The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Out Of Luck

Episode Date: August 26, 2019

Colin discusses the shocking news of Andrew Luck retiring, the impact it will have on the league, his new NFL predictions, and where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Guests include Jay Glazer, David Shaw, Pat McAfee, and Antonio Cromartie.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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by searching herd. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It's a Monday. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now where Colin was right,

where Colin was wrong, plenty of both this weekend. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, kind of a shocking weekend for all of us. There was a lot that happened this weekend, even after the huge announcement. So let's start. First of all, you know I'm a huge fan of Andrew Luck. I think anybody who watches this show knows. I watched them in college as a freshman and sophomore at Stanford.

I went out, and I told you that that year. I said after his freshman sophomore year, I said, folks, this is the next great one. I don't do that with college quarterbacks. I'm doing it with a kid at Clemson. Andrew Luck was the first time I ever went on the air and said, okay, this is a Hall of Fameer. This is what a Hall of Fame quarterback looked like. So it was very shocking for me. Chris Boutard is my favorite GM in the NFL.

I try to talk to him regularly. Last couple of weeks, I couldn't get straight answers. I even called a trainer I knew in the NFL. Nobody could figure out the calf strain. So I know exactly where I was when I heard it Saturday. And my first reaction was, oh, oh, this is why I couldn't get a straight answer for two weeks for my friends. Shocked, surprised.

Let me start with this. media is not paid to be fans. We're paid to have emotional discipline. I consider myself a judge, not the jury, not the prosecutor. I want to be beyond emotion and deliver in chaotic times, even keel, stable messaging. So media, stop ripping indie fans for booing. The fans in the moment, they name their pets and their kids after players.

They wear another man's jersey on their back. Then you put three beers in them and you expect them to be perfectly, contextually nuanced with their reaction. Fans pay to be crazy. I'm paid not to be. I don't hold the fans to the same standard. I hold media. Fans go to games.

Drink before it. Drink during it are rowdy. It's a badge of honor to be loud and a little out of control. Yes, their initial reaction was unjust in my opinion. fan is short for fanatic. Then they got in their cars, listened to Andrew Lux Press conference, heard him start to get emotional,

read the two local columnists of note, Greg Doyle, Bob Kravitz, and that later that night or this morning, they wake up and they realize, oh, I get it. Folks, if you called off a wedding a week out, even if you did it for the right reasons, even if you knew mentally and emotionally,

It was good for not only you, the groom, but the bride as well. Her father-in-law would still be ticked off, and she'd probably cry. It's jarring. It's surprising. It comes out of nowhere. You think Chris Ballard and Jim Hersey high-fived? They were ticked off. They were shocked.

These things make us very human. It's okay as a fan to react. I'm paid not to be emotional. Fans pay to be emotional. Media lighten up. Here's the second thing. Quarterbacks are becoming like the Baskin-Robbins, 32 different flavors mantra. We got the big quarterback.

We got Big Ben. We got the small quarterback. We got Kyler Murray. We got the flashy quarterback who's got style Cam Newton. We got the guy who wore Wranglers, Brett Farve. We have pocket quarterbacks, Eli Manning. We have guys who run around. around Lamar Jackson.

We have outspoken quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield. We have stoic quarterback, Sam Darnold. And then we have this new thing. Quarterbacks playing into their 40s, Tom Brady. So it was almost expected we'd have the opposite of that. Star quarterback retiring too early for what we were hoping for. That's Andrew Luck. Listen, promising career ends early is not a new headline in any business.

Even in football, Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Jim Brown at 29. But it had never happened to quarterbacks. But if you take a step back, quarterbacks used to all sort of look and play the same. Oh, they do not. Big, small, stoic, outspoken, cocky, not cocky, playing forever. and now leaving early. By the way, Tom Brady mentioned something yesterday on WEEEI about Andrew Lucks early retirement, and I thought he really noted something that he understands how valuable it is.

I think there's definitely a physical element. I think there's definitely an emotional element. I think there's a mental element. There's everything in my view has to really. come together for you to be, you know, the best version of yourself as a player. And, you know, it takes a lot of support. It takes a lot of people. And Andrew Luck never had those people.

I've said this many times in my life. I am much more impressed with a child or a kid that comes from chaos and ends up with a really good, solid life. I'm much more impressed with that than the trust fund kid. who ends up becoming governor or CEO. What do you come from? What do you inherit? Andrew Luck inherited a mess. The worst roster in the league.

The organization's owner, Jim Ursay, always impulsive, then hired a general manager, Ryan Grickson, who my half-dozen NFL scouting sources could not believe got the job. over the course of the next three years, Grigsin only drafted three offensive linemen before the seventh round, and all of them whiffed. He had a defensive head coach. Bruce Ariens was there for about 40 minutes, then left.

Bad offensive line, awful running game, actually non-existent. It wasn't until year four some of the players started developing. But Tom Brady, and this is, is not a shot at Tom, walked into a league with the best offensive line coach, one of the best owners, a winnable dysfunctional division, maybe the best coach in NFL history, and initially great defenses for the first five or six years of his career, even had a mentor, Drew Bledso, a very likable, decent guy to help him along. Andrew Luck walked into a tire fire, and to this day going 11 and 5 in year 3 and getting to the

AFC championship with the offensive personnel line and running game lack thereof he was surrounded by is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Grigson has yet to get a GM job Chuck Pagano has yet to get another head coaching job. Tom Brady is the exception. One fluky injury in 20 years. Andrew Luck, once you're her the press conference, even those fans who booed, had to hear this and understand, ah, I get it.

I've been stuck in this process. I haven't been able to live the life I want to live, taking the joy out of this game. And after 2016, where I played in pain and was unable to regularly practice, I made a vow to myself that I would not go down that path again. I find myself in a similar situation. and the only way forward for me is to remove myself from football in this cycle that I've been in, come to the proverbial fork in the road. And I made a vow to myself that if I ever did again, I would choose me in a sense.

Quarterbacks used to all look and play sort of the same. Times have changed. Let me shift to this. Andrew Luck, once we all took a deep breath, was mostly lauded by people in and around football, owners, GMs, players, coaches. Almost everybody said, we get it. Are we ready to say it again?

Because I do not think this will be the last quarterback. Let me ask you, money changes everything. and I am in no way insinuating money made the decision. But if you're Cam Newton in week seven, somebody cheap shot you in the knee, do you want to go through another year of rehab? He has $100 million in the bank and other interests. Aaron Rogers, Carson Wentz. All it takes, Khalil Mack comes off the edge.

Somebody comes off the edge, DeMarcus Lawrence for the Cowboys. Does Cam, Aaron, Carson Wentz? Do they want to go through another year and a half of rehab? We're paying players now big boy money. Their net worse are 75 to 100 million. Andrew Luck made 100 million in only six years. You can't blame players. I've said this before.

I've played high school football. Football practice is hard. Connor McGregor, after the big payday, doesn't want to get hit in the face anymore. Listen, yesterday, Sean McVeigh coach of the Rams called off practice. It was a surprise. He told the entire staff, take the day off, go be with your families. He told players, take the day off. Why?

Because the L.A. Rams and Sean McVeigh sensed this two years ago. Football's changing. Players make more money. Practice is hard. Lighten up. It's very repetitive. I'm not saying the NFL will ever be the NBA. It won't be.

But we're entering a new era. Richer people over time, the general rule is, they don't want to do a lot of really hard stuff. Basketball practice when I was a kid was fun. I love being in the batting cage in baseball. I hated football practice, and it's by far and away my favorite sport. Joy's brother, a Hall of Famer.

Ask him, Southern Florida, August, camp. It's awful. It's awful for people like quarterbacks who don't get hit. Aaron Rogers said last week, I don't think I have to play in games. I know the offense. We supported him. If you're okay with luck and I am, then understand the new paradigm in football, especially for star quarterbacks.

Rehabs hard. practice is hard. There's more options. People get rich and don't want to do hard stuff. And again, that is in no way insinuating. Money made the decision for Andrew Luck. But I think it over time could make the decision for others. This is the new football.

The good news, it's not going away and half the NFL is undrafted. So there are players everywhere. More good news. Looks like these college guys now come into the NFL and they can play really, really, really. early. So these quarterbacks will be replaced mostly by very, very competent guys. But money's going to change everything in football. For a long time, our entire lives, players played hurt, players played to a fourth contract, players played until they're hobbled. Players

were willing to gut it out and be quiet. Those days are over. Those days are over. All right. Good stuff today. I also, you know, there was, it was interesting as I'm driving to work this morning. The impact for others in football, as Andrew Luck retires, a shocking point made by somebody on our staff this morning about if you look at the AFC and quarterback play, it's really, really interesting. That is coming up 45 minutes from now, Colin right, Colin wrong. Jay Glazer, who last week knew something was up.

We'll join us this hour as well. 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.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't

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on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio 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, rec, mom, I'm a one.

you to wave at her. What? Where's he at? Hey, Ms. 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, 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, 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. We have David Shaw, Andrew Lux College Coach. We have Jay Glazer in 10 Minutes who last week felt something

behind the scenes was up. Pat McAfee, very talented. and just got hired over at DeZone to be a morning host. He's going to come on, join his former Andrew Luck teammate, a very thoughtful, mindful guy. So we've got a lot of stuff today, of course, in 40 minutes, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, a lot of both. It's a sad day for me because I love football, I love quarterback play. And Andrew Luck, I think, was my favorite college to pro transition quarterback, probably of my life. I love John Elway, too. But Andrew Luck was different than other quarterbacks for me.

But I thought about this this morning, and a member of the staff brought this up. I want you to think about this for a second. There's not a single quarterback in the AFC this morning between the ages of 25 and 35 that you absolutely know as a franchise quarterback. You got Ben, Rivers, and Brady, the old guys. You got Baker, Deshaun, Sam, and Mahomes, the young guys. There's a decade gap in the end. AFC, 25 to 35.

Now, it's not like that in the NFC. You got Dak and Goff and Wentz, the Young Guns. You got Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, middle group. You've got Drew Breeze, Aaron Rogers, both First Ballot Hall of Famers, the old guys. There is no easy pass on this Disney ride, okay, in the NFC. In the AFC, translation to me, Tom, Philip Ben, two years. years from now call it quits, Patrick Mahomes is not going to have a barrier. He'll be slightly older and significantly more talented than almost everybody in the AFC. I did this last week.

I put up what I believe, because I don't believe we've ever had a dynasty, all-time great quarterback without a great coach. Even the guys that didn't win Super Bowls, Dan Marino had Don Shula, Dan Fouts, had the brilliant Air Correel, Don Correel. And I put down the five next five most probable dynasty relationships quarterback to coach. Well, for our TV viewers, Luck and Reich were four. Put an X through that. It's Mahomes and Reed and then three NFC pairings. Gough McVeigh, Wentz-Petersson, Wilson, Carroll.

