The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Browns, Cam Newton and Ezekiel Elliot

Episode Date: July 25, 2019

Colin explains why the pressure is on the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Browns, proof he was always right about Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton, and an update on Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliot. Guests include: Chris Haynes, Geoff Schwartz, Sam Monson, and Rashad Jennings.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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 and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of, Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines

ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. We go on a Thursday NFL camps opening everywhere. This is The Herd. Live in Los Angeles, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. Thanks so much for making us part of your day today as Joy Taylor is joining me. Now I can feel it. Now the grass.

I can start to smell it. Now we're in football season. Now we got camps, Joy. and I just found out this morning that Joy Taylor's brothers are 6-6 and 6-4 What happened? I don't have an explanation for it. I think maybe my mother didn't give me any of the milk growing up.

There's no explanation for it. I'm 5'2. I am the run of my family. Well, you were a great athlete. Yes, yes. Just didn't get the height. Really? Where's Joy?

She's at the table. She's over down there. It's great to have you in today. So congratulations of the Los Angeles Clippers. Congratulations to the L.A. Clippers. It was really fun in Los Angeles yesterday. For the first time, the L.A. Clippers joined a new club. It's called the High Expectation Club. They've never been in that before. Here's Steve Balmer yesterday. He was all worked up. He's the owner. I'm just fired up to be here today. I'm popped to say hello as Clippers to Paul and Kauai.

Come on. Come on. Come on. You can win some ball games this year with Paul and Kauai in our teeth We're going to win some ball games Okay, first of all, it was very fun It was great Everybody in Los Angeles Except Die Hard Laker fans

Everybody's happy for the Clippers They've been so beaten up over the years It's a great day for them And I'm happy for him I think it's I love living in this city It makes me very happy And they earn Kauai They didn't deserve Kauai

They earned him All right, they earned Paul George They worked their tail off on this But butt, butt, butt, but but, but here's the downside. Clippers, no more losing in the second round. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not acceptable anymore.

No, no, no. You're no longer the feel-good team of the NBA. You have to be the really good team in the NBA. Las Vegas says you're the best NBA team. A Western Conference finals appearance will not do, my friends. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You have Kauai and Paul George, the number one and number two efficiency players in the league, the best two-way players. By the way, here's what's interesting.

If it doesn't work out, if it doesn't work out as you sell this two L.A. guys coming back to L.A., are we going to hammer on them? Because we all hammer on LeBron when he changes teams. And you keep telling me, Kauai Leonard's the best player in the NBA now. And so you always bang on LeBron. If he goes to a team and doesn't win a title, you bang. on him in Miami first year. You banged on him in Cleveland first year.

You bang on him in the Lakers' first year. You just bang on him. And by the way, Kauai's better than LeBron. You can be telling me that now for a year. Six days better. Okay. Never forget this. Last year was warm and fuzzy.

Last year, they were underdogs. I've worked at companies that are big and favored, and I've worked at this company that's young, growing, fledgling. It's way more fun. It's light and breeze. easy to be an underdog. It's heavy to be a favorite. The Yankees are favorites. The Lakers historically are favorites. The Steelers

every year are favorites. Now the Clippers, your favorites. And it changes everything. The Jacksonville Jaguars could not handle it. Even with all that talent. Got to the AFC championship. Next year, favorites, Super Bowl, 5 and 11. Boston Celtics, by the way. Gordon Hayward's now healthy. Jason Tatum's getting better. Kyrie is healthy. It didn't work. Couldn't handle it.

Celtics were young and plucky. Eastern Conference finals. It feels light and breezy. You bring in a couple stars now. Second round won't do. It's been fun forever, but don't kid yourself. Taylor Swift has more banners in the Staples Center than the Clippers. Okay, that's their history.

No expectations. The statues outside Staples are all Lakers or L.A. Kings. There's no Clippers. The Clippers rent the Lakers building. They're the stepbrother. They're the fun brother. But now you're the big dogs. And by the way, could it unravel?

Absolutely. Paul George, shoulder surgery. What if he misses the first 22 games? It's going to take another 30 to at least get it ready. Kauai wants 15 to 18 games off. Paul George isn't healthy. Lou Williams says, 33. I'm the leading score last year. Can I have nine games off? Last year, Doc Rivers called

him the blacktop team. Playing in the driveway. And no longer, now you're on the interstate and you're supposed to lead the pack. So this is a whole different ballgame. I think they're going to be really good. I think they should be NBA favorites. But remember when Nick Foles turned down opportunities, the Philadelphia Eagle backup quarterback, he turned Turn down opportunities to be a starter. And do you know why he did that? Because it felt different. He liked being the backup to Carson Wentz.

There was no pressure. Nick Foles comes in, very coachable. I'm not the franchise guy. No pressure on me. And he played great in the Super Bowl. Now he goes to Jacksonville, makes $25 million a year, is the franchise quarterback, and they need wins now in a division with Deshawn Watson and Andrew Luck and a Tennessee team that was 9 and 7 last three years.

Now there's a lot of pressure on Nick Foles. So I want to see how it turns out. I'm happy for him, but the Clippers have joined a new club. It's called the Expectations Club. A lot of pressure. It's going to be heavy. It has a chance to derail. Paul George's shoulder is not ready for regular season.

Kauai wants 22 games off. You have stars now. The chemistry in the building is going to change. Can't wait to watch it. Can't wait to watch it. But you're in a new club. No more second round playoff exits. All right, NFL camp start today.

Freddie Kitchens. I'm starting to like this guy. He's the guy that got the Cleveland Browns coaching job. He's got a little southern twang to him. I kind of like him. He's a good old boy. He talks like a football coach should. And he was talking about all the expectations.

And so here's Freddie Kitchens. I want everybody to understand this. Our goal here with the Cleveland Browns, as long as I'm here, will always be to win the Super Bowl. All right? Now, that's the last time I'm going to say that. Just know and make it a given. That that's what I believe to my core is to win the Super Bowl.

Now, you don't do that by talking about it, and you don't do that by outside expectations. You do that by putting the expectations on how you prepare on a day-in and day-out basis. Here's what's really interesting. The Clippers, the Cubs, and the Cleveland Browns have losing stigmas. But even as the Clippers have this brand of losers, the last 25 years. The Clippers have made the playoffs six of the last seven years. The Clippers at one point had five straight 51 seasons. So even though the Clippers brand is losers, they've won a lot. By the way, the Cubs, lovable losers. Before they won the World Series, they got to the

NLCS, and they had made the playoffs eight years earlier. Remember the Lou Penella team? So they were pretty good. Browns are different. The Browns are hideous, and they've been hideous forever. Last year was their big year. They went 7, 8, 8, and 1. We're blown out four times, and we're 1 in 5 against playoff teams. The Cleveland Browns have won 11 games in four years. This is different. Years ago, this is 20 years ago, I used to have a friend in Las Vegas.

I'm not sure what happened. We were casual friends. And he had a really tough life. His dad was in and out of work. And we had a discussion one time, a very vulnerable discussion. And he talked about when his dad would, even during the good times, you always had this thing in the back of your head. Are we going to have to move again?

Because that's the life. That was his reality. Moving around, dad losing jobs. Even when you have a team as good as Cleveland and a roster is good, the minute there's a fissure, the minute there's a loss. oh my God, back-to-back losses. The first thing you think of is, this is our reality.

We've got to move again. New England's the opposite. Trail at halftime of the Super Bowl? Oh, we've been here before. We come back and win these. Atlanta Super Bowl, Seattle Super Bowl. Throw a pick six in the Super Bowl. Okay, Tom's done that before.

We win these. Have a really bad Monday Night football game against the Chiefs get blown out by 30. Oh, yeah. We ended out. happened a few years ago. We came back and won the Super Bowl. In New England, it works the opposite.

You know, for the kid that is raised in a stable winning environment, every time there's a little fissure, oh, parents figured this out. We've been here forever. You grow up in a tough, chaotic environment, even the good times. It's always back there. Are we going to have to move again?

Cleveland hasn't just been bad. The Cubs and the clippers had losing stigmas and losing histories. But the Clippers have won a lot in the last 10 years. The Cubs have won a lot of games in the last decade. Cleveland has it. When losing is your history, here we go again is what happens in a locker room during a two-game losing streak.

That's what happens. The Steelers have lived in this world of great, maybe not win the Super Bowl great, but excellent, win the division, win big games, stumble, little drama, overcome it. Because they know Rooney's, Tomlin, Kevin Colbert, Big Ben, Terry Bradshaw. The Steelers always figured out real quick, get right back up, little drama, Antonio Brown, get it out of the building, we're right back up. Cleveland, even as they're winning last year, go look at what happened after a couple of their biggest wins.

They followed up with a nothing burger. So it's going to be fascinating. I saw a story yesterday where one of the Cleveland Browns came in, Richard Higgins, wearing a photo posted on his Instagram account this week, rode to the Super Bowl into existence. They got Super Bowl talk, they got high expectations, they have newfound pressure. The question will be with the Browns when they have a two-game losing streak.

What happens the following week? Because when you grow up in time, chaos, here we go again is just a fumble away. Good stuff. Cannot wait. I bet you Cleveland, I don't know what the attendance is today. We should make a prediction. I bet you the Cleveland Browns camp sets an all-time record. I would not be shocked if the Cleveland Browns have the most fans at their camp of any camp in the NFL. So as much as you think I hate the Cleveland Browns, when you can take the worst team in your league and they can be. become fascinating.

Oh, that is good for the NFL. I mean, let's not kid yourself. This whole NBA free agency thing, there were some boring teams. They're going to be really interesting. For the Clippers now to have those kind of players, that is great for the NBA. Lakers always have players, right? Spurs are always pretty good. You know, Celtics always, you know, for the Milwaukee's and the Clippers,

when the Cleveland Browns can get Baker, Mainfield, no BJ, and you go to an NFL season, that was like. turn the television set off for about 20 years. So I can't wait to see the camp video of the Cleveland Browns. I bet it's absurd. I love that you did the old school turning of the channel. Click, click.

So many kids out there watching. I have no idea what that is. Chris Haynes was at the NBA stuff yesterday with the Clippers. Jeff Schwartz today, Sam Munson, Pro Football Focus is amazing. Rashad Jennings, former giant, Raider running back. He's terrific. I'll be joining us today. NFL camps are open around the league. Summer is here

and you know what that means. It is Barb Quebec Q season. I'm actually going up to Idaho this weekend. So we're going outside and doing some. I'm going to go watch Keith Urban. Okay. Yeah. Well, country music.

And so I know what we're going to have. We're going to have steaks on the grill. We're going to have hamburgers on the grill. And it's going to, oh, Lake Cortal Lane is so beautiful. 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. 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. SportsLice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clipper. on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I say, you figure it out.

real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So yesterday, Rodney Harrison was all worked out. Rodney Harrison, NBC Sports, Sunday Night Football, former Patriot, great, great player, borderline Hall of Fame guy, a very, very, very good football player. And he was talking about Patriots not making the Hall of Fame.

And he's kind of worked up about it. He goes, you know, people don't think we have ballers. I'm like, Ty Law is the best defensive back I ever played with, Richard Seymour, William McGinnis, Tony Brown, Kevin Falk. Those dudes were bad, bad dudes. They weren't just system guys. All I hear is Tom and Bill. It's such a lazy analysis of the New England Dynasty.

