The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 3 - Social media, MVP

Episode Date: January 12, 2022

How social media has affected sportsThe NFL MVP voting should be closeGuest: Eric Dickerson Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is 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.

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Hour number three. We're live in L.A. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio FS-1. I am a little high today on my chair. They just gave me a new chair. I've had chair issues for like a week.

So they finally gave me a new chair. So if I feel like I'm too high in the air, it's the best chair ever. It is the fantastic chair. But I have had a chair issue. I'm on my fourth chair in three days. It's just not me physically. We've had chair issues. It had been solved today.

Sounds a little needy. This one, I'm a little uncomfortable, but it's very needy. It's very strong and robust here. Sounds little needy. You know what's really happened, and I think about this all the time, is that when I was growing up, the only time you heard from fans was a letter to the editor in the newspaper. Right.

That was it. Fans had no opinions. Nobody cared. Nobody heard. Then Sports Talk Radio came out. And then you heard fans in the news. newspapers and on sports talk radio. Now we've added a third component, social media.

Right. It used to just be 30 years ago. The only time you heard fans was Saturday morning, the local paper would run. And I loved it. And sports talk radio, I'll admit sometimes callers to shows, most are idiots, but some are interesting. And then now you get social media. But the problem with social media is at least with a newspaper, you had to sit down and

write the letter. and sports talk radio you had to call and get through the screener. There's no barrier with social media. You're just like, everybody's got an opinion. And I'm okay with opinions because I host a show, which is basically theories, opinions. And occasionally it will break a story, but that's not my job. It's not my job. I got sources here and here, there, but that's not my job.

But what's funny about it, what I have noticed that has changed is how fast an opinion changes. It used to be, if you thought a coach was good, it would take a while for you to think suddenly he wasn't. It wouldn't happen overnight. In sports talk radio, if a coach was bad, maybe after four or five days, a lot of calls, it would kind of slowly pivot. But what has happened now with coaches

is we go from thinking a guy as a bum to a genius on social media in an hour. And I'll give you an example. One year ago, Harbaugh should be fired at Michigan. Now he's the number one coach for every single job open in the NFL. He's gone from get him out of here to best candidate available. Brian Flores over the course of a day went from,

that guy's a kickbut guy to you can't be around him. He doesn't work. It's amazing. It's amazing. Like Jason Garrett got undrafted Tony Romo to win a division, fourth round DAC to win a division, develop both, goes to the giants, they get rid of him, the offense gets worse when he leaves.

Now he can't coach. It's amazing, the tsunami in the power and the volume and the number of people that are now allowed, no longer just a handful of people in a newspaper or people sitting on radio. A hundred million people can have an opinion. The avalanche comes firing down the hill. Everybody's petrified of getting buried. most media people are petrified. And so it's just this tsunami.

And it literally is making us think good coaches are bad. Bad coaches are good. We are living in these little granular moments and they're changing all of our opinions. It's also making us think that changing the coach is the only thing that's going to catapult an organization into the right direction. I don't know about Joe, Judge. My sources say, I mean, first of all, there was a fight with an offensive line coach years ago. And that's, that's, fistfight. That's, that was reported two years ago.

And then, uh, uh, uh, there's a lot of reports. My people say like, it just went sideways. He just, it was overwhelmed. But I could argue the GM was the primary issue. If you gave him Justin Herbert, not Daniel Jones, I can assure you they wouldn't be nearly that bad. And Joe Judge wouldn't be this morning, according to America, terrible, a moron, an idiot. Well, when you look at the teams that had.

have moved on from their coaches, most of them, it's a quarterback issue. I mean, Trevor Lawrence obviously is a rookie. Justin Fields is a rookie, as we know. And Derek Carr was an outlying situation with John Gruden. But like, you don't know if two is the guy. Kirk Cousins, Denver doesn't have a quarterback. Like part of it can be dysfunction. Part of it could be, you know, you've just, this is the end of the stay. But the personnel can be an issue too.

And that's on the GM. And if you're constantly firing coaches, it's not. not on the GM or the coach or the personnel. It's the ownership. So, like, I think it's mostly the idea that's easier to fire a coach than it is. You can't clear out your whole team. That's right. GMs genuinely have the ear of the owner.

