The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Harden, Simmons

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

James Harden will be a good fit in PhiladelphiaKevin Durant should want out of BrooklynGuest: George Kittle Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee 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.

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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 Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. Hour 2 on a Thursday, live in Los Angeles.

It's the hurt, wherever you may be. However you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Nice to be here. Super Bowl week. I'm sure if you heard about it. My wife asked me a couple of weeks ago, she's going to kill me for this. She said, was it my wife? Or was it one of her friends?

She said, what day is the Super Bowl on Wednesday? I went, no. Ann didn't ask that. No, Ann didn't. Somebody asked that. I may not out them. Somebody asking my social life if Super Bowl is on a Wednesday, and I'm like, so you've never anchored sports center? Do they have any proximity to sports at all?

No, that person did not. My family. My family, my daughter doesn't care about sports. My son doesn't care about sports. My wife doesn't care about sports. Our kids don't care. Yeah, maybe, I mean. We're not a sports family.

I would say I have a son who's a chef. and his son who's a lacrosse coach, they're aware. They have a sense of it. They don't sit around and watch it. One's a big NBA guy. One's an NFL fan. Yeah. I mean, I don't know.

I guess just being born and raised in Pittsburgh, it's just. It's not an option. My dad wasn't a sports fan. My mom wasn't. My sister wasn't. Everyone's a Steelers fan. At the bare minimum, you're a Steelers fan. I've never had anybody connected to me biologically that even likes sports.

I would go to my grandmother's house. My grandmother and my two aunts all lived together. when I was growing up and calm and golden girls. And they really were, but like a little more foul mouth. Yeah. And they, if there was a game on of any sort in Pittsburgh, whatever we were watching was getting turned off and the game was going to be turned on. And if they lost, it was going to be a cranky night for everybody.

Like, it's just what they do. Like, all the game's on. Like, we're watching the game now. Even like Penguins hockey? That's what they did. Wow. I mean, just, it's Pittsburgh. Like, they just watch sports.

Yeah, that's what they like. Yeah. By the way, Lakers suffered their worst loss of the season, not a bloat. but they lost to a Portland team that didn't have Dame Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Norman Powell, Robert Covington is embarrassing. And James Worthy, the Laker, great, who you see around L.A. all the time, said, I don't know what to do. This is the lowest point of just about any season I've seen as a Laker over the years. I don't have any words for it because we've used all our words. We saw Milwaukee come in and we thought maybe, okay, that would be a measuring game, you know, against a good team.

And we saw what happened. And then against Portland, a team of, you know, professional players, but it was almost like they were playing against, you know, a local YMC pickup group of guys. and I think it just goes to show you how deeply, mentally disconnected. Yes. And the inability to fire your brain up for a game that you know you should win. I don't know what the medicine is, but this was really bad. Yeah, Spectrum Sports. He's right on the money.

This is, I mean, you can't have LeBron A.D. playing junior varsity and lose. here's how bad the Lakers are. They are now four games below 500. Ninth place in the West. How bad are they? They're behind the clippers. Kauai Leonard hasn't played all year. And Paul George hasn't played in about a month.

And they're slightly ahead of the Pelicans who are a rebuilding team and Zion hasn't played. They're really, really bad. Bad chemistry, bad roster, weak front office. No cap flexibility. No real trade viability. I thought LeBron after the game last night. This is, you know, LeBron's pretty optimistic. He's always been a realist.

He has an understanding of talent. It's not a great GM, but he understands the game. LeBron afterwards sounded as beaten down as I've ever heard him. You know, I was just something that's weighing on this group there. We're trying to all, you know, get through, you know, almost feels like it's, you know, like fog. You know, just fog and air. And we're all trying to see what's the same. on the other side of it.

I'm literally just, I'm tired as hell right now. I just want to get some wine and get into bed and wake up tomorrow. I feel good about what tomorrow has the story. And we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens as far as the deadline. But other than that, I'm kind of just focused on what we can do to be better. I'm on radio in Los Angeles. There's a lot of Laker fans, but I always think I owe the audience to truth.

I think the Lakers are a dying brand. I saw it two or three years, pre-year. Harbaugh to Michigan, they had to make a big change. Michigan's a great brand. It died. I've seen Alabama's football brand die. USC for the last eight years has been dead. They can't get people to the stadium. You could see the Patriots dynasty. Last couple of years with Brady, they had no wide receivers. If Gronk was hurt, there was nobody to throw to. And you look at the Lakers now. And the interesting thing is, this is about the time, if you look at LeBron's career, that he bolts. he bolted Miami, he bolts Cleveland a couple times.

