The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Russell Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Dana White, Tua Tagovailoa

Episode Date: May 14, 2020

Colin talks about another example of Russell Wilson being disrespected, why he feels Jarrett Stidham isn't special, why he's defending Dana White, and why Tua Tagovailoa is going to be a star in the NFL. Guests include Peter King, Joel Klatt, Sam Monson, and Les Snead. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1.

Find your local station for the Hurt at Fox SportsRoddio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go. I am worked up. It is a Thursday live in Los Angeles. Doing my own hair. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio. Yes, we're back in studio right here, FS1, Sirius XM Channel 83. It is great to have you. Joy Taylor is joining me. We came back to the studio tomorrow. You can smell the antiseptic. We are getting our temperature. checked in the parking garage before we're allowed to come up.

There's masks everywhere. Even the croissants and the cereals are social distancing. I feel safer here than I've ever felt in my life, to be honest with you. Big Vast studio. Joy is joining me again. Joy, it's great to be here. I'm all worked up today, Joy. Yes, you are very fired up.

It seems to be similar topics that kind of stick with you. So I am, I think when you think of me, you think there's a guy that fights injustice. That's always been my brand. I'm like a superhero without any powers, right? That's how I see myself. Batman, by the way, for the record, didn't have any powers either. He just had a big budget. I'm Batman without the butler and without the longtime companion.

Make it that what you will. But the point being is Batman was a bat. He couldn't even fly. It was the only bat in the planet couldn't fly. Batman couldn't do anything. He had a good budget. I got a decent budget. So I'm going to fight injustice today.

That is my new brand. I am the superhero with no powers. Russell Wilson got hosed again. So pro football focus, used to like him, came out with the best players of the decade. This isn't a small injustice either. So from 2010 to 2020, the best players of the decade. Tom Brady's number one, not a big argument there. and Donald's 2.

You're not getting a lot of arguments. Drew Brees is 3, Richard, Sherman, 4, Gronk 5, Aaron Rogers, Von Miller, Julio Jones, J.J. Watt, Luke Keakley, Joe Thomas, Chris Harrison, that's interesting. Evan Math, Mathis, a guard,

Harrison Smith, Patrick Willis hasn't played in six years. Oh, Russell Wilson's 30. Third. A guard. made it over him.

Calvin Johnson never won a playoff game and retired early. Patrick Willis, several spots ahead, retired six years ago, didn't play half the decade. A safety? Four of them, four safeties. It's interesting. Rob Grunkowski missed 45 games in the decade and was hobbled, was a shell of himself for the last three years of the decade. Russell Wilson is not even the top Seahawk Richard Sherman is ahead of him

not even Earl Thomas is ahead of him Oh good hell Marshawn Lynch is ahead of him He's the fourth best Seahawk Seattle it should be noted before Russell Wilson And I'm from Seattle team I grew up with Was irrelevant before he arrived The most known thing about the Seahawks Was Bosworth getting run over by Bo Jackson

that was like their thing, right? That's what you when you thought of Seattle. The Kingdom and Russell, Baws getting run over. They were known for great fans and cool uniforms. That was before Russell Wilson. Now they are known as a top five franchise. Well, Pete Carroll.

No, Pete Carroll showed up two years before Russell and had two losing seasons. This ain't a Pete Carroll thing. Pete Carroll was there before. Two years before. 7 to 9, 7 to 9, Seattle was still irrelevant. They just had a famous coach. And a good running back and a good defense, not denying it.

But Seattle now is one of five really elite franchises that seem to win every year. New England, Green Bay, the Saints, Baltimore, you know, you get into that kind of Pittsburgh, Seattle. But Baltimore's had down years. We think Pittsburgh mostly has underachieved. And why doesn't New Orleans win those big games late? Really, New England, do you know this, is the only team this decade with more playoff wins than Seattle. New England, that's it. You think Earl Thomas is the reason for that?

Maybe I should ask his brother. I hear they're tight. Anywho, I love Drew Breeze. You know I love Drew Breese. First ballot Hall of Famer, I call him a top eight quarterback of all time. I get pushback. In this decade, Drew Breeze has four playoff wins. Russell Wilson has nine.

Drew Breeze had four losing seasons in the decade. That's four more than Russell Wilson. And Russell didn't even play the entire decade, but yet Matt Ryan is ahead of him here. Matt Ryan's had four losing seasons. Matt Ryan's had two seasons in his career, passer rating over 100. Russell Wilson's career passer rating is over 100.

Matt Ryan went 4 and 12. Russell's never in his life going to have a 4 and 12 season. Hasn't had even like a bad season. College, NC State, college, Wisconsin, Pro Seattle. 32 NFL GMs, including the one in Atlanta. If Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan were available would take Russell. Russell's the better passer. Russell's the better athlete.

Russell's the better playmaker. Russell makes something out of nothing. Russell can win with bad old lines. Matt Ryan is overwhelmed with bad old lines. And I like Matt Ryan. I consider him a top 10 quarterback. And I love Drew Brees. I consider him a first ballot hall of famer.

You've got to be kidding me. You know what it tells me about this? Pro football focus should not be working from home. Pro football unfocused is what I'm calling it this morning. I will give them next hour a chance to fight for their case. This is absurd. And I've said it before. Russell Wilson is the best football player in the world today.

He's not the tallest, doesn't have the best arm. IQ leadership, playmaking. Russell Wilson literally does things we can't explain. Eight years. Why doesn't even get hit? Lamar Jackson's faster gets hit. Carson Wendt's bigger, stronger. hit. Mahomes last year

gets hit. Russell Wilson does stuff nobody can explain. He never gets hit. He runs backwards, he runs sideways, he runs forward, he faces the Niners twice a year, he faces Aaron Donald twice a year, he never gets hit. You can't even explain

stuff he does. Russell Wilson, 33rd, fourth Seahawk, best player of the decade. And you wonder, I fight injustice. I am now Batman without the butler. I am fighting this cause. I'm not letting it go. It's ridiculous. And he's the only player on this list I've seen so far that in the last two days was rumored to be traded two years ago to the Cleveland Browns and his team wants to bring Cam Newton in as a backup. What? It's incredible to

me. We, you know, we do this all the time, is that if you don't look like everybody else looks like, we don't know what to make of you. It's kind of weird. You know, Russell's, he's not the prototypical. This is Lamar Jackson. I'm guilty of it. I'm like he runs more than he passes. But I didn't consider great coach, great owner, great personnel department, and the league's

changing. The running thing works now. You got to kind of run. So, um, pro football focus. Russell Wilson, Gronk missed 45 games in the decade, hobbled his last three years is five. Calvin Johnson, Evan Mathis, Patrick Willis, these are good players. I'm not denying it. Russell's below all of them. Never forget. Seattle was, and I'm from there, was an irrelevant franchise known for cool uniforms, Boz getting run over, great fans. Pete Carroll

had a losing record in Seattle. If Russell Wilson isn't drafted, Pete's not in the NFL, not in Seattle. he was getting one more year. They were paying him too much. Pete's career, NCAA baggage at USC, NFL, he'd already been fired twice, two losing seasons. If he didn't draft Russell Wilson has Matt Flynn, he has a third losing season.

He's done. He's now a legend. Okay. That's just where I'm starting today. And I'm in a good mood. You know what? You know, what do they say? Not all heroes wear capes.

You know, I just wear a sports shirt. Somewhere button down. somewhere about now. Okay. So, okay, I got something else. I got a two-a-topic I can't get enough of. But, you know how everybody always talks? You ever heard about like a comics comic? Yes. Oh, he's a, he's an actor's actor. He's a writer. He's a writer. I don't believe that stuff. If you're great, America finds you. The Beatles were great. They weren't even from here.

We love the Beatles. I don't, oh, they were, you know, you don't get. You don't get. Get this music. Now, if you're good, we get you when we like you. You two's from Dublin. The Beatles from Liverpool, huge in America. If you're a great comic, Ricky Jervase, you don't even have to be from here. You can be crossed the pond. It doesn't matter. If you're great, we find you. We elevate you. We pay you. We make you rich. Jim Carrey, Canada, grew up poor. We found him. Got rich. Mike Myers got rich. Ben Stiller. It doesn't matter. I think Ben Stiller's from here. The point being is, it doesn't matter, Wayne Gretzky, Canada, Ricky Gervase over there, we find you, we pay you, you hit the lottery in America. So I don't want to hear about a garage band that I don't get or a comics comic.

You know, he's a writer's writer. No, no, no, no, no. The great writers in this country, in this world, always make it big in America. I don't buy that. And there's a football player, I'm being told, oh, he's something special. I don't buy it. I don't buy it. This is the herd.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

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everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more,

follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so... Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years. for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

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

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Great to have you in today. So I was saying is I don't buy into the garage band theory that, you know, we just didn't get breaks or we're not sellouts. The bottom line is you two, JZ, Beyonce. they sell out everything because they're really good. If you have talent in America, we'll find you.

You will be found. Carson Wentz, you know, you start looking at these guys, T.O. Where did T.O. go to college? Carson Wentz is playing in the Dakotas. It doesn't matter. If you're good, you're going to end up getting drafted. And if you're really good, you're going to get drafted in the first round. I don't believe in this whole, you know, I was really talented, but I never got a break.

There's too much money in America. We are the nation of 120 countries in the world. We're the place for capitalists. There's just too much money in music. There's too much money in football. There's too much money in finance. There's too much money in medicine. We'll find you.

You're great. We'll find you. And now with YouTube, you don't even need a budget. You can just have your grandma tape you, put it on YouTube, and we'll find you. The days of sleepers are over. People will find you. And so, and even if you're at a special, small place, they'll be a buzz about you. You'll hear a buzz. Oh, there's this kid down. There's this

magician. There's this entertainer. So Cliff Kingsbury is the latest coach to talk about Jared Stidham. He just goes on and on about Jared Stidham. I recruited him. Oh, my Lord, tremendous thrower of the football really comes out clean. Watched him at 16. Ball jumped out of his hand. Very accurate. Cool, calm. Doesn't try too hard around the guy. He's a natural leader. And I'm like, all right. So let me ask you this. Bill Belichick watched him all year.

Tom Brady is now old and expensive. Wouldn't Belichick have said, why are we waiting for Brady? We got Stidham. The Colts bailed on Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck was still a college player. Bill Belichick, after Tom Brady won a Super Bowl, versus Atlanta had Jimmy Garoppolo.

Brady was better than, younger than, and had just been the MVP of the Super Bowl. And Belichick was ready to move off him for Garoppolo. Brady's now older off his worst season in years, and Belichick's like, is Tom wearing a sign? We got space for Tom. We'll keep Tom. Belichick watched him the whole year.

He watched him every practice. He didn't blow him away. Listen, it's not like Jared Stidham played in the sticks. He played at Auburn. It's in the SEC. beat Alabama. The game got a massive rating. We knew who Jared Stidham was. We watched Jared Stidham. He threw for 18 touchdowns at Auburn. Auburn's got NFL offensive linemen, NFL running backs, NFL tight ends, NFL. It's Auburn for God's sakes. The top 10, 12 program in the country,

maybe top eight. They beat Bama regularly. Nobody else does except Clemson. So it's Auburn. We watched them two years. When he got drafted in the fourth round, were we outraged? We barely even mentioned it. It wasn't even mentioned. perhaps he's a late bloomer, but the idea I keep hearing about all these insiders talking about how Grady is. And my thing is, Belichick watched him for a year and still sat around hoping Tom Brady signed. Belichick, when Garapolo got drafted, the first year, though, was buzz about him. The first camp there was buzz about him.

