The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - The Mount Rushmore of players

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

The Mount Rushmore of NBA and WNBA players Is Aaron Rodgers pulling a prank on the media? Caitlin Clark is helping the WNBA expand    Guest: Alexi LalasSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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One of my favorite people, Alexei Lollah, a Fox Sports soccer analyst. He's a Hall of Famer, and he is joining us. So there is a randomness sometimes to hockey and soccer where you can outplay a team and you find yourself trailing. What I tend to look at is possession, percentage, shots on gold tells me the story. So when it goes in to, you know, anytime it goes, into like a penalty kicks or shootouts. I thought we had control of possession. I thought we had over twice as many kicks. Forget Matt Freeze for a second. I thought they played well yesterday. What was your interpretation before we went into penalty kicks? Yeah, I didn't think it was a great

performance, but to your point, I thought that the United States was, you know, the better team on the day when you look at some of those statistics, but as we know, it can be misleading, especially when it comes to soccer where you don't even have to have the ball the entire game and can still find a way to win. And especially when it comes to penalties, if you are an inferior team, which this particular version of Costa Rica was, and I think they recognized it, they said, listen, we'll take our chances when it comes to penalties, although credit to them for fighting back, individual mistakes and momentary lapses, but overall, the U.S. was, for lack of a better phrase,

the better team. But the better team doesn't always win, especially when it comes to soccer, and especially when you have this kind of great equalizer of penalties that's looming large. And in this case, it went right to penalties as opposed to going to the extra 30 minutes that oftentimes traditionally has happened. So it changes the dynamic and the mindset of the players in the moment. If you're the best team, there's an urgency to get it done in the 90 minutes. And if you're not the best team, it's only 90 minutes that you have to withstand and bend, but don't break. So outside of Burrhalter's mess, good misses, makes, I think this is something. Again, people in soccer sometimes, poo-poo,

penalty kicks. And my take is it's about execution. And the two things to me in soccer that win World Cups is offensive execution and making sure you don't give up cheap goals. You're going to advance out of the group stage. You don't have to be perfect at midfield. You don't have to be always great on the back end. You can't give up cheap goals. And do you execute on your set plays, on your corner kicks. So my takeaway is the PK Beyond Freeze, I thought was impressive. I thought it really was your takeaway on Freeze and beyond. Yeah, so penalties are interesting, and I'll give you my spiel that I always do,

in that it's not random, it's not luck, it's not a coin flip, you know, it's not a situation where, oh, just anything happens. It is a skill, it is a practice skill, it is a necessary skill, and whether it's the goalkeeper and what he or she is doing and the research that goes into that moment or whether it's the actually penalty kicker. And keep in mind that

you can look at it and people that have watched the game know, and even if you haven't watched the game, we've only seen it a couple of times. It is incredibly weighted towards the kicker. 79% of the kicks actually go in historically. And so for a goalkeeper, you save one, you're, you know, now we're, now we've got something we can work with. You say save two and oh my goodness,

we're in rarefied air here. And save free or more, it's just it doesn't happen in penalty kicks. So there's a lot that's going on up here relative to penalty kicks, but when you win it's great and when you don't, it's the worst thing in the world and it should be abolished.

So I got to ask you, as a Hall of Famer and a defender, you have a link. There's a certain connectivity for the guy right behind you, Alexi. Is what we saw from Matt Free? It was jaw-dropping. Tell my wife, I'm like, we not only made three stops, he touched the two others.

This doesn't happen ever. You tell me, is it instincts? Is there homework you can do? Do people have tells? Like, how do you explain what Freeze did? I've never seen three saves, hand on two others, never guessed. I've never seen that. Explain it if you can.

Yeah, so for people that might be, you know, just tuning in, Matt Freeze was the goalkeeper. He's been the goalkeeper through this gold cup. And yeah, we're 346 days away from the World Cup next summer. We don't know who was ultimately going to be that starting goalkeeper in that there is a competition. So for Matt Freeze, this was a huge day and a huge moment. He talked about the research that goes in. And yeah, you have video and you're watching. You have tendencies and you see statistically what players have done.

And sometimes they even write it out for the goalkeepers. But there is also a feel that goalkeepers have. And there's tells where the foot placement is, where the eyes are, all of these different. the approach to the ball. All of those different things go into the calculator. And in this case, it's a calculator for a guy who went to Harvard, and it spits out, I am going to stand still, or I'm going to move here, or I'm going to fake moving here,

and all of those different things come into play. And keep in mind that the taker of the penalty kick is also thinking those things and doing a calculation himself. Yeah. So, Maricio, new coach, Pugetino, comes out and makes three changes. before the match, two of them scored. Tottenham, his rep has always been he likes young players, he likes to develop them, that's kind of his strength.

