The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Open Mike - Raiders GM Dave Ziegler on beating Broncos, Derek Carr as QB1, role on ‘The Sopranos’

Episode Date: December 14, 2022

Las Vegas Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler talks to Mike Silver about the dramatic 22-16 overtime win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. They also discuss Ziegler's time working in New England on the Patriots with legendary coach Bill Belichick, the organization's thoughts on QB Derek Carr, and his short acting career including an appearance on the series finale of 'The Sopranos.' #volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

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Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Cliford show on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcast, And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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, Marquis come in. 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. The volume. This is a big moment here on Open Mic. We've had big time players.

We've had head coaches. We've had an assistant who's probably going to be at head coach soon. We have not had a general manager. We now have Las Vegas general manager, Dave Ziegler. Hello, Dave. Thanks for having me. I'm just, I'm excited to break the. break the barrier here be the first GM on this astounding podcast i mean this is good stuff well i got

to tell you dude i'm happy we have you now because you know i feel for you you've uh you know you took this job you and josh mcdaniels your longtime friend have attacked it and a lot of uh you know disappointment so far but i know it's a process you know there's been a ton of noise for you guys And the NFL is so crazy now. And, you know, as we noted, you and I recently off camera, half the teams of your division, you and the Broncos, there's been, you know, hysterical proclamations that everybody needs to get fired. Was it nice when Mark Davis, your owner, came out recently and just said, look, I'm supporting

Josh. He's going to be back. And we're not doing anything crazy here. Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, like you said, Mike, like this, you know, this day and age, that's the reality of it. You know, you're just, things can get swept up more into a frenzy quicker, you know, with the way that, you know, the media is right now and Twitter is and all that stuff. It's just, it's not a knock. It's just a reality. You know what I mean? And so, yeah,

I think it was good for the team to hear that because there was, you know, because the noise was out there and for Mark to come out and support Josh that way and support us that way. I think for the team, it was good. You know, it gave them a sigh of, you know, a little bit of a sigh like, okay, we can, this is, this is the direction that we're going and we can buckle down and focus in on what our job is and trying to win football games. And so, you know, it was appreciative. And I think, you know, it's beneficial for the organization to have that stance of patience, too, because the reality is, is when you look at a lot of the teams that have sustained

winning, which is the ultimate goal, for the most part, there's a, there's a huge level of continuity there. And that continuity didn't come without like dips in the road. You know what I mean? Or a season that didn't meet expectations to a degree. And so I think that you have to have some, if you're going to give yourself a chance, you hope that you hire the right people, one. And then there has to be a level of continuity over time to allow that thing to grow roots

and actually produce some success. And that's a good point because they went through a lot last year in your building. So probably the last thing they want to hear is something. involving upheaval. Yeah, I would think so. You guys went out and made some moves in free agency and obviously made the

big trade for Devante Adams. And that seemed to signal to a lot of people were in win now mode coming off a 10-win season only the second Raider playoff season in 20 years. But, you know, a good performance against the Bengals in the playoffs and a nice

10 and seven season. Has it just has it been harder to get it rolling, you know, out of the gate than you thought? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. And, you know, there's probably a lot of different variables. You can pinpoint the end of the day, like, you know, we haven't won enough. And so none of us have done a, you know, a good enough. And none of us are slapping ourselves on the backs and we've done a good job up to that this point, you know, in all the areas that we need. Now, we've done a good job with specific things in certain areas. But yeah, there's been some, you know, there's been some challenges along the way.

And, you know, nobody wants to hear excuses and things like that. And so any reason that you would give, obviously it looks as an excuse. You know what I mean? But I would say, like, there's always the element of, you know, in football in general, I think when you're building the team,

and whether you're new to an organization or not, there's always the element of like, if we have the opportunity to invest, the team and get a Devante Adams and improve the team with a high quality player that fits kind of what we're looking for in terms of the traits and all that stuff, you know, those are opportunities that we want to take advantage of. We're still building a team at the same time. And I think you're always still building a team, but you also want to try to win games. You want to try to win games now too. And so you're trying to find the balance of, you know,

spending and acquiring players to, you know, improve the team in the immediate future, but also making moves and doing some things on the side to kind of build out a long range because you know you have to build it. We don't have every single piece, you know, here. It just, that's not how, you know, that's not the reality of the NFL. And so, you know, we lost a bunch of close games. You know, we lost the game to Arizona in overtime. You know, we lost, we threw a couple of pounds.

into the end zone against Tennessee trying to win that game. Kansas City, we had a ball, you know, had the ball with a chance to score. And we just haven't been able to get it done, you know, quite frankly for, you know, there's, every game, there's different reasons why those don't think those things don't happen. But, you know, those, you know, when you have those things, it takes a toll, too, you know, on your, on your mentals in terms of like just naturally when you lose as many, you know, quick games. And you're also at the same time trying to assimilate.

