The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 3 - Report cards

Episode Date: February 15, 2022

Colin gives his Super Bowl report cardsGuest: Brian Billick 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.

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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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

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Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Manscape launched their ultra-premium collection, all-in-one skin and hair care kit. Head to toe, 20% off free shipping to manscape.com. Code heard, H-E-R-D. Brian Billick, nine years in the NFL won a Super Bowl, and we said, the Buccaneers brought everybody back, and then at the end of last year or this year, they felt like they were a little loose.

Tom Brady had complained publicly post- Thanksgiving. They weren't buttoned up. Philadelphia years ago brought 17 to 22 starters back, and it just sort of errone. roaded, you know, quickly. Rams are not going to do that because they got so many free agents. They can't pay them all. And they may be signing Matt Stafford early.

So Brian Billick knows the cap maneuverability. When you win a Super Bowl, everybody wants a new contract. He joins us live. Super Bowl winning coach. So, you know, it's interesting. They get a little bit of a break in that Andrew Whitworth is a $17 million cap hit. He'll probably retire. So that helps a little bit, and they have a backup to them.

It's a pretty good player. But take me to, you won a Super Bowl in Baltimore, you're enshrined as an all-time great team. Is it hard to bang the drum at practice? Is it hard to bang the drum in urgency? You tell me. Yeah, it is, you know, and because everything moves on so quickly. I mean, it's not 10 minutes after the game is over.

People are going, well, what about next year? Can you repeat? Can you re-sign this guy? What about it? It's like, can I have a day? Can I have one day where I can just appreciate the Super Bowl before we move on? But no, you have to move on very, very readily. That's one of the reasons, if you remember, we were the first team to ever do hard knocks. And that's one of the reasons why I allowed it, because it was, okay, how do I keep this team captivated and motivated? Because we know what it looks like. We know what we have to do. We know what practice looks like. We know what training clamp looks like of a Super Bowl champion.

How do you get that back? So I allowed the cameras in on hard knocks, kind of like. okay, well, if we're not going to do that, I'm going to let the whole world seat. And I think it kind of energized us and motivated us. We extended ourselves, much like you saw Tampa, to hold that team together, got to the divisional round. But after that, then you had to pay the Piper. And we then, the next year, became the youngest team, I think, in the history of the NFL. So there's a price to pay. Yeah, and I would argue, though, it is hard to keep the juice because football, even practice is hard.

It asks so much. Now, you were lucky in that you had like a Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, like real adults. And they kept, I mean, these are intense guys. They don't take a lot of practices and games off. Does it help that Aaron Donald and Cooper Cup are sort of not low profile, but like kind of chill, kind of into their stuff? Did it help you to have these two Hall of Famers who were very accountable and very focused and very intense to at least keep. everything like not too much juice around the team? Yeah, the veterans, we had a lot of veterans that understood what that temperament was going to have to be. And you're right, with Ray Lewis

in particular, there becomes, okay, you've got to keep up with this. And they were very focused particularly. The hard part is it's not so much the postseason. It's during the regular season, kind of the assumptional we're going to be back in the postseason. We know it's going to be tough slog and you've got to do it all again. But, you know, let's get through the regular season. Let's get done with the rehearsal stuff and let's get to the real deal. And that's very dangerous. That's when you start to, as you alluded with Tom Brady, you get a little sloppy. It's not as tight. So that's, that is a concern that you've got to stay on top on. But when you've got your leaders like Ray Lewis that are so focused in the preparation and recognize that

it's really easy to fall into that conundrum, then yeah, it makes a whole lot of difference for your team. You know, there's a bunch of quarterbacks. Dan Marino got to a Super Bowl, 23 never got back. Aaron Rogers, I think it was like 27, hasn't gotten back. There's Steve Young, Drew Breeze. There's a lot. And I mean great quarterbacks. I look at the AFC North and I think, well, Baltimore can't be that beat up. Great organization. Cleveland's roster is still excellent. Pittsburgh is going to go get a Carson Went or a Garapolo. I mean, they're Pittsburgh. They don't have losing seasons. What do you make of Cincinnati? It is not a big free agent hub historically. It's not a free wheeling ownership group. O-line's bad. What do you make of Cincinnati

going forward? Half these teams that made the playoffs, Brian, half won't be back. What do you make of them going forward? Yeah, in a field where I think with the exception of Pittsburgh and maybe Philly, maybe the most competitive playoff field we've ever seen. You could have made a case for, and we saw that in the championship round and the divisional round. All the games were so close. Someone said Are these the two best teams in the NFL? Well, yeah, they proved it. Are they dominant teams? No, because I don't think there is a dominant team in the NFL.