But LeBron came here 50% for basketball. And I think LeBron and his people would admit in 50% for business. And he got a title. And business means he's going to be worth a billion dollars here in the next year or two based on his companies. So I don't see a fix. I don't see trade viability.

I don't see draft picks they gave them up. I said this yesterday. With LeBron, there is a fairly clear. clear pattern. He comes to your team. He wants older players. He doesn't want to be a school teacher and a mentor. Like, I want guys that know the game. Remember, he could have had Andrew Wiggins. Remember he was the number one pick? He goes, no, give me Kevin Love. Who did he go and recruit to Miami? He wanted to go meet really smart player Dwayne Wade. And then he wanted Chris Bosch. And then who did they add? Mike Miller, Shane Badiye, Ray Allen. LeBron likes older,

smart veteran players. He knows NBA playoffs have a history of older guys. And he doesn't want to teach you how to play basketball, right? He didn't want to babysit you. And then he comes to Cleveland. He did the thing with Kevin Love. And then, by the way, then when he came back to Cleveland, right? And he also, like Tristan Thompson was his guy and better. And now he comes to Los Angeles. He wanted A.D. He didn't want anything to do with Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart and Kyle Coosma. I do think he liked Alex Caruso. And I do think that was a mistake to get rid of him. And I'm, KCP was hitting big shots on that title run. That was kind of iffy. But right now, this is the time that LeBron bolts. But what's interesting is, business is going so well for him. And he's got his title,

and he's in his 18th, 19th year. I don't know really where he's going to go. It's a weird situation for the Lakers. And, you know, there's this thing in Los Angeles where, like, the Dodgers, never forget this. The Yankees in the 80s were irrelevant. That is hard to believe. They were irrelevant. Yankee Stadium was often empty. The Packers in the 80s before Fav couldn't get them on television. They were completely irrelevant. And I don't know what you're going to do here. You don't have draft picks. You don't have tradable parts. I mean, I guess you could, I don't know what you do. Because if I'm LeBron James, I'm sitting here, I'm like, I got my son, I got my business. I love L.A. Family loves L.A. I don't want to bounce around and start

over again. I want to go to a fourth team. So there's a, there's a story out last week that, you know, he said, oh, I'd like to play with his son. I guess. I mean, maybe you do that like one year, play a game with him. Like the Ken Griffey Jr., Ken Griffey, senior thing. Like, I get it. I'm not knocking it, but I don't know what you do with it. It is also, by the way, trade deadline is in less than two hours.

And James Harden is the best player being discussed as being traded. And it was interesting. So I would never dispute there is a ton of talent in the end. NBA, a ton. I don't think the game's ever had more skill. There's never more guys that can handle the ball or shoot. The talents out of this world. And because of rule changes, the stats, like these games are regularly 1-217. But it's interesting. Is Harden a winning player? So when I think of winning players in the NBA, three guys come to mind. Chris Paul. He wins everywhere where he goes. He made way

Forrest went in college. He won with the clippers. He got knocked for years with the clippers. And I'm always like, what's going to happen if he leaves? He left. What happened to Blake Griffin's career? Irrelevant. What happened to DeAndre Jordan's career? Irrelevant. What happened to Chris Paul's career when he left? Kept going

up. Chris Paul is a winning basketball player. Doesn't dunk. Not a lot of stats. Winning player. First thing I think. A first word is winning. La Ron James. The first word I think of winning. Three franchises, three titles. Let him, all of them. He makes everybody around him better. LeBron could score 45 a night for most of his career. He gives you 27 because he's a winning player. Steph Curry to me, won at Davidson, one in the NBA. Think about how well the Warriors

are run. I mean, they're really well run. And they have good players. When he doesn't play, When Steph Curry doesn't play with an incredibly brilliantly run franchise with good players, they're 49 and 93. You think of him as a score. I think of him. First word I think of was Steph Curry, winning player. Now, so those guys, Janus to me is a winning player. Since he started officially a starter, they won over 60% of their games.

They've got a title. He is a dominant player. on both ends. Again, there's no question. Chris Middleton's better because he has more space to shoot because of Yonnas. Those four guys are winning players. Now, Kevin Durant, the first word I think of, is not winning. I think it's talent. But I think he's a really smart player. He's a really clutch player. So I do classify him as a winning basketball player. He knows the play to make. He's had some weird teammates. I don't always love his choices of teammates, but he's a winning player. But here's my thing about Hardin.