The first preseason there was buzz about him. People were into Jimmy Garopolo. So much so, Tom Brady went to the owner and said, get him out of here. Brady, there was no buzz about Jared Stidham. As an old struggling Tom Brady, we didn't even suggest Stidham should play. So I never bought into the garage brand band that just didn't get a break. I don't, you know, like, it's like comedy.

Oh, this guy was really funny. He never got a break. It's too much money in comedy. Dave Chappelle was 20. It was 20. And Mel Brooks put him in a lead role for a movie. At 20. Chris Rock.

John Stewart, Bill Maher. They're killing it at like 23. They're agents everywhere. Tiger Woods had an agent at 11. So I hope Jared Stidham works. But there's not even a buzz about it. Belichick wanted Brady back. I don't buy it.

I want to see it. And by the way, I could argue they have the worst weapons in the league. He's going to elevate those. I don't buy it. And I hope the kid works. I mean, you don't want to see New England be unwatchable. they already have a conservative system. A conservative system, no weapons, and a bad quarterback.

It's terrible football. I love Belichick, the best coach I've ever seen. But when I, when the insiders start telling me about somebody, and there's no buzz all these years in, a guy that played in the SEC against Alabama, and I think he, one of the years, he beat Alabama, and he got drafted in the fourth round, and we were like, yeah, that's about where he is.

Maybe he's the world's latest bloomerate quarterback. But, I mean, I can remember. remember very early with Lamar Jackson, very early in college, people are being like, oh, that's Michael Vick. Oh, my God. Oh, Lord. And people started arguing about him. He's good.

No, he's overrated. He's good. He's overrated. If they're arguing about you, there's a buzz about you. Like, that means half the people are like, wow. And half the people are like, oh, overrated. There's not even arguments about Jared Stidham. Nobody's like, there's no pro-Jaridthidim or anti-Jaridstidthedom camp because there's no

buzz. And I just kind of tend to believe if you got it, We'll find it. We'll hear about it if you're not playing. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

I'll give an example. Remember Stephen Strasberg, the pitcher? Yes. He was like 19 years old at San Diego State. We don't even talk college baseball. He was at San Diego State, not LSU, not Michigan baseball, the Oregon State, like great programs. Strasbourg was the talk of college baseball. And it's like, and then you watch him, you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, Bryce Harper in high school,

LeBron in high school. Well, we have so much access to video and information and communication now that it's almost impossible for someone to just appear out of nowhere anymore. YouTube has really been the, YouTube, American Idol and YouTube have been the greatest in creations for people that don't have lots of capitalization, they don't have funding. They don't come from like, they come from small towns, and you don't need big. funding and you can go on YouTube and people will find by the way Twitter is free yeah I mean no social media is a huge look at look at grassroots basketball how early we know about young basketball players now because of social media otherwise we would we would never know about these kids and what they're doing first time I'm giant they are Zion I saw him on a Twitter account yeah that otherwise and then I'm like

then I was like oh who's this kid at Duke I wanted to watch him because his dunks were so great otherwise you would have only found out about him at Duke right that's I mean it's it's a completely different world now. So the Steelers don't seem too concerned with how Ben Rothesberger will look when he returns to the field following the elbow surgery. Their GM, Kevin Colbert, says he is confident that Big Ben is doing everything he can do to get back in shape. I know where Ben is. I know where he's been in his career and I'm never worried about his conditioning. When he shows up at a training camp, he's ready to go and he knows how to prepare himself. And I know that, you know, he could easily walk away from this game as well.

But he's choosing to continue to play it because I still think he really wants to prove and do more. To me, the guy's got Hall of Fame credentials as he stands today. But that's not enough for him. And to me, that's a mark of greatness.

Well, Kevin Colbert's a great GM, so I tend to buy into him. But I think Ben's reputation, Joy, is fair. Right. Super talented. hasn't squeezed the most out of his talent. In general, I trust the Steelers.

That's right. They're a very well-run organization, very stable organization. But I think it's also fair to argue over the last few years, they have grossly under-delivered. Absolutely. And it's been a disappointment. I mean, the fact that they didn't have more success with Ben Rathesberger healthy Antonio Brown and Levy on Bell is a disappointment.

Like, that's a fair thing to say. So it's not that I think he is being inaccurate. It's just like you said, Ben's reputation is what it is for a reason. We didn't just come up with it. Like, you know what? He looks like he doesn't work out or he takes unnecessary hits. Like we can see what it is that's happening with Ben Rosszbringer. Not to mention the fact that he's had open conversations about possibly retiring.

I don't love the idea that he could walk away from the game right now. That doesn't make me feel great coming off of an elbow surgery. It's not like Tom Brady who's coming off of a kind of. of disappointing season by Tom Brady Sanders and we're wondering how much more he has in him. He just had elbow surgery and he's coming back. So these are all fair questions. And again, I wouldn't be so apprehensive about the Steelers this year if they had a solid backup quarterback. But they seem completely disinterested in bringing in a veteran or someone that we didn't

just watch last year completely drop the ball. I mean, if they had anyone functional last year, they probably would have been in the playoffs. Like Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges are not where it's at. Well, he had surgery on September 23rd and he's not at 100% right now, but they're saying you're not pushing it because he has more time. So we'll see. Eli Manning said that he thinks Daniel Jones will have a better opportunity to step into a

leadership role now that he knows he's the guy. Eli also thought there was kind of an awkward dynamic between the two of them last season, and Daniel Jones agrees with his former teammate. You know, I think looking back, you know, there was definitely, you know, probably a little bit, a little bit awkward at times, certain times. But, you know, I think we did a, we did a good job working together. I know I know I enjoyed working with him and, you know, certainly learned a ton from him. The funny thing about it is, is Daniel Jones is kind of like Eli meaning 2.0.

It looks like he actually. It's kind of like that Spider-Man meme where they're pointing at each other. So I can't, I can not do awkward situations. It is not what I do. If I'm in an awkward situation, I just leave. If I'm watching something awkward on TV, I will, like, fast forward. I'll go get a drink. I can't watch.

Remember that show intervention? Yes. I couldn't watch it. Like having family members confront other family members on television. I've told you this before. If somebody's on Jeopardy and they're getting crushed, I have to turn on the channel. I'm the same way. I cannot tolerate awkward.

So I can't imagine. Eli Manning and Daniel Jones, who are kind of just naturally awkward guys to begin with, being awkward around each other. Like they're probably, I just can't even imagine this scenario. They're like, no, no, no,

you have the last muffin. Like, no, you have the last muffin. No, no, no, I insist, you have the last muffin. I'm glad for Daniel Jones

that he is now in this role. It must have been difficult for him. I mean, it is, it's not just Eli Manning. Like, it's not just a quarterback. It's Eli Manning,

who's won two Super Bowls. Yeah. It's the New York Giants. He's a Manning. Daniel Jones is a strange player. He had three games last year, Joy, where I think combined he had like 13 touchdowns,

no picks. Like three, I watched the Jets game and I was like, oh my God. Jets' defense was good. He lit it up. Daniel's a fascinating kid. And the truth is, when you're the number six pick, you could understand Eli being like, I got two Super Bowl. No, I don't blame. I don't blame Eli. I don't blame I don't blame him at all. Yeah. Situation. Again, this is why it's kind of weird when you do something that aggressive, like take Daniel Jones six overall that you kind of try and squeeze it all in Like, you got to say who the guy is, especially if the guy is Eli Manning and he's won two Super Bowls, no matter how he's playing. It makes it weird. Finally, Dak Prescott's contract negotiation is the story that never ends.

And Stephen Jones admitted that it's taking much longer than the Cowboys hope to get it done. He told the Dallas Morning News, Dak obviously is the elephant in the room. Everyone knows it. We've got to just keep grinding. So they are still actively working on this. What does that mean? Elephant in the room means. Means that they, that it's, I guess, it's kind of awkward.

Like an elephant in the room is something that like no one is really talking about, but they know it's still there. I mean, they franchise tagged him. So, you know, it's it's handled as of now. But, you know, it's the exclusive franchise tag for $31.4 million for 2020. They apparently offered him $35 million per year, which is the average salary of Russell Wilson. But they've yet to agree on the structure of in the length and the guarantees on the deal. So they're still going back and forth on all the details of the deal. they have until July 15th to get a long-term deal done.

I don't think it's an elephant in the room. I think it's the opposite. I think everybody knows and everybody's talking about it. They just disagree. I don't think Dax's not talking about it. I don't think Stephen Jones not talking about it. Well, yeah, I guess like the elephant in the room analogy would be something that's like there that no one wants to acknowledge.

Right. Everybody here is like, yeah, we're offering you a huge deal and you're turning it down. That's not an elephant. It was probably the elephant in the room when they were signing everyone else before that. Yeah. Now it's like, here's the offer, you're crazy not to take it. And that offers outrageous. I'm not taking it.

Yeah, now the elephant is hitting you. With his trunk. With his trunk. Like, it is done. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Lie News. Football Morning in America, Peter King, NBCSports.com. Covering the NFL's from the early 80s on is now joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Sponsored by Mercedes Ben's the best or nothing. By the way, I saw a pro football focus, which I like. It's a little wonky and nerdy, Peter, but I am. And so I like Pro Football Focus a lot. And I saw this morning they had Russell Wilson as the 33rd best player in the decade.

Under Matt Ryan, Gronk missed 45 games in the decade. Patrick Willis retired six years ago. They were above Russell Wilson. You and I have discussed this. There's even a story two days ago that Cam Newton may be going to Seattle. At some point, if you were Russell Wilson, wouldn't you? say to yourself, Peter, Cam Newton, I never get hurt. I'm not, I think deep down Russell's too classy of a guy to talk about this stuff, but I think he's bothered. I think he's bothered by

this. Do you? Well, if you were Russell Wilson and you had played eight years at his level of football, and think of this, he got drafted in 2012 in the middle of the third round. And from that moment, he has started every football game that the Seattle Seahawks have played, regular season playoffs. And he's played at an extraordinarily high level. He's the second highest rated quarterback in NFL history. And in those eight years, playing at that high level, you know, winning a Super Bowl, he's never got one MVP vote in those eight years. So if I were Russell Wilson. I might go to bed at night occasionally, be very happy. You know, seemingly very happily married, very well compensated, and look up at the ceiling

occasionally and say, what is wrong with people? Yeah, that's that's the minimum, I think I would say. I don't have the composure of Russell Wilson. By the way, the Cam Newton, the Cam Newton thing to me didn't make sense because I do think Cam Fitz in Pittsburgh behind a quarterback that gets hurt. I think Cam and Ben have some similarities in style. I don't think Big Ben's an off-season workout freak. I don't think he even fits in Seattle, and I don't think Seattle needs a high-profile backup. Are you shocked at all that Pittsburgh hasn't made a run at Cam or nobody really has, and this is the first discussion of any singular team? Pittsburgh, I thought, should have hired, hired, should have signed James Winston. I think he's

very, very good for that particular offense. Got a great arm. He's a lot like Rothusberger. And look, you know, Cam Newton depending on, you know, one of the problems right now with judging Cam Newton is, I don't really know what he is, who he is. So last year in training camp, he told me that, you know, he was going to be a different kind of quarterback. You know, he wasn't going to run around as much and changing his style a bit. And then he got hurt. He again. So we don't really know what Cam Newton is. And that's not being critical of Cam Newton. It's just that for the last year and a half, he is either not played or had a terrible shoulder injury that he gritty and the gritty and gutty cam played through. But I don't know whether he is

a guy who's going to run around very much, whether he's going to be almost exclusively pocket, kind of like Rothersberger is. So that's the biggest problem right now with Cam Newton. We kind of do an autopsy, a word that Kevin Wilde's on first thing first used the other morning on the Tom Brady relationship with now his former teammates and coaches. And I'm not really interested in it because they won a bunch and I don't really care about how they got along. It didn't affect their winning. But there was a story that came out from Gary Myers, New York Daily News, former reporter that one of the reasons Brady left is he and Josh McDaniels, that relationship deteriorated. And my takeaway was, well, it didn't hurt winning, so, you know, I don't care, really.