But I think Cincinnati, when you begin now with Joe Burrow, that's huge. His calm, his demeanor, what he's shown he's been able to do. Prior to this game, the previous six games, the last two regular season games and during the postseason, I can't remember quarterback having a better run than Joe Burrow. And particularly a guy that had been under siege in terms of the sacks. So when you begin with that, yeah, Cincinnati's got a change. chance to stay to stay with it. Now, you're right. They've got to do the other things. They've got to draft well, free agency. They've got to spend the money properly. Fortunately, they're on a Joe

Burrow contract that allows them to do that. But eventually, fairly quickly, they're going to have to give him that mega contract that now affects teams in terms of their ability to go forward. So that's going to be the biggest limiting factor for Cincinnati is once it's time to pay Joe Burrow and you're not playing on that rookie contract numbers, which is very attractive for them for the next year or so, then it gets a little more, it gets a little dice here for Cincinnati. You know, the game has changed. 20 of our coaches now are offensive. Every NFC team that made the playoffs had an offensive coach. The best quarterback won every division except the AFC. No, I'd say the AFC South too. They want every division except, let's see, the AFC East has all defensive coaches. So when you look at

at sort of the way the game is changing. There's all these new coaching hires, and a handful of teams went defense again. When you sort of look at how the rules have changed right now, can you succeed? I guess Belichick's a little bit of an outlier. Now, Vrabel's a defensive coach. My bad. Do you like how offensive the league has become? Well, what you like it or not, it is what it is.

Certainly entertaining. And as someone that obviously won his Super Bowl more and defensive oriented, it's getting tougher and tougher for defenses because the rules keep pushing towards a more open game and what they're able to do. In terms of the coach itself, yeah, I mean, we go through cycles of offensive coaches and defensive coaches, college coaches, then coordinators, then former head coaches, that type of thing. You tend to hire the opposite of what you just fired. So I guess that you have to track that a little bit.

But I think you make a mistake. you think, well, I need to hire an offensive or a defensive guy as head coach. You need to hire head coach. You can hire good coordinators. You can get that aspect of it. But if you're hiring a guy just because you think he's an offensive or defensive guru, and that's going to transition into him being as a good head coach, I think you're going down a path you don't want to go. You can get it done a lot of different ways. By the way, we see drama with quarterbacks. They're making 35 million bucks, 40 million bucks. Now everybody's got commercials.

It didn't used to be that way 20 years ago, 15 years ago in the NFL. I mean, if you got a chunky soup commercial at Donovan McNabb, I mean, that was like a big commercial. And I see Kyler Murray's drama and Aaron Rogers' drama and Russell Wilson's drama. You know, Aaron, Brian, I look at it and I think to myself, well, the NBA was a little ahead of the NFL on this. The reality is these guys are making 40, 50 million a year. The game now demands, you're either good at quarterback or you can't get to the

playoffs. Do we have to just kind of wrap our arms around? Listen, we created this. It's an offensive league. You're going to get some drama at quarterback and as a franchise. You didn't have a lot of this. You had Dilfer, Elvis Gerbaugh, Flacco, not a lot of, but what do you make of some of the drama you see from quarterbacks that goes public? Well, I think it's becoming a little like the NBA in that these contracts are getting so big for the quarterbacks. And most of it is guaranteed like NBA contracts. And I think those guys kind of look over at the NBA and the top players in the NBA and the way they kind of run their organizations and can dictate who the coach is and who they bring is and free agents. I think they kind of look at that and go, you know, I like that.

I think I'm going to do that, whether it's Russell Wilson, whether it's Aaron Rogers. So I think as that stature grows, as the money grows, as the guaranteed money grows, I think you're seeing more and more of that entitlement by quarterbacks. like, no, I'm part of management now because they're paying me enough. You know, I understand the structure, but we're partners. And as a partner, I'm not going to be a silent partner. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. By the way, you're an ambassador and an investor in X-Tech. The Rams, I believe, were wearing your shoulder pads.

