The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Georgia, Texas, Steelers

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Georgia football is the new standard across the country Texas is better than you think The Steelers QB situation   Guest: Joel KlattSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast'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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year,

unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1.

Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour two. It is Wednesday. This show is called The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. J. Mack is joining me. Joel Clout in five minutes. I have dinner tonight with a very prominent sports executive. I will be reporting tomorrow with lots of nuggets. Can you give us a sport? No, I cannot.

It's very top secret. Can't wait, though. Sounds exciting. My life is one big fireworks show, J. Mack. You went to a Dave Matthews concert last night. Yeah, you know, I got some texts from some other people who were there. Scott Shapiro was there last night. Our boss.

Yeah, and because of all other music people I know, it was a big time show. I was in bed by eight, and I used to know you guys are partying. I was out a little bit late last night. Let's just say that. Well, we have 31 music venues in Southern California, so there's a lot of places to go out. A few Red Bulls for me today. Yes, yes. Frank Reich, I really like him, coach of the Colts.

Chris Ballard, the GM, I really like him. Jim Ursay, I like the Colts. And I think they went through something that is, it's really hard to overcome. Andrew Luck retired fast. I mean, it just, they got caught flat-footed. And I think they'd done a pretty good job with it. Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz. I think they blamed Carson Wentz for all their problems.

I think deep in the organization, Reich and Chris Ballard, no, it was not all Carson Wentz, but Jim Merce say got in the mood and owners are prone to do that. But it's interesting. So Frank Wright, there are 0 and 2, 24-0 loss to the Jags, can't move the ball, and Frank Reich says it's not Matt Ryan's fault. What I love about Matt is he takes responsibility. He's the leader. Could not be happier that he's our quarterback.

He's an elite leader. and I really believe that he can be an elite player in this offense. We all got to pull it together. We all got to carry your own weight, each one of us, including him and everybody on that offense. Now, the Colts always start slow. The New York Giants and the Colts. Now, the Giants are 2 and 0. That feels like they haven't done that in 20 years.

Even their Super Bowl years, they weren't great in September. So the Colts just start slow. I have no idea what it is. Maybe they should move camp. Something the Colts do, they start slow. I have no idea. But there is something that is true. Let's say, for instance, you are selling a house.

There's three or four things that will make it much easier to sell a house. Location, are you near a good school if their parents is the kitchen grate, master bedroom and bath great? Much easier to sell the home. The Colts, if they were trying to sell a home, have a really cool pool table on a bad street. in a converted garage they turn into a media room, but the stuff that needs to be good to sell isn't great. Left tackle, not great. Quarterback, not great.

Weapons not great. Edge rusher don't really have a great one. Cornerback, okay. The Rams weakness last year was guards and linebackers. They won the Super Bowl. Two of the three weaknesses for the Bengals were interior offensive line and linebackers. They almost won a Super Bowl. those are the two cult strengths.

They have the best guard in football maybe and a great linebacker who's rarely healthy. They do a lot right, a lot. I like the owner, the GM, the coach. And the Andrew Luck thing is virtually impossible. What if Patrick Mahomes retired tomorrow? Kansas City's never finding another Patrick Mahomes. Miami still never replaced Marino. By the way, this is the third or fourth time the Broncos have gone out to buy somebody

hoping it's the next Elway. So I'm not blaming Indianapolis. They're good at a bunch of stuff, but in this league, and this has happened very quickly. That's why business to me has always been fascinating. The NFL is a little like tech. Five years is an eternity. I didn't think five years ago, you could have bad linebackers and a bad interior O line. But like the world's changed because of rules and regulations. You've got to be good at quarterback, left tackle, you got to have weapons, edge rusher, and one top corner. And you can be. Average at safety, average at linebacker, average interior O line, average at tight end. The Colts are good at a lot of things, but they're not great at the things that appear to matter most.

24-0 to the Jags. I hope they pull out of it. I like everybody in the organization, but I know the positions they should draft next draft. And by the way, in just a weird piece of fate, I ran into their former left tackle last night. Anthony Costanza? Yeah, I ran into him last night. And how random is that? You're going to Dave Matthews.

I'm doing legwork, homework, you know, talking to sources. All right, let's bring in the voice of college football at Fox. It is Joel Clatt, the Clatster. He is calling a Michigan game Saturday. They'll face Maryland. Hey, let me just start with a little Michigan love. Oh, let's go. Here we go.