So, first of all, there's only been, dynasties don't have as many Hall of Fame players as you think, outside of the Pittsburgh Steelers back in the 70s. That's the first dynasty I grew up with. That's when I first started watching TV. They had like nine guys. They had both receivers. Terry Bradshaw, Frank O'Harris, the running back,

Lynn Swan, John Saulworth, the center Mike Webster, mean Joe Green, two linebackers, Jack Hamm, Jack Lambert, Mel Blunt, the secondary was their weakness, and it had a Hall of Famer. They were loaded, but you didn't have a salary cap. You could keep guys forever. You didn't have mobility.

In the modern era, you can't afford nine Hall of Fame players. Let's go look at the dynasty. The Dallas Cowboys Dynasty is about 20 years ago. Larry Allen, Michael Irvin, Troy Aitman, Emmett Smith, Deion Sanders, and Charles Haley. And Haley, half of that career was in San Francisco.

Now they had a bunch of good players. Darren Woodson's close. They had a bunch of good players. But they had about six Hall of Fame guys. Let's go to the San Francisco 49ers dynasty. That's even further back, right? You had Charles Haley, again, split that with Dallas, Fred Dean, Jerry Rice, two quarterbacks,

Joe Montana, Steve Young and Ronnie Lott. You had a bunch of good players like Roger Craig and Randy Cross. You have a bunch of good players. And then if you look at the New England dynasty, well, what do you know? It's kind of about the same thing about six guys. Thai law, Tom Brady, Adam Venetary, he'll make it. Vince Wilfork will make it.

Gronkowski will make it. I'd vote in Logan Mankins. And they've had a bunch of good players. But New England lets go of really good players. Richard Seymour would be a Hall of Famer, but they let him go. And Chandler Jones could have been a Hall of Famer with four more Pro Bowls in New England. And they let him go. And they let Wes go.

And they let Randy Moss go. And I don't count Randy Moss. He'll be a Viking. So that's the culture that has enabled you to be a dynasty. You move off players really, really fast. And with a salary cap, there's not as many football players that make the Hall of Fame. And here's the truth about all these dynasties. They only have two things in common.

They have a great coach and a great quarterback. That's it. After that, everything is less important. Joe Montana, Steve Young, Bill Walsh. Terry Bradshaw, Chuck Knoll. Jimmy Johnson, Troy Aikman. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick. Now, you can have a Hall of Fame coach and quarterback and not win Super Bowls.

Dan Fouts and Don Coriel, Marv Levy, and Jim Kelly. Even when you have it, it's hard. I mean, Drew Brees and Sean Payton have won. Russ Wilson, Russell, Wilson, Pete Carroll, have one. So the reality with dynasties in the NFL, because of mobility and salary caps, you've got generally the only two things you have to have is a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback. After that, most stuff is replaceable.

There are two teams in the league right now. Two franchises in the NFL, if you told me have a chance to be a dynasty. And what I mean by a dynasty, Joy, would be next 12 years, they both get to four Super Bowls and win a couple of them. And you kind of feel like a decade. You're kind of a – and you're in the NFC, or AFC championship.

The two that jump out to me are Kansas City, Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes. If you told me in the next 12 years, they go to four Super Bowls and win two and get to the AFC championship another two years, I'd be like, all right. Yeah, Brady retired. I get it. And the other one would be the L.A. Rams, Sean McVeigh and Jared Gough. Now, golf to me has always been a more talented version of Matt Ryan, and everybody keeps telling me and I agree.

Matt Ryan's about the eighth or ninth best quarterback in the league. Jared Goff and Sean McVeigh, if you told me in the next 12 years, they get to four more Super Bowls win a couple. I'd be like, oh, yeah, I can see that happening. Aaron Rogers getting older. Aaron's now 35. Pete Carroll retires in a couple years. But these dynasties, man, this is why when you own an NFL team, you got to get the coach right. And then the coach and the GM, they got to get the quarterback right.

Because dynasties, look at New England, look at Dallas. Look at the 49ers. You don't have as many Hall of Famers as you think you would. Joy with the News. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

So Steve Kerr knows a thing or two about super teams, but he wants them built the right way, which to him means players honoring their current contract and not publicly demanding a trade like Anthony Davis did. Here he is. To me, when you sign on that dotted line,

owe your effort and your play to that team, to that city, to the fans, and then it's completely your right to leave as a free agent. If you come to an agreement with the team that, hey, it's probably best time for us to part ways. That's one thing, but, you know, the Davis stuff was

really kind of groundbreaking, I think, and hopefully not a trend because it's bad for the league. I hope it keeps that same energy whenever they trade any player in the middle of their contract. Well, your contract does allow for a trade. I think what he's

concerned with is, like, if I, if you and I wanted to change internet providers, we'd pay a fee. Like, if I wanted to change an apartment lease, I would get, I would have to pay a fee. Players are traded because they've agreed

to be traded in the CBA. That's part of the league. That's part of the contract. What scares owners is there is no, in the CBA, there is no, I want out. You're only allowed out if a team feels like, okay, I don't want an unhappy guy. That's what's scary. Even Adam Silver, who's very pro-player,

he's worried about a trend that could become a tsunami, which is guys are like a year into a contract. I don't like the coach, I went out of here. That's scary if I run a business. The thing is, this has literally been going on forever for like decades and decades and decades. But contracts have to mean something. They don't mean anything to the team. The team can dispose of a player anytime they want. They still have to pay them.

No, no, a team can trade a player. Right. But remember, the team. The player isn't asking to be let out of a contract to they can no longer play basketball. No. They're asking to be traded where the team will get something in return. Players agree to be traded in the CBA.

That's in writing. And the team has to agree to trade the player. Players ask for trades all the time that aren't Anthony Davis level and are told, no, you have to play out, you have to play out this contract. It happens all the time. By the way, Kobe Bryant said, said, I want to be a clipper. he had met with Donald Sterling and a bull and the Lakers said, you're not going anyway.

What bothers me about this is the gross overreaction to what happens. Yes, you had Anthony Davis ask for a trade. Why did he ask for a trade? Was it because he didn't give enough to that team? Was it because he didn't like the owner or the city? No, it's because he spent seven years of his career there and they didn't do anything to make the team better. They didn't put pieces around him that he felt like could help.

him reached the potential in his very short career. Now, Paul George, you can make an argument for that. Maybe you don't like how that went down. But Oklahoma City didn't give Russell Westbrook or Paul George the best situation either. Well, no, I'll push back on that. It was better than Anthony Davis. Yeah, no, I'll push back on that. OKC.

Stephen Adams, they actually drafted well. If the James Harden contract doesn't ever happen, they've already butchered that. But they also had Kevin Durant. Yeah, and Kevin Durant is a little, I mean, Kevin Durant just left the Warriors. I mean, Kevin's his own due. He's a wander. But he was within his right to leave the Warriors. Yeah, I don't know.

Contractually within his right. Right. Anthony Davis wanted to break a contract. So there's a difference. Again, I would pay a fee to break an apartment lease, an internet provider, or a cell phone contract. I'm okay with in the next CBA, they put in something in there where if a player that makes a certain amount of money or something, they negotiate that they have to pay a fee or something. I'm okay with that. But I also just want to point out.

Now, this has been going on for a very long time. What I don't like is this extreme overreaction to, you know, all of a sudden, all-star players are going to start asking out of their contracts. That's not what's going to happen. No, it won't. Also, make your team better. Like, put a little pressure on the owners to make smart moves and hire the right people and create an environment that is functional and positive.

But here's what I heard an exec say. He goes, I agree with that. He goes, but now the league doesn't want kids to even go to college. He goes, so we have no film of them. we're whiffing more on draft picks. So the league is it was when we had three years of college, we didn't whiff on these picks. So he goes, the problem now is we don't have any film. So we're whiffing on more, like the NFL guys get four years of video.

That's why. It's just a different sport, though. No, I'm not denying that. That's you're going to have to start scouting grassroots. I will always contend that I have honored every contract. And I've been miserable in the last year of a lot of contracts. I can agree with that. But there's also plenty of examples in other.

professions where people come to an agreement to break contracts all the time. I just don't like the overreaction to it. So Daniel Jones will participate in his first full training camp practice today, but apparently the Giants are already impressed by what little they've seen from their rookie quarterback. And even though Pat Schumer says Jones has exceeded expectations, it's still a process for him to eventually become their starting quarterback. Training camp is the next step as we prepare for the preseason games and getting him ready to play so that he's ready to go when it's his time. I think it's important that he learns something new every day. A lot of what he's doing, he's doing for the first time.

And it's really a process. So you go from not even practicing against the defense to against your own defense. And then you put the pads on. And then you're involved in preseason games. And so just as we go through all the steps, see him have success. Giants are just in such a weird space. It's a bummer because I feel like the NFL is better when organizations like the Giants are good and functional and at the very least interesting which this this just isn't this isn't an interesting year for the Giants like I'm sorry it's just not Sequin Barclay is an incredible talent yeah he's going to be great we know that that's a given but we know what we're getting from Eli Manning and all this talk about Eli Manning is going to take a step up because O'Dell is gone is I mean I just I don't believe that at all and we all feel like Daniel Jones was a stretch of a pick so how many years is Daniel Jones supposed to sit behind Eli

before he's ready. You know, the Giants are, I didn't really understand the Giants until I moved to the East Coast for 11 years. It's a fascinating franchise. So their fan base looks like people who watch 60 minutes. It's old, right? It's like 50 years. They've owned their season tickets for 100 years.

It's a little bit like the Michigan Wolverine fan base. Everybody in that town's own those season tickets since the 20s. And so you go to a Giants game. Joy, even the great giant teams are kind of boring. I mean, if you go back to their Super Bowl teams, Eli, Jeff Hostetler, Phil Sims, good defensive line. It's like we have had teams, like Philadelphia won the Super Bowl. It was like fireworks, crazy, drama, politate. The Rams, the Giants are the-

They have some characters throughout their history. But there's such an old IBM feel to them that even when they won when I was back there, I was like, the Jets were always more fun to watch. The Jets are all have a crazier feel to them. They're a circus. For sure. So finally, Julio Jones is one of the best receivers in the NFL for lots of reasons.

Obviously, it's great hands, speed, athleticism, size, but it's not too surprising that he has a couple NFL records. And he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I'm going crazy this year. I'm going crazy. I've been doing everything that I need to do. I'm taking care of my body. Physically, mentally, I'll be ready to go.

I'm not a prediction type guy, but I might mess around and go get 3,000. I don't think anybody's ever done that. No, no one has even come remotely close to that. that's a little bit unrealistic. The NFL receiving yards single season leader is Calvin Johnson with 1,964. That's the greatest ever. Yes.

Now, Julio Jones is in second with 1,871. Well, if you do the math, if Julio missed one game this year, one, you know, sprained ankle, he would have to get over 200 yards a game to get 3,000 yards. I don't think that's going to happen. It's not too realistic. Now, I did have a second best overall season in receiving yards. in 2018 with 1,677. But I would say 2,500 is probably a more realistic goal.

Oh, God, that's a monster year. And that's still a monster year. That's 170 yards a Sunday. That's a monster year. Well, he's going for 3,000. So if he gets anywhere near close to that, it'll be an all-time year for Julio Jones. He is a really good...