How was this, by the way, how was this created? Yeah. It's so great to see, I mean, virtually the entire team is NECTEC-P pass. nine years ago, Bob Roderick, who was my PR guy with Fox, he was a 15-year-old ballboy for the New York Giants. So he connects with Ted Monica, who's a longtime equipment guy, designer of equipment, and they look forward and go, hey, got to take the helmet out of the game. Well, that means shoulder pads got to step up, and shoulder pads haven't changed in 40 years. Well, they came up with ex-tech pads nine years ago, and that's why it's the number one pad in the NFL, virtually everybody on the RAM team. It's the number one pad in pro football.

It's the number one pad in Power 5 football, USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Ohio State. And it's becoming that way in high school ball as well. Modern Day and St. John Bosco in California, Westlake and Cady and South Lake Carroll in Texas, Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Because the parents are now recognized they've got to get on board. We've got to protect our players. So it's a great success story, 100% American made, what these guys have done over the last nine years to become the number one pad company in all of football.

see the virtually entire Ram team and X-Tac pads. It was, it was fun to see. Congrats, my man. We'll talk soon. All righty. Thank you. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say.

Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life,

mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars. fan so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the

biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 a little camp? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're just so you.

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, oh. Thank you for finishing that sentence. And 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. By the way, another thing I'd like to see change is less astroturf. OBJ's injury, you could argue, was an astro-turf injury. Who do we have on last week? George Kittle.

George Kittle came on. He said, I think Debo tweeted about it too. Debo Samuel. Yeah, Debo Samuel. After Odell's injury saying that turf should be banned. You know, it's interesting. So years ago, I was at the Kingdom as a kid, and I can remember it. So I got on the field, and it was for, it was a high school thing?

I don't even know how I got on the field, but I got on the, the kingdom field. I could not believe how hard the turf was. I'm like, people get driven into this. Like it was this thick. It doesn't have the give, the natural give that the grass

and dirt does either. So when you're running and you're changing directions or you fall, like there's a certain pliability that like dirt and grass has that turf doesn't. So that, I mean, the players would know they're the ones out there actually getting tackled onto this, actually

falling on it. It does make a difference. Yeah. Joy with the news. No. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

I think the biggest thing that Kittal said that made sense is like, you know, virtually all these other sports all have the same standards for their fields and courts. And it's just football that has this, like this is this size and the grass is this high. Like it should be more standard. A couple years ago, I didn't invest in it, but I considered it. It was somebody, it was a former patriot. They were coming out with new helmets after the CTE stuff. And the helmet had like padding on the outside.

And it looked different, but that was one of the, you know, we're going to keep, there's just too much money. I remember talking to people when I was at the other place and there, some of the broadcasters were like, oh, football is going to die. No, it's not. No, it's not. There's too much money. In high school communities, college communities, it's not going to, banks were too big to fail.

Football's too big to fail in America. It just drives an economic engine onto itself. But I think you will. You've already seen it in practices. They don't hit as much in practice. The stars don't play in preseason. The pads are lighter and healthier. I think the next two things we see is some adjustments to the helmet and the turfs.

Get rid of the turfs. Yeah. So James Hardin is getting a fresh start with the 76ers. He won't make his debut with the team until. after the All-Star break due to a hamstring injury, but he was introduced by the team today, and he was asked about his recent mobility in the NBA. He didn't want to play in Houston anymore.

You were able to leave. He didn't want to play in Brooklyn anymore. You were able to leave. What does that say about you and what does it say about the power that NBA players wield in this era of basketball? You know, for the most part, we can control our own destiny. Not that I said that's a good thing or bad thing,

but I know in my situation, you know, for whatever reason, I'm just, it was mutual. Obviously, knowing Darrell, no one's had, you know, for my Houston days, knowing Doc. For me, it just made sense, man. It's a time where I needed to be, you know, around the guys that I know that want to win and know that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and the structure here is unbelievable. A little bit of a shot there at the end.