But do you do, do you buy the report that that is part of it? I have a tremendous amount of respect for Gary. I really do. I've known them forever. I don't know that, Colin. I can't say any, honestly, I just can't say anything about it. Because when I heard it, I said, wow. Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady always seemed joint at the hip to me.

And I hadn't heard that. But having said that, I don't know. I truly don't know. So, you know, the way I kind of look at this is when a guy leaves a place, there's going to be a lot of things that are going to be reported about the circumstances surrounding him leaving. But that one, I'm just not aware of it. So you recently interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, who's qualifications were never questioned, but we live in a very partisan time now. So if you don't vote on that side, you know, it's a very polarizing world we live in. And suddenly this brilliant guy were questioning his credentials, which to me makes no sense at all.

It's laughable. But you interviewed him recently. And what was your takeaway? I mean, it's amazing to me how what Anthony Fauci said is such a hot button issue. I sent out a tweet, I think, what day is today? Thursday, Tuesday evening in which I say. basically, you know, Fauci has been doing this. He started studying science in college in 1957. He's been the head of the most respected science agency, the National Institutes of Health,

in the United States since 1984. He's probably the most respected infectious disease specialist in the United States. And yet over the last 10 weeks, we tend to think that people who write sports columns or talk on sports radio or who, quite honestly, are politicians now are saying that Fauci is a fraud, he's trash, he's no good. And Colin, I mean, the amazing thing is, I've had, within an hour, I think, I'll have about 100,000 likes on that tweet that I had, which is five times more than I've ever had. but almost as strenuously is the other side of people saying he's a quack. So I don't get where we are in this country and quite frankly it's ridiculous and

disturbing. But as far as what he said and what it means for football, I mean, I asked him flat out. The NFL is obviously going to test every week and probably more than once a week. all of the players and essential personnel on every team. So if three or four players on a team test positive on a Friday or Saturday, Fauci said to me, you've got to shut it down. That means, in essence, that that team has got to sit on the sideline for two weeks in quarantine. You know, and everybody can say, hey, just take those three or four guys out.

But here's the problem with just saying that. number one a guy on a team can test positive the next day after testing negative yeah so you know you almost have to test these players every day but the other big problem is i want you to think if you're team x and you're getting ready to host team y and the night before the game four guys on team x test positive what do you think the player rep for team y is going to say when they get to the stadium on Sunday. I can tell you what they're going to say. We're not playing against a team that just had four guys taken out because they're positive for the coronavirus. So this is, this is going to be a very fascinating season, in my opinion. I think the NFL is going to play,

but I mean, just fasten your seat belts. Yeah, I mean, there's, I've said before, social distancing matters. Everything else, I have no idea. I have, I have said very little about this. other than we have to manage it. That's what we're doing. We manage it. We manage mental health. We manage everything. I don't know anything about this.

I do think there's a bunch of internet experts. I'm not one. To your point, it does bother me that the leading man in America or person in regards to a virus of this nature is now being called a quack. I don't get it. So that's where we are today. Peter King, NBC Sports. I got to run. Peter, thank you.

I get it. One third of the country is calling him a quack. And that third, I think we know what that all means. But whatever. That's the way life is today in this country. Yeah, it is the way it is. Peter King. Thanks, Peter.

Appreciate it. Yeah, I mean, the Internet has turned people like, you know, that don't know anything into experts and experts into people that don't know anything. It is remarkable. If Fauci talks, I listen. You know, my takeaway is, I'll listen to him. He's smarter than me. He's smarter than everybody else in the Internet.

That's my takeaway in it. Doesn't mean he's right on everything, but he's right mostly on everything in terms of science. Coming up next, Joel Clatt, top of the hour. We argue a lot. Joel Clatt's got some very interesting information. College football is going to be different this year, absolutely, perhaps regionalized, if we get it in the fall. That's coming up. But next, when you can't explain what somebody does, that generally, to me, ensures great.

Tua is who I'm talking about. That comes up next. 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 beaders to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action

with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist.

Kier Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're freed?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boo hoops at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, Yeah, yeah, literally. But just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clifford Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford 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, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clivert show. the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Good to have you in. I saw this where there's a story out that Tua should compete for the Dolphins, Miami Dolphins starting job right now, as long as the medical staff in Miami clears him. One of the reasons I think Tua is the best prospect in this draft is because a lot of what he does, you can't really explain. It's not quantifiable. And when you get people like that,

and we have examples of it, it usually becomes great. Let me give you three examples. The first one we've talked about, Russell Wilson. How can he never gets hit? He runs like Lamar Jackson. He runs like Carson Wentz, eight years in the NFL. He never gets hit. You can't really explain it.

He runs backwards. You're not supposed to do that. He runs. He's shorter than you're supposed to. He never gets hit. There's an instinct with him that nobody else has. Even Lamar doesn't have it. Wence doesn't have it.

Steve Young didn't have it. He never gets hit. When you can't explain it, it's special. Let me give you a second one. Mariano Rivera. He had one pitch. For 20 years, he had one pitch. It was a cutter.

Nobody could hit it. He got old, the pitch got slower. Nobody could hit it. You can't explain it. There's nobody in baseball that has one pitch. He had one, and he's the most unhittable closer of all time. Batters knew it was coming. Is he got older, it got slower.

He had one pitch, and it was often better against the better hitters. You can't explain it. That's special. Let me give you another, Dennis Rodman. Six, seven and a half skinny guy is the all-time best rebounder in league history. How's that possible? He played in an era with a keem and shack and big seven-foot centers, and this skinny guy was the best rebounder?

What? That doesn't make any sense. It wasn't like he was the strongest. He wasn't the tallest. He wasn't the best jumper. He wasn't the most powerful. He hustled, but lots of guys hustled. Larry Bird hustled.

A lot of guys jumped into the stands. How is Dennis Rodman the best rebounder ever? You can't quantify it. Russell Wilson, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Rodman. When you can't qualify it, it's called special. And those people usually become great. Mark Sanchez on the other day. Mark Sanchez, good college player,

you know, NFL had some success. Watch his film. This is what he does. And he tried to explain Tua, and he couldn't really explain some of it. Sometimes he can't even articulate what he did on film, and it leaves you scratching your head because it's so good and so fast and so instinctive. You're like, well, how did you know that?

And he can't really get the words out. Like, he doesn't even know. It's almost like he's processing what's happening physically in front of him. And in those nanoseconds, his body's already reacting. He's already making decisions that he didn't even know he could make that quickly, and he can't even talk about it. So I was like, what the heck is that? How did you know?

And, I mean, it's just, it's uncanny the way he does stuff like that. So it's almost like he's mentally twitchy. It's crazy. I've never been around anybody like that. Yeah, that's why I think he's special. I think you can explain Joe Burrow. You can explain Justin Herbert. Justin Herbert's a four-point student, big strong kid, family was athlete,

it's got a cannon for an arm, a really good offensive line in college. I think Joe Burrow wasn't great until he got a great team around him. He's a good distributor of the football when he has protection, time, and good receivers. Tua, a lot of stuff I can't explain. It's not very big, doesn't have a great arm, didn't have a huge arm. He's not real big. He's actually, people will tell you, it's not even that great of an athlete. But why was he the number one high school quarterback in the country?

He was undersized, didn't have a rocket arm, wasn't a super athlete. Huh? Don't you have to be great at one of those things? Like John Elway, you were like, oh, my God, what an arm. Trevor Lawrence, size, arm. What is it? It's the unexplainable, and that usually becomes great. I can explain Patrick Mahomes.

His dad played in the majors. Guy's got a ridiculous arm. He's an all-time armed talent. He also has great weapons and one of the great play designers ever. I can explain the whole Patrick Mahomes thing. I can explain Carson Wentz, 6'5, rocket arm, throws from angles, tough kid, really athletic. I can explain Michael Jordan. I mean, I can explain Michael Jordan.

huge hands allowed him to palm it, a relentless work ethic, and competitive to the point of strange. I can, and by the way, had a 40-inch vertical, big hands super quick. He had big hands, but not huge feet, allowed him to be really quick and shifty. I can explain everything. Magic Johnson. He was a six, nine and a half point. There were no six, nine and a half points. He was just so much bigger than everybody.

And he had the butt, and he backed in, and he had great court vision. he worked on his game, and he was still at the very end, not a great shooter and not a great defender, but I could explain it. Also happens, he inherited Kareem. That helped. But, you know, when we can't explain you and there's, you know, Mariano Rivera, it's hard to explain. A lot of guys through the cutter. I mean, Dennis Rodman, a lot of guys hustled. A lot of six, seven and a half guys hustled. Well, he was skilled. Not really. He couldn't shoot. I mean, you know, I don't know how to explain it. All right. So, Joel, clat top of next hour.

Yeah, by the way, Dr. Fauci to me, I think we're going to have an NFL season. I think we're going to have an SEC season. I'm not going to predict any of these leagues. I will say today I feel more positive about baseball and especially the NBA than I did two or three weeks ago. But my takeaway on this whole thing is it's May, what is it, 14th, 15th? 14th. Okay, so we're middle of May.

I'm not going to make any big predictions on September 15th. I don't really understand governors doing that, senators doing that, talk show, host doing that. I don't know what's going to happen. We've been locked down for a couple of months. We don't have a ventilator issue or a mask issue. We don't appear to have in California, a testing issue. So some things have been solved, some haven't. But I just don't know. I've only made one prediction. There will be an SEC football season. Because they don't care what you think. Conservative governors in the South, they're playing college football in the South in September. It's my only prediction.

Joel Clats around the corner. In L.A., it's the Herd. Want 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. 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.

Rocker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok Podcast Network. on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way 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 Hard Way. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway. and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, It was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

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

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here we go. Our two, Joel Clatt, around the corner, live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1.

Joy Taylor, I got all worked up in the first hour because of the disrespect for Russell Wilson. He might be. the most disrespected. Pro athlete. Pro athlete, I'd have to do a little more. Maybe. Maybe. Like, considering the amount of success that he's had is consistency,

his lack of injuries. Super Bowls. Yeah. And we, Matt Ryan is ahead of him on the all decade team. And he's, he's kind of a, I don't want to go as far as like to say he's revolutionized the game. But he is responsive. for many people getting drafted.

Matt Ryan is not responsible for anybody else getting drafted. No, because we compare a lot of people. Oh, he's got a little Russell Wilson in him. Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Johnny Mansell, anybody under six feet, anybody that runs. Even Baker a little bit, too. So let me just say this. I think part of this is first impressions are hard to overcome. So Russell Wilson comes into the NFL.

