The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - Acho Completes The Speak Takeover

Episode Date: December 28, 2022

In this hour of The Herd, Joy Taylor (in for Colin) welcomes in Emmanuel Acho—NFL veteran, author and co-host of FS1's Speak--to break down the benching of Las Vegas Raider quarterback Derek Carr, how Denver quarterback Russell Wilson can win back his Bronco teammates and Tua's mental health moving forward.  See 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. It 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. Fox Sports Radio.

Welcome to The Herd. Joy Taylor in for Colin Cowhert today and tomorrow alongside Alex Curry's filling in for Jason McIntyre. We're in the upside down. The in-between. The inside out, whatever this week is between Christmas and New Year's. Hopefully you are enjoying time with the family and relaxing and you weren't caught up in that disaster of holiday travel.

And if you were, hopefully you got to spend some extra time with your family. And there was a bonus there. Yeah, look at the positive side of it. Yeah, my flight got delayed three hours, but it still took off. So I can't play. We're doing good. It was all good. Let's see the family and had a great holiday here.

Exactly. Yeah. And it's a lot going on. Luca is having historic nights. Historic quotes. Yes. And moments and dance moves? He needs a recovery beer.

And he did. He looked like he needed it in that. Yeah. He did a day off. Someone get that man a beer. After that performance was unbelievable last night. We've had a fun show. Justina Anderson joined us earlier.

Shady McCoy in studio. Later in the hour, we'll have Emmanuel Ocho in studio. It's a speak takeover. and hopefully you'll join us later on FS1 on Speak at 4.30 p.m. Eastern. It's good to be here back on the herd, filling in for Colin. But let's get started with Russell Wilson and the Broncos. Nathaniel Hackett has been fired. The Broncos offense has been a tire fire this year, but their GM recently said that Russell Wilson is fixable on, although I'm hopeful that he can get fixed. I completely understand why they try to speak that into existence. Look, I don't know what happened with Russell Wilson this year.

I don't have an explanation. I don't have the answers. I'm not surprised that Nathaniel Hackett was fired. I don't think any of us are. I don't know what other choice you have when you invest what you did in Russell Wilson, not just monetarily, but obviously also with the draft picks. You have no choice. You've got to make Russell Wilson work.

And obviously now that Nathaniel Hackett has been let go, along with several other coaches on the staff, the Broncos Brass is trying to realize. the messaging and, you know, put out the plan for next year and moving forward with Russell Wilson. Let's take a listen to what they have to say about where they are right now. He'll be the first one to tell you he didn't play up to his standard. Didn't play up to our standard. He needs to be better. I don't think we made a coaching move based on Russ. You know, that wasn't what it's all about. That's not why we're getting a new coach to turn around Russ. It's about the entire organization. It's not whether Russ is fixable or not. We

believe he is. We do. Like I said, if it's between Russ being fixable or an $82 million cap hit, I'm going to go with Russ is fixable. When you invest in something like that, you're like, yeah, let's try and figure it out. Let's do everything we can to make this work. And they should. And they have no choice. I can't imagine a world where Russell Wilson is actually this bad. But I also don't believe that Nathaniel Hackett is completely to blame for what's happened there. I mean, if you look at the hire of Nathaniel Hackett, it is a completely reasonable hire. It wasn't some outrageous move like Jeff Saturday. It wasn't some edgy decision. He had 13 years of NFL

coaching experience. He was with Aaron Rogers for back-to-back MVP years, amongst many other accomplishments on the offensive side of the ball. It was a completely reasonable hire. Maybe Russell Wilson is washed. I don't know. But you got to do everything that you can to fix the situation if you're the Denver Broncos. The expectations were probably outrageous, but I think reasonable considering the fact that Tom Brady left a dynasty and immediately won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next year, Matthew Stafford leaves the Lions, immediately wins a Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams.

So not that I expected Russell Wilson to win a Super Bowl, but I didn't expect him to be amongst the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this year. Nobody did. So it's fair to have those expectations and it's fair to be this disappointed and it's fair to question if Russell Wilson is ever going to be that great again. But do you need him to be that great again? Or do you need him to just be what he was before he left Seattle? which was a player that missed a few games with injury and was still pretty much at the top of his game.