Yeah, a little shot. Well, I do think it's a good fit. I really do. I'm excited to watch. I was going to watch the other night against Cleveland, but he wasn't going to play. So I think they're kind of keeping him out of the All-Star stuff, kind of hiding him. And I think he's going to walk in and score. I mean, they beat the other day Philadelphia didn't have all the guys they traded.

And they beat Cleveland, a pretty good team. The NBA had a little bit of an issue with storylines up until this point. This is a good story line. And now this is what's going to play. Kyrie is part-time. K.D. is now her. What's going to happen with the Nets? Well, now we have two interesting stories.

new fresh starts, if you will, for both of these organizations who are going to be competitive moving forward. And look, you know, you can be mad about player mobility. I know people, people, it's very strange, like the reaction to player mobility and player empowerment. And we talk about NIL and like the transfer portal and all these things.

I don't think anything is as bad as people make it seem or as good as people make it seem. Right. There is somewhere in the middle. Are there going to be young people that make bad decisions that change the course of their life. Yes. Can you protect them from doing that by not having this available?

No, because you still need to have the transfer portal and you still need to provide NIL. And this is the culture of NBA basketball that stars can leave. Not all stars are going to leave. Dame is still in Portland. Milwaukee. Yon is still in Milwaukee.

Steph and Clay and Jemann are still in with the Warriors. Like this overreaction panic stuff is, I mean, aren't you guys just exhausted? Oh, it's exhausting. It's never that bad. Well, think about this. If you were in a career that had about nine years to make your money and you could be traded from job to job and you got traded to a city you didn't like

and employees you didn't like, yeah, you'd probably complain too. But also not even just not like. It's the short amount of time you have to make that money. And there's a small amount of guys that do this. Because they're the stars, we talk about them a lot. but the whole league isn't asking and demanding trades. There's like five people that do this. And they don't even all do it.

Like he said it was mutual. I'm sure there were situations within the building that we don't know about. We might not find out about until, you know, a documentary 10 years from now. It's going to be okay. And this is great, actually, for the league, because it gives us all something to be interested in when situations become bad and toxic. And it's actually good for Hardin because playing with another ball-centric guard in Brooklyn doesn't work. for him. We know that. He struggled with Westbrook and Chris Paul, and I love Chris Paul. And also, for Simmons, he's best equipped with shooters. Well, now they have Seth Curry, Kyrie, KD, Patty Mills.

So if Simmons can't make this work, this is the team for him. He doesn't have Andre Drummond will play, but there are times Andre won't be on the floor. It's not a lane clogging offense. So this is the, if Ben Simmons doesn't flourish here, because, you know, I argue this for years. He's a Hall of Fame defensive talent. Great length, excellent passer. In Philadelphia, about the time he got there, they were losing shooters. So now he joins a team, which is built. Ben Simmons is joining the perfect arsenal of shooters.

Because that's what he does. He takes the ball, he beats you off the dribble. He either finishes at the rim or he's got great court vision, gets it to one of your shooters. So this team is built for him. And we'll see what he can do. So the Bengals will have to. focus their attention on improving the offensive line this off season. Joe Burrow got sacked 70 times in the regular season and postseason this year.

And tight end, CJ Azuma, said it was hard to watch as quarterback takes so many hits. You don't want your quarterback to get hit one time, let alone however many times it was. You know, not even counting, you know, the things that weren't sacks, just him getting hit in general. So it has been tough. You know, there's, I mean, that's franchise, right? you don't want to see your franchise quarterback get hit as many times as he did. And that's probably going to be a point of emphasis coming up. So it was sacked 51 times in the regular season, the most in the league,

70 times, including the postseason, seven times in the Super Bowl, two by Aaron Donald, two by Ron Miller. Nine by the Titans. Nine by the Titans. Sixteen sacks in two games. So to put in perspective, Andrew Luck was sacked in one season. The most amount of times was 41 times. It happened twice in his career.

Think about that. 41. So almost double that for Burrow. Brutal. And they're lucky because one of the sacks in this game looked really serious. It speaks to the confidence and capacity that Joe Burrow has because he's coming off of a major injury. So to have a major injury like that last year and then to get hit as many times as he has this year with no fear, no hesitation, popping right back up and being able to take another hit is really remarkable. But you don't want to continue this. This is not sustainable.

