The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - Seahawks WR DK Metcalf & FS1 NBA Analyst Ric Bucher

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

Colin shares his thoughts on who should be leading in the NFL MVP race, why this season has backfired on Aaron Rodgers, and is joined by Seahawks WR DK Metcalf, and FS1 NBA analyst Ric Bucher.Guests: DK Metcalf, Ric BucherSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour three. Live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Thanks for Megan S. part of your day. The Seattle, The Fox, D.K. Metcalfe scheduled to be on the show. They'd won six of eight.

They were on fire, playing well. Then they had that ugly loss at Baltimore, came back, narrowly beat Washington, and it has been nothing but trouble since. He's played great. D.K. just came off a big game. against Dallas. Huge game. Couldn't guard him. Nice guy. We had him on the show, I think, last year at this time. But, you know, when I look at the NFL, it's funny, Jim, Matt, we talk about this. You know, I just said, predicting week-to-week what happens is difficult. But big picture,

we kind of know who can play, who can't, and it mostly comes down to franchise quarterbacks. Like Trevor Lawrence got hurt last night, so that means trouble for Jacksonville. He'll be back in probably three weeks. They'll probably sneak into the playoffs. Probably, offensive coach, good quarterback weapons, they'll probably get in. If they can win one game in the next two weeks, they'll be fine. High ankle sprain. You won't play this week. May play the next.

We'll see. But you kind of know as the quarterback, there's two or three things. It's become a quarterback league. Now, it always was. But there were years ago, you can go way, way, way back when Jim Brown could make you the best team of running back, the late Jim Brown, right? And then we knew there were times when you could be a run first team and you could be a dominant team.

Tennessee Titans could have Derek Henry. and is prime. You can be a number one seed. What's happened more and more and more, it's not that there's just one way to win, but overwhelmingly, unless you find a quarterback in the mid to late round and you can stack your roster,

and that happens occasionally. The bottom line in the NFL is you have to have, you have to have a really, really good quarterback to win. So if you start looking at divisions, you know, Josh Allen's near the top, Tua with a great coach, Mahalms is at the top. Lamar Jackson's great.

Jalen Hertz is great. Dax's having a great year. I don't think Brock Purdy's great, but I do think with that team and that – I think he's good. But the league is becoming very quarterback dependent. The other thing is it used to be – I mean, the New England Patriots had a 20-year dynasty.

They never won when they had Randy Moss. When they had their best receiver, they didn't win. In the last eight to 10 years, because of the rule changes. Wide receivers are way more valuable than they've ever been. I remember years ago it used to be a running joke. Chris Carter used to give me crap. I used to call receivers icing on the cake.

You can have a cake without icing. The icing makes it better. Receivers are now absolutely part of the cake. You got to have a quarterback. You have to have a left tackle to protect him. You got to have a pass rusher. He got have a star receiver. D.K. Metcalf is a star receiver.

Last week, the Cowboys couldn't cover. him. Like I never thought that until about seven, eight years ago, with the rule changes, you can't guard the best receivers. There's nothing you can do. And D.K. Metcalfe five years, a pro bowler joining us live. There's D.K., good to see you again. Good to see you again. You looked all ready to go. So we talked about this, is that Seattle, you had won six of eight. And these are long seasons, D.K., they last a long time and guys get hurt. And then all of a sudden, you go to Baltimore. Okay, Baltimore beats a lot of people.

That's okay. You came back, you kind of struggled, you beat Washington. There's something right now that's not quite right with the Seahawks, right? Three straight losses. How does it feel to you? What's not quite right that was better five weeks ago? I would say we just got to start playing more as a team and, you know, as a collective team, you know, putting forth the same effort and having the same goal in mind.

I think right now is very sporadic. You know, the offense is doing good. Sometimes the defense is doing, you know, great sometimes. Special teams have been the most consistent. I think it's been on the team. But, you know, the offense and defense just have to come together and just play as one. Do you know before a big game, D.K., like Dallas, they couldn't cover you. Did you know going in you were going to have a big game,

or sometimes is it just it develops over the course of a game? Or did you see on film, because they have good corners? Did you feel like Dallas is in trouble against me? Well, I always feel like that, you know, against any team that we play. But, you know, football is a team sport. So, you know, you got to be able to block, run, catch, and, you know, throw the ball. And then on the flip side of it, you got to stop the opposing team from covering and scoring touchdowns as well. So, no, you never know going into a team, I mean, going into a game, you know, how things are going to shake out.

