The Herd with Colin Cowherd - LSU, Joe Burrow, winners & losers, and Tom Brady

Episode Date: January 14, 2020

Colin discusses LSU's epic win last night, who the winners and losers are after their victory over Clemson, the journey of QB Joe Burrow, and why Tom Brady should stay in New England. Guests include Joel Klatt, Xavier Woods, Oliver Luck, DeForest Buckner, and Urban Meyer. 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, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford 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. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Herd at Fox Sports Radio. com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching

Hurt. Fox Sports Radio. voted on a Tuesday live in L.A. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Iheart radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Joel Clatt this hour. Urban Meyer

stops by a member of the Dallas Cowboys. The Forrest Buckner of the San Francisco 49ers stops by. What a performance by Joe Burrell. One hour from now, going to play a game called Joe Burrow versus. Not Joe versus the volcano, but would you take Joe Burrow over a list of NFL quarterbacks after what we saw last night? Joy Taylor is joining me.

How are you? I am wonderful. That was a great game last night. It was. Enjoyed every second of it. I thought it was going to be a little bit closer, but I am, I'm glad I was right about Joe Burroughs. And LSU was fantastic 628 total yards against a very great Clemson team who,

was favored to be back in this game next year. It should be noted. The OBJ Jarvis Landry LSU team lost three times and finished in the Outback Bowl. This is what happens when you get the quarterback right. They cinch it all together. LSU's been a football factory for as long as I've been watching football. But they've never had a team like this because they've never had a quarterback like this. And the San Francisco 49ers have had a lot of good players in the last three or four years and a great coach, but they're four and 20 without Garoppolo. Aaron Rogers got hurt a few years ago. Nine games he missed, they won three. This year with a rookie head coach, I'm still not sure as a great coach. They've won 14 games. Joe Burrow tied it all together. But I want to talk about a bigger,

broader part of this story and why football continues to be so much more popular than basketball in America. College football is a million times more popular than college basketball, and the NFL ratings are up on every network this year, and the NBA's down 19%. And I like basketball. But one of the reasons football connects with so many Americans, it's us. Joe Burrow was not even considered an NFL prospect in September, he will now be picked number one. It's mid-January. Hard work, kicked to the curb, transferred and doubted. He's coachable. He worked his ass off, and he is going to now make millions of dollars. The Joe Burroughs story doesn't happen in other sports. Other sports don't have half of their players like the NFL that are undrafted. Look around to football.

Baker Mayfield transferred twice. Kyler Murray told the transfer. Russell Wilson had to transfer. Cam and Aaron Rogers went to junior colleges. Patrick Mahomes, nobody wanted him. Drew Brees had to go to Purdue. Joe Burrell had to transfer. It's the story of overcoming

of being told no. Pampered kids are spoiled kids are bad adults. Basketball's too much into pampering. Oh, the horror high school to Duke. for six months. Coach K. Bill's self, awful. You know what football says?

Son come to our school. Minimum three years, probably four. It may end up five. We wouldn't consider paying you. You'll get hurt. You may have to ride the bench and transfer. But when you come out of the tunnel of football, you'll be emotionally and physically a man

and prepared for the millions you can make. basketball panders and coddles and pamper's. Football does not. That's why half the league is undrafted. That's why it's us. It's overcoming. Ed Orgeron mocked and kicked to the curb. Football develops men.

I've been in NBA locker rooms, hockey locker rooms, baseball locker rooms, and football locker rooms. and NFL guys after four and five years of getting their butt kicked in college, they come in hungry, grateful, and men they marry earlier, they grow up faster because they have to overcome. This weekend in the NFL playoffs, the highest drafted quarterback, is Ryan Tannahill. And the Miami Dolphins, his first team, bailed on him.

He got hurt. You know, we want to get a young guy. healthier guy. What did Ryan Tannahill do? Wine about it, complain, call his agent. No, he packed his bags, grabbed his family, and went to Tennessee, and rides the bench and crosses his finger for another opportunity. And football always gives you one. People get hurt. People disappoint. And Tannihill will now play the AFC championship. I love basketball, but I respect football because it asks so much of you. And it develops you. It's not a race to get you paid. It's a race to make you a man. Joe Burrow last night is playing his arsoff. And I texted an NFL GM. He's a really good GM.

And I say, what do you make a Joe Burrow? And you know what the GM told me? He goes, I didn't know in October. But every time I watched him, he got better. Yeah. He got better because he had to transfer. and he was told at Ohio State, you're not as good as the other guy. And last year he was humbled. Joe Burrow is not just a football story. He's an American story. He's relatable. I can't wait to watch him play at Cincinnati, and he may not make it.

Maybe it'll look like Baker, or maybe it'll look like Kyler, or maybe it'll look like Lamar and Russell Wilson. But it's a story I can connect with, hard work, overcoming, kick to the curve. It's the story of the NFL playoffs this weekend, and the story, congrats to LSU and Joe Burrow of last night. Let me shift to this. It was also, it should be noted, and I know you won't believe this,

it was a great night for Trevor Lawrence. It was. Trevor Lawrence, since he was 15 years old, and I saw him at a camp when he was 16, He was so much better than all the other senior quarterbacks and he was just a junior. Trevor Lawrence has not been on a football field probably for close to 10 years and been the second best quarterback in that moment on the field. He got hit last night. He got rushed last night.

He got humbled last night. He didn't play very good. Everything was sailing. He was nervous. He was anxious. LSU can do that to you. Trevor Lawrence's life so far, and I'm not saying he hasn't earned it, but it's been a lot of Saturdays when he's up by 32 at half. That is not the NFL. The NFL is about making you uncomfortable. And because Davo's a great coach and Venable's a great coordinator, and it's a football factory, he's throwing to five-star receivers and handed off to five-star running backs. and he's got four and five star offensive linemen,

and the ACC right now doesn't have another program with those kind of players. Trevor Lawrence's college football career has been a lot of 47 point wins. And until last night, not a single loss. And the loss was great for him. And he was humbled, and he was nervous, and he was overwhelmed.

I mean, good God, how good are LSU's defensive backs? Lord, you'll be seeing them. on Sunday real soon. That freshman, Lord. But this is the story of the NFL. Transfer, doubted, benched. Trevor Lawrence's career didn't have a last night. I mean, didn't have one. And I'm watching him last night. And I still think he's not going to drop in the draft. This means nothing. To us suffered a rare and serious medical injury. They will be moving up. There'll be multiple teams moving up and scrambling and giving away half a dozen picks to get two, who's smaller, who's had multiple injuries.

Trevor Lawrence losing doesn't hurt his stock one iota. Do you remember Andrew Luck's losses? Nobody cares. He's a all-time transformational talent. But his career until last night was really about comfort. And last night, he was uncomfortable and he sailed it and he whistled it overheads. and he got whacked and he looked like for the first time on a long time, not remotely comfortable in the pocket.

And afterwards, I think he knows it was okay. First of all, LSU did a really good job. They brought a lot of pressure. They did a good job mixing up the coverages. But at the end of the day, I just didn't play well enough for us to win. You know, too many missed plays by me, missed a lot of receivers. And, you know, just wasn't my night. Man, it sucks, but you've got to look back on what you've done.

We've done some great things, and we've got a lot more in store ahead. Two great quarterbacks. One's headed to the NFL. One is headed to the NFL in about a year. Just loved watching both of them play. The good, the bad, the ugly. What a fun night. Coming up next, the win by LSU was really great for two other groups.

and really bad for one other person. Plus Joel Clatt, that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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 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 Gaines, is we have real conversations about. All 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? quarterback on office blue 42 hey wreck my mama want you to weigh better what where's she at hey miss parker

listen to the cliford show on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up fam this isaiah thomas and i'm cj toledano and our podcast point game is about defying the odds like lebron heading into the playoffs without luka 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 stopped 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, 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you rent or own your home? Sure you do. Fortunately, Geico makes it easy to bundle your home auto insurance, geico.com. How much you could save in a day, 15 minutes,

Geico.com. Great to have you in. So much fun last night. Clemson had a very first, good first quarter, and then LSU was clearly, clearly, the better team. Couple of calls maybe didn't go either team's way. LSU was a better football team. I'll have more on that with Joel Clatt in 10 minutes. You can make an argument.

I think it's the most accomplished college football team of all time. Is it the best? Who knows? But in terms of accomplishment, it's the most accomplished ever, and they deserve a ton of credit, and I'll get into that in a second. There are two winners last night, beyond Joe Burrell. Obviously, Joe Burrow, had a terrific night in LSU, Net Orgeron. Number one, the NFL. They're not only getting, and I want you to listen to this carefully,

they're not only getting a good young quarterback. Who knows how good he'll be in Cincinnati, but they're getting a great story. Listen, Baker Mayfield played in a crappy team this year. I couldn't wait to watch him. I wanted to follow his story. Sam Darnold, USC. The Jets were crappy. I watched because I wanted to follow his story.

Kiler Murray, his story. College sports is a great platform for me to meet 18, 19, 20-year-old kids. I wouldn't even know who the hell Zion Williamson is if it wasn't for Duke. But now I get a follow. He's going to go to Cincinnati. Cincinnati, maybe the fourth best team in that division next year. I'll be watching their games because I'm emotionally connected. to Joe Burrow and his story.

I wish the NBA got this. They don't. The NFL does. College sports is your friend. It's free advertising. Yes, the kids have to go to practice and play some games and go to school and learn how to be men, but it's an amazing platform to let me connect with you. And then I eventually watch your games and watch your commercials and buy your ads and

buy your jersey. God, basketball doesn't get this. Pro basketball doesn't get this. The other winner is the Cincinnati Bengals. Listen, they wanted to draft a quarterback. They need a draft a quarterback. And this kid's from Ohio. But if you would have gone out last night and stunk it up,

you'd be sitting there like, we need a quarterback. Do we get Joe Burrow? There's 2.0. What do we do? Instead, Burroughs great. He looks like the best quarterback on the field. It's a clean night. Cincinnati can draft him. And even if he doesn't work, nobody's getting fired because you'd be nuts not to draft

Joe Burrow if you're the Cincinnati. Addie Bingles today. Burroughs going to go one to the Bengals. Chase Young's going to go number two to Washington and the Detroit Lions. You're on the clock with number three. But the loser last night, because the winner is the NFL that once again gets a good quarterback in an awesome story and the Bengals who now draft him, there's no doubters, even if he doesn't work, nobody gets fired. This is the kid you got to draft. The loser's Baker Mayfield. And, you know, I get a lot of heat for this. You're tough on Baker. And I'm always like, you think I'm tough? Have you played

in the NFL? The defenses are a lot tougher than me. But when you draft a quarterback, he's got to be ready and mature to play day one. And here's a prime example. This year, the AFC North was wide open. Lamar was still a baby. Big

Ben got hurt and the Bengals were playing Ryan Finley. But Baker was doing 26 commercials and was simply not mature enough to take it over. now Joe Burrow enters the division with Big Ben and Lamar and Baker's now suddenly the fourth best quarterback in that division. In the NFL, you get very, very quick breaks. Todd Gurley, hurt for the Rams.

Seattle pounces on it. By the way, Andrew Luck retires. Tennessee pounces on it and makes the playoffs. You'll get these years when you get little breaks. Star quarterbacks hurt Big Ben. Good quarterbacks hurt Andy Dalton. Lamar's still a baby. But Baker wasn't ready to seize it.

He had to win every argument, throw the medical staff under a bus, and do 38 commercials. Joe Burrow is not good news for Baker Mayfield. He's bigger. He's more athletic. He looks to have the arm. And there's no police video.

Lamar, Ben, Joe Burrow. Baker, your window was this. You're now on your third head. coach in three years. Clat in a minute, Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Ed Orsran completed the perfect season, leading LSU to a 15-0 record in the national title. 15-0 with that schedule. Lord. Incredible. And his coaching journeys had a lot of ups and downs. He spoke after the game about how he used all the criticism he got along the way to motivate him.