Seattle's got a defense with a nickname. Seattle's got a running back with a nickname, Beast Mode. Seattle has a rock star head coach, defensive guy. Russell's a third round guy, comes in, a little shorter, looks different, runs around, not a pocket guy. And eight years ago, running was a liability. So the first impression with Russell Wilson is, it's the coach, it's the defense, leads in a boom, it's the running back, and it's hard to overcome.

first impressions. I'll give an example. Dak Prescott's the opposite of Russell Wilson. He goes to Dallas. His rookie year, best passer rating of his career, his rookie year. His best completion percentage of his career. Dax rookie year. His lowest number of interceptions thrown. His rookie year.

His most wins. His rookie year. His first game, preseason game against the Rams, their first game back in Los Angeles exhibition, he crushes it. DAC has gotten worse every year. Last year, he was almost a liability at the end of the year. But our first impression with DAC is, look at that, man. And the Cowboys were an organization that didn't have a great defense.

Jason Garrett's good. He's not a rock star, maligned. And it was an organization post-Romo that was seeking something. Seattle wasn't seeking anything. It was Beast Mode. It was Pete. It was the defense. This happens all the time, your first impressions.

Odell Beckham's first three years in the NFL. everybody called him Randy Moss. He had first three years, 90 catches a year, 10 touchdowns a year, 1,300 yards a year, oh my God. His first three years, the first impression on O'Dell Beckham was, oh my God, he's the next Randy Moss. Since then, he can't stay healthy, has 13 touchdowns total, and it doesn't appear to work with Baker Mayfield.

But we still think, a top guy in the league. No, he's not. Indomacan Su. Indomacu comes into this league, an interior lineman. He has a profound college career. It's called the strongest college football player ever. Indomacan Su comes into the NFL. He goes and has 10 sacks as an interior defensive lineman his first year. Never duplicated that. In 10 years, he's got 58 career sacks. He's now an undisciplined, bad locker room, interior average interior lineman. That's all

he is. But you say endomic and sue, it's, oh, there's a go, oh, he's a good. We landed in Dama Kinsu. Coaches don't like him. That's why he always ends up one year out. Odell Beckham, Dak Prescott, Odell Beckham. If you make a great first impression, we cling to it forever.

Forever. And if you have a rough first impression or aren't deemed crucial, it's hard for us to put our arms around it. I mean, think about Seattle now. Their defense isn't even special. Last year, Seattle was 26th in yards allowed and 22nd and points allowed. Their defense is no longer special, and they still get to the playoffs. Their offensive line's been garbage for seven years.

The minute they let go a max Unger at center, it's just never recovered. Wide receivers, the best one they ever had was undrafted. So when you come into this league, like people are struggling to acknowledge Aaron Rogers appears to be declining. It's gradual, but he's not quite Aaron Rogers. Because he came into the league. He was just so robust and dynamic, and it's like he's great. Hasn't been really great lately. Hasn't really been great.

Odell Beckham can't stay healthy. Endomic and Sue's undisciplined doesn't get you many sacks. Coaches don't like him. Russell Wilson's unbelievable, but he burst onto the scene where you got the rock star coach, the Beast Mode, and the Legion of Boom, and a great fan base. Yeah, they win and, you know, kind of despite Russell. Plus, he didn't look the part. Runs around a little bit.

Eight years ago, that was like unique and different and weird. It's not going to last. Now he gets guys drafted. So, you know, I think when that all decade team, we are often punished for how we're initially introduced. And that's the way it is. Sorry. Is Clat ready to go?

Is he ready? Via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Let's bring on the Claster, Joe Clown. Fresh off. What's going on, man? I'm all worked up supporting Russell Wilson. I guess. By the way, when he was at Wisconsin, you're like an encyclopedia for college football.

Do you remember Russell? I remember him at NC State. Do you remember how he changed Wisconsin football for a year? Do you remember? Go back in. To that point, now we've seen it broken. It seems like every single year. But remember, to that point, that was the most efficient college football season we've ever seen from a quarterback.

He set the QBR standard or rating standard for the history of college football in one season. He went in there and was a captain right away. He is the reason, the catalyst, why this graduate transfer rule has become so invoked throughout college football because of what happened at Wisconsin. And they almost went and won the Rose Bowl. Remember, it was the great TCU team with Andy Dalton. I think Tank Carter was a linebacker that actually beat them in the Rose Bowl or else they would have been Rose Bowl champions. That was a really good football team. And the reason was Russell Wilson.

It was a fascinating year. So I was told a couple of days ago that expect the Pact 12, at least, to play a condensed Pac-12 schedule. No traveling, no out of conference, no out of region. It is going to be condensed if they can get it in the fall. And with California's legislators, governor, mayor of L.A., we're not sure that's true. your thought on games being played just regionalized Big Ten versus Big Ten, SEC versus SEC. How's that land for you?

Okay, so the first thing is nothing has been decided firmly, and they're talking about all sorts of situations and plans for the season. I think I would start with this call, and I want to make this abundantly clear. I absolutely believe there will be college football this fall in some capacity. There's no doubt in my mind. It's going to happen. Now, what it looks like, that's what then we get into this minutia. What does it look like? Are we just going to do conference schedules? I've heard every commissioner and a lot of ADs talk about trying to get to those conference schedules right away when the weather is warm and when they feel like they have a window of opportunity early in the season to potentially play just conference teams. Like you said, it would reduce the amount of travel. The hard part with that is that there is some large revenue games that are scheduled right now. in the non-league. So, and in particular, Notre Dame is out there looking around, looking at their ACC schedule with their scheduling partnership and what they could possibly do outside of this. Now, I want to go back to where you initially started, which is the PAC 12, and you talked about

that they were talking about condensed schedules and so on and so forth. I want to be very clear about this. Larry Scott does not have the political capital to get that conference to behave as one. Okay. So what's going to happen in the PAC 12, if there's a conference that is most likely to be fractured, one school playing in one state against some other team, regardless of what's going on elsewhere in the conference, it will be the PAC 12. In fact, I've been told by multiple sources that the ADs have had conversations behind the conferences back that would tell each other, listen, if we're unable to play via a mayor's ruling, a state governor's ruling, you guys go ahead and look out for yourself. And in fact, some of the ADs in states that really believe

that they will have football have offered specifically the California schools and some have offered even the Oregon schools, the chance to come play home games in their state. So if we make any sort of assertion about what we think that this is going to look like, I think we would be jumping way ahead of where they're at in the process right now because everything's on the table in the PAC 12 and make no bones about it. The ADs are the ones. driving that bus because Larry Scott does not have the political capital to get them to all behave as one. So I was saying this earlier. I don't believe in these garage bands that just never got a break. It doesn't matter. The Beatles weren't even from here. You two's not from here. If you're talented

today, America finds you and compensates you. Ricky Jervase is not from here. We found him and we love him. I don't buy that Jared Stidham is this secret sauce. He got drafted in the fourth round. nobody was outraged. He played at a massive power with NFL guys everywhere. He beat Alabama. And now all these football insiders are like, ooh, he's special. Oh, he's. Belichick was willing to move off Brady after he won a Super Bowl with Garoppolo.

Belichick, though, with an older Brady off a bad season, wanted Tom to resign with Jared Stidham there. Is it possible? You saw him play, Joel? He's okay. He's average. And remember he was a transfer. You know, he started his career at Baylor. Not many people remember that.

And remember how hard you've been on our boy, the first pick, Joe Burrow, for having to transfer away from Ohio State. But I will tell you this, that there is no secret sauce. And I think we attribute as sports fans in particular in the football arena. I think that we attribute way too much secret sauce to New England, right? I think a large reason why Tom Brady struggled is because, Does Bill Belichick, the GM failed him? Who did he have to throw to? Put his eggs in the basket of what?

Antonio Brown? Like, you know, what are we talking about? So to a large extent, I think that people view New England and the quarterback position at New England through this lens that they're going to win 11 games and, you know, almost make the playoffs regardless of what happened with Tom Brady because of what happened with him when he tore his ACL. Remember when Matt Castle won 11 games, they missed the playoffs. and it was like, oh my gosh, Bill Belichick's the greatest thing since sliced bread,

and he might be the greatest coach of all time. But I will tell you, there's no secret sauce. And Bill Belichick would not have offered Tom Brady a contract, even if Tom Brady felt like that was a bit of a slight, if he felt like Jared Stidham was a better option. In no semblance of reality is Jared Stidham a better option at quarterback for the New England Patriots than Tom Brady, period. You know, you have a baseball career and a football background.

So I was saying earlier, there are athletes in my life that do things that are not explained. Russell Wilson never gets hit. You cannot explain it. Lamar does. Carson Wentz does. Russell never gets hit. Mariano Rivera, one pitch. Nobody could hit it for 20 years. That's never happened in the history of baseball.

When people have a special ability and it's not quantifiable, they become great. Dennis Rodman, best rebounder ever. Why? Skinny, 6, 7, playing against 7. footers. It makes no sense. I can't explain it. Tua, I believe, is the only quarterback in this class that does stuff that you can't explain. He's innate. There are instincts here. He's not the biggest. His arm is okay. He's not a great athlete. And he's the number one. High school quarterback. He comes in as a freshman. He's great.

When I see special, all bets are off. Most of the great athletes, they're special. So I think I can explain Burrow and Justin Herbert. and Jordan Love. I can't explain Tua. Does that make any sense? Am I just whiffing here? Well, I think you're whiffing. But I love Tua as a player. You know that. You and I have talked about Tua extensively. I think he is a brilliant player. There's no doubt his biggest flaw, as I've told you before, is that he thinks he's more elusive than he is. He actually thinks he's Russell Wilson when he's not. And he does get hit. And he does get wrapped up from behind, which causes the ankle injuries, which he's had two surgeries on. It caused the hip fracture.

So that's concerning to me. Now, his play from the pocket is uncanny. It's fantastic. I love his quick delivery. He's smart. He knows where to go with the football. I would say that he and to a large extent Joe Burrow as well. I mean, they got to throw to some unbelievable players. Maybe the best wide receiver on Alabama's team wasn't even available in the draft. And they still had a couple of guys going the first round from a wide receiver standpoint. So he certainly was a benefactor of having great players around him. I will tell you this, though, that I don't believe that there's a quarterback, even Joe Burrow, who I'm so high on, you're explaining something that's like unexplainable. And I would call them independent contributors. It doesn't matter what's going on

around them. They will come in and they will perform. I thought Andrew Luck was that level. I thought John Elway was that level. I thought Peyton Manning to a large extent was that level. In fact, you referenced my baseball career just quickly. I was in the Padres organization in the year 2000 and 2001. Tony Gwynne was still there. And one day in spring training, I got, I had the opportunity to sit at a table and have lunch with him and listen to Tony

Gwen talk about hitting. And I was looking across from him and I was like, nothing about this guy's physical stature would suggest that he's one of the greatest hitters in the history. of the sport. And yet listening to him talk about the philosophy of hitting and pit selection, the way that he approached each at bat, it was just a lightball for me. Like, of course, his brain, his mind is why he's so great. Later that spring, actually, the Padres did a minor league deal with Ricky Henderson. If you go back, you'll check this out. He was in AAA for

a big portion of that spring training. And Sean Burroughs was a third baseman at the time for the AAA team. He got hurt and his arm was sore. He was going to be down for a week. So they just said, hey, kid, from rookie ball, me, go play third base and bat and Sean Burroughs place in the lineup. So I hit second behind Ricky Henderson for a week in spring training in the year 2001. It was one of the most fascinating experiences in my life. In fact, he would constantly look back of me before he went up to bat as I was walking to the on deck circle and Colin, he would be like, two, three. And I was like, what? What? What is Ricky Henderson telling me numbers about?