Is he? I don't think winning basketball player. I think talent and scoring, but I've never thought him as no winning player. And I will say this. Joel Embed falls a lot in the same category. I think of Joel Embed as a great player. Could not get along with Ben Simmons.

Not blaming him all for that. But I'm just saying it was something. Like when LeBron Kyrie didn't get along, it's like, it's a Kyrie issue, because LeBron gets along with everybody. And Beiden Simmons, the only story he's ever played with, didn't work. Let's see if this does. But I don't know

what to make necessarily of James Harden. I think Philadelphia is a better fit just stylistically what they need and what he's moving away from. But I think sometimes we confuse, you know, Slam magazine's going to write pieces on the guys that jump

and score and stats. There's not as many people in this league that are great and winning basketball players. To me, there's four or five. Katie, Yannis, Chris Paul, LeBron, Steph, winners. Wherever they go, they're going to win. I mean, even for all the nonsense, for all the nonsense last year with Brooklyn and this year, don't forget.

I mean, Brooklyn had Milwaukee up against the ropes. And that was with Hardin was all beat up. Kyrie wasn't always healthy. So I think Hardin's fun to watch. There's stats. There's this. There's that. I don't know.

He doesn't feel like a championship player to me. Want 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 Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what 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. 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 taun tons 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. 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. 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 you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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. February 20th, it's the most iconic day in all of motorsports. The Daytona 500, the Great American Race, kicks off between. 2022 NASCAR season only on Fox in the Fox Sports app. All right, NBA trade, Sham Sharanya, net Sixers finalizing a trade.

The Philadelphia 76ers get James Hardin and the Brooklyn Nets get Ben Simmons. I don't know where he's at emotionally or physically. Seth Curry, 50 in a game and draft picks. Those are irrelevant in the NBA. So the winner of the trade to me is Philadelphia because they get the star player. Right. And I do think when Hardin is engaged, he's a, he's a 25-pointed game guy.

So I get Joel M. B'd and I get James Hardin. That feels like a team that can play for the right to go to the finals in the East. To me, Philadelphia won the trade. Now, it doesn't mean, Ben Simmons is really the key to this. Seth Curry is what he is. And draft picks, you know, coin flip. You get one or two, who cares.

Simmons is really the key to this because you know Hardin's going to be good. Right. Every time Hardin's engaged, he's good. He's an All-Star. I don't worry about that. and then Beds just wants somebody to play with. So Philadelphia is going to be very good, very quickly. It comes down to Ben Simmons.

What's his mood? Where's he at emotionally? The crowds are going to boo him. Is he ready? Is he in shape? I would think he'd be in shape. Last time I saw him at a practice, he had a cell phone with him in his sweatpants. I don't know what I'm getting.

So to me, Philadelphia, this is a move to get Philadelphia to a championship level. And I do think they will battle Milwaukee. I think Philadelphia today, Miami, keep your eye in Miami. Philadelphia, to me, feels like, with Hardin and Embed in that roster, Eastern Conference Champion level team, Brooklyn, I'm interested. I don't know. I'm interested. I mean, yeah, Philadelphia definitely won that trade.

They get a human on the floor. Come on now, Joy. I mean, he's not playing. He literally didn't literally didn't play for them. Certainly not disagreeing with you. He is going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. He's got a very gronk quality. He's big, strong, physical.

can block, can do anything you want. He's going to be a pro wrestler if he chooses to do that. The great George Kettle now, Niner tight end joining us live. You know, it says you've been in the NFL five years. I swear to God, you've been in it 15. You burst into my life. I feel like you've been here forever.

You know what's so funny, because I saw a little bit of you in college, and then you burst onto the NFL. We're even you surprised. You're a very likable player. You're a big personality. We're even you surprised. You got famous really fast. Did it shock you?

I think, yeah, after my second year, when I broke a record, I was just kind of like, wow, that was kind of a wild experience. Let's see where this kind of thinks me. And then it just kind of kept going from there, you know, got a couple opportunities. You know, team got hot. You know, the 2019 go to the Super Bowl. Just, you know, you play well, more people want to talk about you. And I was luckily being on a team with a bunch of superstars.

And so, you know, it's been an experience. but thoroughly enjoying it so far. Okay, so I want, George, I want you to take me when you face the Bengals. I like the Bengals' safeties a lot, and they got a pretty good pass rush. Cincinnati's defense, what's its strength? What do you see when you face them? I thought I was, I don't want to say I was underprepared, but I thought they were a lot better than like what they had put on tape before they played us.