So, you know, there's a big gap now in the AFC where it's young guys, unfulfilled, a lot of promise, lot of hope, some of that injuries, and the old guys that we know are not going to be around forever, and do generally, Brady kind of the exception, or maybe he's not, have some physical limitations. Ben doesn't run like he used to. Rivers is getting a little up there. The translation to me is Patrick Mahomes could have a very long, fruitful relationship

with the Super Bowl, not that far. By the way, he may knock a couple down before the old guys retire. but this quarterback coaching relationship, you're as successful as the barriers you have to overcome. Even Peyton Manning. You know, Phil Mickelson had to overcome Tiger Woods in his prime. Arnie had to overcome Jack. You're as successful as the barriers in front of you. Andrew Luck was one of those barriers potentially to Patrick Holmes going to six Super Bowls.

So, you know, I don't think there's any good news out of Andrew Luck leaving. but if you're Andy reading Patrick Mahomes, a barrier has been, it's disappeared. A massive, not a small barrier, potentially a barrier you would not overcome consistently. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, I think it's safe to say the AFC South has gotten quite a bit more interesting. Yeah. And to add another layer to it, the Texans are going to be without Lomel Moore Miller for the rest of the season. They feared the worst when he went down on Saturday.

He was carted off the field during their preseason game against the Cowboys. And it's now been confirmed that he tore his ACL. He will be out for the season. And Duke Johnson will now take the starting job being acquired from the Browns earlier in the month. Yeah, that's one of those hits you could tell on TV. Yeah. I mean, unfortunately, we've seen those injuries before. It feels that way.

Guys always know. I mean, when you tear your ACL, I've torn my ACL, you, you, you know, you, you you know something is wrong. Right. No matter what the degree is, if it's something, a moment that's super painful or if it just pops,

it feels different than any other kind of injury that you have. What does it feel like, by the way? Well, for me, I just, I just planted my foot to change direction. I was playing soccer and just, it just,

you could hear the pop. Oh. So it was just a pop feeling. And then you can't, you go down because you can't push off it. Yeah, you can't put any weight on it. So it wasn't that it was excruciating.

It just was, it's just a very hard feeling to explain. It was like immediately buzzing, but you just, you can't, it's more terror than it is like actual pain. Like you realize you can't use your leg. Right.

You can't put any... The cable breaks, basically. Right. Yes. And then it's obviously an excruciating rehab process, and it takes a long time to heal even if you have surgery immediately. So they have Duke Johnson. Duke Johnson in 2018 only started two games for the Browns,

201 rush yards, 429 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. Nice player. He's a nice player. He's a capable replacement for Lamar Miller. But Lamar Miller was a pro. bowler last year. I mean, it's a rough loss for them. And like I said, the AFC South has just

very much evened out because that's a big piece for Deshawn Watson to lose. So Ben Rathesberger famously criticized Antonio Brown's route running last season, and then the test the end of the 2018 season eventually led to the Steelers trading Antonio Brown to the Raiders. We was asked about his comments on his former teammate, and

he had some big regrets. He said, I wish I wouldn't have done it, because we saw what happened, and obviously it ruined a friendship. I just got caught up in the heat of battle. Oh, that's nice. Well, I mean, it's a little late for that.

Look, this kind of goes back to, we have talks all the time about how coaches treat certain players differently. Different players get different treatment. Obviously, Antonio Brown is somebody that we talk about that with a lot, the way that John Gruden is handling him in hard knocks. And I also

think it's kind of on your quarterback and a leader, two-time Super Bowl champ, to have a pulse. and have some emotional discipline to know that you can criticize certain guys publicly. You can criticize certain guys privately. Sometimes you can do both.

But you have to know the temperature of the room as well. And especially if you're going to be someone like Ben who is out there doing interviews and is very vocal, you have a bit of a responsibility as well to know this is my star receiver. He's also my friend. As he said, it ruined his friendship. So he's also your friend.

you have to know that this is not something that's going to be taken well. And the moment that it is said and the reaction comes, you need to do everything you can to fix it. And I think it was just an ego contest at that point. This is why I say Dak Prescott's a franchise quarterback. I don't think Dax is talented as a lot of guys. But Dack opens his mouth and always says the right thing. Which is very, very, very hard to do. Yes.

And it's, I mean, even with the anthem controversy in Dallas, he stood up, took a ton of heat and said, I'm going to put my hand in my heart here and I'm going to stand and got massive blowback. And I always felt Jerry was like, listen, that was good for our business. You, as a quarterback, you become a little bit of a businessman. Right. You are, and I, this is where I, you're an extension of the head coach. Yeah, so this is where I side with you. I mean, like Antonio Brown would drive me personally nuts. But the responsibility is on the quarterback. Go to therapy. Therapist will tell you. It really only takes one person to make a relationship it works. You have to sacrifice more.

But you're paying the quarterback. This is why I'm tough on Johnny Mansell, Baker Mayfield, James Winston. This is why I'm tough on him. It's not just I can throw a football. Like you've got to own the room and you've got to be a businessman. It's a full on different responsibility than

every other position on the team and that's why they're valued the way that they are. Clearly this was a mistake and obviously Ben knows that now, but that's just the way it is. You have to be able to control your emotions in that position. Finally, the cults are doing right by Andrew Luck following his surprise retirement this weekend. He signed a five-year $140 million extension with 87 million guaranteed and a $32 million signing bonus in 2016. So he

would have owed the Colts $12.8 million as a prorated portion of the bonus and $12 million as a roster bonus that he got in March. Instead, they are making a financial settlement to let him keep the money as a thank you for his hard work for the team. And Colts owner Jim Ursa also commented on how much money left on the table. by retiring. It's a tough thing. Look at, you know, he's leaving, you know, $450, $500 million on the table potentially. I mean, I have a billion dollars.

And he's saying, you know what, you know, I want to have my integrity. He has to be real. I have to be able to look T.Y. in the eye. Look my teammates. Look, coach. Look, Chris in the eye and say, I am all in. And he just didn't feel at this point of time he could do. that. I really commend the Colts for doing this. By the way, Jim Hursay can drive me crazy.

That's his best moment. Yes. Like, that's Jim Hursay's best moment. People understand what Andrew Luck, I mean, selfishly as sportscasters and fans, I lost something here. Right. Now, Andrew gave up half a billion dollars. Because quarterbacks going forward are going to make about $34 million a year. Right. No, he left a lot of money on the table. Yeah. But we've seen teams, obviously the Lions are notorious for this with Megatron. with Calvin Johnson and with Barry Sanders asking for money back from their players, which, I mean, especially with the Megatron situation, felt completely just out of line, disrespectful, and the numbers were absurd.

Because he was such a good guy. Right. And so this is the right thing to do. And this is something. Like there's a lot of money they could have got back from him, like a significant amount. So for them to just say, you know what, we're not going to get into it. The way that it'll look publicly, especially the fact that he's retiring to, you know, save his mental and physical health, we're going to ask for millions of dollars back after what he's sacrificed.

It's a good moment out of the Colts and the right thing to do. I'm glad they're doing that. Joy with News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. Jake Glazer in less than 10 minutes. Now, the big topic that kind of engulf this after the shock of Andrew Luck retiring is,

you think maybe you'd come back and play again? So here, for the next couple of minutes, I want to talk about that. I do not think he will come back. I do not. Many people are speculating he just needs a break. He said, I'm mentally worn down. Well, maybe in two years he feels good. He's not mentally worn down.

The Colts, as Joy reported, did not try to recoup the money. This was a very nice relationship going forward. This was not a bitter divorce. There'll be nights that you wake up and you're like, maybe she wasn't terrible. Maybe he wasn't always a jerk. Chris Carter talked about this this morning on first things first. He thinks he'll come back.

It's always a reality. If someone walks away from something and they have age on their side, would they come back? I had played 15 years. It was off in a broadcasting career. Dolphins called me. Can you play third receiver? Yeah.

It's 45 minutes from my house? Yeah, what the money looked like. We'll pay you over a million dollars, abbreviated season. You know something? I'm available. He doesn't know how he's going to feel in two years. I know he's going to feel better. And myself and others have struggled with it.

There's nothing like playing in the NFL. And he will always miss that. There is an argument to be made that he's retiring at 29. He'll live to be 89 in 70 years. How many times can you go to Portugal? I get that argument. He is a pro athlete. pro athletes are different than you and I, not just in size and stature.

They're competitive, sometimes oddly so. I read an article about a month ago, and it was talking, I think it was in the Wall Street Journal, may have been the Bloomberg report, about people that get rich men and women in their 30s. For 15 to 18 months, it is perfect. You travel the globe, you get asleep in and have a big breakfast, and you don't miss those crazy investors. but then at 18 months something happens to all of those people. They miss intellectually competing.

Andrew Luck is smart. Matt Hasselback told a story over the weekend. Hasselbeck, B.C., very smart, dad played in the pros. For years and years, Matt Hasselbeck used to go to coaches and say, give me more, give me more offense, give me more plays. Then he backed up Andrew Luck, who he was. said would often go to the line of scrimmage with five plays in his head. And Hasselbeck for the first time in his career said to his coaches, can you scale it back a little? You're going overboard on the

offense. Andrew Luck is different, but here's where he is very similar. He's competitive. You don't get to be Andrew Luck without competing, and you will miss that intellectual and peer competition. Now, I don't think he'll return because I think this took a long time for him to make this decision. That's why he unveiled it a week before the season. But he did say, I'm just mentally worn down, not physically. I will tell you this, there really is no competition like sports competition. In fact, the richest people in America, the richest people in the globe, where do they put their money? They buy pro teams. There's nothing. There's nothing. Nothing like it.

It's better than Silicon Valley. It's better than Wall Street. It's better than oil. It's the best thing. Jerry Jones once told Jimmy Johnson, I want to have fun too. I want to hold press conferences too. Jerry made a fortune in oil.

He owns franchises. He owns this. What's the most fun for Jerry Jones? Owning a football team. And I absolutely think Andrew Luck will miss that. But I think he's principled. I think he's in real physical duress. And I think he's a lot older than you think.

He's not 23, 26. He's going to be 30 in September. He had a nice career. He had a very nice career. He got to an AFC championship. Bruce Ariens coached him briefly. Was shocked by the news. Knowing his toughness and his mental toughness,

this does surprise me. I mean, something's got to be wrong somewhere. I know because he loves the game so much. You know, I did two of their games last year, and he was like running off the bus to come say hi and tell me about how the team was doing and the young receivers and how excited he was. So to see it, that was very disheartening.

It's a bummer all the way around. All right, coming up next, Jay Glazer, top of the hour, calling right, calling wrong. 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. SportsSlice 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 Slices 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 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 Hardway 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?

Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Park. 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 defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows, without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve 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, 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. Last week, behind the scenes at Fox, I was hearing that Jay Glazer, I didn't bump into him last week, but a couple of people had said, you know, Glazer thinks something's going on in Indianapolis here. Something's not right. And so when the news came down Saturday, first thing,

I did is grab my phone and text Jay Glazer. I wanted to bring him on today. He's at Arizona training camp with the Cardinals, and I'll get to the Kyler-Marie stuff because I'm interested there what he sees. But via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Jay Glazer is joining us, Fox NFL Insider. Okay, let's start with this. There's a lot of times, Jay, that you will tell me something, but you will not broadcast it.

You were telling me for months OBJ was going to get traded. It didn't matter what was coming out. But you and I have a relationship. I'm never going to put you. you through the crosshairs. I didn't see you last week, but I was told by people I trust. Jay doesn't think this Andrew Luck thing's a calf

injury, so I'm taking it. You weren't totally shocked? I wasn't totally shocked by it. It was funny because we almost talked about this on our Fox broadcast here the night from Miami when we did Super Bowl promos. I knew the frustration level was

really going a different route. This wasn't just a normal always injured. Something's wrong. here, hey, he's going to recover and it's going to be okay. They really were both shot. They were just baffled. I mean, here's really the story is he has this calf injury. Happened ages ago. Should have been healed by now. It wasn't. So then when they started trying to figure out, why is this calf not healed? They found it to be where the high ankle spray normally would. People thought that they were being evasive. They weren't. They were trying to figure it out.

They were all baffled about this. And when they looked into, okay, well, you have the high ankle spray now. Let's shoot that area. Let's try and make it heal. It just wasn't healing. They couldn't figure out why it wasn't healing. And at this point, Andrew, I think, said it best. It's been four years of, it wasn't football. It was injury, rehab, wonder why he's not coming back, injury rehab over and over and over again. It was very self-aware of him to say the other night, when you, he lost the joy. When you lose the joy of this game, you can't play it, half-hearted. He was right to step away if he had lost the joy. I do think the reality is, and I don't think he made this for financial reasons,

but players make more than ever. I said earlier, if Cam Newton or Aaron Rogers had another break, I get guys with a hundred million net worth who have lots of interests outside of their sports saying, I'm okay with this. My self-confidence is fine. Do you think it becomes a little more of a trend in the NFL to step away early for some guys. It's interesting that you said, because that's one of the first things I thought about. Now he's doing it, so it kind of makes it okay for other guys to follow suit. But look, it's in your heart. There are guys who, it's the last thing that I want to do is leave that field.

And a lot of guys say, I'd rather kill me than I die from not doing it. And other guys saying, I'm going to walk away when I'm healthy. It's really what you have behind your rib cage and between your ears, what you want to do. But it's interesting now because it's a, you know, the league of the league of trends regardless of whether it's front office or trades or moves or players, I can certainly see this opening door the door for others. You know, I said everybody is criticizing the fans, but I said if you canceled a wedding a week out, even if it was for the right reasons, the father-in-law would not be happy and she may cry. This was jarring and shocking to everybody, and I don't blame a fan who's two bud lights in in a stadium. initial reaction he booze. I get fans being fans.

It's a tribal business. They name their kids and dogs and pets and after players. So I get that. I didn't love the reaction, but I get it. But I do wonder Chris Ballard, young GM, what is your guess on Chris Ballard's initial reaction to this? You know, when I was out there a couple weeks ago, they were all talking up for that. And that's one of the things I looked at also. I'm like, oh, everybody's really talking up Jacoby right now.

and it was almost like they knew they were going to move forward with present. And they do. Players love them out there. Andrew loves them. But look what they've had a deal with there in Indianapolis in the last few years. And just underbalance with Josh McDaniels, with Andrew Luck, with shoulder injury, with different injuries for Andrew. I also, if you go back in this, this predates Chris Ballard, when Ryan Grigsman was there.

You know, I broke in a story a few years ago that, remember they kept saying, that he was questionable with his shoulder injury. I'm going, no, he's not. He has torn cartilage in his ribs, where it basically feels like a crack rib. And he had, I think it was a kidney was dead, was injured as well. And yet they were still saying the guy was just week to week. They mishandled him under Grigsin.

And then Andrew Luck, all he kept doing is like, all right, I got a rehab. I got to figure this out. But it is, look, every rehab he's had, it has taken much longer than you would normally think. And I could see where it got exhausting for it. Yeah, no, no, no, I think you're right. I think this was a player that, and listen, by the way, Andrew Luck, 6, 4 and a half, 240.

I mean, Andrew Luck is a big body, and if he's telling you he's in pain, you know the beating he took. Okay, finally, you're at Arizona camp. There's a lot of mystery regarding Cliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray. We're rooting for him because we just like fun quarterback play. Yeah. What are you seeing, Jay, and what are you hearing? Yeah, the thing about Kyler Marys when Carl's last night, and they said, every time we go in a film and we watch our film from practice, it's almost like somebody presses fast forward on his player. They do say it's like a video game.

Yeah. It's really fun. By the way, you've been around all these camps. I don't know if you noticed it last night, and I don't know all the camps you've been to. I'm just going to roll the dice on this. The Pittsburgh Steelers look like they are so dialed in. They picked up guys from the AAF, free agents, draft pick. The Steelers have sort of blown me away in preseason.

I don't take too much from it. Has there been a team for you, Jay Glazer, and all your travels, you've gone, this looks special. You know, I'm only there for a day in each place, and I kid, and they always ask for the same thing. Coaches and GMs go, what do you think we, how do you think we look? And I always say the same thing. I think you guys going to stink this year.

What? No, I don't know. I've been there for a day. ask me that. But what I'm always trying to mess with them, but what I can see is energy. Who runs the ball out? Who, you know, doesn't look at preseason as, oh,

we're in camp, or, hey, we're get, we get ready to roll again. Seattle always has great energy. The Rams had an energy like, they didn't just lose the Super Bowl. You know, usually there's a morning. They didn't have that. Pittsburgh has had a different camp because of what happened with Daryl. They've still kept

it together. They don't have the other dramas there. Baltimore, man, really high in Lamar Jackson. That's one guy who really stood out during this training camp tour. But it's really the energies you could see. And, yeah, Pittsburgh's certainly one of those teams right in there. Only a minute left. Is there anything on Zeke that you know for sure? Is there any new information?

No, they still think he's going to get fun. You know, we went into this whole last season, thinking they're going to get three guys done going into the season. That's not the case right now. They still think, okay, we'll get Amari done, we'll get Dak done, no problem. Zeke's the guy they're going to get done. And they still are very confident that they'll get him done in time for him to face off against the Giants on our era on week one. I do want to bring him back one more thing.

Andrew Luck, if I just had, because you were talking about it before, whether he'll come back or not. The biggest thing these guys miss when they retire, it's the locker room. That's the one thing that will decide. I think if Andrew Raleck ever comes back or not, how much do I miss that locker room? Well, you know that because you run a very successful gym, Unbreakable Performance Center. And you've told me this. You get guys in that room. It is a different environment than anywhere in town.

Jay Glazer, always a pleasure to have you. Love your insights. Thanks, man. Enjoy Cam. Thanks, Jay. Appreciate it, pal. By the way, what's amazing, that was his phone. Don't even ask me how his phone has that good of a picture.

We have cameras all around this studio worth millions of dollars. He put up a phone. Did you see the clarity in that? I should be talking into phones, apparently. I don't even need cameras anywhere for the TV show. I do think, I'll say this about what Jay said about the competition. Jay owns a very successful, a lot of NFL guys, a ton of them, use Jay's center. And Jay has told me for years, he'll say, this guy is not going to, he doesn't love football.

this guy loves football this guy hates working out this guy can't wait to work out Andrew luck had a lot of dog in him he was very competitive love to work out a gamer competitive I think that stuff there's no doubt in my mind I know Andrew luck will have a day or a moment at some point in the next several years and I don't think he comes back but I know he'll have a moment where he'll miss the guys I've never talked to a pro athlete ever they're all the same thing like my body broke down, but I wish sometimes I could travel with them. Get on the plane. Peyton Manning will tell you that.

Peyton Manning doesn't want to be a broadcaster. Do you know why? Because he doesn't want to criticize the guys. They're all his friends. Peyton's like, I don't want to go in the air and criticize all my buddies. I don't want to be objective. They're my guys. I want to go have beers and play golf with them. Man, you've got friendships that are, when you go through a physical component like football together with other men or women, that stuff lasts forever. calling right, calling wrong. Hour 2 in LA next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app.

Search Hurd 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 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 Gaines, 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 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, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue. 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we 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. man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, IZAD,

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. To Monday, hour two, this is The Hurd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio,

Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, 15 minutes from now, Pat McAfee, a great punner for the Colts, good friend of Andrew Luck, funny, funny guy, thoughtful guy, going to be joining us in 15 minutes, his thought on Andrew Luck's retirement, which was a poignant, jarring moment that fans did not appreciate initially in Indianapolis, but sometimes we have to realize in the media, they are fans that are short for fanatic. We are not supposed to be fans. We are supposed to have emotional discipline in our business. I try to have it every day. I'm not perfect. but judging fans by any barometer than other fans is ridiculous.

You boo people all the time for missed shots, for, you know, I mean, you cheer Westbrook, and sometimes he drives me nuts. You booed luck and he's my all-time favorite quarterback after, you know, Tom Brady. So if fans are imperfect, they're not paid to be emotionally disciplined. We are. I think sometimes the media has a complete disconnect from the reality of what fans are. Remember, if you don't have fans, all these, they are the ambiance of sports. They're the ambiance.

Otherwise, James Hardens just shooting baskets in a gym by himself. Tom Brady's sitting in Foxborough in a stadium by himself. That's called practice. The fans are the ambiance. Broadway, without an audience, is called rehearsal. Like, let's understand that sometimes the fans are wrong, but they're never lacking passion. And we've got to understand, it's okay. not perfect. Without context, they go overboard sometimes. All right, Colin right, Joey,

Colin wrong, plenty of both. Here we go. Where Colin was right. I said when Antonio Brown left. Listen, the Steelers do the receiver development thing really, really well. Sure, he's a great player, but this is the one thing Pittsburgh does better than maybe any other quality. Get receivers, draft them, develop them, and make them good. James Washington has looked unbelievable. James Washington is going to be unbelievable. Ju-Ju Smith, Schuster is a better pro than he was a college player. This is what they do. Linebackers and wide receivers, nobody in this league does a better job of finding them, drafting them. Sometimes they don't, you know, you don't even watch them play on college Sundays. Let's not worry about

Pittsburgh. I think they'd look better than any team, any team in the NFL, and James Washington looks better than any young receiver in the NFL. Nobody's disputing. Production from AB is hard to replace. But this organization does develop mental receivers, that's what they do. I mean, this is what they do really well. Where Colin was raw. RG3 and Andrew Luck came into the NFL together at the same time and I said, RG3 is not going to last very long. Actually, as of this weekend, RG3's career is officially longer than Andrew Luck's career. Now, some of it is RG3 doesn't take the hits anymore. He doesn't start anymore. He doesn't play anymore.