a bunch of different people together. Sometimes a hot start can cover up a lot of different growing pains that you have with the new regime and a new organization. And we've had to go through those here on the front end. And what I'm hopeful for, and I think what we're hopeful for is that we're able to continue to progress and show some improvement here as we go. And some of that improvement, Mike's going to be seen on the field. Some of it's never going to be seen on the field. Some of it's stuff that's happening in the building, you know, whether it's about accountability, whether it's about improving the attention to detail in the organization, whether it's building your practice habits, the scouting system,

how we get the emphasis we put on character and background research and how we've changed some of those things. And so I think we're doing a lot of good things that are foundational pieces that you have to have to be successful in the NFL, a relationship between a head coach and a GM who are on the same page who are working together in a harmonious relationship and some of those things. So I think we have a lot of good things that are being built

that I know you have to have in place to win in the future. We need to do some better things on Sunday to win football games. And that's the reality because that's what everybody wants to see and that's what you're judged on. And so, you know, we're going to keep pushing and keep being critical of ourselves and keep looking at our processes and how we can improve it and evaluate and evolve as we've.

go. And like, that's, like, that's what we have to do. That relationship that you referenced with Josh McDaniels, that goes back 26 years to your recruiting trip to John Carroll when he was a freshman wide receiver. First of all, that's wild. Secondly, what do we remember about the origin story of you and Josh? Yeah. Well, like, I'd always known of Josh because he was, you know, at Camp McKinley, and they were this monster program in Northeast Ohio. I think his senior year, they'd played Maslin in the 100th game.

Oh, yeah. And that was, you know, that was a big deal. And I actually went to, they lost to, they lost to Maslin in the 100th game during the regular season. They played them again at the Akron Rubber Bowl in the playoffs. And it was 28,000 people were at that game in the rubber bowl. And they actually didn't let, they stopped the crowd from people from coming in because of fire codes and things like that. I was at the game as a fan as a high school, junior just went into his game. And so I like, I know who Josh McDaniel is just from the notoriety and the,

the, um, the notoriety of the programs and things like that. And so to meet him when I met him for the first time, um, it was kind of like, you know, it was this known, you know, I was at a small high school. Um, so it was like, that's Josh McDaniels like he's, he's the dude. You know what I mean? And so it was kind of a little bit of like, um, not starstruck, you know, but like, this is the guy. You know, I was at a high school that, you know, we get 2,000 people to go to the game. You know, it was a big night. And so that was pretty cool. And then we kind of just bonded a little bit, just our playing styles.

We were both kind of, you know, undersized, scrappy, would go in there and mix it up, talk trash, you know, block to the whistle. And we kind of bonded along those lines. And, you know, we would talk trash to each other and challenge each other and things like that. So it was kind of a, it was a competitive relationship. but it was, you know, one that was from back in the day that was built on respect of just how we kind of played and approached the game. And so that was, you know, that was kind of the origin of, you know, how we connected and what we connected on. And then, you know, and again, it's, you know, people, a lot of people think Josh and I were like best friends in the sense of like going on family vacations together and going out to dinner and doing that. It's not necessarily that.

I mean, we're close friends. We are close friends. But he had a group of friends. I had a group of friends. And, you know, we have some similarities and differences. But the really unique thing, I think, is just the respect and, like, the honesty that we're able to have with each other. And we've always had that. And now it manifests itself in a really cool way in this environment because he can tell me that, hey, that's a really dumb idea.

You know? And I can tell him the same thing, maybe a more colorful language. at times, but we can do that. And it's not like, you know, you hurt my feelings. I hurt his feelings. And so I just really appreciate that and really respect that about the relationship that we have. That's awesome. So I have a little intel on this because at the combine, you and Josh and I sat and talked

about this late one night. And according to Josh, you were like the Dante Hall of D3 return men. And we know you have a lot of school records. You're at a Hall of Fame. And, first of all, is it true that you never Fair Caught a Punt? No, that's not true. I think there, in three years, I think there was two times. There was two instances where I did Farcatch Catch a Punt.

But tried to avoid it at all costs. You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, apparently. And, you know, that's... Our special teams coordinator was, you know, he said he was like, you know, I wish you would just fair catch it more. And I said, Coach, well, I can't score if I'm doing that. Like, I didn't really have any interest in fair catching it because that took the, that took scoring out of the equation.

Did people stand up at home games, like when the other team was about to fund and you were about to catch a vote? Like, was it, oh, here we go? Well, I know my parents did. I don't know. We didn't have huge crowds at John Carroll, but I know. that we had a lot of success as a unit, punt returns and kick returns. I mean, almost the majority of them were big returns. And so, like, there was definitely a level of excitement with the team

and, you know, and the people that were there, like, something cool could happen. And, you know, we, we did it often. Now, I cover the Niners in the late 80s and 90s as a beatwriter and that as a columnist. So I know Merton Hanks very well. And I'm very familiar with. his celebration. So apparently you were doing the Merton Hanks chicken dance when you would score. Yeah, I loved that's a true story. I loved, I did like Merton Hanks and I liked his celebration. So I incorporated it at the D3 level to inject some juice into the environment. I'd break out the Merton Hates, the Merton Hanks strut every once in a while after a touchdown. There has to be video, I feel like. And there has to be video. And in the background of the video,