Because you and I have overwhelmingly defended Harbaugh. Oh, yeah. And I take so much grief. Oh, so do you love Harbaugh. Barbaugh. Okay. The average is 10 wins. He's a great coach. He won 10 games a year.

Right. Yeah, it's pretty good. Take the COVID year out. So I watch Michigan. And Michigan, since Harbaugh has gotten there, kind of power football, like at Stanford. Sure. Little 49ers. And that's sort of his DNA.

And now I watch him this year, and the quarterback's got an arm. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, so I get the vroom, vroom. I get the speed, the power. This isn't just a SUV. I got a little sports card of this offense. When you're at dinner with your famous executive tonight, give that one. Be like, hey, you got a little vroom, room to your team.

You're right. Last year they were built for defense and for running the ball, and their offensive line was really good. They were built to beat Michigan and Ohio State in bad weather. And they did. And they did. By the way, they threw the ball in that second half against Ohio State four times. and won the game.

Ran it 20 times because they were owning the line of scrimmage. And to your narrative, you know, you've brought that up about Ohio State and that they needed to get tougher. But this version of Michigan is very different. So they lost both of their coordinators. Josh Gattis, the offensive coordinator, went down to Michigan with Mario Cristobal. Mike McDonald, who was there for one year as a young defensive coordinator that they got from the Ravens, went back to the Ravens,

and now he's the Ravens defensive coordinator. Yeah. They went from within with a guy like Sharon Moore and Matt Weiss on the offensive side, and then Jesse Minter comes in kind of from that same Baltimore tree. But here's the key part. Their scheme didn't change, but their players have. And they've got much different style of players. They've got more weapons than anyone probably other than Ohio State in college football.

I think it could be a top three offense in college football. They're that explosive. Now, you're part of this lame stream media that I'm not part of. I see. Is that right? Okay. So you've immediately, in your top 10, put all. Ohio State over Michigan. Michigan beat him the last time they played. Michigan clearly is

offensively better. And I don't know if Ohio State... Oh, I don't know if they're clearly offensively better. I mean, CJ Strouds on 11 touchdowns and no interceptions so far. No, I say they're better than themselves. Ah, they're better on offense. Yes, I see what you're saying. I have Ohio State there because I think that they're correcting issues that were clearly there last year. In particular on the defensive side. So I still have them ahead of Michigan. I got one more thing. I got a little problem with this. I love it.

I love when you've got a problem with something. I always see glass half full with Oklahoma football. So I've said this. Everybody in Oklahoma just threw up in their Cheerios. George is the best team I've seen. Agreed. I test. My dad was an optometrist.

I test. I don't know what that has to do with it, but sure. Vroom, vroom, let's go. X-ray eyes. Got it. Oklahoma is a second. second best football team I've seen. That's interesting. That's interesting. Because I love what I saw last week.

They got power. They got speed. They're better on defense. There is a little edge to Brett Venables that maybe Lincoln, you know, he's a defensive guy. Yeah. I telling you, I test. By the way. So let me just dive into that because the key, though, for Oklahoma is that they're not one-dimensional anymore. So it's not just about the fact that Brent Venables has a good defensive DNA, which is true. And the fact that they have improved on defense, which is true. It's the fact that they went out and hired a really good offensive coordinator in Jeff Levy. He comes from Ole Miss. He was there under Lane Kiffen for two years. He was with Dylan Gabriel, their quarterback at UCF three years ago, so they reunite. And now all of a sudden

you've got a transfer quarterback and a new offensive coordinator, but it feels like they've been working together for four or five years. And that experience alone, I think, has made them a lot better. And then the last factor that I'll say about OU, they've always been good running the football under Lincoln Riley, but they've taken that up a notch, and I think it's because their defense is getting better. You can't underestimate the fact that teams, when they play against themselves all spring, all fall camp, and then during the week in practice, it's an iron sharpens iron mentality. So the better your offensive line is, the better your defensive line is going to be. The better and tougher your defense is, the better your

offense has to be in order to move the ball. So as they've become more two-dimensional and less one-dimensional. I think that they're a better, more suited for championship football team. This is a team and a blueprint that I think works better in the playoff than what they've had before. Yeah. By the way, Oklahoma, never forget who's got your back. Wow. Wow. So my take is just gaslighting. Just bam. Okay, sorry, go ahead. Of course, all their players come from Lincoln Riley. Oh, interesting. Actually, they transferred in most of them because all Lincoln's guys left and they're with He's very attractive coach to play for. So let's go to USC.