But, you know, I was shocked by Andrew Luck. I've got to be honest. I thought R.G3 came into the league. I thought he ran too much. I thought he had almost a wide receiver body. I said, this can't last. He got hurt early. But it was Andrew Luck,

the big strong kid that had to retire early because of pain, injuries, and constant rehab. Where Colin was right? So Cam Newton got hurt. Lamar Miller, the running back at Houston's out for the year, and what in God's name was that disaster in Canada, where they played a football game on 80 yards?

Been banging this drum for years. Can we shorten the preseason? Can we reduce the preseason? Does Cam Newton really need snaps in the preseason? I mean, really, Cam Newton, all the joint practices, all the OTAs, all the camp, Cam Newton really needs live bullets. Not really.

It's the NFL. They're 16 games. So what if they go 0-1? He didn't have practice games in college. They won a national title at Auburn. By the way, Sean McVeigh of the Rams, he won't play any of his starters. He's got it right.

Say that there's not an appreciation for what the preseason entails and playing real football. I think there is a lot of merit to that. But when you look at some of the continuity now that we have on both, sides of the ball coming back and you say okay if something were to happen is it really worth that risk in our mind and we just felt like that answer is no and that's the approach that we're taking i totally understand you know if people don't agree with that but you know we always make decisions that we feel like are in the best interest of our team and i said this last year that's the way to do preseason figure out who your third best running back is and

your six best linebacker it's not for jared goff and robert woods cooper cup i don't want to see near field. Where Colin was wrong. I have reduced my college football talk in the last couple of years because I said it's become too regional and too predictable. Alabama Clemson, once again, one and two. And I think it's hurt TV ratings, and I think I've been right on

this. But Miami and Florida, in the summer, a totally regional rivalry got a 4-1 rating. That's a monster. Folks, that's better than any Eastern Conference NBA playoff game. All right.

A 4-1, and that wasn't even a well-played game. It was kind of a tire fire. It was just a hot mess of penalties and too much of everything. You know, those teams both needed under six practices. But listen, the reality is gambling's legal in America. People like gambling on football. And that number is, that was people's first big bet of football of the season. Where Colin was right.

Dwayne Haskins is not going to start the season for, Washington. I like him. I like him a lot. But remember, not only did he just start one year of college, but at Ohio State last year, they had great wide receivers and a great offensive line. He was rarely flushed out of the pocket. He needs reps. There used to be a rule that you had to start for at least three years in college football, or most guys like Bill Parcells were not interested. Now, I think the game has changed. Kids are in these seven-on-seven camps at 12 years old. So I think you can play one year of college and come into the NFL. I think Andrew Luck was ready to do that out of Stanford. But Duane is different. Now, Daniel Jones and Kyler Murray to me,

and I've watched all three of these guys, Daniel started more, Kyler started a little bit more. I think those guys feel like, to me, they are more NFL ready. I like DeWain, but I've never thought he is a starter week one. Life was too comfortable at Ohio State. and the NFL is discomfort. That's what quarterback is. Where Colin was wrong. Well, the pro football focus ratings, the PFF.com ratings,

have Kyler Marie and Baker Mayfield both ahead of Sam Darnold. Really? Am I the only person that remembers that most NFL teams had Sam Darnold ahead of Baker Mayfield on their draft boards? It's going to make it, of course,

sweeter to me when Sam Darnold makes the playoffs as a wild card representative behind the New England Patriots. Folks, he inherited a mess, a defensive coach. Bottom 5-0 line, no running game, no receivers, even this year. His top tight end who's really talented out for a month. Guess I'm wrong, though.

The data guys like Baker and like Kyler. Where Colin was right. Jimmy Garoppel is fine. Yes, I know he had a 0.0 quarterback rating. He hadn't played in the year. Denver brought the house against Kansas City. He looked terrific. 14 and 20, 188 yards, no picks, had a touchdown, 116.2 quarterback rating. He played the entire first half. Listen, remember, San Francisco's receiving core, babies.

Two rookies may start, and Dante Pettis has already only been in the league one year. So it's not that he's walking in as a quarterback who hasn't played much. This wide receiving core is a bunch of kids and is tied-in, George Kittle, who's unbelievable. not playing in the preseason either. So he's going to be sporadic. Listen, Baker Mayfield's playing with a bunch of nobody's at wide receiver. Baker's struggle this weekend. Jimmy G. can play.

8 and 2 is a starter in San Francisco. He'll be fine. Where Colin was right? Always felt Steph Curry has more influence than LeBron James. LeBron's the better player, but Steph Curry's got more influence. He's changed the way we play the game. He's changed the way the college game has played. He's changed analytics in the sport.

This weekend, he did it. again. I've never seen a pro athlete do this. He granted a million dollars to Howard University to create a men's and women's division one golf team. I've never seen a pro athlete literally create a division one athletic program. I think Steph Curry is a get it guy. I'm not saying he's LeBron James the player. But we're going to look back. LeBron didn't change the game. He's just great. LeBron didn't change the college game. LeBron didn't eliminate back to back to the basket centers. LeBron doesn't change how kids play basketball in a gym by themselves.

Steph Curry, once again, most impactful guy in the NBA last several years. Where Colin was wrong. NBA rookie poll came out last week. Who's going to be the best rookie? Zion? Finish tied for fourth? To rookies watch basketball in college? I don't get it.

I mean, I understand a little jealousy. He already got a shoe deal. But Zion's hard to be jealous of. He's like the most joyful player, the best teammate ever. Have you ever heard anybody badmouthed Zion Williamson? Everybody loves Zion Williamson. It's like no ego, a lot of fun. I mean, only 5%.

Two Atlanta Hawks got more love from rookies than Zion Williamson? I don't get it. I mean, I find the kid incredibly relatable and incredibly likable. I mean, that shoe deal happened at Duke. It would have been very easy for him to say, Seacrest out. He's like, I want to play another year. I just, I don't get the questions on Zion Williamson. You can't, I watch that kid and I think, give him one year, he's an all-star.

Where Colin was right? I like Mike Tomlin. Sometimes he drives me crazy as a head coach. His teams are too loose. He's too much of an ice cream for breakfast parent. And Rod Woodson, former Steeler and Hall of Famer, agreed with me this weekend. The one thing I can say about Mike, he's a good coach. The only thing I would like to see him do more is he has a little bit more thumbs down on his players

because it's just like having 53 teenagers. You have 53 teenagers where you're not going to let your teenagers just run the roost in your house. You know, if they do something wrong, you have to discipline them in some type of manner to catch your attention. And I think that's the same thing has to happen in the locker room. Thank you. I like Tomlin too. I call them the Pete Carroll of the East Coast. I like them both.

A lot of noise, a lot of drama. Sometimes Mike, I think, is his own worst enemy. Where Colin was right? I always said about Andrew Luck, and I believe this to be true. When somebody leaves a company, all we pay attention to is the next place they go. Your true influence is what happens to the place you leave. Do you see what Vegas did to the Colts? From nine and a half wins to six and a half, per Fox bet,

got him at seven and a half. They went from 16 to 1 to the Super Bowl to 1 to win the Super Bowl. That's what I say by Jim Harbaugh. You don't have to love the job he's done in Michigan. What happened to the 49ers when Jim Harbaugh left? They were in the toilet two hours later. Literally, according to all the people like Fox Sportsbet and Vegas, they are now a team that will go from a Super Bowl contender. And this is with a good O line, with a good tight-end core, with a running game, with a good coach, with a great GM, with an improved defense, to a team that'll win about six or seven games and try to stay out of the cellar. Your ultimate impact is what happens to the place you leave, not what happens to the place you enter.

Good stuff today. Coming up next, what do I think will happen to the Colts? and also I rearranged. I'm going to come out with my AFC predictions. I'm going to do NFC tomorrow. But Andrew Locke creates, his retirement creates real clarity to me in the AFC. I think it's a much easier conference to predict this morning and that is 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing

and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run 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. College football is back this weekend, beginning with the all-new big noon kickoff pregame show. Then it's right into the action as FAU visits number five Ohio State Saturday at 11 a.m. Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports app. All right, welcome back. You know, Iowa is in the summer. I kind of lay out my predictions, but we haven't watched camp. There haven't been injuries. You know, you don't know how what players develop.

I mean, Pittsburgh, James Washington, and Devin Bush looked like huge, huge different makers for the Steelers. You know, Cleveland, everybody's got them in the Super Bowl, but their offensive line looks overwhelmed at times. Is Denver better than we think? So I'm just going to give you with Andrew Luck's retirement, my sort of sense. I think there's more clarity for me in the AFC. We lost what I believe is the second third, maybe the best team in the AFC will not be the same team. So AFC East, I'm going to remain mostly the same on what I personally. predicted this summer. Patriots 11 and 5. Jets are massively improved on the offensive side,

go 9 and 7. They won't be as good on special teams, but I think they eke out of 9 and 7. They're viable for the playoffs not saying they're in. You know, Buffalo sort of in the kind of 8 and 8, Miami 6 and 10. These are, now this was, by the way, guys, was this what I did in the summer, right? This was what I did. Okay, let's get the summer ones out. Let's not worry about the summer. Let's just go up to what I'm predicting now. So what I predicted in the summer, I got the Buffalo Bills at 7 and 9, not 8, and 8, and 8. And I got Miami from what I've seen, 4 and 12. So the Jets and the Patriots are most of the same.

I'm going to take a win away from the bills. Haven't been in love with them in the preseason. Dolphins have been a mess. Let's go to the AFC West. Listen, I got Kansas City winning the division. I'm going to pull back a win on the Chargers because of the Melvin Gordon holdout and Derwin James is hurt. Broncos, I think, kind of battle for 500, go 7 and 9.

I'm going to take away a win from the Raiders. because they've been noisy. I still think Kansas City wins the division going away. AFC North, I said it from the very beginning. I do not think it's going to be an issue in Pittsburgh with the drama, and that's proven to be the case. So I have Pittsburgh still at 11 and 5 winning the division. I'd probably take a win off Cleveland, a win off Baltimore,

a win off Cincinnati. Cleveland's offensive line at times has been worse than I thought. And I, you know, we'll see with them. They've been noisier than I would prefer. but I still think Cleveland at 9 and 7, like the Jets at 9 and 7, is a viable sort of playoff team to the very end of the season. Now, here's the big game changer for me, and that would be my summer prediction until now on the AFC South. I had the Colts winning at 12 and 4. I don't.