they'll be like, oh, hey, like, you know, tons of NFL coaches and personnel people who we all know. Yeah, yeah, maybe even London Fletcher, former player. Oh, yeah, that'd be sweet. Who was actually announced, who was announced as a semi-finalist today for the NFL, for the Football Hall of Fame. So, go out there and support London Fletcher, all you voters out there. Iron Man, most consecutive games ever played, two-time Super Bowl champ, all pro, Pro Bowl guy, thousands of tackles every year. He deserves to get in. Totally agree with you. And he, you know, he's one of those guys like Zach Thomas who was told

you're too short, you know, among many others, right? Sam Mills. Yeah. And, you know, oh, Aaron Donald, you know, but London Fletcher, you're too short, man. And he was like, oh, okay, I'll just, you know, go be one of the best players of my era. Yeah, I know. Amazing. That's awesome. We have to get into your acting career and then we'll go back to football, but I understand. It was so illustrious. That's right. So take us through because, you know, you get out of school and you're trying to figure out what you want to do and find your way. And, you know, apparently you are, you know, you just have a gift for, you know, inhabiting other people's personas and convincing an audience that you are someone else.

That is very complimentary. But yeah, the way that I got into that, my post-college career, I started as a ninth-grade social studies teacher and coaching high school football one year in Ohio. And then I moved out to Arizona and I was a social studies teacher for two more years out there at an at-risk high school for kids that had been, had disciplinaries and stuff, issues and things of that nature. and coach high school football out there. And so I was on this journey of trying to, you know, figure like you said, figure out what I was going to do and went back to John Carroll. I coached there for two years.

I got my master's degree in school counseling at that time, which has come in handy more often than not in this job too. And I'll bet. Yeah. And then I ended up at Iona College, which is in New Rochelle, New York. And I was living actually in the city at the time. And I was a wide receiver coach there.

It was called like a restricted Nicola. called it restricted earnings. You know, do not, kids out there, do not take a job with the title restricted earnings. That was restores. That's one of those you don't tell your parents either. Like, you don't tell the exact job title. Exactly. I was restricted to $7,000.

And so, you know, I was in New York City and basically saw an ad for an agency that was looking for extra work. and I didn't know really, I knew, you know, kind of what it was. I didn't know what it entailed or how little money that you made. But I ended up, you know, going to this agency and, you know, getting in line with them. And they would call me for jobs the night before. So I ended up in law and order, the born ultimatum, the final episode of the Sopranos. I was an audience member in a game show called Chain Reaction that was on the game show network.

And so, you know, did a handful of things over a course of probably like three months. And then I realized like, this is hard work. Like you're there for like 15, 16 hours a day sometimes. And then it was like $75. And I was trying to just make extra money. I wasn't really, I wasn't trying to make a career in the movie industry. And after a few months, I was like, man, this is not cutting it. And so I bailed out of it.

But yeah, I did have probably the most noteworthy one. was law and order because you could actually see me in that one. The other ones, I was like maybe a blur kind of walking across the screen, the screen. But yeah, I got to be a reporter in that one. And it was ice tea and ludicrous was on it because I think it was like a season finale. And I thought I did a pretty good job as a reporter. So that was my illustrious acting career. It's good because now when you get ripped by the media, you have empathy. because you've been in that role. A hundred percent.

Did you get to talk to Icy or ludicrous? I tried. I am a large hip-hop and rap fan, and so grew up on iced tea and and ludicrous, you know, during college and things like that. Yeah, I tried to squeeze in there and kind of start some conference. I just kind of got pushed to the, you know, push to the side. Like, hey, dude, like, you're too close to the real actors.

Like, can you move back? you're, you know, disturbing some people. Well, you seem to have a knack for finale because you hit that season finale, but I got to stop you because you said Sopranos finale. Yeah. Very controversial episode, by the way. Yeah. I would argue the greatest TV show ever.

You know, you could, I think Breaking Bad has kind of, you know, gotten up there. There's other ones we can argue. But kind of the thing that started at all, for you kids out there, TV kind of blew movies were cool and TV kind of blew all through the last century. And then the Sopranos came like at the end of the century. And now TV's awesome, basically. So what did you do? What was your blip on the Sopranos?

I was a guy walking down the street is what I was. And so just a random guy. I think I forget with the, I forget with the, the scene actually was. I think the scene led into some, not the final thing at the diner where there was a shooting, but some type of shooting that took place. And yeah, I was just, I was just a random guy walking down the street. So when you would watch these episodes after the fact, would you make, like, you know, women you knew or friends or family members like watch with you would be like, there it is. I should have. I didn't because I quickly realized after I think

the Born Altamatim one where I was like, okay, you know, I'm going to, I'm in this. I'm, again, I'm walking down the street and, like, could never find myself. So I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of others of like, you know, kind of, you know, making this a bigger deal than it was for us to just, you know, not really be able to see my face. So now I know some of my friends, I think, used it for themselves of like, they knew a guy. I have a friend that's an actor, this and that to kind of spur up some conversations. But no, not for myself.

