The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - What's next for Aaron Rodgers?

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Colin compares and contrasts Luka Doncic and LeBron James and points out why the Lakers have been struggling as LeBron returns from a groin injury He believes Aaron Rodgers is waiting to make a decision on where he'll play in 2025 in hopes to eventually land with the 49ers Thoughts on Rams WR Puka Nacua saying he will retire at the age of 30See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for making us part of your day. I was thinking about this coming in. In what we do for a living, whenever there's like a big trade or like the NFL draft, everybody's always J-Max saying, this team won the trade, this team lost. And the biggest trade in recent memory is Luca to the Lakers for AD. And there's a feeling is Dallas will be terrible, and the Lakers will win several titles.

But they would not have traded Luca if he was in great shape and was an unbelievable defender. Well, then he'd be LeBron. You wouldn't trade him. They traded him for a reason because they saw holes in his game, which, by the way, he'd missed the last two camps. He had multiple injuries. So here's what's interesting. When LeBron leaves, they come. back and he's not at 100%.

Lakers are trash. That's funny because LeBron, even way past his prime LeBron, has won without AD, has one without Austin Rivers, and one without Luca, one with bad coaches. But Luca without LeBron or LeBron at 100%. Lakers get throttled by bad teams. Why is that? That's why Dallas let him go. And I wouldn't have.

But this idea that Luca was like LeBron, elite defender, elite leader, elite offensive player, elevated everybody, build a franchise around him, no flaws. That's not what Luca is. And you're seeing it here. Is Luca without LeBron? They've lost 7 of 10. Or Luca now with LeBron, not quite in game shape, not quite at 100%. They're getting throttled by bad teams. And this has always been my several-year argument.

If your company doesn't resign you, even if you're talented, they see a hole in your game. This is why I argued for years. Carmelo Anthony is a great all-time player. Hall of Famer. Didn't elevate teammates, didn't play defense. Luca is a much better version of Carmelo. By the way, Carmelo and Dominique Wilkins and Luca, great scores. None of them defend at that level.

Kobe and MJ are great scores. They had a different mindset. And you're going to get points with Lewis. Luca. Defense, forget about it. Elevating everybody, he'll elevate some players. He'll take the ball away from others. LeBron's also a great on-court coach and leader. Lukas talking is often barking at refs or trash talking. And by the way, that's part of basketball's culture. It doesn't bother me. But LeBron talking and Luca talking are two different things. I mean, J.J. Reddick has complained multiple times. Yeah, we don't communicate when LeBron's out. Well, isn't that we're

Lucas should step in. Lucas' game is much more individualist. He is much more an individual star, more of a lead singer in a band who can occasionally step back and let the bass player have his moment, but he's a lead singer. LeBron's always been more magic than Michael or Kobe. He's much more an orchestra leader, elevating everybody, much more magic, stepping back, making sure there's a rhythm and spacing. LeBron isn't a trash talker.

Luca is. LeBron doesn't spend a lot of time barking at refs. Luca does. LeBron moves furiously without the ball at times. Luca doesn't. LeBron defends. Luca has very little interest, more of a hobby, than a vocation. And that is not to say Luca's not great.

But if you're at a company and they're like, yeah, we're going to move on. it's not always the company was wrong again i'll make this argument charles barclays made it when dallas is totally healthy probably next year they have a chance to get to the finals a d i mean karee even even max christie can play a center rotation the kid out of duke the minute lebron's not around the minute lebron's not at 100% what's j jrottic complain We don't communicate. We don't rotate as well. Well, they do when LeBron's there and Lucas not.

And this is the difference. Maybe this is just the difference between like MJ and Barclay. You know, one was always in great shape, one defended, they both scored a lot of points. But there is a gap between all-time LeBron and all-time Luca. Don't kid yourself. There is a major gap. And they've lost three of, they've won three of ten. And this is not 100% LeBron.

So, again, the way. we do it in sports. This team got nothing in return, and this team got the greatest player of all time. But it is interesting in the last 10 games, 7-0 LeBron, and now you're getting, you know, guy who missed a couple of weeks, he's acknowledging he's not quite right defensively, not quite right cardio-wise. They're not very good. And here's J.J. Redick, after losing to Orlando last night.

I don't know. We just, like we look tired. And I don't know what contributes to that. That happens periodically throughout a season where the group gets tired. That's what it feels like right now. You know when they don't look tired is when LeBron is playing, not injured 100%. You never hear that. The other team looks flat, doesn't communicate, looks tired.