Cool. People are going to talk and all that, but you can't let it affect you together. I use that as internal motivation. People, you know, they tease me the way I talk, teed me the way I love. And when, you know, it's kind of funny, the things that I was doing at Ole Miss, I was ridiculed for. And now I push myself with a jaw and everybody in the LSU likes it. So it just spends where you at, man. Listen, man, I'm in the right place, the right time, and a great school with great coach and staff.

I have all the resources that we need. I mean, if you come to LSU, you just have to do it right. as you go to one. I've never been more wrong on a guy, and I literally, was I rooting for Joe Burrow or Ed Orgeron? It's tough because the two of them, I feel like we all collectively fell in love

with the two of them this year. Yeah. And now moving forward, I mean, you're right, but like who was sure about the Ed Orgeron hire? That needs to be said. He went to Ole Miss, and it did not work. Right. So the idea that USC would go,

wait, you didn't work at less of a program, we're going to give you it's like if you if I failed in local TV would a syndicated radio programmer go yeah I'll take you well I didn't work because old miss he didn't work so USC was like we've seen it before

and it but he's just he just never he never gave up like he's stuck with it and and put in his dues and now he's on top of the world and he's right sometimes it's not just necessarily that you're not right for the job

it just might not be the right place Everything that he did at Old Miss, like he's saying he was getting teased. I mean, I think his accent is endearing. Like, I think it's perfect. Everything he says, the great state of Louisiana. He's from there. By the way, he speaks French because last night I heard him on an interview. He was talking French.

I was like, yeah, that's part of the culture in Louisiana. So he couldn't be a more perfect figure for this team. The energy that he has, the style, he's from there. He's ingrained in everything. everything that LSU does. And now moving forward, we have another team along with Clemson, along with Alabama. That can win a national championship. And their style is going to be sustainable as well.

It was really, really fun to watch and very easy to root for him. So Josh McDaniels did not end up getting the Brown's head coaching job. And while he may be disappointed, it could mean great things for the Patriots. Because with Josh McDaniels staying, the hope in New England is that Tom Brady will be more inclined to stay because Josh McDaniels is still there. Brady would be able to remain the same offensive system. He's comfortable in, and it could be a better setup for a bounce-back season

after this year's playoff exits. I sort of buy into this. If Josh McDaniels was going to leave, I thought that would probably be the last thing that would keep Tom Brady in New England, but it probably makes it a little more difficult to leave because part of my hesitation about Tom Brady leaving is not that I don't think he would do well somewhere else.

Like, I think he would go, somewhere like the Chargers and have success, depending on what you're, you know, what you define success. I think they would be able, they'd have an opportunity to get to the Super Bowl. Would they be that great? I don't know. But it's a lot of change. A lot. So now he's got Dante Scarnacia, Bill Belichick,

same drive, same house, same facility, Josh McDaniels. How about this? It's much easier for New England to go get Amari Cooper than to Tom Brady to move to another city. Exactly. So if it was going to be, I'm going to stay in New England. Josh McDaniels isn't here. Joe Judge isn't here.

We saw what happened last year. We've seen the consistency of them not bringing me in superstar players, even though I'm taking a discount. I'm getting towards the end of my career. But now with Josh McDaniels there, I'm kind of leaning towards he ends up staying in New England. So finally, the Packers and the Niners face off against Sunday, the trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

San Francisco blew Green Bay out 37 to 8 when they met in the regular season. But Kyle Shanahan is making sure that his team doesn't overlook the Packers this time around. Don't be that stupid. That's not real. This is about Sunday's game. There's four teams left, and it's four very, very good teams, and it's going to be our hard game for all of us. And also our players type of guys they are the way they've been all year.

I'm not concerned about that. They'll have to answer that question, I'm sure, a lot. But I don't think that'll be a worry for our players, which means it won't be for me. I couldn't agree more. I just saw a stat this morning. The last five times Aaron Rogers has lost in the playoffs. He's lost to a team that beat him in the regular season.

So this idea that it's a huge edge for Aaron Rogers to face a team that beat him. No, he loses in the playoffs to better teams that beat him earlier in the regular season. I just don't think that the regular, what happened in the regular season mattered. Like that Green Bay team is not the same Green Bay team that's going to San Francisco now. And that was week 12. Like, I don't care about what happened in week 12. And Kyle Shanahan's right. You should not like that is, that was a, just forget it.

That was a different season, a different time. Should 100% be focused on the team that you're playing. right now, which is playing at a very high level. What happened during the regular season doesn't matter to me. I think this game is going to be closer than people think. I mean, I've been higher on the Packers all year. Obviously, San Francisco's defensive line is incredible. It's going to depend on how Aaron Jones gets going, but I'm really looking forward to these championship games.

Yeah. We're lucky. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly news. He's not only a Fox NFL draft analyst and my friend. He's the lead voice of college football, the top analyst. on our network. His name is Joel Clatt, Fox Sports. Let's bring him in on what was a marvelous season for LSU football. Congratulations.

Now, a lot of people, what's up with you? Now, a lot of people are saying best team ever, and I don't know, but I would say this. Is Brady the best quarterback ever? He's the most productive. He's the most honored, accomplished. Accomplished. Okay, LSU. Look at this. This is crazy. This is crazy. LSU beat Clemson, Bama, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Texas, A&M, Texas, Oklahoma. Seven of those eight won a bowl game. So to me, it's the most accomplished team ever. There's no doubt. And, I mean, they beat the four teams that were the AP preseason top four. They beat them by an average of 21 points.

They did things that we just haven't seen, you know, the seven teams that were ranked the top 10 at the time of the game. Joe Burrow put up the statistical best season I've ever seen. Any of us have ever seen. And he did it against five teams that played in the top 20 defensively. Last night was supposed to be the number one defense in the country. He shredded them. I mean, like literally shredded him.

Boy, he throws a good deep ball. He really does. I mean, and we'll get into Joe a little bit more. But just from a team perspective, yeah, I think that this team and what they accomplished this year, I don't think it's out of the question at all to put them in that 0-1, Miami. Miami, 94 Nebraska, like those categories of like great teams of all time. This team accomplished maybe more than any other, and they did it in dominant fashion. I've never seen a college football team beat this many good teams badly.

Right. I can say that it's the most accomplished football team. And by the way, let me give LSU credit. Ohio State, you hate me anyway because I pick Clemson over you. But there's a reason that Ohio State opened with Clemson. they scheduled Cincinnati. LSU, although we had our doubts, was a number one seed because they got on the phone and they went to Texas. Yeah, you could say that.

I like that. LSU didn't duck anybody. They got on the phone. No, no, no, we won't play it in Orlando. We'll go to Austin. Yeah, and the perception of Georgia versus the perception of Wisconsin, plus the way that the first half of the Big Ten championship game played out, I think gave the committee kind of that path, right, to put LSU number one. I always believe college football's got too many Saturdays where I got a powerhouse up 29-0-0

at half. Sure. I will always, if you give me an option, LSU, and I like Nick Saban, but he manipulates the schedule, all player in Orlando. Yeah. He doesn't want to go to anywhere. LSU got on the phone and said, we'll go face a longhorns. Yeah.

I love that about LSU. And even Ed Ogeron talked about the fact of not just for the committee and in the overarching pantheon of college football, but what that meant for him and his team. He talked about the third and 17. And he said at that moment, I knew we had the players to win a championship. I thought that was a really interesting answer in the postgame interview. Now, there is, in hindsight, people are like USC passed on Ed Orgeron. I'm not sure if I, I mean.

I don't agree with that sentiment. I mean, if you don't mind me jumping in right now. Here's the deal. Like when we look at, this is the same notion of like everybody passed on Brady. Like Brady would have had the same exact career if he would have been drafted by somebody else. And that's not necessarily the case. Ed Ogeron fits perfectly at LSU. And remember now, all of us have this story, right?

And this lineage to our careers and the path of our careers. And sometimes you need the failures. You need to be passed over so that you. you have that introspective look to get better. And Ed O'Don has talked about the fact that he had to look at himself and say, why didn't I get the USC job? You know, what was it about my interview, my philosophy? So everything that he's been through in his career made him who he was last night.

And so I don't want to be revisionist in our history. Thank you. That this would have happened regardless of who hired him. That's not necessarily the case. This is a perfect fit. He went through all of those lessons and he's become a great football coach for LSU at this moment. I don't think that he would have done this at USC, quite frankly,

because, and this is what USC fans fail to realize when they get on their keyboards and they start blasting their own school about C, we passed on this guy, we would have been national champions. No, you wouldn't have, because the whole place is a mess. Yeah. You were a mess at president. You were a mess at athletic director, and that affected your head football coach.

So Ed Ogeron would have been a product of that dysfunction if he would have gotten the job at USC. Don't you understand that this function is why USC's program is where it's at. It's not necessarily just because you didn't hire Ed Ogeron. Okay, listen, I like Trevor Lawrence, and I think he's going to be a better pro. I do. I know everybody's overreacting. That does not happen on this show, the show of American record.

But I do think, I will say this. I was texting general managers, as I'm prone to do. And both of them said this last night. Joe Burrell gets better every time I see him. Yes. And I'll tell you something. Joy liked him way earlier than I did. My whole thing was, yeah, he's an NFL quarterback.

I'm not sure he's a number one quarterback. And I watched that game last night, and I'm like, all right, I can pick him number one. He's absolutely a number one. Okay, three things that I want to get into specifically about these quarterbacks. Are you going to yell at me? No, I don't think so because I don't disagree with that, right? I don't disagree with that to a certain extent. My first element, okay, three things.

Here we go. Number one, if Lawrence were to be coming out, this year. And we had the Manning Leaf style debate, which one would you take? If I were the Cincinnati Bengals, I think I would have to take Joe Burr. Oh, boy. He just had the best season we've ever had from a quarterback. I mean, the single best season, look at what he accomplished. We've got all these accomplishments we can put up on this graphic. Most passing touchdowns in a season in an FBS history. Most TD's responsible for. Most pass yards in a title game. Most of these are responsible for in a title game.

Only player in the SEC history to throw from 4,040. Played five of the top 20 scoring defenses. Again, Colt Brennan had the touchdown record before it was 58. He played at Hawaii. I know Colt. Colt was originally a freshman at Colorado and he played, we were in the same quarterback room and then he transferred out to Hawaii. He wasn't playing SEC defenses.

All right. So Burrow did this against some of the best competition that this sport has to offer. It was the best single season that we've ever seen. And I think I would have to take him number one for two reasons. One is his comparison throughout history of who he reminds me of and a lot of others of. And also, when you look at the origins of the offense that he's in and where he would be going to in Cincinnati, let's unpack both of those. All right, lots to get into here. First, let's talk about the origins of the offense.

Joe Brady comes from the New Orleans Saints and pairs with Ensminger and what do they do? They have this West Coast style New Orleans Saints offense. That's the Saints offense right there. The origins of that offense via Sean Payton are in the West Coast system, the old West Coast system with Bill Walsh. Not to a T, but the origins of the offense. So you're thinking about things like philosophy, protection philosophy, some terminology, the overall conceptual nature of how they teach route structure

and teach the quarterbacks how to read it. Well, guess what Zach Taylor is at Cincinnati? His origins are in the West Coast system. So this fit is actually better for Burrow in Cincinnati than it would be for Lawrence in Cincinnati. Zach Taylor really cut his chops and cut his teeth under Sean McVeigh, who cut his chops under the Shanahan's and the Grudens of the world, which are West Coast system guys. If fit has everything to do with it, when it comes to quarterbacks and their NFL franchise, at least schematically, this is as good of a fit as you can possibly have.

It's a guy that ran an NFL offense in college and he could run very similar offense in the NFL. Now, we can talk about the organization all we want. I'm just talking about schematic fit and maybe coaching fit there. Now the last thing. Are you ready? All right. I've been trying to come up with a comparison for Joe Burrow. And there's not a current quarterback that you can compare him to.

And so I started calling around. I called Daniel Jeremiah, who I trust quite a bit. I called a bunch of different scouts, old and young. And the old guys and DJ backs me up on this. And we just talked about it 10 minutes ago in the car. You know who Joe Burrow is? Who? Joe Montana.

Coming out of Notre Dame. It's eerily similar. Just played basketball, good basketball players? Good basketball player. Throws an ridiculously catchable ball. Have you ever noticed that it just like floats right into the hands? No, no, no. He listens.