Wow. I don't know his name, 57, who's one of their linebackers, because I think he's a very physical fast line. linebacker. It was pretty good in coverage. I think, uh, I think their whole front seven is very physical. And if you can be incredibly physical, I think that's a lot of success right there. And I think their safeties are all ballhawks. Yeah. You know, 30 is really good. Um, I like, I enjoy playing against them. I think they got a team full of guys that know what to play together. And that's their strength. They're, you know, they just go out there. They scrap, they fight,

they claw. But they also make big plays. And, uh, like I said, their front guys are very good. and I think it's going to be a big challenge for the Rams. Okay, so now you face the Rams, it feels like you face them about every third week in the NFL. You've had a lot of success with them. Now, not always offensively, but you've had some success. The Rams defense, if I'd never seen it, what is it like? Kind of like a minefield, honestly. Like, there's just superstars just rammed me scattered throughout that defense.

Well, with Aaron Donald being like the big one of that, he's a guy that you have. literally have to account for on every single play. Like, if you don't, he has a chance to change the game on every snap. If you leave him one-on-one or if you pull a guard and he's in that gap and he can get into the backfield, he can literally cause a fumble and change the play every single game every single play. So you have that. And then there are two edge guys from Floyd and Vaughn Miller. I mean, they're both playing at a very high level and their physical setting the edge and they're both fast-pass rushers.

And then I think their secondary does a great job. You know, Jalen does, you put him on an island. and you can do whatever you want with him. And the rest of their guys, you know, having Weddleback, and that's really really fun to see. But they got it, you know, they have a really, really good defense. But it all starts with, you know,

I think they're front guys. And you're not going to be holding the ball for five seconds back there. You got to get out quick and you got to count for Aaron Donald and hope your guys can win one-on-one versus Von Miller and Floyd. You know, it's interesting. I really, I got a soft spot for Jimmy Garoppolo because they drafted Tray Lance and you're sitting there. And it's like Brady didn't even want Garapolo in the building, right?

and it's like nobody wants his replacement working in the same room. And my takeaway was, you know what, Jimmy gets credit from me for just being a grown-up, handling this stuff, it's hard. I wouldn't want my replacement sitting on the couch waiting to take over the show. During the course of the season, I never saw Jimmy show any emotional distrust of the organization. Do you think it was hard for him? Do I think it was hard for him? Yeah.

You know, it's crazy. is if I did, he didn't give me any indication that it was hard for him. He was consistent every single day. He was the same guy every single day. He's been nothing but incredibly kind to every single person that's coming in and out of our building, whether it's Trey Lance, Nate Sutfield, other quarterbacks, tight ends. He's kind to every small buddy. And he's the leader that you want in a locker. You know, he gets the guys fired up. And like I said, he's been completely consistent for us weekend and week out. And all he wants to do is work and get better. He doesn't really listen to anything that happens on the outside.

And, you know, I'm very impressed with how he's handled it for the last four years, and especially this past year, all he's done his work. Trey Lance, big strong kid moves well. I think he has to clean up his throwing motion a little bit, but what do I know? When you're at practice with him, does he throw, DeGaroplo and he throw the same ball? Is it more velocity? He's a little bigger, stronger guy. What do you see at practice that I don't see?

I would say a big difference. Trey's got a little bit more zing on him. Yeah. That was past. He definitely has a big arm. He can, you know, make throws all over the field, which is really cool to see. Like, Jimmy can't too. It's just, they just do it differently.

Trey can move around, like he moves around a lot better, like you said. And he's kind of a freak athlete. I'm, you know, I'm excited to see Trey's improvement, really. I think one of the biggest difference, I mean, he just has to learn our offense. And he has to learn, you know, how to make the right reads and get the ball out quick because that's what Jimmy's very good at is getting the ball out quick. So I'm looking forward to Trey's progress. And I mean, what I love about Tray is you can tell he loves the game of football.

Yeah. You can tell he wants to get better. He's not cocky by any means. He is confident. But he's got a lot of the great attributes that I think can make him a really good football player for us. You know, it's interesting. You got a lot of stars on your team. But I think one of the things, George, that made your team really fun to watch.

