The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Tom Brady, Lakers

Episode Date: August 29, 2022

Jason McIntyre in for Colin   Tom Brady's returns and what to expect from the Buccaneers What will the Lakers do with Russell Westbrook?   Guest: Steve WycheSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it's the herd here on Fox Sports Radio. No, this is not Colin Cowherd. I'm Jason McIntyre in for Colin. He is currently vacationing in parts unknown. I think a lot of you guys probably know me from The Herd. I filled in on Undisputed. I had a Fox Sports Weekend radio show.

I also had a great phenomenal weekend. College football is back. We have some college football gambling later in the show that we'll get to. Cannot wait to bet on college football this coming weekend. We'll do a lot of NFL. There will be some NBA. I will talk Lakers and the latest with Russell Westbrook. Got a couple good guests lined up thanks to the great producers here.

I myself, I'm headed to Vegas this week to sign up for the $5.3 million gambling contest. Cannot wait to do that. Lay down to some future wagers. Ah, Jason McIntyre in for Colin Coward. It feels good to say that, doesn't it? Right? I mean, you guys definitely know me. I go to a bunch of Dodgers games out here.

By the way, Dodgers, 50 games over 500. I'm holding out hope for a Dodgers Yankees World Series. That would be quite phenomenal. But this was the final weekend, of course, of the NFL preseason. Ten days left until Bill's Rams on September 8th. By the way, I talked about it elsewhere. I've got some Bill's fans, friends, who are going to that game. They are renting a party bus.

They have already picked up the folding. tables. They will try to duplicate the Bills Mafia in the SoFi parking lot. These guys are animals. It's going to be rowdy at SoFi. By the way, I've already bet the bills in that game, for those of you who are wondering. That being said, this past weekend, the preseason wrapped up.

There were three basically big storylines. Number three was the Ravens mascot Torres ACL. I'm sure you guys saw that video on social media. Number two was my New York Jets. And if you're watching at home, I'm wearing a Jets T-shirt. You know it. Born in New York, baby. Jets finish 3 and O. And that'll probably be the last time we mentioned the Jets on the herd until the NFL

draft when they're picking probably in the top 10. But the number one story was this epic quote that Tom Brady gave after his Tampa Bay Bucks played Brady didn't play much. He played in the first quarter and I'll get to the quote in a second. But I want to set it up this way.

So those of you who know me know that whatever modicum of success I've had professionally has largely been attributed to kind of reading the tea leaves projecting ahead, kind of beating the market, whether it was sports gambling, the media. I also am a minority

owner of some sports teams. For instance, we bought a basketball team in New Zealand, right, the breakers. And we knew that the market for basketball was huge around the globe. But if you want to prepare for pro basketball and you want to make the NBA, do you want to go to Spain where there's a language barrier

and there's some climate issues, or do you want to go to New Zealand, where there's no language barrier and an absolutely tremendous climate. And look at this. We've had three guys drafted in the last five years, right? You don't have to ride buses in the G-League. You go enjoy life in New Zealand.

So I've been fortunate enough to beat the market in some things. You know, the old Raym Gretzky quote, skate where the puck is going, not where it has been, right? For instance, currently in America, you know, we're searching for a house in Southern California, and, you know, I'm here to tell you that ain't fun. But the forward-looking indicators in the housing market are bad, very bad. For instance, if you look at housing starts and housing permits,

way down. What does that tell you? Four to six months from now, you know, housing prices are going to be going down. The economy's going to have some trouble because of the way the American economy is tied to the housing market. All of that being said, one of my biggest forward-looking indicators in the NFL is the offensive line. I know it's not sexy. Nobody's going to aggregate my hot take on offensive lines, right? But if you are a fantasy football fan, if you're a gambler, you know that football games are won in the trenches. Some of my best runs in the NFL have been looking at the offensive lines and seeing what the hell's going on and reading into that and beating the market to it.

The Dallas Cowboys, for instance, lost Tyron Smith. And some people would be like, oh, they could be okay. All of the numbers say that is a disaster for the Cowboys, which brings me to Tom Brady and the Bucks. If you've been following closely, Tampa, in the last, I don't know, two weeks, they've had a slew of injuries on the offensive line. They're playing musical chairs. They're moving a rookie here.

This guy's never played center. They're going to give it a shot. Guys are wearing name tags at practice. It's ugly. And Saturday night, Tom Brady uttered the line of the preseason after Bucks Colts when he said this to the media. I'm 45 years old, man. There's a lot of shit going on. So, you know, you just kind of try to figure out light the best you can.