He throws a beautiful, I was also talking to NFL people last night, a significant. And they all said, God, does he throw a nice deep ball? Great footwork. He never got rattled in the pocket. Cool Joe, right? Like, Joe Montana never got rattled in the pocket. Clemson did a better job than maybe anybody all year of trying to rattle him, getting pressure in his face.

He was sacks several times. And guess what happened in the second half? No effect. Yeah. No effect whatsoever. Still stepping up in the pocket. Still delivering absolutely beautiful passes down the field outside the numbers, inside the numbers, to the second and third wide receiver in the progression,

to the first guy in the progression. anticipating throws, throwing guys open. This guy coming out's best comparison is Joe Montana. Look at his feet. One hit step, balls out. He looked off the safety bang right on target. I don't think it's crazy. I mean, he's, listen, it's...

I've totally come around. If I had a pick between Lawrence and Burrow right now, I would have to take Burrow. Lawrence has some work to do. He waited on throws. He was high on throws. That's the worst game Lawrence has played in his college. Also faced LSU athletes. They're pretty good.

You see that secondary? Well, I think there was 52nd in past defense. Well, they played good. One quarterback last night faced the best defense in the country. The other one didn't. And the one that faced the best defense in the country had a better game. Yeah, my coach talking like this. I'm just saying.

We coming. We coming. We got hit me in the gumbo. Face now. Where's the team's dominate? Finally, you're, you don't like that one. I know you're all about Lawrence, but you have to adjust after last night. You have to adjust after last night.

No, I don't adjust after. If I had a bad night with my wife, do I walk home and think I got to adjust. I got to get rid of her. I just didn't work last night. You know, you always try to make these marital. analogies. I'm not falling for this one. Every piece of film matters, okay? And I have been a staunch. Trevor Lawrence is one of the best prospect supporters out there. And now you're bailing on it. I'm not bailing. He's

still going to be a great prospect. But after last night and through the body of work this year, Joe Burrow is the better prospect right now. He's also two or three years older. Matters. So? Rogers didn't start playing in the NFL. It was 25. Brady had to sit a couple of years. They're doing just fine. Drew Breezes. 87 years old. I mean, literally you have a bad omelet and you want to move out of the house. Listen, I'm going to adjust.

If the Swiss ain't cutting it, I'm going to go with Bree. Goop ball. Hey, by the way, we got, you know, I don't have time to go to it. I was going to do something else. Oh, no time. By the way, that targeting stuff, you and I agree with. Targeting got to adjust. College football, do the right thing.

Create two different elements of targeting so we can keep guys in the game. Yeah, by the way, you can penalize guys. Sure. You can't throw a college kid out. because in a bang, bang play, it's, listen, the NFL, listen, sometimes college football does some stuff great and sometimes the NFL does. NFL's got this right. We're going to penalize you.

Yes. And you better not do it again. This is a bang, bang play. You give him a 15-yard penalty. You're throwing him out of the game? There's no reason to both Sean Wade for Ohio State and here with Clemson. They both wrapped up. Listen, letter of the law, I get it.

Penalize them. Yes. But it's like rolling through a stop sign. Why are we putting people in jail for rolling through a stop sign just like if they were driving 275 miles an hour on the highway? Those are not equatable. Don't eject a player for making a football play. You can penalize them, sure. Stop walking them into the locker room.

It's just ridiculous. Come on, college football. Joel, let's hear. Joel brought energy today. It's here for Joel. I thought Joel really brought some good energy today. Urban Meyer, a member of the Dallas Cowboys coming up next hour. All sorts of good stuff.

Lots of stuff going on. Yeah, coming up next. the Josh McDaniels is coming back to New England and some thoughts on how much of a market there really is for Tom Brady after watching what I saw last night and over the last couple of weeks in college I'd hire him just if you want to ask

I'd hire him. Your segment's over. 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, 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 answers. Sports Slice 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 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, Kier 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. Trip 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 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 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, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode.

The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Arnie Stewart the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney.

My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge. surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen to Inside American Soccer with Tom

Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Computer systems and cars the new normal, but advanced tech, touch screens, displays, sensors, expensive to fix when they break, get Car Shield. Call 800 Car 6,000. Code Hurd, save 10% deductible may apply. So, you know, there's a lot of late blooms in life, and Joe Burrow is certainly one of those, and I'll talk more about Joe Burrow, Top of Next Hour, Urban Myers coming up as well. Let me talk, though, about New England. Josh McDaniels did not get any of these jobs, did not even get an interview for anybody outside of Cleveland. Now, I've got my own personal opinion on this. I did not think he was a good fit in Cleveland. And I think when he did what he did to the Colts, it did not do his reputation

any good. I think he is Lane Kiffin. You love him or you hate him. And there's a lot of NFL people that will never touch Josh McDaniels because what he did to the Colts and Chris Ballard and Chris Ballard is close with Andy Reed and everybody in this league loves Andy Reed. But it does matter that he's coming back to New England, as Joy said, because I do think he matters more to Tom Brady and New England right now than any other team. And I had said during the year that if Brady hit the market, there would be a lot of suitors. But one of the things I like about my job is evolve, grow, watch stuff.

I sit and watch games all weekend. All day, I get new information. And I've said before if I was a pilot and you were on my plane and I got new information, there's a lightning storm coming. I would take it and turn right and avoid the lightning storm. If I was a doctor and had your son or daughter on the table and had new medicine that could help them, I would use it. And in sports, I don't stick to opinions if I get new information.

I thought Brady had a bad December. I thought he looked tired. He is 43, at best marginally athletic and now expensive and kind of stuck in his ways. I watched Joe Burrow and I watched Tua and I watched Justin Herbert, who was very good in the Rose Bowl. And I see Trevor Lawrence and I watch Justin Fields. And I think to myself, is there really a market for Tom Brady? I don't know. You know, I've said this before about Russell Westbrook.

The league is trending away from Russell Westbrook, who's having his worst statistical season in a decade. It is a shooter's league, and he does a lot well, but he doesn't shoot. The league is trending away from Tom Brady, old, expensive, and not capable of great mobility as offensive lines fail. That's not where the league is going. So ask yourself, what is the market? We've got three new bad teams.

who will solve their quarterback issue. Since he's getting Burrow, write it down, Miami's probably getting Tua, and then the Chargers or Carolina will move right up, not back, to get Justin Herbert. I think all three, after watching Burrow the last couple of weeks, I think all three are going to work in the NFL. In fact, there's a new trend happening in football, which is awesome. If you're a pro football fan or a college fan, there's almost no first-round quarterback bus anymore.

Josh Rosenet hasn't worked. Paxton Lynch was a bus. outside of that the last 15, like 13 or like, you can win games. Second round guys, third round guys, you can win games. The NFL is adopting more of the college principles. It is allowing for much greater success and a much greater hit rate for quarterbacks. They're not only working in the NFL now. They're working fast.

Like they're working fat. Josh Allen's like, oh, he's a playoff quarterback. Lamar Jackson's going to be MVP. So they're not just not just working. quickly. And I'm watching Burrow. He's going to work pretty soon. And Trevor Lawrence will work. And Tua's going to work. And Justin Herbert, he got better than the last two games against Utah, and Wisconsin. He's going to work. And I'd ask you, who wants a 43-year-old quarterback that's expensive, the game's moving away from him, and you have a quarterback deficit. So you say,

Jaguars? No, no. Nick Foles is making $22 million. You don't have any space more. him. Well, the Raiders, they got Derek Carr. Come on. Let's move past Derek. Derek Carr's good. He's going to stay in Oakland. And then I start looking around and I think to myself, Chicago. No, they can continue to pretend that Mitch Trubisky's their guy. Also, remember, 27-year-old Teddy Bridgewater's on the market. I like Teddy Bridgewater. I would have no problem. If I was a team, you know, out there, like the Colts, I'd go get Teddy Bridgewater. And then I would draft a couple of quarterbacks behind him. I don't think he's a 10-year guy, but he's 27. He's smart. He learns a playbook.

He doesn't make any mistakes. He doesn't win all the games for you, but he almost never loses a game for you. But what's the market now for Brady? The more I think about it, the more I watch college football, the more I see all these young quarterbacks working, the more I watch the trends of the league. I don't think there's a huge market for him.

And he's getting his center back. I read that story yesterday. He's getting Josh McDaniels back. You know, they've got some cap space. It's a fairly young team in certain spots. It's expensive in others like Stephon. John Gilmore and old and others, but I think it's much easier for New England to go out and get Amari Cooper than it is for Tom Brady to go into a new city that was a little bit rigid, a little bit expensive. Unless you have a great offensive line like the Colts, that seems like a good fit for me.

I don't think it works. I mean, I think the Colts is the one I kind of think works. Offensive line, smart, respected coach, good GM, ready to win now. I don't think Giselle is going to say, let's move the family to Indianapolis. I think she's tolerating Boston, tolerating it. She's a supermodel. Would rather live in Miami, Los Angeles. I just don't think there's much of a market.

I think it's drying up. I really do, and I think New England's the place for him. Coming up next, we'll call it Joe versus over the next 10 years, borough or other options. Have I changed that much on him? Plus, Urban Myers, around the corner, too, The Herd. 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 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, 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,

Hey, 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 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 Nass 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. Oh, here we go. Hour 2, live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. iHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Xavier Woods, safety for the Dallas Cowboys. He'll be joining us in 15 minutes. Oliver Luck, dad of Andrew Luck and the CEO of XFL, which is starting up here in a couple of weeks and it will be a success.

I absolutely believe that. Urban Meyer stops by today. DeForest Buckner, the 49ers, San Francisco 49ers, favored by a touchdown at home over Green Bay is going to be joining us. That is next hour. It's great to have you in on a Tuesday. Congrats to LSU, the National Champs. Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I am fabulous. It was a great game last night.

Was remarkable. I'm wearing my tiger. It's not exactly LSU purple. A little bit. You know, I got my tiger stripes on today. So you know, I've said this all year. When Andrew Luck was in college, I was like sophomore year, I'm like number one pick. Trevor Lawrence, I think he's great. I think he's a transformational talent, all-time talent. I don't look at last night and worry by anything. Good Lord, folks. People lose college games all the time. Tom Brady lost a few. Lawrence is great. But Joe Burroughs somebody that, you know, none of us thought he was going to be this in September. Most of us didn't think he was going to be this in October. A few of you did in November.

Many of you did in December and now January were like, yeah, he looks like a number one pick. He got better and better and better and better. And he's an older kid and he's been around and it's five years. But it's like he got better, better, better, better, better. So I think he's a legitimate number one pick today. But the question becomes, how much do I like him? So I like to give my opinions, on stuff. And then if I'm wrong, you can call me out. Never afraid of being wrong. Don't give a rip about it. So I'll just size up. We're going to play a game called Joe versus over the next 10 years. This is over a decade now. Would I rather have Joe Burrow or who Joy Taylor offers? You ready to go? I'm ready. All right. Here we go. Okay. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or

Lamar Jackson? That's easy. I'd rather have Lamar Jackson. He is a unique athletic talent. He also has the Ravens organization behind him, and Joe Burrell will have the Bengals organization, meaning Baltimore tends to draft better players and have better coaches. So I would take Lamar Jackson, because I think who your coach is and who your owner is and who your GM is matters. Would you rather have Burrow or Baker? I think Burroughs a better prospect.

I think he's bigger. I think he's more athletic. I think he throws a better deep ball. He doesn't have silly videos with law enforcement. I don't think there's any question that Burroughs a better prospect. If you ask NFL GMs today about who's a better prospect, it's Joe Burrow. Burrow or Big Ben? Okay, it's 10 years I would take Joe Burrow.

Again, I think Big Ben is going to come back. There have been stories this year that he's not sure. I mean, a lot of people are like the injury is worse than you think. So I think Ben's got about two years left in the league. Would you rather have Burrow or Tom Brady? That's Joe Burrow. Again, I think Burrow is actually a better prospect than Tom was. And he's also, you know, 23 instead of 43.