You know, it's funny about him. I don't play fantasy football. I do. But Julio Jones doesn't get into the end zone. He's the most frustrating player in the league. So you'll end up with 175 yards. and 19 catches and no touchdown. He doesn't get into the end zone.

I don't know what the reason is, because he is one of the probably 10 best wide receivers I've ever seen. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. So the Chargers, so here's the story that just came out. What do you know?

Just like we predicted. The Chargers have come out and said, Melvin Gordon's not going to camp, but there's no ill will. Here is the quote from Tom to last. He said, I love him. He's tough. Great work ethic. Represents our organization well.

But he's not here. I understand his thoughts and opinion. I know what he's going through. Doesn't mean I agree with it. But I can kind of see what his thought process is. I'm not naive. We're better with Melvin Gordon. But we've got a strong group of guys right here.

It's time to work and get ready to go. So what do the chargers do? Exactly what we predicted. The leverage for Melvin Gordon is he's a good guy. It's almost like I had this sourced. He's a good guy. They like him in the locker room. They respect him.

He works hard. By the way, every boss in America has a salary cap. These are tough decisions. Here at Fox Sports One, we have production departments and sales departments and HR departments and marketing departments and production departments and affiliate departments and remote, meaning the days we go out for games departments. And every one of those bosses that runs that department has a budget. It's called in sports a salary cap, and they all have budgets.

And the Murdoch family owns us, and they make you stay on those budgets. So sometimes you have to let really good people go, or what you do in the process is the charges are doing the way you do it. Aaron Donald, by the way, has held out the last two years. Everybody loves everybody. They did it the right way. They didn't bad mouth Aaron. They said we love him.

We've got to get this thing done. we understand your opinion and Aaron Donald back to back defensive player of the year, right? And they got it done. Levian Bell held out two years ago, still had the NFL in touches. This is how you handle it.

You go out and you say as an organization, we love this person. We think we're better with this person. But we've got a good group of guys. We've got to go to work today. We still got to go to work and put a show on the air. And that's how you handle it. As long as it doesn't get muddy,

as long as it doesn't get ugly, you sit behind the scenes and you work on a deal. Aaron Donald's held out last couple of years. By the way, Chargers, Joey Bosa held out, Ladanian Tomlinson held out. They've had all Melvin Gordon. It's not going to be playing much anyway. He's been banged up.

He's proven himself. They're not implementing a new offense. This is not like new coach, crazy new offense. It's not what it is. You don't play. The clock is ticking, but you got 50 days until you'll play a game. This is how you handle it. You don't handle it like

Zeke. I'm going to Europe. I'm leaving the country. This is how you handle it. The team goes, we love him. He's a great dude. And then the player says, I'm not going to show up to camp. My guess is they get it done. It's front-loaded. So they pay Melvin for the next two years, get him on the cheap, the last couple, as he wears down. Coming up next, Chris Haynes was at the Clipper Day. It was crazy. The Clippers did they peak? They owned LA yesterday. It was a lot of fun. It was a crazy press conference with Steve Balmer

yelling and high-fiving and pumping fists. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 rapidly. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about How 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. What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us

on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that,

Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, Yahoo Sports, NBA Insider, senior NBA Insider, our friend FS1 NBA analyst, Chris Haynes. former Warriors and Cavs reporter.

All right, you were at the Marty Gras inside the building yesterday. It was very, very funny. It was crazy Steve Ballmer. It felt like a Microsoft quarterly report where he was raw, raw, high fives. I thought it was, what did you make of the whole scene, first of all? It was comedy. It was comical, especially when Steve Balman went up there and got up there. But I thought, you know, if I'm looking at talking about Kauai, he was real loose.

He had this like, I don't get. give a blank type of a spirit and demeanor. When he went up there, one thing that caught me, when he went up there, I'm thinking he's going to go up there and thank the Raptors fans and thank the organization and probably mentioned the front office because that's what Paul George did. He didn't do that. He went up there and thanked the Raptor fans and thanked all the restaurants, the local restaurants for giving them free meal.

He said, I took advantage of that. Right. And so Raptor fans, I don't think really. got the closer they were looking for. He didn't really address them too much in a sincere way. Let's play the tape of you and Kauai. After it was over, you guys sat down. Play this tape, Kauai and Chris Haynes.

I didn't lead anyone on, really. I took my time in for agency as I should and make sure I made the best decision for myself and my family. I feel like some of the media coverage over it, you know, made it feel like. that way with people saying I'm signing with Toronto 99% or I'm saying I'm going to the Lakers 99%

I don't want to ever have that bad karma come back on me trying to make the Lakers miss out on players they should have gotten or vice versa with the Raptors He doesn't feel like he'd ever be angry or if he was he wouldn't show you but was he discouraged by the reports that he was 99%

sure a Raptor? Yeah no that that bothered him that that bother that and then you know Because that falls on him that makes them look like a flake Yeah, and then, you know, there was reports that he was, you know, going to the Lakers as well, you know, so he talked about that. And he said he felt like that contributed to just the hostility towards, you know, him and during his free agency period. He was like, look, I was taking my time and rightfully so. And he said, but he did say, this is what I was talking about.

This is like a different Kauai. You know, he used a couple of profanities during our time and sitting there. And it just let me know how free he was. being back home. But he said, look, those teams didn't have to wait for me. If they felt like I was in any way, you know, inhibited them from going out and getting other players, they didn't have to wait. I was going to take my time.

Yeah. And that's what I meant by. He came out there with that, like, I don't give a blank type attitude. And he wasn't apologizing for anything. Listen, it's really, this is one of the things. It's tough to leave. Like Carmelo Anthony said, listen, I love Denver. I want to go.

And he got ripped. And Dwight Howard is like, I love Orlando, but I got to go. he got ripped. LeBronos gets ripped. It's hard. There's no way out. I've got to be honest. I thought Kauai did it the right way, which is he kept saying, I'm not even thinking about it until

the season ends and I go on vacation for a week. And by the way, I think a lot of the bitterness by the Lakers, which leaked, also got Kauai's people to leak out. Magic didn't do you any favors. So in the end, I think Kauai did it about as good a job as you can do,

leaving a franchise. And he told me in that same interview that he, um, everybody knew he wanted to get back home even before the trade happened. You remember, he wasn't happy about getting shipped to Toronto. And so that wasn't, that wasn't a shock by anybody. That wasn't surprised. So he said, this one thing, one thing he did, say, Colin, he said, look, my time being away from my family at home, he said, it did something to me. He said, because when I would come back home, he said, my nieces and nephews. One moment they're babies and the next moment they're like seven to eight years old. He said, I missed them grow up.

He said, I didn't have a chance to see that. And he said that bothers me. This decision right here, Colin, it wasn't about basketball. It was purely about family and being comfortable. And if the Clippers did not get Paul George, sources told me he would have been a Laker.

That's how serious he was about coming home. Yeah. I always thought Paul George would choose the Lakers over Westbrook, not even really LeBron over Westbrook because I thought it was home. And everybody's like, well, he lives out in, it was way up in like an hour and a half of Palmdale. And I'm like, well, it's still California. It's still sunny all the time. That's true.

Palmdale's not Canada. All right, let's talk about, you know, it's funny. I said the Cleveland Browns this year are entering the expectation club. The Clippers are now, never been in this club. The expectation club. Listen, Chris, if Paul George's shoulder surgery is slow to heal, Kauai wants 15 games off. Doc's got a new chemistry in the building.

They're not the black top team anymore. The two-star team. This is a whole new territory for the Clippers, right? This isn't guaranteed 64 wins in the NBA final, right? Yeah, no, it is. It's going to be a new level of pressure for this team. But still, if we're comparing them to the Lakers, it's still not going to be on a level of pressure that the Lakers will face.

Because to me, in order for the pressure to be the same, both teams. The interest level has to be the same. And this city is still very favorably a Laker city. Oh, the Lakers are bigger than the NFL teams, the Dodgers. Yeah, this is a Laker town.

So even though this would be the most pressure, the Clippers have faced in their tenure being here, it won't reach the amount of pressure the Lakers will face. At LeBron James, the Lakers and all that, all that stuff. It's still, it's going to take a while. I mean, Kauai told me this yesterday as well.

He says it's going to be similar to the Nets. He said, I think the Brooklyn Nets are going to be really good. He said, but it's still a Nix town. People still care what the Nicks are going to do. And so up until you continually win and shake that perception that you have for so long, it's still going to be a Laker and a Nix town. Listen, Michigan football for about four years was a mess. And Michigan State was winning a bunch of games.

The minute Harbaugh went to Michigan, in an hour, you're like, ah, it's a Michigan state. Listen, it's always going to be a Yankee town, even though one of the greatest teams and the funniest teams in baseball history was Lenny Dykstra Mets. And it was drugs and drama and wins and World Series, but it's a Yankee town. So I think, by the way, the whole Paul George thing, how did you think he came off yesterday? Because I've met Paul twice. I think he's a very likable guy. Okay, so now, I don't know if you saw Sam Presti's quote, right, not two minutes.

Not long ago. He's doing a press conference. He said, I wouldn't categorize it that we mutually. agreed to get this trade. But to your point where you say how Kauai handled it, handled his exit from Toronto, up into this point, Paul George handled it well because,

remember, it was his narrative that him and Oklahoma City worked collaboratively to get him out. So that's why there was no backlash, unlike AD's situation where it was demand of trade, the team didn't want to do it, and it just looked ugly. So if you put it out that, me and the team, we thought this was the best thing going forward.

Then there's no backlash. In reality, we all know probably Paul George went out there, request the trade. Oklahoma City Thunder being a small market team, didn't want that to get out because it would definitely hurt what they can recoup on the other end. So they had to cooperate. They were forced to cooperate. But just look at the lack of backlash Paul George would see from taking all on that first narrative. Yeah.

I think it's, you know, I, so in. the West, if I said, give me your top five right now in the West. Who are they, Chris Haines? Off the top of my hair right now, I'm going to have to go with the Clippers number one, Lakers number two, Portland, three, Houston, four, Utah Five. Where's Denver?

Well, we forget about the Rocky Mountain Time Zone? No, you still five. You don't have Denver in the top five? Who are you taking off my top five? Houston. No, no. Two ball-centric guards yelling and screaming at each other by February. That's fine. They'll still rock up some wins. I'm going to do Clippers one.

Clippers won, Utah second, Lakers third, Denver, fourth, Portland. I think Utah's really good. I think Utah's going to be really good. I think they're solid, but. Solidly in control of the West. Control of the West. I think they're the best coach in the West outside of Popovich. Oh, Lord.

Oh, Lord. What? Popovich, Quinn Snyder. Doc Rivers. Doc Rivers. No joke. He's no slouch. Well, it's fun to argue.

This is why we like the NBA. Chris Haynes, Hour 2 coming up. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, this hour two live in L.A. is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Oh, my word, NFL camp start today. It makes me very, very happy. It's a very good time of the year. I love the NFL camps starting today, packed all across America. This is one of the things. You know, baseball's got it spring training in Arizona and Florida, and people go watch spring training.

And NBA doesn't have, they have a little summer league stuff, but nobody watches NBA camps. College football, some people watch the spring games. NFL camps have just become a huge, huge business with tens of thousands of people showing up to camps. So I'm excited to see what Cleveland gets. Because I know what most of the teams get. I think Cleveland could set like Ohio records

Training camp's always fun, though. It's a good experience for kids, too, because you really often get to interact with players. They're very open. They're taking pictures and giving autographs. They have stuff for the kids to do. Like, Steelers training camp is a whole experience. It will be packed today.