And, you know, it's a continuous process. I feel good. I feel good. What did that mean for you? I played football for a long time. So I'm pretty good at it. It doesn't take long for me to remember how to play it. Tom Brady

sounding like a beaten down man now I know a lot of you guys go on vacation in August, we're going out of town soon for a little bit. After vacation I feel refreshed and renewed. I took a bit of a digital therapy break where I'm not on social media except for Instagram of course. And

I feel great when I come off vacation. Tom Brady just had an 11 day absence and his first big meeting with the media after the game says there's a lot of poop emoji going on. Now, I can tell you, like the nerd that I am for football, I went and looked at Tom Brady's opening drive against a Colts.

And folks, nine pass attempts was not touched by a Colts defender. Now, they're not blitzing. It's the preseason. They took it easy. Nothing exotic. But Tom Brady knows he's got to get the ball out quickly. So he's doing the short, short, two-step drops, three-step drops. Most of his passes were within five yards of the line and scrimmage.

Nothing down the field. Why does this matter, Jason? And why are you going so deep in the offensive line? Well, folks, I'm here to tell you. Last year, Tampa Bay led the NFL in pass attempts. Okay? Now, part of this is Bruce Ariens, no biscuit, no biscuit. They had a great receiving group, Kronkowski, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, Godwin.

People quickly forget, a year ago this time, no joke or no cap, as my young sixth grader likes to say, no cap. The Bucks returned all 22 starters from a super. Super Bowl winning team, and there was talk of, oh, could they possibly go undefeated? What could the Bucks do to upstage your Super Bowl? Like, can they run the table? And now you look a year later, and it's like, okay, the head coach is gone. Three interior offensive linemen are gone?

Three. They did not anticipate this. The first move they made when Brady said, I'm back, baby. I'm coming back. They signed their center, Ryan Jensen, to a long-term deal. Well, we know he's out for a long-term. time. And that's bad news. Because the one place you can get pressure on Tom Brady dating back to his New England days. Coming off the edge, he's too smart. He's a crafty veteran. You're not beating

with his feet, but he steps up in the pocket and delivers. Pressure on Brady up the middle is his weakness. And now you're talking about replacing three offensive linemen. And literally, a rookie is going to be starting a guard. I know Worf's is incredible. Yes, I know Donovan Smith has been rock solid. But as of now, they don't know who their center is going to be on opening night in 10 days. I'm sorry, they're not playing in 10 days. They're playing in 12 days. They open against the Dallas Cowboys.

And I just wonder if you're Tom Brady, you're beaten down whatever the hell caused him to take an 11-day break. We still don't know the answer. We may not get it. There was a lot of rumors that, oh, he's going to do the Masked Singer. He shot that down. And then he comes out and just says there's a lot of stuff going on with a expletive in there. I personally love it. But probably the best Tom Brady quote at a media scrum in the last, I don't know, five years, 10? It was awesome. Just looking at him. Now, I had a lot of

you send me DMs on the gram and a lot of tweets, oh, are you going to talk about Tom Brady and all the work he had done? I'm like, guys, come on. Let's just chill with that. I will say, it does look like he's maybe lost some weight that can be attributed to maybe perhaps some stress. I don't know that it's all the offensive line, but whatever he's got going on, I mean, folks, Tom Brady did not look like a guy who was fresh as a daisy coming off an 11-day break. He looked like a dude who's going through some stuff. And that's kind of disappointing because as a, I don't want to say I'm a Brady hater, because as you guys know, I'm a Jets fan. I've always respected Brady. This attributes back to Larry Bird. I was like a young kid and I love Magic Johnson. I hated

Larry Bird. Didn't know anything about him. I didn't like him because he played for the Celtics. And a guy born in New York, like I don't like any Boston teens at all. But I respected Bird because he's incredible. I respect Tom Brady. I have had the fortune of interviewing him twice back in the day when I worked at a magazine. Super cool guy, friendly, nice as could be.

This was before he was, you know, the greatest quarterback in the history of the sport. But whatever Brady's got going on, you know in the back of his mind, oh man, my bucks allowed the fewest sacks in the league last year. The starting offensive linemen, according to some of the numbers online, played 88% of snaps together. That is continuity. And all of a sudden now Tom Brady is looking at three new guys in the middle, maybe a rookie center as of right now. TBD. And the reason Tom Brady is affected by this so greatly is, have you looked at his cap hit this year?

$11.9 million, guys. Tom Brady has always taken less and structured his deals so that you know the answer to this. Tom Brady can build an awesome infrastructure around him, whether it's receivers, defense, offensive line. He wants a loaded roster. Ryan Tannehill's cap hit this year, are you ready? In Tennessee, $38 million. Tom Brady's $11.9 million.