It felt like guys that liked each other. You had all this talent, but you got some Hall of Famers on this team, but it was sort of an underdog mentality. And I think sometimes not all locker rooms. are great. Like, like, sometimes like some guys, just as, I mean, you played college pro. There's great locker rooms. They're so, so locker rooms. What was the locker room like this year? Oh, it was an absolute blast. Like I've said multiple times, I trust John and Kyle that they're going to bring in good guys that are good football players, but I have high character. And, you know, we had a team full of guys this year that I really enjoyed hanging out with. It was also nice that

we could actually, you know, talk in the locker and stuff and not everything was virtual. But just being able to build that team chemistry as a team and then, you know, kind of new guys were brought in up the street, just kind of saw how we operated as a team and they just fit right in. There was no, there's no one on the team this year that I was like, okay, we got to get this guy out of here. And I think if you have a team like that that fights for each other and, you know, if your team knows each other too, if opposite linemen are talking to D-Bs, if D-Line is hanging out, the YGC here's tight-ins, quarterbacks, you know, it's just a way for your team to be

closer together. And we had that this year and everyone wanted everyone to succeed, everybody wanted everyone to play at a high level. And we also have a team full of leaders, you know, from Jimmy Ward, Trent Williams, Jimmy Garoppolo, Fred Warner, Kyle Yuscheck, Alex Mack. Like, we had leaders all up and down the roster. And we have a team full of leaders, then everybody wants to be a leader and then everyone can play at a higher level. Yeah. By the way, this will sound like a weird question, but hear me out. Mike McDaniel was your offensive coordinator. Right, right, smart guy. And he gets the Miami job. And I said to the staff the other day, I said, maybe this is dumb, but he's,

kind of small. He looks like, people are making fun of him on the internet. They're like, he looks like a Starbucks barista. It is just like quiet guy and he's like a genius guy. And I'm like, man, he's going to have to stand up in front of these alpha males and these big guys and, you know, deliver and big. And I'm like, he doesn't look like necessarily. But then all of a sudden you hear everybody talking. Everybody's like, he's a genius. He's like Elon Musk. He's like, so who is he? What's he like? Tell me what I expect in Miami. He is supposed to be like the smartest guy in type of guy, right? Oh, yeah.

Mike's the man. He's incredible. He loves football. You can feel that vibe off of him. I know that's what everyone's getting him crap for. He's going to go stand in front of a group full of NFL athletes that are all six foot four, two hundred fifty pounds. But the second he gets up there, everyone's going to feel his heart and his love for

the game of football and how he loves his team. He loves all of our players. He was incredibly supportive of. He puts guys into positions to succeed. And he's also incredibly creative with his run game. plan. He's definitely creative with his past installs, too. You can tell he's just always thinking about how he can be better and how he can make our offense more efficient and how he can get our playmakers in position to make plays. And I'm upset that he's leaving him, but I'm so happy for him. And the fact that

he gets a chance to coach a team and kind of raise the standard of football, because I think he has a very high standard of the level you at the play at and practice that and give effort and give effort to. He's going to do a great job for that organization. Now, that's great. Yeah, everybody says one of the smartest guys and Kyle himself pretty smart dude hire smart guys you're um you're plugging a campaign called flip the turf George what is you know you're right what is flip the turf so uh for the last like year or two I've been uh kind of in my post game interviews I've been kind of harping on turf fields and pennington is a is a grass company they saw that they're like hey you know we like grass better than turf so you know it's partner up for a little bit

and flip the turf it's uh that is a petition on change that org And what we're trying to do is there's 16 NFL stadiums that have turf fields. And I'm a big, I don't like turf. I'm not a big fan of turf. And I'm trying to get more grass fields because, in my opinion, right, you have NBA teams, right? They play on the same court. The NBA has standards for their court. NHL has standards for what their ice rink is supposed to be for guys to play on.

But in the NFL, I go play on a different turf in Cincinnati, a different turf in New Orleans, a different turf in Seattle. I play in a different turf and a different grass in Lambo compared to Soldier Field. And I know that some things have to be a little bit different, but if we can make all the fields more consistent, I feel like there'd be a lot less injury. And so this partnership made way too much sense for me because when I play on turf, I'm sore for like a week afterwards and I've skin that's scraped off. I got burns everywhere. It's not really fun.

It's like playing on cement sometimes. While I was on grass, my body feels fantastic within two or three days, depending on how many times you get tackled. But then I can play at a higher level the next week. And I think that's what fans want to see. And so that's why I want fans to join me, sign the petition. Let's get some grass fields out there. And let's get rid of some of these turf and cement fields. That's just so smart. I never thought about that. You know that's softest field I've ever been on? Tell me if I'm wrong, Tampa Bay. That is soft. I mean, like, and I get like grass fields, it's, the more you play on them, like you have to really keep them in shape and stuff like that. But I'll leave I see at him.

and I think California is a pretty easy place to grow grass. But we have a fantastic field. I think if you can grow grass in Lambo, I think you can grow grass anywhere. I mean, they have a grass field in Las Vegas. They have a grass field in Arizona. We can grow grass anywhere. Let's just work together on this. And so players can play the whole season and not get hurt on turf.

