

I mean, as a kid, you know, I grew up as a kid. Most kids are not sitting around mimicking and copying Yokic's game near the basket. They're doing that with Ant or MJ or Kobe. And that matters in the NBA. So two things we know are true. Europeans are taken over the league. Most don't want to be faces of the league. And Ant and Tatum, as domestic players, may be the only roadblock to that in the next decade.

Ant is what a face of the league sort of plays like. Vertical, trash talk, in your face. Let me guard the best guy. A lot of his points are absolutely, it's like old school NBA 80s, 90s. A lot of his points are spectacular and physical and dunking on you. And that is the history of the NBA. But even in the NFL, aesthetics play a huge role. I'll give you an example.

The entire time, Brady, was dominating the league. death by a thousand cuts precision detail all I heard it's Belichick the game manager anybody could do this Aaron Rogers won a single

Super Bowl Brady had a collection but the minute Aaron Rogers who's got more style and flash won a single Super Bowl you started hearing goat talk what

you got one the minute Holmes won his second Super Bowl, also a player with lots of style, goat talk. I don't know, Tom's got like seven. And it wasn't until Tom Brady. Remember this. He wins the Atlanta Super Bowl, right? He gets the Atlanta Super Bowl.

Super Bowl down there is fifth. Then he surpasses Montana. And then and only then, with his fifth, we said, all right, okay, he's the goat. Aaron Rogers got that chatter, like substantial chatter after one. Mahomes after two. So even in the NFL, style matters. And I mean, Michael Vic got on the cover of Madden. Didn't have a long history of sustained playoff success.

So Yokic doesn't have that style. Style matters. And in the NBA of all the leagues, it probably matters more than any other league. And I do think current players and former players don't love Yokic, kind of taking over the league and the awards. I mean, he is the most valuable player in the league. Now, we've seen Ant explode. I think next year, Wembe will be on a very, very short list of players to do that.

For a couple years, it was Yonis. Now he gets banged up more often. But I think what Shaq said wasn't just numbers. It was sort of what the league is rooting for. because if you go back and look at when this league has been its most popular and discussed, you know, it's like Michael J, Magic Bird. And as the league's gotten more international, it's not necessarily helped the domestic ratings. Now, the league's always going to make money.

But I do think Yokic winning this. I mean, the M-Beed MVP last year felt like an anti-Yokic vote as much as it did a pro-Jole M-Bid vote. I mean, M-Bid's not nearly as valuable as Yolkish. a player. He doesn't have that kind of distribution talent. He's, you know, Yokic plays more often. He's more readily available. He elevates other players due to his brilliant

passing. His ability to hit three-point shots. Yokic is more valuable than M-B'd. Everybody knew it, and they still gave it to M-beat. It was a better story, and it felt more true to what NBA players and former players want the league to be, not what the league now is.

Very European. And Yokic being the best player. J. Mac, last night is one of those, you know, they always say Stiles make fights. And I'm watching that game, and I'm thinking as Jalen Brunson leaves the floor in the first half, and I'm thinking, no Randall, no Robinson, no Brunson, OG's not 100%. And I'm like, if you can't, then the third quarter starts, and it's all Knicks, and you're like, okay, you're trying to pretend you want to get physical.

but it's just not Indiana. It's just not who you are. It has nothing to do with markets. Well, there's one guy in Indiana who was physical, T.J. McConnell. And then Rick Carlisle took him off the court for the final seven minutes, and the Pacer stopped being physical with Brunson. I mean, Colin, listen, you know I love the NBA. I love NFL.

I got to say, I was thrilled last night that the game ended early so I could get to bed at a reasonable hour. Yeah. Because these double-headers every night in the NBA, they're taxing. NFL we talk about it. It's like Thursday night football, Sunday night football, Monday night, you get to rest the other nights of the week.