It's just, you know, you know, how the game plays out. and how the game plan plays out. And, you know, if something's working, you stick with it, you know, then if it's not, then you got to, you know, learn how to pivot or, you know, change on the fly. But not going into a game, I don't think you ever know. Niners are the most, I think they're the most talented team in the league. They are not great at corner. They're good.

That's probably how they're viewed is their secondaries, not their strength. When you look at their overall personnel, what do you see with the Niners' defense, D.K.? Well, their front seven is great. Starting with Fred Warner, then, you know, Bosa, then they added Chase Young, Armstead. You know, they got a whole laundry list of pass rushers. And then, you know, my prayers go out to Funga, who was a great player. Yeah. Love going against him as safety.

He was definitely, you know, a problem on their defense as well. But, yeah, they have pretty good players in their secondary. Chadarius Ward is very good. Yeah. Lards is good. You know, they got a savvy bet at safety and then a rookie at strong safety. So, you know, they have all the right pieces in the right place in order to be successful, in my opinion. Listen, you're a little like LeBron that you have the body that you're going to be able to play for a long, long, long time.

In fact, you've only missed one game in your career. And it's interesting, D.K., because we're getting to the point in the season. The weather's cold. teams are missing nobody nobody feels good now and i watch you and i think now decaps fine he's always good but even for somebody of your size when you get to this point in the season do you feel it is it harder to get out there on sunday is practice harder for you physically i will say the only thing that's hard is probably practice i don't never have to hot myself up or get ready for a game because i'm always ready to play but uh going back to your point i will say bobby and

Russ and Duane Brown were three people who I looked up to when I first got in league and how they took care of their body and how they were always, you know, doing pre-hab stuff, whether that was massages or a cold tub, hot tub. They were always taking care of their body. So that's one thing. You know, I lean towards Bobby in that aspect. He's always working out. He's always getting massages, taking care of his body. So, you know, I look up to him, you know, in a lot of ways. And that's just one way I try to, you know, inherit the things that he does. And, you know, added to my lifestyle. You know, D.K. Metcalfe joining us, when you got to that team, you were very, very serious from day one. So you had a tough transition. You go from Ole Miss, Mississippi, you go all the way across country, SEC to Pete Carroll. And that's a lot. That's 3,000 miles. That's a big ass. And you were great right away. And you were very adult, very serious, very committed right away. It's hard in the transition. But now you're different. Now you're a leader. And I'll see you, talking to Gino Smith on the sidelines. During a game, if you talk to Gino, what's appropriate, because you're all emotional, right?

How demanding can you be, right, during a game, be like, bro, I need the ball. What are those discussions like, because you don't want to offend somebody, but you also need to make your point. What are those sideline discussions? Be as honest as you can about those if you're not happy. I will say it just goes back to practice and what we saw during the week or during film study. But anytime I go up to Gino, it's always just to encourage them. Or anytime you see me talking to Shane or the running backs or the old line, I'm always just trying to check on them and make sure that good because I learned last year.

I'm not the vocal leader, but I can lead by example and I can do my job by checking on people and making sure they're good because I'm always going to be good. And, you know, if I can just give them some energy or some motivation to just go out there and just keep pushing through or just keep fighting or keep going, you know, no matter what the adversity may be, then, you know, I think that's my job. And it's just to make sure everybody's even killed and just make sure everybody's ready to go anytime we step out there on the field. Once again, you lead the Seahawks and touchdowns with six. You have over 800 yards. This was the team I grew up watching the Seahawks. Pete Carroll took it over.

It's been good since. he's a defensive coach, you're a star receiver. Does Pete spend a lot of time with the offense? I mean, he's obviously a very optimistic, chewing his gum a thousand miles an hour. Like, there's not a lot of humans like Pete. What does Pete do for you? He's a defensive guy, but what's your relationship with Pete like? I will say he's like a father figure in a way.

No, he's never trying to tell me how to run a route, but he always adds two cents on what I should do on a release or how I should attack somebody. And he's always just checking on me, making sure I'm good. Like I said, like I do with other players, he does to me, to make sure I'm good or make sure I'm always level-headed or even killed. And even when I was going through my little saga with the refs, he was always right there trying to sweet talking with me or trying to help me through it.

So he's always just been the right person at the right time whenever I needed to talk to him. So just happy he's my coach and I got drafted here. By the way, so you go, you face the Niners, it's the biggest regular season game. Peyton Manning told me years ago, he said, rivalry games are different. He goes, there's preseason, there's regular season, and then there's like rivalry games. You tell me, when you're in the ice bath, when you're looking at film, when you're talking about the Niners, have these games felt different to you? I mean, it's always different whenever we play the Niners going back to my rookie year. when they flexed our game the Sunday night or the Monday night overtime victory we had with them.