So you've got to hire a coach. This is what you should not do if you're the Denver Broncos, in my opinion, in my humble opinion. It's not time for another first time head coach. What you can't do is spend any time figuring out how to do this job. Because it wasn't just that Russell Wilson fell apart at the end of this situation with Nathaniel Hackett. the entire team was fighting. You had incidents on the sideline outside of Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson's getting streamed at by players as he's coming off the field. Everything was falling apart. You can have a bad situation and everyone not believe in what you're doing. Or you can

have a bad situation and everyone understand that it's a bad situation, but still play hard and still have some sort of energy and culture. That's non-existent in Denver. Which is surprising because Denver is a well-run organization. They are a winning organization. They have a great fan base. They're not a organization I consider it to be habitually dysfunctional, even though they've had issues with the quarterback position. Who hasn't? So I really, really strongly believe that they should bring in a head coach that has had significant head coaching experience and has been proven in the sense of being able to work with big names. These are my suggestions, and obviously everyone's going to go to Sean Payton. Got to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised.

surprised if Sean Payton took this job. And obviously we've seen Sean Payton work at the highest level with a quarterback similar to Russell Wilson. But Sean has options. Sean is chilling. Do you want to sign up for a project that you don't know truly if you can fix? Now, I'm sure Sean Payton believes he can. And if there's anyone on any list, everyone's going to Sean Baten and I would give him the grace that he could. But I don't know that this is the best situation. It's new ownership, which doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. It's just an unknown. We don't know if Russ is washed or if this was just a coaching situation. Everyone's talking about how great the defense is. You're probably going to have to move some of those defensive pieces to shore up the

offense for Russell Wilson, because at this point, everything you do has to be about fixing Russell Wilson. So don't get too attached to that Denver defense. Obviously, Sean Payton's at the top of the list. Now I'm going to throw two names out there. One is already very high up. I think it has the top odds on Fox bet right now to be hired. And there might be some pushback from indie fans, which at this point, I mean, come on. Frank Reich should definitely be considered for this position. Don't pay attention to the fact that he was fired in indie.

Pay attention to what happened in indie after he was fired. What have they done outside of beating the Raiders, which was apparently their Super Bowl this year? He has an incredible resume. he's capable of working with big names. He doesn't need to learn how to be a head coach. He's a Super Bowl champion as the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2017. He's coached under other big names.

He is qualified for this job, and he will be able to come in and steady this ship. Another name I'm going to throw out there is Jim Caldwell. Jim Caldwell does not get enough credit for what he did in Detroit. And what he did with Peyton Manning. Those two names are names that should be considered if Sean Payton is not,

open to this position. I don't think they should get another first time guy. They had a very qualified guy in Nathaniel Hackett and he couldn't get it done. Now maybe that's just Nathaniel Hackett, but you're in a very desperate situation. Keep in mind, Russ is 34 years old. So next November, he's going to be 35. If by next November, you have a new head coach who still hasn't been able to get this together. Now you've got another year and another year older with Russell Wilson. So this hire has to be very, very intentional. And in my opinion, it should be a very experienced coach on the offensive side of the ball. And again, don't get too attached to the defense over there. All right, the Dallas Cowboys, they played tomorrow night. And everyone is reacting to this Eagles game.

Actually, like, I'm wearing the perfect color. I'm contrasting as I'm talking about the Eagles and Cowboys today. It's perfect. Yeah. I didn't plan that. The Dallas Cowboys are not better than the Philadelphia Eagles. I know Cowboys Nation thinks that I'm just habitually hating on them. My mother is a Cowboys fan. We have extensive conversations about the Cowboys all the time. She's actually a reasonable Cowboys fan, which I only believe exists because she's my mother, so I've experienced it. It was a nice win for the Cowboys. It was a good win for the Cowboys. Just like earlier in the season, when the Eagles beat the Cowboys with Cooper Rush as the quarterback, it was a good win for the Eagles. Because any division win is a good win. No matter how you

get it done. The two teams know each other. You play twice a year. There's a lot of experience. There's edginess because this is a rivalry. It's a good win. Yes, Jalen Hertz wasn't out there, which is why it's not a complete win. Everyone keeps pointing to what happens with the Dallas defense, who has been great all season long and how great DAC played. Can we pay attention to Gardner Minshu, who for some reason, everyone keeps saying he played a good game. I don't understand. How do you play a good game if you turn the ball over three times? Three times. Yes, Dallas defense made a great play on two of those turnovers,

but you had to put them in the position to make the great play. He threw two interceptions and fumbled the ball. That's three turnovers. They had four turnovers on the day. Guys, that's an outrageous amount of turnovers. That's outrageous. In a divisional matchup, stop saying they had a good offensive day. they did not.

Now that doesn't mean that the Cowboys shouldn't be happy about this win, that it wasn't a good win for the Cowboys. But just, let's just simmer down.

We really can't learn a lot from the two matchups this year with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, which is wildly unfortunate because these are two great teams and we missed out on head-to-head

matchups with them this year because of the quarterback injuries. It's unfortunate, but we can't take too much away from it. And before Cowboys fans start losing their minds, this sentiment is not mine alone. It be your own people.