When LeBron's not at 100% and the Lakers look tired and can't beat Orlando. It's funny how that works, isn't it? So this is something I talked about yesterday on the show, and I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. It is easy right now to rip Aaron Rogers. What is he making people wait for? So yesterday I brought this up on the show, is I think Aaron's too smart to look at Pittsburgh and go,

this is perfect. He flew there to the Steelers, and he didn't leave with a contract. Now, he may sign by the end of this rant, but he didn't sign for the great Pittsburgh Steelers. And Albert Breer had a story today that Aaron Rogers is telling friends. We talked about this yesterday. He's looking for a better culture. He looked at Green Bay and realizes not only a good culture, but an offensive culture. And this is what I said.

I think Aaron Rogers is sitting around for a couple of weeks, and I think he's right, waiting on the Niners Brock Purdy. I don't think the Niners are going to pay Brock Purdy $59 million a year, and that, according to his agent, is what he wants. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Aaron needs to go in another darkness retreat. Aaron needs to hide, avoid commitment, plan an excursion, call your travel agent if people use those anymore. The Steelers is fools' gold. Tomlin can't figure out the offense. It's been so. years, forget about it. And 59, listen to this, it was 66 the year before.

59 quarterbacks played last year. There will be opportunities. You could argue Kirk Cousins should have waited last year until after the draft and not gone to Atlanta. But he signed in March and the Atlanta drafted

a quarterback. Is it the worst thing in the world for Aaron 2? Not sign. Wait on the draft. See how the dominoes fall and somebody could go, guys, we didn't get a quarterback. We're in trouble here. Now, I think you can fairly say,

and this isn't really a criticism of Farv and Aaron Rogers, I mean, Green Bay is pretty small and sleepy, is that maybe they didn't appreciate it. Grass is greener, you know, friendly media, good organization. That's not a real criticism. I can see somebody playing for 15 years in Green Bay and thinking, man, I'm kind of jealous of those New York, L.A., San Francisco, you know, big city teams.

I get that. That's not a criticism. But I'm not given Brock Purdy $58 million. And one of the reasons I've said this before on this show, if you wonder if you're making a great move, you could be a TV executive, you could be an NFL general manager. If you are about to make a big move, what does your rival think? And you know who would be okay with Purdy getting $60 million a year? Sean McVeigh. He'd be really okay with that.

With his young defense, little Brock Purdy, not a big arm Brock Purdy, Sean McVeigh would be just fine having Matt Stafford for two more years, and they're locked in on a $60 million a year Brock Pretty deal. So it's, you know, I just look at this whole thing, is that Aaron multiple reports said he really wanted the Vikings offer. Why? Because of Kevin O'Connell. It wasn't the receiver.

It was Kevin O'Connell. offensive coach. Aaron last year in his last 10 starts, do you realize this with arguably the worst coaching staff in the league? Certainly the worst offensive coaching staff in the league. And a mediocre old line had more touchdown passes in a higher passer rating than Brock Purdy with Kyle Shanahan. I honestly think, and again, he could sign with pitchwork today.

I know you don't have to like Aaron. You can be resentful about his vaccine status and his whatever. But he's not a dummy. And when you see those pictures in Malibu, when he's listening to stuff, I think he's sitting there thinking Minnesota would have been great. I know the division. I love the coach. I love their weapons. O-line got upgraded significantly in Minnesota in the off-season.

I think he looks at Pittsburgh, and so much of it sounds good. Steelers. Defense. Mike Tomlin. Bad O-line, lost their left tackle, too high-maintenance wide receivers, spend more money on defense than anybody in the league. Is that really a great fit? Does Aaron feel like a Pittsburgh guy? He loves Malibu, he loves New York.

And if the Giants were humming, he'd probably sign there. But this Albert Breer story that Aaron is talking to people, like he wants, the organization is key, not just the personnel. And I think once Minnesota said no thanks, I think San Francisco is something to keep your eye on. Again, Kirk Cousin signed in March. He would not have signed with Atlanta in April, late April. After the Pinnocks, they wouldn't have signed there. Kirk Cousins now is looking for a new team. Aaron could think, well, what if I signed blank?