When I went to college, Eastern Washington University, the Harvard of the Palluse, by the way. When I went to college there, they had the Seahawk training camp. And so it was a brand new football team. So Eastern hosted it. And we had Steve Largent. I saw Steve Largent. before everybody else did.

I saw Jim Zorn. You know who I saw? I'll never forget this at camp. I'll never forget this. So I'd get a program. I was a college kid. I went there. I stayed for a summer one time, play tennis, hang out, right?

And they had a number 41 from Colgate. First practice. Everybody's like, who's number 41 from Colgate? It was Eugene Robinson. You could tell first practice, who's the guy from Colgate? So these camps are fun to go to. see players you didn't watch TV and college emerge from

you know Texas A&M Kingston or whatever it's called and you'll be like oh my guys the best defensive line when we have it's a really fun time it's an intimate experience it really is it's I did I covered the Buccaneers for years that was fun too so yesterday was uh it was Marty Groff of the Clippers

very exciting time Steve Bobbers yelling and screaming and the Clippers have Kauai and Paul George and it is still a Laker Town it is still a Laker Town it is still a Laker Town. And I want to tell you something, and you don't want to hear this, it is still a town where the best basketball player in the world plays for the Lakers. It's LeBron James. Kauai Leonard is a very good basketball player. He can't handle the ball like LeBron. He doesn't pass nearly as good as LeBron. He doesn't rebound as good as LeBron. LeBron's got more MVP's. LeBron's got more finals than VPs. In fact, one of the MVP's Kauai got in the finals was because he guarded LeBron and held him to like 35 points.

per game, something like that. The reality is the best brand and the best player are still Lakers, and that's LeBron James. The Lakers will be fascinating win or lose. The Clippers will only be fascinating if they

win. If Paul George's shoulder surgery goes sideways, he has to miss 25 games, takes him another 25 to get the chemistry down. If Kauai wants to sit for 20 games, maybe cuts it down to 12 to 15, they won't be as interesting. do think the climbers chemistry looks like on paper with Doc and Lou and Kauai and Paul

looks like the better team Vegas agrees. But it is a Laker town, as I said earlier, Taylor Swift has more banners in that arena than the clippers do. The statues are the Lakers. The Lakers own it. The Clippers rent it. That's why the Clippers want their own arena. And if they win entitled this year, they'll probably get it.

But there have been Clipper rumors going back to Seattle for years. There's no Laker rumors going up to. Minneapolis. So now, now, that's okay. Paul George and Kauai Leonard talked about this yesterday. That's okay. They're good with that. As far as the last few years, as far as a basketball standpoint, the clippers have been better. It's media, you know what I mean? They're going to get the attention. They've been winning championships for a long time. But like I was saying, it's just a media aspect. Even if we do win, you know, who knows. how the coverage will change over.

And I don't feel like I'm focused on that. If we go to the championship and win and we're not getting no coverage, that's fine with me. I'm good. Lakers is Lakers. We got our own identity. We're chasing something else. We're not looking at the battle of L.A. You know, we got bigger things in mind and bigger goals to accomplish other than the shadow.

And, like, none of that really means anything. You know, they got to come out and perform the same way we got to come out and perform. I think for us, at the end of the day, we want to be holding that trophy. And that's all that matters. We'll build our legacy and we'll build our Clipper Nation up along the way. So, yeah, I think it's great. And I think it's actually interesting that the Lakers landed the two stars, Anthony Davis and LeBron James. And the Clippers landed the two guys who play both ways, Kauai and Paul.

the only thing more perfect would be if Clay Thompson would play for the Clippers. You'd have the three best two-way players, all play defense. They're also one and two in the league in efficiency, points per touch. So in a weird way, the Clippers actually landed guys that are perfect for their brand, which is the Black Talk team. We're playing in the driveway. We play hard, head down, low profile. The highest profile Clipper until, you know, a couple weeks ago was Doc Rivers.

He was the star in the room. That's the autograph. You know, so, I, I think it all works out fine, but it is a Laker town. LeBron and A.D. will be interesting, perhaps more so if they flame out. If the Clippers flame out, people will just say, that's the Clippers. If the Lakers flame out, we got Frank Vogel in trouble, LeBron's legacy in trouble, AD's overrated, Laker ownership's getting ripped, Rob Polenka's in trouble, magic's laughing on Twitter.

It'll be a reality show. And LeBron, for the record, is a walking reality show. All right, I got to shift to this. So I know from time to time, Joy probably hears it all the time from her friends that Colin is picking on blank. Colin is picking on John Wall, Westbrook. For years and years, it was Tebow. For about a year it was Johnny Mansell, Carmel, Anthony, anybody that works on my staff, you probably go out and if you ever tell people I work with Colin, man, what does he have a problem with Westbrook? and he doesn't like John Wall.

For Tebow, for about two years, I was like, I don't buy it. I would like to acknowledge, though, and Cam Newton is the latest guy, quote, I don't like. So I want to give you a list of people that I didn't buy that you did. Blake Griffin, Tim Tebow, Johnny Mansell, Westbrook Mello, John Wall, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton. At one point, you were telling me they were MVP's, fantastic, Super Bowl quarterback, going to run the league. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no. They're talented.

But they're not, they're not that guy. So Cam Newton is the latest where anytime I criticize him, why don't you like him? Well, well, well, it looks like now people beyond me, just because I'm ahead of the curve, doesn't mean I'm wrong. If Westbrook did have four titles, if Cam had three Super Bowls, or was as consistent as Breeze or Russell Wilson. You could call me out. But when I'm right on all these, at some point, I'm just ahead of everybody. So I was ahead of you on Westbrook. I was a head of you on Wall. I was a head of you on Derek Rose. I was a head of you on Tebow. I was a head of you on Mansell. I'm ahead of you now on Andy Dalton and I'm a head of you on Cam Newton. The NFL.com is releasing

their top 100 players list. And Cam Newton is 87 behind Darius Slade of the Lions, behind Kirk Cousins by 10 spots behind Layton Van derresh, a linebacker from Boise who just arrived in the league 40 minutes ago. NFL.com is just late to the party. By the way, earlier this week,

55 executives and GMs around the league voted on quarterbacks. Cam Newton was voted a tier three quarterback. Talented, but really needs a lot around him to win. For the record, the last

the three years with Cam Newton, 65 touchdowns, 43 picks, 59.8 completion percentage, 83-passer rating, 23 wins, 21 losses. That is with stability in the coaching staff, that is with, on average over the last three years, better than average O-lines with real running games, Christian McCaffrey, with a Hall of Fame, in my opinion, Greg Olson, tight end, although he's hurt from time to time. You're not a hater if you're right. You're just early on the criticism. I never bought Mello.

I never bought Tebow. I never bought Mansell. I never bought Andy Dalton. I never bought Derek Rose. I never bought Westbrook and I never bought Cam. And now the NFL and executives and people who have been in the league and vote are siding with me. Now, Jason Whitlock does not

want to hear my opinion. But I start every football season with the belief that Cam is capable of duplicating this 2015 MVP season. I pretty much start every year believing he will return to MVP form. Why? Because Cam Newton has a genuine competitive fire on the same level as Drew Brees and Tom Brady. The game is important to Cam.

Being great is important to Cam. The 30-year-old quarterback is just walking into his prime years. I believe Cam's best playing days are still all in front of him and not behind. I always wondered if Jason Whitlock was crazy. This morning, he officially is. Cam Newton is Ben Rothesberger, not as good. He came into this league, bizarrely uniquely sized. Both had a little off-field baggage cam in college,

Big Ben, first couple years in the league. Both are transfixing athletes, uniquely large, often throw the ball moving better than the pocket, capable of unbelievable, unbelievable individual displays, and both have been hit so much over time. They're not quite where they were. They don't like getting hit as much. Have now struggled with precision and accuracy

as the league moves into a precision accuracy league. That's why little Drew Breeze without a big arm can succeed to the level he succeeds over the last five years. And Big Ben and Cam, very similar players, Ben is better, have struggled over the last five years. I'm not anti-CAM. I think I'm early Cam. NFL.com and now 55 execs

and on an anonymous poll now both agree with me. Coming up next, Jeff Schwartz, one of my favorite guys in Carolina. By the way, told me years ago, he goes, he goes, I'm the only non-CAM believer in Charlotte, and it does not go over well. We'll have him coming up 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 IHeard Radio app. 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 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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, of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people

scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me. Kear Gains is 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett. My mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves,

I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Saturday, we've got a great MLB doubleheader for you. First baseball's fiercest rivalry rages on, as Aaron Judge powers the first place Yankees against Moogie Betts and the Red Sox. Then Jose Altovae and the Astros take on the Cardinals.

It all starts at 4 Eastern 1 Pacific on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Hey, Goulaid, do you watch the Yankee Twin Series at all? I saw some of that last night. That was a good series. The craziest three-game series I've ever seen. Yeah, it was the best baseball series of the year. By the way, Minneapolis, I've never been to that stadium before. It looks fantastic.

Beautiful. It looks like a beautiful. Pittsburgh in Minnesota, they built those with the skylines behind. They're just beautiful baseball stadiums. Yeah, as John said, the two months a year, it's warm. It's unbelievable in Minneapolis. All right, Jeff Schwartz, joining us eight NFL seasons. Co-authors, Eat My Schwartz, with brother Mitch Schwartz, who's a pro-boulder for the Kansas City Chiefs.

All right, we've got a bunch of things to get to. I want to start with the cam thing because you're in Charlotte. And when I used to rip Cam and just say, listen, I call him roller coaster cam. Do I get him up here or do I get him down there? He's 87 in terms of the top 100 players in the NFL. What do you make of that? based off the last year, yes, he was hurt for the back half of the season and didn't play very well. And I watched that all or nothing.

And maybe him swayed a little bit by that, but I think his leadership has improved. The Panthers were six and two last year before he got hurt. So you include better offensive line now. They drafted Greg Little. They fixed their center spot with Ryan Cleo leading Matt Pradis, healthy, starting camp off Pupup. Cam supposedly getting healthy should be healthier, hopefully. His season relies on his arm. But Ron Rivera calling the defense is huge.

They switch schemes, and we know he can call defense. back half of the season he took over. They were much better on defense. They added Joe McCoy. Their division's really hard. But I think Cam is going to be better if he's healthy. He completed 9% more passes last year than usual with Norv Turner. Shorter passes taking care of the ball, using his weapons, Olson back for one last year.

And the pressure's on because if he doesn't win this year, Rivera doesn't win this year. They have a new owner. I think those guys are gone. And Rivera is a fabulous coach. He'll be hired the next day. By the way, this is one of the things. If I have to hear another person, give an excuse or, Ron Rivera. When I asked my

scouts, when I talk to my scouts and my guys, they all love Rivera. Bottom line, any time he has his hands on a defense. And by the way, Cam's had better than average defenses. They've always been... Yes, they've always been solid defensively.

So, there we go. Okay, let's shift to this. In L.A., Melvin Gordon. Yes. He was a workhorse at Wisconsin. He's a workhorse now with the Chargers. He's holding out. Would you pay him? No. Look, I love running backs. I play with Adrian Peterson, his 2,000 yard year.