I mean, can we get the quote? Can we get the quote? I'm not making this up that this wasn't a great Eagles performance and DAC did everything that he was supposed to do and the Dallas defense did everything that they were supposed to do. But the Eagles turned the ball over four times. Calling the Eagles, the better isn't an insult or clickbait. Philadelphia owns the NFL's best record.

So saying they remain the better team, even after a Dallas victory, should not be viewed as blasphemy. That is from the Dallas Morning News. I didn't write it. I didn't make it up. I'm not saying you shouldn't be happy about it, Cowboys fans. You should. You got a big division win at the right time in the season.

You're trending up. Lots of good things to be excited about. But let's not rewrite the narrative, just like we shouldn't have rewritten the narrative after the Eagles beat the Cowboys earlier in the season with Cooper Rush. Be excited about it. It's a good win. Dak played great.

Only turned the ball over once. That's improvements. but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The Eagles have been the most consistent team all season long, and it's okay to say we got a good win, but we didn't beat them at full strength.

I can't, I like, please, please sports gods, give us this matchup in the postseason. Please let it happen. We deserve it. We missed out on it twice this year. I don't have anyone in the fight. I just want to watch great football,

but I can't walk away from that game. thinking that the Eagles played their best with a backup quarterback and the Dallas Cowboys stomped them out. That is just simply not what happened. Well, my mom watches when I do the show. So sorry, Mom. She's a Cowboys fan. Actually, my mom is a very reasonable Cowboys fan. What's that mean? Like when we watch the games together, like she's upset during the game. Like she rides the highs and lows of the game, obviously. Like, yells at the TV and calls her everyone to be. Fired and everyone sucks and yeah, all that.

But then after the game, she can, she can like settle down and have like a reasonable assessment about how the game went, which is obviously not not most fans. That's fine. You know what? I love passionate sports fans. I don't get upset. Oh, I love them. I prefer like maybe tone it down on the death threats, if you wouldn't mind. But, you know, everything else is fine.

You just care about your team. It's a part of the game. You hear the players say all the time they feed off that energy. Yes, and that doesn't just stop when you're done watching the game, which I understand. This is what we do. So I love it. Alex Curry in with me, Joy Taylor for Colin Cowherd on the herd today and tomorrow in the upside down, the week in between Christmas and New Year's.

Emmanuel Ocho, it's a speak takeover on the herd this week. Emmanuel Ocho will join us in studio and we will get to Alex Curry with the news when we come back on the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9th, AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, 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, 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 Clivert 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 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 was 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, so.

Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. 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. Sunday, don't miss your free chance to win $100,000 of Terry Bradshaw's money playing Fox Bet Super Six. Scan the QR code, download the Super Six app, and enter your six picks in the NFL Sunday challenge contest for your chance to win. Welcome back to the Her. Joy Taylor in for Colin Cowherd today.

tomorrow Alex Curry and for Jason McIntyre. We have had a very fun show. Josina Anderson, LaShawn McCoy. Manuel Ocho will join us in a few minutes and it is chaos around the NFL. Everything is happening. All right. So, breaking news, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels announced that the team will start Jared Stidham over the next two weeks to have a look at the youth at quarterback and other

positions. Starter Derek Carr won't play as some vets take a step. back. That is from Ian Rappaport. So that, that's news. That's news. I don't know what to make of the Vegas Raiders this year. I don't know what that means. Obviously, this has just happened, so we are still processing all of that news. But before we get to Alex Curry with the news, wanted to bring that up. I imagine that Derek Carr is probably not going to be with the Las Vegas Raiders next year. That seems like a good point in that direction. Yep. That's an organization that has been very very interesting all season long, and we'll probably have a lot more changes outside of that.

Let's get to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Let's start with another surprising, positive change, because Brock Birdie has been impressive starting in place of injured Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, helping the 49ers secure the division title. But despite his steady play, Kyle Shanahan, is not ready to discuss the rookie's long-term

future in the Bay Area. Here's what he had to say. I don't even know what year it is after the season's over. So I'm trying to think about how to get him ready for Wednesday, man. So it's a great question. But honestly, I don't look ahead like that. So we've got a number of big games in front of us. When you're in survival mode, which Kyle Shanahan is,

when you lose a handful of your best players and you're on your third string quarterback, who's able to give you the performance that he has, He is 3-0, which is tied for first in quarterback NFL rankings for these last three weeks he's been in. And first in passer rating at 1-21.4, which is great. But also, this whole situation speaks extremely highly of Kyle Shanahan. And what he is able to do with the pieces he has, because they also don't have Debo Samuels out there right now. Like, you're missing your number one, your number two quarterback. You got a rookie in there and your other top guy on the field.

you got to give it up for Cal Shanahan here. Oh, yes, of course. It doesn't matter who's playing quarterback for me. He's got to figure it out. Now, look, this is an unprecedented situation, and I am really enjoying watching this all play out. I think Brock Hardy is an unbelievable story. It's incredible what he's been able to do.