Okay? Tom Brady's cap hit is lower than Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Jimmy G, Sam Darnold. the buck should have flexibility to build out the roster. I can guarantee you this. Tampa Bay this week will be a very popular team surfing the waiver wire. I think I saw a number from one of these NFL reporters that over 800 players are going to be cut in the next couple days as rosters get trimmed down. And I know this is, there's nothing sexy about it, no spiciness to offensive linemen. But it's not going to garner a lot of headlines, but the games are won in the trenches.

And I will wrap up with this, folks. Look at the final offensive rankings. Not a lot of people do offensive line rankings, but pro football focus, I got to give them a shout out. They do a great job. And their final rankings at the end of last year, number one, Dallas Cowboys. Number two, Tampa Bay. Three, 49ers, four Eagles, five chiefs. You know, the one commonality among all five of those, they made the playoffs.

Rams were seventh. They won the Super Bowl. Patriots were ninth. Bengals were the outlier. They were only 20th. Remember Burrow was sack like 50. odd times. They were able to make the Super Bowl. They overcame it. But take a look at the pro football rankings this season heading into the offensive line.

Philadelphia Eagles, number one. Dallas Cowboys, they're coming. They're coming. NFC. East. I like the Eagles. I like the Giants. I don't like the Cowboys. And the Bucks in the offseason were four. That was before they lost. Three potential starters in the preseason. And they're playing. musical chairs on the offensive line. Tom Brady is angry. When he's dropping expletives, coming off a vacation, after a preseason game, something is a miss. It smells rotten in Tampa.

And folks, I really think you need to look very hard at the New Orleans Saints. Yes, the New Orleans Saints. James Winston, famous James, to stun everybody and come out on top in the NFC South. Just take a look at that. Saints over the Bucks. I'm worried about Brady, folks. We've been wondering if he's falling off a cliff for years.

I don't think he falls off a cliff because his schedule is favorable, but I can see some consternation out of Tampa early in September. 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. Yep, that's me, Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from 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 Podcast, 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 Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye They 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 count?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. 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 therapy. Careers, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? 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, is 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. Steve Weish, you can follow him on Twitter at WYCH-E-89.

Steve, good morning. How are you? Good morning, Jason. I'm well. How are you? I'm excellent. Steve, if memory serves, I grew up reading the Washington Post. I seem to remember your byline in the post back in the day.

Yeah, it was there for five years back when I covered the NBA. Yeah. Back when, back during the Michael Jordan after the last dance era, was hovering over the then MCI sense. So, yeah, a long-time NBA guy who has transitioned back to the NFL. Smart, smart. I'm sure the NFL is a lot more fun than Kwame Brown and Michael Jordan in D.C. No, no, nothing like having guys guaranteed contracts, man. They talk.

They don't try to hide anything. They know that money's still coming, so they do speak a little bit more loosely. Yes, they do, Steve. Let's get started with Brady and the Bucks. I do think this offensive line issue, three new faces on the interior. NFL season starts in 10 days and there's a lot of uncertainty. Tom Brady seemed out of sorts at the podium Saturday night. And any thoughts on that?

Well, first off, you get the offensive line issue. You know, when you speak to people around the league, they're like, that's a legit concern. Because the one thing that the Patriots always did and that the Buccaneers did, you know, the past couple years is they were really, really strong on the interior. Guard to Guard, they were able to keep people off of Tom Brady's feet. if you can get that interior pressure on Tom Brady, he's kind of a different guy. Because if you also have an edge guy,

you know, look, and not every team has, you know, that luxury of wealth to have that many people up front. But if you can cause him some distraction right there with getting people on a lot of traffic around him, you know,

he may not be the same guy, but that's a may not. We've seen him see every type of scenario there is and he succeeded. In terms of how he was at the podium, I mean, look, something personal. He wasn't going to divulge what it was. I mean, it's got to be uncomfortable trying to answer a lot of questions about an absence that was excused and it's personal.

So we'll see. You know, we'll see if it turns out to affect his play. You know, who knows he's been through a lot of things in his life personal. You know, his mother was sick and things like that. And he continued to play through it. So he seems he's got the type of resiliency to play through whatever, whatever is going on. I think the bigger issue on the field will be that interior offensive line. Now, as a guy who, like you said, covered the NBA, now the NFL. I feel like, I don't want to say the media is giving this 11-day absence a pass, but I remember when, like, LeBron left Cleveland and went down to Miami in January.