Yeah. NBA, there's doubleheaders. You're going to bed at like 10, 11 o'clock. I know. Try being out east. Yeah. Thank goodness I moved out here. Try being out east. All right, good stuff today. Julian Edelman will stop by our show. He was at that roast, among other things. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

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sponsored by credible great rates, none of the bull. So I do appreciate LeBron James and JJ Reddick. Responding to me, some would say lashing out, but I would just say responding. Because I talked about a very, very serious issue in America that I see now exploding. I do not like it at all. it is important people wearing their hat backwards.

We got into this very serious topic yesterday on the show. Don't love the backward hat for JJ Reddick. I'm going to open with that. Reddick's got an interesting look. Collared shirt, backwards hat, tatted up arms. I didn't hear a word LeBron said. I couldn't stop staring at the hat. JJ Reddick's going for NBA head coaching jobs.

He looks like a guy that's going to move my couch. Didn't like it. I would tell JJ to his face. I'm like, dude, you're going to be an executive in this league. you're going to be a high-level executive or coach. Oh, whatever. You guys can go ahead and push back on that stuff. I didn't like it.

My opinion, my show. Our show. I can't do, I can't just, I don't like that look at all. You are going to be an NBA coach. He's one of the most cerebral guys in the world talking basketball. Literally, he's so layered beyond, he's like a great, he's Christopher Nolan in Hollywood. He is directing at a different level. J.J. Reddick is talking basketball at a different level.

And look at this guy. I mean, listen, folks, we can't just keep. We keep lowering our standards or pretty soon hat on backwards becomes flip-flops and board shorts to work. If I have to be the mean guy that starts the national dialogue on, I don't know, standard, so be it. We can't trust our politicians. Have you seen the three people running for president? Yikes. I won't be part of that.

As America's honesty broker, sometimes I talk about stuff you don't want to hear but need to hear. and I'm sad to say I'm getting a lot of pushback on this as LeBron and JJ Reddick blasted out at me. Okay, I'll take it. That's fine. Go ahead. Standards or standards. If not me, then who raises this serious issue?

Somebody's got to. I've started a national dialogue. We'll go back and forth on this. God bless me and God bless America. Nick Wright understood the seriousness of it. Even if people vehemently disagree with you on the specifics of backwards hat or forwards hat. I don't really give a shit that JJ Reddick was wearing a backwards hat at all. I would not hire JJ Redick right now to be the head coach of Los Angeles Lakers that he responded to the clip.

Now, I do not feel that way. Steve Kerr, one of the smartest people I've ever covered and one of the smartest people in league history went from a very, very funny. sardonic, witty broadcaster. An hour later, he was a general manager. But JJ Reddick's got a great future. I am... To turn your life around, you have to first turn your hat around. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. I'm glad you... You push back to little, but I think you're coming around. I'm going to stay out of this one. I don't need to catch any shrapnel.

I'm just over here. I'm just over here catching strays while you're blasting J.J. Reddick and LeBron. Blasting's not quite it. I think I'm trying to pull him to my side in America. A little bit yesterday. In front of you on purpose, I think you chuckled. But it doesn't matter. You're going to be wearing a tank top soon,

and everybody will enjoy that when the Jets win the AFC East. All right. Let's go to the NBA. The Mavs, they've dropped game one in OKC. Luca and Kyrie kind of struggled, especially Luca. Game two is tonight. Yes, I'm on the Mavs again. We will see if they're able to slow MVP runner-up SGA,

who got seemingly every call in the world shot a billion three throws. Finished with 29 points. Small market guy got the calls? What's happening? At home. Come on. Homer calls. Luca, six of 19. 19 points on 19 shots. He's got the bum knee.

That's no lift on the three. Have you noticed when you watch OKC, they look a little like the Knicks on the floor? On the floor, hustling defense? They do. They play like the Knicks. They're a tough team being allowed to play even tougher. A physical team being allowed to play even more physical like the Knicks. And what a shock.