It speaks to the confidence that he has in himself to be able to go and play at the level that he's playing with the expectations that this team has. and say what you want about it. Like, oh, it doesn't matter. It was irrelevant. He was the last pick in the draft. Like he was,

there's a reason why they call it that. It's an afterthought. The only reason that we know that is because it is the last pick of the draft. So for him to be able to come in and have the confidence that he has, not just from where he was drafted, forget about that. He's a rookie. Yeah. So to step in at this point in the season and play the way that he's been playing,

I reserved the right to watch another full game of him. Yeah. after he came in to see what he was going to do. And he's been tremendous. It's an incredible story. And I mean, I'm rooting for him. I think it's great what he's been able to do. Kyle Shanion is obviously an unbelievable coach.

But to have the team playing the way that they're playing right now, the defense is unbelievable. It's generational. And for a rookie to step in, no matter where you're drafted, to be able to step into this situation and play the way he's playing is nothing less than impressive. Would you say Brock is pretty good?

That's very good. Thank you. Big Brock energy. Thank you. Well, let's move to big gronk energy here, all right, because Rob Gronkowski is currently retired, but recent reports have made it seem like Grunk might be considering a return, especially with the bucks on the verge of a division title and playoff berth. But despite the rumors, Grunk sings happy to continue his career off the field, saying, I don't really have an itch to go back.

I'm sure if I did, I would have went back already. I'm not really prepared right now to go back at all, either the mindset, mentality or physically not prepared at all. And the good thing with Grunk, he's good at anything. He's got the personality. He joined us here at Fox for our NFL Sunday morning show, and he was amazing on TV. And he was injured a lot towards the end of his career. And it wasn't, as we've had a lot of conversations here on the show today, about your health

after you're playing football. He made the choice to put himself first after having an amazing career. he already came out of retirement once when Tom Brady called him to go to the Bucks and they won a Super Bowl. So you did it. You got it. The only way I can see something happening is if Tom goes to another team that has a chance to win a Super Bowl again because Tom's the only guy that can get Gronk out of retirement. Yes, he is. I think that Tom Brady is going to retire after this season. So I don't think that that's on the board anyway. Look, it's very difficult, especially for a player like Gronk to just get, this is not what Gronk's doing, but essentially just get off the couch and come and play football. Like he said, he's not mentally or physically ready.

If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready, and this is a sport, and particularly his position and the way that he plays, that you have to be ready. Grong is living his best life right now. He is in no way in need of football. He doesn't owe the sport. He doesn't owe the game anything. He had a Hall of Fame career. championships, one of the best, if not the best to play the position.

He's a remarkable player, and we have had amazing years and memories of drunk playing. If he wanted to come back, I would not blame him. I wouldn't even be surprised, but I do think he is enjoying being retired, and he has a long career of whatever he wants to do after football, which he has already enjoined. Yeah, he's got the personality. I wouldn't mind seeing him back on TV full time again during football season. because that was hilarious and fun.

All right, well, let's switch gears because the Nets had an insane offseason full of drama culminating in the firing of Steve Nash. Now they started the season slowly but are now Red Hot winning nine straight games, including a 125 to 117 win over the Cavs to move them into third in the east. And here's Kevin Durant on how the Nets have turned their season around. Everybody has a platform. So so many voices, you know, speaking on what we do inside our locker room when they have, they don't really have an idea.

I think that's the noise that you hear. But from us, we always been about the game. We struggle early on. I'm not saying we didn't struggle, but we always were focused on playing basketball. I think the other people were trying to look for stuff, you know, to put on our team, label our team, whatever. I know the Kyrie's stuff may be what you're talking about, but I felt like we've always been about the game, all of us.

What a concept, though, when you focus your attention and your energy on the task at hand, which is winning basketball games, and you have the talent. We talked about all the hype leading up to this team. They had another chance this season. You're seeing what they can do when they're focusing and they all come together and they're playing great basketball. And there's no outside distractions. They can be a great team. They're an unbelievably talented team.

I think it's wildly impressive what they've been able to do this year because I certainly did not think that they were going to be able to quiet the noise and get this thing back on track. And it's exciting that basketball fans are finally able to watch the Brooklyn Nets play functional basketball. We've seen them be close before. It's always been an injury. It's always been an incident. And listen, I love Kevin Durant.

I love watching it play basketball and I have immense respect for him. But there has been a lot of noise around them. And it wasn't all manufactured from the outside. It's all the team was leading up to this season. That's it. It was noise and distractions. I'm genuinely happy that this is happening for the NBA. I want to see Kevin Durant play in meaningful basketball, play at the highest level.