So there's some, there's usually some relationship there where it's, they are hiring the coach. So the blame gets passed down. No one's going to walk in like, yeah, yeah, boss, it's me. No one's going to do that. So I also think that it's, it's the microwave society, it's social media, it's the pressure. But it's also this idea that, like, well, we can change something. And the main thing we can change is the coach. But don't you find it interesting?

I think not that it's dangerous. I mean, science, you know, I don't think sports matters that much. I mean, I've said before. I love my family. I like sports. If you told me, if I retire tomorrow, I hit the power ball and retired, I wouldn't watch nearly as much sports. I like it, but I like my family. I'm more into other stuff.

I like sports. It's my job. I do it. And I enjoy it. I really do it. I love watching the Rolls Bowl. I love the playoffs. But I don't think sports in the big picture matters that much in life.

I think our families matter more. Science matters more. national security matters more, vaccines matter more. It's down their total bullet. But it's wildly entertaining entertainment, and I'm in the entertainment business. But what I'm seeing is careers ruined overnight, narratives pushed overnight. People are getting their opinions from social media. And am I supposed to believe Brian Flores can't coach?

Folks, I just watch him win eight of nine with Tua. Well, I mean, I think that organizations and companies pay a little bit too much attention to social media. important to have the pulse of the fan base. I think it's important to have the pulse of the media to understand where you are as an organization or a company and what people are saying about you, what your brand is, are your customers, the fans happy, and how much of that is going to weigh into your decision. Right. But you have to also evaluate the production that you're having as well. But again, I just think it's easier to move on from a coach. Well, here's the other

thing. Michael Jordan, Barack Obama was the first president in my life that lived in the tunnel of vile Twitter hate. Nobody else did. He was the first president where you had to respond to social media. Reagan didn't, Ford didn't, Clinton didn't. I mean, there was social media, but you get to a point now where a president can weaponize it. A president has to respond to it. So like I always thought that that's a rough, when you're the first anything, that's harder. You don't have any precedent to lean on. But what, to your point, Michael Jordan never had to live through this. So this is where I give pro athletes. I mean, you see what it does to Kevin Durant or Aaron Rogers. They're constantly reacting to social media. They're reacting because it bothers them.

Like, generationally, Tom's older than Aaron. It doesn't bother him. He rolls his eye at. Aaron responds to virtually everything. Why? He's younger than Tom. He's more active on social media. He's not married. No kids. He probably sits around. He's on his phone more than Tom would be. I'm not blaming him. That's just the reality of it. Kevin Durant, not married, no kids. On his phone more than maybe a LeBron who's married kids, multiple businesses. But it is interesting. Jordan didn't have to live through this. In fact, when you look at Michael Jordan highlights, it's all the baskets made.

They don't show you the games against the Sonics and the finals at home when they lost and he was awful. They don't show you a lot of those Utah games. Michael Jordan had multiple bad games against the Jazz and the finals where he shot 38 times, made eight. And I'm not saying Jordan's not amazing. But you didn't have to live through it. It was a highlight.

Sports Center was Twitter. That was where the video came from. Sports Center didn't show us misses. Twitter shows LeBron's failures, misses, quotes. So it's a whole different ballgame. When Michael Jordan came out and said, hey, Republicans wear sneakers too, which was kind of political, I mean, literally got a couple of newspaper columnists pushed back.

There was no pushback. LeBron has an opinion about China. It literally lives in this. For years, he's still getting quoted. And I guess my point is, it's harder today to run a company. It's harder to be a pro athlete. We have added a layer of social media that owners respond to. Gee, I talked to a former NFL coach in the last month.

And I think he's a good coach. he's a former NFL coach recently and he told me owners watch you guys and they believe it and I'm like well I hope they believe me I'm not just out here rambling but he's like you would be shocked that billionaires will listen to sports talk radio they'll watch an opinion show it would change their mind he goes so it's and I guess that's my whole point is there it's just I think today to be an athlete Michael Jordan

It was all you're the greatest. He didn't go, Michael didn't have a bad game. And then for 48 hours until the next game, he got crucified. Well, I mean, I think it was different for Michael specifically because he got all of the media attention. I think it's spread out more now. Like, LeBron gets a lot of it, but everyone else gets a good dose of it as well and, you know, their criticism as well. Because, I mean, we saw in the last dance, you've got 500 reporters following Michael around everywhere he goes. So it was a different kind of pressure.