They're both crushing it. Well, at home, that usually happens. That we didn't see Denver have that urgency and that hustle, getting the offensive boards. We saw it from OKC. We saw it from the Knicks. I think a different Dallas comes out tonight. I will say this. You know, our great producer found this quote.

an anonymous veteran assistant coach. You could almost sense a sigh of relief from Lucas' teammates when he checks out of the game. It's a sense of, hey, now we get to play. It's difficult to have rhythm if you're not touching the ball. Can I say this has been my assertion that some stars are easier to play with than others. Jason Tatum is very easy to play with. Kobe was not always easy to play with. needed Shaq and Gasol to take the ball away at times.

If he didn't respect you, Kobe would just shoot his way out of a slump. Gasol and Shaq, he respected their games, or a Derek Fisher, okay, so I'm not hitting it, I'll move off. LeBronzo has been willing to move off if he's cool, if his game cools down, he in his prime years would move off. Luca is not easy to play with. Brunson's become a superstar in this league, leaving him. Ronta was very good with him.

Yeah, he was very good. He's not good anymore. He got to conference finals with Luca. But this is such non-I almost said a bad word, sorry, such nonsense because, Colin, where was this when they were on a 17-2 run to end the regular season? When they're rolling, everything's great. And now they lose one game. And here comes anonymous.

We have to be honest about this. Regular season, especially late regular season winning streaks in the NBA are, fraudulent. A third of the league is like tanking. Like they want to get better draft positions. The best teams are often load management resting their sort of semi- hobbled stars. So I've been on this for years that you've got to be very, sometimes a late season winning street can matter. The Sun's played great late in the season. Last 10 games, they got swept. Dallas played great. Look at it. The other thing what is true is playoff basketball has always rewarded physical teams and healthy teams.

You know, Janus Dame banged up, Embedde banged up, Luca banged up. It's hard enough to win these games when your centrifugal force is banged up. Now, you could say Brunson's banged up, but yet in the second half last night, he put the cape on, did it again, so the Knicks are hard to figure out. Some of it's just the East isn't very good.

But this is my assertion with Luca. But not all stars. It's a big difference playing with Tatum than Mello. Or different perhaps playing with Brunson than with a Kobe. Like, not all stars are perfect and not all of them are easy to play with. So it sounds like you like OKC tonight. They're favored by five? I think OKC is the better team, the deeper team, and the healthier team.

Interesting. I'll just say, I'm just glad you're not a Luca bowl-centric kind of guy here on this show. Well, you share the ball well. I've worked with guys who don't share well. I'm sure you have as well. It's not fun, right? Well, it's just more fun when we can laugh together, not just, yeah. I mean, it's always more fun when more people can have fun at the party, right?

100%. Let's move on to the Nuggets. Oh, boy. They are in deep, deep trouble. Deep. Down O2. Now, head to Minnesota. They get an extra day off to think about the losses. Not because they down to O two or O2 in your case, but because you can tell their confidence was snatched.

Their belief was snatched. There's a lot of doubt. Not sure when they leave Denver. But whether they get on that plane to Minnesota tomorrow or the following day on Wednesday, they get on that plane doubt and uncertain if they can compete with the Minnesota Timberwoods. Feels like he's being generous, Colin.

This is over. Well, I think his point on the volume podcast, I think his point is good. It's not that they've lost. It's how they've lost. And I think Draymond's right. They look like a team that's rattled and like almost not interested in getting into this sort of street fight. Like Minnesota, this is pit bull and a beach ball.

Like it looked uncomfortable. Denver was uncomfortable in that game. Like I think Indiana looks uncomfortable in the fourth quarter against the Nixon. aggressiveness. Philadelphia didn't look uncomfortable. They just didn't play well. Philadelphia was willing to get into that street fight. Indiana is just not built for it. I don't know if Denver's built for the relentless defense and depth and size of Minnesota. And what you're seeing now in the NBA, and this is why NBA playoff basketball, it's the only sport that looks totally different than the regular season. I mean, if you watch a Dodger game now

in the postseason, you will screw around with your pitching rotation to get the best pitchers in the playoffs. But by and large, your line-ups, your lineup. It's an individual sport. Guys don't go up with days off. They want to get hits and pictures want to get outs. In the NFL and in hockey, you can't just casual it. You've got to have your head in a swivel. You can get hurt. But in basketball, the season is so long that the regular season, there's an apathy. You experiment, your rotations, you rest guys. And when the playoffs get here, some teams just cannot flip that switch. So Denver play, or Minnesota was a physical team all year. The Knicks for physical and now the league saying, yeah, we're going to reward you, be more physical.