I never benefited. Important question. When you watched the Sopranos finale, aside from your impressive stint as a guy walking down the street, what do you think? Well, the ending, you know, I wanted finality, right? So I wanted to feel like I really, you know, I knew what happened.

And so I was disableness. in that because I didn't like the open-endedness of it. That's just me personally. I would have liked the scene like, okay, here's how it, here's, after all these years and all these seasons, like, this is how it ended. And we didn't get that. And so, like, that was disappointing for me. I agree with you.

In fact, I think I tweeted, like, hey, David Chase, about that soprano's ending. I mean, you know, it's ridiculous. Like, come on. Tell me. And also, like, I need, you know, it's not a, it wasn't a, subtle show. Like there were amazing subtleties, but like you knew what was going on. So tell us what's going on. I have a controversial take, by the way. I liked the Seinfeld finale, and I may be the only one. I remember watching it at a friend's house. And I know she was like, she was a friend of

mine, it was actually a friend of mine and a buddy in mine. They were like all disappointed and distraught about the ending. And I was kind of like, yeah, you know, this is what it is. Yeah, I didn't think offense to it. Yeah, I kind of thought it was great. He's back to him, stand up, you know, crack it on his friend from Cell Block C. And, you know, I mean, I was okay with it. Could have been worse. Exactly. We've seen worse. All right. Let me do one more non-football question, because you alluded to it. You were a school guidance counselor, and those skills are coming in handy now. Do you have one? Do you have one? moment from your career as a guidance counselor where you're like, whoa, this is pretty surreal.

Like, how am I in this situation? Yeah. Yeah, you know, I again, I don't want to be a downer of any sort, but we dealt with like dealt with some heavy stuff, you know, during the times that, during the years that I was a counselor. And so, you know, just a lot of the problems that, you know, kids face today were a lot of the things that I deal with, whether it was drug addiction, and having to talk to a family and having someone, you know, having someone have to come clean, you know, of something that they had tried to hide, you know, for a period of time and seeing the emotion in the room, you know, when those types of things happened, was really intense, had a couple instances where, you know, someone lost someone close to them,

both a parent, you know, or in and or a parent losing a child. And so, you know, there's some really, some real heavy stuff that, you know, that I, you know, went through with, with families and with students and things like that. And again, I think, you know, I think, Mike, for me, like a lot of that stuff helps me now just from a perspective standpoint, you know, and keeping things in perspective day to day. And, you know, like, you know, like, don't sweat the small stuff, you know, type of mentality. And so, you know, I learned a learn a lot of things going through those situations and just being a guidance counselor in general. But yeah, a lot of those, you know, a lot of those heavy things when you're 20 and you know,

you're 27, 28 years old. And I haven't even experienced those things in my own life. You know, I've been very fortunate in that way. And so those are some really surreal experiences of trying to lead in those types of circumstances. Let's go back to football. You guys came in and I kind of was monitoring this because, you know, I've known you for a while and I'm rooting for you. And at first, the new league or the legal tampering period starts and there's all these moves getting announced. And listen, I fell into this trap all those years at NFL network where I would be on TV all the time. We root for naturally aggressiveness and big moves. And it's not always the right thing to.

root for in retrospect. But I'd rather know that a team has taken swings as opposed to just sitting back. And I used to have the gag where I was Ted Thompson doing the crossword puzzle. And may he rest of peace. But so in the beginning, you didn't do anything for, I don't know how, it wasn't that long, but it wasn't that long. A day. It felt like three weeks. I think it was like 48, 48 hours. Yeah. So 48 hours of nothing from the Raiders. And people were freaking. They were like, oh, my God, what are these guys doing? Are they going to do anything?

Because the rest of your division was popping. And then all of a sudden, here came Dave Ziegler wheeling and dealing. So yeah, just take me through how you experience those first 48 hours and what happened afterwards. Yeah. Like you said, there was, you know, there was a lot of moves being made, you know, from the other teams in our division. And, you know, we were, we were, you know, again, I'd say strategically trying to be, you know, trying to be patient. It wasn't that we weren't like doing anything at all. We were doing things.

Some of those things didn't come to fruition because the price of doing business got too high in certain circumstances. And so, yeah, my, and I told the story, like my friends were like hammered me with a bunch of the stuff that was on Twitter, like me in a clown face. And there's probably some more of those out there right now, actually. and, you know, asleep at the wheel of a car and all this different stuff. And so, you know, I knew that the, I knew that the heat was out there. But, you know, you're just trying to look for, you know, look for the right situation. And then the Devante Adams thing, you know, came to fruition. It looked like it was something that we were going to be able to do that organizationally we felt was a good decision.

And so that was the first one, which really wasn't a free agency thing. It was just, it was during the period of free agency. And so, you know, that came together and, you know, a handful of other moves. And I'd say like you said it, like the reality is, is you don't really want to be a big player in free agency. A lot of times when you're a big player in free agency, it's because of, you know, either roster holes that you have because of prior free agent signings that didn't work out. Or most likely, it's because the drafts haven't went your way over a period of time. And so because that core group of young players hasn't developed within your organization, you have to go out and fill those holes in free agency. And so I would say, like, what really we want to be, what really where we really want to be at is not being, you know, taking a whole bunch of aggressive swings in free agency.