I put with Jamal Charles, who has the highest yards per carry of all time. Play with Jonathan Stewart, Janjo Williams, Rashad Jennings, who's coming on later. They're great. I love running backs, but the stats show you cannot pay them. Their bodies break down. They're not worth the value of paying them like a quote-unquote max contract. If you want to pay them something less, he won't accept it, obviously. Sure, go ahead.

But Austin Echler last year, average over five yards of carry. Kina Allen, if you look at the stats, is more important to them for wins or losses in his career. I think they're plus seven over. over 500. When he's in, when he's out, they're minus 500. With Gordon in or out, they're the same. So having those weapons for Rivers is hugely important, but not at the expense of paying a running back. It just doesn't make sense to me. Analytics have changed things. Unless you're, it's like centers in the NBA.

Yes. Analytics have said, unless you're Joel M.B. talented or Janus, we're just not going to pay you as a center. The NFL's telling you, you can't give a second contract to a running back, especially Gordon's tall, but he's not a bruising. loser. He's not Peterson or he's not Ezekiel. And he's been hurt in his career. Yes. Now, Zeke is interesting. Zeke is the running back

that I believe has the biggest impact on his offense in the NFL. And stats don't always show that at times, even though there are some to show that play action passing, when he's in the game is better for DACT. But again, you have to pay Dak, you have to pay Marri Cooper. Like, there's no money left over to pay a running back. You have to save money to pay Van Derresh, to pay Jalen Smith. Like, you have other players to take care of that are more important than a running back. Yeah, it's funny with Zeke.

I could make the argument that Zeke is Joel Ambide. The analytics say no, but Joel Ambid on his best nights is absurd. He literally doesn't look like any center since like a baby shack. There are players that, you know, there are all sorts of things where the analytics say no, and then there's an outlier. I mean, Magic Johnson was a 610 guard. It's like, okay, we've never seen one of those off the factory line. We'll change our whole system for him. I think the best argument you can say with Zeke is running backs don't work, but with a,

young quarterback like Gurley and Goff, maybe a front load of contract for two years? Possibly, yes. But no running back will accept that. I mean, that's the point. Zeke wants more guaranteed money. He wants it soon. I think we're going to see a trend now of running backs after three years when they can negotiate a new deal.

We're going to do this, especially the high-in-wise. If they have the leverage. Yes, get paid as soon as possible. But that's going to force people. New England does this. They take a running back every other year. Yeah. So Sony-Michel, it can go to them and say, I want leverage.

Did you know what New England drafted it? By the way, New England was loaded at running back. Guess what they drafted with their third pick this year, fourth pick? A running back. By the way, they're loaded at corner. What did the Patriots take with their second pick? A corner. A tall one, and you can play man coverage too.

The Vanderbilt kid. All right, let's move to, this is fun for me. Listen, take your own career. Eight years in the NFL. There is a difference being an underdog. It's light. Yes. When I came to FS1, we're the underdog.

We're chasing. It's fun. It's breezy. Being the favorite is. heavy. Cleveland's going to go from the lightest of light underdogs to now a heavy favorite. I don't know how the room changes if they go into a two-game

losing streak. I think Tennessee might go beat them week one and that might change their entire thought process this season. Here's the thing with the Browns. They are uber talented. There's no getting around that. They might add Mike Daniels today. They are very good. But when we talk about the Browns, I feel like we are discrediting where they are at the head coach position. Freddie Kitchens last year

was eight, ten games as the OC. To your point, no pressure. He can experiment all he wants. If he makes some mistakes, oh, well, we lost the game. Like, whatever. We're going down with the ship, essentially, right? And they played well in that seven games stress down the rest of the year. But they beat five non-playoff teams. The best teams they played, the Texans they lost, the Ravens they lost. They played the 27th, easiest, as you say, past defense.

This year they play the fifth toughest. So they make the biggest jump in the NFL past defenses. So Baker-Mafield faces much better past defenses. And I think the noise, it's a lot of noise. And I get that players now are more vocal on social media. They're more vocal. They're argue with you, whatever it is. But we don't see that out of that position.

I feel like that position, one type of guy wins. And that's a quiet quarterback. It was about his business. You know, Big Ben, for example, who's in their division. He heard the criticism, right, about him. So what do you do? He went out to his lakehouse with his guys. He canceled his radio appearance.

We've heard nothing for Big Ben. And when we did, it was all complimentary to Antonio Brown. He was going back to work. And in Cleveland, just noise, knowing. talk, talk. And I just, we have not seen teams that win the offseason that talk a lot win Super Bowls. Maybe they're the team that's different. And I'm okay with them being confident. I'm okay with them saying we want to win the Super Bowl. O'Dell wants to have a thousand yards, whatever it is. But they haven't proven they can do it yet. And I don't understand why we discount

all the things that we would say about other teams as negatives as positives for the Browns. Well, I mean, Cleveland is doing something that is a trend when you have a quarterback on a rookie deal. You load up for about two years. Rams did it with Goff. By the way, Jets went out and spent C.J. Mosley, Lavian Bell. You're not going to be able to do this in three years with Sam Donald's contract. So

Cleveland, I will say this. If they add Mike Daniels, their defensive line next to Philadelphia is probably the most talented in the league. Very talented. The Rams, for example, also signed Andrew Whitworth through a three-year deal and John Sullivan in the center. The Browns Offensive Line has him

27th heading in the season. They're bad at tackle. They're bad at tackle. So you have to protect Mayfield. You have the pressure on you. How does Kitchens deal with personalities now is a leader of the room? He has never done that in his career. He has the most pressure of any first year coach NFL history.

NFL history. Most times you come in, your team's 2 and 14. They're a mess. That's why you're there. Yeah. You get to build your roster up. You get to take a couple years to build it up. The Browns are favored in Vegas to win the division, to make the playoffs.

It's crazy to me. Their number in Vegas, I think it's perfect. Nine and seven. I think nine and seven is perfect. which is funny because I criticized the Browns on social media and everyone thinks that I'm, I think they're going to 4 and 12. I think it would be 9-7. Yeah.

But the Steelers are going to win the division, though. That's what I think. Yeah. You know, I was looking over the divisions yesterday. Outside of New England's division, I mean, I'm, it is, you know what's happening in the NFL, Jeff? Because the college game is now seeping into the NFL game, the quarterbacks are coming into the league, like Baker and Deshawn Watson, and they can play right away.

Yes. I mean, I watch Mitch Trubisky in college. I'm like, I'm not sure he's an NFL quarterback. He's in the playoffs. And second year. Lamar Jackson, who I'm like, I think he needs a year. Okay, let him to the playoffs. There's not a lot of crap at the bottom of this league.

I mean, if I said to you, worst team. What's the worst team in the league? I think it's Buffalo. And I like their coaching staff. Arizona, probably, but their schedules must easy. I mean, Tampa has a terrible defense. But Bruce Ariens, he's going to have a great year, I think. Oh, no, they'll move the football.

So I don't know. who the worst team is. It's interesting because even looking to the draft next year, there's going to be four or five quarterbacks out of college that are going to be the top. Georgia's got from, Herbert from Oregon. So the bad teams... But how many teams actually need a new quarterback next year? That's a good question.

Who does need next year? Next year. It could be Miami if Rosen doesn't pan out. Maybe the Bengals, maybe the Raiders. Who else? Like who is dying for... Maybe the Patriots want to eventually move off with Tom Brady so they draft. They love

Justin Herbert. They move up and get them. But there's not a lot of teams that desperately need a quarterback heading into 2020. So the NFL, the health and the strength of the quarterbacks, is maybe never been better. But do you know Tom Coughlin? Yeah. You were there with him. Yeah. Okay, I got his casket.

When you saw the whole Brinks truck thing with Jalen Ramsey, what was your initial interpretation of that? Oh, I was like Tom Coughlin's for sure going to love this. No, he's going to hate it. But they weren't going to pay him anyways. I didn't really get it. There was like no one outside to see him do it. But what I want to see next is an offensive lineman show up in a food truck. Just like just to like show up in a food truck, feed everybody, have some fun with it.

Because this is like, I don't, no one's there. Who's watching this happen? Like Antonio Brown did a helicopter where everyone was watching. Like that was kind of cool. Like we know he's going to get paid next year. I don't, it's not being paid by the Jaguars. I just didn't really get. They're not going to pay him, right?

Because they have a great corner and you can't pay two corners. I don't think Tom Cawfin likes them very much. Like he didn't have players like him maybe outside of, I don't even even Strayhand talked that much. No, Strayhan wasn't a talker as a player. That's not really like his thing. He's not going to pay Jalen Ramsey. So I didn't really get it. I guess he wanted to be cool.

Like I said, I need an offensive alignment like Andrew Whitworth to show up to Rams training camp in an out truck. Just feed everybody. That would be great. That would be great. That would go viral. This, I don't know. By the way, the book is Eat My Schwartz. Our story of NFL football, food, family, and faith.

Also's got a gambling edge, I imagine. Well, Mitch can't gamble like you can. You are really into it. I'm thinking a break on baseball this summer, though. It's been really good for my health. Baseball is a grind. To play, to gamble, to bet, to watch. Now, now, now, so if I said,

easiest team to double their wins. You're on the Niners, too, right? That's the easy one for everybody. Yeah, because they have a healthy quarterback. That's the easiest bet in the league is, Niners will be the one team that doubles their wins. Which means everyone's betting it, which, I mean, it's okay to take that play. But, yeah, they're probably the best team

to do that. I mean, I'm not big on Kyle Murray and Kingsbury, but if they do things that the NFL hasn't seen, they have an easy schedule to start. They can not maybe double, but surprise, I think, with their record. Good to see you, buddy. Enjoy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

So the Jets have added some stars on both sides of the football. They have. And Sam Darnold says he's grown from all of his experiences last season. For me, it's just, and I think with a lot of the guys that do that leap in their second year, it comes with experience. You know, I think playing a full year, or not a full year, but playing a lot of games last year and kind of getting the NFL experience, I guess you could say, it's helpful, man.

It's the more reps you get in a game, the more comfortable you become. There's enough talent on this roster to be a playoff contender, but again, like I said, for us, it's one week at a time mentality. You definitely have expectations of making it to the playoffs, and we definitely have the talent to do it. He is just, you know, we've forgotten that 29 out of 32 teams had Darnold higher than Baker on their board. Baker inherited good players. Darnold inherited garbage.

Dude can play. Well, he has some talent this year. He has Jameson Crowder. He has Levy on. They have C.J. Mosley. Adam Gates has a camp beard now, so do with that, which you will. They were four and 12 last year. Obviously, the talent has improved tremendously.

I think they're a 500 team. seven and nine, eight, and eight feels fair. They still have bad corners. I don't, look, I don't think that any, I think the Patriots are going to win the AFCs. I feel like that's a shocking thing to say. Now, Darnold's still on top. I think the Jets, it's an offensive league. I think Darnold's ahead of Josh Allen and Josh Rosen.

So I do think the Jets kind of do a playoff looking season, and then I think late in the year, they just don't, their schedule is a little tough late. But listen, Adam Gase, I hate to break it to people, had a winning record in Miami, when Ryan Tannehill started games. He had a winning record, including two wins over the Patriots. He did pull off a miracle. He did. I will give him that.