It's ridiculous. Now, they have $57 million under the cap. Thermos cap space in the NFL and eight picks in the draft this year, one in each of the first six rounds and two in the seventh round. So, you know, you have Tyler Lindembaum from Iowa, Evan Neal from Alabama, Mississippi State. There's a lot of good tackles. Kenner Green from Texas A&M. Three tackles will be taken in the top 15, 18 picks.

They should do whatever they can to build a really strong office. offensive line for him. And here's a thing with the Bengals. I do think that they will continue to keep this standard, like we talked about earlier, this standard of winning and expectations as they should. They've made it to

the Super Bowl, you have the capacity, lean into it. Don't be the same bangles that are cheap and don't put the right pieces around and squander a talent like Joe Burrell. Because as we were talking about all show long, stars have more power now. Like Joe Burrell doesn't have

to stay in Cincinnati if he gets to the end of this contract and you haven't built an offensive line around him. So the fans should hold that organization to the standard of you've got your guy. Now do what you have to do to protect him because that's not sustainable. So obviously the Bengals did not win the Super Bowl, but they got a winner's welcome when they got back to Cincinnati. Hundreds of fans gathered outside of Paul Brown Stadium and sheared for the players and their coaches as the team. Buses pulled up. Look at that. Very nice. Very thoughtful. I like that. It's a good fan base in Cincinnati. They love their team.

They should. There were a lot of Bengals fans out here. A ton. A lot. I was down at the Third Street Pomeod for the Saturday radio show. There were Bengals fans everywhere. I went to my little restaurant in Hermosa and Bengals fans everywhere. I mean, I thought the stadium was 5540 Rams Bengals.

Like it was a, they showed up to SoFi for sure. And the Super Bowl averaged 112.3 million viewers across TV and streaming. I think it was the most watched TV show in five. Yes, the most watched TV show in five years. 112.3 million viewers. So I guess everybody is back. I saw an article somewhere like people are kind of down on how like the NFL is treating as players and like the empowerment and stuff.

Oh, good God. That's really sweet. So where were you Super Bowl Sunday? Were you watching on your couch? I think you were. What do you want me to not watch these games? I don't know what people want. The games are great.

I can't, I told you. I don't have real life conversations. of people like this because, I mean, where do these people even come from? Like, who are you? You're, like, mad at the NFL? I don't have a single friend I've ever met that would say, I'm not watching this sport because of this happened. It's Sunday.

I work tomorrow. I want to watch stuff. I don't know. I just think, we all know that when people say things like that, they're not really doing that. I know. Like, if I don't want to watch something, I just don't watch it. I don't need to announce.

I am announcing to the world as if you care that I am not interested in this television show. Sad. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Yeah, it is interesting. I am going to go to social media and tell all of you that this TV show I'm not watching.

All right. Bye-bye. There's another TV viewer right next to you, next door in the house. But you are going to watch because the whole world's watching and everyone's talking about it and you don't want to feel that out. What are you going to do better in your life Sunday than watch the game? Maybe they're into like pottery or something. They have some hobbies. A lot of pottery people out there.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host to The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor, along with my trusty sidekick, David Gascon, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing things.

facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, 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 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for Raw.

unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot. or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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. They're finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back. It's time to give our Super Bowl report cards. Very controversial. I don't like giving out bad grades. I'd probably be a softie as a teacher. I wouldn't give out a lot of Fs.

I give incompletes. I just very, very difficult. I'd be a very, very easy teacher. Soft teachers are how I got through school. Yeah, I just don't want to see kids fail. I'm America's honesty broker until it comes to giving out grades. I'm pretty squishy and soft. So go ahead.

Let's give grades. All right. What grade would you give Sean McVeigh? Give him a B-plus. I did think he wasted some valuable downs trailing in the second half, trying to continue to run. They stayed in 11 personnel for every offensive play in the Super Bowl, which is one running back, one tied-up.

and three receivers. So it was pretty predictable. They came in with the game plan. But I did think he had to overcome Odell's injury. And I love the last drive. So I'd say B, B, B plus. B plus. Matthew Stafford.