I am viewed as a little bit. It's unfortunate. I get these labels and I don't like it at all. So I get this label that I'm pro USC. When I have been saying, they're not built right now to beat Utah. They are probably not built to beat Notre Dame. Oh, they lost their quarterback. They may be.

Right. But my takeaway has been, you can, Lincoln, Brett Venables inherited 11 wins, 11 wins, 11 wins, 11 wins, momentum, culture. Lincoln Riley inherited a tire fire, and I don't think he can fix both sides of the ball in one class. I think he fixed the offense. I do not think they're good enough defensively to beat in Oklahoma, to beat Georgia, to beat a Bama, to beat a Michigan, to beat Ohio State. I don't. Do you? No, I don't. The only defense that they're playing better than in the PAC 12 is Colorado, and that's not saying much. So, no, the defense is 11th in the PAC 12 right now. And the only thing that they do well is that they steal possessions for their great offense. So they've gotten 10

turnovers. They haven't turned the ball over. Those 10 turnovers are tops in the country. So they're doing well at that. They're creating havoc plays, but they can't just sit there and stop people. And eventually that may catch up with them. Because the more pressure that you put on Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley and that entire offense, you can have a bad day on offense. Like they did last year, by the way, I was in the booth when they had a bad day offensively at Oklahoma. against Baylor and they lost. And that Baylor team was tough and physical and made things difficult on them. I actually think this week is a really difficult game for USC.

They're going to Oregon State. And Colin, Oregon State is a place that USC historically has had problems with. And Jonathan Smith, Oregon State's head coach is a really, really good coach. He's going to be mentioned for all of these open jobs. Nebraska, Arizona State. And further, they were 6 and 0 at home last year. They got a great O line. wins Washington and Utah.

Yeah, no, they have two pros on their offensive line and long, excellent corners. So I think USC could be in a dog fight. They're a six and a half point favorite. I think that's closer than the six and a half. It's my almost upset of the week, folks. There it is. We finally got to it. Let's go to your top ten.

Let's go to your top ten here. Where, again, I have Georgia one, Oklahoma two. You have Oklahoma, two. Second best team I've seen. I think they're big, strong, fast, physical. I still had Ohio State 2, Alabama 3, Michigan 4, then Oklahoma at 5. Now, now, let me give you credit. You're very reactionary.

But you have Texas at 10. And I thought last week, beating a tiny school by three touchdowns doesn't sound like anything. But that thing had problems written all over it because they almost beat Bama. And I actually bet plus 12 and a half, UTSA, I thought, you watch, it's going to be a dog fight. And they hammered them in the second half. I think Sark's got his team. I think this is a real football team. This is awesome for Texas.

And all of a sudden you look at the Big 12 and everyone was talking about, you know, I don't know if the Big 12 is going to be any good this year. And I think I've got three teams in the Big 12 in my top 10 currently, Texas Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Oklahoma State's very powerful on offense. And I agree with you. Texas is a team that could very much end up in that Big 12 championship game

and potentially even go to the playoff. I just think that they're that good up front in particular on the defensive side. The one thing I would say, though, Georgia is starting to separate themselves a little bit. Oh, yeah. And what we saw last week, it reminded me of the conversations that we've had over the past decade, which is, is it Bama or the field? Remember that conversation?

It was like, Bama or the field. That's over. Now it's Georgia or the field. And Colin, I got to tell you, I think I might take Georgia over the field right now in college football. I agree. And the reason is, is not because they're more talented than last year, because I actually don't think that they are. I think their mentality changed.

And this is something very important in the psyche of a great team's mentality. The fact that they were able to beat Alabama specifically, whether it was a championship game or not. So it's not about winning the national championship per se. It was about beating Alabama. They had not beaten Alabama since 2007. They had lost seven straight. Georgia was a top 10 team in every one of those seven games. They thought they were really good, but they didn't know they were really good.

Now they know it and they believe it. and that confidence has taken them to a different place. It's just like 2019. You remember Joe Burrow and LSU beat Alabama on the road that year? And after that, they played totally just to the moon, right? The confidence took way off. That's exactly what's happening with Georgia right now. It wasn't just about winning a national championship.

It was about beating Alabama. And listen, is this Alabama team, that offensive line is okay. And the receivers are not. You always try to drag me into this pit. You try to wrestle me down. You're like a gator in the swamp. It's like I'm taking a walk in Florida. And then there's a colony.