I just, I don't know. I have to see more from the Jets before I go out on and run with them, especially this year. I do think Levion is going to have a big year, though. So, Training Camp is here. That means some people are going to be holding out. Michael Thomas is in the final year of his contract and looking for a long-term extension with New Orleans. And Ian Rappaport reported this morning that he is a no-show at Training Camp this morning. The Saints have reported and Michael Thomas has not arrived at the facility.

He is seeking a new deal and the two sides are not there yet until they get there. He will stay away. Yahoo Sports reports the Saints offered between 18 and 19 million annually, but Thomas was looking to get 20 million a year. This is kind of a situation for the Saints because Michael Thomas kind of goes under the radar. He's one of the top three receivers in the league. He caught a league high 125 passes last year. over 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns.

And since he's entered the league in 2016, he's first in receptions and fifth in receiving yards. So this is a situation for the Saints, who I think will be great again this year. And it's kind of a pressure year because Drew Brees is not going to play forever. And they have the talent to be successful this year. So this is a situation that they definitely have to get sorted out. Yeah. He's a very high-volume guy. He's got a Jarvis Landry to him that you're just going to get a bunch of catches.

And he's moves the chains, and he's Drew's favorite target. And if Drew likes him, then you probably pay him. You got to pay him. So finally, Kauai's free agency process was traumatic in the sense that we didn't really know what was going on. And one of the reported reasons Kauai didn't pick the Lakers was because of magic talking to the media about their meeting. Well, our own Chris Haines asked Kauai about that yesterday. No, it wasn't an issue of whatever anyone has to say that's true. you know that's not a reason why i didn't sound with the lakers you know the conversation was transparent

when i would i have with magic and as long as me me and him or you know who talked to the conversation was was fair and was truthful you know i don't i don't have you know too much to say about it i wouldn't see it in kawai's character to blame it on magic johnson i don't think that really had as much to do with it as what he mentioned and we played earlier which is that the clippers were just in a better basketball position. Clearly he wanted to come home and be in L.A. And if this option was join a super team and be number two to LeBron James and try and figure out the dynamic with Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma

and the dysfunction that the Lakers had all season, or pick the clippers who have a much more stable front office and basketball situation. The clippers just make sense for Kauai. They fit better. Also, Chris said if he didn't choose the clippers, he was choosing the Lakers. so he likes son, that's part of it too. I still contend this is not a shot at Toronto. But it is interesting in the offseason of the NBA

when you're home for like nine-game homestand. You turn TV on it's Canadian TV. It's not American TV. I don't think that Kauai was ever planning on standing with Toronto. No, no, no, I don't either. I think it was a one-year situation, and he was going to make the best of it, and he made the best of it.

And since Toronto's credit, they did everything that they needed to do. And I don't think Toronto is salty. This always felt like a temporary situation. If he stayed with Toronto, I think that's, have been the most shocking outcome. But what's interesting to me is that the pushback that he's getting from Lakers fans mostly is that he took so long with his decision. I'd rather take long.

If my kids weren't a decision, I'd say take an extra day and do it right. That's how long as you need. The Lakers didn't have to wait for Kauai. They could do whatever they wanted to. Right. And I always thought, to be honest with you, I always thought, if I was Anthony Davis, I didn't necessarily want Kauai. Because I've seen what happens with LeBron and two,

wings what happens to the center? I'm out here. Chris Bosch. Hey, I'm your ballet. You want me to park your car? Like, if I'm Anthony Davis, I was sitting there thinking, I'll take Danny Green. I want to be the number one or it would have been tough to figure out that balance. I don't think that Kauai was not transparent with anybody in this process. It seems pretty obvious that everyone, pretty, all the teams at least, maybe not fans and media, but at least all the teams knew where they stood before. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd line.

Football Focus is a site that I trust. They grade every player, every game, every unit. I think they do a phenomenal job. And especially when it comes to offensive lines, they have a real sense of interior line play, which I don't know enough about. And I don't watch the interior line when I watch football necessarily. So Sam Monson is the NFL analyst for Pro Football Focus.

He's joined us before. He's from Ireland, which I think is great. We've got a guy from Dublin. is running the football site in America and I love. He'll be joining us next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 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 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 SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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, Tript Fantine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42.

A rep, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Great news. Quick and easy way you can save money. Go to Geico, 15 minutes, save 15%. Geico.com. Well, it's called Pro Football Focus. Their lead analyst is Sam Monson. It does the PFF NFL show, PFF.com. They grade the units.

they grade the players, they use analytics, and it kind of cuts through the nonsense of just opinion. I'm in the opinion space, so I need analytics to back up data, metrics, to back up my opinions via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Sam Monson, their poor football-focused lead analyst. All right, let's just get right to the quarterbacks, your top 10 quarterbacks, according to your stats and grades.

Brady, Breeze, Mahomes, Rogers, Luck, Wilson, Matt, Ryan, Ben, Philip Rivers, and Baker. I wouldn't put Baker there, but I think he's a top 15 guy. who's your 11 and 12 quarterback, Sam? How can you not want a talk about Baker, Colin? Come on. He deserves to be a top 10 quarterback. This is a guy who graded in the top 10 last year.

And if anything, the numbers say he's going to be even better in year, too. The stuff that he was bad at as his rookie year is the stuff that typically he was fantastic at in college. And we expect that to bounce back. That's been the stuff that's been predictive. if anything, I think we're underselling Baker as the number 10 quarterback, not overselling him. Who's number 11 on your list? It's a good question. I think there's a battle for that kind of 11 through 20 guys.

There's a ton of those quarterbacks that are in that mix of guys that can win games, guys that can be going a stretch, going to run a phenomenal play, but not necessarily elevate the team around them, whether it's needing offensive line help, whether it's needing receiver help. I think there's a gaggle of quarterbacks that are kind of in that conversation. Honestly, I think 10 is a really neat place to cut it off because, you know, there's any number of players that could realistically be 11 or 12. So I look at your offensive line rankings, probably in a consistent basis more than any other rankings.

And here's what's interesting. All eight of your first eight teams I have as playoff teams this year. Eagles won, Cowboys 2, Steelers, Titans, Colts, Patriots, Saints, Packers. I think Dallas gets in late, New Orleans gets in late. And then even your nine, bears, 10, Panthers, 11 Ravens, I think are really, really good teams. Have you found through the years? I'm a big believer in this league starts with coach quarterback, and the most important unit is O line. That's why I have some doubts about the Browns.

I don't like their offensive line. When you look at offensive lines, do you get feedback on them? Do you get more pushback? How do your grades, how do people respond to your grades up front? Yeah, I think offensive lines are a really critical part of playing in today's NFL. I think the stuff we're discovering is that obviously it's a quarterback-driven league. It's a passing league. The most important things in the game are the things that let you pass the ball well.

It starts with the quarterback. Then it's the receivers. Then it's shutting down the opposition, whether it's cornerbacks, defensive backs. But being able to pass block is huge because obviously your quarterback just can't play in the face of sustained pressure. pressure. So offensive lines are really important. And they're also the thing that generates rushing success far more than the running back does. All this stuff about running backs don't matter. You know, that's not entirely true. But what is true is that a really good run blocking unit will have a far bigger impact than the running back does on whether you're able to successfully run the

ball. So when we're grading these offensive lines really well, like the Eagles, you know, with the league's best offensive line, they're going to be able to run the ball well. They're going to have a great situation for Carson Wentz to pass from because that line is the best in football and it should give the entire offense a great basis to work from. Melvin Gordon's holding out. Where do you have been ranked in running backs? It's a kind of a sad situation because he is a fantastic running back. He's a top two or three running back in the NFL. He's one of the best players out there. His numbers, you know, against loaded boxes after contact. They're all fantastic. The problem is that the research just says that if they have to move on from him tomorrow and put in Austin Echler, it won't make a big

difference. They will be able to run the ball. They'll be fine in the passing game, even though Gordon is a great part of that, because it's not the running back that's driving that production. You look at Austin Echler's numbers when he comes in because everything else stays the same. He's still able to have that kind of success. So you kind of feel sorry for guys like Melvin Gordon. They deserve to get paid because it's a punishing role. It's a tough spot to be. but all the data says that if you take him out right now and you replace him with another back, it's not going to make a huge difference

to whether the Chargers win or lose games. Now the perception is Zeke in Dallas is really valuable. What does pro football focus say about Ezekiel Elliott? Yeah, and I think it's really the same kind of story, albeit a more extreme version of it. You know, Dallas's offense definitely runs through Zeke Elliott, maybe more than any other running back in football. But, again, that offensive line is what's going to be driving

the majority of that success. When you look at his numbers, it's really a result of the situations he's been given. You know, how much they give him the ball when they need some rushing success. He's not particularly effective compared with other running backs that are extremely good. It's just that he gets more of those opportunities. So again, if Zeeke holds out, if they have to move on from Zieg, with that offensive line, with Travis Frederick back as the best center in football, they should be able to move on from him and not have the same kind of impact.

It's really down to how much money it's going to cost to keep him. Of course they'd be better with Zeke Elliott in the lineup, but are they better by that much that you need to pay him monstrous money to keep him in the lineup? What is an underrated team with data? My takeaway is the Tennessee Titans are a team that data would tell you they're mostly really good, but nobody thinks they're good. They've got 97-9-97-9-7. Fewest penalties ran for 2,000 yards.

What's a sneaky good team on data that doesn't get? much publicity. My guess is it's Tennessee. Yeah, I think Tennessee certainly fits the bill, especially like we said, with those offensive line looking like it's going to be one of the better units in the league. They've got some young players in the right positions that could make some of their questionable units take a big step forward. Really, it's going to come down to how well Marcus Mariotta plays because he's in that group of quarterbacks, you know, that middle tier that haven't really shown the ability to be consistently dominant. If he can just go

in a run, suddenly the Titans look like a really good team. By the way, Cam Newton, analytically, you don't have him in the top 10. Just go to data. You know, I bashed him for years and said he's too inconsistent. He's not precise. Nor have Turner made him more accurate last year. Now he comes into a season not healthy. They generally have good running games and good defenses,

so you can't use that as an excuse. What are the numbers say on Cam today in the NFL? Yeah, I mean, the bottom line with Cam Newton is the numbers say that he's only really had one dominant season in the NFL. That was that 2015 season where he's, played at an MVP level. He was phenomenal then, but every other year, he hasn't been at that kind of level.

Now, he can make spectacular throws. He can make spectacular plays on the ground with the ball in his hands. He is a special athlete, but you're right, he's just too inconsistent. And when you're grading every single player and every single play the way we do, that's when you find those guys that just

aren't consistent enough to be ranked among the very best in the league. All right, Sam Munson, PFF.com, pro football focus. We talk to him, regular, Sam, great seeing you. Anytime. Take it easy. Now, he's got Baker at a number 10 with an 84 grade. Most of the other guy.

Well, all the other guys, it's funny. All the grades for these quarterbacks, like Breeze is a 95, and Mahalms in 93, and Brady a 91, and Luck of 91, Russell Will. And Baker's an 84.5, so he's a step down from, Philip Rivers is a 91. He's a step down from that, but it's going to be interesting, because they have all sorts of weapons, but the Browns have one of the worst O'lines in football. So that's the rub right there.

Is he going to be able to get rid of that ball quickly, accurately to Odell and Jarvis Landry? My guess is yes. I think the Browns will score points. I just, once they go to a two-game losing streak, do the wheels come off? Hour three is coming up. Rashad Jennings, former Giant Jagger Rader running back in studio.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 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 SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42.