Smart guy, George, I love watching you play. Thank you so much. You're a busy dude. I appreciate it coming on my show. Colin, you're wonderful. Thank you so much. I had a blast. George Kittled.

Boy, he was great. You could tell that locker. room was great in San Francisco. You can just tell it was. It was just like we've had Trent Williams on their show, Garapolo, like that's a good locker room. All right, let's go to Joy. We got folks, this crazy day, it happened. Trade

Deadline, Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News. Love breaking news during the show. It's great. It's Super Bowl Week, and we've got NBA trade deadline. Didn't think this was going to happen. Bang! But it has. James Hardin has been traded.

Ben Simmons, actually. is the bigger part of the story since he hasn't played all season. The Nets are reportedly sending Harden to the 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first round picks. So Philadelphia now, if you look at Philadelphia in the East, that feels like next to Milwaukee the best team. Now Milwaukee's got much better chemistry because they've played together for years. Yeah, I mean, Milwaukee is still the team to beat in the East, despite the standings right now.

The Heat are the number one team in the East right now, followed by the Bucks. the bulls, calves, Sixers, Raptors, Celtics, and the Nets. Now, the calves and bulls are nice stories. They're not winning the east. Well, I mean, experience matters in the postseason. We were talking about this earlier. That's why LeBron builds the teams the way that he does.

So having been there, knowing how long of a stretch it is to go through the, you know, the conference finals and to the finals. So, yes, experience matters. But after all of a sudden done, Kyrie, Duran, and Hardin played 16 games together. So I think we can call that experiment a failure. God, that thing was just...

It's kind of disappointing. For me, as an NBA fan, you know, there were a lot of questions about whether that was a good idea for KD to go there and, you know, how it was all going to fit and how it was going to work. And it did not work. I mean, Kyrie plays half the games, plays part-time. I remember Joy, I remember, and you would, I think, you're mid-30s or something like that, right?

Yes. So years ago, Pippin and Barclay went to Houston. It just did not work. The personalities didn't work. And you're like, Scotty Pippin, Charles Barkley. And Pippin was snarky and, you know, Barclay doesn't work like Michael. He doesn't like practice. It just didn't work.

And it was one of those like, how does this not work? It just. And then Barclay goes to Phoenix. And they got Kevin Johnson and Chambers. And it's magical. So sometimes it's like. I think this is not a good fit. Also when Kyrie decided.

to not get vaxed, I'm sorry. But let's say I had to do a show from my basement because you wouldn't get vaxed. I could like you, you could drive me crazy. Or vice versa. Like, I'm sorry, once Kyrie didn't get vaxed and it's not there, that is a selfish thing to do on a team game.

I can't get past that. You don't care about playing basketball that much. You don't. You just get back. You fundamentally don't. It's not like you can feel however you want to feel about it. It's fine. You can be pro or anti or whatever.

But like, at the end, of the day, whatever you feel about it, you don't like playing basketball that much. Think about this. When you go to a game in America, I'm talking like Brooklyn, Laker, big city games. The traffic's bad going in. The traffic's going bad, coming out, and it's expensive. But you go to that game and sacrifice some personal freedoms and comfort because you love sports. And it's not a Republican Democrat thing. It's a, if you love what you do, you sacrifice. If you love basketball, LeBron James probably didn't want to get

me and didn't want to get backs. If you love what you do and you love your teammates, you take care of business. It's just a matter of priorities. So Ben Simmons will now be with the Nets and Kyrie and KD. And we will get to see what this new experiment looks like. Nothing's changed for Kyrie,

so he's still only available half the time. And of course, Ben Simmons has not played in any games this season. So I don't think he's going to be out of shape, but he's certainly not in game shape. I mean, he hasn't played all season. Listen, Sixers are going to be Embed, great player, Harden when engaged, great player. Tobias Harris, good player,

Theible, the defensive player, long kind of athletic player, and Maxie. So that is good enough in the East to get to the conference championship to me. That feels like a conference championship team. I don't think they beat Milwaukee because I think when you get to the conference finals, like chemistry becomes huge. Well, this is a great situation for the Sixers. You couldn't have asked for a better trade. They've said all along they weren't going to let Ben Simmons go for nothing.

Well, you got James Harden, who's a top player in the league, maybe not necessarily a winning player. But like you said, when he's engaged, it's a different situation. He did do a nice job for the Nets when he was engaged. So this is a new situation. It seemed like he was unhappy there anyway. Like this might happen in the off season. So now it's midseason. He'll go there.