Right. But there's a lot of factors in the world we live in now. Social media, everything is instant. I can order something and it's at my house in 30 minutes. Yeah. Like immediately, we have a reaction society where everyone has an opinion on television, on YouTube, on Instagram Live. Like, there's just more access to everything. So we want things to be, we want the results more quickly.

But the actual product hasn't changed. Like football and how you build teams and how you develop players. None of that's changed. Society has. Yeah, you have to be very strong today to succeed because you're going to have people picking you apart that you never did. You never had an owner sitting around and reading the Saturday editor, you know, the fan letters to the editor and owner in the 70s didn't read it and go, that's right, I'm firing

my coach. Right. Now he turns on shows like this and there's 10 of them and there's 8,000 emails. You've got to fire Joe Judge and this has huge influence. Even on the smartest, wealthiest, most educated people. We've seen companies do stuff and you're like, what are they doing? They're overreacting to social media. It happens daily in America.

The interesting thing, though, is that the teams and organizations that you see that are still successful and have sustained success, they don't fall into the bottom of the barrel outside of a, you know, aberration, like the Niners, have their entire roster get injured or something. Or Baltimore this year. Right. There's no panic. Like Steelers, not panicking. you think Bob Kraft was panicking with Belichick last year with Cam Newton.

Cam Newton, there's no panic. We're good. Raven's not panicking. Niners not panicking. Rams have some pressure. They're not panicking about McVeigh. You have to allow people time to develop. You have to have down years.

We talked about this all the time. People don't understand how hard success is. Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach ever, and it's not close. His first job at Michigan State, 0 and 3 in Bowles, one 60% of his games. the Big Ten was not nearly as good then as it is today. Miami fired. LSU, one year.

He had one great team at LSU. Well, so did it at Orgeron. Les Miles had two great teams. Then he goes in his 50s, his mid-50s, he goes to Alabama and changes the diet, really the course of college football. Bill Belichick fired in Cleveland, five and 11 first year and a half in New England. the smartest coach ever. Bledso hurt Brady in. I was told by Eric Mangini that before that game in which Bledso was hurt,

that Mangeanie and other coaches for New England, if they lost that day, were putting their houses for sale around Foxborough. That's like, that's public knowledge. I think they were playing the Jets, the Bledso game. I think it was the Jets. And Herm Edwards was sitting there, and Hirm's a very friendly guy. talks to everybody, Belichick and Herm are tight. And, you know, Herm was like, how is it going?

And, like, New England coaches were like, we're in some trouble here. And that's the greatest coach of all time. So what if you're a good coach? Like the McVeigh story is an outlier. Boy Wonder comes in, gets golf to a Super Bowl. Look at Andy Reid was fired. Pete Carroll fired twice. Yeah.

So when anybody, you know, success is hard. Now we add a layer of social media where the players getting crushed. The GM is influenced. The owner is influenced. Coaches can be influenced. I think it's hard. And maybe that's why we have so many dynasties happening in sports that the people in power can fight off the chaos, which is inevitable now in the noise.

Saban can fight it off. Belichick can fight it off because their resumes. And it's weird. We're looking at America right now in sports. It's all dynasties. The NFL's pulling away. Sabin's pulling away. The great.

her pulling away. Now Serena was for 10 years, but now she's aged. But you look at sports right now, everybody wants parity. We've never had less. And is it because of the noise of social media? As you try to build up and be great, if you have one misstep, you're fired. If you make one bad hire, you're fired. If you screw up on one coordinator, you're a bum. The owner reads social media. That guy's an idiot. I think it's hard. And that's why the people in power are sustaining it because of impatient owners, social media. It is so hard. God, you have a bad year.

Brian Flores had gets fired. And an hour later, I'm supposed to believe this guy can't get along with anybody. Have you watched them the last two? He has the defensive side of the ball. It's fantastic. The problems are quarterback in the line, which he doesn't control. Well, also, I think people think they can duplicate everything. Like we've heard forever, oh, you know, contemporary artists.

I could make that. I could make millions. of doing that. We'll go do it then. Talk about TikTokers. I could do that. We'll go do it then. There are outliers in these situations you can't just compare yourselves to. Like Tom Brady going to the bucks. That's Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time.