The NBA is better when their stars are playing good basketball and it is not about anything but the sport. That's not to say that I don't think that players should use their voice because I absolutely do. Oh, yeah. But it was not just about that. There was always something with the Brooklyn Nets. Always something. And now it's not. And they've got it on track.

And it's really impressive what they've been able to do and the turnaround that they've had. I'm happy about it. Yeah, we get to watch great players, be great. Nothing better than that. It's a gift. I'm interested in greats. Yes.

That's Alex Curry with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. All right. Is my co-host from Speak Ready? Are we ready? Nobody gave me an announcement.

Emmanuel Acho. Hey! Let me give you a proper introduction now. I mean, nobody Q me. I'm like, I don't know. We're getting my co-host of Speak with myself. Shady Lisham McCoy was on with us earlier in studio and Dave Hellman. New York Times bestselling author.

They only have two of your books on here. I know. By the way. Look, when you're New York Times bestselling the rest of the other. Uncomfortable conversations with the black man, uncomfortable conversations with the black boy. and illogical. They were all,

were they all New York Times bestsellers? Or they just had the bestsellers on there. So there we go. There we go. Is that shade? No. Okay. That's fine.

I mean, you wrote three books. And you did read them, Joy. Just casually. I'd say pump them all up. Always. Always. Yes, I'm going to read your books.

And played four NFL seasons, of course, in the NFL. Had a very nice college career as well. And has charged fans, Matt. You too? You don't have Cowboys fans mad at you, though. So at least you have that going for you. Strategic, that's the thing. Chargers fan base is not nearly as like louder and bunchous as a Cowboys fan base.

So I can handle that one. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I don't pay it. Good luck. I have stuff to do. What am I going to do? Sit around and argue with Cowboys fans all day long.

What am I going to say? What? Win playoff games. There you go, Alex. Yeah. That's what I should just respond to all of them. And my mom, like I said, my mom's a Cowboys fan. So I just like, this is all very normal.

for me. Yes, you grew up in this. You were born into this. I was. Emmanuel Ocho here in studio with us, Joy Taylor and Alex Curry, in for Colin Cowherd on the Herds. There's a lot going on right now. I don't know where I want to start with you, actually. Should I, you heard the Derek Carr news. Crazy. Okay, so let's start there. Crazy. Because that's the, that's the very latest in a, in a day that has quite a bit of news going on. What do you, what do you think? What's your reaction? Can I unload, please? Yeah, absolutely. Josh McDaniels, this is a terrible decision. And shame on him. Derek Carr is likely the best thing that's happened to Josh McDaniel as a head coach,

and you have the audacity to bench, maybe the best thing that's happened to you as a head coach. Let's talk about who Derek Carr is. Derek Carr has had six head coaches in his nine years in the league. Dennis Allen, Tony Sparano, John Gruden, Del Rio, Basatia, and now McDaniels. Derek Carr has had MVP votes. Derek Carr is a three-time pro bowler.

Derek Carr, the last four seasons, averages a 68% completion percentage. then you show up, Josh McDaniels, and it's down to 60%. See, Josh McDaniels without Derek Carr, we know, is bad. But Derek Carr without Josh McDaniels, we know, is good. If the job of the coach is to make the player better, then don't cause the player to be worse, and then blame the player for getting worse, and then bench the player. It's asinine, and worse than that,

I hate when smaller coaches ruin greater players' legacies. I think about, I believe it was Ben McAdoo that benched Eli Manning. Eli Manning maybe 254 consecutive starts. Eli was not that great at the time. I get it. I played against aging Eli. But there's something bigger at that moment in time than football. He has like 250 consecutive starts.

Just let him start because the backup, Gino Smith, wasn't good either. Personal experience. Lashon McCoy grows up in Pennsylvania, plays for Pitt, drafted to the Eagles, Eagles' all-time rushing leader in like six years. And Chip Kelly has the audacity to trade him. just for Chip to be gone, 365 days later, sometimes there are players that are more important than the coaches. And what Derek Carr has done for the Raiders is more important than what Josh McDaniels can do. Joy, you've talked about it at nauseam.

Derek Carr tolerated a head coach last year that was accused of and both caught being misogynistic, sexist, racist, racist, anti-Semitic, and any other form of isst or isom or etic you can find. And Derek Carr weathered that storm. His former teammate in first round pick was charged with literal murder. Not a figurative murder. He actually was charged with murder. Derek Carr weathered that storm and went to the playoffs. And less than a year later, you want to bench him?

