The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 3 - Dodgers, NBA list

Episode Date: October 22, 2021

The Dodgers still have a chanceColin discusses the NBA's 75th anniversary listGuest: Marcedes Lewis 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 IHeart 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that doesn't. does not mean that you need to.

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Colts at 49ers is one of the matchups. Colin who wins and by how many points? Colts 49ers? 49ers. I'll give you the exact score. 49ers win 3023. There we go. Coulter beat up. I'm glad you gave me that game because I am one of these people.

This is one of my mantras in life. I have two or three mantras. One of them is don't let people with no life ruin yours. Another one is don't be consumed with being right. Just get it right. So Jimmy Garoppolo is going to play this week. you go talk to fans about Jimmy Garoppolo. It's like a vaccine mandate.

It doesn't matter what the CDC says. This is why I believe it? I'm not changing my mind. Whatevs? Jimmy Garapolo, since Kyle Shanahan showed up in San Francisco. The Niners are 20, and we think Kyle Shanahan's a good coach. They're 24 and 10 when Jimmy plays. And there's 7 and 28 when he doesn't.

There you go. So now you could say, well, if you had a better backup, how many teams have a good backup? Cleveland Case Keenham is a good backup. I mean, Gino Smith, is he good? I mean, who has a good backup? I mean, I'm trying to think of one off the top of my head. Not many teams in the league have a good backup.

Jimmy Garopolo is going to have a much bigger market when the Niners move off him. And I was thinking about it this morning. I'm just going to name teams. There's a likelihood they may move off. Miami, Philly, Houston, Washington, Denver, Pittsburgh Saints. That's seven. I don't think the Giants will move off. Daniel Jones. I'm giving him until Thanksgiving. So seven teams. Deshawn Watson

going to go to one. Aaron's going to go to Juan Rogers. That's five minimum. So the college draft has a bunch of kids from smaller schools. Malik Willisette Liberty can run around a lot. He'll go top five. Desmond, the Cincinnati kid, he may go number one. Matt Crowell, Old Miss, Lane Kiffin. I think he drops a bit, but he'll go top 10, top 12. If you look at Jimmy Garoppolo's numbers, just take his career numbers. every start. Folks, you've got to be honest about it. He has a 67% completion rate, a 2 to 1 TD to pick ratio, and a password rating in 987. He's going to have a market. And I know you don't like him, but he's 26 and 10 as a starter. So again, I have my misgivings about him and he's

constantly hurt. But those are, you can't, well, Shanahan's a great coach. Is he? Because his record, let me repeat to you, is seven and 20. eight without Garapolo. All right. So, you know, it's one of those things. When I look at the 49ers, I picked him to be nine and eight. My takeaway was, I don't know if Garapolo can stay healthy. Shocker, September, October, he gets hurt.

But he will have a market. He's not a bad quarterback. He will absolutely have a market. Also, the Dodgers season is alive, and it's interesting, because the Dodgers have had some weird pitching matchups. They get a huge break here. They got Max Scherzer going in game six. They win or they're out.

And then they got Walker Bueller, who really struggled in his last outing going in game seven. So they have their two pitchers you would want in game six and game seven. They've got their Hall of Fame level, Max Scherzer. Bueller's their best young arm. Last night at Dodgers Stadium, you saw this three times. A two-two, Taylor with a fly ball to deep left center field. Chris Taylor has here. hit his third home run of the night and becomes the 11th different player in baseball history

with three home runs in a postseason game. So Chris Taylor, three jacks, Trey Turner had three hits. Justin Turner's out for the year, but they do get pitching matchups. Dodgers are weird. They score runs in bunches. So the bad news is Braves could have Charlie Morton going game seven and he is always good in the playoffs. gut feeling Dodgers win game six, we come to a game seven. Don't count them out, although it's been a weird year with a lot of injuries,

and it doesn't quite feel like their year. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clever Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 you? I do a little kill. 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 yeah, yeah, yeah. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade. of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, IHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. well Tom Brady had a really interesting mistake last year in Chicago if you remember he threw the incomplete pass on the last offensive play of the game thinking it was third down

and was actually fourth down and the infamous four well he says that mistake turned into a positive because he and his teammates learned and got better that hasn't happened very often in my career for some reason that happened at that moment

but yeah that was a tough loss And I think we learned a lot from that last year. There was a lot of self-inflicted issues. There was a lot of penalties. There was a lot of miscommunications. There was a lot of things that weren't clean. And then ultimately, we have a chance to win the game in two-minute by going down and kicking a field when we don't get the job done. I don't love the hat on backwards.