I am going to go right now, my new revised version is the Texans win it at 11 and 5. I'll give them another win. they'll beat Indianapolis another time. Tennessee from 8 and 8, 10 and 6, because I think they'll now control that rivalry with the Colts. They could not beat Andrew Luck. I think Indie's going to be an 8-and-8 team to me. They're just going to be, you know,

they're going to be banging around kind of 500 all year, not man overboard, but can't beat the good teams, especially away from the dome. And I think Jacksonville's kind of what I thought they were going to be all summer. So I still think largely, It's a New England wins their division. Kansas City does.

Pittsburgh does. And now Houston does. And I think your Tennessee's, your Cleveland's, your jets, and your chargers are the four teams battling for two playoff spots. But Indy now goes from winning a division to out of the playoffs to me. Now via the coward Global Satellite Network, Pat McAfee joins us. Eight years in the NFL, multiple pro-Boulder. West Virginia guy who's got a new show on DeZone, September 9th that debuts.

Pat's a very smart, funny guy, and I'm very, very happy for you in your new show. So let's start with this, Pat. You were friends with Andrew. I know he had to love your sense of humor and your intellect. Were you shocked by this? Yeah, I was mind-blown, just like everybody, Colin. I think not only people in Indianapolis, not only Colts fans, but football fans in general, whenever Schaefter sent that tweet out, I think it sent shockwaves to everybody.

And I know people still inside the Colts organization that were mind-blown as well. as well. I think this came out of left field for everybody, Colin, and I was along the same lines as everybody else. The only criticism, Pat, I ever had of Andrew Luck, and this was it. I loved him, was that I wish he had a little more Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman, where he was a little more demanding of the organization, even if so privately. Peyton Manning could be competitive. Now, not in the public, Pat, but behind the scenes, he was very demanding of his coach as his owner. Is that a fair criticism that Andrew often blamed himself? I wish he would have held his GM and coach to higher standards at times.

I am 100% on board with you. I've actually been thinking about that today. I mean, if you look at the situation with Aaron Rogers and Brett Farv, you get to sit behind Brett Farv. There was obviously tensions at the end, whenever you have two alphas on a team that's going to happen. But I assume through osmosis that Aaron Rogers learned a lot through Brett Farg. Not on the football field.

I assume he did there as well. if you look at the chin strap, but the way you handle yourself off the field. Now, granted, we had to cut Peyton Manning with the salary cap thing, and it was coming out of a lock out in his neck, and Andrew Luck was sitting there. But I think if he was able to sit behind Peyton Manning for a year or two and kind of know that it's okay as an NFL quarterback to be more demanding, like you said, to be able to hold your offensive line a little bit higher standards, go into the GM, go to the owner, know that it's okay, like, hey, this isn't college,

this is in high school. As a quarterback, you are the boss. You are the CEO. Your opinion is allowed to be one where you demand a little bit better from everybody. And I think early in Lux's career, he didn't have that. He was such a nice guy.

He's the smartest guy I've ever been around. He's friendly. You see it in the videos where he compliments people that just speared him and potentially lacerated his kidney. He thanked the guy. But I do wish he had that ability

to sit behind a Peyton Manning and other quarterback up there and learn that off the field, you're allowed to be a little bit of a little bit of a demanding human because the entire team gets better whenever you do that. I think he learned that later, but early he suffered some lumps because he wasn't able to do that. Almost a decade in the NFL multiple Pro Bowl or very, very funny guy, new show debuting September night. Pat McAfee, nice enough to join us today. I have never been a pro athlete, but one thing I know about pro athletes, regardless of sport or position,

you guys are competitive. You like to win at poker, ping pong, football. I do think, Pat, that Andrew Luck will miss the intellectual tug of war with his peers. I don't think you can get that with business. Do you think there's a chance or what chance he comes out of retirement? I think it's such an interesting thing because if you look at him now, his body is much smaller. And to play the way that Andrew Luck plays, he has to be an avatar. He has to be a physical specimen.

So not only does he have to get mentally to the right place where he seems exhausted, that he's tired of battling through rehab, which can be a very lonely thing, especially if you're battling year in and year out. I think physically he's going to have to go through quite a transformation to get back in the game as well. I don't think he'll play again. I think he'll be able to get his competitive juices or his competitive it scratch somewhere else. He's an incredible ping pong player. I think in the business world, he'll actually get that done as well. But I don't think he'll play again. I think he'll definitely have a voice in something. I think he'll be doing incredible things. He is the smartest human I've ever been around, but I'm not sure he's ready to go through

the entire physical toll. It is to get back into shape for game ready. The mental toughness he has to get back into as well. I think he's going to enjoy his life. And Jacoby Brissette just said a couple minutes ago on his press conference that it seemed as if Andrew was at peace with the whole thing. He was smiling. And that's all you can really hope for. I mean, two weeks away from the season is a very difficult decision to be made. And I'm sure that Andrew Luck did not like that he had to do it. If you watch the press conference, it was obviously heartbreaking. But it seems like he's at peace. And I'm excited to see what he does next, honestly.

Finally, Pat, listen, I don't believe this decision was made due to money. Andrew's grown up with a very successful dad. But when money comes in for anybody, you want to do less hard stuff. And football practice is hard. Do you think this becomes an epidemic with increased salaries that we see more and more guys step away early, especially at those prize quarterback, wide receiver, pass rush positions that pay so much money now? I mean, there's still a lot of guys that absolutely love the game of football, and they will literally go to their grave playing.

I mean, Vinoteri might kick until he's 65 years old. He might be on a football field until he has the pens. That guy's made all the money you need to make. I think there's a chance that there's still people that will play until the wheels fall off. But just like in my case, I was very fortunate to be in the NFL. I made nowhere near the amount of money that Andrew Luck or any of these other guys make, but I made enough money to take care of my family, take care of my friends, get everybody free from financial debt and kind of just live and just keep the lights on.

So I do believe with that and the science of injuries in the future and your body hurting and the potential concussion situation, I think you will see a lot more guys maybe bowing out early, but all that does is extend more opportunity to younger guys. And I'm excited for Jacoby percent in this particular case. But I do believe as we go forward, you will see guys thinking about their future. Because to be honest, there's a lot of money to get out there nowadays, especially with the way the social media world is. I just think we should enjoy the hell out of our great players because we really don't know when their last game could be their last. Well, it doesn't shock me, Pat.

You're going to get your own show. Funny, funny guy, super smart. I really enjoy you. We talked about six months to a year ago. And I said, this is going to be your future. And what do you know? Faster than I thought. you got a show September night, DeZone.

Good luck to you. Thank you so much, Colin. That conversation with you in the Chow line. I think you got a couple pieces of lettuce. We're eating very healthy. I think that's the only thing I have to change. My show starts on DeZone September 9th, and you're a guy that I've looked up to for a long time.

I think your brain is an incredible one. Is there any advice you would give to me so I don't get canceled in a week? Let me think. Let me think. Let's see advice. Can I tell you something? Yeah. when you tweet you don't have to number the tweets you can just thread them you can just thread

calling everything you were tweeting i was like this guy is spot on this is right but you numbered them instead of just putting them in one thread would have been easier for all of us that's my advice for you everything else you crush do you have anything for me for live radio to daily show hire somebody as good as joy taylor alongside to you how how's that for advice that's pretty good right there joy hey surround yourself with greatness that's what makes you the best you can be and i think you've done that but also you're incredible and I can't wait to hopefully one day get on this show again. This show is awesome. Thanks, buddy. Good luck to you, bud.

Cheers, man. All right, funny guy, Pat McAfee. Yeah. The whole number and the thread thing with me, Joy, it's not, I'm not great at it. You know, I'm pretty savvy at social media and I haven't quite figured out the thread thing yet either. It says show the thread in light blue. I try to keep everything, you know, a little more compact.

Show the thread. How about you show me how to use the thread? and then I'd show you the thread. It didn't bother me as much. You know what? I think everyone was, as soon as this news happened, for most of the sports world, you were the immediate, like, first thought of what, like,

what does Colin think? Because everyone knows how much you love Andrew Love. It was a gut punch. It was tough. It was not a great day for me. Joy with the news. No. No. No. No.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, D.P.O. Eliot has finally spoken amid his contract holdout with The Cowboys. Excuse me that just happened? Yes, nothing too dramatic, but it is something. It's a little subtle there. He's still not with the team, but he is hopeful that a deal can get done. And he said, I love playing for the Dallas Cowboys. I love the organization, my teammates.

I do want to be a cowboy for the rest of my life, and hopefully that's a possibility. But even Emmett Smith, the greatest running back ever, ended up going to play a couple years for another organization. So it's just the nature of the game. But I want to be a Dallas Cowboy for as long as I can. Okay, thank you. Listen. And I used to criticize Kaepernick for this. Talk. I just want to know what you think. Like, Zeke is talking.

Like, I like this. I like this too. And it's smart. It's smart that he's coming out and not saying, you know, I need to preserve this or, you know, it's all about me. Like, giving a nod to the organization to the Cowboys, not directly to Jerry or Stephen, but like I want to be a Dallas Cowboy for as long as I can play football. And I think most players, when they come into the league, for the most part, unless you're just with an organization that's just a disaster, for the most part, you want to spend your career in one place. Of course. Even if it's not, even if it's a place that people don't ideally think of as a place you'd want to live for 15 years. Who wants to move their family four times?

It's exhausting, the anxiety about what comes next, with the next year holds. You want your kids to be in the same school. There's so much more to it. And there's a prestige. Like, there's a feeling of being with one team. your entire career. I mean, my brother certainly wanted to spend his entire career with the dolphins. And for the most

part, it really feels like he did. I mean, he was in Washington for a year and the Jets for a year, but he finished his career with the dolphins, and that's what he always wanted, was to be with the dolphins. It's what most players want. And when he's holding out, this is what you want to hear. Yeah, listen, it's just I don't understand players who go away

and don't communicate. If you don't talk for you, then other people will talk for you and presume you're thinking something. Zeek's like, I want to be a cowboy, but if I but if I'm not, I get the position and I'll move on. Now I feel like, if I'm a cowboy fan, I kind of like, come on, let's get it done now. Zeke wants to be a cowboy. Let's get the deal done, Jerry.

And it's very smart. It's very smart what he said, and it's smart that it's coming from him and not from his agent because, let's be honest, we don't really want to hear from agents when it's a situation like this. Speaking of that, Antonio Brown has lost his second helmet grievance with the NFL. He has accepted the decision and will find a new helmet for the 2019 season. However, bit of news. A.B.'s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has confirmed they have multiple offers on the table from various companies to create a custom helmet that will be paid to wear it in 2019. Now, no offer has been accepted yet, but he is expected to play week one and he will be in his new helmet.