He's an alligator. And he's trying to get me into a death roll. I'm not going to do it. I am not going to bury Alabama. I won't do it. He's too good. Sabin's too good. They evolve.

They've got a quarterback that can put a cape on his back. Like, they're going to be fine. They'll play Georgia in the SEC championship game. I do not think Alabama matches up with with Georgia. They do not have receivers that separate. Georgia can go after that offensive line pin their ears back. You hear this, Bama fans? I'm not going to do it. I will not repeat mistakes the past. I said the dumbest thing I've ever said in my life. What was that? On this couch, I don't know. What was it? Five, six years ago, I was like, Alabama's got a

Nick Saban problem. How'd that turn out for me? Pretty terrible. I wouldn't view me as an alligator. More as a big bottle of truth serum. Big J. Big J. Journalism. Okay. All right. So let me go to this. Can I talk a little more about Texas? Please. Because here's what's happened. I was very happy today. Can I tell you one of my rants today?

I was very happy. Please. So I'm a dad. I'm cringy. I have kids. I'm not cool. I'm kind of dorky. I don't know how to dress.

Adults in America voted on their favorite NFL players. And religious, God-fearing, optimistic, Russell Wilson, cringy dad jokes, one. Did you see this out? Runner Pass? Runner pass, fellas. I love it. I do that with my five-year-old flag football team. Love it.

I like cringy on the internet. Because uncool is cool. That's the new rule in America. And you know another thing it's cool? Routing for Sark. It is so easy to crap on this guy. He had some personal turmoil. Sure.

We all do. If you're a grown-up, we all do. Yeah. His career was in shambles. Nick Saban put his arms around him and said, hey, you deserve a second shot. and now, did you hear Sabin's comments when he faced Sark? He came out of that game. I mean, Nick was like, yeah, that's a really good football team.

Nick, for the, you use the term, I think it's really smart. Nick, Alabama rarely looks in the mirror. They do with Georgia. I think Texas, they're starting to. I think the bumps are, I think this is a real team, man. He has, I've known Steve Sarkesian for a long time. Covered him when he was an assistant at USC. I did the games when he was at Washington.

and built that program, did the games when he was at USC. I know I've said this, and I'm not afraid to say it publicly. Steve and I have struggled with the same thing. I'm 11 years sober now. He's sober, and so we've talked a lot about just life together when we sit in an office together, and I respect what he's done in his life. It hasn't always been easy for him. He said some things to me a couple weeks ago in our meetings,

getting ready for that Alabama game, that I just found striking. And he talked a lot about two of his best mentors. So his mentors are Lavelle Edwards, who he played for, then Pete Carroll and then Nick Saban. Pretty good. Very good. And all very different, by the way, and eclectic in a lot of ways. But he talked specifically about how Pete and Nick, it didn't happen early for them. And the real success happened after they were 50 years old.

That's when they took off. And he said he talked a lot with those guys. about the value of experience and the value of authenticity. And one of the things that I think Sark does now better than he did certainly early in his career is he knows himself and he owns it. He knows exactly the type of program he wants to have. He knows the type of coach he wants to be. And that's a powerful thing.

And those of you out there like me that have gone through tough things in your life and you get over them, you know much more about yourself. and those trials and tribulations, they produce perseverance. That's a biblical thing. They produce perseverance. And this guy has a totally different perspective on being a head coach and being a leader of this program now versus what he was at USC as a head coach or even as a head coach back at Washington. And it's bleeding into the rest of the program.

I talked to you about just feeling different around that program. It's the first time in a decade that it wasn't all about just being back. You know, they were so consumed at Texas and around that program for the better part of a decade with the destination of being back that they weren't focusing on the chase. Nick Saban calls that the chase is better than the capture. And for the first time, I think Steve Sarkesian understands and is comfortable with the chase in his team and in his own personal life. And I think that's what makes them such a good coach right now.

By the way, not this Friday, but the following Friday, I'm doing a little, legwork, albeit the Washington UCLA game. We don't have time and I don't want to be a homer, but Washington found the right coach. Kalin DeBoer. That guy is really clever. Really good. They got NFL receivers. Pack 12, all of a sudden, really strong, by the way. What's that? Pack 12,

all of a sudden really strong. Yeah. I know. So I'm going to do a little legwork, take some notes, I like that. Bring it in Wednesday and challenge you because it's a lot of Queen Puff interviews in your life, not on this show. That's true. Truth serum and... I'm a big jug of truth serum. That's it. You, fearful of me,

You have this metaphor of an alligator. There are times that it feels more like chloroform than truth serum. But, okay. No? Say hi to Freddie couples. Thank you. I will. Freddie, good to see you, bud.