And then I finally asked our skipper, Jeff Gardner. I was like, Gardy, why does Ricky keep telling me a number before he goes his? He goes, oh, hey, Rook, that's the number of pitches he expects you to take so he can steal second. I was like, oh, I've been out there swinging from my heels, not knowing what was going on. But it goes to your point. You talk about these innate contributors, the greatness that can almost not be measured. We're seeing it in the last dance. I saw it firsthand with Ricky Henderson and Tony Gwynne watching Ricky steal bases well into his 40s, only because he knew how to.

His first step was as powerful and as quick as I've ever seen. Tua is not that, right? I just don't think that he's an independent contributor yet. We haven't seen him go through a college football season unscathed from a health standpoint. So I think that there's some room for him to go and prove it out there in the NFL. He's got some great qualities, but I don't think that I'm going to sit here and say, like, hands down. He's got things that I can't explain because I think that you can certainly get better if you're too. Good talking to you, Clad.

I like hearing those old baseball stories. I mean, why don't you put a pipe in, you know, once in a while, and you just sit back on the porch, sit bourbon and talk baseball stories with Joel Clad. That's an idea for a hell of a podcast, to be honest with you. How about that? Ricky Henderson stealing second base while I'm swinging from my heels. he probably was like, who is this? Get him out of here. A year later, I was at the University of Colorado.

Joel Clat, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Joel. Appreciate that. See you, but. Pro football focus has agreed to come on the show. I'm considering it before the end of the hour. Next hour. Who do I have next hour? Oh, Les need, Rams GM.

Listen, I'm not cool. Like, I get it. But all you people banging on the Rams uniforms, honestly, top five uniform in the league. I'm going to make a bet that their sales merchandising go through the roof on the Rams. I'll make a big bet here. How about a Fox bet? The team in the NFL who's, well, the dolphins will win because of Tua.

The Rams sales will go through the roof. They'll go through the roof this year. I love the New Jersey. I think they look great. I wasn't a fan of the logo, but the jerseys are great. All right, that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

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

and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes a ball. 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 Hard Way. Open your free, IHartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day but just so y'all know I mean at this point this is the second episode

where we've discussed crack so I'm starting to see there's a through line We also have AIDS on the table right now so Thank you finishing that sentence I don't think

there's a more important year for black people Really? Yeah for me it's one of the most important years for black people in American history Listen to look back at it

on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff,

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

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. In just three days, it's a day we've all been waiting for as NASCAR returns. Don't miss the historic green flag and the return of live racing as NASCAR is back Sunday at 3.30 Eastern, 1230 Pacific on Fox. And it's going to get huge ratings.

Whether you're working from home or on your fitness, you want to hear your music, not your roommates. Raycon's wireless earbuds. The way to go. 15% off. Buy Raycon right now. Buyraycon.com slash heard. NASCAR is going to get big ratings. Goulet is our resident NASCAR expert. I asked if we can get Jeff Gordon on tomorrow's show.

It's Friday. If we can get Jeff Gordon on from his house or wherever, I'd love to have him. By the way, there's an epic rant out on the internet. Is Jeff Gordon going to be on tomorrow? Boom. That's what we asked for. We got Jeff Gordon tomorrow. Good dude.

I've had two or three interviews with him. He's actually very funny. And he's great. There's an epic rant right now on the internet from Dana White. Dana White and I have gone back and forth. Dana White swore at me, said terrible things about me, hurt my feelings, didn't sleep for weeks. And I questioned something about Dana White once. Dana's very aggressive.

I'm a fan of Dana. I went up to Dana after Dana had said something about me and blah, blah, blah. And I'd said stuff about him and we're both outspoken people. And I went up and I said, Dana, I'm always going to respect you. I know what you've gone through. Dana White and the UFC. There's a reason Dana made $350 million when they sold the UFC. Dana doesn't care what you think.

and in this virus, if you are running a sport, you better not worry about what the New York Times says because strong people are needed. This is going to be imperfect. We're managing this thing at best. Professional athletes are the safest of all Americans because they're in the right age space and they're in incredible shape.

So Dana White fired back at a negative report from the New York Times and it's a little caustic and it's a little over the top. But I've said this before. Thank God we have states like California that lean left. Thank God we have states like Florida that often lean right or Texas. We need both, absolutely. And we need everybody in the media loves Adam Silver. I don't think he's been strong enough.

Everybody in the media pushes back on Roger Goodell. I think he's been great through this. You've got to be able to handle blowback because there's a lot of people on the inner web. that are just negative. They wake up at 6 in the morning on a Saturday and they want to complain about life. You give them positive COVID news and they go crazy. There's a lot of positive news. More positive than negative.

Flatten the curve. Hospitalization surge did not happen. So Dana White's response, hopefully we get it. There's a lot of swearing. I'll play it for you if I get it. Here's Joy. Yeah, it needs a lot of editing. Here's Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So the NFL originally gave teams an end date of May 15th for their virtual off-season programs, but the league announced yesterday that they have extended those programs two more weeks. So the last day for off-season programs is now May 29th. They also sent out a memo to teams last night. The NFL did that club facilities will remain closed, and no date has been sent for the set

for the reopening of the club facilities. But before they can reopen, they must meet three criteria. It's consistent with sound medical and public health advice. Reopening is permitted under current government regulations, and it occurs in a way that respects the principles of competitive equity, which could get kind of interesting if they're trying to make sure that all of the facilities are opening at the same time, obviously, because different states and different areas are dealing with different situations. But the training program for club infection control officers is May 18th,

and anyone that wants to reopen their facility has to go through that. They've also been told that they'll get more information this week. So the NFL is putting things in place to keep moving forward. As we know, they've not taken anything off the schedule as of yet. So the off-season program extending virtually, that's kind of expected. Like there's no changes there. Somebody of Florida has been a very difficult state to explain because their COVID numbers have been down. Their death rate, small, no hospital surge, despite the fact they've had restaurants open, no masks.

Is it crazy to think, suggest that if vitamin D or sunlight does help somewhat, that maybe the NFL should start the season in late August and get through August, September, instead of waiting? Like, there's part of me that thinks the southern states have been looser with their restrictions and the numbers aren't nearly as bad as Michigan or Pennsylvania or New Jersey or Connecticut. And I think to myself, is it possible you could move the NFL season up two weeks?

Well, I think the NFL is going to be very flexible and everything that they do as far as the season goes. Again, we're not scientists. We don't know what's what we're going on. And even the scientists are giving us new information every day. So really, every single day is how we have to live at this point. And we'll get new information and adjust accordingly. But I do think that the NFL is going to do whatever they need to do to have a season.

So if it turns out that, you know, scrap the preseason. Sun and heat are helpful. Then, you know, maybe there will be. August 20th, we start our season. Or the L.A. teams will have their camps in Nevada or whatever. You know, I think there's going to be a lot of adjustments. made. So Tom Brady gets to start a new chapter of his career in Tampa, and that will include

learning a new offense in an interview with the athletic. Buck's quarterback coach Clyde Christensen said that Brady has been very open to learning a new system. He said, I think what we'll see here is Bruce's offense with a Brady influence. Bruce wants to keep the offense the same. We did some good things last year. Tom has been terrific as far as saying, just tell me what you want me to do. We're looking forward to seeing how he can influence the office offense and he'll make it better. He also said anyone who says he's lost arm strength, all I know is I must have missed something. Remember, they didn't have those kind of receivers in New England who could get deep. It wasn't about anything that he couldn't do. I think Tom's excited about what he can do with

Godwin and Evans. Yeah, I don't. The arm strength knock on Brady doesn't make sense. I watch all their games. That's not it. I got to be honest. I'm not a quarterback guru or anything, but isn't accuracy far more important than arm strength? Oh, yeah. I've heard so many quarterbacks. Oh, he's got a cannon. You can throw a ball over those mountains. Like, cool. Is the mountain going to catch the ball wherever it lands?

Or is it need to be in a window this big? Listen, Joe Burrell is the number one pick. And everybody loves Joe Burrell. Joe Burrell's got an average arm. Like, people acknowledge he can't make throws outside the numbers. But he's extremely accurate. He hands it to you. Yes.

So it's arm restraint. I remember when Andrew Luck came out. That was the knock, average arm. And I'm like, when your brain's as big as Andrew Luck. Like average compared to what? That's right. And I know that we love these. these huge throws, but I think Tom Brady is been the greatest example of,

be more surgical. Like, going for, you know, the Hail Mary on every single play. That's not how the game is played. And I know you like to, you know, deep balls and stuff. It's all fun. It's great for fantasy and highlights, but sometimes that's just not how you win the game. So Michael Jordan's intense leadership styles been put under the microscope during the last dance. And yesterday on the Rich Eisen Show, Ray Lewis gave his opinion on how Jordan got that killer mentality.

So when you think about how Jordan did it, I'm telling you, a lot of that comes from the things that he didn't have or was taken away from him before he was Michael Jordan. He didn't have a plan B. And there's no other direction, but straightforward to get this done. And sometimes you can look at it, right, as being, you know, a dictator and really being harsh. And some of it can really be viewed that way. But if you get results, the way that they had, they got. results. Part of me feels like the reaction to how Jordan handled his teammates in these last

episodes is, I don't want to call it sensitive, but I do think that people tend to react to situations and apply them to their lives or their environments when in fact their lives and their environments are absolutely nothing like what it is that they're watching and what that experience is. Yeah, if you were bullied in life, you see Michael as a bully. Well, not even that. Like, if you just throw the word bully on top of everything, then like, that's a wide net to cast. Being in a professional sports environment where there's billions of dollars on the line and your legacy and championships and you are trying to put together a mentality, it's a different situation than walking into your office and talking to your secretary.

They're not the same thing. You can't just apply everything to everything in life. It just doesn't work. And it's the same mentality that people have when you're talking. talking about and what Ray is talking about where it where you know when you go into a situation and you don't have another option you're going to be extreme this is an extreme situation well sports has standings life doesn't right so you don't have thousands of people showing up in your you know cubicle cubicle cheering on when you you file that application yeah like i look at michael

and i'm like strength leadership right some people think he's a bully in life if michael acted like that, it would be a bully. Right. But sports has standings and salary caps and there's winners and losers and we accept that. We don't like to call people losers in life, but in sports we're like, there are winners and losers. And also to what Ray's talking about, like, you can't argue the results. Like he won and their legacy is done.

So you can say like, oh, there's many ways to lead. Sure, there are many ways to lead. But what he did got those results. So you can't just keep coming up with fairy tale situations like, well, Michael could have done that being nice? Well, no, we couldn't, because that's not what happened. Yeah, and even the people that are viewed as nice nice is relative

to. Yeah, like, let's be careful. There's a time to be nice and then there's a time to be direct. And being direct may be perceived as not being nice when in fact, you're just not wasting time, because there can't be time, time cannot be wasted in this situation. I just think you can't apply every scenario to what was happening with the Bulls and the last dance.

Agree. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. We have that Dana thing yet? It's going to take a while to edit. Listen, I don't have to agree with somebody all the time, but I can appreciate you for something you did.

Dana sometimes is a little rough, but I appreciate his strength as we go through a pandemic. But he's like, California didn't want to fight? Boom, we go to Florida. You're going to sit around and let California control everything? No, he's like, I run this thing. We're moving to states that will let us have it. I got young athletes. They're safer than everybody else in society.