And some of these teams like Denver, it doesn't look like they want to fight. And again, it's not to knock the Denver players, but you're right. They don't look like they've got the dog in them. That's right. Like Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, these guys are, they're getting after it. Even Walker, the kid from Virginia Tech who gets in. Like he's picking up full court, you know, slapping the floor, clapping as his. He's ready to go.

I think this is going to be Denver gets swept. And then we got a lot of questions. Like, maybe the Phoenix Suns aren't that bad. They were more competitive than Denver, right? Right. What does Denver do? Can they retool? Yeah, no.

I mean, it's, this. I think we both said this the other day. Well, I did it because I lived with it. Is that in the 70s NBA, you had a lot of really good teams that had two good years. The Sixers, the Sonics, the Blazers, the Warriors, they didn't become dynasties. They were all really good teams. I could name the starters for all of them. is this the 70s NBA?

Usually you have a dynasty somewhere in the decade. It's a Laker dynasty. It's a Belis dynasty. It's a Seltic dynasty. It's a spur. It's back to the Lakers. It's the Warriors.

We've had a lot of dynasties. The Heald's kind of. This is like a non-doubt. The last five winners, this year we may have our sixth different champ in six years. So we've had a box, a Laker, a warrior, a raptor. I think we're headed to a T-Wolve, Thunder,

or Celtic Championship. So that will be the six different team. in six years. The only problem with the 70s is there were, what, there weren't even three point. The three point line didn't even exist. There was like 24 teams. If you look at the last, like, I don't know, going back to Magic's Lakers and

Jordan's Bulls, like, there's all been dynasties. That's all we've seen in the last 35 years. What I'm saying is the 70s is the only decade that I watched the NBA without it. 80s, 90s, 2000, it's all been dynasties for a majority of the decade. I think we're

moving back into, we don't have a dynasty. Now, I did think Denver looked a little like the Spurs. They felt dynastic. But apparently they're not. Does Minnesota? I don't think they do. And listen, I know people say, the ratings say this. Just stop. Like, you know, YouTube is where a lot of the kids live these days. YouTube, there's like double the followers, subscribers on YouTube for the NBA to the NFL. NBA is a young person sport. Yes. I'm just curious how the young people are going to adjust to this because, like, they'll be fine. Young people are much better at adjusting than old people. old people don't adjust well. Young people adjust all the time.

Smart point. Final story is Joe Burrow. Another guy you like. He's in attendance at Bengals OTAs. Back to throwing footballs. He had the season-ending wrist surgery in November. Here he is talking to the media about his recovery and the challenges he's faced. This was a difficult injury. It's been a tough, tough several months, but physically it's not the worst injury that I've had. You know, I've been through much, much tougher things physically and so that's been a positive. I've been able to really lift and continue my off-season program kind of the way that it always has been. They need to have serious conversations about next draft, drafting a quarterback, second, third

round. I can't hear my... I almost saw... Is it Joe Burrow with a backwards hat, Colin? I don't know. It's practice. I'm not going to... It's a podium thing. Got it, just to be sure. Podium podcast.

And I looked at podium and podcast. I looked it up, by the way. Burroughs missed 15 games in the last four years. So the Glass Joe moniker? Yeah. The shoot fits. Listen, Brady got upset because he still had... He had stuff in the tank, and he was right when they went and got Garoppolo.