All right, buddy. Good seeing you, my man. Joel Clat, voice college football. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep. That's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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 double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because, of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for 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 Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of

tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Swung out there, it goes to neat left. It is hot. Let us far. Another home run for Judge. That is a Judgian blast.

There it goes. Number 60. Slide over big. Tomorrow, it's history in the making on Fox. All eyes are on Aaron Judge as he continues. The chase for the AL home run record. When the Yankees take on the rival Red Sox, it all begins at 630 Eastern on Fox. Colin, this would be special for Judge. He leads the Red Sox. American League in home runs

average on base percentage, RBI. He's literally separated from the sport. Joel Klatt talked about Georgia separating from the sport. The next closest home run guy is 20 back. Schwerber. So, I mean, he's having, and I was looking at this up, six player in baseball history with 60 home runs in his season. So, and I said before, I look at Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Aaron Judge. Can you look at them and say, those are the three best home run hitters? So there's six players in baseball history with 60 home runs. Sammy Sosa three times, juiced. McGuire, we have our suspicions.

Barry Bonds, suspicions. Babe Ruth, Aaron, Judge, and Roger Maris. Maybe I shortchanged him and not Hank Aaron. If I recall, Hank Aaron had a lot of 30 home run years and 35s, not a lot of 55s. Not a lot of 55s. Here was the walk-off by John Carlos Stanton. The judge was a Yankee first, then they paid a fortune. He was a Marlon to bring John Carlos Stanton in.

I didn't get it at the time, but he had to walk off winter last night. The 2-2. Swung on, drill to deep left. That ball is going to be down a grand slam to win the game. No-one out, bases loaded, Grand Slam, and the Yankees have come back with five runs to win the game, 9-8. Stanton finally delivered. You see the crowd thinned out there a little. bit. It was 8-4 going in at the bottom of the 9th. So he would be only 17 players have ever won

the triple crown. I remember when I was really young, Yaz, Carl Yostremski won. McGwell, Cabrera won one about 10, 12 years ago. So, I mean, I mean, Aaron Judge is, to me, baseball had about a 15-year period where you just didn't know who was clean. Judge comes out of it. I mean, there was always a sense that Ken Griffey was clean. Nobody ever, you know, I mean, I'm not talking all the players, but the home run hitters. Griffey was never suspected of it. And I'm not, you know, and I always said this about steroids. If there was a pill available that may be a better broadcaster and everybody in my industry

took it and the sport wasn't punishing us, I'd probably take the pill. Right. So I'm not pointing fingers at guys. I get everybody else was taking it. Pitchers taking it. Hitters taking it. I'm not going to sit there and be the moralist. And the sport wasn't at the time.

The Mitchell report wasn't out. They weren't punishing anybody. And so, like, Judge to me, Babe Ruth, Maris, Aaron. Aaron Judge, like just a naturally gifted. I mean, look, he looks like a defense event in football. It's a good thing you're going out to dinner tonight and not tomorrow, because you got Aaron Judge on Fox tomorrow, chasing the home run thing. And then Steelers Browns as well on Thursday night football.

Like, it's a nice old Thursday night of sports coming up. It is. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin. Let's start with Mike McDaniel and the hot Miami Dolphins.

They're 2-0, and his stock is soaring. Oddsmakers have now made at Fox Bet, Mike McDaniel, the favorite to win coach of the year at plus 600. Before the season, he was at plus 1,800, fourth-best odds. As a gambler, Colin, I just want to tell people, pump the brakes. You've got to look at the schedule. They got super lucky against the Ravens. Nobody has a harder December schedule than the Miami Dolphins.