So we'll get that piece of audio. By the way, it appears a pro football focus will come on next. Sam Munson, their analyst. They ranked the best players of the decade, top 100. They had four safeties and two guards ahead of Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan. Did not sit well with me. And Grong, who missed 45 games in the decade, Russell Wilson, you know, since he arrived, hasn't missed any. I will give pro football focus love, though.

they listed their top four or five most improved offensive lines. Cleveland 1, Miami 2, Jets 3, Denver 4. For the record, I think those are four of the best five bets this year. They call them future bets, over-under bets. The top five offensive lines most improved. The first four of five, Browns, Dolphins, Jets, Broncos are four of my best overbeats. bets. So the over under on Cleveland's eight and a half, I think the over's great bet. Miami's six, great bet. Jet's six and a half, good bet. Denver seven and a half, great bet. I don't have an

opinion on the Giants because I don't know if Joe Judge could coach his web, a brown paper bag, so I have no idea. But to their point is because fantasy football doesn't award points for offensive lines, we disregard it. That's the NFL. The NFL is built. Get a quarterback, find a really good coach to guide him and then protect him. That's the sport. And the NFL is changing all their rules to amplify all those. Find a quarterback, get a coach who's not an idiot, and protect him. O lines.

That's why Baker is going to have a very good year this year. Baker Mayfield is going to have a very good year this year. I think they got a grown-up coach. They wildly improved their tackle situation to protect him. And I think Stefanski's a grown-up. From what I hear, my people like him, he's a grown-up. So there you go. Coming up next, very controversial.

Sam Monson from PFF. Less need GM of the Rams coming up next hour. America's ready to get back to work, but to win in the new economy, you need every advantage to succeed. Smart companies run by NetSuite by Oracle, the world's number one cloud business system. Receive your free guide right now. NetSuite.com slash herd.

NetSuite.com slash herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the trial,

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 SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapy. Careers, Kear Games.

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

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

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the Hardway. Open your free I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just. because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Then you're finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clipper Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Get your free credit scorecard today.

Even if you're not a Discover customer includes your FICA credit score. Check your scorecard. Won't hurt your credit. Go to Discover.com slash credit scorecard. Limitations apply. Pro football focus drove me crazy this morning. They came out with their best 100 players of the decade. And they had a guard Evan Mathis ahead of,

Russell Wilson. Rob Grunkowski missed 45 games in the decade. Last two years he just hobbled around and I love him. Linebacker Patrick Willis who years ago I called as the number 11 pick in the draft, the steal of the draft hadn't played in over

half a decade. By the way, Matt Ryan has had two seasons of a passer rating over 100. That's Russell Wilson's career average. And so I thought it was a slight to Russell Wilson but what's new? Pete Carroll slites him, the organizations lights him. It's just the world he lives in. Joining me now via the

Coward Global Satellite, Sam Monson, pro football focus. Okay, I was not in a great mood, so let's start there. Let's start with that. He is, he has the second highest pass rating of all time. I'm not a stat junkie. I don't really care about stats, but that is a stat that does appear to matter. How can he be rated below Matt Ryan, who doesn't even make plays with his feet, who has been far more inconsistent. The passer rating's not close. And they've both had defensive coaches. He's had, you know, Matt Smith. He's had Dan Quinn. It's not like one of them's had a brilliant offensive mentor. So how is Matt Ryan ahead of Russell Wilson? Let's start with that. Yeah, I mean, the first thing to note is that they're really close. So there isn't much separating

these two guys. And you're right. Passer rating is an interesting number. It's indicative of a lot of things, but it's not necessarily a quarterback stat as much as it's a measure of the entire offense. So it's taking into account what the receivers do on the back end and even what the kind of coverage you're working against is, and it can be skewed. And Matt Ryan, for a lot of his seasons in the NFL, has kind of had bad interception luck. You know, you think of the butt pick, a play that basically lands on the backside of a defensive back and gets picked off. He's had an awful a lot of those plays that have ended up in interceptions, which drag his interception or his passerating down, and I think paint an unfair picture of his overall play. But PFF grades these

plays turnover worthy plays. So whether it was an interception or not, it's getting a downgrade, and then also ones that were interceptions that shouldn't necessarily have been. And Matt Ryan has been one of the most careful players with the football in the entire decade, top five turnover worthy play rate. And he's had seasons that didn't have, you know, the really bad Russell Wilson games that tended to punctuate his seasons until last year. I mean, last year, I think Wilson was legitimately an MVP level player, but every other season, there was always a bad Russell Wilson game just lurking around the corner, which tended to pull his grade down just a little bit.

Let me, let me throw this out there. When you consider this, winning is not just about one player in the NFL, but quarterbacks do have a significant, you know, they touch the ball every play. So they matter more than like a guard. Does winning matter? Outside of New England, Seattle has more playoff wins this decade than everybody except the greatest coach and quarterback of all time. Is that any part of your valuation at PFF? It is, but only indirectly. You know, this list in particular, we're not focusing on on wins. specifically. We're not diving into our metric, you know, wins above replacement, PFF war. It's for a start, it's created in a sort of position agnostic, all positions created equal way.

So we're giving guards credit. You know, if you're a dominant guard over your time in the past decade, you can rank ahead of some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. If we were looking at just value and winning games, the list would be quarterbacks. It would be one to 50 quarterbacks. And that's not what we wanted to do. So look, I'm not, I'm not going to tell you that Russell Wilson is a bad player or that he's been anything less than spectacular. But everybody on this list was a phenomenal player in the past decade. And, you know, it's about juggling all the different elements to go into this. And some guys end up, you know, a little bit further down the list than you might expect

them to be. Rob Grunkowski, everybody loves Gronk, I love Gronk. But he missed 45 games in the decade. There was a time with Aaron Hernandez. People weren't sure he were more, he was as valuable as the late Aaron Hernandez. people thought he was the ultimate chess piece in the NFL. You could put him in the backfield. You could put him out wide.

And that Gronk kind of hobbled his last two to three years in the NFL. You have him as the fifth best player in the decade. The injuries, the hobbling, the, I mean, how does he rank that high? And I'm a fan of Gronk. I think he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Right. And I mean, the injuries in the hobbling, those are the things that prevented in being number one or number two in this list.

Like Rob Gronkowski, there are a few players that have. had his consistent level of just absolute peerless dominance throughout the decade. He was as good as the best receiving tight ends in the NFL. Guys like Jimmy Graham that never blocked at all throughout the decade, Gronk was every bit the match of those guys and did it for longer. And then he was as good of a blocker as guys that were on the roster just for that role. You know, blocking specialist tight ends who are earning a living for 16 games going out there and basically playing auxiliary tackle.

Grunk was as good as those guys were at just blocking. So you put those two things together, and he was this ultimate matchup weapon that nobody could deal with because they didn't have players that could be good in both facets of the game. You're right. The injuries, they were a problem. They were the thing that pulled him down. But that's what's stopping him from going down as being like literally one of the best players to ever play in the game, let alone a top five guy of the decade.

Aaron Rogers number six, far ahead of Russell Wilson. He's been injured. There appears to be declines in the last two years. He has not really elevated young receivers like Russell Wilson. Would you at least acknowledge the best years of Aaron Rogers do appear to be behind him? Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's what we're fighting against, you know, this recency bias of, look, 2019 and probably 2020, Russell Wilson is a dramatic.

better quarterback than Aaron Rogers, but I think we're in danger of forgetting just how insane Aaron Rogers was at his peak. You know, he was being talked about, like Patrick Mahomes is being talked about now, the best talent to ever play the position. And his run of play, you know, which encompassed the entire decade, the back end of that 2010 season, the Super Bowl, his 2011 season, his 2014 season. I mean, his peak play was some of the best play I think we've ever seen. seen anybody playing quarterback. And I think, you know, it's important not to forget just how good Aaron Rogers was at his peak, even if he slipped away from that in the last couple of seasons. By the way, where did you have Jarrett Stidham, who I'm told by Football Insiders is a magician?

Where did you have him rank out of college? Yeah, he wasn't a particularly highly ranked prospect for us coming out. We didn't entirely love the guy. His skill set, I don't think is phenomenal. He's played okay in the preseason. I think that's definitely something. something in his favor. But honestly, all the hype surrounding him right now, I think is just a proxy for Bill Belichick. You know, we know that he's one of the greatest NFL coaches in history, and therefore we expect him to be able to replace Tom Brady and plug in Jared Sidham because he appears to be showing confidence in him, whether that confidence is designed at targeting Trevor Lawrence next season or not. Because he's showing confidence in him, therefore

we're trying to project. We're trying to figure out what Bill Belichick sees in Jack. Eric Stidham, and honestly, we don't know that it's there yet. We haven't seen evidence of it. All right. Pro Football Focus has their top of best players of the decade. Russell Wilson, to me, feels egregiously low, but that's what this is fun about. Sam Munson's joining us. Thank you, Sam.

We appreciate you having the courage to deal with my arrows today. Thank you very much. Anytime, sir. Next time we'll try and do a list that doesn't upset you as much. Yes, thank you. That would make the world a better place to live. Am I outraged? Am I nutty on this?

No. All right. I mean, he made a good case, but. By the way, do we have the Dana White video before? We'll have it next hour. Dana White goes off. When Dana is very opinionated. He's actually in person, a very nice guy.

He's just gruff. Boston guys are like that. All Boston guys are all just wound up. Dana's great. He just has his opinions. Yeah. Boston guys, they're all kind of street tough guys. Boston guys are, you know, I live back there.

It's tough guys, you know. All right, hour three is coming up. Less neat. GM of the Rams. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Ah, hour three.

Live in Los Angeles. I just polished off some fantastic oatmeal. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1 in here. Serious XM Channel 83 as well. Man, I miss the people who do makeup and stuff. I just got an amazing,

DM. Someone's slitting your DMs? From a superstar in America. Are you going to tell us who? Nope. Why do you do this? Hey, this is journalism.

You cannot give up your sourcing. I just got it a superstar in America. Sliding into the DMs. By the way, does that always have to have a overtone of... Always? Like, I couldn't slide into Goulai's DMs to give them information. I mean, the idea of sliding into someone's

DMs is like you're doing something not that you shouldn't be doing or that you're being slick, you know. Like if I slid into Goulai's DMs and way. You would just say like I DM'd this person. But if you slide in, you're talking about what's up man?

I got to tell you nothing that you do annoys me except for that. What? When you come on air and say that you have this information, then you don't tell anybody. Listen, you think the people who broke Watergate give a heads up to everybody in America? Hey guys, going to break the biggest story ever.

Nixon. No, I mean, no, but you tell everyone. Yeah. And everyone's like, listen, this show is a lot of mystery and intrigue. I'm going to have the Dana White sound in about 10 minutes. I want to start with this. 15 minutes, less than a GM of the Rams. Later and best for last, Russell Westbrook lost another teammate yesterday.

Hmm. Yeah. First, I got to start with Russell Wilson. I know when you think of me, you think of me as a guy who fights for injustice, like Batman. And I'm here again to defend one of the great players we've ever seen who continues to get the short end of the stick.

So pro football focus, used to like him, came out with the best players of the decade. This isn't a small injustice either. So from 2010 to 2020, the best players of the

decade. Tom Brady's number one. Not a big argument there. Aaron Donald's two. You're not getting on arguments. Drew Brees is three, Richard, Sherman, four, gronk five, Aaron Rogers, Von Miller, Julio Jones, J.J. Wat, Luke, Keakley, Joe Thomas, Chris Harrison. That's interesting. Evan Math, Mathis, a guard, Harrison Smith, Patrick Willis hasn't played in six years.