Hopefully, you know, click well with them right away. We've seen he's had an ability to adjust his game when he needs to. So much better situation for the Sixers, I think. think than the Nets. The Nets are going to have to wait and see what Ben Simmons is operating with mentally, and he's going to have to get in game shape. And they still have a Kyrie situation. He's not available for more than half of the remaining

games. Yeah, I'm not super optimistic about what the Nets are going to be able to do for the rest of the season. But Ben Simmons is out of Philadelphia. Now KD has to deal with Kyrie and Ben Simmons. Oh, boy. It could be Dre and Clay. Oh, I like those guys. I mean, look, despite everything

that's gone on with Ben Simmons, And if he does get on the floor, you know, healthy and in good, in good shape and mentally there, he still can't shoot. So there you go. Well, the good news is, he lost all of Hardin's points. Yes. The good news is he's a much better defensive player. Now, I did add Seth Curry as well, so I guess that'll.

Yeah, I mean, listen, Simmons is long, a good distributor. He's a physical presence. He can score at the rim. Brooklyn needed some size. Ben offers size defense. Also shrinks for the big moment. as well, which is why this whole thing happens. Kyrie doesn't play a lick of defense.

So I think this is, I think Brooklyn, I said this before, Philadelphia won the trade, but both teams will be better tomorrow than they were today. It works for both teams. Ben Simmons plays. Yeah, I've been Simmons plays. I mean, I'm sure he will. Even if he does plays, he's not adding scoring. I mean, he can score.

It's just a different way to score. He's more attacked the basketball. I am not optimistic about the Nets situation. I think it's a great deal for the Sixers because they wanted to move Ben Simmons. and obviously Ben Simmons wanted to be moved, which is why he wasn't playing. So when Odell signed with the Rams in November was unclear how big of a role he was going to play, but then pretty much immediately Robert Woods got hurt towards ACL. So O'Dell had to kind of step in in a bigger role in the offense.

And Matthew Stafford praised O'Dell for how he stepped in in Woods' absence. I thought O'Dell did a great job of stepping in, and his role is different than what Rob's was. But he's embraced his role. He's grown in that role. A lot of times, you know, whether it's receiver or any other position when you see, step in and you're still thinking and learning, sometimes the, you know, the physical parts of the game, you know, drop off a little bit because you're thinking. He's done an unbelievable job of being able to lock in on his, on his plan, you know, his role in our offense and then go play

fast. So nothing but nothing but love for OB. He's done an unbelievable job and really help us out. He has 27 catches in the regular season, 305 yards and five touchdowns. Big catches. In the postseason, he's had 19 catches for 236 yards in a touchdown. He's, he has done a tremendous job stepping in. He has. No question. We didn't know what Roley was going to play. He didn't even know what he was going to look like in this offense coming off of the situation in Cleveland, which obviously quickly became toxic. But I love that O'Dell is with the Rams. I think it's such a great fit. I hope they make it work again next year. I just, I think it works. Robert Woods coming back possibly. It's, it's great to see a star in a situation where they can thrive.

And all the pressure isn't on O'Dell because you have Cooper Cup. Everyone clearly gets along. They're spending significant time together because they were able to establish a connection very quickly. I just like it. I'm glad that O'Dell is in this situation. Yes. We were being robbed as NFL fans having O'Dell's stashed in Cleveland. It's the same thing with Hardin.

You're kind of being robbed in Brooklyn. Like put James on a team where he can thrive and be on TV a lot in two months in the playoffs. Like it's better for the fans that Hardens on a championship level team. And I think Philadelphia is the three-desstens. But Brooklyn was built to be a championship level team. It just fell apart. It fell apart. So Joe Burrow could cap off an incredible season in the NFL with a Super Bowl win on Sunday,

and he's got lots of fans around the league, including a guy that he is getting constantly compared to in Joe Namath. And Joe sees big things coming for Joe Burrow in his future. He said he's smart. He's got every attribute that the guys in the past have had, the guys that have won championships. If he can get the Cincinnati team to improve some, they'll win more than one. Watch the head movement. Man, he's not hesitating. It's nice to watch him move around.

to his options. Tom Brady's a special animal, but Burrow has a nice way about changing speeds on his passes. He can throw everything, not unlike Tom. He was also asked about Joe Burrough's vibe, which is mostly the reason why he's being compared to Joe Namath. And he said, well, with my cigars,

my daughter, Jessica, asked me about it when it first occurred. And I said, well, honey, that's not new. It's a tradition when we beat Tennessee. The coaches and managers would pass out cigars. So LSU probably had the same tradition. I can't believe they let him smoke now. But God bless him, he's smiling, and it takes me back. Joe Burrow actually knew how to smoke the cigar.