What if I sign with Pittsburgh? And all of a sudden, somebody falls, and they end up picking a quarterback, mid to late first round. Jackson Dart. What am I doing here? I'm just, I'm saying, I'm not advocating for in-season, ayahuasca. But another darkness retreat is not a terrible idea for Aaron Rogers. Take a deep breath, go hide for a while. So, J. Mack, I'm still, I don't mean to gloat, but 15 of 16 teams left

in the tournament. I couldn't sleep last night. I just had, I had Tom is owed, you know, in my sleep last night. Very excited. But let's not get into that. Yeah, yeah. Let's go back to Aaron Rogers. I got this stat from a Jets fan. Are you ready? So Aaron Rogers had the second most passing yards of any quarterback in the league in the fourth quarter. And no, those weren't clutch comebacks. Those were basically the Jets getting buried after three quarters, and Rogers just

stat padding. So I know you're pumped up about those final 10 games, but 31% of his yards, 31% of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter of this. Well, you know, when you're old, those bones take a couple of quarters to warm up. Excuses, excuses. I love it.

So is it possible that there is unsolvable problem, and every league has one, and I'll go over him coming up next, every league has one unsolvable problem, is that it's just baked in and bedded in the sport. Does the NBA have a tanking issue, and there's nothing they can do about it, and I'll talk about that next. Save big in your water and energy bills with a new Navi and tankless water heater. They provide endless hot water, spa-like comfort.

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We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to our... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember I think it was on a call about what we should call it and well we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was this is how you guys remember it going down yes I have a very different memory of this we were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast

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Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. All right, welcome back. Nick Wright, one hour from now, about 50 minutes actually from now. So there was a story. You know, there's been a lot of talk about load management in the NBA. Here's the good news. The young players like SGA, Tatum, Ant, those guys like to play.

They play every night. So a lot of the old school guys, LeBron's going to take some time off. AD for injuries can take time off. But the young guys mostly like to play. Janus will take time off, bigger guy, body falls apart a little bit. Dame can take night off. young guys want to play. Tatum wants to play. Jalen Brown and those guys want to play. But there is the other issue that we talked about yesterday, late season tanking.

So I looked at the Pelicans and Sixers played last night. The starting lineups are embarrassing. I would not watch them play if they were playing in my backyard. I mean, it was just like just a bunch of nonsense. And I think the league has tried to fix it by flattening the lottery odds. So tanking won't help you. So you can have the worst record and not get the number one pick. So the league has really tried to do this. I think load management, David Stern solved it with fines, and I think a lot of these young guys want to play more games. So I think load management's bad, but I think you can tweak it.

They did this year. They tweaked it. You don't win certain awards unless you play over 65 games. I think that's been helpful. I don't think you can solve the tanking thing. And it's hurting the ratings. There's no question. The quality of basketball in the NBA march on from the non-playoff teams is garbage.

It's turning off fans and hurting their fans. ratings and maybe it's just this every sport has an unsolvable issue the NFL has violence and players get hurt sometimes seriously and there's concussions and they've tried to end them they can't totally a hockey most of us didn't play we didn't play as kids we're not connected to it it feels like Canada's sport baseball there's really no urgency because the season's so long until like late September and October and in the NBA and basketball and we know this and it's the same in international soccer. If you get a superstar, it changes everything in one year.

I mean, I was just watching Celtic City, the Bill Simmons Project. I watched two episodes last night. Episode three, loved it, and then episode four with Larry Bird. They were bad. Larry Bird arrives. They were good. It was that fast. And so I think it's also just part of the basketball culture.

From AAU to college to the NBA, go get the guy. You win immediately. And in basketball, it's different because you can spot the next great basketball prodigy at 14 years old. Go Google when Wembe was first spotted or Luca was spotted or LeBron was first spotted. It's 14, 15 years old. Cooper flagged two years ago, well, let's say one year ago he was what, 16, 17 years old. Everybody's like, oh, that'll be the number one guy. That's not the case in football.