Now, I have some questions. Well, it will be league approved? Right. So the NFL is very, very particular about the uniform, like to a whole other level. and you get fined for all kinds of sort of uniform situations. So I do wonder what does a custom helmet mean? Does that mean that most guys have different helmets based off of what position they play and the shape of their head?

Like they're very, they're all approved, obviously, but there's very specific helmets now. Everybody doesn't just grab a helmet off the rack and, you know, everyone has their own specific equipment. But what does custom mean? I don't know. And it has to be League approved, obviously. Right.

But everybody has to have the same uniform. I would get why companies are bidding for it. I mean, it's genius. It's genius. And while I want to be mad, like, oh, oh, we all just got God. And now, you know, this is really what this was all about, maybe. It's genius. Like, this is great.

Free advertising through this whole drama. All we talked about for a month straight was Antonio Brown's helmet. And now he's got helmet offers. Beat the game. I like it. Finally, Andrew Lux said retirement changes the outlook for the Colts this season. We just talked about this,

but GM Chris Ballard is still excited about what his team can do in 2019. It's been a tough week. I mean, it has. But saying that, yeah, we're moving forward. I mean, that's what we do. Teams win. Don't write the end of the story yet.

Don't write the end of the story yet. Stories are just starting, man. It's not the end of the story yet. Everybody's going to write the end of the story, I'm telling you, the story's not over yet. That's the right way to address it. Even if privately you're sick to your stomach, it's actually a really good roster of young, mostly inexpensive players.

So, like, it does make me believe they will draft a quarterback next year. Right, as they should. And as we discuss all the time, teams should probably draft a quarterback every single year. Yeah. But look, I mean, Jacoby Berset is, he's a fine player, and they're very lucky to have him in this, situation. But

the odds have changed. The odds went the AFC South, as we talked about earlier, the AFC South is completely different now. You have the Texans, favored to win, the Jags, the Titans, and then the Colts, like, obviously we expected, most of us expected the Colts not only to win this, but to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. Tennessee's the big winner, because Tennessee could not beat Andrew

Locke. I think they were 0-12. Like, to me, of all the teams, it's like, Tennessee's like, okay, they will now, I think they will benefit, instead of going 0-1-2 against Locke, which I think they would have. They have a chance to go 2 and 0 against luck and look look let's not understand

Houston losing Lamar Miller that's a big loss he's a Pro Bowl running back Duke Johnson is a fine replacement but that's that's a huge loss for them that's a significant step back so this whole division is different and I understand Chris Ballard is going to remain he has to remain positive

for the fans like we heard the fans doing they're obviously disappointed even if they loved Andrew Luck or support what he's doing looking forward they're not going to go watch Andrew Luck highlights they want to know what the next step is and he needs to remain positive. They do have a nice roster. This year is probably not the year.

But moving forward, it's not like the cults are dead in the water. They're in a good position. It's not a disaster. Yeah, good coach, good GM, good offensive line. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. David Shaw, was Stanford's coach,

is Stanford's coach, and was Andrew Luck's coach. He joins us next. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd. Weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. 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. SportsSlice 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 Slicelife-12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month,

I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it,

and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth.

And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. podcast. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 Nasree. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get to flyin. He running up the court licking his fingers while he got the bar like, after you go through a training

camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up. 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. Well, somebody I really admire, one of the smartest coaches, not only in college football, but in football David Shaw. Nine years at Stanford, he has won 82 games, lost 26, three bowl appearances, four-time Pac-12 coach of the year, has had numerous offers to leave Stanford to go to pro football,

and he stays at the collegiate level for a variety of reasons. Of course, when I saw Andrew Luck and David Shaw together, that even made me happier, two people I really like. David's joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Stanford head coach. First of all, are you shocked? I mean, Andrew's a very competitive guy, but he's a big global thinker, so part of me thinks you weren't shocked by this, were you? Well, initially I was. I saw Andrew right before he went to Indianapolis for training camp, and he was in great spirits. He was really excited about this season.

And he just kind of mentioned, he had been kind of fighting through something, but I think I'll be okay. So it was one of those things he went into training camp, ready to go, and excited about the team that he had around him. So I was surprised when it happened. He's a very competitive person, I would assume, as you are, you have to be in football. Do you think he'll miss the intellectual, his peers, the intellectual competitiveness, day-to-day game planning? Do you think that could potentially draw him back? I don't think so. Andrew doesn't do anything half-heartedly. He doesn't do anything without a lot of thought. And this is a young man, like you mentioned, the ultimate competitor. Anybody who's been in the huddle with him, you feel his juice, he feel his energy, you feel his fire.

And so for him to walk away, this is something he's certain about. He mentioned it. I mean, for the last four years, what his body has been through, it's amazing that he was able to come back and be the NFL player, player of the year last year and play at such a high level, even playing through pain again. So once I heard I was shocked, but then once you get the entire story, then I wasn't surprised because it's not just knowing Andrew. It's also knowing what Andrew's not. Andrew's not that guy that's going to hold on and play the last stitch of football with injuries and trying to find ways to alleviate pain. That was not going to be Andrew. Andrew. Andrew is going to play this game at a high level. And when it was time to walk away, I knew he was going to walk away. And it must be time. Listen, you're at Stanford. There's a lot of smart players. There's a lot of competitive players.

When did you know, what was the day, the practice, the drive home, the epiphany that, wow, this kid is really different because if I recall, he was not a five-star recruit. He was a very good, good player. But was there a moment early, David, that you just felt, I'm dealing with something different here? There were two moments. And one was when we brought him into kids, camp. We bring quarterbacks into camp to compete for our scholarship offer. And it was about 10 minutes into camp that we said, okay, this is not like everybody else. And Andrew likes to remind me that it took you guys 10 full minutes. But the big one was his freshman year, he's redshirting, we're going through a period. And, you know, the ball's on the left hash. The college hashes are wide. So the

throw to the field is the big throw, but his eyes were into the boundary. And having that intuition of knowing where everybody is and recognizing that they didn't cover the receiver that was way over to the field and he didn't move his body. He just quick and flicked the ball about 45 yards in the air on a line without even moving his feet. And there was a quiet hush on the field. And I'll never forget Jim Harbaugh kind of peeking back over his shoulder as if to say, did you see that? And the guys were like, okay, when this guy gets a chance to play, it could be fun. You know, it's, do you think, you did not play in the NFL, but you were a wide receiver for Bill Walsh, your family heritage, a lot of pro football, college football.

Do you think we'll see a trend now, you know, smarter players, there's more transparency, you know, especially Stanford guys. They, you know, even Stanford, the university says, if you get a great idea, you can leave school. Do you think we're going to see a trend here now, David? So I'm going to tell you what I truly believe, and I've been saying this for a couple of years now, this is to me the reason why this game is the safest it's ever been. There are more people playing the game that are educated.

The players, the coaches, the trainers, the doctors, in the last few years, more guys have walked away with their health intact and say, okay, I don't want to have another concussion. I've been injured for the last three or four years. I'm not going to hang on until I've completely lost my body. So you've seen more players walk away because they're not. have more information, they have more education, and they're looking at their entire lives. And there's a big push from these NFL players in particular, letting the public know about how much pain they're in, how difficult this game is, this sport is. And now you have to balance,

okay, how long can I play it? And when it's time to walk away, I walk away. And to me, that's why I feel great about my son playing this game, getting into it now as a freshman, and knowing that the people around him are all educated to say, okay, you're going to play this game for a while. And at some point, it's going to end for everybody. Let's end it before it's too late. Before you have these long, lasting, difficult health situations. So I feel great about what Andrew did. I feel great about the guys last few years that have made that decision to walk away and move on with their lives. What if Andrew Luck called you in a week and said, I want to coach football, would you hire me? What would you say to him? First of all, I'd say yes. And second of all,

I'd start to say, okay, I just hired my successor. Because there's nothing that I can do that Andrew's not better than me, right? There's nothing that you can do. This is just one of those guys that everything he does, he's outstanding. Now, I think he's smart enough not to coach football. I think he'll find other endeavors. He's married. He's got a child on the way.

And there's so many things he's interested in. And I think football is part of that. So I don't think that would happen. but I'm excited for him periodically to be around the program because there's no finer human being. There's no better person to point to and say, this is a Stanford man. This is the kind of man that you want your son to grow up and be like. So I can't wait to see him on campus. Well, David Shaw, four-time Pack 12 Coach of the Year, one of the good guys, one of the smart guys,

one of the real thinkers to gut punch with Andrew Luck. But somehow, some way Andrew's presence will be felt for all of us in years to come for a lot of a reasons, I think. I hope to see him again football or non-football. And David, you know how much I like you in your program. Good luck. You got a pretty good quarterback this year, by the way, Coach. He's the best one in the Pack 12, you know.

Yeah, he's a good one. He's going to sneak up on a few people this year, but we're excited about his prospects also. All right. Thanks, Coach. Good luck. Thanks, Colin. You bet.

KJ. Costello is a Stanford quarterback. He's really good. So Stanford does quarterbacks well. John Elway, Andrew Luck. They've had a few good ones through the years at Stanford. Competing takes tremendous toughness, energy, and drive. MDrive is for you. MDrive from N.com today.

Refind your prime with MDrive. You know, it is, you know, my only criticism of Andrew Luck ever, Pat McAfee talked about, the only criticism I ever had is I wish you would have been a little more combative and a little tougher on the Colts organization. I think Chris Ballard just got there too late. but Jim Ursay can be a little impulsive. I think Ryan Grigsin, I don't know him. I think initially he was over his skis.

Chuck Pagano, I think is a great coordinator. I don't think he was always an asset for Andrew Luck. I wish sometimes, and I don't like it publicly. I think Aaron Rogers sometimes can be a little public with its criticism, a little snarky. But Peyton Manning behind the scenes in Indianapolis, Troy Aikman was tough on players. that's part of leadership is not always taking all the blame.

Sometimes I thought Andrew to a fault would take all the blame. You know, easy for me to say I'm not in the building, but not a lot to criticize from him. Go back to that third year, 11 and 5, AFC championship. Look what he had to work with on that offense. I still think it's one of the great accomplishments for a young quarterback I've ever seen. I don't think Tom Brady going to take that Colts team third year for Andrew to 11 and 5 in the AFC championship.

One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Great news. 15 minutes can save you 15% on Geico.com's 15% saving. Doesn't take you very long at all. Antonio Cremardi played for over a decade. He was a pro bowler four times. Led the NFL in interceptions back in 2017. In 2016, you played briefly with Andrew Luck. So let's start with that. So by the time you got into the league, he had suffered injuries. So what was practice like for Andrew?

You know, honestly, when I first got there, I got there was second week of the preseason. So, you know, he was practicing and doing everything. But I think after the first game, it's when I saw that wasn't practicing. Then I wasn't able to throw the ball at all. So everything that he did was always a handoff. And he never handed off with that arm or with that shoulder. in 2016. So it was just like, okay, is he going to play this week?