You're not that. So it sounds good that you can just go get a great quarterback and plug it into your good system. But that's Tom Brady. There's a reason why that happened. When LeBron James goes to a new team and wins a championship, it's LeBron James. That's why that's happening. Even LeBron. It was always the second year. Yeah. The second year in Miami. The second year in Cleveland. The second year

that's LeBron. With all these agents and forces helping him and stars, it took LeBron another year. It's just, I guess my whole point is we got to be more patient. Coaches, GMs, we just got to be more patient. I see careers just going sideways with these coaches and I'm like, y'all hated Harbaugh. You literally hated him. A three and a half hour game against Ohio. state, one game changed all your opinions. If he loses that game, he'd taken a pay cut. He's a bum. Three hours. Now he's the number one candidate. Did he get smarter in Ann Arbor and a snowstorm? It's crazy. It's patience and nuance. Everything is not tribalism. You have to look at the situation with a little bit of perspective.

It doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. Social media has trampled it. Little context and nuance were sitting out there and here came the avalanche and they're dead. little nuance and context has been run over. Nobody has it. Think about Harbaugh. Bum, three hours later, snowstorm Ann Arbor, number one candidate for every NFL job. Folks, he didn't get smarter in a snowstorm.

Sorry, he didn't. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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.

Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. 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 So Thank you 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

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Free shipping, MDrive for Men.com. Eric Dickerson's a Hall of Famer when he retired. He was the number two all-time leading rusher. Got a new book out called Watch My Smoke. The Eric Dickerson story out in about a week. By the way, of all these stories in your career, you had a very storied college career at SMU,

a very controversial program. If I said what's the best story in your book? Is it a SMU story or an NFL story? Well, I think everyone wants to know what happened in college about the Transam. Everyone asked that question. How did the Trans Am come about?

And in the book, I tell you how I got the Trans Am. The Trans Am came about through my grandmother. People said, I say my grandmother, that's not the lady who raised me. That's my great-greater. My grandmother, my grandfather lived in Houston. And basically, I'll just give you heads up. on it. My grandmother asked me bought the car and they gave her the money back for the car.

That's exactly what happened. So it was like a watch. That's how I ended up with the Trans-A. So how did you get the Trans-A? S&U bought you to Trans-A. And N Bonson. Well, my grandmother really bought it, but she got the money back for the Trans-A. All right. Now, who'd she get the money back from? She got the money back from SMU, actually. Okay. A&M had paid for it. I don't have got their money back, but she got her money back from S&U. you. Okay. You know, and I didn't find that out too much later. I think I was in the NFL

when I finally asked her about it because when it happened when I got the car, she said, don't you worry about it. Don't worry. You know, it will never come up. You'll never get trouble for this car. So that's, that was good enough for me. Now, what are fans? What's going to be something your fans are going to take from this book? Well, it's a lot of the book, Colin. It talks about my NFL career. It talks about, you know, me leaving the Rams. I think a lot of people, you know, when I left the Rams, it was under not good circumstances, you know, And I was painted as this bad, bad guy, you know, and the press. The press was different back then.

We had no voice. And you get a chance to see, you know, really, really, really what happened, I mean, with that incident. And I really wanted to stay with him. That's my whole career. But it just didn't work out. And I think I get a chance to tell my story, you know, how it really went down, not a writer telling a story about me that really wasn't true. Yeah. So we've been talking about this weekend.

The Rams went all in on Stafford. despite the fact that Goff had some success, he'd won a division, he'd won playoff games, he'd been to a Super Bowl. And they'd go all in on Stafford. So if Stafford loses to Arizona, which is clearly possible, these are really good teams. It's a field goal game. Rams, by the way, Arizona's 8 and 1 on the road this year. They've been a better road team than a home team for whatever reason. So if the Rams lose, I'm not going to blame Sean McVeigh, because I know Sean McVeigh. He took golf to a Super Bowl.

Don't you think Matt Stafford, of all the favorites, to lose this weekend? If Stafford loses at home to Arizona, a team that's struggling, it's going to be a bad Monday Tuesday on the air for him. They play Monday night. I feel like there's pressure on Matt Stafford. Do you? Well, of course, it's pressure on Matt Stafford. There's pressure on every quarterback, especially him,

because I think that's the thing that everybody's been saying that he's never one of a play-up game. But, you know, let's just say Matt Stafford goes out and plays great. But we still don't win. Then it's the pressure really on him. Can you blame him? I think when it comes down to a close game, it comes down to a couple of plays, and sometimes it comes down to the calls