I think where you really want to be is taking calculated swings in free agency. It doesn't make your, I'm not saying you don't make a big signing, but it's calculated for your team. and you're not really trying to fill out the roster and free agency. And we're in that cycle right now, and it's going to take us a little bit of time in terms of drafting, you know, Las Vegas Raiders and building that young core where we're not in it. But yeah, there is an element of excitement when you're doing it that you can, you know, that you get caught up in and that you enjoy because there's some juice there,

you know, when you're making these signings and you're feeling like improving the team. But like you said it, a lot of times you, you know, these teams that take these big swings and have all these signings in free agency, you get to later in the year and oftentimes they didn't come to fruition. And that's natural because you're taking a lot of people that were raised in another organization that grew up in another system, different coaches and things like that. And you're trying to put all those pieces together and just roll with them. It's not that easy as, you know, historically we found out. That's a good point. And you spent all those years in New England, which, you know, had

has had 20 plus years of sustained success, you know, freakish, unprecedented. And, you know, a lot of times people like me would get frustrated and say, hey, man, you got Tom Brady, go out and get everybody. And, you know, you did it in 2007 and that predated you, but Randy Boss and West Welker and them. And then other years, it didn't happen. A couple years ago, coming off that rough season, the Patriots kind of went wild at free agency. And I was like, John O'Smith, I love Johnny Smith.

I just thought that was the greatest signing ever. So far hasn't proven to be. And then, you know, Matthew Judon, I was like, yeah, I could see that. But he really hasn't been a sack guy. And again, I was wrong on that so far. He's been a huge impact player. But no, you're right. I mean, I think, you know, having, I guess you haven't been in New England for all those years with Bill,

Does that make you more prone to say, let's set our value and look for value as opposed to try to win the hearts of the Mike Silvers on TV in March? Yeah, I think so. And like you said it, that sustained success that they've had in New England is what a lot of people strive for. And that's what we're striving for. And a lot of teams across the league are striving for that sustained success. And so, yeah, I learned a lot during that time of, like, you know, patience, building your roster through the draft, you know, or alternative ways, you know, whether it's a trade or whether it's a guy off a practice squad or a player that was cut from their team and things like that. And just being calculated in free agency and trying to find the right guy that fits a specific role for your team. and when there's an opportunity to strike, you know, at one point, while I was in New England,

we signed Gilmore, you know, stuff on Gilmore to a big deal at the time. And he was the right player. He was a young player. You know, we invested in a young player that was, I think, you know, 25, 26 was still ascending, really good character traits, really good football traits. And those guys are few and far between in free agency. Those guys usually don't get to free agency in a lot of cases. And so that was a really smart signing by Bill at the time, and it proved to be really valuable for New England.

So, again, there's a balance there. I don't want to say that you don't do anything. I just think you want to be calculated. And we were able to do that in New England because there was a lot of years where there was a lot of good draft, the McCordy's, the High Towers, Jamie Collins, you know, going back for way farther from when I was there, Vince Wilfork. And, you know, there was a lot of these core players that were there where you didn't

have to feel like you were going to free agency to build your team. That's a great point. Well, one of the things you did in Vegas is you identified some core players and extended them and paid them. Derek Carr, obviously, the biggest of the names. But Max Crosby, who, you know, is obviously, we noticed him. Yeah. Hunter Redfro, Darren Waller.

You know, what was your thinking behind those movies? Yeah, I think just what you said, there was an opportunity there. Those guys all really productive or had been productive in past seasons. And so, you know, it was an opportunity we felt to kind of get this nucleus of offensive players in Carr, in Renfro and Waller that had been here. And then Max on the defensive side, who was a young player who's obviously still ascending. And so it was an opportunity we felt like to kind of get this. you know, a core group of players together that had worked together, that had played together, that had built some continuity together and have them, you know, and kind of, you know,

nail those guys down as foundational pieces. It's been, you know, the game of football, you can't predict what's going to happen from injuries in that stuff. And for us, it hasn't really, it hasn't come together at this point because we, you know, Hunter's dealt with some injuries, Darren's dealt with some injuries. And we really haven't had to have. the opportunity. I think we talked about this. I think between Darren, Derek, Josh Jacobs,

Devante, those guys have only been on the field together for, you know, under 70 snaps this year. And so we haven't really been able to build the continuity that we hope to build, you know, because of the natural parts of the game, because of injuries. And you're going to deal with that at different times. And, you know, it's everybody deals with it. But, you know, that's been unfortunate, you know, in terms of what we were

hoping to have together and how it's come together here during the season. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network

on TikTok. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined

at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast.

We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks and drinks. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar

or something here? Just hit it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Could you move? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious.

Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky. I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramers sending on to Ernie. Score at the chip. I'm Ta Bamos. 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 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. You know, I've watched Derek kind of bleeding all over the place publicly after some of

these defeats. I know he cares so much. And he's been through a lot with the organization, different regimes, different coaches, a lot of losing, a couple of winning seasons. And he's done a lot of really good things. What are your guys' thoughts organizationally about your quarterback right now? I think you hit a lot of it. Just the one thing about Derek is he's the He's just high character. Hard not to like Derek Carr as a human being as a person because, one, he's a good person. Two, he's very passionate about football. He's, you know, he is passionate about the Raiders.

Like you said, he's been through a lot of things during his time here. And, you know, he's done a really nice job of, again, he's of learning our system. Then I'll go back. He's had a lot of offensive coordinators throughout his career, too. and he's been forced to learn a lot of new systems while playing one of the hardest positions in professional sports. And so, you know, there's there's growing pains with that when you have to learn a new system. And he's done a good job, I think, of being patient and learning the system. It hasn't been seamless.

It hasn't been, you know, a perfect, a perfect process, which it shouldn't be. I don't think it is. It's not for anybody when you're learning something new. And so he's done a really good job. of learning the system, creating relationship with Josh, working through some of the kinks that come with learning a new system, and then having to go produce it on the field with a bunch of new players, too, mind you. There's a lot of new players on offense that we signed, you know,

based on a lot of expiring contracts that were in place when we came in. And so, you know, he's done a good job in just that assimilation process. You saw him this week battle in over. overtime and come through with an overtime victory, which he's done quite often in his career. And so, you know, we're just continuing to progress forward and, you know, learn each other and takes the small steps that we need to take to continue to build something here. And you've gotten a lot of production from Josh Jacobs. One of the moves you made was not picking up his fifth year option, which I think sometimes

the NFL people freak out about that, not knowing. It's, you know, it's an appreciable rise. and it doesn't mean necessarily, oh, this guy's gone. It just means we haven't seen the value yet, potentially. Some players, though, kind of go into a shell. He seems to have done the opposite and just come out running angry or whatever. Has he played his way into a different place organizationally? Yeah, I think like you said, there was, you know,

there is an element of getting to know the player as a person and getting to know the player on the, you know, on the field, too. And you know, as well as I know the running back position, it's one of the toughest positions to play in football. It's tough on the player's bodies. You know, you've seen, you know, we've seen different examples of players kind of rise and fall, you know, quickly at the running back position. And so, you know, there's an element of, I think there's an element across the NFL,

not just here, across the NFL, of kind of being cautious, you know, with some of those things. And Josh is just like you said it, he's done really a remarkable job of how he's handled it because you can go two different ways with that. And Josh has really just been laser focused on improving, taking our coaches, taking the coaching points that the coaches have given to him on ways that he can improve.

And he's also been just, he's like really talented. But his ball security has really improved this year. That's something that we really wanted to focus on with him. And he's done a good job. of taking those coaching points, his past protection, his route running. He's taking his game to, I think, to a different level this year in just terms of balancing it out. And then the kid that the kid in himself, he comes to work every day.

He practices very hard. He's very diligent about taking care of his body. He's not a, he's not a, you don't hear him very often. He's not a loud personality. But he's just, he's just doubted and focused every day. I just really enjoy seeing him work, seeing his professionalism. He's out there every day. He doesn't come out during the game.

He wants the ball consistently. And so it's been awesome to see. It's been awesome to get to know him. He's a good young man. He's still young, he's still young, too. You know, he's been in the league for a while. He's like 24, 25 years old because he came in so young. And so he's done a really good job.

And I think, yeah, we've all been impressed with what he's done this year. I keep picturing that scene in Jerry McGuire after the Rod Tinwill thing where, you know, Tom Cruise says to Glenn Fry of the Eagles who was playing the GM, you know, it's going to cost you. And he's like, I know. Like that would be a good thing if Josh Jacobs, like, you know, got to the end zone, like for the 20th time, it was like, you know.

I'm all for his success. Yeah, exactly. So you went to Denver with Josh. Josh was there, I think, a year earlier. back in 2010. That's how you started your scouting career, I believe. Correct. You know, that was a tough year for Josh.

He didn't make it through the end. There was a lot going on organizationally. You know, Mr. Boland was sick at the time, which people didn't really know publicly. What did you guys learn from that experience? And it was a whirlwind for me because, like you said, it was my first year in the NFL. So I was just trying to figure out, like,

my job and how to do it proficiently to keep it. And so there was a lot of me just trying to figure it out. So there was all that other stuff going on. I wasn't as dialed into to kind of like, you know, what it was and where it was going in terms of the season because I was just, again, focused on just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do as a scouting assistant, not mess up an airport pickup or something of that nature.

Yeah. Major part of my job. Yeah, right. He said cream. Yeah, not sugar cream. Exactly. So to be honest with you,

I didn't gain as much perspective in the moment of like what was happening and and what it meant and what the lessons to be learned, you know, from that situation. What was because I was, I, again, I had a different focus at the time. I think Josh has talked about it a lot with you and with me, all sitting around together at different times. I think the biggest thing that I know he took away from it. was the relationship piece and how important just building the relationships within an organization

is to sustain success and to create buy-in and things of that nature. And that was something like, again, people forget Josh was 32 years old. And, you know, there's a lot of perspective that you don't have at 32, that you have at 46 years old, just naturally. I think we all do. And so that was one of the big takeaways that he had. going there and coming here is just, is focusing on the relationships.