I always think it's funny now because the cigars are now like a more visible thing. Yes. And like I'll see the guys walking around with him like the plastic's still on. And you smoke cigars. So you know. Occasionally about one every two weeks. The thing about cigars is if you don't smoke cigars and you want to celebrate, just, you know, do it lightly. The cigar is a very serious thing to jump the dive head first into.

You're going to have a bad morning the next morning. Oh, yeah. You get cigar hangovers. Yeah, you cannot. I see people, especially at weddings. You know, because you want the cool picture. And it's like, look, it's just slow down, guy. Like, take a couple puffs and just take the picture.

If you've never smoked that before, you were going to hate life tomorrow. I've seen guys go for a second cigar who aren't cigar smokers. Next morning, you're out on your feet. Total cigar hangover. Listen, here's the thing. No. I know I like an occasional vodka and a cigar. But I know when I wake up in the morning, not going to be tight.

No. No, I'm an occasional cigar smoker as well. And I'm like one of like usually the girl in the group that buys everybody's cigars and all the other girls are like, what are I doing with this? I'm like, all right, let me just show you how. But we're going to do it. We're going to do it slowly. We're going to ease into this and you're not smoking this whole thing. So don't get crazy.

Couple. Right? Just take a couple cute pictures. You can put them on the gram and then get out because you're not going to be doing anything tomorrow. It's not an easy thing. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Line. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVarrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right.

Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up On Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast from. 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 you're 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. 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 taun tons 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 podcast. Podcasts. 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 J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not. just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you finishing that sentence. 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. You know, here's the thing to remember with the trade.

Is it Kevin Durant is increasingly getting little bits and pieces of injuries every year, right? He wants to win championships. So when the Sixers send draft picks to Brooklyn, Kevin Durant couldn't give a rip about draft picks. Those don't do him any good. And Seth Curry is a nice player, but he's not as good as James Hardin. And Ben Simmons, you know, he's got to get himself right above the shoulder. He's got, you know, some therapist stuff he's got to deal with.

I don't know much about it, but he's not right. Ramona Shelburne saying, like, he's in a work in progress there. So I'm Kevin Durant. I'm looking at this thing saying, draftics don't help me. Ben Simmons, I don't know where he's at. And Kyrie's not available. I'm Kevin Durant. I went out of here.

Get me the hell out of here. There's no way I like this. But I think Brooklyn was trapped. And so because nobody wants to trade for Kyrie Irving because he's not available. So Brooklyn was totally trapped. It's not that Philadelphia, they weren't trapped, but I do think Daryl M.B. has an injury history. He's having a great year.

Let's get him a player. So in the NBA, there's always been a rule. Whoever gets the star wins the trade. And it's almost a thousand percent true unless the star gets hurt. So Philadelphia won the trade. They got a star. And when he's engaged, and sometimes a bit of a quitter, bit of a bailer. but he's been engaged for 90% of his career and a bailer for 10.

So 90% of Hardin, he's not a great defensive player, but when he's on, he's on. And he is a handful. But my takeaway in this whole thing is, Joel Embed is so happy. Darry is so happy. James Harden is so happy. The fans of Philadelphia are so happy. Brooklyn, KD, cannot. I got a young coach.

Kyrie's available every second to third game. I got nothing. I don't know what I'm getting with Ben Simmons. I wouldn't trust him with a free throw late in the game to save his life. And so if I'm Kevin Durant, get me the hell out of here. I'm not interested in this at all. All I hear from Philadelphia, all I see from Philadelphia is happiness and joy. And it matters.

We see in these locker rooms. Like, Daryl Morey is opening a bottle of crystal right now. Hardin's drinking it on his private jet flying there. Embed is having a crystal bath. There is just champagne flown everywhere in Philadelphia. Brooklyn this morning is just, I got answers in Philadelphia. I got nothing but questions, nothing but question marks in Brooklyn. Yeah, I mean, we know that Ben Simmons can be a significant contributor when he plays.

When is he going to play? What kind of shape is he in? He hasn't played basketball all season. And does this even fit? And Kyrie is still part-time. If you're in Philadelphia today, If Philadelphia Sports Talk Radio, which if you haven't heard, it's quite a joy. It'll be one of the five days a year they're actually happy in Philadelphia.

You should be overjoyed. You've got answers, solutions, better. Philly's got me fun. 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,

S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast is. Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 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.