and then a football game for a coach. And you have to take the blame on the coach out. And prime example, I can use it. San Diego and the Raiders. That was, calling that time out, made no sense, you know, that they call. So, you know, it just depends on how he plays. If he comes out and plays a really good game,

and then we've had a very good football team, a team that we know very well, they know us very well. So it really comes down to, if he plays well, what can you say? Yeah, Matt Stappen played well, but y'all lost. It's his fault? No, it's not his fault. Now, he doesn't play well, then you can put the on with so Matt Stapley. You know, we're talking about coaches getting fired. Joe Judge just got fired. There's seven job openings, could be eight. And obviously, some coaches have been fired, like Belichick, gotten another job and been great. So sometimes you make a mistake. They can't over

come their quarterback play or their owner or a bad roster. And I don't know the future for Joe Judge, but people in New York don't care. They want a new coach. But did you ever have a coach? How long did it take you as a player, Eric? If you go back and look at your career, five of the Rams, five of the Colts, Falcons, Raiders, how long did it take you as a player to go, this guy's not going to work? Or this is a really good coach.

Can you tell quickly? Yeah, you can tell quickly. A coach can really motivate a football team. And it's certain coaches that are good at certain things. Some coaches are good at X's and O's. Some good coaches are good at motivating. I can think about in Indianapolis. Ron Meyer was a great motivator.

Now, he wasn't the greatest exes and O's guys. But you know what he knew? He knew talent and he knew how to get you motivated for a football game. He would talk to you on the game is on Sunday. He's talking to you on Monday. Man, you better play the game right now. I mean, it's like I'm fired up. I mean, that's how just some coaches are.

And some coaches are very good ex and those guys. And some coaches, the team or the roster doesn't fit them. At the end of Ron's career at the coast, our roster was terrible. I mean, it was just no way we could win because we've given away too much to get, like I can say, my friend Jeff George, and that's not his fault. But certain times in the NFL, you have to have the players to win because I always say there are pros on both sides of the ball, the offensive side and the defensive side. So, you know, you look around at the playoffs this weekend.

It's hard to explain how the Raiders got in. Division's tough. Lost Henry Ruggs. Their first round cornerback draft pick, they got him out of the building. He was so bad. They have an interim coach. And I look at him and I'm like, man, how? It's just chaos.

Are you shocked the Raiders made the playoffs? Well, no, because the Raiders were playing. pretty good football in the beginning, actually a really good football in the beginning. Look, people have a tendency to think because the coach got fired or you're missing a player. It depends on the players sometimes. But players, they have to go out and play no matter what. They're going to play hard. That's what it comes down to.

And it showed that Rader football team, they went out there like, hey, that is just the noise outside of the complex. We have a job to do, and we're going to go do our job. And they played really good football. Now, it's some games like that game Saturday, was it Sunday night when they played, played the Chargers, that could have went either way. I mean, the charges jumped up on them, but it just showed how good the Raiders really are and how good, you say, an interim head coach came in, how he motivated them to never give up. So you have to give him credit and you have to give the Raiders credit.

Eric Dickerson, new book, Watch My Smoke, the Eric Dickerson story, January 18th. I miss those neck braces. I really do. I miss. I mean, there's a lot of things about the NFL I don't miss. I miss those neck braces. Good seeing you, man. Hey, good seeing you, Colin.

There you go. By the way, you know, we were talking about social media. You know what I never get, I always get my most pushback when I say one thing. I don't believe in aliens. That's what you get the most pushback on? Easily. You know what I get the most pushback on? What?

Women should be paid the same as men to do the same job. It is like chum in a shark tank. Clockwork. Really? Yes. It's actually fascinating. So you get a lot of feedback on that. I already have... Yeah, it's like it makes people crazy.

It's like their eyes start spinning backwards. I've already had three texts from friends. They're like, dude, I love you, but you're wrong. There are UFOs all over. Go to YouTube. I mean, the U.S. government told us there were aliens in 2020. They thought it was like the perfect time to drop it. Like they told us that we were just obviously wildly distracted.

We're like, we don't have time for aliens right now. Those weren't aliens. They've released everything. Yes, but you know what that was? That's either China or Russia spying on us, and they're ahead of us in technology. That's all it is. We don't have any spies over there? Yeah, and they probably got pictures on Russian YouTube of little capsules around their nuke plants or whatever it is.