They have five straight, brutal games. So even if they're sitting at like 7 and 3,000, three-ish. Yeah, do you think, but I think they're a playoff team. Yeah, but coach of the year, I don't want people put their money on McDaniel here. I think you do give him coach of the year at this point because he took over. You have a lawsuit with

Brian Flores. The culture wasn't built. You had to rebuild to an offensive culture. Flores is more of an intense barker. McDaniel had to soften the locker room a little bit. Now, he got help with Tyreek Hill and Armstead the left tackle. But it's impressive. Listen,

it is really good for consumers of football. If you love football and I do and you do, offensive coaches who are smart and clever, it's just better football to watch. And they can take these Kirk Cousins to a guys who we view as B's and make them great B's and A minuses

in stretches. That's better football to consume as a network as an audience. I'll just add, Clat mentioned McDonald came from Michigan and now he's the Ravens defensive coordinator. Like, what was he doing against Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle? They're wide open in the secondary, up 21 in the fourth quarter. Like, this Miami team has

so much speed. If you don't give the cornerbacks help, you're in trouble. I think Buffalo will scheme him out of the game and do a good job against Hill. I think, well, I think Buffalo has, if you have O-line issues, you're in big trouble. And I think Miami's O-line outside of left tackle is very okay. Very suss, as a kids like to say. Next up, Aaron Rogers, your guy may not have his favorite receiving target anymore, but he does have two good running backs, Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.

Rogers said the team's plan is to get both guys heavily involved. in the offense this season. Here's what Aaron Rogers said. The goal is to get 33 and 28 the ball. It'd be nice to get them a nice number of touches, the 15 range at least for each of them. It just depends on how the game goes. Now, Colin, you're going to feed those guys the ball

against his Tampa run defense, which is very tough? Listen, A.J. Dillon, I didn't get the draft pick at the time. It's worked out. He's good player. I don't think they match up particularly well here. I didn't think they matched up particularly well. pretty well with Minnesota. So if you look at their schedule, I don't think Green Bay, I don't see, I don't have them in my

top 10 right now. I have them 11. I'm aware. And so I don't, now, if they win, it's like, wow. But I, Tampa has major receiver and O line issues, and they're still favored. Green Bay is the much healthier team. Tampa's got some Brady turmoil, O-line turmoil, wide receiver injuries. They brought a new guy in and Tampa still favored.

I think Hicks. Hicks, the running. The defensive tackle is injured. I don't know if he's going to play this week. They're very beat up. Yeah, I mean, Tampa at full strength, I think, is a touchdown better than Green Bay. They're not at full strength, and that's what makes the game intriguing. The line has come down from Packers 3 to now Packers 2.

Okay. I kind of like them here. All right, Colin, we'll wrap up with Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. They had an incredible comeback against the Raiders. After the game, Kyler said he had to take over to get the win. And Cliff Kingsbury would like to see that mindset throughout the game. Here's what Cliff Kingsbury. set. I mean, I'd love to see it from the start every week. I think that's the ability and the

talent that he has, and I've got to do a better job, getting our offense to a quicker start. There's no doubt. But we've seen him do that before, and he can make a go when he wants to. So is this, this is interesting. So Kyler gets off to slow starts in games. Is this what they say is the preparation issue? At the end of a game, his talent takes over. right? Like at the end of the game, you just watch him make stuff up. But when you watch him early, what Kingsbury says, hey, I wish we started this way. So is he a guy that doesn't do the prep and just leans on his natural ability to win? I'm not saying that's true. But that quote, I've had two or three Kingsbury quotes. If I'm trying to read into him, he's telling you,

we wish he did this. We wish he did this. I wish he's doing a lot of wishing that Kyler's doing things more repetitively, and he's not. That's what it sounds like to me. He sure is playing a lot of video games, according to the guys on the internet. But I look this up just down. First half scoring this season through two games, Arizona's been outscored 43 to 7th. They now play the Rams, who they've lost six of seven to. And you remember in that playoff game, Kyler Murray basically tapped out in the fourth quarter.

I don't want any more of this Aaron Donald's... This is interesting. So you just said something very interesting. Guys on the internet say Kyler plays a lot. of video games. So my son doesn't play a lot of video games, but when you go online, you can play with people. Yeah. So are you saying that people are saying that he's on the video games all the time. Listen, if you Google Call of Duty, Kyler Murray, apparently he's like playing all the time. And as soon as they release like a new round, I'm sorry Call of Duty fans, I don't play myself,

and I don't let my son play. But apparently he is like King of Call of Duty. He's a player, he's a gamer, he dominates. So whenever they release a new video, bet against Arizona. Well, there's that theory, but then again, he just beat the Raiders this past weekend, with some luck involved. But I'd just say first half Rams is a great play this weekend. Rams, Arizona. McVease just dominated Kingsbury head-to-head. J-Mac with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd-Ly news. It's funny. I stopped playing video games, probably about 13 years old. I used to play Atari at the bowling alley where I worked part-time as a kid. But there are a lot of adults that still just, they love video games. They love them. So do you play them? So I will occasionally dabble.