Right. Tom's got maybe two years left. That's remarkable. He's 20 years younger than him. He's going to be playing in the same league as Tom Brady. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Deshaun Watson? It's a tricky question because one is a world-class athlete and one is with Houston, which is hard to get your arms around. They keep winning their division, but are they well run?

I'd probably go to Sean Watson because I think he has a quality. Burroughs good at a lot of stuff. What is he great at? Deshawn is a great playmaking quarter. quarterback Deshawn. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes? Not real tough. Mahomes is the best quarterback talent over the next 10 years. Burrow or Derek Carr? Burrow is a bigger quarterback. I think he's a more athletic quarterback. It's not an easy one because I like Derek Carr more than anybody else, but I don't think Gruden's going to bail on him. And I think I think Gruden and Mayok have drafted

well. So Derek's got some good pieces around him, but I think the Bengals have some interesting offensive pieces. So I would take slightly Burrow here. What about Joe Burrow or Carson Wence? Not close. Wence is bigger, stronger, better arm. I think Wence is an all-time talent. He's been beat up. But if you didn't want, if you watch Burrow in the last three or four games of this year, folks, he put a, I'm Joe, I mean, he put a AAF team on his shoulders and carried them into the playoffs. Wince is a phenomenal quarterback talent. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott? I'll come back to that one.

Come back to that one. All right. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Daniel Jones? Daniel Jones, I whiffed on him. I watched him in college. I didn't think he was special. And then I watched him in the NFL and I'm like, he's special. He's a really good athlete.

They're very, actually, they're very similar. I missed on Daniel Jones. I saw him in college and I did not think he was spectacular. And I made a big mistake. And I think the Giants are ready. I actually do. If this coach can coach, I think they're ready to pop. I think they have some good players.

I like Daniel Jones, but I'm, I'm going to go Burrow there. Would you rather have Burrow or Aaron Rogers? Aaron's going to play for probably six to seven more years as far as armed talent, not close. Aaron's also one of the smartest guys. It's going to take Burrow a while. I mean, let's be honest. He struggled last year at LSU.

It's going to take him a while to figure out the NFL system, so Aaron easily. Joe Burrow or Kirk Cousins? This isn't easy one. I take Burrow. I think Burrow is a better prospect. You know, I mean, we forget this about Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins is a six, one and a half. He's not a big guy with not a big arm

And he's not overly athletic He's surrounded by a ton of great players But Burrough's a better prospect How about Joe Burrow or his hero, Drew Brees? Burrell, because Breeze has about one or two years left That seems like an easy one Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Matt Ryan? Well, do I think Burrell is ever going to be a top 10 quarterback in the league?

No. I don't. Never? No, I think he's going to be a good player. I don't think he's a top 10 quarterback. Matt Ryan's a top 10 quarterback. So I'd take Matt Ryan. top 10 quarterback is hard. Look at all the great players.

Good God, who's moving out? I just had the best statistical season in college football history. Baker Mayfield won the Heisman. I don't know. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Jimmy Garoppolo? I like Garoppolo. Garoppolo's got Kyle Shanahan and George Kittle. That may be the best young coach and the best young tight end.

I got... So Jimmy's pieces are elevating. Listen, you're asking me next 10 years. I know what I'm getting from Jimmy. I get Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan, the MVP. I mean, we got to be honest about this stuff. It's not just your talent.

Who's elevating it? Yeah, I mean, where you go and who's around you? You don't think Sean Payton has helped Drew Brees. Kyle Shanahan guarantees Garoppelow's a pro-bowlder. I mean, he guarantees it for the next 10 years. He's going to have multiple pro-bowls. Joe Burrow or your favorite Russell Wilson? Not close.

Russell's the best football player in America. That was an easy one for you. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Jared Gough? All right. So Joe Burrell gets Zach Taylor. Jared Gough gets his mentor, Sean McVeigh. And by the way, the Rams have shown an ability to get free agent. Cincinnati hasn't.

Rams draft well. Again, I get Sean McVeigh with Jared Gough. You get Zach Taylor and Joe Burrow. And by the way, a cheap owner. And an organization that is old school in their drafting and scouting. They don't have a bigles don't have a huge scouting department. They tend to be like one of these teams that never moves around in the draft. They just, if they have six picks, they make six picks.

Rams are playmakers and deal makers during the draft. They're going to get better players around him. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Kyler Murray? Kyler Murray is fantastic. Nobody watched him play this year. Conner Murray is fantastic. I love watching him. I think he's the next Russell Wilson.

He's a baseball player. He slides, you'll never get hurt. I think Kyler Murray, none of you guys are watching him. I live right next Arizona, so I watch Arizona. I think Kyler Murray is special. I'm going to go with Burrow there. Would you rather have Burrow or two? Tua.

Tuo is Drew Breeze. Two is a better, he's a better prospect. He's not. You guys are going crazy on this. First of all, I'm not going crazy. I've been on Burrow for a long time now. I've always liked Burrow more than Tua. Would you rather have Joe Burrow or Trevor Lawrence?

Not even close. Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence is the best quarterback since Andrew Luck in college. He lost a game. But not even close, though? Lawrence is bigger. He's faster. He's got a cannon.

I think we're just going crazy. I think it's overreaction Tuesday. I'm not overreacting. I've been very consistent. All right, let's revisit it. You want another go at it? Joe Burrow or Dak Prescott? I think, okay, let's consider everything.

Okay. O-line, Mike McCarthy, Zeke. Over the next 10 years. I think I'm taking Dak. Dax right now. Do we think Mike McCarthy is better than Jason Garrett? I am, I've always been high on DAC. So this is a, this is tough for me.

But I really am all in on Joe Burrow. So it's like a fine line. You take Burrow over Dak. Holy Crow. I'll say this though. I will say this. Obviously, we're considering all factors and the Bengals are the number one factor in where, I mean, where you go really determines whether you're going to be successful in this.

They have a lot. The most part, unless something happens, Drew Breeze-esque, you know, and you wind up somewhere else. So somewhere in my crazy mind, I'm a mad, I'm living in this temporary. fantasy land where the dolphins are going to trade like three of their picks and move up and get Joe Burrow and Cincinnati's going to move down. It's three. Dak against McCauley Culkin. I like Dak.

I'm so wrong. I got nothing against Joe Burrow, but you're putting up six, you're putting up Jimmy Garoppolo and Dak have won playoff games. I mean, over the next 10 years, we're projecting what's going to happen. Jared Goff is a classic. Everybody now hates Jared Goff. He's got Sean McVeyer and a deal-making GM. They're willing to do anything to win in L.A.

I am 1,000% in on Joe Burrow. The only issue I have, which is a major issue, obviously, is it's the Bengals. That's a real concern. Is he good enough to overcome the Bengals? I think he might be. I don't think he's the kind of talent that can overcome average. Now, Baker had to overcome total dysfunction. I mean, I don't really think there's anybody that could overcome what happened with the Browns.

But I think you need a special player to overcome kind of. And Cincinnati's kind of me scouting, mad drafting. I think the borough is special. All right. Well, there you go. Joe versus. And I put my name on all of them so you people on the internet can like freeze frame all those when Burroughs a 38-time pro bowler and nine Super Bowl rings.

No, we love that. I love that. Coming up next to Xavier Woods, Dallas Cowboys Safety is going to join us in studio. Oliver Locke, DeForest Buckner of the 49ers, Urban Meyer stopping by today. Congrats to LSU more on that. Be sure to catch live editions of the. heard weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart 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 IHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 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 a ball. 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, 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart for Chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boke. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines.

I'm not worried about Polic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team.

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. We're headed to Miami. Starting on Monday, January 27th, The HARD and all of our FS1 shows will be live at Luma's Park on South Beach as we get ready for Super Bowl 54. We'll have great guests, wall-to-wall coverage, giveaways, and a whole lot more. FS1 Super Bowl Week is live from Miami, and it's just two weeks away.

Cowboy Safety, Xavier Woods, a couple of interceptions, third year with a team, 29 starts. It's a pleasure to have you. Look at that picture behind you of Miami. That is slick, is it not? While you play in a great city in Dallas, this young man from Monroe, Louisiana, never liked LSU. Never. You were a Georgia fan. That's crazy.

I was definitely room for LSU yesterday, man, just for the home state. It's great for Louisiana. We haven't won anything in a long time. A lot of teams been letting the state down things throw the shot there. But for Lerner's a win, it was big for the state. And you'd never been out of the state until the Cowboys drafted you? Correct. How about that?

Never been. College was 30 minutes down the road from Westmoreau. So, I mean, just to be in Rustin's just as big as well. I'm from small country. Let's, I want to talk about the Cowboys for a second. Let's start with this. There is a perception, and take your time on this, of Jerry Jones hovers over the program.

As a cowboy for three years, Xavier, how often do you really, truly see Jerry? You see Jerry all the time, but Jerry is not talking to the team. He meets with the team no more than three times a year. Three times throughout the football year. Beginning of the year, the exit means. He spoke to us beginning of the year, exit means,

and then he'll speak sometimes after a game, after a win or after a loss. And then he's at practice. He doesn't talk. He's just overseen. You see him around the building. But other than that, just the media has betrayed him as just controlling. I'm just here.

I'm speaking to the team every day, but it's not really like that. Did you get along with Jason Garrett? If so, why? That's my guy. You can't find me personally, I love them. As a team, just locker room, you can't find a handful of guys that doesn't like him.

He's a player's coach. What's that mean? Personality, your personality is, it rubs off on you the right way. There's a rub off on you the wrong way. He's very optimistic. Yes, very optimistic. He expects greatness out of you.

And just the guy believed in me. He drafted me a couple rounds late, but he drafted me nonetheless. and I'm a lawyer to it. I'm a lawyer to a person that believed in me. To this day, of course, he's a leader, so he's going to be the scapegoat for what happened with the team, my downfall. But I believe the only is not just on him, but on us as well.

You got to take responsibility for, we got to take responsibility for what we did, and he does too. Mike McCarthy met him. What do you know? I haven't met him yet. I hope to meet him soon. I know he's a winner. He's kind of different from, he's kind of different from Jason Garrett, just the stories I've heard from teammates, I mean, players on the Packers, they love them too as well.

So, I mean, I expect great things. This is new energy in the building. Definitely got new coaches, new defensive coaches. Really, only two coaches. They're from the old staff. So it's just new energy. Hopefully, breathe something different in us. You know, I've said I didn't, I watched Dak Prescott in college.

And I said it during the time, I said, he reminds me of a better throwing Tebow. There's something about him. He's tough. his throwing motion isn't perfect it's not totally fluid but he had a Tebow quality where there was leadership stuff like he got banged up a lot at Mississippi State they didn't have a great offensive line around him

and he took shots and he never got hurt and then he goes to Dallas and he shocks the world and he shocked me I'm like I don't even know what I'm watching I didn't think he was going to work in the NFL but there's something about the mannerisms the EQ the emotional intelligence he's a leader

So that's what I see. When you're with him every day, it feels like he's like an alpha, like guys like him. What is your correspondence with him like? So there's different types of alphas. Alphas that are aggressive or that

do things to where they're for public. Then you have alphas that in private you respect them so much, so much more than alphas that do things for public or for the media. And we respect them so much much. I mean, he goes through so much in practice or the injuries that he has that you guys

don't know about. And the way he leads, the way that a leader like that, you follow, you listen to. And so he's a phenomenal leader, phenomenal. And that's a testament of his heart, his faith. You can't measure those things. Yeah. I like to hear that. He sounds like a good dude. We think he's a good dude. And then you confirm he's a good dude. So I'm going to talk about, as we get into the playoffs, some of the quarterbacks you face this year. This is Xavier Woods, Cowboy. safety, three years now with the Cowboys. So let me talk about you've faced Aaron Rogers this year. Take my audience.

What's it like to face him? The guy's, they guys, phenomenal. The guy is the best quarterback I've ever faced. The throws he makes, as a safety, I'm reading him the whole game. Right. So I'm playing games with him. He's playing games with me. He won that battle by a lot.

I mean, the way he looks off, the way he's just, just releases about as quick as you will ever see a quarterback. His release. So it's hard to get a good read on him. But man, that guy's phenomenal. That guy's one of the greatest. Okay, I love Carson Wentz. My audience is hit and miss.