It's always been a nail-biter whenever we played them or it's always been a physical game. So just looking forward to another physical game. And whoever wins is going to be very happy, I will say, Sunday night. D.K. Metcalfe, Seahawks receiver, great the minute he walked in this league. By the way, I saw the American Sign Language. my dad was actually an optometrist. And when we were young, there were all these books about sign language in the house. I remember that.

For people that haven't heard this story, can you give us an update on that and your journey through this? And how long you've been learning that? Yes, sir. So I took one semester of sign language when I was in college as a summer course. My ASL teacher, Ms. Bryant. Shout out to her. She made the class very enjoyable. So this year, I always try to work on something.

or try to take a class outside of football just to keep my mind going. So this year I'm doing ASL and I'm learning how to play the guitar. So, yeah, I just took up ASL since week one. My ASL teacher now, Darrell Utley, who's in Tennessee. Shout out to him. He's been great. I got another lesson at 1.30 here today. Yeah, I mean, it's just been fun.

Just learning a new language and just trying to, you know, always challenge myself to do something different. You're a good dude. I love that journey through life. Next time you're on, like, too, on the Manning cast. We're going to ask you to bring a guitar and have some tunes for us next year at this time. Good luck Sunday, D.K. Yes, I appreciate you. Always good talking to you. Yeah, he was here at our Fox Studios last year. Like, impossible guy not to root for.

Totally committed, totally into it. Not surprised at all. He decided, you know, I'm going to learn something new every year. And, you know, you can attack any career two different ways. attacks it the right way. Should we learn something new for 2020? You know, it's actually, when I saw that the other day, I thought I should go call my sister and see if she has my dad's sign language books. I thought that's, you know, if I'm sitting here, sitting around from time to time, it's like I should probably, it's not a bad thing to have, right? It's like learning another language. Sure. Was that a stone, do that kind of stuff? I mean, I don't know. What about

learning how to play pickleball? You want to learn how to be? I do enough that stuff. I do enough running around. You want to learn a musical instrument? That's not, you can't do that quickly. That's hard. I've thought about the goal, dude. I know, I've thought about the guitar thing before, but you know, I don't know if I'm that committed. Sign language, I think, would be easier than learning.

You know, a new, that's a language in itself, music. You want to learn an actual language? That's not, I mean, you could learn. Yes. That will happen before. You want to do French? My daughter does that pretty well. Oh, maybe the next time I see her, my son's a little bit. My name is

Jason. Okay. Very exciting. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben. Host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It 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 when we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week. explore some amazing 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 I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

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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 Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

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

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Boy, this Patriots offense, as ugly as it gets. The team brought in offensive coordinator, Bill O'Brien, and the U. offseason to improve that side of the ball, but according to Albert Breer, Bill Belichick has been a roadblock for O'Brien all year. I thought people inside the organization who feel like Bill O'Brien isn't allowed to run the offense that he brought in here. Who's running it? That Bill's, Bill basically tells him like, this is what, this is what I want this week,

this is what we're looking for, and he works within those constraints. And I think you can even see some of that, like, in the way that they started games early in the year, against Miami, against Philadelphia, before the talent issue, kind of got to a critical mass. The way they'd come out of the gate, you could see it. Like, you could see some of the ingenuity. You could see some of the rhythm in what they were doing. All of that looks like it's gone now. And I know that there are at least some people who feel like part of this the restrictions Bill's putting on them. I think it's time to get rid of Bella checks. Well, we're, let's stop. We love to talk about this. Why is this coming out now? Is Bill O'Brien kind of protecting

himself from? What do you know about offense? You came out and they were worse. So Bill's not winning. Bill's stubborn. His assistants get rejected in the league. Highest paid. The highest paid coach. At some point, folks, you can't wear your high school letterman jacket around in your 40s. Who gives a rip what he did five, six, seven, eight years ago? It's over. He's tone deaf. He's rigid. He won't listen. I would move off him tomorrow. Build a statue. Let him go to Nantucket and hang out. But it's over. Everything, trees don't grow to the sky. Every stock has a sell point. Every person at some point's got a ceiling. It's time to move off him if these stories are true. I mean, they tell, what are we going to do here? Let's say they do get Drake May. You think this guy can

draft people to help him? Green Bay, the Packers have drafted more between Reed, Watson, Dobbs, Wicke. They have acquired, drafted, and developed more good receivers in two years than Belichick's done in 15. It's time. The worst part is that you cannot actually watch this team without being like visibly disgusted. Like they're, they can't move the football at all. They don't throw the ball down the field. The Chargers disrespected them. Both safety's in the box. Go ahead, Bailey. We'll double dog dare you to throw it deep down the field.