And he's been phenomenal in that regard. And I think you saw some of, if you watched, there was a video after our game from the locker room and the response of the players. And just, it's just that you saw the natural thing. You can see like there's buy in there.

You can see that Josh cares about the players. You can see the characters, excuse me, the players care about Josh. and you can, without being in the building every day, I think from that video, you can see, like, there's a relationship there. And that's a big thing that he's focused on. And he's helped me out in certain situations. You know, there's certain situations where I've wanted to do, you know, fly off the handle at something or someone. And he's told me, like, dude, relax. You know,

like, there's a different way. Like, I approached that. I've approached it in my time in Denver a certain way and I'm just going to tell you, you can do it. It's a really bad idea. You might want to think about it doing it this way. And so, you know, he's, I think that's been the biggest change. He's always been a brilliant football mind. He's always understood offense, defense, special teams, the whole deal. And so that's the area that I think we've taken with us and tried to do a really good job here. Well, it's interesting because that brings us to another one of your former bosses slash collaborators Bill, who I used to be pretty close with, had a long run where, you know, we talked a lot, then we had a falling out.

We, and now we don't talk. But, you know, I kind of appreciate Bill as a multi-faceted character. And yet, you know, Bill doesn't have time a lot of times for pleasantries in certain situations. How did you guys, because you're such a people person, how did the, the relationship, relationship evolved with you guys, especially when you were the main personnel guy. And did he ever just lose it on you? Well, yeah, I was there for a long time. And at the beginning, you know, I was a pro, I was assistant director of pro scouting. And, you know, there's, you know, there's a lot of other people that are, you know, I shouldn't say a lot. Bill's always had his core group of people at different times in his career. And, you know, as assistant director of pro, I wasn't, you know, in that core. But. But, you know, I think the thing, I hope the thing that Bill would say, and that I felt it, is that our relationship is, I just tried to be as honest as possible. Whenever I was asked a question, whenever I was asked my opinion, I always just tried to give my opinion off the work that I did and not try to give an answer that I thought someone wanted to hear.

and I hope that that, you know, is, that allowed me to build some respect within the organization and allowed me to, you know, advance and grow in the organization. You know, it's funny with Bill, like, he, I've never really saw Bill loses cool. Bill is so subtle with just, you know, with his persona that he can, he can put a dagger, he could throw a dagger at you without even raising his voice. And what I mean by that is that, um, for me, like I have such a and I think a lot of people feel that this way he's accomplished so much in this business and he's he's like just you know ungodly success that the level of respect that I have

for Bill and a lot of people have for Bill that work with him is through the roof you know it's just just because of what he's done and just seeing him how he works every day how he manages the building how he manages the team all the knowledge that he have I just never wanted to disappoint Bill you know it was almost like a parent. You know, you don't want to disappoint your dad. Or if your dad says, your parent says to you like, hey, that's disappointing. That's the dagger, right? And that's kind of how I always felt with Bill was I just did not want to disappoint Bill.

I would read an email three times before I sent it to Bill because I didn't want to, there to be a word misspelled, you know. And so I can remember, I did have an advanced scouter report at one time that as a pro scout, you produced for, you produce for the next opponent. And he called me in and said, hey, you know, where's so-and-so, like, where's so-and-so scouting report here? And for some reason, there was an oversight. I didn't have one of the players on the team's scouting report in the scouting report

that I had passed out to the staff. And it was as simple as saying, like, come on, can we just get this right? That, that's all it takes. You know, he doesn't need to raise his voice. That right there was like, you know, that was in. in the tank for a couple days, you know, just after that subtle comment. So that's really what the, you know, the relationship is. And, you know, I'm very fortunate to be able to have an opportunity to advance, to get closer to him, to have more, you know, specific football

conversations at the end of my career. And I can tell you, the opportunity that I had the last year I was in New England really set me up to be able to go and do an interview for a job. like this and be prepared for it by just being around him and seeing how he operates, seeing how he thinks, seeing that what he demands in terms of attention to detail and things like that. And it was, you know, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be, have the job that I have today if it wasn't for working with four bill. That's a very small draft room. I don't know if people realize. What year did you finally get inside the draft room during the draft? A good question. I think it took a couple years.