I'm not going to lie. But he is the goat, so the goat sets the rules, I don't. Don't love it. And by the way, it's becoming a disturbing trend. Now, Brady and now all these young guys, and Brady's young. He looks like he's 15. Dak now I saw wear it backwards. It's an incredibly disturbing trend.

Well, that I don't care about. But when Dak and Brady, two of my faves do it, it's very disturbing trend. I don't like to see it. You know, it's like society. It could just not be a big deal. Available. Are you going to ask him about it?

Is that going to be your question? No. I'm not going to waste a question on the hat or backwards thing. So you have like a pen. Colin's going to get to ask Tom Brady a question on my name. On Sirius X-Dexam, the excellent Jim Gray, who came on our show. He had a great book.

His book's fantastic, by the way. And Jim Gray texted me this morning at 5.30. Jim gets up early, apparently, and said, Colin, me and Tom, could you come on? You could ask a question? There's going to be like 10 guys. Women, I don't know, journalists. I, of course, I'm a journalist. And I said, sure, I'll ask Tom a question.

And I've been thinking, what am I going to ask him? It can't be pithy. I'm going to tell you my question after the show, and you tell me if it's stupid. Or I can tell you what I think it is. Do you have the question now? Yeah, in my head, I have my question. So, listen, it's Tom Brady. I'm not going to do some tall break down a two deep zone.

So I thought about this. You have to think of something macro to ask it. Okay. So I was saying this. You grew up kind of idolizing Joe Montana. And Joe Montana had a very zen funny moment in a Super Bowl where he spotted John Candy, the comedian in the end zone. And he went back to the huddle.

He's like, hey, John Candy's in the end zone. And it showed you sort of how cool and collected. And I was going to say, you've been playing this game so long. You are so brilliant pre-snap. do you have these Zen moments in this game when you're in a rhythm that you're cracking jokes, that you and Gronk, that you've spotted people? Do you have these moments because you've almost cheat-coded the sport? You've almost mastered it.

Yeah. And these games are four hours long and there's timeouts and huddles. Does your mind ever wander? We think of you as Tom, never laughs. But I've seen you laugh on the sidelines. Could you give me a moment when and just throw that out to him? Or is that stupid? No, I think that's a good question.

All right. You have to imagine at this point in Brady's career. He's been asked to everything. He's been asked everything, yes. But also, that's a good question because you've been doing this, what, 30 years? Yeah. I've been doing it almost 15, I think. 13, 15, somewhere in that range.

So you have moments where you think it's like a very intense moment. Oh, I've lost myself on this show. But twice with you, you've said something. It got into my head. You asked me something, and I'm thinking about having to go to the store or my wife's going to scream at me. There's no question. It happens about twice a year.

I am literally deep in thought breaking down the Stanley Cup finals and you're talking NFL. I'm thinking about grocery list. It happens not much. Right, but you know, we do this every day for three hours. So, you know, even though I know we're supposed to be perfect all the time, sometimes that happens. But his job is much more intense. Well, yeah, but he also has, we don't have timeouts in the middle of our show. We have breaks.

I just think, is Tom ever out of him? moment where his mind wanders and he's like, Gron, gronk, come here. There's that guy, that fan who was in Buffalo last year. We should go when we leave we should do something funny. Does he ever have like one of those little? Yeah, I think that's a good question.

All right. So Joe Judge's second season is off to as poor of a start as his first and he acknowledged yesterday that it's on him to write the ship. He said, I'm the head coach. It's my responsibility. Point blank. Every player in this field, every position group, the execution it all comes down to me. The fish stinks from the head down. I've been taught

that by great guys I've worked for and played for. There's no excuses. It starts and ends with me. The Giants are 1 in 5, identical to their 2020 starch, which they finished 6 and 10. I don't think that's the real quote. I don't think it is the fish stinks from the head down.