And I think one of the reasons he was hired was we're young. And our good players need to be very good, and our very good players need to be great to win a World Cup. So talk about soup to nuts what you've seen so far in the Gold Cup that you're encouraged by from our new guy. All right. So when it comes to Maurice Chapociino, he's being paid a tremendous amount of money,

$6 million a year, rumored, to get this team to do things that we haven't done before. You know, we've had success in World Cups, but it's all relative to getting out of the group and doing all those things. We've done those things before. To your point, and you know, came on air talking about the talent that we have

as a generation right now and maximizing that talent. I think what we've seen through this goal, Cup is a Maricio Pochetino who has had to deal with, you know, the holistic situation at the beginning and some of the drama off the field. I think he got through that and I think he kind of established himself as a new sheriff in town. I think at times he bit his tongue for some of the craziness or ridiculousness that he saw relative to whether it's politic or others and that attitude. But I also think what you've seen is a, um, a coalescence of this new group. And, you know,

keep in mind that the win last night, which a lot of people watch, and a lot of people that kind of came into the tent on a Sunday night on Big Fox, and it was wonderful like I was getting texts from all sorts of people that I know don't normally follow soccer. So it was a wonderful feel-good moment. But this team was together through this tournament, and they had a week of training in between the games. And I think for Pocetino, that was really good in terms of this is how we're going to play. And again, this group coming together and still a relatively short period of time. And you can see that this particular group that doesn't have your West of McKinney's and your Christian Polis,

and a bunch of other players that we have talked about consistently. And it doesn't mean that they're not going to be integrated. But for them to have this moment, I think it was really, really important. And for Mishapuchino to do it without those guys, I think it was an important message to send. And the work's not over. So we shouldn't break our arm, patting ourselves on the back for beating a depleted Costa Rica in a quarterfinal of a goal cup. That's been done many, many times before. But you know what?

You sing while you're winning. And if you can't find some joy in that moment, you know, then I don't think you're a sports person. And as you know, as a sports person, sports are not for being rational. Sports are for being irrational to a certain extent. So, like I said, sing, dance, celebrate that, which they did. And you can see the pictures here. And then you got the semifinal here coming on Wednesday. And if I had told this U.S. team, you get a semifinal game against Guatemala

to go to the final of the Gold Cup. You would say, sign me up right now. Is there, Tyler Adams feels like to me will make the World Cup. Matt Freeze, you can argue he just won. I mean, this is the last tournament before the World Cup. That's pretty impressive. That was his moment. So, Freeze, Tyler Adams, anybody else from this group, because we acknowledge, and this is true for many countries, this was sort of our B team, our developers.

Besides Tyler Adams and Freeze, anybody else you see making the World Cup roster? Yes, I think Tyler Adams was always going to be a start. I mean, he's not untouchable, but given his experience and given his quality. So he's kind of the outlier here. But if you look at players that helped their stock and dramatically, yes, Matt Freeze, because there is a goalkeeper competition right now, and Matt Freez got the start earning this goal cup, not because Matt Turner is the number one.

And Maurice Puccetino went to him and said, listen, I know who you are and you're my starter. And if this is the World Cup, you'd be starting. No, because he recognizes that Matt Turner has not been playing and has not been playing well when he has played, which is very, very limited. And so there is a competition. So definitely, like you said, I think Matt Freeze has put himself into the conversation.

Diego Luna, I really think, and I posted this morning that Diego Luna, I think, had a really good game yesterday. And yes, there's the grit and the fight and, you know, that just you want to like this guy. And he makes you like him. But I also think that when it comes to possession of the ball, creating things in the attacking third, beating multiple players under pressure in traffic, I don't think that there's anybody better other than Christian Policic. Now, that's not a great thing to say, but maybe it is in that how established he has already become. So I think he's really helped his cause. And then Malik Tomin, I think right now, the World Cup started today, given what he's done in this tournament,

has really made a case for being that attacking midfiel, if you will. Chris Richards, I think is going to be a starter. But there's still a lot of questions. Even with this wonderful win, there's still a lot of questions when it comes to this U.S. men's national team. like we said, less than a year away from 2026. Okay. Okay. And finally on this, if, because we know we have arguably six of our top seven players

will be on the World Cup roster that weren't here. Taking that, because I tend to believe, even though this is 11 months out from the World Cup, I do think performing well, inertia, man, I don't care if you're a political party or a team. Winning changes the way you think. the inertia, the movement. So I do think winning this, or at least getting to the finals, does matter. Judging by what you've seen over the last four matches, three matches, and then in your mind, taking our better players, inserting them into what you've seen.