But New England always drafted quarterbacks, mostly like fourth, fifth. six round until Garoppel. But I do think next year, if they went and drafted a quarterback, if Joe got hurt again, even for a month, he played 14 at the 18. I think you have to second, third round, you have to address and Joe has to understand

we're having to play backups all the time now. We need a good backup. Well, the kid, was it Browning? I thought he was solid. Maybe you just should draft a quarterback every single year. Well, you and I have talked about that. Is that it's some things, I believe two things in football.

ball in the next decade people will figure it out. I think there's a science to the draft and I think there's really three positions you should draft high nine out of ten years. Offensive tackles, great defensive linemen and quarterbacks. I think you can get speed everywhere third round on. Well, edge rusher or defensive tackle? Because that's a big difference. Quarterback, left tackle or great defensive presence up front. It could be interior, Chris Jones. That should be your first round pick and a majority of of your second round picks. I think the science is coming out more and more and more and more.

ESPN had a researcher this year that came out with it and acknowledged that the positions you should draft early are quarterback, tackle, guard, center, you're bigs. And as you got down to receivers and backs, you had way more misses early because you can get speed anywhere. God gives a lot of people speed. Doesn't give a lot of people size and good feet. And the second thing, I think, that we'll look back on in 20 years or 10 years. years is 60 quarterbacks play every year. Why don't you carry two starters? That's why I totally

defend Atlanta. Atlanta is on the forefront of this trend to have two. At worst, you should have a gardener Minshue as a backup. At worst, the quarterback, you just have to have a conversation with quarterbacks. We're going to have a B plus quarterback. We're looking for an A, but we're going to have a B plus guy. Miami with two has to have a legit. And if the quarterback can't handle it, nobody wants to hear your pity party you're paid 25 35 35 million a year but i think you're going to look back and go we're playing 60 quarterbacks a year why why does everybody have like a discount backup quarterback it's a real position yeah like broncos fans were upset remember they had stid him and then they got zach wilson like right before the draft and then they draft bow nicks in the first round

that's what you should have that that's the smart move you should have a starter that didn't work as a franchise guy Zach Wilson didn't work as a franchise guy but a first round quarterback talent as your backup. That's a legitimate backup. Or third string. I mean, Stidham has shown well in very little. But Stim's not good enough to be a back. You should be able to lose. Teddy Bridgewater to me is like, that was the classic great backup.

Breeze goes out, he goes five and oh. I think he was a first round. Well, that's my point. So when you're a first round quarterback and you don't make it and like 70% don't make it, that's who I want as a backup. Teddy Bridgewater can go five and oh. Zach Wilson could go 2 in O in Denver with Sean Payton as a coach. And the league just does not take backup quarterback seriously at all in 65 guys play a year.

Did you say the hit rate in the first round was like 50% for quarterbacks? Yeah. And so what is it like the third, fourth, fifth round? By the way, Kenny Pickett is a guy who should be a backup, but Kenny Pickett has started for a profoundly important franchise. Kenny Pickett may not want to hear that, but Kenny Pickett or a Mitch Trubiskey. That's a reasonable backup. That's what I'd want in my roster.

A guy who started big games, played in big TV games, was viewed as a first, second-round-level talent. How about this? Washington drafted Jayden Daniels second. They already had Marcus Marriota as their backup. Yeah. They have Jeff Driscoll, and then they grabbed my guy, Sam Hartman, from Notre Dame after the draft. So it's like they've got four guys, and I think that's probably the smart strategy. Get as many as you can in there.

Quarterbacks, you can flip them like a house. A lot of these teams see backup quarterback is, you know, a fifth. round guy to hang around. I see it as Zach Wilson. Everybody should have a Zach Wilson. He's a great talent for a backup. That's what the league should be. And I think in 10, 20 years, people look back and go, why do we have all these ham and eggers, these six round guys as backups when we knew they eventually play? I mean, even Big Justin Herbert got hurt. Lamar's been hurt. Burle's been hurt. Stafford gets hurt. Rogers gets hurt. Mahomes about the only guy not getting hurt. That's how I see it. And turn your hat around. Jay Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurling News. So this is interesting. J. Mack and I have kind of been on different sides, but I'm not sure we are. So if you were the Green Bay Packers, today you had to make a decision, or the next week, would you make Jordan Love like the next highest paid player in the league? give them an extension, usually the next guy that gets the contract in the NFL at quarterback becomes the highest paid guy for six months or whatever.