It was like every reporter was digging deep to try to find out what happened. Is it possible that the media knows something here, but it's of a personal nature, so everybody's laying off? That happens sometimes. I mean, look, that's kind of peeling back a layer of what we do. You know, when you may find out something. about a guy. You really, you know, the one thing when you report stores is you have to ask yourself, what is the actual value you are giving to your viewer or your reader or the public?

Right. Does anybody, would anybody really gain anything if you reported a personal issue that may not impact anything other than the person's personal business? And so sometimes, like, you know, It's just not worth it. But if it's something that could affect what people pay money to see, then you really have to weigh that. So there's possible that the media may know something about it and isn't reporting it because, again, it doesn't add the value of anything. Or it could be like they just don't know.

Let's stick with offensive line. It's like a theme. My Jets lost left tackle, Mackay Beckton, Dallas Cowboys, lost left tackle Tyron Smith. Steve, offensive lines, again, They're not sexy. Not a lot of people love to talk about them. But that's, I mean, anybody wants to look at the offensive line.

Look at the Chiefs Super Bowl against a Bucks a couple years ago. With the Chiefs depleted, Mahomes was running for his life literally all game. You know, are we undervaluing the offensive line a little bit just because it's not like a position that's more high profile, say, receiver, a quarterback running back? 100%. Because it's not going to win your fantasy football week. Seriously. But yeah, I mean, look, when you, when you, when you're, you. look at so many of the conversations we're talking about entering the season.

Oh, was the Patriots offensive line like? What's the Steelers' offensive line going to be like? How are the Rams going to replace Andrew Whitworth? You know, is Joan O'nopold going to be that guy? You know, and then you look at the teams, oh, well, San Francisco, you know, Trent Williams, you got a good offensive line there. You know, so it's a big conversation, but even a greater conversation, you know, really in the NFL circles is, you know, when a new coach comes in,

his most important hire is his offensive line coach. Why? Because a lot of the people you have to develop coming from college playing these basically seven-on-seven type of passing systems where they haven't had to get in the mud and really grind in a run game. Or they haven't had to protect against them exotic looks because, you know, in college is basically, you know, you're playing basketball, right? You're boxing out. You're trying to, you know, even though you're front facing, you're trying to box out, someone trying to get a rebound. So yes, yes, the offensive line is a big issue. And that's why a lot of these great offensive linemen are so highly valued when they come out in the draft.

And in part, because some of the great guys, you know, who are playing defensive and in pass rushers right now, these are dudes who are playing, you know, lineback or back, and they're smaller or they're more agile. So the athleticism it takes to play on the offensive line is different that it was just 10, 15 years ago. Interesting. Let's go to Seattle real quick. They seem to have named Gino Smith the starter. You mentioned offensive. line. I think they're going to start two rookies at tackles. And it's weird because they're

running a lot in the preseason. But their two tackles are from those like spread attacks, Washington State and Mississippi State. I don't, what's going on in Seattle? Like, I know it's tough to say like they're tanking. But there is a theory out there that the 49ers may cut Jimmy G. this week. They're just waiting to the last possible moment so he can't reunite or join Seattle and Seattle plays San Fran in week two. And he's not going to be up to speed that quickly. What are you hearing about Seattle and their mess at quarterback and Jimmy G.? Well, I mean, look, you know, there are reports that they are interested in him, but you got to remember, if Jimmy G. gets cut, he gets to choose where he wants to go.

Right? So would they go to Seattle because it's an opportunity to start, and you've got D.K. Metcalfe and Tyler Lockett, I would think that would be interested a little bit. And plus, you know, those rookies have played well in the preseason. Charles Crossing, they've played well in the preseason. So, you know, you really have to see, I mean, this is the move everybody's watching for when it comes cut down a day. Are the niner going to cut them? That's the anticipation.

And who's going to scramble to possibly get them? You know, does a team like the Steelers get in the mix? You know, does a team like Tampa Bay get in the mix? You know, you just don't know. But does Jimmy want to sit behind anybody? So again, if he gets cut, he gets to choose. So then that's where, you know, money

comes into play and the possibility of playing time comes into play. So it would be interesting, but I think Seattle, you know, they feel confident that they're going to be competitive this year. Even if they start Gino Smith, they feel comfortable because, again, this is an offense where they're going to run the ball. You better believe every defense is going to stack the box and say, okay, Gino, beat us with your arm. And that's going to be the challenge. They personnel-wise are in a rebuild on both sides of the ball, but they don't think this is going to be a three or four or five-win team. They think they're going to be a lot better than that.