Somebody should bench McDaniels. Anyway, it's your show. I'm done. You went off. No, I'm glad. I just, I'm, I've always been a Derek Carr person. I think you laid it out perfectly. He's had to overcome a lot more than people really want to give him.

him credit for. Is Derek Carr great? I think he's good enough that I would safely say if he was in a functional situation, he would be great. So it's, I don't like to give excuses for people because you're going to deal with stuff in the NFL. There's going to be injuries. There's going to be coaching changes. There's going to be ownership changes. You're going to have variation in teammates, the offensive line. Everybody deals with something. But man, like, can Derek Carr, you know, know what? God gives the most to his best soldiers that guess. I hope that's applicable for now. But this also

probably means he's not going to be there next year. He can be. He can't be. You cannot bench a nine-year NFL vet and then just try to act like nothing happened. Like, all right, Derek, see week one. But we just want to try out stiddham. And keep in mind, although it is a long shot, the Raiders still have a chance to make the playoffs.

A lot has to happen. Dolphins have to lose twice. Raiders have to beat, I believe, the Chiefs and the 49ers. A lot has to happen. But if you bench Derek Carr the message that you were sending to him and the team, it's deafening. And also, McDaniels, you just got here. Like, how are you going to show up to my house, then kick me out my own house? I'll unload more on speak. I'm done for now. Yes, speak 430 Eastern on FS1. Please come join us. I didn't ask the guys this in the back. So let me know if we have the Shannon Sharp clip. If not, I'll just read it. I don't know if you heard what Shannon said on

undisputed yesterday, but he had a little something to say about Russell Wilson and everything that's going on with the Broncos. Obviously, Nathaniel Hackett has been let go. And now they're trying to figure out what the next steps are. Obviously, they say they still believe in Russell Wilson. Well, you're not going to do, you're not going to take an $82

million cap it, so you better believe it. You better speak some life into the situation. Well, this is what Shannon Sharp had to say about some other suggestions for the Broncos surrounding Russell Wilson yesterday. I don't know who the head coach is going to be. The first thing you do. Russell Wilson, I'm

locking this office. You will no longer have an office. All those parking spaces that you get at the stadium, they're gone too. Because you're putting yourself in front of the team. And I said it before and I say it again and I stand by it. You ticked a lot of people off with your attitude, bro. Now, you can come out here and talk about we're a team and I'm

good with my teammates. But deep down inside they see them, and I'm going to leave it at that. Now, this is getting circulated a little more. Now, Shannon has plenty of connections in the Broncos organization, obviously. So I believe Shannon. But Andrew Whitworth, Big Whit,

responded to this on Twitter and said, I've been told this consistently over the last six months. I refuse to believe it. No way this realist can't be real, right? Now we're getting other former players responding and saying, yeah, it is actually real. Now, to me, what makes me curious about this, because we both like Russell Wilson, the guy, you know.

And often, you know, when we're talking about, almost always when we're talking about players. We're not talking about them personally. But I will say I like Russell Wilson, the guy. I think I like what he stands for. He seems like a family guy. He's a nice guy. Great. Matt Ross is very pleasant.

But we've heard this from several organizations now. And this is like a little thing, a little smoke. Nothing is everything. Everything is something, you know? And they're losing. So now all the stuff that's irritating people is going to come out more. You don't mind when the quarterback gets extra special treatment when you're winning. because who cares? We're winning. It doesn't matter. Do whatever you want. Everything is fine when

you're winning. When you're losing, nothing is fine. And I just find this curious with Russ because we have seen a lot of this on the sidelines. We've seen a lot of in arguments, even outside of Russ. Everything was falling apart with Denver. I know this, I'm spraying this on you because you're just hearing this for the first time, but you're professional. You're good at this stuff. What do you think when you hear that? It is not practical. Like I love it. I love it. I love it. what Shannon is saying in, in theory. In theory, make them like everybody yells, take away his parking space, lock his office. I don't know if Shannon's speaking literally or figuratively, obviously. I don't know if Russ actually has an office. For context, listeners or viewers at home,

everybody has an unofficial parking space. So you can't really take away something that's unofficial as is. Here on the Fox slot, I pull in, I go down to P2, Skip has his unofficial parking space. Everybody has her unofficial parking space. I don't have an unofficial parking space. We're working on that. There's those levels to the parking spaces. You can't take that away from them because quarterbacks are always going to be special. The problem is you have to play special. Like Russell Wilson, he's a quarterback.

He's not going to get hit in practice. Special. He doesn't have to go through conditioning like everybody else. Special. Quarterbacks are always going to be treated special. Really what I think about when I hear that is it has to start with Russ. The change has to start with Russ. I don't have an issue as much joy with the parking space.