Do we have a philosophy, a brand, or a style right now that you can cling to, that you could say, yeah, this is how Mauricio, this is how he sees the world. tell me what we are today with six or seven other elite players coming. Yeah, so the integration or the reintegration of some of those players that you have is only going to make this team better. But I think it's been wonderful to see the success. And that's why, yeah, I want them to win just, you know, because I bleed American. I know, and I want to see that.

But more importantly, it's almost a wonderful message to send, and an important message to send to the guys that aren't here, that you know what, while you're important, you're not a savior. And we can win games and we can do things without you. Because I think it's going to motivate them to come in and say, you know what? My, you know what? Stinks just like everybody else is I'm going to have to work. And some of the spirit and some of the fight and all these words that we use

that was on display here in the goal cup. Again, the last time, like you said, from a competitive standpoint, that we are going to see this team. and certainly in a competitive tournament, I think that that's going to be incredibly valuable going forward. And again, I'm not saying that any of those guys aren't going to be important parts going forward, but if they come back in to a team that is kind of,

like I said, coalesced and this style, if you will, look, it's not going to be put in a time capsule for the best soccer ever played. But again, that's subjective as to what good soccer is. But to your point, America doesn't give a crap how this U.S. team plays. They care that they, win and that they are doing it in a kind of raw strangely ugly but beautiful way that i think that

resonates with people but ultimately it's about winning whether it's the girl cup whether it's end of the games leading up and then more importantly next summer doing things we haven't seen before and winning nobody's going to stand on principle in terms of quote beautiful soccer if this team finds a way to do great things come next summer in the world cup very exciting wednesday fs one coverage starts at 6th Eastern. We'll be favored over Guatemala. As always, my friend, Alexi, you're great. Thanks, man. You're the best. Thanks. Yeah, it was exciting. Yeah, I was, Jay Mack, I was sitting there as I'm watching it, and I'm just thinking, I mean, there's obviously the 18th hole, like at the Masters, you know, down the stretch of the Masters was Roy McElroy. Like, there's just certain

things that are endemic to our sports culture that we know are great. Like, I think in NFL overtime, not sudden death. So it's like it can be a little haphazard or random. I don't think there's in a big match, when you go to when you go to the shootout, I don't think there's anything like it. Hockey's got it a little bit of the power play when you got two minutes in the power play. You know you're a man up. You trail late in a Stanley Cup final like you're like, okay, we got two minutes here to score. We got to score. March Madness obviously has it, tie game late. But that is about as good as sports gets. I would say college football overtime and penalty kicks for me are the best because it's equal.

You get a chance, you get a chance. The defense has a chance to stop you. I like that fairness in sports. And so P.Ks is right there for college football overtime with me. 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 first. Ben Mather 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. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking, I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing. a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 funny. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people. people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamist sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets. meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin' this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, let's start with your Detroit Lions.

I think I can call them your right. Obviously, big, big holes to fill losing Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn as coordinators. They moved on to be head coaches. But defensively is what we're talking about. Aiden Hutchison went down last season and they still finished 15 and 2 despite losing to Washington at home in the playoffs. Safety Brian Branch

believes they're going through the ups and downs last season has the team feeling invincible heading into this season. Now, I'll let you take that one away. This idea that their defense was good at last year, hey, we still went 15 to 2. Uh-uh. Like, that's just not reality.

The defense is not good. Yeah, a couple good showings. Yeah, I think they have two really high-end defensive players. Branch is one, Aidan Hutchison is the other. I mean, if you start on a sliding scale, there's a lot of average and has been for years in the secondary, and it's also a division where you've got a lot of smart offensive coaches. So the downside to being bad defensively in that division is Matt LaFleur, Kevin O'Connell, Ben Johnson, a lot of clever play callers.

A lot of guys that can burn you when you're not good on the back end. So in some divisions historically, we look at the AFC North and we think defense. The NFC North now is an offensive coach division. So I'm with you. I think they pull back. I also think you can't lose the best offensive coordinator in football, hire somebody in house, and think you're going to get the same level. Even if they're successful, Ben is sort of a one-of-one, kind of a young McVeigh feel.