I think it's the fish rot from the head down. The fishes don't stink from the head down. Oh, I don't know. Yeah, I think they got that one wrong. I think it's wrong. But I think his point is made that... Yeah, it's a good point. He got his point across.

He got his point across, even if it's not the appropriate quote. I know what he meant. If you said a nickel saved is a nickel earned, well, the real quote is a penny saved penny earned, but it makes the point, right? You're saving more. You're saving more.

Exactly, Joy. Well, look, the Giants, the Giants are kind of in this space now, right? Like, I didn't have a lot of expectations for the Giants this year. We obviously are still evaluating Daniel Jones. I thought Sequin Barclay coming back was going to be significant for them, but he is now injured again.

The whole team is. The whole offense. Tony are not expected to play this week. Andrew Thomas is on an IR. So look, the injury thing is, it's not an excuse, it's a reason, but there's so many teams dealing with so many injuries. At this point, it's basically a wash to me.

I mean, the Ravens have how many injuries? They're still able to deal with it. The reason, you know, I talked about this the other day is that two is not. not the problem. He's not the solution. The solution in this league is a great quarterback because if Mahomes is here, he gets you wins because everybody falls apart. I mean, Cleveland's a mess. Baltimore's a mess. The Giants are a mess. Niners. I mean, seriously, like Dallas is one of the Dallas is healthy and they're still not all the way back. So it's like that's just part of the

league. You've got to deal with about by October, you're going to be missing seven starters will not practice for that week's game. I think your point about the Chiefs is the best point, because even though their defense has really been struggling, they're three and three. And they've, and you don't, nobody's ready to doubt them. Nobody's ready to say that they're out of it. They're favored

against a first place team in a division. Yeah. There's only one reason why. Moms. That's it. Well, the Giants host the Panthers on Sunday. They're currently three point underdogs, according to Foxbat, and you like the Panthers in that game to cover. But Giants don't have any, they're all beat up. You have a good defense,

against an offense, not starting six of their starters. So finally, JJ Watt will be facing off against his former team on Sunday and the defensive end said it's hard for him to see the direction that Houston is gone. That's why it hurts me to see where it is now because I believe those fans deserve to be living at those high times and to be experiencing those great moments. And it hurts to know that they're not and to know that they're struggling. And so I hope that they get back there at some point and I hope that they get to do that because I know firsthand it's an unbelievable place to play when you're rolling.

He went on to say he barely recognizes most of the faces there. Houston replaced a majority of their starters in 2020 when Nick Casario came up in town. Now they're going to get a bunch of draft picks for Deshawn Watson and they're going to draft a quarterback. So, you know, there's a couple of teams out there. I find Houston's fascinating. And I've said this, Houston's an interesting team because if you get, let's say you get two first and two seconds for Deshaun Watson. You know, Joy, with the picks you have, I don't think they have a first, they'd have to trade for that. But you can get better fast in this league pretty quick. So they bring that Patriot guy over.

Nick Tessario. I think, oh, they do have their first round picks. So they could get, if they get a second first and a couple seconds and you know, you start looking at and you're like, okay, we're going to have five new starters. Well, they also have to get the head coach, right? They also have to nail those picks. They also have to nail the quarterback in a light quarterback draft. I think Philadelphia is fantastic. So if Carson Wentz plays so many snaps, I think it is.

Philadelphia gets the Colts first round pick. We did some mock draft the other day. Philadelphia may have three of the top nine picks. Yeah, they've put together their drafts well. If Jalen Hertz works, I mean B, B plus works. Philadelphia is in a much better situation than the Texans. I don't have any faith that Texans are going to put us on track anytime soon. Speaking of JJ Watt, I was three days ago.

I was on the internet. And I found J.J. Watt video when he was a tight end as a freshman in college at some directional school in Michigan. How do you fall into these YouTube wormholes? First of all, any mock draft, it's over for an hour. Seriously, it could be my 25th wedding anniversary. If I see a mock draft from some nerd in Des Moines, I'm down the wormhole. J.J. Watts, first year in college, he's a tight end for a directional school in Michigan.