What I have an issue with, and I've said this before, and y'all consider me a joke, if you will, when Russ left practice during OTAs or whatever, and he flies across the country to watch Serena's last match, and he's in the box and the matching outfit with Sierra, and he's wearing the sunglasses, even though the match started at 7 p.m. E.ST, and everybody watching you acting too cool for school, meanwhile, they're just now leaving the facility, or they're all at team dinner, or they're all going bowling, or they're all going to the, to the jazz game or whatever the case may be, or they're all doing something collectively as a unit, and they're watching you, by yourself, stunting, and where's a camaraderie? Right. I mean, we talked about this on speak. We all hung out two nights ago, maybe it was. All broke bread, all went to a bar, Alex, after the show,

ha, ha, and Kiki laughing. There is camaraderie there. If everybody would have been at the bar and joy, you would have been in the red carpet premiere of Babylon or Avatar, or whatever the case may be, we'd feel some type of way. Sure. And so that to me is the biggest difference.

Take away as parking spot. I don't think it's actually practical. Lock his office. I don't think it's practical. But Russ has to make a conscious decision to be more inclusive as opposed to exclusive, or at least don't be so public with it. Yeah, I think it's self-awareness is what I like to say.

You know I don't like humble. But self-awareness, I think, is very important, especially, like you said, when you're losing, and you're the one who's not playing well. All right, we're going to keep you on set. I don't know if you have stuff to do, you're going to stay. When we come back, we'll have more with Emmanuel Acho of Speak on FS1, my co-hosts on The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straightfire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines. accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre 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 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 which I'll say it. 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 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-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 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 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 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. One of these days, we're going to do the off-mic, oof, conversations on the mic. They get heated. Yeah. I mean, listen, you think these conversations are spicy. The off-my conversations on speed. Oh, ain't nothing like it.

We'd be like, Darnell. No. Yeah, Darnell is our social media guy. It's like, it's not all for on air. But it is a continuation of the show. Joy Taylor, in for Colin Cowherd on the Herd with Alex Curry and Emmanuel Ocho, my co-hosts from Speak, 430 Eastern on FS1. Hopefully you will join us later. And check out that podcast if you don't get a chance to watch us later as well.

So let's talk about Tua. We've been talking about Tua for a couple days now. We were probably the earliest to it because we were on air when the, the news sort of drops that he was entering into concussion protocol. We now know it is a concussion. So that's at the very least three head injuries, two confirmed concussions in the last three months. You played football. Your brother played football.

You've a lot of friends who've played football. I can say I would not want my brother to continue playing this season, conversation in the off season about moving forward, but certainly this season, if he suffered three head injuries in a matter of three months. I think for me, it's very easy for all of us to post things on social media. It's very easy for all of us to have conversations, belittling the NFL and belittling the coaches and the doctors. How can you guys not care? Player safety should be most important.

And then when it comes time to put a player's safety and help first, there's a little like, oh, hey, hold on, snowflakes. It's the one we're going to wear dresses now. you know, it starts to get the pushback of how serious are we actually going to take this. That's my opinion that he shouldn't play again this season. I don't know I'm not his doctor how serious it is moving forward. I wouldn't be against him retiring, but certainly for the rest of the season. Where are you on the Tua situation now that we know that he has had another concussion? I'm going to say something I haven't yet said publicly.

You haven't heard said. It's time to put some on Tua. I cannot care about your safety. Joy cannot care. Alex cannot care. Mike McDaniels cannot care. The neuroscientists cannot care. The Dolphins cannot care.

The NFLPA cannot care more about Tua safety than Tua. What we know is this. I watched the entirety of the Miami Dolphins Presser this morning. Mike McDaniel went up to the podium, answered every single question. And he answered most of them well. What we know is Mike McDaniel, based on what he saw on tape of Tua, saw Tua as soon as he walked into the building. and he said that he questioned Tua heavily with concern based upon what he saw on tape asking Tua, do you have a concussion?

Joy, you and I talked about this before we knew if Tua had a concussion. Three interceptions, uncharacteristic for Tua, but not all interceptions are created equal. I've seen a lot of them over the course of my career. Did not get a lot, but seen a lot. Tua through three interceptions that weren't deflected with minimal pressure and were mental errors. So Mike McDaniel sees on tape, wait, Tua, you're acting uncharacteristic, tells Tua to go to the doctors.

Tua, you knew that something wasn't right. And even if you couldn't put your finger on it, you know you don't throw three interceptions. How do we know Tua knows he don't throw three interceptions? Because Emmanuel Lacho knows Tua don't throw three interceptions. And if I know Tua don't throw it three interceptions, then he does. Tua, you knew against the Buffalo Bills. It was more than your lower back. Joy wasn't sure.

Alex wasn't sure. I sure as heck wasn't sure. I had my thoughts because I've had a concussion before. And I've played through it. You don't touch your head after you get hit if your lower back hurts. But who knew was Tua. So Tua, you knew against the Dolphin, against the bills, you had a head injury. You knew against the Packers, you had a head injury.