We play FIFA because, you know, I'm the owner of a soccer team in Mexico's top league. So I get that team in FIFA. And it's a great unwind. It's mindless. You just sit there, play games for 30 minutes, and then you move on to your next thing. But like... A lot of people play all day. I mean, DeAndre Aitner, the Phoenix Suns, like openly bragged about how often he plays video games.

And the sons are like, dude, you play video games at three in the morning? Like, it can be a habit among these young 20-year-olds. All right. All right. Be sure to catch live. editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1,

and the I-Hard Radio app. He's by Carmen, I'm Dan Byrd. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do

at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Beyer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

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

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. so I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand, new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So we said that the NFL no longer mostly starting quarterbacks especially do not play. Now, I do believe next preseason, there's going to be new data that's out that the quarterbacks that didn't play in the preseason and didn't practice, like Stafford, Burrow, and Brady aren't playing very well. And the quarterbacks that did practice and play like Mahomes and Jalen Hertz and Jared Goff and Allen and they're playing very well. So everything

cyclical. We went through Sean McVeigh basically stopped playing anybody that started in preseason, went eight and no his first year, and a lot of. lot of young coaches kind of viewed him as the North Star of young coaches and decided, what are we playing these starters for? But I do think having some reps matters. And most of the time, I don't think Aaron Rogers in most years needs to play in preseason. This year, I said Aaron Rogers does need to play in preseason, probably, because they have two rookie wide receivers.

So the most interesting story in the preseason this year was actually, I thought the Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky story. We know what Tribisky is exactly. They're not paying him much. There's things he can do and things he can't. He's pretty athletic with an average arm. And I said, play the first round quarterback, Kenny Pickett. This is not an Alex Smith Mahom's situation where Alex Smith actually made the pro bowl the year Mahom sat behind him.

Trubisky's not going to make any pro bowl. He's probably the best 10th, 12th best quarterback in maybe the 12th best quarterback in the AFC. I'm serious. I don't look this morning, but it feels right. So just play the kid who had four years of starting in the stadium from your town. The fans want it. But I do think Mike Tomlin, not that he's defensive, but he's sticking with Trubisky. I'm going to exercise appropriate patience and continue to teach and ask the guys who continue to learn in an effort to continue to push this train down the track and get better.

I think that if anyone is sitting here on Monday and, you know, on Monday, And week two of this thing, feeling happy, they're probably wrong or misinformed. I think Tomlin knows that he's going to go to Kenny Pickett. But what you don't want to do because it really looks bad aesthetically. You don't want to be flip-flop coach. Remember Matt Nagy? Dalton Field, Dalton Field, Dalton Field, got him fired. Looked like he was disorganized.

Brian Flores. Ryan Tuah, Ryan Tuah, Ryan Fitzpatrick Tua. out of the building. And Tomlin doesn't want to look disorganized. And the loyalty factor in Pittsburgh is like a real redeemable quality. So my guess is Tomlin's just waiting for the right moment to do it. And he's going to try, never had a losing season, to just win on defense and running. And you're going to try to just kind of bond to it together and be a 500 team down the stretch and then give it to Kenny Pickett.

So I looked at the schedule this morning. And, you know, it's rough. there's not a lot of space here for Kenny Pickett to walk in and it's easy. But in week nine, the Steelers have a buy week and then get the St. Cincinnati at home and the Colts in Atlanta. And that feels like the time. Now, you know, coming up, they get Cleveland and the Jets, but those are very winnable games if you don't make a ton of mistakes.

And Kenny Pickett or rookie is more likely to make mistakes. So my gut feeling is if Pittsburgh can beat Cleveland tomorrow, not sure they will, but if they could, then they beat the Jets at home. knows at Buffalo, Tom Brady, at Philly and Miami is rough sledding. My guess is the by week feels right. Now, remember, Lamar Jackson started in week 11. We predicted that. Got lucky on that with Baltimore. You can kind of look at schedules and see what a coach would be thinking. So Tomlin doesn't want to say, hey, you're going to Buffalo. Face that pass rush. That is just overwhelming. Or, hey, you're going to face Tom Brady, the all-time goat. That can be a little jaw-dropping.