Joy, he was a monster. He was like a high schooler bowling over six-year-olds. He was so unbelievably strong. Well, he is on the right side of this game. The Cardinals are currently favored by 18 points over the Texans, according to Fox Bet. That's... That's college. Yeah, that's terrifying.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. We were just talking during the break. Everybody has a snack they like. Joy, pickles. Don't ask me.

Because her grandma had pickles. Yeah. And I have peanuts all day because my dad did. I shovel peanuts in all day. Well, you're a snacker, though. I'm not a big snacker. Everybody similarly has something, every sportscaster I've met has something they love, but they can't talk about on the air because it would bore the audience.

Yes. I knew a guy that was a big hockey guy. And I'm like, either work in Buffalo or retire, you can't talk hockey in the air. Mine's grassroots basketball. So she loves grassroots basketball. That's why her draft, she always figures out who can play and I don't. I love mock drafts because I secretly want to be a GM in the National Football League. But that's become more, not more popular, but like it's become very valuable because the NFL

content has just exploded with the ratings. Like the draft is a whole thing now. Well, I think yours, I think grassroots basketball, I think because there's college basketball is disappearing. Yeah, but you don't want to hear me breaking down a high school kid. I can talk about it when the NBA draft is coming up that this guy has this value and, you know, this potential. But I've been good on it.

I'm not going to talk about it during the middle of NFL season. Okay, I got to talk about this too. I only got a couple minutes. So I've got to give a shout out to something. So the NBA is going to take, we don't have any old Alex English video, but I got to give this two minutes. So I grew up. I'm almost rain man when it comes to 70s, 80s NBA basketball.

I had basketball cards more than baseball cards. My first sport I fell in love with was basketball. I go back to the first piece of newspaper. I had this little cork board next to. in my room. We had a weird house. And the first picture I ever put on it was Elmore Smith. It was a Laker Center. He was a short guy, like 6-9, and I put it on my wall. It was like like 1969, 1970, 71. I was just 7, 8 years old. I had basketball cards more than baseball cards. I collected both, but I love basketball. So the NBA just came out with their 75th team. The 75 best players,

NBA, like was it history or something or modern history or whatever? And everybody's complaining that Dwight Howard didn't make it. And Kyrie Irving and Bernard King, all fine. Folks, Alex English did not make the list. Alex English led

the league in scoring in the 80s. But Alex, English had no ego. He now works for the league. He was not flashy. He was not a big dunker. When I was falling in love with the NBA, late 70s, early 80s,

he's like, Alex English every night was 27 points for the Denver Nuggets. He led them to nine playoffs. He didn't make the NBA's list. And he's not even getting mentioned. Everybody's crying for Dwight Howard. High maintenance, needy, bounced around the NBA. You know, he works for about an hour and then people tire of him. Kyrie Irving?

I mean, come on. Really? Dependable? Bernard King, unbelievable. Hurt, short career. Alex English, for nine years, no, drama, no maintenance team leader in a football city. And the West was good.

Great teams around the league. They didn't win championships because they didn't have enough players. It was fat lever and it was him. Dan Issel, fat lever. Alex English didn't make the list. YouTube, Alex English. He wasn't flashy. He was classy.

He was refined. Smart guy. No headlines. If you led baseball in hits in a decade, I'm going to go with your fairly valuable. If you lead football in touchdowns for a decade, you're fairly valuable. Alex English led the NBA in points in the 80s. Not only didn't make the list, is not even getting mentioned because he never toot his own horn.

He's not about drama. He's not about maintenance. He didn't have a shoe. He wasn't a dunk machine. Guy was an absolute, classy machine. And if you're my age and all the games weren't on television, you'd get the box scores every night and I'll be damned if Alex English didn't have 29 every single time I grabbed the paper, Alex English had 29. And so I went to watch him play when I was younger because you didn't get

all the games on television. I'd never seen him play. You didn't even get all the playoff games on television. So I went and watched him play at like 37 against the Sonics. He was just this slick, slender, great shooter, didn't toot his own horn, loved him. All right, I'm done. Mercedes-Lewis coming up next Packers. of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlie. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the

interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches, we talk to players, we tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Ghalib on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 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 Jek. And I'm Alex English. episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, Korn, and I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels. of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood,

pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Wolf and Shepherds, the dress shoe made and worn by athletes like Gronk and Steve Nash. Athletic shoe meets agile. Athletic shoe bottom, business shoe on top. Go to Wolfandshepard.com. and Shepard.com. So Mercedes-Lewis is one of only five tight ends. Five tight ends in the history of the league that has played 15-plus seasons. That is a, that's living right.