A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective

on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. By the way, our next guest, Rashad Jennings, is fascinating. And I think the most fascinating part of you is post football. So you were a very good running back in the NFL, Jags, Raiders, Giants.

People in New York remember you. and so then you get out of football and you have charity and then you write a book called the if in life and it's a New York Times bestseller wildly, I've seen it at airports. So then you'd think that'd be enough and you'd go on your way being a former player, play golf, you know, former players do. And then, because you're just sitting around your house, you write a lot. Right every night. You write every night before I go to bed.

You will come out. This is fast. This is how like people get famous. You then decide I want to create a book series for children. And the book is called Arcade and the Triple T T token. Okay. So this is the first of four books. Now, Arcade is the name of the kid.

Tell the story. Yeah, so Arcade Livingston. Arcade is so growing up, I think everybody kind of has alias name or name. They wish their parents would have named them. Yes. Mines was Arcade. You wish your parents would have named you Arcade. Yes, Arcade is the coolest name to me.

So I gave it to this kid. And he's a 12-year-old kid. He's unpretentious. He's very quirky. He's a gullible loving kid, right? But he always finds himself in mischievous trouble. Not in the trouble that's going to put him in jail, but just like, get out of here. I mean, you always ask him 50,000 questions.

And that was me. And so through this, you know, he comes across his beautiful golden token, and it's called the Triple T token, right? It comes across his token, and he finds out what is built for and what is made for. You ever seen a movie Click? with Adam Sandler. Where he can pause life, he could fast forward, he can rewind it. So this is what this... It's a what movie? The movie where he has a remote

for life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so basically what this token does is it allows him to go back in history, go fast forward in the future, go actually learn and be very inquisitive of finding out the wise to all of his questions. He finds out why people bully people. He goes back in the history of pyramids.

This is an inspiring series as well. By the way, very much. I still contend that almost all little boys are quirky. My son's quirky. I was quirky. But when I was allowed to be quirky, now if you're quirky, you get labeled. Everybody wants to put medication in your life. Yeah.

Little boys are quirky. Listen, and I tell people all the time with the whole medication. And I'm big in philanthropic areas, but mainly through education system. Right. And I always tell people, if you judge a fish by how well it can climb a tree, it's going to think it's stupid. Right. Right. And we're not all designed.

No question. For the education system in its totality. So through this, it motivates kids, too, also to let them inspire and embrace their creativity, but also understand the school is a necessity and is brilliant and is a big part of success. Great senior Rashar Jennings, who also won Dancing with the Stars. All right. So you know the New York Giants. And I have said this.

I always kind of felt like they were IBM for years. They were this big company. They had a vision. they knew who they were, and they didn't really care about what you thought of them. That's what good companies do, Patriots. This is what we do, San Antonio Spurs. We don't care what your opinion is. This is how we do our overseas recruiting.

New England. We let go of guys that you think are great before they're prime. That's their business. But the Giants, to me, have gotten very reactionary in the last four years. They care what the media thinks. They don't want to get bad press for sitting Eli Manning. And I think they've eroded as a franchise, not just as a football team. I don't trust them in their front office.

I don't trust their coaching. So now they have a situation where they have Eli Manning and they draft this new guy at number six, Daniel Jones. Well, if you draft him at number six and you don't let him compete for the job, did you reach or are you afraid of what the pushback will be? Shouldn't Daniel Jones be allowed to compete for the starting job? Yeah, well, I think he is. What really makes you think that he's not competing?

There was a story two days ago where Pat Schumer said, well, Eli, will start week one. And I thought, well, six weeks ago, you said they could compete. Right. So I believe, obviously, like you said, they wanted to keep down the noise of the media, right? If there's any adage that there's competition, what the media is going to do every single day. In New York, has that camera in front of teammates. Who do you think should be the starter?

They're going to be talking to Daniel Jones. Hey, do you think you're on the way to start? They're going to be asking, Eli, what do you think about every single day? day and every time there's a great pass or a bad pass, they're going to start evaluates. This is who should be started. And that's not the noise they want in New York. There's competition. You can guarantee you that.

It's competition. They don't want to come out and say that. But they're obviously evaluating a young guy. But one thing I will say, I mean, you don't want to put that kind of pressure on him either. I was in Jacksonville in 2011 when Blaine Gabbard got drafted. Yes. Right? He was a rookie.

He was 21 years old. He was picked 10th or 11th overall. I can't remember. And David Garraud was a starting quarterback, right? And they let go. They fired David Garraud Sunday. That Sunday before the Monday we got ready for week one. David was our guy.

He was the man. He bawled out all camp too. And by the way, David had a nice, solid career. At the end, he was their nice player. Yeah, he was good. And took him to the playoffs every day. He was good. And then the next year, they let him go.

They fired him. Blaine came in. young, ready to start, right? We paid him. His first round, he has to play. And you see the results of putting that kind of pressure on a young kid that's not ready yet. I think this is a great opportunity for him to come in, compete, and also learn from one of the grades. We have a situation now in the NFL, and this happened in the NBA with analytics.

Analytics came out and said centers in the NBA, unless they're unbelievable, move off. them, draft guards and wings. It's a three-point shooting league. Analytics can be cruel. It was cruel to big guys in the NBA. Yeah. So, well, analytics now in football are increasingly saying, unless a guy's Zeke, don't sign a running back to a second contract. Just don't do it. I think Melvin Gordon's really good, but he's been injured. All their backs last year averaged over four yards of carry. If you didn't sign Melvin Gordon, who's a good dude, could it hurt the locker room? I think it could hurt the locker room very much. So, I mean, when you, when you have a guy,

here's the thing about being in a locker room, you know personnel, you know your teammates. You know which teammates are good guys. You know which ones aren't. Who's grinding, who's not? You very much know that. And you know what the organization preaches of what they want. And so when you see a guy exude everything that you say you want in an athlete, everything you say you want in a player, and you don't pay him, that is a message that, hey, we ain't going to pay nobody. We're doing whatever we want and you don't have to buy in. You lose a locker room if you don't stay accountable to what you say.

This is really a good point because I know they moved up to draft him. And the Chargers don't move up to draft right. I know their GM yesterday. They know what he said. He goes, we love him. Now, we also know the reality, we got a bunch of good players. See, I think Rashad, I think you sign him, you front-load the contract because he's been dinged up a little bit. And so if it gets dinged up in year three of the deal, you're protected for the cap hit.

I think there's the chance you could lose some guys in the locker room if you don't sign him. Don't pay. I mean, what? In the last couple years, I think he has some statistics where he scored 28 touchdowns in the last three years rushing touchdowns. And only player, only runner back able to do that or higher was one, which is girly. And then in the last three years, he's had, what, 12 touchdowns? Oh, no, 12 touchdowns from the line of scrimmage every year. Like, his numbers are crazy.

He's been balling in the last couple of years, and I think you should pay him. He's holding out right now. I think the deal would be done. I don't think we're going to see a lay-vion bell situation. He wants to play ball. But, again, when you see a guy holding out during training camp, when you have the leverage to do that? Aaron Donald's done it twice.

Yeah, do it. Why? Because you're not getting taxed on your body during training camp. That is huge. That's the other thing is that... Even if you just go back with the same contract, at least you didn't get beat up during camp. Right. Major.

That's going to add years to your career. People don't understand camp as a mother. Listen, I just did high school football camp. I hated that. NFL camp? Like Aaron Donald last two years has held out. Everybody still loves him. Aaron's like, what am I blocking against rookies from...

Tulsa. I don't want body shots on me. By the way, that's why Aaron Donald is great come December and January. All right. Finally, with Rashad Jennings. So yesterday, Lovar Erington said this, there's a difference between football teams and franchises. He said, you know, Patriots are a franchise. Eagles are a franchise.

He goes, yeah, Jacksonville, it's a football team. And he said, it's a big difference. Cleveland historically is not the Steelers. Have you been on a football team that won games, but it didn't feel the same as winning games with the Giants who are a legendary franchise? Well, sadly, to answer the question is no, because I played in Jacksonville when it was bad.

I played in Oakland when it was bad. So I wasn't winning too many games. But what's the difference between the Giants' culture and the Raiders and the Jags, because Cleveland's culture is bad. Yeah, so the difference in the cultures is the expectations of winning Super Bowls versus the expectations to simply compete in playoffs.

Like when I was in a New York locker room, for the first time, I heard chasing Super Bowls. It's like, where are they talking about Super Bowls here? When I was in Jacksonville, it was show up and compete. When I was in Oakland that year, it was we're going to show up and compete. When I was in New York, it was talking about getting a ring. Different franchise.

Hold you accountable. Holds everybody accountable. And also the front office, too, is different. I mean, people walk around smiling for no reason. They're happy. They can talk about winning. Like, it's a cool thing. You're not worried about your job as much getting fired every single day.

It's a beautiful thing when the franchise is winning. And I got a chance to see a different culture when I was playing in New York. York and I loved it. All right. The book is called The Coinslot Chronicles, Arcade and the Triple T token. So right before you go to bed, you just grab, get on the keyboard and you go for an hour, 90 minutes every night and just so writing to me is like a muscle, right? And I feel you have to exercise it in order to strengthen it. So what I do just to strengthen my ability to write is I pick one word every single night before I go to sleep and I write about that word and I have a new relationship to how I use it and how I hear it, right?

Well, who taught you that? I'm just, I just, I'm an inquisitive guy, man. Like, I'm a quirky kid. Like, and I, I'm never, I'm never going to change that. That's always been in my DNA. If you're, if you're around me long enough and you haven't had some type of inspiration, the shame on me. That's just the type of person I am.

And so I write every single night before I go to sleep just to build the exercise of it. And then through how I live my life, I see, everything is very poetic, right? And I see a story every single day. I could take this whole situation in this interview and put it in a book and have it creatively spoken. I'm a wizard. You're a sorcerer and you're a writer.

We can talk about this, right? And we explore. Like, it's a cool thing, the ability to write. And that's what I encourage kids to do. It really helped me. And the reason why I focused on it because I had to read a comprehensive deficit growing up. I had a point six GPA growing up and, you know, felt every English class known to mankind. I passed every Spanish class, but I can't speak Spanish, and I speak English fluent, but I felt it.

I don't get it. But either way, I'm a living witness that, you know, one, dreams still come true. And you can be an athlete, but have so many pillars about you and be successful in other areas. By the way, you played with Odell Beckham for a year. Yeah, three. Actually, he came in when I came in, yeah. So let me ask you, he can be dramatic. He's pretty authentic.

Yeah. How do you think the Cleveland thing works? We know football will be fine. Right. How about the personality stuff there? Yeah. So with the personality stuff, I think it's going to be good, honestly. You got you got, you got somebody who is arguably probably the most, one of the most talented receivers ever to play the game.

He has a best friend, right, that he played in college football. Jarvis Landry. I train with Jarvis, right? I actually just played a celebrity basketball game with Jarvis. We had a conversation just talking about because when we were used to train in Florida with each other, we used to talk about how them two, how awesome it would be if they ever linked up in the league. We just said it, right? I never thinking that was.

He was in Miami. Odell's in New York. And sure enough, they're linking up. So we was just talking about, you remember when we had that conversation, how amazing it would be for you two as brothers coming back in the league, chasing a dream in college, unlikely, grinding. People don't understand y'all's two relationships. And then y'all get to silence the noise of the universe and do something amazing. Like, that's what we get a chance to set back and watch. I, again, talking about poetically, I could really write a movie about this.