If you had to make a decision in a week, would you do it? Or would you have pause? I'll throw something out next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. 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.

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I don't know why the media can't figure this out. It seems pretty simple. Highest paid quarterback in the NFL doesn't win Super Bowls. Mahomes has been the exception and he's the greatest quarterback in the league and some are making the argument he's the best player ever at the most important position. But generally, you don't want your quarterback to be the highest paid player. Get the bag is stupid. It's not dumb for the player. It's dumb for everybody else. You don't want your teams to be inflexible. You want to be able to buy other players. The media people who fall for that just don't know what they're talking about. You don't want your quarterback to be the highest paid. So here's a story this morning that Jordan Love of the Packers has a case

to become the NFL's highest paid player. Okay, so let's think about this. I like him a lot. He had a nine game stretch. Eight of those nine games, he was elite. That's it. From November 19th to January 14th, two months, he was elite. Nine games, eight times elite.

Now, I'm not making a comparison here. But Tim Tebow had a six-game winning streak. And the world lost its mind. I didn't. I never bought it for a second. Blake Bortles in his second year in the NFL threw for 35 touchdown passes. Second in the league. and people were fooled by it.

My take is whoever quarterback's Green Bay when they're young, Farr, Aaron, or Jordan is going to succeed at some level because Green Bay, they do quarterbacks right, especially young quarterbacks. They always have good old lines, enough weapons, offensive-minded coaches, not a lot of big market pressure. Green Bay does young quarterbacks better than anybody. Is Jordan Love good enough to overcome a defense,

coach who's over his skis and a bad old line? I don't think so. But then again, not many are. But here's the thing. You don't have to worry about that. Because Green Bay is never in chaos, never has a terrible offensive line, never has a defensive coach,

and always has good enough weapons. Now I think they have excellent weapons. Do I think Jordan Love feels like highest paid quarterback in the league talent? I do not. I don't think he's as talented as Mahomes or John Josh Allen or Lamar or Matt Stafford or a healthy Justin Herbert just to start or Joe Burrow when he's healthy.

But I do think he's talented. But I mean, you've got to be careful on this. Blake Bortles, people bought into it. Baker Mayfield with Kevin Stefansky makes the playoffs. Everybody's all in. The next year, they're bailing on him. So there are hot streaks. Rich Gannon had a, it was a good quarterback who had an unbelievable year.

Matt Ryan was a good quarterback who had an MVP year. So you do have these outlier years. I think Jordan Love, I think this is reasonable. The opinion I have is reasonable. I think he's the guy. I'd love to see another six stars. Can you get me to mid-October? And if I get five of six and I go, yeah, that's it?

Then I'm good. Right now, I'd be a little, not a lot. I'd be a little reluctant today, if given the choice, to give him that kind of money. I'm not asking much for a full season. Give me six, seven more starts. I've got like 17, 18 weeks of good, really good, then I'm in. But you can go to Blake Bortles. I mean, you think it sounds funny.

The world lost there and you know what with Tim Tebow. And it's like, are you guys watching the game? Saturday Night Live was doing skits on it. But sports fans and executives, a lot of fear-based stuff, pressure, pandemonium. I think, I think J. Mack and I have said, I'm higher on Jordan Love. than J-Mac is, but even I think, I wouldn't want to pay him now. You've got to give me another six, seven starts. He's had one nine-game stretch.

Remember, at the start of last year, one of the nicest coaches in the league, Matt LaFleur, was visibly angry and calling him out at the podium. Now, he would apologize two days later, but he was clearly frustrated by what he couldn't do in games up until, like, mid-October last year. So he's yet to have a great season. He's had a great stretch.