And still, always been willing to block. And I think that's one of the reasons he stayed around. He's always had good hands, but he's willing to block. Mercedes-Lewis are the Packers. They're getting ready to play Washington, a very physical team this weekend. By the way, now you're an old guy and you have to block. you like blocking as a rookie or were you just all like hey just get me the ball just want catches that's all i want i think uh you know we had talked before i came on his show

um when i was at ucla i was uh there with a guy by the name of john emry who's my tight-end coach yeah at the time and uh john you know came in and pretty much stripped me of what i thought of tight-in was and uh basically told me that, look, you know, you want to play a long time in this league. Everybody knows that, you know, you can catch the ball and run with it, but, you know, are you able to dominate at the point of contact? And that's rare at the next level. And this was in college. And so the way he coached me, you know, he had me ready with the mindset for what I would have to, you know, endure when I got to the league. And here I am. 16 years later, you know, was able to go

through a solid prime with catching a ball. And now I'm in a different prime as far as my block. So it's definitely been a great experience for me. And, you know, like I said before, I'm just grateful for the opportunity that I'm in an offense that still requires my skill set. So definitely blessed. Mercedes, I was thinking about this. So go back to your rookie year until now, because the game is so spread out, you need speed from your linebackers. So actually for you, as you've put on strength and size, have your defenders often gone? gotten smaller because it's such a speed league now.

Is it actually today you don't face a 260 pound linebacker? He's probably 232, right? Yeah, I mean, it's totally different now. You know, when I was in, when I came in, I mean, we had Jeremiah Trotter and that was a middle linebacker. He was like 265, 270, something like that. So it's definitely changed now. Guys are more avatars and they're running 4-4s and 4-3, so it's definitely different

from that standpoint. But, you know, at the end of the day, you can run like that, but you still got to be able to get out blocks and, you know, be able to get around those linemen and sometimes go through those linemen, and I think that's what kind of like levels it out. You know, so we all thought it was pretty funny when Aaron Rogers was calling out the bear fans. I loved it. And I said, I loved it because I love that Aaron, he's still so into it.

And I don't know. When I watched that, I thought, okay, that's what I want my quarterback to do. I want my, like Brady's still screaming at people. And what was the reaction in the locker room and after with Aaron ripping the Bears fans, the flight back? What was it like? I mean, it was more so, not even just that moment, but just going into that week, obviously, Bears, divisional opponent and a chance to really control our destiny had we took care of business there. just the conversation that, you know, he had with the offensive guys.

He's just like, hey, man, you know, plenty of games we won here. I've won here plenty of times. And this is no different, you know. And so I think, you know, with him and having that confidence and, you know, him being the talent that he is, man. I mean, I knew it was coming at some point, but just not in that way. And I think that kind of just lit everybody up in the locker room. You know, I've said this this year. I know Green Bay is in a bubble of seven or eight teams for the Super Bowl,

but my eyes tell me, Mercedes, that you guys haven't clicked yet. It doesn't, and I don't say that as a criticism. It's just third down pressure situation. Aaron, not quite as tight. Offensive lines had injuries. Do you feel like at 1 through 10, you're still at 7 and a half, you have a long tarmac here to get better? Yeah, I mean, I don't take that.

I mean, I take that as a compliment. I mean, we're 5 and 1, and we haven't clicked yet. our best game yet. And I think we found different ways to win this year. And that's done nothing but build character. And, you know, like you said, like we are, you know, the pursuit to, you know, excellence. I mean, obviously, nobody's perfect. But the journey along the way is what we're all about and just making our plays that are afforded for us to make. And, you know, as we continue to jail here and fight through some injuries and things like that, you know, we're going to be a team to be reckoned with come to end of the season.