You face Carson Wentz more than once. What about him? The first game, we can pressure got to him. So in turnovers, so it relied on him heavily. So it wasn't really a run game. Run game compliment any quarterback. I don't care what you say. So it relied on him, man.

He's just going to get the job done. Man, defense plays spectacular that day. We turned the ball over. We got the ball to the offense on their side of the 50 three times. That's, we're going to win. So what about the second time? The second game, he was firing. He was firing.

Fire on all sit in the run game as well, too. And he came up prepared. Arm is good. Arm is good. I mean, that game, man, they beat us with Greg Ward. Earth was hurt. They did with backups. I know.

That was a tough. So that was all on him. That was all on him. I love Sam Darnold. He undressed you guys this year. It was incredible. So my audience pushes back. What's Sam Darnold like?

Sam Darnold was firing that day. So he had came. He had played a couple games. He had Mono. He had played a couple games. By the first two games of the year, they had Mono. Then he was out for, I want to say, a stretch. And going into, we didn't really know, we game playing,

but we didn't really know what we were going to expect. The scheme, offense, it was different from the quarterback that had previous. And he came out, they had momentum. They were firing. I mean, they had just had energy that they didn't have previous show on those other games. Tom Brady. You faced him. It was kind of, if I recall, it was kind of a low scoring.

You got your way with him a little bit. What did you make of Brady? First of all, he's one of the greatest two. Respect to him. the offense just wasn't it wasn't what it was in previous years they just really only had Ellerman

and it's really pitching catch for them too and you stop Ellerman and stop those backs and you stop them we couldn't do it I mean we held them until I want to say I don't know it was a low scoring game but we held them

it's the defense was phenomenal day too they were out on the defense the entire year and sometimes you got to do that Xavier Woods joining us, Cowboy Safety. So season's over for you. What do you do? You got a new coach in Mike McCarthy. You have new defensive coaches.

What do you do for the next month? Rehab your body. Go to Mexico. Go back to Louisiana. Do you stay in Dallas? Are you grinding it? What does an NFL player do when the season's over? You're not in the playoffs.

Your next 30 days? Next 30. First, take care of your body. spend time with my family my girl, my wife, and go home to Louisiana sometimes and just rest. I would say rest.

I mean, we've been through a lot. We've put out of bodies through a lot ever since March. Starting March, you go throughout the whole year. It's a lot for your body. So I take three weeks to a month off, just recover, and then I get ready. I go hard, when I work, I go hard.

So I need that time to just rest and I just get my mind right. Then once I get back into it, I'm in a minute, until we finish again. By the way, Joe Burrow was very good last night, but as you know, sometimes a guy can be a great college player, and then it just doesn't translate in the NFL.

You're watching Joe Burrow. Does he look like an NFL dude to you? He does. It's a scheme that he's in. That's an NFL scheme. And that's, he played NFL defense yesterday. Yeah. And that looked pretty good.

It did. It looked pretty good to me yesterday. Tells a nice deep ball? Nice, deep ball. Nice. You can, quarterback's throw receivers open, and he definitely did that. Yeah. Well, good luck to you.

It's great to meet you. I can't believe I met a young man from Monroe, Louisiana, and he is not an LSU fan. By the way, but how far is Monroe from New Orleans? It's about four and a half, four and a half hours. So did you go to New Orleans a lot? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. West Monroe, my high school, we didn't state championship three out of my four years.

So, yeah, that's a second home. So do they play the state championship? In New Orleans? Yep. Okay. They got good food. I don't know if you know that. Amazing.

All the way throughout Louisiana, not just New Orleans. And they have also, the thing about New Orleans, if you've never been there, Joy is going there this weekend. It's her birthday. The thing about New Orleans, that's great. In Los Angeles, every waiter's an actor, so they don't really care. And then you go to New York, and it's so expensive, they're trying to turn the tables over. If you go to New Orleans, you walk into the restaurant, you are there for the night,

there's nobody hurrying you. There's something about the hospitality of Louisiana. It's just Southern hospitality. I mean, I still say yes, ma'am, no sir, to this day. No matter who, you up in age or older than me, I still say it. But this is southern hospitality. We'll just raise differently. By the way, you went to the same high school as Andrew Whitworth?

Yeah. Left tackle L.A. Rams. Yep. Now he's older than you. Yeah, he's a lot older than you. So he was a legend by the time you got there. Yeah. He was already a staple.

He was already, his name was already imprinted. Yeah. And I got there. Good dude, by the way. Yeah, amazing dude, yeah. Great seeing. Great meeting you. Thank you all for having me.

You bet Joy Tattle with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. While sticking with that game last night, Joe Burrow lived at least up to my expectations, 463 passing yards, five passing touchdowns,

one rushing touchdown against Clemson, number one defense in the country. And after the game, he enjoyed the feeling of winning in front of the team's hometown fans. This is what I wanted to do from the time I was five years old, was host Poist's trophy.

And bringing it back. back to Louisiana. I guess we're in Louisiana, but staying in Louisiana. We weren't going to let someone come in here and steal this from us in our home state. We have a great, great fan base that came out and supported us. We're going to keep this thing right here. I really think it's strange that you aren't as high on Joe Burrow as I am. I like him. You guys got him as Elway. I like him. First of all, I want to be very clear. I'm done comparing these guys coming into the draft to Hall of Fame legendary NFL 100 quarterbacks. I just think it's ridiculously unfair. I think like even Baker

getting compared to Russell Wilson. It's like, who's calm down and give him a couple years? There are some characteristics, sure. But overall, just besides the way, and I've been on Joe Burrow for a long time. But what I like about Joe Burrow, other than the way that he plays, are his intangibles. Like he is, he's got a little swag. He's got a little Aaron Rogers. No, he's confident. He's not a little confidence to him, which I like, but he has a little character to him, but he also is really good at the

mic. Yes, I think they, I think, here's what I would say. So when I look at a prospect, I'm looking at size, I'm looking at, I'm looking at arm, I'm looking at intangibles, I look at, what are you great at? Like Trevor Lawrence, size A plus, arm A plus, didn't play well last night because LSU is really good. I would say Tua is a B plus prospect, close to an

A minus, Burrow and Justin Herbert are in the B to B plus category. As prospect. What? I know. We don't even know if Tua can play. Well, if he can play, he's an A minus prospect. Look, to me, one, Burrow has great footwork. I will say that.

He has great footwork and he is very accurate. Those are two things about his, like, literal football things that I love about him. I understand there's a lot of great things around him. The other thing that I like about Burrow is what you've been saying all day. He gets better every time you watch him. Yeah. No, he's way better. today than what he was in September.

Right. And people saying, oh, like, he's been so much better than last year. Like, aren't you supposed to be better than last year? How is that a negative? Aren't you supposed to get better? If you do 5,000 shows and you're just as good as you were when you started, you're not very good. You're not very good. And you have terrible people around you. So I like that he gets better every single time.

I'm very high on him. Again, I just think that it's the Bengals that are going to be the issue. That's what I think. And I don't think he's gifted enough to take the Bengals to huge heights. where I can make an argument that Burrow is a better prospect than Garoppolo, but I know Garoppolo for 10 years is going to have Kyle Shanahan. Where you go absolutely matters. I totally agree.

I do think he is talented enough to elevate the Bengals and make them competitive. And with a few changes, and if the organization gets behind him, who knows, maybe he's the one that can take them to the next level. But the other thing I do like that I saw last night was he took a big shot. Oh, yeah. He moved. Went right through it. did not, I mean, they asked them about it, like, how, you know, what happened.

He was like, it's just not an option. Yeah, he took a shot in the ribs. Yes, and you're going to need that if you go to the Bengals. You're playing in the AFC North. It's a rough division. And their old line stinks. So I like that about him. But I do think we got to mention also.

We have to mention Clyde Edwards-Halear who had an incredible game rushing. He's a really interesting player. He is. He had an excellent game last night. And he was a big part of their offense. So the Seahawks have not made it past the divisional round of the playoffs since the 2014 season. and Russell Wilson is not satisfied with yet another early postseason exit. A lot of people think that, you know, we overachieve, I think we underachieve, in my opinion,

because I think that the goal should always be winning in Super Bowl. And that's got to be our standard, that's got to be our focus. We've got to find ways to get past just the first or second round of playoffs and we get to the final push. That's the reality. That's why, I know that's why I play the game. You know, that's why a lot of guys in this locker room try to play the game for that. and everything else. And so we've got to find ways to get better. And we will try to do everything we can to figure that out.

They were really, I got to be honest, I'm from Seattle, and I thought they were going to be a 500 team. I thought they overachieved, and I will tell you this, they're going to bring back all those running backs. Their offensive line is going to get healthier. D.K. Metcalf now is a star for Russell. I got to be honest with you. They overachieved this year.

And if you look at some of their young players, they're going to be really good going forward for, four or five years. I understand his standard is a lot higher than the rest of us would have for the Seahawks. But they absolutely overachieve this year. No question. And they lost three running backs. They brought Marshawn Lynch out of retirements, who I love.

But he was literally not playing football and they had to come in and play running back for them. They absolutely overachieve. They've got to get their own line right. How many years in a row by the end of the year do you look at Seattle and go, that offensive line's a mess? You know, they kind of have gone into, I mean, we've, we thought that, you know, this whole thing was over after the whole Legion of Boom kind of fell apart and there's where you know where no pieces left from that original what was set up as was supposed to be a dynasty situation. So they have come back from that which is impressive. But it kind of is getting

into this territory where you sort of there's a little Aaron Rogers to it where it's like, just go out and do everything and win the game. Like Russell Wilson just take the entire team on your back and figure it all out. And that's just not, I mean, you see now with Aaron Rogers they're in the NFC championship game because they put some other pieces. around him. The reason they don't look the same is because it's not all on Aaron Rogers anymore, and now they're having the success that they need to. Get back to that with the Seahawks. It shouldn't all be on Russell Wilson. Yes, he can do that, but eventually that's going to be the end of it. Like, you can't get to a Super Bowl. It's not sustainable. Speaking of the Packers,

they traveled San Francisco this weekend to take on the Niners for a spot in the Super Bowl, and Matt LaFleur is looking back on the Packers blowout, loss of the 49ers in Week 12 to improve the game plan for Sunday. I got to go back and watch that tape again. and to really try to grasp what happened and why it happened and how can we adjust and what are we going to do to ensure that it doesn't happen. We're going to have a big challenge in front of us, but it's something that I think our guys are going to roll up their sleeves and come in and prepare the right way and be ready to go.

Yeah, they have not been, I think even Packer fans can admit this. They've been a very good on the script first quarter football team. They have not been a good third quarter adjusting. They were outscored by Seattle, 27 in the second half. And by the way, Shanahan's a great adjusting coach for San Francisco. Andy Reed tends to be a great adjusting coach. So it's a real issue with me. Young coaches are often very good on script.

McVeigh. Well, that's experience. Yes. But off script, McVeigh's gotten better as an adjuster, but LaFleur is in his first year as head coach. And that's why, like, when you have to go off script, of script, you rely on your experience and your intuition from being in those situations before, and you just don't have that if you're a first year or second year head coach. Luckily, Aaron Rogers has been in that situation before, but again, he's not the entire team.

So how are they going to handle that? The Packers are seven and a half, or I'm sorry, yeah, the Packers are seven and a half point underdogs going to Fox bet right now. That feels right. I do think that the Niners win this game. I think what it's going to come down to is if the running game can get going for the Packers and the Niners' defensive line is pretty aggressive. Yeah, try with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Oliver Luckin Studio, the commissioner of the XFL, can't wait. The league's going to start here in about a month. Cannot wait. One of the smartest guys in sports 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 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 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie Stewart the Chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside American Siles,

you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic, I'm not worried about Balligan, I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team.

And the truth about the US national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast.

Oliver Luck, former NFL quarterback, has had a storied executive career. He's now the commissioner of the XFL, the CEO. Of course, we know his son Andrew Luck, who I was one of the few quarterbacks that I try not to root, but I rooted for Andrew. He is now married and happy and a beautiful girl. and we miss your son, but we get what he did, and I hope he's doing great. He's doing fine. Thank you for mentioning that.