We can't care more than you. I get that you want to be a hero. You want to save your team. but first and foremost, you have to save yourself. Well, I don't think that you're entirely off base there. I mean, I think that the team does have a responsibility, and we talk about this often as well, to protect the player from themselves.

Sure. You guys are in a, I don't want to call it, toxic environment, but you're certainly in an environment where it is not, it is not met with positivity if you are habitually injured. It can very much affect the narrative around your career and your future and the NFL. and once you get a certain label, it's hard to shed that. So self-reporting any kind of injury can be to the detriment of your career.

A thousand percent, but what's to the detriment of your career may be to the benefit of your life? Yes. And that's where we are right now. That's where we are right now. Like at the end of the day, a broken arm can be x-ray. A-A-CL and MCL, a PCL and L-CL can be MRIed. It can be imaged. It is much harder to take imaging of,

the brain, whether it be a CT scan, whether it be with different brain imaging, it's much more difficult. So we have to depend on the athletes, to be honest. I'll be honest with you, Joy, 2010. It was August. Before the season, every athlete takes a baseline concussion exam. I'm at the University of Texas. I'm taking my baseline concussion exam. We went 13 and 1 the year before, went to the Fiesta Bowl, where one game away from a national championship. It's big stakes. like Texas football when we were at a prime. I intentionally missed questions on my baseline concussion exam, intentionally, because I'm smart. I might not be a lot of things.

Might have stiff hips, might not be the most athletic, but I'm very, very smart. And I was like, if I ever get a concussion, there's just no way I'm going to be able to match my non-concussion test score. This is not possible. Like, I can't do this concussed. So in my baseline exam, I would intentionally miss questions just in terms. case I ever got a concussion, I had a lower threshold to hit. That's dumb as heck. Retroactively. For a smart person, that's not person. Dumb as heck. But I know it's on the line. National

Championship is on the line. Stakes are high. So what I'm advising to it to do is what I didn't do as a 19 year old. Like, protect yourself. At the time, I'm cheating the system. I'm cheating the system. I want to get back out there. But that was stupid. Now, I did have a concussion. I played through the concussion. We won the game 2010 at Nebraska, started a top 10 team football, but I wouldn't do it again. It wasn't smart. Well, yeah. To your point, you were 19. You were not a married

man. You did not have money already. Now, Tua, obviously, he's planning on making a lot more money, but he's made some money, and he has the potential even after football to continue to make more money as you have outside of football. So there's a whole life outside of football,

and that, I'm with you. It's on the player ultimately to decide what they're going to do with their health, but I do think there is a responsibility on the team and the doctors to say, if they truly believe it's not safe, to not give them that option. But here's what's so fascinating, Joy. I do think the burden of responsibility is on the individual more. The hard part, and I respect you and LaShawn McCoy, our other co-hosts, because y'all do defend the NFL to some degree. We are with our knowledge of the brain where we were

with our knowledge of the heart in the 1960s. I worked for three years with the neuroscientist. I stopped working with her, Dr. Kristen Wellemeyer. because I started to know too much. We were talking about creating different brain facilities. I interviewed Katie McMahon. I believe her name is the widowed wife, former wife of Justin Strelzick. You will remember the name Justin Strelzik, drives the wrong way down the interstate in Pittsburgh, maybe 95, correct me if I'm wrong, head on into a tank truck takes his life.

Obviously, it was found with CTE. I studied so much that I was like, okay, I'm done. I can't study this anymore. I'm freaking out. So it comes a point where we don't even know. what we don't know. Right. And because we don't know what we don't know, you got to operate out of fear.

You just have to assume this might be worse than you think. So Tua, just be careful. Don't play the rest of the season. Let's chill out. It's got an eight-month break. Let's see where we're at with our brain imaging exam going into the next season. And let's run it back. But to go out and play another game right now, it's just not smart.

And the last thing I'll say is Tua has to look out for himself because there's no guarantee the NFL will look out for him. Yeah. I mean, I agree. I don't know that we can project what he's going to do moving forward in his life, but certainly he needs to consider strongly. And I think they are. Like the way Mike McDaniel was talking about is like we're not even talking about when he's coming back. Just let him heal, let him get better.

And then we'll cross all those bridges when we get to it if it even happens for the rest of the season. Thanks for coming on with us today, as you always do when I'm filling in. And I appreciate that. I will argue with you later about something I'm sure. Manuel Acho speak on FS1, 430 p.m. East. Sherne, Shady McCoy, Dave Helman, and myself. Thank you to Alex for joining me. We'll be back on the herd tomorrow. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest,

SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving. for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 in muscle grave. 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 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 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. This is an IHart podcast, guaranteed human.