Belichick's like, no, we're not doing it. It's brutal. They stink. Next up. Two head coaches have already been fired and many more on the hot seat. Fox Sports, Greg Amman, broke down the assistants who were in line for a shot at head coaching jobs. Here are the 10 coaches to watch on Fox Sports. Colin,

Eric Bienemy, that's surprising to me? I can't imagine that he's here the top of the list? Well, I think Sam Howell's been pretty pretty... I think their defense is embarrassing. I'd give Bian an interview. Okay, sure. An interview. Fine. I mean, everybody gets... Well, the number... The number

one candidate is Ben Johnson. No doubt about it. Now, it's early, but Bobby Slowick with the Texans, if you're Houston, you've got to start panicking big time. Yeah. Okay, you've got a rookie quarterback. He's dynamic, and you're going to pull the OC away, and he's maybe going to go get a head job. Well, Dan Quinn's already built a winner.

He's got to be a top candidate. He's been trying to get a head coaching job at two for a couple years. Kellyn Moore, we need to see a little bit more. McDonald of the Ravens is interesting. Came over from Michigan. Brian Johnson of the Eagles, I'm not seeing that. He's tight with Jalen Hertz. I don't see him going.

Here's the overwhelming thing. This list ain't that all impressive right now. It's just not like. Well, Ben Johnson feels like the strongest of this group. Ben Johnson can call plays and run an offense. Can he build and develop a culture? Which is what you need. You need a culture.

And I don't know if he's capable of that. I mean, that's Harbaugh and Dan Quinn have done it before, and both have been to a Super Bowl. So that, to me, is the two best candidates. I think Ben Johnson's the third best candidate. So Mike McDaniel, the question, Jason, what McDaniel that can't build the culture? Look who he hired as his defensive coordinator,

Vic Fongio. He just says, Vic, that's all you, you run it. I got the offense. And the Dolphins culture right now is his offense. So seeing defensive guys on this list, like, I mean, I feel bad for McDonald as good as he's been. Hey, Rahim Morris has had a great year, but I cannot go defensive.

coach. Yeah. It just doesn't make sense. Here's the current draft order. Bears at the top. You notice when anybody says, show the draft order. Well, we're going to do it next. Okay.

All right. Let's get to it. Caleb Williams has officially made his decision. Lincoln Riley announced Caleb Williams will not play in USC's bowl game. Shocker. He's going to the draft. We know that. USC plays Louisville in the holiday bowl.

But let's get to the draft order because this is fun and we'll be doing this for months now. Right. The bears are at the top. We're going to take Caleb Williams. That's done. It's over. Let's argue about other stuff. No, stop, Colin.

We don't even know who the GM is going to be the head coat. There's a lot of uncertainty in Chicago right now. Nobody's job is safe. We don't know who's going to be making the pick. And I said it before. This process, as these things play out, people fall in love with guys. Remember, a team fell in love with RG3. Trade it up for him.

Look genius after a year. Okay. Baker Mayfield. Everything's on the table. I'll say from Jaden Daniels to Drake May. I'm not even joking. Some of these guys think they know, we know nobody knows quarterbacks. Patriots are two need a quarterback.

They're going to take Drake May. Okay. Arizona 3. Harrison. Okay. What happens with the Washington commanders? I think they'll give, they're going to give Sam Hal another year with an offensive coach. I don't think he's a hoist the trophy guy, but they'll probably do that.

Are you sure about that? New ownership group? I think they'll take the great left tackle from Penn State. who I would take. Okay. I'll just remind you, and I don't have any intel here. New ownership group. Go ahead and look into Josh Harris and the Philadelphia 76ers.

I think Washington's going big game hunting. They're not going to be happy at four. Four's like, you know, the loser's prizes. Well, let's just not project that. Let's go back to the draft order and give the audience a land. Let's project. So you can say what you want. Caleb Williams is going one.

I got luck right. I got Trevor Lawrence right. He's going one. Two is going to be Drake May. Three is going to be Harrison. Four is the left tackle from Penn State. You're taking a left tackle over a quarterback? No.