Okay, let's start with this. Your season starts February 8th. I said before, I think a spring league gets time. We have networks now vying for content. This is ESPN, it's Fox, it's WWE, it's you, it's people I trust and companies I trust. So it's going to be different. There's a lot of different rules here. Give me an example of a rule that you have that you have,

that you just love, that you looked at the NFL and said, we can do it better. So my favorite of the roundabout dozen innovations that we have is the extra point options, right? So you score a touchdown, you get six. We're all familiar with that. But in our league, you have a one point, a two point, and a three point option, all plays from scrimmage, no kicks. So the one points from two yards, two yard line,

the two point from five yard line and the three point from the ten. And I like that because it just brings strategy into the game. What do we as fans do? We all second-guess coaches decisions on a Monday. We're all Monday morning quarterbacks. And this, I think, is simply strategy. You score a touchdown first quarter. What do you do?

You go for one or two or three. You score in a pick six or a scoop six, you know, defensive touchdown. Do you take that quick momentum change and go for three? Right? And try to score a nine-point touchdown. And also it allows, I think, the team that's behind to get back into the game more quickly. So a two-score game can become, in our league, a one-score game or a three-score game become a two-score game. So that I think is my favorite because it just brings additional

strategy. I'm not anti-kicker, but it also brings athletes onto the field and not kickers. By the way, in baseball, I don't love the pitcher batting. I think it's a mismatch. I like the idea of getting the best players out and having another play on the field. The extra point has historically been a fatal complaint. Even with the league moving it back a couple three years ago, it's still, I think, a 94-95 percent conversion. Yeah. And that's when you get up and go to the restroom or get a sandwich or whatever. Okay, now you're also doing something. You have training camps centralized in Houston.

Now, I like this because when you're a new league, cost matters, you're really, it's the foundation of a house. You're learning every day on the job, right? You're not the NFL where you're tweaking. You're learning. Why Houston? Why one place for camp? So we decided that it made sense to do really two things.

In December, we had our mini camps, right? And those were in our eight cities. and those were just with the teams there, right? The 70 guys playing for the LA Wildcats or the Houston Roughnecks, and they could install offense, defense, special teams, etc. Gave him a little break at Christmas, and then all of the guys, all 560, all eight teams came back to Houston.

And because we're starting from scratch, building rosters literally with Player 1 all the way through 70, we thought it made the most sense to make sure that every second, third day, teams could scrimage against each other, right? You want to see the comparative strengths and weaknesses and coaches wanted to see that as well. So they could say, oh, my gosh, I got a, you know,

a D-line that really needs a little bit of, you know, upgrading. Let me go figure out if I can make a trade. Or I got a cornerback that is struggling. Let's see if we can't get. So we want parity, obviously, when we launch February 8th. We want to have games that are close and one-score games going into the fourth quarter. But the only way to really see those comparative strengths and weaknesses, I think, is to have everybody together in Houston.

And Houston has unbelievable facilities, just incredible facilities. Yes. colleges. We're at U of H and HPU, Texas, Southern. The high schools there are like colleges. We have a lot of space in Texas. Yeah. And they love football, right? So, you know, the facilities, locker rooms, all that are first class. Okay. So when you go about this league, to me, I've always said, get the quarterback right. Have you have high level, I mean, like last night, I'm watching Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrell. Can't get any better quarterbacks right there. So it's like it makes the game. Right. So now you do have some NFL quarterbacks in here.

My question is, would you go after like a Trevor Lawrence, even your son when he was a sophomore? You don't have to wait three years, right? Correct. We're not subject to the NFL's eligibility requirement. That's in the CBA. We're not a party. Are you comfortable with going after freshmen and sophomores in college? Down the road, I could see that happening, right?

Because there's so much that's changing in the NCAA with, you know, the name image likeness and state legislation and potentially federal legislation. So down the road, I could see that. But we were trying to get the best five. 560 players possible. And guess what? The best players are those guys who played three or four years of college and spent two or three or four, in some cases five years in the NFL. You've got a lot of NFL guys here.

Yeah, you got Landry Jones who's going to be playing in Dallas for Bob Stoops. Josh Johnson here in L.A., a longtime NFL quarterback who started in one games in the NFL as early as last year. Right. So we have those kind of players, Matt McGloin, who I can remember him coming in off the bench for the Raiders beating my Colts years ago out in, you know, Alameda. Coliseum. So you've got those kind of players and they're pretty damn good. They're

really pretty darn good. So down the road I could see us looking at a younger college player, but we think the best guys not under contract in the NFL are the guys that we have. Those are often guys that have some NFL experience. Or CFL experience. Right. Now, so when you talk about rules, like I like

the extra point. Now, you and I had seen each other bumped into each other about six months ago and I said, hey, I got an idea for a kickoff. So the kickoff, because we all know in the NFL, There have been more concussions. It's been a little, I think even the NFL is trying to figure out ways to, you know, lessen the collisions.

What does your kickoff look like? So you've got the kickoff cover team at the 35-yard line lined up all 10 guys, kickers back at the 25. Then you have the kickoff return team at the 30, right, five yards apart, mono-a-man. And the deep man is catching the kick. And we're eliminating the running. up, right? So the run-up, the sprint by the kickoff coverage team is what causes that high-impact

collision because you're going full speed. So we have those players lined up. Once the ball is caught, those 20 guys can move. And we think we've taken the impact out of that collision. So it really becomes, in a sense, a play from scrimmage, right? So we've tested it multiple, I mean, thousands of times with junior colleges and semi-pro leagues. We think it's safer. Everybody we've talked to, including the health and safety experts, have said, yeah, this is. safer because you're taking out that run-up. You're taking out what causes the high-velocity impact. So we're excited about that.

It's an interesting innovation because our fans are telling us we like to have the kickoff return in the game still because it's a fun play. Yeah, of course. It's fascinating. And it's also when you're trailing, it's a way to pop right back into a game. It's decided national championships a couple years ago. Alabama had one in the national championship. So when you, what are the challenges?

Like the NFL's challenges are different. They are picked apart by the media. They've got big business American problems. You have young startup tech problems, I imagine. Where you're starting, this works, this doesn't. What was your first big challenge to be the commissioner of the XFL? Well, I think the big challenge was taking all this sort of information that we got from talking to fans. We did focus groups.

We did a whole bunch of market research to find out what they wanted. They love professional football. And what they said was, but we'd like it to be, let's pick up the pace a little bit, a little bit too much downtime, a little bit too much idle time. Let's try to have the same amount of action and get it back into three hours. Last night's game, as good as it was, seemed like it lasted forever. It was a four and a half out. Yeah, it was long.

Yeah, so the challenge was to keep all those good things that we love about the game. And there's a lot to love because it's a great game. It's America's favorite sport, America's favorite pastime, and kind of compress it a little bit. It's almost like, you know, going back to the old AFL, the old American Football League days back in the 70s. I remember the Birmingham Americans. That's right. If you went over three hours, right, you know, the broadcaster cut away. So we're trying to compress that and have the same number of plays, same amount of action,

but, you know, have it really in a three-hour time block. And knowing what to keep and what you could kind of tweak and innovate, I think, was important. We like to say a very familiar game, fans will see it and say, oh, that's football. It's great. It's 11-on-11. It's four-down. It's same regulation field. Familiar, but a little bit unique with some of the innovations.

Yeah, I mean, people knock the XFL, but the NFL, but the NFL stole all sorts of stuff from the XFL. It was, it was kooky and nutty, but there were elements of it that I thought were kind of fun. The funnest part, Colin, was to sit down with smart people, John Fox, Jim Caldwell, Doug Flutty, a whole bunch of people like that help us through this process and look

at the rules and decide, where did that come from? How long have we been doing that? Can we have a punt where the gunners don't leave at a snap, but leave at the punt? That'll give that guy a little bit more time to catch the ball and return the ball. Oh, we can do that. Why not? That's not, you know, sort of etched in stone,

anywhere. It's not part of the Ten Commandments that the punters have to leave at the snap. So it's those kind of things that really were fun, enjoyable. And I do think one of the things the NFL has done very well through the years, they are amenable to change. They've changed the catch rule. It felt like in the Super Bowl a couple years. They said, you know what, for the biggest game we're changing it. I love all of this. I love seeing you pass on the best to Andrew and his family. XFL, February 8th, I can't wait. Hour three. Urban Myers are on the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app.

Now we get ready for NFL playoffs, and I said after this weekend, these are four really good teams, but the one to me that can beat you more ways than any other, the one that really checks the boxes for me, from fullback to D-line to offensive tackle to quarterback to coach to safety, to tight end to wide receiver as to San Francisco 49ers. And joining us live via the Coward Global Sassie. Satellite Network, DeForest Buckner. Brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. You know, it's interesting, DeForest, thanks again for coming on the show. When you play a team like Green Bay and you have success against Green Bay,

and then you're going to play them again. Guys like me in the media say, oh, brother, this is trouble. Do you take anything from the Green Bay first win? Or does Kyle Shanahan say, bury the tape? I don't want to see it. No, I mean, you, we're going to watch the, you know, that game all over again. Like I, when we found out we're going to playing the Packers again, I put that game back

on, started watching film. You know, just looking at things that I could have done better in that game and you're going to pick things from that game that you could have got better and could have did better. But obviously, we're going to get a whole new team coming into Levi's and you know, everything that you did in the regular season goes

out the window because the playoffs is a whole different beast. People forget this. You guys start 8-0 and then virtually for, everybody gets hurt. You're both tackles get hurt. Your fullback gets hurt. George gets hurt. You got wide receivers hurt. And take me back to the middle of the season. When you guys went into games and you didn't have 70 or top 20 players, take me back to what it was like to overcome that. Yeah, it was a grind, especially having our,

you know, buying week four, you know, that whole part of the season was a grind, losing guys. And, you know, it was the whole next man up mentality. And just preparing through, you know, taking it one week at a time. And, you know, honestly, you could see, you know, the character and the team, the grit and all the guys finishing off. We had a lot of close games. I looked back at it. About 10 of our games throughout the season came down to the last possession. So it just shows a testament to all of the guys on the team, you know, being, being ready and staying ready. It's funny. But, you know, between George Kittle and some of the players on this team, people were saying this last week,

you guys have a pro wrestling feel to it. And it is fun. You guys are fun. You guys are fun. to watch. Take me back to the first time that you saw Kittle at a practice. Did you know instantly, oh, Lord, we stole this guy in the fifth round. Did you know he was going to be something like this? Yeah. Honestly, his rookie year, you know, seeing some of the catches he was making in contested passes, you know, just battling, you know, defense and offense throughout training camp and OTA, seeing some of those catches that he was making, you know, you could see that he was a special guy. The growth that he's had each and every year has been amazing to see. And the type of teammate he is and obviously overall player, he's a superstar, man.

He's all pro-kiddle for a reason. And I'm just lucky to have him on my team. Now, Robert Sala is that good-looking ball defensive coordinator who's screaming and yell. And then you have Kyle Shanahan's the genius on the offensive side. Tell me how much Shanahan participates in the defense or does he let Robert run the show? I think Kyle likes to see overall what the defense is doing, but, you know, Salah pretty much takes it over. You know what I mean? And you can totally tell in practice, too.

Even throughout training camp, you know, both of them, they like to compete against each other. And especially, you know, the offense and defense, you know, competition periods, you know, they're going back and forth. So it's great to see, you know, the competition, you know, within everyone on the team and, you know, just making each other better each and every day. When you face Aaron Rogers, you had success the first time. But I want you to take my audience to force into facing Aaron. He does a lot of, you know, he's playing at the line of scrimmage. He's manipulating. He's trying to draw you off.

It becomes a very mental game. Compare him to other quarterbacks. You know, I would say, you know, making all those checks at the line, you know, all the audibles. I mean, I would relate him to, you know, Tom Brady. because I played against Tom Brady in my rookie year. And, you know, he did a similar thing, you know what I mean, making all the different plays, checking it at the line, all the audibles, everything, and getting the ball out and making, you know, some great throws.