What's going on? Do we have him up for this week? But he will come in and come play on Sunday. Yeah. What do you make? I think he will miss sort of the emotional and intellectual gamesmanship with his teammates, the locker room. No, I definitely think he's going to miss that because he was so interactive with the guys

that was in the locker room. He was. Very. I mean, especially when you have T.Y. Hilton and all the guys, that's right around your locker. So his whole thing was he's always going over the plays. Hey, can we throw it this way or can we do it like this? So he was really interactive with the guys that were around,

that was special on the offensive line and the tight ends and receivers. So, you know, that part of, and I think he's going to miss the whole development of going through the process of being able to a breakdown film, being able to get ready for a game, and being able to get ready with your teammates, and being around the locker room, being that leader that everyone,

looks for you to be. Now he has to take that to home. He was a very active locker room. Oh yeah, beyond active. Beyond active. Beyond. He's not in the funny guy too in the locker room. Is he? Yes. Yes. He's a great dude. The way he prepared it is, it was crazy. You know, I get in at 5 o'clock in the morning. He's already there. I leave at like 6. He's still there doing everything. Going over the plays, understanding the offense, understanding where he has to try to get better at or where something else can change. And also at the same time, he was taking care of his shoulder.

So he was dealing with that the whole entire season. Were you shocked by the retirement? Very. I mean, you're shocked by it, but then you're not when you start hearing him talk from the mental aspect part of it. And when you start seeing a guy lose the joy of the game that played with so much competitive, it's like, okay, I understand. Because my body's breaking down. You know, he had a, what, lacerated spleen? He had the shoulder.

Now he's dealing with the calf, the high. high ankle spring or whatever may be that we're not really being told. Do you think it's potentially worse than this? I think it's 10 times worse than what we've been told. And I think it's to a point of saying that he could miss three or four months this year. I was told this weekend by somebody who's a high level person within the league. He was not going to miss just week one. No, I think he's going to miss two to three, maybe even four months, you know, dealing with this injury.

And we're not being told because you don't have to explain anything right now. It's not week one. That's right. You know, and that's the beauty of hiding injuries. You don't have to explain anything until the Tuesday of week one, or the Wednesday of week one. So I just think when you're looking at a guy like that that prepares so much and that took care of itself and tried to eat right,

that try to do everything, it's more to her than just that it's the mental part of the game. It's the mental part of the aspects that dealing with the injuries for the last four years. You know, dealing with the whole time of 2016, sending out 2017, team going over cross seeds to get certain things that he need to get done for the shoulder. Then coming back to this and having this injury. It's something that takes a mental toll on you that takes away the aspect of the game that you love so much because you've got to prepare so much to stay healthy. Antonio, you played just over a decade. Every other year, you were a pro bowler.

Take me back to when he talked about, I'm mentally worn out. And some will say mentally. but I mean the guy was on painkillers it sounds like for four years which can get into a I mean with Brett Farr, I think there was an addiction at some point Brett had to acknowledge that he struggled. Take me to the emotional part, the mental part of this game. Did it wear you down at any point? Honestly, I would say after about year nine, warm me down for me. Why?

And I just think it was for me it was just the body part. You know, I've been like for myself, I was dealing with a hip injury that I did from 2008. You know, I'm just like you go into something where you, you fracture your hip and you still play, you do all the things. That hip lingers. You're dealing with that trying to play at a very high level, so it lingers with you the whole entire time. And I think with him, it's more so dealing with the injuries and the mental aspects. Like I always said this, if you're working up in the morning and you're telling yourself, I don't know if I can do this, it's time. It's time.

And that's where I was at year nine going into year 10, but I knew I was able to still prepare the way I wanted to. and play. But I was trying to fight it more so than just, you know, just say, screw it, I'm done. I don't, Jacoby Brissette's a big strong kid. I'm sure they'll be fine. But it's jarring. It's a week before.

Do you think the Colts just go down the drain? No. No, I don't see how you go down the drain when you have one of the best defenses in the NFL. You know, you have a very young group that wants to go out of the win. And I think Jacoby or Berset is going to do exactly what they need him to do. I think he's going to win nine to ten games for him. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, here's the thing about him.

He's big, strong, and he knows the system. And that's the number one thing. He knows the system. You know, and I think that's what's going to help them even more. He understands exactly what everyone's looking for. He understands what each player is like. Because you think about it when he first came into the something, he was just thrown into it. He was just here. Here you go. You just got to go into it.

That 2017 year. So having been in this system for, you know, two years now, three years now is he's very comfortable. understands where he needs to go with the ball. He understands everything. And not only that, he has a better old lineman than he had when he came in in 2017. Yeah, they actually have, I would say, in terms of youth, the best young offensive line in football. It may be behind Pittsburgh in terms of some of those Pittsburgh guys have been, you know, they've got gray hair, they got gray beard.

But in terms of young quality, you know, it's easy to sit here and say, what if, what if, what if. But I do feel like it almost borders on malpractice. what Andrew Luck dealt within his first three or four years. Jim Ursay, you know, smarter than me, he's a billionaire, but he can be impulsive. I thought Ryan Grigsen got a job he probably,

and this isn't, listen, I've done this, probably not quite ready for. It does feel like Andrew didn't have a ton of support early. Did players feel that around the league? Well, a lot of us felt like that. I mean, when you look at a guy of Andrew Luck caliber, the first thing you want to do is what, take care of him? You don't need to go out and go try to get a quarter of a receiver or a running back, a tight end.

Your biggest thing is trying to protect them. O-line. And I don't think they did that in the first three years for them. They didn't. But not only that, but you got to look at the way Andrew played his first three years. That's true. He played more like a running back. He did.

When he ran the ball. He would run over safety. He would run over corners. He would try to run over linebackers. And at times, he would try to run over defense alignment. At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself. So, you know, the cause of this whole effect, I think you have to blame both sides at the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, by the way, Big Ben, Cam and Andrew Luck all, not that they relished the hits,

but they extended plays because of their physicality. Definitely. You'll see guys hit Cam Newton. Ain't uncome down. No. So, I mean, Cam, Ben, and Luck, to some degree, we're like, listen, one of my weapons is, my body, safeties can't bring me down. Most corners can't bring me down.

Most linebackers. Most linebackers. Antonio Cromarty joining us. I want to shift to AB. So, you know, he's a great player. He leaves Pittsburgh. I think Pittsburgh will be fine because I think they develop linebackers and receivers better than any organization in sports.

And I agree with you 100%. They just do it. Like organization, like New England is really good with corners. Like Bill drafts them, develops them, and they got like five now that can play. Yes. Some teams don't have two. So organizations, they do very well with wide receivers. So I think Pittsburgh's fine.

I do think we're getting to a point with A, B. He's the best player in the room. And if the best player is noisy or at times distracted, I think that feeds young players see that. I think it's been a distraction, do you? I think it's been a distraction. I think when you say you're feeding to the younger players and what they get to see what you're like,

the younger players, the younger players, but I'm going to be like this when I get minds. just how I want to be. But you got to have somebody else in the room, which I know they don't have right now in the room now. Don't do this. This is what you don't want to do. Yes, he may have his business, like he said,

may be booming and doing everything else. But the people around you, it's about how you treat people that surround you. If you were in your prime and in that locker room, what would you say to him? Shut the hell up. Just like that. I mean, I had Santonio Holmes as a teammate.

Oh, you did. And I told him the same thing. I mean, I'm a straight, I get straight to the point I'm blind. I don't care if I hurt your feelings. I don't care about none of that. If what we're trying to do is go out and go win football games, we're not worried about anything else. I don't care about your helmet.

I don't care what you're going to do. You're either going to be in or you're going to be out. That's the end of the day. So you told San Antonio Holmes? Yeah, I've told him. Man, just be quiet. I mean, he told me too. But it's a respect thing.

Like, we understand, like, what we all want to do. Like, Santone Hills came to me like, hey, Crope, he pulled me to the side. Crow, man, no, we don't need to say nothing like that. Let's make sure we treat everybody the right way. Don't say nothing, let's just go. You know, and I pull him to the side, hey, we can't do that. That's what we got to try to do.

If we want to build this team the way we want to build it, we both got to be in a position where we have to lead in the right position, you know, in the right way. We've got to do things the right way because everyone's looking at us. I want to go back one more to Andrew Luck. You said he was a very engaged, active participant in the locker room. funny, glib, and just a good guy. I mean, T.Y. Hilton, yesterday on Twitter is like, I love you.

You're my best friend. Like, so his connectivity was obviously clear. Yes. Do you miss? Are there moments? Because I don't think Andrew will come back, but I do think he'll have moments where he wakes up on Sunday morning and he wants to be in that game and on that plane. Do you have those?

Man, I had those during the off season. Really? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, because I still, I still work. as I'm still playing. That's my thing. I still work out the same exact way. I didn't change my workout resume or nothing that I do. I still work out the same exact way. I still go through all my DB drills. I still go through all that stuff because not only that, but I do it because I train other

guys at that position. And also I have a son that plays that position. So like I have to make sure that I'm playing that position for he knows exactly what to do it the right way and not do it any other way. So if we had a football team at Fox Sports One, you would still be a starting corner for the team. Oh, yeah, I still be the starting corner. Okay. Because I just want to see Goulet. I know you have a dream of being a starting corner. If we have a flag football team, Antonio is still going to start a corner.

He's still doing his workouts. It's always a pleasure. I was looking forward today to seeing you and you delivered, man. Good seeing you. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. Antonio Cromartie. 11 years, four Pro Bowls.

Joy with the News. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Jacoby Brissette is the cold starting quarterback now that Andrew Luck has announced his retirement. But despite moving up on the depth chart, he is still also processing Lux departure. It's been, you know, a roller coaster of emotions. You know, and the main thing is just, you know, not being able to see Andrew every day.

I was shocked. And then, you know, we had a long conversation. And it was just, you know, some emotions obviously going back and forth. But, you know, you sit down and you talk to him and you understand. He was like smiling, you know, at the end. And, you know, that's what helped me gain clarity. You know, he seemed happy and, you know, that's all that really mattered. You know, this whole offseason, all the stories about him not practicing in training camp had me very concerned.

So the shock of his retirement was just that it was happening at all, but not once you heard the news about what was going on. We say all the time how draining injuries can be. Oh, God. If you had any kind of injury, just in regular life, like you slipped and fell and you had to rehab, it is incredible inconvenience. It's not just that you're physically hurt and the pain of rehabbing. It's extra hours that you have to put in. You have to leave work and then go and rehab. Like it's an additional job, which you're already doing.