Wow. All right, Steve, we can wrap up with this. Kansas City Chiefs. weird. The last few years, it's like, all dynasty, Mahomes, Reed, for whatever reason. They've kind of fallen down the totem pole a little bit. It's all about Aaron Rogers, the two MVP, the Buffalo Bills, everybody loves them. The Chargers are like the sexiest team in the league. I feel like the Chiefs are like a little forgotten. I'm just curious where you are on them heading into the season. Obviously, no Tyreek Hill. What do you

think of the Chiefs? I'm 100% with you. I think, first off, when you look at their division, We're talking about all the great talent. You've got two coaches in their first year with their teams and one in a second, who's the one defensive coach in the division. Andy Reid, one, you check that box is the best coach in the division as of right now. And one thing Andy has done throughout his career, whether it be with the Eagles, whether it be with the Chief, he can reinvent his team depending on his personnel. I mean, Tyree Kill wasn't always Tyree Kill.

They were doing things to move the ball in whatever way they had. So yes, maybe they don't have the expletive. place initially that they, you know, that they had with Tyree Kill. But if it's death by paper cut and then Steve Spagnolo can develop some of these defensive players that they've brought in, look, I

still think the Chiefs have the team to beat in that division. The Chargers have the most talent. The Raiders have skilled players out the wazoo. You know, Denver's got Russell Wilson, but overall, I still think going into the season, the Chiefs are the team to beat. Wow. Steve, let me get one more in real quick. I know you saw a lot of the Falcons up close.

I have people asking me for fantasy football advice all the time. The one thing I saw in the preseason about the Falcons, and they're going to be bad, right? I don't know about aggressively bad, but five wins would be lucky. Desmond Ritter looks like he can go. You've seen them up close a lot covering the Falcons and being part of the TV team there. What are your thoughts on Atlanta? I think they would feel confident in them if they had to play. Now they're not going to start.

Marcus Mariot is going to be the guy. Look at their first seven games. You wouldn't put any rookie. You wouldn't put Trevor Lawrence and they're in that schedule the first seven games but I think they feel competent in Desmond River

they threw a lot of stuff at him you know Arthur Smith you see the video clips up and screamed at Desert Ritter he coached him hard because you actually get them ready because we do know the Marcus Mariotta has durability issues you know and if it does get to a point where all of a sudden you know

they're two and six or three and seven they want to make a quarterback change they want Ritter to be ready because they do have you can see the blueprint they do have a good young nucleus of players. They've had two fairly solid drafts. And next year they're going to have a ton of cap space. Are they going to have to use either one of those channels to get a quarterback, or are they going to find out if Ritter can play this year and they're going to ride with him and develop other positions?

So we'll see. But again, Mario Dio is going to be the guy initially, but I think they're very confident that Deson Ritter if you had to play could do just fine. All right. Steve Weish, NFL Network reporter analyst. Steve, thanks a lot for the time. Enjoy the final week off before the season begins. No such thing is off But Jason thanks for having me on All right Steve Weiss, good stuff

Listen I know not a lot of people Are talking about Atlanta guys nationally I look at I don't know That there's any fantasy action there at all Other than Kyle Pitts So yeah That was good stuff from Steve All right let's get to Heard Line News

With Ryan Music No Turn on the news This is the Herdline News Jay Mack Good morning man How we doing I don't think the audience knows that you were the first producer I had when I started doing weekend radio shows for Fox like 2015 or 16.

That's right. Yeah, we go way back. We do go way back. I know music before he even met his wife. That's true. Right? Can I call you volleyball legend Ryan Music? No, you cannot call me volleyball.

He is a good volleyball player. Thank you. I appreciate that, J-Mack. Ryan Music would be good. However, though, no need for the volleyball legend. We are going to start with a couple of NFL preseason stories and then finish. up with, I think, one of your favorite stories of the day, but, you know, we'll see. We'll see when we get there.

Well, there hasn't been much to cheer for in recent years if you're a Bears fan, Jason. But finally, second year quarterback, Justin Fields did show some promise in their final preseason game, throwing three touchdowns and completing 14 of a 16 passes in just the first half. Far and away, probably the best we've seen from Fields in his short NFL career thus far. Now, it was preseason since put it into perspective. if it was mostly against second and third string defense from Cleveland. But for the first time, Justin Fields looking like he might be ready to not be completely and totally overwhelmed at the NFL level.

Oh, yeah, sure. Justin Fields, torching second and third stringers. Some of these guys will be working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in a couple weeks. Listen, that's not to denigrate them, but Justin Fields, come on, dude, he's going to struggle big time. Here's a question. Do you like anyone on the Bears for fantasy, assuming you, because I'm doing like four fantasy drafts this week. Two for my son, two for me. But would you touch Montgomery, Fields, any of these guys? This team's so bad. I mean, I think it depends on what round you're getting them in.