So you play Washington this week. Listen, they got four first round picks in the defensive line. They have not played particularly well. And last year, their last seven or eight games, Brady couldn't move the ball on them. You couldn't move the ball on them. Have you ever been on a team like that where the talent's there? It's just not something's not. I mean, when you look at the film on Washington, what is it?

I mean, to answer your first question, yes. I mean, Jacksonville was like that. I mean, I felt like we were getting guys in the top 10 every single year, but we just couldn't get right on that, you know, just couldn't get right as a team. But when you turn on the film, you just see a bunch of, like I said, avatars running around, athletic, gifted, you know, dominating.

Like, it's good film out there that they're putting, out there. But, you know, for us, it comes down to what we do and what we do well and being able to communicate and handle our business. And it's always been about that. Do you, is LaFleur the kind of coach, you know, for you and Aaron intellectually, you've been in this league so long, you guys have seen everything. Do you feel comfortable you and Aaron going to LaFleur ever and just saying, hey, this is what I'm seeing? Is Matt, like, open? to that stuff from like veteran players? Yeah, he's definitely

an open door policy with Matt and I think even more this year, you know, he lets us know straight up. Like if you guys see something communicate with me, I trust you guys and, you know, we'll go from there. But, you know, he's definitely from year one to now, you can just tell that, you know, he trusts the product

just being put out there every Sunday, Monday, and sometimes Thursday. So, you know, kudos to him because it takes going through experience and whether it's winning games or losing games, but being able to stay even kill and being a young coach, being able to trust your guys. He's been able to do that. Does this season have a last dance field to it? I mean, we all talk about that in the media.

Is there just a little bit of you thinking, I may not, this may be it with me and Aaron? Not really. I feel like, you know, obviously at the beginning of the year, you know, with the stuff surrounding. Aaron, it was, like, that was a perception. It was about that. But we're very much in it, man, and just trying to take it one day at a time and be the best version of yourself every day. And, you know, that's all we can control is our process. You know, whether we win or lose, we can't control that.

So, you know, sitting here, I can tell you that everybody's very much locked into the process and, you know, living with results. By the way, you play Thursday, too. So you're an old guy now. So that means you got two games. Let me think about this. Two games in five days. You better go to bed by 6.45. You are.

I'm definitely getting all of my sleep. And yeah, man, I've got a lot of bank reps as far as how to take care of my body. And I think that's what's got me to this point now. And I'll just double down on it before Thursday. Great seeing you as always. Love having you on. UCLA plays Oregon. this week. You know what? Chips got

them. They're a little better. They got shot. They're humming. I was able to check them out against LSU. I went home right before the season started, and they played their butts off. So obviously, starting to, you know, turn that thing around a little bit and go Bruins. Good seeing you, buddy. Appreciate it. All right. Mercedes-Lewis, a great pro. Only five tight ends league history have played 15 plus years. Antonio Gates

is one. Tony Gonzalez has won. Tony Gonzalez has won. I think Jackie Smith's a former cowboy. He played in a couple of teams. I'm trying to think of the other one. Did Dave Casper? Maybe not of the Raiders. That's a position that's a... I think you'll have more of those because now they're such vertical players,

not just blockers. It's a position that's hard on your body. Yeah. And they tend to be bigger, so they tend to have to take bigger hits to get them down. But it is interesting. When he broke into this league, there were 265-pound linebackers.

Like you can't... That position just evaporated. Yeah. You can't, you can't, you cannot cover a tight end today at 265. Good luck. Well, the game is so fast now, too. It's so fast. Hockey's the same way.

I'm not a big hockey fan. Hockey's so much faster now. You go, I YouTube stuff all the time. I'll go watch old NBA, old hockey. Hockey was so slow in the 70s. You watch these guys now. They are. Yeah, they all wear dresses now.

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Is it a cigar weekend? No cigars, no alcohol. Got to figure out who the next coach of LSU and USC is. Got to break those stories. Joy and I, I don't know what, Joy. I am doing journalism this weekend. Next week is story breaking time. Have a great weekend. Be safe.

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