Would you pay him today? Highest paid quarterback. That's a question for you. He needs to get paid. You can't say, well, let's see six or seven more starts. No, it doesn't work like that. Jordan Love earned his keep, got you within striking distance in the Super Bowl. I don't have to pay him today.

By and large, you should always wait. Oh, yeah. That's what quarterbacks want. And then he gets a big knee injury. He didn't get his payday. because you guys shafted him. Well, yeah, that would protect the franchise. Yeah, but what about me?

I'm your franchise quarterback. What do you do without me? Stay healthy. Okay. What do you mean? What am I going to do without you? We moved off Aaron Rogers. It seemed to be fine.

Okay, fine. Moved off of Jordan Love. I thought you guys had it all figured out in Green Bay. No, but I'm saying if he, your argument is, well, what if he breaks his knee? Well, then the Green Bay Packers were right. You should always wait. You should mostly always wait, unless you identify very early. That is just so disrespectful to the player.

They don't own the team. The NFL's called not for long. That's right. These guys get hurt all the time. I'm okay. In our business, it's different. I'm not going to get laryngitis tomorrow and not be able to talk, but you could have a career any injury.

You're saying it's disrespectful to the player. That is what I hear from young media all the time. You've got to take care of the player. You've got to take care of the team, the roster, the future, the fans. It's not just about getting guys rich. But there's none of that without the franchise quarterback. That's right. But the worst thing is paying a guy like he is, and now he can't play or he's hurt.

So you want your cake and you want to eat it too? No, no, no. That's not true. Like Mahomes got paid early because I identified him by his second ear as an all-timer. Well, that was different because he was in the second, you know, he's got his rookie contract, sat out one year, and then was a superstar. That's right. So would Jordan Love, if Green Bay is a bit more reticent to go, give us another eight starts? think that's reasonable.

Okay. So then it'll be reasonable if Jordan Love says, well, if you need another eight starts for me, I'm going to hold out. That's reasonable too. Could you do that? I'm not going to show for OTA. That's a very NBA feel. That's not really what the NFL does.

We'll see what's going on with Tua in Miami. I was talking to some people this week. We'll see, we'll see what's happening with Tua in Miami. You think Tua's got a market? You think he's happy that he's not gotten paid? Again, who cares? He's an MVP candidate. I don't know why I end up defending these quarterbacks that I don't even love.

Kirk Cousins is unhappy. Oh, sad. You made $400 million playing. You're coming off an Achilles. Tua hasn't made anywhere near that. Jordan Love hasn't sniffed that. Tua struggles. I mean, there's a

history college and pro of him staying healthy, can't throw a deep ball, has to play in really mild weather. You're going to tell me what I have to do? I agree with that. But from Tua's perspective, step into Tua's shoes for a second, Colin. How would you feel?

Well, I'm not saying you shouldn't have your feelings hurt. But you should always wait. Unless you identify a quarterback. Like, Lamar Jackson came into the league, and we all went, the hell. Herbert, literally first game against Mahomes. You're like, yeah, that works. Josh Allen, Mahomes. Yeah, those guys you identify early.

Jordan Love couldn't get on the field for four years. That's a different, and it was bad. And was bad his first six starts. That's a whole different ballgame than Mahomes. So you said you wait. You know what happens when you snooze? You lose. No, you know what happens when you snooze?

You wake up, rested, and healthy. I'm for snoozing all the time. Wake up refreshed. Okay. I think we actually agree on Jordan Love. You've just decided this morning to argue with the take of poor guy who wants to get the bag. Show me the money. That's what Jordan Love's saying right now.

That's what you're saying. I'm just looking at it from the star's perspective. Look at Trevor Lawrence, by the way. I'm just looking at what Trevor Lawrence is. number one pick, college all-American, it's a different quarterback. Another podcast from some SNL

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