That's the third best quarterback. That's the best left tackle prospect in five years. So I'll take the best left tackle prospect in half a decade over the third best quarterback in a sport where one hits a year. See, I love you say third best quarterback. Let's, this is what, they're, if they go quarterback, fine, but let's give the audience something instead of just, you know. Let's do the obvious stuff. Caleb Williams, obviously. So what is the Bears fifth pick then?

Again, I think they're going to change coaches. There's a lot of way. Brock Bowers at tight end, but they have tight ends. There's the defensive end from Florida State. What about the wide receiver from Washington? That's too high for him. There's a wide receiver neighbors from LSU. I think it's too high for.

I would do Brock Bowers at tight end. And I would get jets. At six, Brock Bowers is certainly in play. Yeah, so the Jets, although I would argue the Jets' number one need is a left tackle. I would go Joe Alt, Notre Dame. Yeah, that's good. So I'm Bears, I probably go.

I think they put money on the offensive side, and they have a left tackle they like. I would go the best defensive player available at five. Okay. Okay, then six, I would go left tackle Jets. Seven, I would go quarterback. I'd go panic. I'd go somebody. I don't care. I think their defense is fine.

Even though you got DeVito in there in week. I would go quarterback giants. They'll stay with Will Levis. Titans at 8. They may go wide receiver. They could get the LSU kid of the Husky receiver. Saints, I'd go quarterback, but really? They just spent a ton on Derek Carr. Do you like what it looks like? I think you've got to get a new head coach in there. Now, 10 is fascinating because Baker Mayfield has got them, I mean, he's not getting them over the top. Jayden Daniels. I think Daniels is going to be there at 10. I'll just say that.

I think you're going to... Okay, so how about this? Four quarterbacks in the first ten picks. Yeah, why not? No, it's not even a why not. It's like, it's going to happen. I would not be shocked if there were five, Colin. I wouldn't either.

With the quarterback injuries this league has had, if you are doing a disservice to your franchise if you're not taking a shot at a quarterback... I'll say this. If... Every single year. So Arizona's in a weird spot. If Marvin Harrison,

who's arguably the best receiver prospect ever and Kyler Murray, they have their quarterback, if you didn't have... Marvin Harrison in this draft and I was Arizona, I would trade down. So it's a weird quandary. If you didn't have Harrison, Arizona should trade down and get multiple picks. But Harrison is such an unbelievable prospect and a position they need a dominant perimeter playmaker. And he works his butt off. He's a good kid. So Arizona is going to take that pick. Nine out of 10 years, you're Arizona. You get out of that pick and trade down.

But Harrison is so gifted. I mean, it's very rarely do you look at a player and go, yeah, that's going to work. Harrison is 101. I just keep coming. Like Justin Jefferson was like what 19-20-19-20-th. Justin Jefferson was really good. Jamar Chase was a prospect. They're not Harrison. Right. I mean, Tyreek Hill dropped in the draft. He had some off-field stuff. I love Harrison. You can find dynamic superstar receivers. I don't think you can find him.

I remember when Adrian Peterson came out of Oklahoma, and I talked to a scout. He's like, there's a great running back, and then there's him. He goes, literally, he's strong. than the linebackers that will tackle him. He's faster than the corners that will pursue him. He'll run over some defensive ends. You do get to these players. You're like, okay, there's just nothing else in the world like that at 21 years old.

You've got to take Harrison. And it does help that dad was pretty good at the same position. Yeah, decent. Like, it's not like he doesn't. His dad was considered the same thing. A workaholic, totally driven focus. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lie News. So we got into a big discussion earlier. J. Mack loves Brock Purdy. He would vote him MVP. I think he's good, but I don't think he's that valuable. So Nick Wright earlier on Brock Purdy kind of, to Nick and I, we think he should be under the radar a little bit here.

Take a deep breath, pull it back on the MVP talk. I think he is the fourth most valuable. player on his offense. I think Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, and Debo are all more valuable to the Niners than Brock Purdy. That is not an indictment. Saying a guy is not going to get the single most prestigious individual award the league gives out is not saying he's a bum, but it is acknowledging the fact that right now, anyone in America that is not picking the Niners to coast to the Super Bowl, there are only two possible reasons. One is, well, we're afraid of injury, but that applies to every single team.

The other one is, you have questions about their quarterback. Yeah, so what do you make of that argument? But if you are not one of the top players in your offense, he's not Trent, Christian Debo Kittle, he's not. In terms of talent, and he's just not. Those are Hall of Fame level players. so at best he's the fifth and I don't think he's nearly as talented as Brandon Nyuk.