But, yeah, I mean, Darnell Mooney will be a solid wide receiver. Come on. He was a good two opposite Alan Robinson. Now he's going to be the one? Sure, yeah. I think that's part of the reason why they let Alan Robinson walk as they see potential there. Okay. I mean, again, like, are you taking these guys in the first second round?

Of course not. But I wouldn't, I don't think Fields would be very strong. I think David Montgomery is really talented, but behind their offensive line, yeah, I don't think he's going to be a great fantasy. So in the opener, Fields against San Francisco in their nasty front seven, Bosa against that really bad bottom line offensive line, do the Niners win by 20 or 30? What is the opening line? I think the seven is the spread, but that's going to be going up. You think so?

It's in Chicago. I don't think it matters. I mean, the only thing is you don't know what you're getting at. a Trey Lance yet. That's fair. But the Bears defense, like, other than Roquan Smith, who do they have? Name a guy on the Bears' defense. Like, I'm telling, it's that bad. They got nobody. Secondary's garbage. That might be a little aggressive. Fair enough.

Okay. Look, I'm trying to start off on a positive vote. Giving some respect to Justin Fields. I got you coming in, raining on the parade. The good people of Chicago, I haven't had much to look forward to. Let them have the last week of the preseason, Jason. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. All right, Jason. Are you a follower?

Are you following the two and on? Tuanonan. What are you talking about? The Tua. Tunga Viloa? That's right, Jason. Yeah, you better jump on quick because this hype train has left the station. The dynamic duo of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tua Vailoa and his new wide receiver Tariq Hill was on full display over the weekend. The first offensive play of the game of their final preseason, Tua Tarek connected on a 51-yard deep ball against the Eagles. Miami went on to finish that drive with a touchdown, and Tua ended the game completing six of seven. passes with a perfect 158.3 pass.

Wow. I mean, geez, goodness gracious. Tua, Tyreek Hill, they got waddle. This is a potentially good offense. Are you in on the Mike McDaniels as well? I like that guy. He's interesting. I am biracial, as many of you guys know, he is as well.

So I'm rooting for the guy, obviously. I'm, you know, as a Jets guy, I do not like the dolphins. I never have. the Dan Marino fake spike touchdown. Music, you might have been like in diapers at the time. Probably. It still haunts my dreams because I remember it vividly. But I just, the schedule is too daunting.

So let's say they beat the Patriots in week one. At Baltimore, that's a loss. Versus Buffalo, that's a loss. At Cincinnati on a Thursday, after facing Buffalo, that's a loss. So there'll be one in three heading into the jets. So like Tua could have a good opener, but I do think it's going to be a tough go for him. you see the second half of that season, the 49ers. They have three games in a row music in December at San Fran, at the Chargers, at the Bills.

They're going to be dogs of more than a field goal in all those games. I think for the Dolphins, though, at least in this short term, they just need to be productive on offense. Everything they did to, you know, trading for Tyreek Hill, drafting Jalen Waddle, hiring an offensive head coach, paying Toronto Armstead for the left-time. as long as their offense shows improvement and Tua shows that he can be a legitimate NFL starting quarterback, that's good enough. Now, if that means they finish the season 8 and 9 and missing the playoffs, I think that's an improvement than strictly win-loss record that they were having under Brian Flores. So Tua's 24. Think back to when you were 24 music. I was the producer of the big lead with Jason McIntyre.

What is that at 24? Yeah, probably, yeah. I mean, I'm just trying to think of Tua's mindset when all they did, The owner wanted Watson, and they were looking at Watson. Mindset on Watson. And then two was sitting there like, what about me, guys? And now they bring in a new coach. I just wonder, at 24 years old, I know I would have been a wreck. Now, at my advanced stage, I would have been confident like, hey, whatever happens.

Just a sage of knowledge and wisdom. At 24, dude, he's got to be right. For sure. If there are some early struggles. Absolutely. No, I totally agree with you. I'm just giving you a hard time. Yeah, it must have been incredibly difficult.

not only just all of the rumors that were happening about trying to replace him with other quarterbacks, but literally on the field with the on again, off again, we're going to start Ryan Fitzpatrick and all this other stuff. So I'm with you. He was given a tough set of cards for the first couple years in the NFL. We'll wrap up with this, Jason. The one that I teased earlier as potentially your favorite story of the day? I don't know. We'll see here.