Who are you tanking for? The three best players in the league are Mahomes, Josh Allen, and arguably Lamar Jackson. They went to second-tier football schools. They didn't get drafted, number one. They had doubters all the way through college. Football is more about, even when you're great, we've seen Patrick Mahomes get blown out in two Super Bowls. Why? Left tackles bad. Cleveland, when LeBron showed up, he was scoring 25 a night as a rookie for a horrible Cleveland franchise.

guys. He was still a star on both ends of the floor. So my take is Cooper Flagg now is 17. People have known for the last year minimum get Cooper Flagg. That's the guy. And so teams can plan two and three years out. I mean, there was Wembe talk three years ago. San Antonio's like, suddenly started letting players go. Remember, they didn't resign like, was it Dejante? Murray or something. Why wouldn't they re-sign him? They wanted Wembe. And Popovich wasn't getting fired. So I do think to

some degree this is an unsolvable problem. I think load management, I think the NBA has done things like, you've got to play 65 games or you don't win awards. I think the young players have seen that. And, and

SGA, Jason Tatum Simmons-Sivance talked about this yesterday. Jason Tatum, he's the first of the arena, last to leave, he likes to play. It's been Tatum's season. He's the best guy in the team, and other than SGA and Yokic, she's been the most day-to-day impactful guy in the league, and he's really durable, which I think, you know, both of us have criticized NBA players for, you play 65 games and you call it a season, and you take, like, little sabbaticals, or you leave, or you nurse injuries. Tatum's out there all the time. I've said this. I've gone to see Tatum,

play four times, never in Boston, first guy on the floor. Two hours before tip off, working on his jumper. So it was shocking last night. Tatum tweaked his ankle yesterday, which was shocking because he's so durable, and he plays both ends of the floor. And so I think you can work your way around load management. I do not think in basketball you can work your way around tanking. Find us. It doesn't, we get Wemby. We're going to make, he'll make the franchise worth $2 billion more. Go ahead. Find me. Find me $50 million as an owner. Go ahead. Find me. What was LeBron worth for the Cavaliers? $2 billion? Minimum? You can't find teams enough that tank. Owners don't care. If I, you know, I buy a team for $2 billion, it'll be worth eight over the next decade.

Go ahead, find me. What do I care? I want Wemby. I want Cooper Flag. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no Turn on the news This is the herd line news I think we probably agree Tanking does work NFL NBA Remember when the Eagles

pulled their quarterback at like half time Of a game, their coach It was the coach Before Siriani, Doug Peterson He caught so much heat for that But you tank, you keep your pick NBA happens all the time

Yeah Andrew Luck with a Colts I'm pro tanking I don't know about you Yeah I mean I think I wouldn't say I'm pro-tank But I do think there are times when you have generational talent that, I mean, there are certain talents. Like they were talking about Luke and Wembe when they were 14 years old.

You know, I mean, we looked it up this morning. Like so, and LeBron was 15. Bryce Harper. Everybody knew Bryce Harper in high school at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. He was 16 in Sports Illustrated. You do what you have to do to get him. Yeah. Let's talk about Kirk Cousins, Colin.

I mean, listen, we haven't said much about him in the offseason. He's still with Atlanta. He's not going to be the starter, and he wants out. However, reports are saying Cousins will not waive his no trade clause until after the draft, despite the Falcon shopping him. So it's pretty clear Kirk wants to see how the dust settles who gets Chidor. We know Cam Ward is going to the Titans one. And Kirk Cousins is probably going to say, fine, wave my claws

so I can go to X team where I could probably be the starter. It seems like, though, we're down to the Browns. the Giants and the Steelers, those are the only three teams. The Jets clearly made a promise to Justin Fields that he's a guy. Yeah, I think Kirk is playing it smart here. And this goes back to my Aaron Rogers thing. What's the hurry? Pittsburgh's really a great fit for Malibu guy, Pittsburgh, defensive culture.

Like, I think Aaron Rogers is too smart to make a really dumb decision. And I don't care about D.K. Metcalf. That's not why I'm going to go to a team because I like a wide receiver. You roll an ankle. You don't have D.K. METC. METC.? That's not why I'm going to a team. And no, I think, listen, when you get, it's one thing if you're in the prime of your career or you're young, but when you're at the end of your career, you should be pickier. Aaron should be picky. Kirk Cousins and Aaron have $300 million.

What's the point of playing and getting hurt? Like, as you get older and have more money, you have more leverage because you have less options, but less need to build a legacy or build your bank account. So why not wait? And for the Falcons, you know, you could get a win. You don't want to wish, but like a quarterback somewhere gets hurt in the offseason. He's going to be out until December. Let's bring you Kurt Cousins. And now you trade for him.

You've got to give up some draft capital. But Kurt Cousins, I would agree. Playing it smart here. Colin, it's crazy. Two years ago, he was with Minnesota, and they hosted a home playoff game. Remember how good he was? They lost to the Giants. And then the Achilles.