So I just don't think they're going to be quite as dynamic. offensively, and they'll still be good, not special defensively. I would challenge someone to find a schedule with tougher opposing quarterbacks. Colin, the first six weeks, they got to face Lamar, Burrow, and Mahomes. Three of the top four quarterbacks in the NFL. They also have to go to Philadelphia. Obviously, they've got to go to Jaden Daniels. Colin, this schedule is, I mean, they've got to go to the Rams.

That's a big game on Fox. I just don't see it. I think you'd have to. be happy. I'd take, Mitch, again, there's not that many bad schedules. Yeah, that, that, I, I look at it. There are a 10 to 11 win team, but the days of 12 and 13, I think they had a window, and I think the NFC for the last two years was weaker. I don't think it is. I think the Rams are up to speed. Jaden Daniels is magical. Baker Mayfield has solidified himself as a franchise guy. I, I think the day is of those layups in the NFC, the bottom half are over.

It's over, yeah. Let's move to Travis Hunter, who is hoping to be a two-way player this year, believing he can star at wide receiver and corner. But doubt still remains whether he can be successful, while Willie Cologne gave his opinion on Breakfast Ball Friday. I know how I would approach a guy like this. I'm going to test his armor. I'm going to see how tough you really are.

If you want to be a two-way player in the NFL, I'm going to see if you're strong enough to be a two-way player. So when I'm pulling around that corner, I'm going to test that 12 on your chest, right? And so for me, if I'm the Jacksonville Jaguars, listen to what the players are saying. They're curious if he can finish an 18-game season going both ways. I promise you he won't. They will move him to one-sided ball and that's quarterback. And allow him to be the best corner they'd be.

Because not only you're going to have to make tackles, you all have to withstand getting hit, too. Yeah, I, I, there are certain things you can do in college. you know, that don't work in the NFL. But I would say, like, O'Tonnie, you were like, okay, maybe you could do that in AA baseball, pitch and hit. And yet there are these unique once-in-a-lifetime athletes that can go to the highest level of sports and do things you'd never imagine.

And maybe he's that guy. It wasn't the number one high school player in the country, so it's not like he's a late bloomer. Like he was unbelievable at 16, 18, 21. Why won't he be unbelievable at 23 and 24 in the NFL? I think he may be, and I do think over the course of time, athletes get better. In 10 years, if I told you the NFL had six two-way players, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, if you had six guys.

Wait a minute, define two-way. Like, how many plays? What if you do five plays? Are you a two-way player? No, if you play 30 minimum on both sides. That's a lot. Now, I do think- what I said before the draft, Colin.

Is he going to go and try to tackle Jonathan Taylor in space 10 times and then go try to get open against a cold secondary? And then the next week, you're trying to tackle Derek Henry and then you're going out for running routes. I don't think that's feasible. I've never thought that was possible. I mean, Dion was returning punts. If Travis Hunter wants to do that, go for it.

But actually tackling people and then running routes, I don't think anybody wants to tackle Derek Henry for the record. But certainly not. Final story, Colin, is big news for the show. Congratulations, Colin. You have been named to the 2025 class of the Radio Hall of Fame. You're the lone sports representative as part of this year's 10-person class. And it's kind of cool.

Excited, huh? How are you celebrating? Well, you should agree with me more. Now that I'm a Hall of Famer, I should just get a lot of agreement. All I ever wanted to do was a kid. When I was seven years old, my mom bought me a transistor radio. And that's all I ever wanted to do was radio. I grew up in a small town.

There wasn't cable television. Radio is what I always wanted to do. So sometimes things in your life line up. Also, thank you to all the people this morning. I woke up and there was a lot of probably about 20, 30 texts, and it's increased. I'll get to all of them. Thank you. People are very kind.

But, yeah, I was one of the lucky ones that this is what I wanted to do for a living. And it just happened to line up. and I got to do what I wanted to do. Listen, it's really not a surprise that you get elected to the Hall of Fame after working with me for a couple years. That's a good point. Yeah. I mean, it took a while. It's all worked.

Now we're seeing the best coward there is. We're seeing it really hit his prime as a radio star. No, we've been a good life and incredibly grateful for it. All right. Alexei Lawless and Matt Hasselbeck both delivered today. That's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News.

Thank you, guys. Next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential.

title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. 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.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the sort. the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicel. in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever.

ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Oh, J-MAC. This is interesting. So for years and years, I was told that Aaron Rogers and Devante Adam very tight. And then when Devante Adams left to go to the Raiders, we found out that he and Aaron weren't nearly that tight. So, but David Bactiari,

that's his number one friend. Interesting. Anybody see the old X accounts this morning? According to X, David Bakhtiari goes to X and says, basically, love is love. Congrats to the loves. Jordan Love got married. Just happy at least one of my quarterbacks invited me to their wedding. Eyes emoji. Knowing that Bakhtiari knows, Aaron has a little bit of a tenuous,

record of friendship, ghosting. I don't know. This goes back to a lot of people have fake friends. A lot of people tell you they have a lot of friends. Devonte Adams and Aaron so close. Not really. Now David Bachdiari takes a little shot at him. Did you see that Aaron Rogers is sick of people asking about who his wife is?

And what are the details? He's like, no, she wants to stay out of the public eye. Like, sorry, bro, it doesn't work like. Sorry, you are a famous guy. They're going to be asking you a lot of questions. And Rogers is already ticked off at the media for probing into it. Wait till TMZ or whoever uncovers the wife. Man, if you, what do they call it when you were married for a while

and then you renew your vows or whatever? Like, if you did that and didn't invite me, I would probably take it personally and vent on social media. Oh, geez. QB1 didn't even invite me to us renew. The, the, um, the, everybody is saying it's just a joke. So maybe it is, what do I know? Maybe it's just lampy, maybe they're trying to pull those of us who reviewed as negative Aaron guys are trying to pull us in.

I don't know. I saw it. And the staff is like he's joking. And I'm like, that's kind of personal for a joke, especially with Aaron's reputation. You look at his account. It doesn't, it doesn't really jive with. That's a joke. It just comes out of nowhere.

You know, all jokes just have just enough truth of them. Ever notice that? Like at the Oscars when Ricky Jervase goes up there and makes jokes about certain people? Yeah. It's just enough truth in the joke. So this may be just what they call, like, fishing. They're trying to get people to overreact.

Engagement farming? Well, no, I can just see Aaron telling, hey, do that. so all the haters and the media attack me and so I can turn and make fun of them. I could see Aaron doing that as well, even though he doesn't listen to any of us or read any of us, of course. But it is. Do you think it's a joke or not? I think something's up, yes. Legit. All right.

He probably feels annoyed. How do you not invite me? I thought we were boys. But I mean, they're the closest of allies. They are the closest of allies. Maybe they're so close, they're mocking all of us. Maybe that's it. That's certainly possible.

So I saw this. Cooper flag you know Mount Rushmore the term for the four best ever at a sport or a position or whatever so a Cooper flag the number one pick of the Dallas Mavericks rising domestic basketball star

got into the Mount Rushmore topic my Mount Rushmore NBA players I would say Larry Bird Michael Jordan LeBron and probably Kobe and then WMBA

Candice Parker Brittany Griner I think Asia Wilson is on there and then I might put Kaylin Clark on there just because she's changed the game so much and it's heading in the right direction

and I just love what she's been able to do. Yeah, yeah, I think I would have put Caitlin Clark actually number one. She is not just helping revenue. Caitlin Clark is a stimulus package. So I saw something today.

Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, it's been announced, are going to get new franchises. Now, that had been discussed last year and the year before, but it's interesting how suddenly when Caitlin Clark comes into the league, bona fide star, we have three new teams coming up. Why? Because it's much easier to get investors when you can see a path to profits.

And before last year, there wasn't. It's hard to get investors when you have a history after 25 years of nobody really making a profit. When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, it's funny, but investors came pouring back into Apple. Why? So I've said this, the people that are like, yeah, somebody must be into this Caitlin Clark story. Folks, this is MJ, this is Tiger. Merchandise, tickets, revenue, like the NBA was not a global league. Magic and Bird made it more popular domestically. Michael made it global. Michael changed merchandising in America, actually, among young men.

and that's what she's doing. She sold out her shoe line in 10 minutes. She not only sold out her shoe line, they brought in a random NBA player to be a teammate, Sophie Cunningham. She sold out her jersey in one day. She'd been in the league for seven years, not much of a profile. So just by proxy, being close to her,

being an ally of Caitlin Clark, you'll sell out your merchandise. dice. That's different. I mean, that's like if you were Tiger Woods caddy, you were the third most known person on the tour. Tiger, Phil Mickelson, and Tigers caddy. We can now go back and name Tiger's caddies. Like, that's a whole different ballgame. So good stuff. Yes, earlier today, the Steelers traded for Jalen Ramsey, moved off Minka Fitzpatrick, and I've been on this for a couple of years. Could you start spending money on offense? So Jailen Ramsey He costs $7.5 million more dollars annually than Minka Fitzpatrick, and he's a very loose player.