We weren't the first with the cell phones. Why do we have to be first with little capsules that go 500 miles an hour? But this is my only question to you about this. the scale of the universe, like the size of not our galaxy, not our planet, not our galaxy, the universe.

You don't think there's any possibility. There's like one other, like little planet with some beings on it. No. Talking about their sport. Listen, we can't even find a planet with water on it.

We can't. We've got people eating horse dewormer. Have you ever thought for one second that maybe the aliens are out there and they're dumber than a stick. How come aliens are always way smarter than us? We cannot. We cannot be

this universe's only intelligent life. It is an impossibility. We can be the universe's most intelligent life. I think they're out there, but they can't figure out the galaxy to get here because they're not that smart. I think they come here like, even our, you know,

dusty. Now that's possible. They come here and like, no, thank you. Crazy Town. Let's go back to Yeah. Jupiter. All right, Joy with the news. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd.

I love any text messages. Oh, my friend. They're like, I'm out. I can't defend you all the time. Can't defend you on that. Well, Joe Burrow was seen limping off the field at the end of week 17's win over the Chiefs. He said it was nice to have a week off and that the playoffs won't be too big for him. Physically it was good.

Mentally is a little weird not being there with everybody. But, you know, it was a good little break, ready to get back at it. I've played in a lot of big games, not just throughout my college career, but this year as well, you know, the last five or six games for us have been playoff games. I've always pride of myself on making plays when the game is down on it and trying to keep my team in it if we're down and going out and winning the game if we need to go and seal the deal. I'm very excited for this weekend.

Oh, yes. And by the way. We have great stories everywhere. It's the ratings are up. People are into it. It's, I think. It's so fun that the Raiders and the Bengals are in the playoffs. I mean, and the Eagles.

I contend Philadelphia, Tampa, keep your eye on it. Brady struggled last year with a far less captivating offensive team in Washington. Philadelphia led the NFL this year in big plays, meaning a run over 10 or a pass over 20. They led the NFL. And that kind now, if it's a blowout Tampa wins, I'm wrong. Right.

But there are teams this year. The Raiders and the Eagles, I give up. I can't figure it out. I'm not really anticipating any blowouts this weekend. I'm not either. Well, I mean, it depends on how. Steelers' chiefs could get ugly just because of the Steelers' offense. Yeah.

That's, I mean, if they don't turn the ball over it will be a 12.5 point line. Right. They're telling you it's going to be a two touchdown game. Right. Well, the Bengals host the Raiders on Saturday. They're currently five and a half point favorites. This is Burroughs first playoff. of his career, and he is not short on confidence, so I'm sure it's going to be a great game.

So there's been a lot of questions about the Brian Flores firing. We've talked about it a lot over the past couple days. Well, according to reports, owner Stephen Ross was all in on Tank for Tua mode until 2019, and he decided he wanted Joe Burrow. I agree with that move. So that was the owner? The owner. So the owner wanted Tua.

It started in 2019 season 0 and 7. Okay, okay. Remember, that was leading into. the Burrow Herbert to a draft. So, oh, and seven, all right, we're going to be a bad team. That's fine. We'll just finish the season bad and get a great quarterback to build for the future. Well, they finished the season 5 and 11.

They started it, but apparently Brian Flores ditched the tanking strategy, and this kept the dolphins from securing the number one pick, which went to the Bengals who went on to draft Joe Burrow, obviously. And the Bengals refused to let the dolphins trade up, so eventually they drafted to a fifth overall. Now, examining this whole situation from that perspective, if this turned out to be true, still on floors aside, I don't believe in tanking. Like, if you get to the end of the season and you are, like, it's one game between the first row pick.

And then you sit starters. Sure, okay? But you're going to give up on half the season. I know. You certainly can't tell players that. No. Because you get hurt in this sport of you tank. Also, what, the idea that you can program an entire organization to tank is nonsense.

These are professional athletes. Even if they are, it doesn't happen. Players don't tank. They are auditioning for their next job. They're not going to go out there and put out bad tape. They don't care about what the organization's plan is. That organization could cut them next year.

So they're not tanking. So the idea that you are tanking for an entire season is nonsense. It doesn't even make any sense. Also, you had the opportunity to draft Herbert. I just thought of another UFO idea. I'll get to it later, but you made me think of another UFO idea. Well, another potential issue could have been the team's failure to land to Sean Watson this season, according to reports, the owner wanted Watson, and Brian Flores didn't want the distraction.