And now he's a backup. And it's just like, oh, man, it's just tough go for Kurt Cousins. Let's get to the next story, and that is the Vikings and Aaron Rogers. Rumors seem to be over, but it doesn't mean they've crowned JJ McCarthy the new king of the North just yet. Take a list of McCarthy talking about the starting QB job. We as a fan base or even media found out like you're the guy, the the guy recently. When did you know? When did they tell you or when it was that message to you?

They haven't told me. I'm happy they didn't because I try to earn it every single day. and I never want that to be given to me, and it's such a privilege and opportunity to give me that chance, and I'm just going to make the most of it. That's a good attitude. Really good answer. Good answer.

Young quarterback saying all the right things. You know he's going to be the guy, but he's saying, hey, nothing's given to me. I kind of like that. Kind of like that attitude. You know, one of us here on this set liked him at Michigan a lot. Remember when I had him in my mock draft top ten, and you kind of sort of scoffed at me?

No, you, you, a year before the draft, you went on some sort of weird campaign for J.J. McCarthy. And I said it'd be nice if he ever, like, through 30 times in one game. Or if you played from behind or, you know, occasionally played under duress without a great run game and a great coach. It had a very Bama quarterback feel like I got Saban, a run game, a lead. But I will say, when he did play in the preseason, I liked what I saw. Well, do you remember that playoff game against Alabama? I think he almost threw a pick on like the second pass of the game. Yes, yes.

And I was like, oh, JJ, bro, don't do this. And then he rebounded. He had a rally to victory. He was very good. I'm just saying, Kevin O'Connell can make quarterbacks pretty awesome. Yeah, and you know what? I think there is huge upside. They're my sleeper in the NFC if you can win 13 last year.

And most of these Harbaugh Michigan recruits, I like them. They have the right mindset, like the school of hard knocks with Jim Harbaugh. Like, I'm trying to think of any Michigan guy in recent memory. didn't like. Now, Blake Corum didn't do anything for the Rams, but he got, he broke his wrist or something. Yeah, he was banged up. It was weird that he didn't play more, but, but, you know, there, there is some value, and I like Alabama players coming out mostly because they've been hard coached by Sabin. And most of Harbaugh's guys, like J.J. McCarthy, he got hard coaching. And like, you have to, I mean, Jim's not in a suffer fool. So you know Jay J.J. is a hard worker.

He's a focus kid. He's smart, because Harbaugh wouldn't have a quarterback that's not. Final story is the New York Giants have signed James Winston. That happened over the weekend. But here's the interesting thing. They are sitting on the third pick, and would you guess who the betting favorite is to go third overall, and that is Shadur Sanders plus 105. Now, you and I, I don't see how the Browns don't take Shadour.

It does not make sense at all. So I'm personally not buying this, and just to be clear, you can't get down huge money. You can't go bet six figures on this right now anywhere. They just won't let you because you probably have inside info. So I'm still going to say Shudor goes two to the Browns. I don't see how they pass on. Well, he's not going lower than three.

And it would be a big mistake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will, I'm going to talk about this more today. I do not understand the Shadur-Sanders shade. And I'll get into this more today. I think people are making, I think people are overthinking the room. I think he's going to be really good as a pro. I'm going to talk about this more later.

Well, where he goes matters. If he goes to him to him, Day Bowl or Stefanski, I think it's win-win. Colorado was a horrible O-line trailing and no-run game, and he completed 74% of his throws. You can't look yourself in the mirror and say, I thought J.J. McCarthy was a better pro-prospect than Shadur's Sanders. He was not.

Absolutely not. Shadur was a better quarterback coming out than McCarthy. I totally agree. McCarthy's just toolsy, he's got the size. Yeah, yeah. No, I totally agree. And that's not an anti-J-J-M McCarthy. I think Shadour is a really good prospect.

Is he a great prospect? No. But he's a really good product. Yeah, like it's a one every seven. I like Cam Ward. Is he a great prospect? I don't think so. You think he's great? No, I don't. Caleb Williams, great prospect. Great prospect. Right. Jay Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. You know, it's funny, you have kids. And all my kids now, except one, are in their 20s. And so they go on job interviews. And, you know, I've talked to my kids about this. Like, there's certain things. I'm not going to tell you, I'm not going to helicopter parent, but I'll tell my daughter, you probably don't want to bring up vacation time on your first interview. I have a company, 50 employees, growing fast. If you're asking about that in the first five minutes, you're probably not built for my company.