Oh, Russell Wilson's 33rd. A guard made. it over him. Calvin Johnson never won a playoff game and retired early. Patrick Willis, several spots ahead, retired six years ago. Didn't play half the decade. A safety?

Four of them. Four safeties. It's interesting. Rob Grunkowski missed 45 games in the decade and was hobbled, was a shell of himself for the last three years of the decade. Russell Wilson is not even the top Seahawk.

Richard Sherman is ahead of him. Not even Earl Thomas is ahead of him. Oh, good hell. Marshawn Lynch is ahead of him. He's the fourth best Seahawk. Seattle, it should be noted before Russell Wilson, and I'm from Seattle, team I grew up with, was irrelevant before he arrived.

The most known thing about the Seahawks was Bosworth getting run over by Bo Jackson. That was like their thing, right? That's what you and you thought of Seattle. Kingdome and Russell, Boz getting run over. They were known for great fans and cool uniforms. That was before Russell Wilson.

Now, they are known as a top five franchise. Well, Pete Carroll! No, Pete Carroll showed up two years before Russell and had two losing seasons. This ain't a Pete Carroll thing. Pete Carroll was there before. Two years before. 7 to 9, 7 to 9.

Seattle was still irrelevant. They just had a famous coach. and a good running back and a good defense, not denying it. But Seattle now is one of five really elite franchises that seem to win every year. New England, Green Bay, the Saints, Baltimore, you know, you get into that kind of Pittsburgh, Seattle. But Baltimore's had down years. We think Pittsburgh mostly has underachieved. And why doesn't New Orleans win those big games late?

Really, New England, do you know this, is the only team. this decade with more playoff wins than Seattle. New England, that's it. You think Earl Thomas is the reason for that? Maybe I should ask his brother. I hear they're tight. Anywho, I love Drew Breeze. You know I love Drew Breeze.

First ballot Hall of Fame. I call him a top eight quarterback of all time. I get pushback. In this decade, Drew Breeze has four playoff wins. Russell Wilson has nine. Drew Breeze had four losing seasons in the decade. that's that's four more than Russell Russell Wilson um and Russell didn't even play the entire decade but yet Matt Ryan is ahead of him here

Matt Ryan's had four losing seasons Matt Ryan's had two seasons in his career passerating over a hundred Russell Wilson's career passerating is over a hundred Matt Ryan went four and 12. Russell's never in his life going to have a four and 12 season. Hasn't had even like a bad season. College, NC State, college, Wisconsin, Pro Seattle. 32 NFL GMs, including the one in Atlanta. If Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan were available, would take Russell.

Russell's the better passer. Russell's the better athlete. Russell's the better playmaker. Russell makes something out of nothing. Russell can win with bad old lines. Matt Ryan is overwhelmed with bad old lines. And I like Matt Ryan. I consider him a top 10 quarterback.

And I love Drew Brees. I consider him a first ballot Hall of Famer. You've got to be kidding me. You know what it tells me about this? Pro football focus should not be working from home. Pro football unfocused is what I'm calling it this morning. I will give them next hour a chance to fight for their case. This is absurd.

And I've said it before. Russell Wilson is the best football player in the world today. He's not the tallest, doesn't have the best arm. IQ leadership, playmaking. Russell Wilson literally does things we can't explain. Eight years. Why doesn't even get hit? Lamar Jackson's faster gets hit.

Carson Wentz, bigger, stronger, gets hit. Mahomes last year gets hit. Russell Wilson does stuff nobody can explain. he never gets hit. He runs backwards, he runs sideways, he runs forward, he faces the Niners twice a year, he faces Aaron Donald twice a year, he never gets hit. You can't even explain stuff he does. Russell Wilson, 33rd, fourth Seahawk, best player of the decade.

And you wonder, I fight injustice. I am now Batman without the butler. I am fighting this cause. I'm not letting it go. It's ridiculous. And he's the only player on this list I've seen so far that in the last two days was rumored to be traded two years ago to the Cleveland Browns. And his team wants to bring Cam Newton in as a backup. What?

It's incredible to me. You know, we do this all the time, is that if you don't look like everybody else looks like, we don't know what to make of you. It's kind of weird. You know, Russell's a he's not the prototypical. This is Lamar Jackson. I'm guilty of it. I'm like he runs more than he passes. But I didn't consider great coach, great owner, great personnel department,

and the league's changing. The running thing works now. You've got to kind of run. So, pro football focus. Russell Wilson, Gronk missed 45 games in the decade, hobbled his last three years, is five. Calvin Johnson, Evan Mathis, Patrick Willis, these are good players.

I'm not denying it. Russell's below all of them. Never forget. Seattle was, and I'm from there, was an irrelevant franchise known for cool uniforms, boss getting run over, great fans. Pete Carroll had a losing record in Seattle.

If Russell Wilson isn't drafted, Pete's not in the NFL, not in Seattle. He was getting one more year. They were paying him too much. Pete's career NCAA baggage at USC, NFL, he'd already been fired twice, two losing seasons. If he doesn't draft Russell Wilson has Matt Flynn, he has a third losing season. He's done. He's now a legend.

By the way, I've said this during this pandemic, that strong people are needed, necessary. Vince McMahon, Dana White, Roger Goodell, NFL. You've got to push back. Joy and I have talked about this before off-air. there are people that are lonely, sad, isolated that go to social media and they're just negative. They wake up Saturday morning screaming at people. You give them good news, they turn it into bad news. You know, you got to be careful about it. Busy, successful people mostly don't wake up bitter on Saturday morning. Social media is full of it. And so I am here to defend people who I think we need strong people in this virus.

I think Roger Goodell is strong. I think Vince McMahon is strong and Dana White is strong. And I don't think the UFC event was probably perfect, but it's one of the best cards ever. They did a good job. You cannot be paralyzed by this virus. It's just something we're managing. By the way, the New York Times had an op-ed today where they acknowledged, the New York Times acknowledged, in their op-ed, young, healthy Americans have a fatality rate similar to that of the seasonal flu. Spend more time outside. That's the New York Times. They went on to say, we can't stay in our houses. There's a lot context here in terms of mental health issues, get outside, get some sun, let's slowly open it back up, let Americans live. That's the way we have to do this thing, just not hide from it.

So even the New York Times. But the New York Times also, Dana White, who I have defended and criticized from time to time, he responded colorfully to a recent New York Times article criticizing the UFC for not practicing enough social distancing in their post-fight interviews last weekend. There was an article in the New York Times today that was very critical of the execution. That guy. I, that guy. I don't give a shit what that guy thinks, what he has to say or what he writes.

Good for him. He's pulling good traffic. Do you not worry about the, like the... I don't give a fuck. Fair enough. Don't give a fuck. I love that. You cannot be consumed with how the media, they're not experts on any of this stuff.

The media's experts? How many epidemiologists? Even our epidemiologists don't have the answers here. Here's what's going to win. Strong leadership, not consume with blowback, socially distance as much as possible. But Dana White is right. He doesn't give a blank. And if you run a league, you can't be concerned about what media says.

You do your best. You go in. You try to be safe. We're talking about the world's best. athletes. The fatality rate is tiny. And, you know, if you're not comfortable with some blowback on this stuff, this is why Adam Silver about a week ago finally came to terms with it. Adam Silver was close it down, stay away. And about a week ago, he went, no, I'm watching the NFL. You got to deal with some blowback on this. There are people that are negative. This is

scary. I get it. It's awful. But I appreciate Dana White pulling off. And all time great card. It was a great card in the face of this thing. And it's going to take more of this kind of resilience to battle it. All right, less need. GM of the Rams. I like their uniforms. Some don't. Many don't. Some other questions I have about the Rams in that division coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Check it out, MDrive, relax.com. 50% off right now, MDriveRlax.com, worrying more than ever. Check it out. 50% off. They know you're stressing. Less need is the, and it's been an interesting general manager career, nine seasons. So you go from one part of the country to the other part, the divisions become the best in football. Russell Wilson's now in the division, Kyle Shanahan. The Rams had a step back year last year, but it should be acknowledged, despite some injuries up front. They went nine and seven in what I believe is the toughest division in football. And less need is. is now joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network.

Ninth year as a Rams general manager. Drafted five pro bowlers as a GM since 2012, an offensive player of the year, a defensive player of the year, clearly knows what he's doing. Let's start with a pithy question that means nothing. I like your new logo. I like your new outfits. I like your new uniforms.

You got some pushback. So internally, as everybody's taking shots at it, and this is L.A., it's a creative town. You know, some movies flop, some hit. what was the internal discussions as your uniforms were getting all sorts of criticism and discussion points on the internet? Well, the interesting thing internally, because our players had seen them, modeled them, put them on. They were really jacked about them.

So they're the closer to the millennial or whatever generation we have going, the ones that really get into this. So feeling the passion from our players, that was important. My teenagers were jacked about them. So I think that that's a big thing when the young generation likes them. But I go back to this documentary on Air Jordan that's going on right now, right, the last dance. And I remember, I think it was Letterman who was maybe, let's call it criticizing the Nike Air Jordan's. He made a good comment and said, you know what, it's all about basketball. It's all about winning.

People will like them if we win. And I'm sure winning help, but I do think that shoe's probably going on to probably. sell as many or more shoes than any other shoes. So eventually change always gets a little pushback initially, but I do think things stabilize, homeostasis sets in, and the fans will really get behind these unions. When you look, I love California. It's full of smart, independent thinkers.

We've got more regulations here. Our taxes are a little higher here, but I think it's worth it, and I love living in Los Angeles. And it's always been a place that attracts high school football recruits, free agents, NBA stars, people like Los Angeles, owners like it, GMs like it, it's a great place, it's endless dreams. But for the first time in my life, with this virus, they've been a little more restrictive. Are you concerned as a general manager that you may have to train out of state? There's no concern there. I think like all of us, you know, the data is going to lead us.

And when I say us, right, that'll be the NFL, that'll be the Rams, that'll be the state of California, on what's best in that moment. That's still to come. But I do know all of us in the NFL, us with the Rams for sure, whether it's playing, you know, I call it the London games, the games over the pond, the relocation from St. Louis to Los Angeles. All of those, you know, we're used to moving and adjusting. And I think the best thing to do is plan for really good training camp, a really good season, and from there, wherever it occurs, just move that plan there. You know, I have said, I think you know what you're doing. You're obviously a good drafter, but I didn't love the Brandon Cook's deal,

and I have said before on the air, so I'll say it to your face. I've said it when you're not here. I've said, sometimes I think less, even though you're from the SEC, which is all defense, right? I said, sometimes less falls in love with offensive stars and signs him a tad early. You've heard that for more than just me. you read the papers, you hear things that why just signed Gurley. I did back you on the Goff move. I think if you find the guy and you believe in him,

and I believe in Jared Goff, then you pay him. And you pay him early, and within two years you made the right deal. But what do you make of the criticism from many that you paid Gurley early? Brandon Cooks too much. That you have a great offensive coach that's going to elevate even average offensive personnel. Is that a fair criticism? Well, I think the blueprint to try to piece this win together is, first of all, ball, right? Even Alabama's going away from

defense. You see their offensive. Firepower these days. So we're modeling that through Alabama. Not really. We, when we set out and we hired Sean, obviously brilliant. Offensive mind has become and evolved into a really, really brilliant head football coach.