My guess is Tomlin looks at the schedule and thinks we can beat Cleveland and the Jets by just not making mistakes, 20 to 17. Even if we split those, I can still start Tribisky at Buffalo and against Brady. And if Trubisky's awful in both, you may have to go to him early at Miami or early at Philadelphia. But it does feel like the buy week into about a four-game stretch of winnable games, two at home especially, then at Atlanta at Indy. That's the spot for it. but I think Tomlin knows sometimes, I don't care if you're a president or a football coach or a mayor,

you know what you're going to do, but you don't want to tell the media what you're going to do and when you're going to do it. It's a competitive disadvantage, right, or a political disadvantage. Tomlin's a smart guy. He knows Trubisky's got. In fact, I was looking at this. They went three and out to open the game. Rarely does a team go three and out.

It feels like when you get the ball first, right? Trubesky's longest completion against New England was 23 yards. But, you know, Tomlin's never kind of surrendered to all the whims of public and media noise. So that's just who he is. The other story today we talked about is that Aaron Rogers went on with Pat McAfee and like on the YouTube and on a show. And McAfee was kind of, I don't know if he was poking him in the ribs, but I had said when during the summer Aaron Rogers acknowledged or admitted or just said. maybe he didn't feel like he was admitting it. He was just saying it. That he tried ayahuasca. It's a psychedelic. It's a tea. And then Aaron yesterday, kind of defending himself,

said, you know, we use these words. Sugar sounds sweet, but it's terrible for you. Fats, a shaming word, but a lot of fatty foods are good for you. And he said, I keep reading these articles about, you know, me and my friends doing a drug celebration, drug this drug, that's not a drug. It's a plant. Putting the tag drug on them is a manipulative word that creates a bias against those specific things. I do think it's important enough to go on this ridiculous tangent I went on to remind people how words are used to create bias in certain situations. It should be noted that outside of meth, which is cooked, a lot of things start as plants, like cocaine and heroin and vodka is just potatoes that are distilled over and over. But years ago, I remember when I was doing local radio. And Charles Barkley came out and said, I am not a role model.

Parents are role models. I'm an athlete. And believe it or not, just saying that, it was a huge campaign. I don't know if it was Nike or Adidas. I forget the company. It was, it literally took over the nation for about half the year. Charles Barkley saying, I am not a role model. You're a parent.

You're a role model. And I sided with Barclay. My takeaway is it's not an athlete's job or a rock star's job or a singer's job or a comedian's job to raise your kids. That's on you. And raising kids hard, I know. I make a lot of mistakes. but it's funny, I can't be then super hypercritical of Aaron Rogers talking about, hey, they're all just plants. Because some kid could listen and say, hey, I want to try this stuff.

Aaron Rogers is my favorite player, a Wisconsin kid. I want to try ayahuasca. It's just a plant. I mean, because when you talk about it in that term, all drugs are plants, largely, right? So, but I defended Barclay. It's not his job to raise your family. It's not Aaron Rogers' job. So I don't love when like wildly popular people either, you know, reduce the importance of a vaccine or or what a drug really is because a lot of them start as plants.

But I got to be fair about it. I defended Charles Barkley and I'm sitting there this morning. 20 years ago I defended Berkeley and, you know, Aaron's job isn't to be a role model either. He may be. I don't think he's designed to be. Here is this the Berkeley Nike commercial? Oh, we don't have it. It was a Nike Barkley commercial.

It literally took the country over like that's all everybody talked about. And so are athletes role models? Not really. I mean, Aaron's single. Not married. They didn't have any kids. He's going to tell you what he wants. He entertains us on Sunday.

It's not his job to give us messages that we're in line with. Like, it's my job. If my kid asked me about what Aaron or Charles Barkley said, I would use it as a teaching opportunity to say, that's not what I believe. That's his opinion. So, you know, I'm not going to beat up too much on Aaron. Like, I don't think, like, I would rather not have leading political figures, give disinformation on stuff. But it's not the end of the world.

He's a single quarterback for the Green Bay Packers without kids. You can do whatever he wants. And he's got a girlfriend named Blue of Earth. So they're having these, you know, they're talking about psychedelic tea all day. They're talking about plants. Obviously, Blue of Earth and Aaron Rogers have a lot of plant talk. A lot. When it comes to gold, safeguard your port.

Go to LegacyPMinvestments.com legacy precious metals. Hour three next. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast'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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but, celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont

Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.