I like grinders. Sorry. There are things you just don't say in life, even though you think them. You may not want to say them. And this was a moment yesterday. It's not the end of the world, but football is the ultimate team sport. It is the ultimate team sport. Everybody plays her.

Everybody plays her. You grab that rope. And if there's one loose grip on that rope, it can screw up the whole team. One guy not committed. And I heard Puka Nakua yesterday at 23 years old say this and I didn't love it. I want to retire at the age of 30. I'm 23 right now. I'm going into year 3.

so like 10 years it wouldn't even be 10 years it'd be like maybe seven or eight but like a d i think of erin don't like man like to he to go out at the top i think it would be super cool hopefully like the rest of the career to go healthy but like man you have shoulder surgery you have knee surgery you have ankle and it'd be like yo like by the time my kids could be 18 i'm like i could be barely walking if i like if you play the game and like you sustain all the injuries don't love it you know when trevor lawrence said i'm not defined by football it doesn't speak necessarily for me. And my thought was, well, that says a lot. NFL general managers, here's a little secret. They're not looking for work-life balance. They're not. They don't care.

They want you to be Kobe. They want you to be obsessed. They want you to be Brady. They want you to be Lamar Jackson. They don't want work-life balance. And I think it actually puts a light on puka. What if next year he's got more than more than a few drops? Is that guy committed? Is he putting in the time? He misses a couple games in a row. Maybe he's just protecting his body over team. You introduce questions. You don't need to introduce.

And I know most of you young media, you're all pro player. Oh, the humanity of it. Nobody's looking for humanity. They're looking for 18, 19 games, 120 catches, playing hurt. That's what they're looking for. You ever watch the show, Survivor? You ever watch that show? Who are the people that unravel first on survival? They miss their bed. They miss their friends. And you don't root for them. You view them as soft. You root when you watch Survivor for the people that are totally obsessed. They really want to win.

They're all in. That's what you want to see win. And again, it's not the end of the world. But you start talking retirement. This has been said for years, and you're already there. you go back and look at Aaron Rogers. Twenty-twenty-three Green Bay, quoted, I'm 90% into retirement. He's never been great since. Big Ben started talking retirement. Late Pittsburgh. It ended poorly.

You can think about it. You can financially plan for it. I wouldn't discuss it. People are not looking for work-life balance. They want their player. I mean, again, the NFL is a team sport. as great as Mahomes is, two Super Bowls, doesn't have the right left tackle. Humiliated.

You've got to play hurt. This is not baseball. There's a game tomorrow. There's not a game for six months. Play hurt. My groin. Yeah, get over it. Everybody's hurts.

So it's one of those things. And by the way, Puka's impact on the Rams, I mean, they're very good with him. They're not good without him. But in two years, by the way, if you're sitting there on the draft board and you're thinking, you know what? Maybe time to go first round wide receiver. If anything, it can hurt your leverage. So sometimes you just got to keep things to yourself.

And talking about retirement at 23, I don't love it. Aaron started talking about it four years ago. And I think Green Bay said, well, that Jordan loved draft pick was pretty smart after all, right? Because if he talked about it publicly, in 2023, then you knew he had talked about it privately probably in 2021 or 2022. Because people talk privately about stuff before they go public with stuff. They practice it on their wives or their friends.

They see the reaction from their family. So it's not the end of the world. But I don't love it because I talk to general managers all the time and they're not looking for work-life balance. Nobody's interested in that. They want you to be obsessed. Well, that's not healthy. well, it's football. It's not that healthy to begin with. You're getting tackled by the strongest men on the planet. It's not that health. If, again, protein shakes and play through pain.

Pliometrics, play through it. It's not the end of the world. But I don't love when Trevor Lawrence says, I'm not defined by football. Actually, that comment sort of defined you. You're not obsessed by it. I know the young media stallions never comfortable with this topic. Sorry, Colin, not your best work there. Not a huge fan of that take. I think you're going to catch some heat from the staff online, you know, the creatines online that are savages. Like, if you could retire at 30 as a millionaire

and not take hits to the head deep into your 30, don't you do that? Yeah. That's a no-brainer. Yeah. Work smarter, not harder. Yeah. And what did I say to start the rant?