If you're the six or seventh most talented player on your offense, could you be an MVP? So yeah, there was this MVP in the 80s. Someone smart texted me during the show after our discussion. They heard it. There was this guy in the 80s who went to Notre Dame and he was a good quarterback, not great,

not the number one pick, not first round. And he goes to the San Francisco 49ers and he plays for this guy named Bill Walsh. And then he's got Jerry Rice, one of the greatest receivers ever, and John Taylor and All-Pro, and Roger Craig, a running back. He's loaded, and he wins two MVP awards.

But we didn't hear any, well, he's got a loaded team and the greatest coach and all that's. That's because he went to Notre Dame. No. Yeah, and he was a golden boy, and Brock Purdy was the last pick. No. That's because Joe Montana was still, by the way, Joe Montana could 360 a basketball. Joe Montana was still outside of Jerry Rice, hands down the most talented Niner. Jerry Rice is the best receiver ever, so we'll give him that.

Joe Montana for 20 years on shows like this was the goat. That's not a... Brock Purdy is the sixth, the seventh most talented guy in his offense. Montana was second. I mean, Jerry Rice is literally the best receiver ever, which is saying something. Montana was second. All of John Taylor, wonderful. Dwight Clark, great.

Montana was an amazing athlete, an amazing quarterback, master the position. I mean, there was literally for 20 years on shows like this. We put him above Aikman, Bradshaw, Farr, but it was like Montana, Joe Cool. Don't compare Brock Purdy to Joe Montana. I already compare Purdy to early Tom Brady at this point. And this argument that why is Dak, you know, being high. Montana would go into these Super Bowls.

Wasn't he winning MVP usually in these Super Bowls? He was the most battle player in the biggest games. He was the best player. I mean, Brock Purdy, in the two biggest games of the season, destroyed Philadelphia on the road, destroyed Dallas, and he had like eight touchdowns and no interceptions. So you're comparing Super Bowl MVP's to, hey, we beat the Cowboys at home. Can we wait for Brock to get to a Super Bowl? It might happen this year. We'll see. But the argument about Dak being on like the promo for Fox, which I get, he's been the quarterback of the Cowboys for eight years.

He's the face of the franchise. By the way, when Dak was in college at Mississippi State, they were a very, very good team. He left. They were a bad team. so I mean you know DAC was very influential in college very influential in the NFL I mean remember when he moved into Dallas

Tony Romo was the quarterback and like Tony Romo acknowledged yeah it's his team Tony Romo was beat up Tony Romo was a good B plus quarterback in the NFL he was the face of the Cowboys right and literally Tony Romo acknowledged about an hour in

yeah Dak's the guy so I mean and so we got to be we got to be a little fair I mean, I'm not, you're, you're, what you're doing is you're cornering me. I'm not anti-Purdy. I think he's good. But I think, for this year, I think Dax having an insane year. No question.

What I think is funny, not funny. But Mike McCarthy's doing really well without Aaron. And Matt Lefleur is doing now really well without Aaron. Who's not doing well? Aaron? Yeah. Not great news for him. I think Aaron should have taken a deep breath.

And I always thought he appreciated Green Bay, but at the end, he got a little into his... You got a little power hungry. It's okay. You guys got... You guys are lucky to have me, and they weren't lucky to have you. Green Bay was great before you. They'll be fine after you. McCarthy won games before you.

He's winning games after you. Aaron had this, or I think Aaron always respected Green Bay. But I do think at the end, you know, your 300 million net worth, you're a big star, commercials, there's this sense that you guys are lucky to have me. And I think it was more 60-40. Aaron was lucky to have them because there is dysfunction all over this league. There are 10 lousy owners, 15 marginal GMs. There is chaos in every other building in this league. There is never chaos in Green Bay. Ever. Does it feel like Rogers wanted his Brady moment? I'm going to go to New York. I'm going to click this guy. I'm going to get this receiver,

this offensive coordinator. I'm going to grab this running back, like the way. Brady got all those guys in Tampa, we're going to win the Super Bowl. I'm going to look like a genius, and it's all like literally every move has backfired on Aaron Rogers. Powers probably overrated. Everybody's seeking it, and it may be overrated. Brady never had it in New England. He had it briefly in Tampa, but it was a struggle. It was a struggle, yeah.

Matt Stafford did not have it in Los Angeles. I don't think he craves it like that. He doesn't seem like that kind of guy. Rogers has had a chip on his shoulder. They overlooked me. I should have been the number one pick. I fell, bleep everyone. I had to sit behind this power-hungry guy in Farr.