It is the story that we thought was over, but eventually finds its way to come back. As Aaron Rogers decided it was time to stir it up all over again. The rating back-to-back MVP was on the Joe Rogan experience to talk all about his vaccine stance from a year ago. He wanted to put into proper context all of his comments where he may or may not have misled the media regarding his vaccine versus immunized comments. Here's a bit from Rogers. I had time for this question and had thought about how I wanted to answer it. Had come to conclusion, I'm going to say, I've been immunized. and if there's a follow-up, then talk about my process.

But thought there's a possibility that maybe they understand what that means. Maybe they don't. Maybe they follow up. They didn't follow up. So then I go the season, them thinking some of them, that I was vaccinated. So there's that. And he also came. Playing games with the media, dude.

I mean, but that's what Aaron Rogers has done for years now. I mean, this was just the latest iteration of his slow campaign against what he deems to be the unfair media portrayal of him. He also talked about his defense of other players who weren't vaccinated and that the NFL was threatening their job status. You took out your day-to-day status on the team, but your ability to get a job, your ability to keep a job, your ability to get a tryout if you get cut from this team.

And then they scared teams and said, if you had an outbreak caused by a non-vaccinated player, you'd not only forfeit that game, but you wouldn't get paid for that week. And here I am showing up to training camp, Joe, the first day. And we got five people who work for the organization out with COVID all fully vaxed. And I got COVID from a fully vaxed individual who only got vaxed to keep his potential of being a part of the NFL. Oh, gosh.

I mean, nothing surprising out of this interview. I thought it was a little disappointing. There just wasn't more sports in there. Like I didn't get a lot. I listened to, and I haven't finished it, but I was listening to it on the drive-in a little bit this morning. and it's like, like, I listened to a little bit of the Zuckerberg one. I don't know if you heard Zuckerberg and Rogan this week. Just parts of it.

That was really rough. So I read this on a bumper sticker because I wrote it down. Know something about everything. Know everything about something. So for me, that would be like I know something about every team in the NFL. And I feel like I know everything about the New York Jets. Fair. Aaron Rogers, to me, feels like he knows everything about everything.

You know, he feels like he, oh, my God. I'm just breaking down the COVID. I'm doing my own research. And listen, personally, I'm glad that we're not talking about that crap anymore. Although I do know some people who've had COVID recently. And it's not great. I just, I can't get worked up about this. Can you?

It's just like... No. A little fast forward, right? The fact that he did this interview, I'm like, oh, my gosh. I thought we had finally gotten past all of it. And it was like, hey, what's going on with the Packers? No more Devonti Adams. Are they going to be, you know, Romeo Dobbs?

Is this going to be a thing? Matt LaFleur, are they going to be able to to finally win some big playoff games? And he's like, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to chop it up with Joe Rogan right before the start of the season. It's like, come on, man. I'm going to talk about vaccines.

Like, it's just like, dude, we're past this to, I hope that we're past this. All right, Ryan, music, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. All right, coming up next, we will discuss a little bit of the Lakers

and the latest with Russell Westbrook. They now have three point cards on the roster. Will Westbrook make it to training camp? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show,

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper 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,

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

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Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Back here on the herd, Jason McIntyre, in for Colin Cowherd. Have you guys heard of this movie, Ryan, have you heard of this movie called Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds? Uh, yeah. Have you seen it or no? I've not seen it. Okay, Tewy, have you heard of it?

Tewy has her, okay. So I'd never heard of the movie until, you know, Saturday we had some friends over and my son's watching, he ends up watching this movie called Free Guy with his buddy. Apparently, it's similar to Ready Player 1 if you've seen that. I don't know how similar because I didn't watch that deeply. But I'm thinking the movie, I'm like, what the hell is going on here? It's just video game stuff and not about video games, but, but, you know, I'm thinking of the movie, but, but a guy trapped in a video game. And it reminded me of this quote that, you know, each of us are kind of living out a movie of our own lives, right?

I come here, do the radio show. I will drive, get on the highway, and I'm driving home and let the laser focus on what I have to do today. You know, I care about XYZ. We're all trapped in our own heads. Ryan will drive home. He will think about, you know, his wife and whatever they got cooking. Tooie will drive home, think about his kids' sports and what they have on the dock. Everybody only cares about their own lives.

I tried watching this a little bit of free guy thinking about what is going through the head of Russell Westbrook. Like, as he drives around, turns on a radio. And again, I know this show is huge in L.A. I'm not ripping the guy because I know he has a lot of people out here in L.A. I know some people who know his family and played high school basketball with him. And like, apparently they're all nice people. But I'm trying to envision what's going on in his head. and it is one of the most difficult heads to get into in the NBA right now.