So clearly the owner, the GM, and Brian Flores weren't aligned, but I anticipate another three years of up and down seasons, and whoever they bring in next will probably be gone in three to four years, so that's what the Dolphins do. So Bimmer Sison said on his radio show that he had texts from someone in Aaron Rogers' inner circle that he would sit out the Super Bowl due to his displeasure with league and the COVID protocols. Right, all right.

Well, Rogers responded yesterday to, to, on the Pat McAfee show, to the report. He said, I've given a lot less bleep the last couple years. But one thing I do give a major bleep about is ridiculous narratives about me. This was one that was pure comedy for me. No one in my, quote, inner circle is talking to the media, but I would never even joke about this. It's the dumbest bleeping thing. No, the dumbest thing is telling the America that Joe Rogan is where you get your

medical advice. That's the dumbest thing. ever, not that Boomer Osyazen, who I do not know, got a text and said to his audience, he has a huge audience in New York, what do you guys make of this? Boomer Osiricin never said it was true. He asked, what do you make of this? The dumbest thing ever is you saying, I get my advice from Joe Rogan. That's dangerous and dumb. What Boomer Osceison did, it's not even irresponsible. Boomer, and I don't know Boomer O'Syerson, but he hosts a morning show in New York. It's called Boomer and Geo. I don't watch it because I'm not there, but I've seen highlights of it.

Very funny, you know, very talented people. They did not say it was true. They said this is a weird, blank text. Well, the only way to say it would be true is if you heard it directly from Aaron Rogers. And by the way, otherwise it's just a source. Both the hosts, the Boomer guy and the Geo guy, doubted it and said, I don't know. But they've got four hours to fill and they said it was an interesting conversation. So if you're going to say, this is the dumbest thing ever, be very careful about throwing, you know, what do they say? People in glass houses. He doesn't think that what he said was dumb. So

epidemiologists do. So he would not consider that to be a dumb. I don't even know why I'm defending. I don't even know Boomer or Sires. I think that the situation with the Aaron Rogers and the media, I don't get on a high horse about the media. I talk about what other people do for a living. I don't take myself that seriously. I take what I do seriously.

I don't, if you don't agree with me, okay, that's fine. It's not changing my life. I'm still going to go do everything else I was going to do today. I'm not going to go home and cry about it. but if you're going to throw your opinion in the gauntlet, there are going to be people who disagree with you. And some of them are not going to be nice about it. And when we're in a pandemic and there's public health on the line,

and you are a major sports figure, a very famous person. And you lied about it. People do take what you say seriously, whether you want them to or not. And you lie about it. Yes. So this is the reaction. I personally don't care at this point.

I'm over it. I mean, it's changed my opinion. But like, so what? What does he care what we think about him? By the way, it's just, I find Aaron, why was he so harsh on a respected, I mean, Boomer Seyerson made a Super Bowl. He was a really good player. And he's been a very responsible member of the media.

I just don't get why you're complaining about the media on a sports media show. Yeah. It's just, it's just, I'm, it just, the whole thing is just very, like, chasing tales. Like you complain about the media on the media to the media, and then you throw things to the media, but then you lie to the media, then you're mad at the media. then you give your opinion, then you don't want anyone to have an opinion about your opinion, and then it's the woke mob. I don't get it.

Like, it just, it's fine if that's how he wants to do all this. But, and look, I never believe this story either. Like, it's, that's out, it's an outrageous thing to do. We didn't even, when the story came out at Boomer Osias and talked about it, we didn't talk about it. Yeah, I, I, I, no. I have my own weird Aaron Rogers text on Packer information. Yeah, that's, that's, that's the conspiracy there. No, no, but I'm.

I'm not saying that's true either, but it's weird. It is weird. I got a text three years ago when I was ripping Aaron from a random source in Virginia, which is where Boomer got his text from. And it had information that was way too good for a fan to have it. And I didn't report it, but it was weird. And so when I heard the Boomer story, I'm like, is some guy setting us up to get, I'm not saying it's Aaron.

I'm saying, is some guy. Some random person has you guys his contact. Like it's trying to burn. I mean, I don't know. But I'm just telling you, my job is to tell you what I know. and I had a weird moment three years ago where I spent a day going down a rabbit hole of a guy randomly in Virginia that texted me information.