B plus. He had two picks, bad end zone pick. Like that's a ball that he should just throw away under through that. The interception I didn't blame him for. He had a great game-winning drive. He tends to be unbelievable in the fourth. And he was 4-0 and a 70% completion percentage. and 108 pass rating in the postseason.

So he had a couple picks, so it's not an A, but it's a very, very, the highest B plus I can give. And he had to no look pass. And he hit on the throws he had to hit. I could have easily gone A minus. I'll go B plus plus. What grade would you give O'Dell Buckham, Jr.? I have to give him an incomplete.

I thought his loss hurt the team. I thought he had a very good first half. Because they were bracketing Cooper Cup, it left him on one-on-one isolation coverage, and I thought he was a problem. incomplete. I don't know what they're going to do with them. He's not going to be back until November, December next year. A very good first half, but he did not complete his midterm. What grade would you give Cooper Cup? I'd give him an A. Listen, the bottom line, he did most of

his work on one drive, and those were tough catches. I mean, he was really blanketed. Stafford had a perfect 158 passer rating when targeting Cooper Cup in the fourth quarter of this postseason. This was also a huge, huge play for him on that. get sweep, which they used to be the offense years ago. They kind of buried it this year with Stafford. That was their offense with Jared Goff. They had more misdirection. But the final drive gets him from like a B, B plus to an A.

Aaron Donald. A plus. He would have been my MVP. I thought the entire game plan was, don't go back seven-step drops. The entire game plan was, let's not, we cannot block Aaron Donald. Two sacks, six pressures. I thought he stopped momentum after that Bengal interception on a big third down, and then he blew up the last drive.

I also thought pushing Burrow out of bounds here was really close to be in a penalty, but wasn't. So even when he was a little out of control, he was in control. Von Miller. Just a notch below an A. He had two quarterback pressures. He deflected a ball. Vaughn Miller started slow for the Rams.

He was wildly valuable. He had nine sacks over the final eight games, including the playoffs. That led the NFL. So that moved to give up a couple of draft picks for Von Miller ended up being gold standard for less need. I didn't know if it was worth it. I figured it'd be okay. He came on like gangbusters late. What great would you give Zach Taylor?

I would say a B-minus. Again, I liked the game plan. So I'm not going to be too punitive here. but they were lousy on third and fourth down. And with all those weapons, I didn't think they were terribly creative outside of the Joe Mix and halfback pass. But he lost a lead late,

so he's going to get dinged for that. Joe Barrow. Good solid B. He was under duress. I thought he played mostly great. He was pressured on 43% of the throws. But again, he wasn't great on third down. I did think this was his best throw. I did not think

He got kind of a gift touchdown on the PI that wasn't called, but a good solid B. Joe Mixon. A minus. I think Joe Mixon's underrated. It's hard to be underrated on a Super Bowl team. Joe Mixon's excellent. He had a halfback pass. By the way, the Rams tried a trick play.

It did not work. This is not as easy as it look. He threw that thing off one foot. I think Joe Mixon's really good. I think he led all players in touches this postseason. He led all players in rushing yards with 262 in the postseason. I just think he's a great back. He's power.

He doesn't fumble. He made a half-back pass happen, which, again, I'll say it. That is not an easy play. Jamar Chase. B-minus, he had a big catch early, 46-yarders, didn't do much after that. You could say, well, he was doubled and he was, you know, Jalen Ramsey. He was open late in the play. They couldn't get the ball to him.

This was the moment for him. But I thought he was just okay. T. Higgins. Same thing. Just okay. Not bad. Just kind of okay. the way Cooper Cup played so great, it shrinks what Jamar Chase and T. Higgins do.

And Tyler Boyd, we don't have time for that. That dropped by Tyler Boyd, that was bad. I didn't think the receiving corps for Cincinnati, it was fine. Tyler Boyd's drop, bad. Gave the Rams a huge break. All right, report cards are in. We'll see you tomorrow. Speak for yourself.

Is around the corner on a Tuesday. Good stuff today. I appreciate it. Brian Billick. Mark Schlerath, Mike Silverall, all stopped by. In L.A., it's The Hurd. 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 eye 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 the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Keer Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional

who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard. on the AHA Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.