It might have been like my fourth or fifth year before I got in. And my job at that time was to do, I was in charge of knowing the needs of all the other teams. And you never knew when, and it didn't happen often, but it could happen at any time where all of a sudden Bill would say, hey, you know, okay, Tampa's on the clock. Hey, Dave, who do you think they're going to be taken here? and you have to have an answer. And I know the first time he ever asked me that question,

I think the response was a lot of like mumbling and like, you know, trying to find my way because it caught me off guard. And to come up with a response after that, though, every year I was utterly, I was, you know, very prepared in detail for any of those types of questions. Yeah, but it took a while. And then I'd say when I got in, it was, you know, minor involvement. I didn't speak unless I was spoken to. But it was cool to be able to just to sit back and see how it all comes together

and really watch him and Nick work for the most part during those times. I would argue that of all the gangster things that he has done, the dog sitting up on the, you know, in the chair with the laptop during the virtual draft in that tucket might be the greatest thing of it. obviously. I mean, it was so good. Nike was making picks that. I mean, like, then you're just, you know, because it's Bill, you go, did Bill train the dog to just sit there chilling, like he might be making the picks? And, you know, it was just a cutaway too. So like I think it said, Bill Belichick on the screen. That was awesome. Now you are adjusting to Mark Davis, a new owner for you.

you know, he's a guy who obviously lives it and breathes it and wears his emotion on his sleeve. Do you, you know, what's it like after a rough loss after a game? Is he, you know, is he kind of emotional because he cares so much? Or is he more analytical? What are those conversations like? I would say a lot of passion. Like, you know, Mark, he does. The Raiders are so important to him and his family.

And it's not just the Raiders. It's like the alumni are super important to Mark. Raider Nation is super important to Mark. And so, you know, Mark, you know, he, you know, he wants to win every game. And so, and Mark also has a lot, you know, Mark has a football background too. I mean, he's been around a lot of football. He's been around, you know, his dad. And so it's not that Mark doesn't, Mark, you know, he knows about game management situations and, you know, how things played out.

or how he thinks they should play out and things of that nature, how to handle timeouts and how, you know, who's on the field. And so he has, you know, he has a football acum to himself. And so it's not like he's coming out of left field with, you know, what his thoughts and emotions are after a game. But there is emotion there. There is passion there. And I mean, I love it.

You know, I mean, obviously I would rather have been on the opposite side a lot of the games that we've been on this year. And so, you know, that it is what it is. But I think it's, it's, it's, I feel I get energized working for someone that has those high standards and it has that passion. And because it shows that they care, you know, and they want to win. And so, yeah, you know, it could lead to some uncomfortable conversations when you're not winning.

But you know that he's, you know, you know that, you know, that, you know, that he, he wants to win. And I think that's the most important thing. And he's, Mark's are just a great human being. Like if you haven't met Mark Davis, Mark Davis is just a great person. And he's, he treats people with respect.

He could go into any, he could go into any restaurant, any bar across America and, and fit right in. And I mean that. And like, he's a very humble person. You know what I mean?

He holds himself and, and he doesn't hold himself above other people. And he doesn't treat people that like they're less than him. And I really, it's hard not to respect and just want to fight and want to do everything you can for a person like that. Well, you are not only the first GM we've had, but I think we're coming up on the time record. So I'm going to leave you with one more because you've been amazing. You know, there was a report that the Packers tried to trade for Darren Waller before the trade deadline. And I know GMs have a million speculative conversations that may or may not be, you know, real or close.

Did you get any wild, like, you know, overtures before the trade deadline with teams trying to be like, hey, this is the first time GM. Maybe he'll trade me somewhat good for not that much. There was a couple. This can be like the Sopranos episode. You're not going to know, like, the envy, right? But there was a couple, I would say, wild, you know, wild trade offers that were. I wouldn't say like taking advantage like they weren't for, you know, for peanuts or anything like that. But just some things that were, yeah, a little bit out there.

Pretty aggressive thoughts and things of that nature, which, you know, I respect. And that happens every year. You know what I mean? Like it just, they never come out into the media and neither will these either. But yeah, there was some people that were testing the waters of how far I would go. I love it. They moved the trade deadline back finally a few years ago to maybe, you know, get more in the line, and more in line with the mentality of the new guard of GMs like you guys who aren't so trade-averse.

Would you like to see it move further into the season? Yeah, 100%. I mean, just from this point alone, they extended the season a week. So the season goes a week later, but they still haven't moved. The trade deadline didn't even move back. a week later. So at the very least, I think moving it back a week, you know, would would line up with how the, you know, again, the, how they have extended the season. But I think, yeah, I would like to see it move back. I think like you, you would have a better eye. Teams would have a better idea of where they are, you know, in terms of where the season's at. And, and I think it would be, it would probably be a little bit more, maybe it would give even more excitement to the league because there would be more opportunities where teams would know where they're at. There would be more buyers or more sellers and potentially more buyers that would elicit more activity, which I know is exciting for fans and things of that nature.

But just from a football perspective, I think it would allow teams to have a better idea of where they're at. And that would facilitate, I think, you know, better. You'd be able to make some more educated decisions about your team that would help in either the building or the rebuilding of your team, whatever, whichever way it goes. So, yeah, I'd be able to make some more educated decisions about your team. So, yeah, I'd be a proponent of that. We agree on that. Sadly, we will not publicly get the revelation of what was dangled. It's kind of like a born identity vibe, which you know well.

No doubt. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. It was awesome. I appreciate you, buddy. Have a good day. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me.

Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, 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. Thank you.