Keep it to yourself. Don't advertise it. Don't tell everybody in the room. your GM, your teammates. Guys, I'm putting away a lot of money. I am out of here. Just don't tell when you're interviewing for a job. What's my vacation time?

You can want six weeks. You'll probably get three or four. Don't advertise it. Don't talk about it. You don't have to put every meal on Twitter. You don't have to put everything on Twitter. Do you want him to lie in these media? Absolutely.

You think I tell before I negotiate with Fox everything I'm thinking? You think they're telling me everything they're thinking? Probably. My age starts with a six. You think they're telling me everything? You can keep secrets. That doesn't mean it's all sinister.

You don't tell everybody everything. I mean, listen, here's how you keep your job in the NFL. Winning. And by the way, as a general manager, they all tell me this. They're already looking three drafts down the road. You think the Rams are just worried about this draft? They're looking at next year's quarterback draft. because Stafford.

Interesting. But by the way, the Rams know the best freshman quarterbacks in college football. They are three years. I remember one time I ran into the ex-president of ESPN, George Bodenheimer, in the parking lot years ago. I think I've told this story before. And George, I was talking about some plans I had, and George said, oh, I've got a five- and a 10-year plan. I said, how can you have a 10-year plan? He goes, I know every right available over the next year.

decade you think these networks are just making it up you think they're advertising it no okay before before companies let go of 300 people it often catches people by surprise why you don't think they knew about it six months out of course they did I can remember being I can remember being told a secret a decade ago by somebody in management he said you can never tell anybody this and it was it's a term now that's that's used a lot that's overused. But this manager said at the other place, he was just, we were having a beer. And I was, you know, we were having a beer. He's one of my friends. He said, just, just don't

mention this word ever. Like, don't mention it. And I said, why? He goes, because it's all we talk about in our senior advisor meetings. Keep it to yourself. At the same time, don't you think it helps the teams prepare for? As of like, Andrew Luck caught them flat-footed. The Colts were not ready. They've been in a total spiral since he left. Aaron Donald, they had some time to prepare. And guess what they were to load up on defense. Oh, that's so adorable, idealistic. Do you think the teams tell you their plans in advance?

They should to the superstars. Oh, they should. And you don't think Fox runs to Coward? A coward, what do you think about this? When did you become 23? I forgot. Whoa, this idealistic. Shouldn't I just shouldn't players tell the teams what they're going to do three years out?

I mean, not all players, but a handful of stars on the team, the core, right? I would have, if Joe Burrough says, hey, I'm out of here at 35, you guys better get your act together. By the way, I'll give you an example. That'll be helpful. I'll give you an example of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lou Al-Sinder at the time was in Milwaukee. He did the team a solid. This is very rare. He told the box owner, I want out.

Oh, yeah, I get it. He didn't make it public. He did the box a total solid. So in that instance, when you know you're gone and you don't want to screw, by the way, he also kept it private because that Kareem's very smart. He knew if he let it out, the Lakers would have less leverage. So Carmelo Anthony one time, to your point, was totally honest. So JMAX's point is, you have to be honest.

Carmelo Anthony goes out and says, hey, I'm out of here, Denver. He got screwed because everybody knew Denver's like, we're not going to give the Knicks anything. So we ended up being a $10 million chandelier in an empty mansion. Keep it to yourself. That doesn't mean I'm anti-Bossil. boss, but they're not telling me everything. I'm not telling you everything.

Who's if you want to retire? I got no problem with it. This is a new side of cowher, folks. I got to be honest, I got to button it up when I'm around you now. I don't know if I can trust you with this family secrets. Honey, how do I look in this dress? Great. Honey, what about my new haircut?

You are amazing. That's the answer. Always. Wisdom. I like it. Live in LA is the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Kavino.

And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, and of course, the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world. sports and pop culture.

Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth.

Be sure to check out Covino Enrich live on Fox Sports Radio and the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Reef. whichever you get your podcast and of course on social media that's cabino and rich hey it's us the jonas brothers and guess what we have some big news what's the news news huge news we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast well we didn't invent it we just contributed to it first people to do podcasts pretty yeah pretty wide range of podcasts we're starting a trend but this one's extra special so how did we how do we actually come up with

the name hey jonas guys i honestly don't remember i think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

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

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an 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. It's Michael and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. with the UFL kickoff weekend starting Friday.