It's an interesting look at just power and how it can corrupt. Corrupt indeed. Yeah. Rick Buecker, check in NBA stuff next. Live in L.A., The Herd. One more Herd? The Herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encourage. 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 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, 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,

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Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

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

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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. Well, there's been a lot of things happening in the NBA. The in-season tournament is getting a lot of attention. Last night was probably the best in-season tournament game. Tonight, Suns Lakers, another huge in-season tournament game, and Rick Buecker's been covering the league for about 30 years. So what do I take away? Pacer Celtics, you actually have a fairly hot take on this, which I don't necessarily disagree with, because you and I have always had sort of the same feeling on Jason Tatum that being a great top five player is not just athletic ability.

It's a mindset. It is an instinct. Are you a killer? Do you have sort of that? Give me the ball. I'm selfish. Get out of the way. I've never felt Tatum has that.

So you watched the Celtics Pacers last night and tell me your takeaway, which you told me during the break, which is interesting. Well, this has always bothered me because I look at the Celtics talent-wise. I felt the same way last year, the last couple of years. And another iteration of them being incredibly talented, arguably the most talented team in the league. And yet they get into these big moments and for one reason and another, things go sideways. And it generally goes sideways with Jason Tatum. Now, Jason Tatum can have big games.

He can have big performances in big games. And then he can also completely unravel in big games. And last night was one of those semi-unraveling, certainly in the end. And this is what is at the heart of why, no matter how talented they are, that I'm not buying that the Boston Celtics are going to win a championship with this iteration. And it's because once you get to the postseason, they are going to face either a better star or a better head coach. One or the other, they're going to get in a good.

game and those are the elements that decide games close games at the end and it just so happened that last night they faced both tyrese halliburton i would take over jason tatum today tomorrow next week whenever and rick carlyle obviously over joe mazula yeah i'm taking and that to me is why it just seems at the most inopportune times, they appear rudderless. So there was an incident, LeBron Eme Adoka, and the B word got thrown around. Everybody had an opinion. What was your takeaway you know both on the incident? Yeah, look, Imeo doca, the reason that he's in Houston, is that he is a confrontational. He's the same as a coach as he was as a player. He made it in the league because he was

tough and he took no guff. Didn't matter, star, whoever you were, he was going to challenge you. I'm taking a name from the pet. Raja Bell kind of had the same attitude. Number of guys, PJ Tucker, guys who are like, I can only stay in the league

if I am not going to be bowed by anyone. And so LeBron, he's going to confront him. And LeBron, quite honestly, people take issue with him confronting the coach. LeBron has been doing whatever LeBron wants to do

for how long in the league. So if he wants to go out of coach, he's going to go out of coach. If he wants to miss a game to go see his son play his first college game, he's going to do that. However you feel about it, whether you think it's right or it's wrong, LeBron has had that cachet for years now in terms of being able to do whatever he wants. So, Imeo Doka is just one of those who goes,

you can do whatever you want, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to put up with it. The dynasty feels meek and small and Steph Curry reliant. Chris Paul was it desperate, a last gasp. It did make the second unit better. They've lost nine of 12. They at times look old. What do you make of the war?

It does feel like none of these things end elegantly and well, and it kind of feels like, of course, this is what they're going to look like, right? They've extended it beyond what they should have. And so, look, we didn't expect them to win the last championship, and that's what Warriors fans are always going to hang out there when they struggle like this, go, remember what happened last time, everybody counted them out, and then lo and behold, they went in one another ring. Here's the issue that they're facing right now.

Colin, and I'll put the question to you, what is it that the warriors do better than anybody else in the league what makes them particularly unique what is their whole card that they go to that they can rely on that they can count on in their in their game well currently nothing yeah currently nothing right and so it's a matter of they're reinventing themselves on the fly because it used to be you had the draymond green power power forward point forward wrinkle you had the shooting you had the versatility defensively where you could put five guys on the floor and switch them all they don't have any of those elements anymore that are greater than anybody else in the league there are teams that are

can play small ball better than they can there are teams that can defend much better than they can there are a bunch of teams who can shoot better than they can so what is it that can be their strength. That's what they're trying to figure out right now and they're trying to do it on the fly. And so as a result, can they get this together and be better by the end of the season? I would fully expect that they are going to be better by the end of the season. Are they going to find some magical elixir or formula that suddenly makes them the riddle that everybody else has to figure out? I'm afraid that those days are over and that formula is residing in Denver right now. So has there been to you, we know who's good at the top, is there a macro trend? Is there any big surprise in the NBA this year to you?