He's talented, but he's as good as his environment. When he had the structure of the Rams and McVeigh was very good, though they moved off him, kind of doing his own thing, kind of an independent corner. But when you put him in Jacksonville and you put him in Miami, structurally, culturally, much looser organizations, it doesn't work as well. He's kind of doing his own thing. So Pittsburgh's reputation, James Harrison, talked about this last week, is it's, it's pro player. Mike Tomlin to a fault is pro player. So, you know, Aaron Rogers doing his own thing.

D.K. Metcalfe doing his own thing. Now Jalen Ramsey kind of doing his own thing. They move off Mika Fitzpatrick, which I could live with because I think he is a good safety, not great anymore, but very good, but he's a team leader. He's low maintenance. He can handle the pro player culture that Mike Tomlin has created. And here's Hasselbeck on Ramsey to the Steelers. They do not care about the rest of the league. They don't care about what anybody else does. They say, hey, we're the Steelers. This is how we operate.

So I don't think that's going to change. But I do think this. It looks like they're building a team to stop the Cincinnati Bengals. It's almost like they have confidence in what they have. Like what we have can take care of the Baltimore Ravens. Like, we're good. But, like, man, I don't know how we're going to stop the Cincinnati Bengals. Like, I do believe that there's a fear there of, like, personnel-wise, we don't match up well.

Well, Baltimore, for the record, has also upgraded their secondary. So I think Matt is right. I think if you're in that division against Joe, Burrow, Chase, and T. Higgins, you've got to stop those guys. So I do think that's true. But it's interesting where Matt says, and he's probably right, like the Steelers don't care about the rest of the league. I never buy into that. Sean McVeigh is acutely aware what everybody's doing. Like, I don't believe, like, Coke doesn't worry about Pepsi.

They keep their eye on Pepsi. Google's watching Apple. Everybody's watching Microsoft. I don't buy that. Hey, our culture is so strong. We don't watch anybody. I think you watch what people do. I think you watch who people draft. In any business, if there's cultural changes, legislative changes, rule changes, you have to adapt.

How are other people responding to stuff? And I think he's probably right. The Steelers do their own thing. I've never been a fan of it. that. I think you have to watch, I mean, when I've started my little company, I'm like watching other companies, what do they do, what works, what fails, what's a trap, see around the corner a little bit, don't get trapped. I don't buy that. We don't watch what anybody else does. Nobody's culture is that strong. I mean, a prime example is Google. You know, we always thought, like, Google is the most

powerful company in the world. Then AI came, and like AI is going to replace needing Google. Now, thank God, Google bought YouTube and I think cloud and other businesses. That's why big kind, I mean, Democrats sometimes struggle with this. Folks, there's a reason billionaires keep investing because nothing lasts forever. I thought Google search engine would last forever. If I would have guessed a company, that'll last forever. No, I didn't. AI is going to replace to some degree the search engines.

So what happens is you've got to invest in other stuff. You have to always be growing. Amazon continues to grow. There will be, and by the way, you're seeing it. now with the TikTok shop. Everybody's on TikTok. Now you can order from TikTok. Who does that hurt?

Oh, that hurts Amazon. I want to get my sports gear at Fanatics. Who does that hurt? Amazon. Nobody dominates forever. So I think you always have to keep your eye on your competition. There's peaks, there's valleys. You hit highs.

Stocks fluctuate. People in your company leave who are brilliant. So there you go. Fine line between having your own identity and being out of touch with your industry. Those are two different things. You've got to be in line and know what other people are doing. And by the way, what the other people are doing in the NFL is spending on offense,

not leading the league for the fourth straight year in defensive spending, and they haven't signed the T.J. Watt contract yet. This will be the fourth year they lead the NFL in spending. We're not talking the T.J. Watt contract. That one's around the corner. Trouble. All right. We flew through Monday, Alexi Lawless.

Colin right, calling wrong. Matt Hasselback. Jay Mack will see you and everybody else tomorrow. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.

Nice. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or Wherever you get your podcast, just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive.

I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports

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