It's been physically. And it's been four straight years of that. But the important. thing that he said was he's just mentally exhausted. And that was the biggest takeaway for me. Coming back from injuries is it takes a part of your soul when you have to come back from something like that. And you're not accounting for being away from your family. You're not accounting for, as you said, if you have to take pain killers, if you have to answer to the media. You have the stress of everybody asking you when you're coming back. When are you going to be 100%? It's overwhelming. And for him to have to do that for as many years as he has, this was just a lot.

not an easy decision to make, but I do think it's monumental that he said, enough, I just mentally can't take it anymore. Of course he's going to miss the game. Of course he's going to miss the competition. And as we know, as we always have these conversations with former players, you miss the locker room, you miss the camaraderie.

There's nothing like walking into an NFL stadium and having thousands of fans cheer your name. There's no replacement for that in life. But there's also no replacement for your mental health. And that is what guys are saying now. Even talking to David Shaw earlier, players are more educated, not just about how to eat, not just about how to train, but about the value of being healthy in all aspects of your life. You can have perfect physical health, but if mentally you're not there, it doesn't matter.

And playing on this level, it's mostly mental. There's tons of athletes walking around planet Earth that are capable of playing in the NFL. The mental aspect of it is what's harder. It's getting hit, getting knocked down, and playing with a lacerated kidney. Like the mental state that you have to be in to overcome that kind of pain and go out and perform is exhausting. It was eventually going to catch up with him. But I commend him for retiring. It was clearly not an easy decision.

And, I mean, he had the potential to be just an all-time great and had an incredible career already. So we'll see what he does next. So the Texans fear the worst. And it appears that is the case. Lamar Miller was carted off the field during their preseason game Saturday. It's been confirmed he toured towards ACL. and he will be out for the season, and Duke Johnson will now be taking the starting job

after being acquired from the Browns earlier this month. This changes things to the AFC South a lot to me. I mean, he's a pro bowler last year. Duke Johnson is a nice replacement, but obviously with the Andrew Luck retirement news, you know, they've dropped the Colts tremendously in the odds to win the AFC South, because obviously Jacoby Peret is a backup quarterback

and is a significant step back from Andrew Luck, albeit a good player. special. Brissette's not special. He's talented. Right. And we just haven't seen enough from him yet. And I'm sure they'll take a quarterback next year. But for this year, it seems like there'll be at least a bit of an emotional hangover from this, which is why, you know, fans are upset. But this Lamar Miller injury is significant to me because it looked like it was just the Texans division. And now I think it's evened out a little bit. Yeah, I still like Houston a lot. Nothing against Lamar. I don't love Jacksonville. Tennessee.

Marcus Marriota, I watched him yesterday. I'm like, how many years do I have to watch this? I trust Deshaun Watson and Bill O'Brien in that defense. I mean, Lamar Miller is not worth half a point. I think there's value to him. But I also think, I mean, I watched the Cowboys decimate them this weekend. I've got to be honest with you, that rookie running back to Alasan, I'm not saying he's Zique, but that dude can play.

Like, there's a lot of talented football players in America. Half this league is undrafted. You watch over the next seven, eight days. Houston's going to go grab somebody off a waiver wire or something. And I just, I'm never shocked. The Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason, they got a guy from the AF. They got a guy, they got undrafted free agent. They went and got free agents, draft picks.

They went and acquired players from like seven different avenues. And I watched the Steelers play there, and I'm like, That defense is way faster than last year. So I think they'll figure it out. By the way, they have Judeavian Clowny. They can make a trade here. The rumor is, I mean, I think they could trade and get it back. No, I mean, I still have faith in Deshawn Watson and Bill O'Brien.

I just think that this is a big deal. And if anyone else in that division has a great run, it's not going to be the giveaway that we thought it was going to be. Finally, Ben Rothesberger famously criticized Antonio Brown's route running last season, led to a pretty test. the end of the 2018 season and now obviously Antonio Brown is with the Raiders and he was asked about his comments on his former teammate and Big Ben had some regrets. He said, I wish I wouldn't have done it because we saw what happened and obviously it ruined a friendship. I just got caught up

in the heat of the battle. It's kind of interesting that he's saying this now because we always feel like the quarterback has an extension of the head coach, an extension of the front office. They're the coach on the field and they do have a bit of a responsibility to know, especially on the offensive side the ball, which you can and can't say. You have a friendship, obviously you just admitted. You have a friendship with Antonio Brown. You know what kind of conversations you can have with him and you can have about him that are going to trigger him.

Like, that's your responsibility to know as a quarterback. These Monday radio show hits that everybody does. Like, it's like you have no idea what wacky FM morning sports jocks going to ask you. Like, he got in trouble twice off those Monday morning radio hits. Well, when you're losing everything is. elevated, right? It's heightened and emotions are up and you want answers and you got to point fingers. But I just think that Ben had, you know what you're walking into with those interviews, right? And you know the personnel, or you should know the personnel on your team and how

and which way you can talk to them. I mean, everywhere in life, I'm sure you don't handle your daughter the same way that you handle your son. They have two different personalities. You can't talk to everybody the same. And you can't talk about everybody the same. People are sensitive. Some People are not sensitive. You should know how to handle that. In an NFL locker room, you've got Andrew Luck comes from Stanford, and his dad was a very successful. You may have kids that come from backgrounds where they're the only person in their family that went to college. They come from really tough financial times.

When you're in a locker room, you're the quarterback, you are dealing with socioeconomically, like just completely different players. You've got to have some emotional discipline to not jump down a rookie's, throat. I mean, you can bark at practice if they're on the wrong route, but there is a value, the quarterback position, there is a value to what Dak Prescott has. Emotional

discipline. Never too high, never too low. Ben's got great talent. Cam's got great talent. But I see the moods. I see, and listen, it's my knock on Ben, it's my knock on Cam. I don't want to see your moods. This is part of being a quarterback. No, and there's

repercussions to having those moods. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. You know I like Andrew Luck. He was my guy. He was my guy at Stanford.

My favorite five Andrew Luck moments. Not necessarily the best to everybody, but my favorite five, that's coming up. One more Herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Well, obviously, shocking news. Pat McAfee on today, Andrew Luck's college coach, David Shaw was on, Antonio Cromarty played with him. We had a Jay Glazer who had around our building for the last couple of weeks had said something wasn't right. There was a lot of questions about what was wrong with Andrew Luck, and then he obviously suddenly retired. I don't think I've ever liked a college quarterback more coming out of college. Well, I know I have it than Andrew Luck. And so I thought I'd take you have five things to me. These are not necessarily the best moments, but five things to me that all sort of define Andrew Luck. He was just different. Intellectually, he was different.

At the line of scrimmage, his physicality, and that in the end was his undoing. So my five favorite best for last moments from Andrew Luck's playing career. Number five. This is a game I was at. they played USC back in 2011, eight years ago. USC at that time had all sorts of NFL players. USC had better personnel. Luck through a terrible pick six. Came back forced overtime through a clutch touchdown in second overtime, a clutch two-point conversion in the third overtime.

Stanford was some good players, very few great ones. I was next to that pass, improved to 8 and 0. Luck had 330 yards, three touchdown passes. He rushed for a touchdown, but it was his ability to make an awful mistake late on the road, put his hands on his head, rebound, and lead Stanford right back down the field on a star-studded USC defense. I knew he was really good. That to me was the clincher that we were looking at an all-time quarterback talent. Number four.

Wild card game again. Cincinnati 2014 Colts are up. This is classic Andrew Luck five years ago. Offensive line bad. Bengals bring pressure and he has to make something happen. Here on the near side, 30. Second and 10 for luck. Trows on the run.

Moncrief. Most got to the quarterback, but he was able to step up and throw on the run for 36 yards and a touchdown. immediate O-line breaks down. Andrew running forward. Tripped up. Makes a perfect throw. They went on to win the game. 2610, AFC Championship next.

October 2013. Number three. Luck spoiled Peyton Manning's return to Indianapolis. Do you remember this? Broncos came in, by the way, undefeated. Luck was again brilliant. Three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown. It was a fitting, crazy, wild 39 to 33 win.

He almost felt like luck in his own way. It was a little embarrassed because, you know, he felt great. Peyton Manning coming back. It was really remarkable. It was two First Ballot Hall of Fame talents and a wild, wild game. Number two. Okay, this defines the toughness of Andrew Luck at USC. Watch this.

moment. Out of the eye in a tight formation. Taylor. See, Heson and luck saved the touchdown by creamy. Cherise Wright. Are you kidding? That was the quarterback. That's the hardest quarterback shot I've ever seen. Oh, man. There has never been a quarterback that hit a football player that hard. The toughness, the understanding of team, giving up your body, doing something coaches, probably cringed when you did. That defines Andrew Luck. Number one.

The wild card game against Kansas City back in 2013. It was an absolute blowout. Colts were down 38 to 10 in the third quarter. They cut it to 41.31. Here came Andrew Luck, bringing back the troops, outmanned, and then this happened. By the way, the Colts would score again when 45 to 44. It's the second biggest playoff comeback in NFL history. Most of you may not remember this.

Bill's Oilers was the biggest of all time. That was the Warren Moon game, I think, wasn't it? Yeah, Warren Moon got into a hole, dug himself out of it. it. But I think those plays, to me, you get to see everything. I mean, pick up the fumble, make the hit, falling down. And in almost every one of those plays, I showed you, they were down, they were reeling, he got hit, ball is fumble, he makes up for it. What do you inherit in life? What do you inherit as a quarterback? That is not saying, you know, Dan Marino needed Don Shula to be great.

But boy, inheriting Don Shula is way better than inheriting what many quarterbacks have inherited in their life. By the way, competing is tough.

If you compete, weekends, weekend warrior, workout, go to MDrive, 4Men.com. Today, refine your prime. Do not lay at age, define you. I don't think the Colts

will circle the drain. I think they're going to be kind of in that 7 and 9, 8, and 8 spot. I think Jacoby Brissette's good. I don't think he's special. And I think Chris Ballard is very close with Andy Reid. Okay.

A lot of sympathico here, okay? Andy Reid's whole career, he'd come up just shy because he had solid quarterbacks, not special quarterbacks. Chris Ballard has seen his friend Andy Reid get really close to Super Bowls. but you can only get you can only turn B to a B plus. You're not turning B to A plus. And I think Jigobi Brissette's very solid, big and strong. But do I think he's special?

Do I think Chris Bowler wakes up this morning and thinks for the next 10 years, I've got to get through Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid? You know, I think Chris Bauer looks at that and thinks, we can win a bunch of games, but I got Deshaun Watson now. I got a guy named Baker Mayfield, Sam Donald, and mostly I got Patrick Mahomes. I think they're going to draft a quarterback. And I do, and I say that, feeling that Jacoby Brissette, I've said this several times. I think he's a starter in the NFL.

I don't think he's special, but I think he's a starter in the NFL. 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 headlines.

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 SportsSlicse 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, Wreck, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown if you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole.

This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.