I Google mapped it. I look up the address. I called multiple sources. The information was very interesting. It's weird. And by the way, it was also, also on Aaron leaving Green Bay. And there was a, and I didn't report it. I said, I don't believe it.

But the information was way inside the Beltway. It was not fan message board stuff. And there was a name named. I called somebody who knew the name, named, it was weird. I'm just telling you, I didn't report it, but I don't know. But we can put it to us now that Aaron is going to play in the Super Bowl if they make it there.

He is, yes. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.

This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

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

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

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

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so...

Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people. 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 Hardway 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 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 that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir 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 Hardway, and listen now. If you're a valued customer, deserve a simple gesture of appreciation from your credit card company. That's what Discover does. Matches all the cashback you earned and your first year automatically. Discover. You know what's going to be, when do they name the most valuable player in the NFL? When do they name that award?

Because there's three people that could get it. Brady, Rogers, Burrough. So Saturday before the Super Bowl, they name it. At the honors, yeah, NFL honors. What happens? Because I said before, I could make the argument. If you're asking me numbers and what you've overcome, Joe Burrell is the MVP. I think if I had a ballot and I really thought about it, I give it to Burrow.

And then, you know, Aaron and Tom, they're all great. They're all great candidates. But the two greatest quarterback years of all time, Peyton Manninghand won, and Brady had one, they didn't win a unanimous MVP. Okay, so and this year you have three legitimate candidates. I mean, Brady led the NFL in key stats, like really key stats. Yeah, I think the unanimous thing is overblown. You don't need to win unanimously.

So what, but what's going to be fascinating? And this will show you how deceptive the media is now. I mean, like there's one thing about the media can make a mistake. Tom Brady throws pick sixes. Everybody makes mistakes. It's funny how people hold, like doctors, make major mistakes, malpractice. Doctors have to have insurance because they literally operate on the wrong leg.

That happens annually. So, of course, people who talk for a living right, source burns you, you misinterpret. We all get that. Quarterbacks complete, 60% of their throws. 40% they don't. A lot of interceptions. But when the media says they go out of their way to do something, Aaron Rogers may win the MVP, but the voting is going to be close.

You're going to get a lot of people that, like the Joe Burrow story. And then you're going to have old people who just don't like Aaron and they're loyal to Brady because Brady beats him when they play and Brady's better. So, you know, historically, it's not close. He's a better big game quarterback. Watch the media if Aaron doesn't win. And he's not going to get blown out.

It would be close either way. They'll pivot to, oh, it's the vaccine comment. No. Now, there may be some writer that does that. But this is really as close as an MVP race ever. there are arguments if the Colts got into the playoffs that Jonathan Taylor was going to get some votes. So let's just say this. If Jonathan Taylor got the 50 votes, Jonathan Taylor got three.

Okay, remember that. The Midwest media, three Jonathan Taylor, 11 to Joe Burrow. Well, Green Bay is also in the Midwest. So the Midwest media split their votes with Aaron. Aaron, Jonathan, and Burrow. Whereas the southern East Coast votes all went Brady and Tom wins. So that's what I'm saying. You know how the Heisman vote?

It works that way. So like if you have 50 votes and let's say there's 12 people out west, 18 out east, 15 in the Midwest. If Aaron loses, because some people tend to in all voting, it doesn't matter if it's politics, Heisman MVP. You kind of vote to the closer person, the region that you see more. If Aaron's votes get picked apart by Jonathan Taylor gets two votes. He's unbelievable. If Burrow gets 11, then it eats away at Aaron's Midwest support. And Brady gets the Boston people vote for him, the New York, the big media go Brady.

I could see Brady winning it because just the way the voting falls. Brady also had an MVP-level season. He has the second best odds. The people that would be outraged that Aaron Rogers didn't win MVP are probably not people that evaluate football. It's just just be honest. I think it's going to be a really close vote. Of course it's going to be a close vote. It's been a season of parity. There hasn't been somebody who's been

head and shoulders above everyone except for Kyler Murray in that strand during the beginning of the season. Burrow played with less talent around him. We're still aligned in a much better division. You can absolutely make an argument. If Aaron wins it, that's fine. Boy, you can make a great argument for Burrow. Speak for yourself

on a Wednesday. next. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Cliford show on the IHeard Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at a podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay and I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, 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.

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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.