So, you know, Aaron is a future Hall of Famer, and, you know, he's, you know, he's scary back there. And so, you know, we got to do a really good job like we did the last time. And, you know, it starts with the run game, you know, shutting down the run game early and, you know, making a drop back fast game and, you know, trying to get after them early. You know, when you look at, these upsets.

Tennessee beats Baltimore. And, I mean, it's jaw-dropping. And all of a sudden, Kansas City falls behind 24-0. And you're sitting there now as a number one seed. You're at home. The world thinks you should win this weekend. Do you ever, like, do you ever think to yourself, man, this could be a trap? This is a huge trap.

Like, how do you avoid the upset? Blinders. You got to put your blinders on, man. You know what I mean? It's, you know, we've got to come in each and every day. like we did last week, you know, ready to go. You know, every single guy in the room, you know, coaches and everything, you know, came in each and every day, ready to work.

It didn't matter, you know, all the outside noise. We got, you know, we got guys that play for each other, trust one another. And, you know, once we get a good game plan, we just make sure we execute whenever, you know, game day is. And that's what we need to do this week. Is Jimmy Gia a verbal guy? Like Garoppolo at practice, what does he like? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, he's a verbal guy. You know, he's, you know, he's a hardworking dude, man. You know, seeing him go out there each and every single day, trying to meet, you know, trying to work with his receivers after practice, you know, making sure they got that connection, everything. The way he goes about his business, he's a true pro. And, you know, all of our trust is within him. Just to see his growth throughout the season has been amazing.

He doesn't care, you know, about the stats or anything. You know, he just wants to put us in positions to win. And that's what he's been doing at a really, really high level this year. Boris Buckner, 49ers, favored over Green Bay. Second time on the show. Good luck to you, Bud. You're an absolute blast to watch. It's one of the best D-Lines in a long time.

And now you got D. Ford and Kwan Alexander. Yes, sir. The band is back together. Good luck to you. Yes, sir. Thank you. And don't forget, Jukwoski Tart. He's been a big, big part of our defense this year.

See, how about that? You like that? That's a good teammate right there, giving the guy some love. Appreciate it, ma'am. All right, thank you for having me again, Colin. You bet. Urban Myers around the corner today on LSU. They lose Burrow, but it is LSU.

We'll talk about Ed Orgeron, how the world bailed on Ed Orgeron. Nobody ever bailed on Urban Meyer, but people bailed on Ed Orgeron, and he just said, all right, I'm going to figure out what I didn't do well. I'm going to figure out what I did do well. Last night, LSU was so much more than just a college national championship. It was a story of redemption for Ed Orgeron. It was a story of development. for Joe Burrell, and we're going to have coming up next, Urban Myers, on our program.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. We're headed to the 305 going down to Miami starting on Monday, January 27th. The Herd and all of our FS1 shows will be live at Loomis Park on South Beach as we get ready for Super Bowl 54. We'll have great guests, wall-to-wall coverage, giveaways, and a whole lot more. FS1 Super Bowl week live from Miami is just two weeks away. I will be staying up to midnight every night. I told my wife that last night. I've stayed up to midnight because midnight's only nine Pacific,

and I don't want to come home. If I go to bed of 930, my typical, right? 9.45. That's 6.45 Pacific. So I'll come back home off the Super Bowl and be so exhausted every night. How long does it take you to adjust to the new time zone? Eight, nine months. I'm going to bed at midnight.

I already, Goulet, I'm going to go out. You can join us. I go to bed at midnight now. Oh, now? Now? I can't sleep. I get like five hours of sleep. You go to sleep at midnight now.

I mean, I don't want to, but I just don't, I just can't go to sleep. And I'm scared to take anything because, like, then I'll sleep too hard. Oh, drugs will help. Yeah, I don't know. It's not a good idea. I used to take melatonin, but, you know, it's like, it's tricky. Like when you take it. First, last time I took melatonin, I was a lepricon jumping off buildings.

I mean, it screws with my... I'm fine, but it knocked me out for, like, a good ten. hour. So I got to take it at like five. Yeah, I don't know. I just don't sleep. It'll be right. You're my wife. I mean, not officially, but she. Well, we do have the same birthday. You have the same birthday. And she is, I can literally walk by a sleeping pill. Glant to it, I am out. I've seen her take two and stare at the ceiling for nine hours. I'm like, how is it possible? I don't know. I just learned that you go to bed at midnight. I mean, not consistently, but definitely not before, like, 11 for sure.

Wow. Bruins Blue Jackets, today's Discover Card Key matchup, millions of people a year getting their cashback matched. Go to discover.com slash cashback match. There is no limit. Here's Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Kevin Stefanski was introduced as the Brown's head coach today. He was. At his press conference, he spoke about building a better culture in Cleveland. and how he's looking forward to working with Baker Mayfield. That's interesting. Baker, as a young player, the sky's the limit, but we're going to put in the work to get it done with Baker. The skill set that our quarterback has is legit,

and he's as accurate as they come. I think there's plenty of things that we'll do schematically to hopefully make life easy on him, easier on him, and looking forward to the jump that this kid will take. Everybody knows that Harry Truman, quote, It's amazing what you can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit. And that's what I believe we have in our building. We have great people.

And we're going to add to this culture that we're building here. And we have the right people. And again, I just can't stress enough how excited I am to be just a part of it. He looks like an author of successful books who eats salmon with his hands. He is sophisticated looking, is he not? He does look very sophisticated. He looks smart in that suit. I don't know.

He's like George Clooney. I don't really know whatever to expect on these press conferences. I always want to be moved and compelled. He's an Ivy Leagueer, John said. Where do you go to school? He went to Penn? Penn? That's pretty impressive.

So, no, let me just put it on record saying. I think he's a better coach than Josh McDaniels. I think he's a better choice. I think he's a better fit in Cleveland. I think he's a better fit in that I just really didn't know what to expect from Josh McDaniels. And it seems like people aren't really that high on Josh McDaniels as a head coach, at least currently.

We'll see what happens next year. The one guy I know that knows Stefansky is like, this is like, listen, this is smart, no nonsense, you know, works with people. People like Kevin Stefansky. I'm sure he's great.

But it's Cleveland. So I don't know. If he walked in to your American literature class, that's what your teacher would look like. If he walked in a class, then I would assume I have to write 20-page papers every single class. We're going to talk about Shakespeare

Before we talk about Benka Mayfield. He had us with a Harry Truman quote in his opening press conference. Look, it's just that it's a Browns. Again, with Joe Judge, like, Joe Judge said a lot of things that were very New York-like. We don't know anything about Joe Judge. We don't know anything about any of these guys. I don't know anything about how Kevin Stafant is going to be. I'm for this guy winning more games than Freddie Kitchens.

Five-year deal, by the way. Probably. That's what I do like about. It is a five-year deal. That's right. Although Cleveland is not afraid to pay somebody who's not working for them. So there is that. But look, I like him.

He said good things. Never a Freddie Kitchen's. guy, that guy looks like he can own the room. He's a big man that reads. He's got a lot of work to deal. He reads books with hard covers. Yeah. Hopefully he can balance having an analytics guy in his year and doing three-hour meetings every week with the owner, too.

Bill O'Brien has not only been the Texans head coach this year. He was also the acting GM with final say on personnel decisions. And he says the team has no plans to hire a permanent GM anytime soon. What? I feel like where we are right now, the way that I see it right now, it stays the way it is. And we have, we have, again, a great group of people that meet daily, that, you know, talk about the team, the roster, all the, all the support stats, you know, the sub-programs that we have here and try to make the best decisions for the team.

That's weird. No GM? I'm not a big fan when, I don't like that. I do not approve of this message. Yeah, I don't, I could hire a general manager, but there's no real reason. Yeah, because that guy I could fire you. Well, if you win the Super Bowl, do what you want, but you didn't. You blew it. That's weird. And like the most remarkable staggering fashion

you just lost. So you probably do need to make some changes. I got to learn more about, I got to read about that story. Somebody, Tewy, you're responsible for that mess of Houston. Send me about... That's the best job ever. There's no accountability. Tuduio. Yeah, the cheating. Yeah, God.

It's been a great 24 hours. I think. now. So give me a story on this mask because I've got to read about this. This is nonsense. So Brian has a final say with interim GM Chris Olson and VP of team development, Jack Easterbury among those aiding with GM duty. So it's a collection

of minds. O'Brien says he hasn't met with the Texan chairman, Cal McNair, about the GM position. So it may happen, but currently there is no plan in place to hire a GM. I just don't like it because I think they should have a GM. I'm going to read more. And if you lose in disappointing fashion, you can't keep everything the same.

I mean, I'm not saying they need drastic changes, but a GM may be helpful. So finally, the Titans have been the surprise of the postseason, knocking the Patriots and the Ravens out to reach the AFC championship game as a six seed. And now their fans are starting to believe the hype as well. Titans Corner Logan Ryans at the city of Nashville woke up during this playoff run and the team can feel their energy. Mike Braybo also said after the win in Baltimore that the underdog thing is overrated. They are seven point underdogs, according to Foxbet, against the Chiefs this weekend. Boy, he's a big dude. Brable looks like a player.

I mean, seriously, he and Mike Tomlin look like players. Big men. Yeah. I think guys like that. He's a big alpha. And the end of that. I think guys like they respect someone who played or if they haven't played someone who understands the game.

But I also think when it comes to relating to players, it's kind of, it's a balance of being pushed and respecting what it is that you do every day. I do like the Titans this year. I mean, nobody saw this coming, so they do have an underdog. They're not going to win this game. We've got to stop with this nonsense. No, they're not. They're not going to win this game.

They're not going to win this game. They're not going to beat Kansas City and Kansas City. That's not going to happen. They're seeking to become the third team since the NFL changed playoff formats in 1990 to beat the top three seeds in their respective conference in a single postseason. The 2005 Steelers and the 2010 Packers did it. And they both won the Super Bowl. Now, stop it.

This is not going to have this. I'm not going all the way to Miami to get Tannahill and the Titans. I also am not doing that, especially because Ryan Tanyhill played for the Dolphins. And that would just be the ultimate irony. I will say this. I say this about Tanya Hill. He started a lot of games in this league. He's not a puppy.

This dude's been in the league a long time. No, and he's been through it. But it doesn't matter about Tanna Hill. That's not the element in this game I'm concerned about. I am concerned about Derek Henry. That's what I'm concerned about. All I know is this. If I get my homes and I get Jimmy GQ, that's going to be the greatest week of my life.

I'll take Aaron Rogers, too. He's been there before. I get San Francisco and I get Ken. Listen, it doesn't matter to me, but I'm just telling you, if I have to go to Miami for a week, there was about 30 minutes the other night. I thought I was getting Tennessee and Houston in the AFC championship. I was with you. I had Harper.

I was concerned. Not great. A little sweaty. All right, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. By the way, got plans this weekend getting in a car.

Michelin Endurance X-D silicone wiper blades, available at Walmart last two times longer. He's as good at college football coach as we ever had. Three national championships, one of two coaches to win a title at two different schools. Sabin is the other, of course. Urban Meyer via the Cowherd Global Satellite Network. All right, let's start. Coach, let's start with this. I think it's as accomplished a team as I've ever seen.

They beat all these teams. I don't know if they're the best team, but good Lord, they beat a lot of good teams and a lot of SEC powers. If I said to you, best college team ever, what would your reaction be? I think best offensive college team ever would be a great argument. The best quarterback season of quarterbacks ever had would probably be, yes, best team ever. I kind of looked it up this morning. You had Clemson, and then you had the, oh, shoot, there's one other team that we saw

that had better offense and defensive production. So I think when you talk about team, you got to find a team that was Florida State and it was Clemson. Yeah. That both teams were top five offense and defense. And then the Florida Gator team in 08, you had a top 15 offense and defense.