Yeah. To me, it is without question that the small markets, the small markets are back, baby. Yeah. Colin the small Oklahoma City, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves. Like, sometimes you get the first quarter, first half of the season, and you have some of these teams or have a team that jumps up and they win a lot of games. This is not the Utah Jazz. Let's not mistake that.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a complete team. And I'll stop there. I think Minnesota made a mistake by going to get Rudy Gobert. Orlando is still half-baked. but Sacramento is legitimate. I just look my power rankings this week. Top 10. Only two major markets in the top 10.

Boston at number one and Philadelphia at number eight. The rest, and I include Denver in the mix, are all small market teams. And I believe that what we're seeing is a sea change in that building a team in this collective bargaining agreement now requires. requires patience. And in the big markets, whether you're the Lakers or the Clippers or you're the Knicks or even the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas, there's this pressure to go out and make the big move that is going to get you that last piece that's going to give you that star nucleus that's going to make you a championship team. And I just don't believe that that formula can get you there in today's NBA. And what you have is in the small markets, Oklahoma City and Orlando

and Sacramento, where they can just build piece by piece. They don't have the national media clamoring from them or their fans clamoring. You got to make a big move. You got to go get this star. That's what Dallas does. You got to go get Kyrie Irving. You got to go get Chris Stops Porzingis. And so what you're seeing is you're seeing very formidable teams being slowly and put together, and they look like they're here to stay. So get prepared for some small market teams vying for championships for the foreseeable future. Rick Buecker, Fox Sports, NBA analysts. Good to see you, buddy.

How was that? How was that? I liked that a lot. A lot of information, a lot of stuff circulating upstairs. Good to see you, too. The small market teams, how about that? Denver's not You know, Denver's

You know I always think it's funny When people call Minnesota And Denver small market teams I don't know what they are Like Minnesota is like a corporate hub You ever been in Minnesota It's big

I mean it's not New York Chicago Big No But in the NBA They would be deemed a small market team Would Denver would be in Minnesota Small Market teams Denver

Denver? I mean what's a big market I mean how is it Atlanta is a big market Chicago Atlanta New York Philly Boston L.A

Those are the San Francisco San Francisco is a big market. Okay, so about seven big markets in the country. Houston's at the third. But New York has two, L.A. has two. I'm just saying, so what you're saying is Seattle, one of the richest American city, Seattle, Minnesota. Seattle doesn't even have a team anymore. No, I'm just saying we deem like the Mariners are small market, and I'm always like it's a wealthy city.

I don't understand it. It's weird about, I mean, when I go to Denver, I don't think, oh, what a tiny town. What a small market. Memphis, Buffalo, Memphis as pro sports town. St. Louis. Like, they don't feel like very big towns. I'm not real vibrant. Maybe big market is, do you have a pro team baseball, basketball, football?

That is your big market if you've got all three. Is that fair? Houston has... Yeah, Houston. Houston's major market. Yeah, it's a major market. So let's go to the major markets in America are New York, L.A., Chicago. Philadelphia.

Philadelphia. Boston. D. Boston. D.C.? Yeah. Houston. Houston.

Atlanta. Dallas. Dallas. that's nine Did we say Chicago? I mean, by the way, Phoenix has all those. They're not big market. That's a tough.

Phoenix is probably right there on the fringe. I'm sure if we looked at population. Yeah, I mean, so, by the way, so does Miami. They don't feel big market. You have to include like Fort Lauderdale. Well, yeah, the dolphins are, they're the Miami Dolphins, but they play in a lot of. So I think Miami, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis fall into the next group. Yeah.

I think there's about nine, what you can. Detroit is another one falls into the next group. But at nine, I mean, when you go to Atlanta, that feels big. Houston feels huge. Dallas feels spread out big. OKC feels nothing. There is no feeling in OKC. Just goes.

No, we didn't, did we include, this is going on and on. San Francisco's obviously a big market. They got two of everything. Feels like two baseball at one point. That team's going to be. You know what I think the big debate's going to be? FSU was like the big debate. I think this Brock Purdy thing, based on the responses I'm seeing to our discussion,

is going to be like a thing for the next. By the way, Dak wins this weekend, which he will. He'll leapfrog party and be the leader in the MVP race. You heard it here first. Don't be so sure he wins. Philadelphia is a good team. All right, we're done. We're done for today.

The herd. 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 helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Davey, 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. recommended 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, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having a lot. 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 not to be played with. And just because you have the capability

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