Yeah. This is an awesome opportunity. But I think him, O'Dell, getting a chance to mature and wanting to prove some things is going to help him in his career. And I do understand how the media can take things out of proportion. And I get how what he says can be taken out of proportion. but when you know him on a personal level, I get the intent behind everything that he's saying. Great seeing you again.

Rashad Jennings, the book is called Arcade and the Triple T token. Right there. First of four, inspirational, smart stuff. I'm going to start that riding thing. Yeah, come on. I should. Start. Didn't you write two books?

They're hard. I was exhausted. I haven't written since. It's a lot of work. Congratulations on writing because it is not easy. Joy with the News. No, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So Levy on Bell won't see a big workload before the game starts to matter. New Jets coach, Adam Gase, says that he will be on a pitch count during camp and in the preseason. We'll be smart. I mean, he's not going to walk out of this camp with the most reps he's ever had. We'll find that line. We'll find what the balance is. Some guys jump in there, and it's just, it's like they never left.

and it's just everybody's different. I think some of it is the mental mindset. Can I do this anymore? Am I going to be able to do this? And do I know this? I don't think he's concerned about that. He knows he's in great shape. You know, he's been studying the offense this summer.

I think he's just ready to go. He hasn't played in a long time. I think he's excited. I think this is smart. Leveon did sit out the entire season last year. You're talking about arrested. He's told reporters that he's prepared to register 500 touches. Oh, Lord.

James Wilder owns the single season record for touches, and that's 492. He did that in 1984. Leagues changed just a little bit since then. But he did have a league high, 406 touches in 2017. It's just, come on, that's just too much. Listen, it's a very interesting situation because if I'm Adam Gase, he's going to be your third down. He and Crowder are going to be your guys. He's going to get so much work.

I do worry about this, though. Man, the Jets, Joy, they don't have a lot of dependable skill people. You could just lean on him, and by November, he's 300 touches in. Well, he's also a great catching running back. He had 85 passes, caught 85 passes for 655 yards and two touchdowns in 2017. So he is definitely a multifaceted player in that regard, and it's going to be huge for their offense. I don't necessarily worry about him being overworked, but they are right to not overwork him in training camp

because he's a vet. He knows how to play the game of football. Before he sat out, was considered the best running back in the league one or two, depending on your preference for how they run the ball. But what Adam Gay said is right. He didn't forget how to play football. It's just a matter of preserving his body

because they know they are going to have to lean on him, especially with Sam Darnold being a young quarterback. miss him. He's really fun to watch. He's got a very unique running style. I like that whole pausing at the line of scrimmage. You know, people love Zeke and I get it, but this kid's hands, he is a remarkable receiving back. Yes, he is. All-time great. I think he's going to remind everyone of that this year. So Daniel Jones will participate in his first full training camp practice today.

We were just discussing this. Apparently the Giants are impressed by him already. Pat Schumer says he's exceeded expectations, but it's still a process for him to eventually become their starting quarterback. Training camp is the next step as we prepare for the preseason games and getting him ready to play so that he's ready to go when it's his time. I think it's important that he learns something new every day. A lot of what he's doing he's doing for the first time. And it's really a process that you go from not even practicing against the defense to against your own defense. And then you put the pads on and then you're involved in preseason games.

And so just as we go through all the steps, see him. have success. I haven't really given any thought that Daniel Jones would be starting this year. So this isn't really a revolutionary statement. Wouldn't you like, I mean, I want to watch him in preseason. Is he a reach? Of course, preseason, yes. Is he a reach or can he play?

I watch them in college a lot. No one knows. I mean, I think everyone feels like he's a reach, but who knows? I don't expect to see him during the regular season at all. But, yeah, I mean, I'm interested to see how he does preseason. I just, to me, the question is, And I know there's some anonymous quotes out there and some people are feeling like the Giants are going to get back on track

but Odell's not there. Again, I don't understand that mentality whatsoever. I don't know how Eli Manning all of a sudden becomes better without a receiver like Odell. But how many years of this Eli situation are they going to go through? Because if you draft Daniel Jones sixth overall... Time to play him in one year. Minimum. Minimum.

I don't... I truly don't understand how you take a quarterback in the top 10 and don't start him immediately. So, right, like you have one year, right? After this, otherwise it was a disaster of a pick if you can't start him next year. So there's a lot that has to happen with the Giants. Finally, Steve Kerr knows a thing or two about super teams, but he wants them built the right way, which to him means players honoring their current contract

and not publicly demanding a trade like Anthony Davis did. To me, when you sign on that dotted line, you owe your effort and your play to that team to that city, to the fans. And then it's completely your right to leave as a free agent. If you come to an agreement with the team that, hey, it's probably best time for us to part ways. That's one thing. But, you know, the

Davis stuff was really kind of groundbreaking, I think, and hopefully not a trend because it's bad for the league. Well, Kendrick Perkins disagrees. He said, Steve Kerr got his damn nerves to talk about anything that's going on with any other organization as if

as if he didn't just have Kevin Durant join a 73 and 9 team. By the way, Steve Kerr, Mark Jackson built that dynasty in Golden State. The nerve of him. Kendrick Perkins is so active on Twitter. He is. He's totally into it. I always thought Kendrick Perkins didn't like

to talk. He was the quiet guy and every team he was on. He's like, Mr. Twitter, Mr. Talk Show. Not anymore. Well, look, I mean, Kevin Durant chose Golden State. It wasn't a trade situation. But I just feel like this is an overreaction. I understand Anthony Davis is a franchise changing player.

I understand Paul George going to the Clippers has changed the outcome of the NBA this season. Like it's a dramatic change. And Paul George is probably more influential because it was only one year into his contract where I think most people felt like Anthony Davis deserved to at least be in that situation. And I mean, you could argue the Pelicans are in a better situation now that Anthony Davis has left. It's worked out perfectly. for that. No, no, no, I mean, listen, if your star want, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, uh,

I'll go against Steve Kirk, because I do think contracts matter, but the two things are by the way, all these teams where the star says we want out, they get a lot of stuff back. Pelicans and O KC got a lot of stuff back. Now, Pelicans, they got almost as much as I think anybody's ever gotten. But OKC, you know, the bad thing, well, they got Chris Paul. It's not like Chris Paul doesn't give you 15 and eight. He doesn't stink. Again, they didn't have to do any of it. Played his acts for trades all the time and they tell them no. All the time.

They turned down trades all the time. All right, good stuff. Enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Okay, coming up, an NFL superstar just made the craziest prediction ever. And I'll show you why it doesn't even matter if it becomes true.

That's next and best for last. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Well, Julio Jones, the great receiver, for the Atlanta Falcons made a prediction crazy that he's going to go and get 3,000 yards this season receiving. 2,000 yards has never been accomplished, but it's crazy. And he's an amazing player, but he's not going to get there. But the point was this morning we talked about it in our team meeting.

I said, you know, stats don't matter in football. Like baseball, there's certain numbers. You've got to hit 300. And you're on base percentage. And in basketball, there is that 20 point in game barrier, the 30 point in game barrier. I know basketball in baseball. baseball stats. But in football in my life, I don't know how many touchdowns Tom Brady threw for last year. It's just not, I'm not a stat guy in football. Enjoy. We're going to play a herd trivia game

and to see how meaningful or meaningless stats are. Okay. So I'm going to give you a question and four possible answers and then you give me your answer. Okay. All right. Who holds the NFL record for most receiving yards in a game? In a game. Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones or Flipper Anderson. Most receiving yards. I would guess Andre Johnson. The answer is Flipper Anderson, 336 receiving yards for the Rams against the Saints in 1989.

Calvin Johnson is second. So Flipper Johnson is not an all-time great player. Flipper Anderson, yes. But he holds the greatest single day by a receiver ever. 336 yards, yeah. Jerry Rice is not there. Randy Moss is not there. Have yourself a game.

Okay. Flipper Anderson. Okay. All right. Who holds the NFL record for the most receptions in a game? Terrell Owens, DeAndre Hopkins, Brandon Marshall, or Adam Thielen? The most catches? Most catches. I don't know.

Adam Thelan? You're trying to trick me? Brandon Marshall, 21 catches for the Broncos against the Colts in 2009. He broke T.O's record of 20, which was set in 2000 against the Bears. So not Jerry Rice, not Randy Moss. He had 21 catches in a game? 21 catches. Why didn't I read the news that day?

I don't remember that. That's a lot. All right, who holds the NFL record for the most receptions in a single season? Okay, so this should be an iconic player. Steve Largent, Michael Thomas, Antonio Brown, or Marvin Harrison. Well, I grew up with Steve Largent. He was the only thing the Seahawks had. That Sherman Smith, the running back.

I'm going to go Steve Largent? Incorrect. Marvin Harrison, 143 receptions with the Colts in 2002. Good Lord. And Antonio Brown and Holyo Jones. are tied for a second. That's a lot of catches. Yes, 143.

Who holds the NFL record for the most rushing yards in a game? So this should be, again, this should be an all-time great player. Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson, to Marco Murray or Jamal Lewis? You're trying to trick me,

so I'm going to say, although he didn't have game-breaking speed, I'm going to say Jamal Lewis because I think the trend on this game is the guy I would never guess, but Jamal wasn't a burner. You'd think you'd have to have a couple of burn runs. I'll go Jamal Lewis.

Adrian Peterson, 296 yards against the Chargers in 2007. He broke the record set by Jamal Lewis of 295 in 2003. Okay. So almost a good guess. Almost. Almost. Who holds the NFL record for the most sacks in a game? Richard Dent, Cameron Wake, Michael Strayan, or Derek Thomas.

Well, Strahan's a Hall of Fame talent. Derek Thomas is a Hall of Fame talent. Richard Dent was very good. So you're trying to trick me, Cameron Wake. Why do you always think I'm trying to trick you? Derek Thomas had seven sacks from the Chiefs against the Seahawks in 1990. I remember that game.

So it is interesting. I don't know. See, I love the NFL, but some of these, you'd have to admit, are shocking. Like the answer was you'd never. guess. All right, which quarterback is tied with Bears quarterback Rudy Bootkich for the most picks six is thrown in a game. I'm sorry. That's a mouthful. That is a brutal thing to read. Okay. Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, or Brett Farv. Most

pick six is thrown in the season. I think it's Peyton Manning. Oh, okay. It is Peyton Manning. I thought you were going to guess Farve. He tied the record in 2001 by throwing six pick sixes. That's not great. Any more? Yes, one more. Drew Brees holds the record for the highest career completion percentage, which quarterback is second. Matt Ryan, Sam Bradford, Kirk Cousins, or Chad Pennington. I love this list. Second best completion percentage. Yes. I'm going to go Kirk Cousins. You're right. You're right. 66.5% career completion percentage.

Isn't that funny? Chad Pennington is third all time. I mean, so it's not Rogers. It's not Brady. It's not. See, NFL stats are crazy. Like baseball generally, it's Babe Ruth, you know, Mickey Mantle, and NBA, it's Will, through it's LeBroner, Magic. No, no.

Kirk Cousins. Slipper Anderson. Urban Meyer stops by college football's getting close. Speak for yourself around the corner. We'll see you tomorrow. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app.

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