I'm telling you guys, five years ago, I think he averaged a triple double and won the MVP. I think that was five years ago. You could check me on that. And Kevin Durant kind of left him. He won, he averaged a triple double, then he did it again. And now the guy's just getting bounced around the league. He's just getting tossed around. He's getting passed around like a joint.

I don't know if I could say that on the air. I got the thumbs down on that one. but I feel bad for Westbrook. And now, after the Pat Beverly deal, as Coward and other people have said, like, oh, they're trying to run Russell Westbrook out of town. Like, how do you going about your day as Russell Westbrook think about it? You can't turn on the radio because they're talking about you.

Good luck turning on an NBA podcast or any podcast. You can't go on social media. What on earth is this guy doing? Well, we know he's not in the gym working on his three-point shot. maybe he's working on some pick and rolls because, you know, he has to eventually start setting screens. I think it was Zach Lowe who had the stat that Russell Westbrook set like the fewest screens of any guard in the NBA last year. Something along those lines. He doesn't set screens.

He doesn't shoot threes. I know he was okay from the corner. But like, he has to know something's going down. And you can't call LeBron. I don't know what allies he has in the building there. It's just a brutal situation for Westbrook. and I have not been a huge fan of him historically. I said

Durant should leave. I cheered Durant what he left. I defended Durant when he wisely left OKC for Golden State. Durant and I have had plenty of IG DM reactions over the last few years. He loves and hates, loves and hates. And it's been tough for me to defend Russell West because of his style of play because

it gets ornery with the media. I just, I wonder what he's thinking because all the media is talking about is is it going to be buddy Heald and Miles Turner for Russell Westbrook? And it's like, I thought about this. I'm like, anytime everybody in the media predict something, it never happens. I'll ask you this music. How many reporters had Patrick Beverly's going to be going to the Lakers?

Nobody had that. Nobody, right? Yeah, no, you're right. You're right. Nobody's on that. For a while, when Kevin Durant demanded a trade, everybody's saying, oh, Boston, Miami, everybody's picking where he's going to go. The odds for the Nets to win the title went up to 50 to 1. Kevin Durant ended up staying in Brooklyn. I don't know, but I feel like music, something weird is coming with Westbrook. I don't think the Lakers are going to buy him out.

I was going through the teams. The only two that make sense are the San Antonio Spurs because, A, they have the lowest win total in the league. Have you seen it? I was stunned. 23 and a half for the Spurs? that's a quick fall from grace and the other one that makes sense

is Washington which doesn't have a point guard and Washington also is like if we pair Westbrook and Beal we made the playoffs two years ago or three years ago with that can we duplicate that can we just get in as the eight get into the play in anything

I mean I didn't know this but Kyle Coosmo led the Lakers of points and rebounds last year because he qualified Beale did not and I just just wonder what's going down music with Russ? Do you see him on the Lakers in training camp against? Yeah, I think there's definitely a world where they start,

they try and do their best efforts at the start of the season to make it work with Westbrook. And then they probably eventually give him the John Wall treatment and say, hey, man, step aside. We'll just, we'll do addition by subtraction and play without you. Get nothing from him. Yeah, I mean, I think they've honestly, since the end of the season have been trying to move him. I think everyone looks at it and they go, why would we pay $47 million for that player? Yeah, Lakers aren't going to eat any of the deal.

It's a messy situation for the Lakers. The only thing I'll say, and I know there's a LeBron, a lot of LeBron haters, when I put on Twitter yesterday that I'll be hosting the herd, everybody said, oh, so three hours of LeBron versus Jordan. And I go, no, I will not be doing it with Chris Bussard, because we love to argue that. But LeBron is the one who won in Russell Westbrook on the Lakers guys. he's the one who push for that.

And I know LeBron, I'm sorry, I don't know LeBron. I know LeBron wants to win one more title. I don't know how on earth he thought Russell Westbrook would work out. That was arguably the worst GM move LeBron's ever made. Convincing Dwayne Wade to come to Cleveland was probably number two. But I can just keep an eye on the spurs. If they're going to take, they've got all young guys, if they say, you know what, we'll take Russell. We'll take the two future picks.

We're rebuilding. Remember, the reason Popovich and the Spurs rose up, they tanked for Tim Duncan. Duncan and Robinson title, dynasty. Keep an eye on that. I wish Russell Wilson the best. It's going to be a tough summer. Coming up next, we are doing Tray Lance.

Is he the next, RG3? 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,

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

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host care games. This space is about black men's experiences. having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

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