St. Louis takes on Houston at 8 p.m. Eastern. Then Saturday, it's San Antonio versus Arlington at 4-Eastern all on five. So the draft is less than a month away, and Jay Mack and I both love the draft. I love it a lot. And I watch, I do a lot of mock drafts. I watch a lot of video, like a lot of you. I'm really into it. If it didn't hurt ratings, I'd probably talk it 12 months out of the year.

I love the draft. But, you know, probably more than most people do. So a lot of times during the draft process, I will just go through YouTube or I'll watch highlights and I'll see pieces of video, not the games. I'll see pieces of video that really strongly alter my opinion. I remember Calvin Johnson at Georgia Tech. I remember the video, four or five clips of him. Every time he made a catch, it was off a terrible throw.

I mean, because his college quarterback completed 49% of his throws. So every catch he was making was a poorly thrown ball. And I kept thinking, good God, if he just gets a con. competent NFL quarterback, and I said it at the time, this is the greatest college quarterback receiver prospect I've ever seen. And I said that a large part is because of the video. Every catch he made, it's like, could somebody throw him a ball that's not underthrown, overthrown behind him, and I just kept watching clips over and over, and I'm like,

I don't have to watch the games. I can tell how great he is by how bad his college quarterback is. I've said this about Shador Sanders. I think he's going to be a really nice pro. Why? Because I watch his video. He's under duress on every throw. He's running for his life. And yet, with the worst run game in Power 5 football last two years,

he's the most sacked quarterback in Power 5 football last two years. He completed an insane 74% of his throws. If he just gets decent to professional protection, what's he going to complete in the pros? All you have to do is watch the clip. He never has a clean pocket. And he's still crazy accurate. Moving left, moving right.

The video tells the story. You don't have to watch a single Colorado game or a Georgia Tech game with Calvin Johnson. The video is telling you the truth. And I was watching Ashton Genti stuff last Wednesday. I was flying to Chicago, and I was watching his video. And I've been saying that I think he's the best running back, but I think you could get 80% of him in like the third of. or fourth round. I think the draft, it's the best running back draft I ever remember.

But I'm watching some of these videos against Oregon where they've got NFL players. Nobody can bring him down. Nobody in the first contact can bring him down. It doesn't look normal. I'm not talking about when he's playing second-tier teams. Ashton Genty had 260 more rushing yards after contact than any player in the sport had total yards. Think about that. And I was watching the video Wednesday.

I watched about three-minute clip, and I'm like, does anybody tackle him when they get their hands on him first? Oregon couldn't. And he forced 152 miss tackles. That's 50 more than any other player. And I think a lot of it is his center of gravity. Now, he's a much better player than, there was a Cowboys had a running back years ago, number 44, Robert Newhouse. He was a good player. He wasn't a superstar.

his center of gravity was so low. Nobody could get a clean shot on him. You don't want six-foot-three running backs. You like running backs to be like Emmett Smith. Like, they keep you off balance. You never really get a shot at him. They're not super leggy. But I'm just watching the video of this kid, and it's like, it's not normal.

And I do think you can probably get 80% of him third round, but you're not getting 100% of him. He's just different. And the more and more video, especially against the good teams, Oregon. Those are pro players. Those are four and five-star recruits. Oregon can't bring him down. Just can't do it. Nobody, these defensive linemen, these linebackers, he's just got this momentum and inertia that is just not what you see from other players in college football. So I do think whoever gets him is getting a start day one. And also, it should be noted,

of all the positions in football, there are two where you can come in and star immediately, running back and cornerback because they're very instinct first positions. Sauce Gardner, Week 1 could play. Patrick Sertan, can you guard a guy? Go guard him. Running back, hit the hole. So running back is a position. You don't need to be a mile deep in the playbook.

If you have a competent offensive line, hit the hole and hit it hard. I like Gentie a lot. I'm with you largely, but if you roll the Penn State footage from the playoff game, he couldn't break any tackles. He couldn't get loose at all against a really. really formidable Big Ten defense. I'm not saying he's not going to be a great pro. I'm just saying I don't think if he goes to a bad offensive line like the Raiders.

Fine. Mid-offensive line. But what? What about this? The Bears reworked their interior line. I like it, but at eight? I'd rather have O'Marion Hampton from UNC. Oh.

In the second round, if he falls that far. All right. That's fair. You're still recovering for my puka take. That was absolute fire. You were breathing fire in the first time. One of your buddies saying about that. Hey guys, it's us.

The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. Nice.

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

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades.

Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear 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. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the

hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.