So I think when you put it all together, it's certainly one of them. But, you know, when you have a 20-something, jump-ranked defense, I think that's, you know, I think there's some better teams that there's been. You know, you are a very good recruiter, and you really understand personnel. I mean, you just, you've been able to pick a lot of players, and you get it, especially on offense. And I look at Joe Burrow, and I'm going to ask you as a personnel guy, does he remind you

of anybody you've had? Does it translate to the NFL in your opinion? Well, the ones that I've had personally, it reminds you of Alex Smith, who's a warrior, competitor, a brilliant guy. I spent many times talking to Joe throughout the year, and I know Joe Brady and Emzingo the coordinator and Joe really put together, but Joe was very involved in those game plans. He's that smart of a player, and Alex Smith was the same way. So Alex Smith was the first pick overall in 2004. Joe will be the first overall pick in 2020. And I just think they remind me both of each other. What did you learn about Trevor Lawrence last night, the Clemson quarterback coach?

Yeah, I love Trevor Lawrence. I saw it firsthand. I witnessed it. I witnessed it against Ohio State. I loved his toughness. I think he had a couple obviously high passes yesterday, a little inaccuracy issues. But someone asked me, do you think that hurt his draft stock? Absolutely not. He's got another year. He's a great football player. And I just, the first time I always look at, how tough is that guy? And this guy's tough as nails. So he'll be. I think he'll be the first pick next year. You know what? The ball sailed on him, coach, a little last night.

Is that pressure? I mean, it did feel like the ball sailed on him. I love that question. And we used to, I still tell the story about Cardell Jones, that when he made his first start and in the National Chapch game against Wisconsin, against Alabama, we played most of the game outside the hash marks because I knew adrenaline would be pumped up. I knew, you know, the worst thing can happen is you overthrow a guy down the middle field.

You overthrow it down the sideline, it's incomplete. So I'm sure he has played in the big show before, but he was a little inaccurate compared to what he's been throughout the most of the year. You've won three national championships. When you're preparing for a game of this magnitude, coach, do you have to coach a little different because the stage is so dramatic and grandiose? Yeah, a lot of people think what's the pregame speech like? How do you motivate your team?

There's very little pregame speech, very little motivation. And I can't speak for Coach Ogeron or Coach Sweeney, but I would imagine it was all about prep. It was all about actually lowering the pressure, lowering, you know, calming everything down. When you're playing a team that you're supposed to beat, that's when you have to, you know, charge everybody up and get everybody going. But the bigger of the game, the robbery game, the playoffs or national championship, it's all about preparation and getting that team healthy. Now, I don't, I'd be shocked. I'd love to hear what Coach O says about that, but I think it's more about just prep, not some great pregame speech. You never really had failure at the college level. Coach O got fired. I was told no by USC.

He's a remarkable story of American redemption. And I have to admit, I am shocked by it. I always saw him as a coordinator, a great recruiter, a wonderful man. But I never saw the head coach thing. are you a bit surprised at Orgeron is hoist on the trophy last night? Well, I love Coach O. I've known him for 20 years. And I knew him back when he was at Miami. And then Sonny Lubick was one of his dear friends. And I worked for Sonny.

So I got to know him way back in the 90s. And then I coached against him when he was an old miss. And I think he'd be the first to tell you that he probably made some mistakes there. And when he was maybe not the first choice at LSU and then also they hire a guy, you know, I was happy for him. I thought he's the perfect fit for LSU. He's from Louisiana. He understands the culture, and he's a great recruiter. And I think the first thing he did was surround himself with elite coaches.

And you got Dave Miranda, you got the co-offensive coordinators on offense, and let him do his deal. And that's motivate, inspire, and recruit. Yeah. It was fun last night. I got to be honest with you. I sat and I picked Clemson to win. And about halfway through it, I'm like, you know what?

This is a good story. I'm happy for LSU. If it's good for the state of Louisiana, it did feel like to me that Clemson came out. They've been here before and had a good first quarter. But boy, coach, the last three quarters, I just thought LSU was a better team. Their secondary was absurd. I felt LSU was absolutely a better team. Is that how you saw it?

No doubt. They had seven wins against top 10 teams. Seven wins against top 10 teams. Their body work wasn't even close with anybody else in the playoffs. and that's why I picked them to win and pretty much close to the score. I thought because of Trevor Lawrence, because of the coaching staff,

Coach Venerables, and obviously they've been there before Clemson, I thought it'd be a heck of a game it was. But how about this? Last year at the NFL draft, I'm sent with Coach Ogeron, and he said, do you realize your boy saved our jobs?

And he was talking about Joe Burrow. And he wasn't talking about necessarily how great of a quarterback because he was still learning. He had a very workman-like career last year, last year or last year. But his leadership, his ability to motivate others, inspire others, lift everybody else around them, their level of play,

he looked me right in the eye and said, your boy, saved our jobs. And that's one of the reasons I picked them to be in the playoffs right out of the jump because of Ozoron and because of Joe. Joe told me, you know, he was here on the 14 national championship team and he knew what that chemistry is like, and he felt that they had it at LSU and they stayed healthy and really happy for that group.

Yeah. Coach, great seeing you. Is that your office, by the way? Is that your fancy office you're in right now? Yeah, it's a little smaller than my own office, but it's a great one. Good seeing you, Urban. Good seeing you, Colin. All right, great stuff. Boy, I love having Urban Meyer at our network, all sorts of.

He made me just so many stories. He's talking to all these guys. Coach O is great for football. I mean, I'm telling you, folks, I never thought I'd see Coach O out coaching Clemson, but man, man, that is what sports is all about. And culture and fit matters. I got no problem saying I, Whiffed on Coach O. Never saw him being a head coach to this level. Totally whiffed on it.

And it's great. It's an amazing story. I love it. It's an unbelievable. Unless you're from Clemson. It's very easy to get behind. No, yeah. But Clemson's not going anywhere. And LSU's not going anywhere. They could meet again next year. Coming up, why the NFL is great. Ten stories that happened this year. You'd laugh at me if I'd have told you they were going to happen on Labor Day weekend. That is coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. specific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Do you own or rent a home? Sure you do.

Fortunately, Geico makes it easy to bundle your home and auto insurance. Go to Geico.com. Get a quote, see how much you could save. Geico.com, it's very, very easy. Well, one of the things we love, I mean, in college football, you know, it's become more and more regionalized. Clemson was in the title game again. Clemson's favor to be in the title game next year.

Alabama's usually in it. They're favored to be back to the title game. next year the top five teams in the country are Clemson, Florida, Bama, LSU. In the NFL, that's just not the way it works. So it's very easy for me to predict. I can make next year's predictions for college football, list the top 10, and I'd get about eight right.

That doesn't mean the game's not fun, and last night wasn't amazing. By the way, the SEC went nine and two in bowl games. They're pretty good again, and they'll be good again next year. But the NFL is crazy, and every year I make preseason predictions. And it's amazing the pushback I get because people are shocked when I say things like, I think this team will go from four wins to nine wins and I get nothing but pushback. So I'm going to give you 10 things you would have rolled your eyes at, rushed to Twitter at,

had I said them a week before the season starts. How about this one? 49ers are going to go from 4 and 12 to the number one seed, host the NFC Championship and go 13. in three. They went from 21st in points a game to second because Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be better than advertised. Now, I did say

Joy is my witness, I thought they would be the most improved team. You were way ahead of the 49ers. Yeah, I gave them nine wins. I said they're going to double their wins or more. And I did think, I looked around the league and I'm like, I'm not sure how good Matt LaFleur is. I thought about putting them in the

NFC championship, but I thought they it's a generally, it's a step league. You need steps. But you would have laughed if I would have said, instead of 4 and 12 to 9 and 7, if I'd have said 4 and 12 to 13 and 3, and it happened. Lamar Jackson, runaway MVP. Folks, he averaged 159 yards passing. Now you have the NFL in touchdowns with 36 and was third in passer rating at 113.

If I'd have said to you, you know that guy who runs around and the passing part's not great, his passer rating is going to be at the top of the league and he's going to, and that's what happened. Yeah, 90% of sports fans would claim they saw this coming, but. Nobody saw it. The ones that keep it real, no one saw this coming. They didn't in Baltimore see this coming. Right. Number three, so Ryan Taneyhill starts the season on the bench.

He's going to take over for Marcus Marietta. He's going to go to Foxborough and he's going to beat Brady, and he's going to go then to Baltimore and beat the number one seat. This is the nine and seven Titans. They're only the third team since 1970 to beat the number one offense and the number one defense in the playoffs. Yeah. It is the ultimate team that never delivers when you think, and they have delivered to end the dynasty and to end the Raven season. How about if I would have said this? Yeah, the Cleveland Browns, they're going to get way worse.

I mean, they're going to be worse than the 7-8 and 1 team. Yeah, but they added all these good. But John Dorsey, but Baker Mayfield. but no, they're going to be way. In fact, they're going to be the laughing stock of the league. And Baker Mayfield, by the way, is then going to play for his fourth head coach in three seasons. You saw that coming?

When Freddie Kitchens got hired, I've never seen a fan base assure itself. It was off and running. Remember, Baker came off the end of the previous season, throwing all sorts of touchdowns. That's what happened. They were worse. And Baker was 31st in completion percentage

and 31st in passer rating. If I'd have told you that, you'd have said I was a hater. How about this? Kirk Cousins is going to go to New Orleans and out-dued Drew Brees in a playoff game. It's the first Viking road playoff win since like 2005. And Kirk Cousins has never been the primetime guy. And if I told you, yeah, I mean, New Orleans is going to be really good, but Kirk's going to go down there and really outplay him.

He's going to make some unbelievable throws. You'd have said I was loony. How about this one? Yeah, Andrew Luck's coming off a great year. He's going to retire. What? But he was great in 2018. He got the comeback player of the year.

I know. And he's just going to retire. Why? Because he's tired of being tired. I mean, that was a shocker. Nobody saw that coming. Nobody saw that coming. He had come off a very good 2018.

It's one of the all-time surprises in sports history. And he also had this terrific offensive line, like for the next 10 years. Yeah, it felt like it had finally come together for. He had the right GM. He had the right coach. Right. How about if I told you this? Hey, the Rams were in the Super Bowl.

They're not even going to make the playoffs. Todd Gurley, he's never going to be the same player. This team is going to finish third. What? Yeah, McVease, they could never hangover. Gurley didn't get nearly the touches, key injuries. How about if I would have told you this? Dallas Cowboys, yeah, they're going to hire Mike McCarthy.

That picture doesn't even look right. I mean, that doesn't even look right. to set. Well, he has on the wrong color tie. You mean the guy that... See, like that looks right. Like the guy that got fired in Green Bay that we said, old, no good. Yeah. Dallas is going to hire him. Well, he doesn't really look like Dallas. He's not really a Dallas guy.

I know, but they're going to hire him. So Mike McCarthy is going to be the only coach in NFL history that will have coached the Packers and the Cowboys. You just said I was out of my... You would have called it a hot take. And it happened. How about this one? Nick Foles is going to get benched for Gardner Minshu.

Yeah, Nick Foles is going to go O for Four as a star. and there's a month period where we're talking about Gardner Minchu as like rookie of the year shock of the NFL season. Gardner Minchew. Nick Foles never won a game. By the way, if I'd have said Nick Foles

will not win a game, you know what I think about Nick Foles. You would have crushed me. Yeah, I would have. And finally, everything that happened to Antonio Brown, all of it, all of it. Well, Pittsburgh would tell you

that they saw that coming. But if I'd have said, listen, he's going to go to Oakland, and he's going to freeze his feet in a cryo machine. And then he wants a new helmet. And then he goes to New England. Oh, did he sign him? Yeah, for like an hour.

Then they get rid of him. And then he becomes the craziest, saddest thing on social media in America today. His story is so beyond the per, like, talk about off the fairway. It's really. It's gotten sad. It has. I don't want to use the word disappointing because it's beyond that. It is beyond that.

Just look at those stories. Mintermania was fun, though, for like three weeks. Mike McCarthy. People don't understand this. Lamar Jackson was throwing for 150 yards a game. We probably could have slipped more in there. Kyle Allen. Remember that happened?

For about six weeks. So remember, when we make preseason predictions, understand what defines the NFL is change is nuts. There's going to be another 40 years. Niners next year. And one of these young quarterbacks that you kind of like is going to pop. 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. In 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart 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 Clivert 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, A, 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 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. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis coming to, he's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.