We have, and the blueprint of a lot of successful teams, some of those teams that when I was on waiting to get on the show, you were mentioning that that has won consistently in this league. They started with, with a head coach who ended up having success with a rookie, you know, a quarterback on his rookie

contract. And a lot of those teams went to the Super Bowl with that head coach and that quarterback on his rookie contract. So we definitely want to keep feeding that offense. We've been successful the last three years, you know, scoring a lot of points being one of the top one, the two, to three, to four to five teams in offense. So we want to keep feeding that beast. And and I get all of the other positions, but simply put hiring people, acquiring players who can gain yards in explosive chunks and move the change and score touchdowns is not a bad thing. It is interesting.

We said this a couple months ago, Joy and I talked about this, that if you look over the last five or six drafts, maybe even four or five, that the players that have actually overachieved are almost all offensive, is that if you're on the bubble and you just don't know and your staff's arguing, just go offense. You have been a very good drafter. Again, you have drafted five pro bowlers as a GM since 2012 and a player that you're offensively and defensively.

Is your drafting, forget free agency, is your drafting less changing because of the modifications to the rules that if you're on the fence, just go, as good as Kalee-O-Mack is, he can't change a game like a great slot receiver. That's an excellent point that you make. And I think it's with us, with the Rams. And each team would be different. There are still some teams that are maybe run by a defensive head coach, and it's going to be geared more toward defense.

And a lot of times the defensive head coaches will maybe gear the offense more toward a bigger offensive line and ground and pound and, and we've seen those teams be successful. But whatever your internal philosophy is, whatever it is that you think the coaches want to do to try to win that game on Sunday and win more games on Sunday than lose and get to the tournament,

the best thing a GM can do is try to do his part in feeding that coach. The players are going to help execute his system. So-Fi Stadium looks amazing. I fly over it. I used to fly over it more when I could fly. It's been a little more difficult last couple months. But when I fly over it, it looks pretty close.

We also know that it's been harder on construction projects to get a staff. There are some regulations and hoops we have to jump through. Is it on target the stadium to play your first home game this morning? Is it on target? It's on target. What I've been told, and again, there are a lot of smarter people than myself that are in charge. of that project and getting that project completed from A to Z. But our president, Kevin Demoff, keeps us informed.

And the goal is to open that stadium during the preseason and play our first game then. And really the targets that Sunday night football game and have Al Michaels get to have a home game and stay right here in Los Angeles and open that stadium up on Sunday night. By the way, I've been spending most of my day defending Russell Wilson, who, was like 33rd best player of the decade, and I think he's remarkable. You face him twice a year. Take me inside a little bit. When you have to face Russell Wilson twice a year, the challenges less that you face as an organization. How do you see him as a rival to Russell Wilson?

I was fortunate enough to sit here and listen to you as you were articulating your defense of Russell Wilson. And I thought you nailed it in many, many ways. He is a guy that I think he revolutionized the game and allowed some of these players that you mentioned that get tackled more than him, but do have a superpower of being able to elude defenders and turn this game into a unscheduled event, more playground football. And defensive coordinators cannot stand to face those players because when those coordinators spend a lot of hours, through the week trying to game plan, Russell Wilson, it's more in the scheduled, let's call it,

time frame of the play, the one to two, the three to four seconds. But when Russell, when Russell turns that thing into a backyard game, and you have to play him two times a year, I can promise you,

I would have him ranked higher. I'm a P, I don't know what you're coming up. I respect PFF, but, you know, if it was me, someone who has to compete against this person twice,

a year. He's definitely higher on my list. Les Sneed, Rams GM entering his night season. Appreciate you stopping by our show today. Love it. Thanks, Les. Hey, you're welcome. Good stuff. There you go. Yeah. You know, listen, sometimes I believe in something, and I'm just not letting go of it.

I'm just not letting go in the Russell Wilson thing. It's crazy to me. I have had, you know what's funny about this phone device? It is amazing that in America, you could have a superstar. just get a hold of you on your phone or your Twitter account. Yeah, I mean, I think if you, you know, do a deep dive into the psychology of why we don't have fans laying on the ground trying to see through the dust to catch a glimpse of Michael Jordan at a baseball game anymore. It's because the stars are more accessible these days. It's unbelievable.

You don't have to do all that. Yeah, especially when they text me. Folks, let me just say something. Superstars love me. It goes without saying. You're America's media icon and Batman. Yeah. I am not Robin, though.

I fight for injustice. No, you're not Robin. You're too talented to be wrong. Anything I'm Bain. Well, there you go. Joy Taylor with the news. Bain. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. All right, I like these stories. So Daniel Jones will team up with Jason Garrett as his offense coordinator this season. And he said he's been turning to some Cowboys film and he spoke to one of Garrett's former quarterbacks to prepare himself. You know, I certainly did that, you know, diving into some of the, the Cowboys stuff and

what they had done in the past, you know, the rules make it tough to, you know, communicate a whole lot about that stuff. But, you know, I did my best to be prepared for when I could, you know, get my hands on that stuff. I, I spoke with Tony briefly, but, you know, I didn't, we didn't get into the system a whole lot. So, you know, I look forward to talking to some of those guys and hearing their perspective on it. So he talked to Tony a little bit about Jason Garrett's system. It's got to be difficult for Daniel Jones in this position to have to learn an entirely new system like this. But, I mean, if you're going to ask anybody about it, it's got to be the great communicator, Tony Robbins. Listen, I, it's unfair if I only acknowledge when I'm right.

Daniel Jones was better than I thought. I watched him. He's better than most people thought because people were outraged. I watched him in college. I didn't think he had a very strong arm. I thought he moved around pretty well. But I watched them and I thought, God, even with his great coach, David Cutcliffe, he doesn't feel special to me.

With a bad old line the last year, I thought he was pretty good last year. He had a couple real stinkers, but he had three or four games. He was great. Daniel Jones, and I got to be honest, Dave Gettleman, I thought, had a great offseason. So as critical as I have been of the Giants, I have to be honest. Daniel Jones is worth the six pick. If he's the starter, he's worth it, I was wrong. Of course.

And I thought Gettleman had a great free agent and draft. I thought the Giants had one of the better drafts. The NFC East is kind of interesting this year, right? Because we all assume that the Eagles are going to be better because they had insane injuries. Well, they also have a superstar quarterback. I mean, they have a great player. And they took Jalen Hertz also, so they're going to develop him as a solid backup. And they won the division.

I think all the pressures on the Cowboys in the NFC East this year. Because the Giants were 4 and 12. last year. So they're going to improve. And we don't have any high expectations. I certainly don't have any high expectations. They're up against it having a new system and a new head coach and a young quarterback. To me, it's all on the Cowboys. The Eagles, we think will be good. So if they have a disappointing season, I guess, you know, that'll be something to discuss. But, because what do you expect from the from the Redskins this year? I mean, if I had a predicting of the year, I think Philadelphia is in the 10-11 win class. I think Dallas is in the

eight-win class. I think the Giants are in the six-win class. I have no idea on Joe, and I think Washington's in the five-win class. Although, you know, again, Ron Rivera is a good coach. Their defensive fronts, excellent. Listen, I thought Dwayne Haskins was a legit number one pick. Big, strong. I just don't think he was ready to start.

And I worry that they have impeded his growth because they threw him to the wolves last year behind a bad left tackle and a bad O line. Right, but with everything that's going on, if the Redskins can double their wins, that's massive. They were 3 and 13. year. The NFC East has rarely been irrelevant in my life. So it's hard for me to believe again this

year it's going to be just one team Philadelphia limping into the postseason. The NFC East is well funded, mostly really good owners. It's just my entire life the NFC East has mattered. It's hard for me to believe again this year. It's going to have one team that only one team that feels relevant. So the Steelers don't seem too concerned with how Ben Rathesberger will look when he can return to the field following his elbow surgery. And GM Kevin Colbert said he is confident that Big Ben is doing everything he can to get back in football shape. I know where Ben is. I know where he's been in his career.

And I'm never worried about his conditioning. When he shows up at a training camp, he's ready to go. And he knows how to prepare himself. And I know that, you know, he could easily walk away from this game as well. But he's choosing to continue to play it because I still think he really wants to play. improve and do more. To me, the guy's got Hall of Fame credentials as he stands today. But that's not enough for him.

And to me, that's a mark of greatness. Again, I would feel much more comfortable with the Steelers situation if they had a more solid backup. I do think it's kind of interesting how critical we are of players when they're coming back for us, you know, see what they're doing and we want to see workout videos. And, you know, they're talking about we know that Ben's going to come back in shape, but we don't really see workout videos. Now, I don't particularly

care to see your workout videos. I do. I do. But you do. I do. Like, I don't, I don't care. I'm going to assume as a professional athlete that you're going to stay in shape and you work out every day, but we're very critical. Like, for the longest time, it was like Cam Newton doesn't care about football. And now all he puts out his workout videos. That's smart. That cam smart. That was always my knock on Kaepernick. You love football? Show me. I don't really, I don't really feel that it matters, but I got to tell you in this situation. I think it does. I might. I might. I might. I want to see Ben running a couple. Cam Newton.

A couple sprints up the hill. Cam Newton. I love football. Here I am working out. Absolutely think it was smart. Absolutely. Say, social media matters. You can create imagery and create a brand on social media.

If you're Cam Newton and we don't know about your health and you go on every day and say, here's the bad shoulder. Watch me throw it down the field. Are you telling me that doesn't matter? I mean, Ben did put out a little video of him. He looked like a mountain goat. He had a quarantine beard going. He had a gigantic beard.

I don't know. I haven't taken a look at his Instagram page. He's got a beautiful family. And I'm just completely uninformed. No, beautiful wife. His Twitter page doesn't have it. I want to see workout. Especially if your reputation is you're not a workout fiend.

I've seen his family. His kids are beautiful. His wife's beautiful. His beard is less than desirable. The point being is, show me. Show me stuff. So Ennis Cancer isn't quite ready to retire from the NBA. We had him on yesterday.

but he already has a plan for when that time comes. He has been offered a deal with WWE to become a wrestler. And he definitely plans to accept it when he is done with basketball. Did you see Ennis and WWE? I have no problem with athletes doing this. I think it's perfect, actually. He's such a great personality. Ennis is always smiling.

And also... Maybe it's because he really likes you. But I feel like every time he comes on, he's always smiling. I think WWE is perfect for him. He's a great trash talker, too. Yeah, he'll be a villain, clearly. He's a trash talker. But here's the other thing.

Now that I've gone to a WWE event, if you really go to the history of the WWE, size matters. Hulk was ripped. Andre the Giant, the rock, stone cold. There's a lot of pro wrestlers, the guys that aren't, they're not physically, I mean, John Cena, ripped. There are some guys that aren't as ripped. If you look at the history of it, optics matters in pro wrestling.

optics do not matter in the UFC. No. I've gone to UFC fights and the guy with the abs gets decked by the guy with the belly. It means nothing. But in wrestling, the imagery of it. Well, because there's a pageantry to it. A 6-9 pro wrestler is going to jump off the television set. So, I mean, I think he would be, he would work.

Like, Gronk is huge. Yeah, Gronk was built for it. For WWE. This is exciting. I'm going to check him out. Well, that's a long time from now. but he's interested in it. So I think it's a good fit.

There you go, Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Somehow Russell Westbrook lost another teammate yesterday. Another teammate left him. And I'm going to explain next in Best for Last. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Davian, whether you're working from home or working on your fitness, you want to hear your music, not your roommates. 15% off. Racon order by raycon.com slash her. Man, I'm getting a shiny, as they call it in the business. I don't have any makeup people. Shining like crazy.

So yesterday the NBA announced they were changing the game ball, which is kind of like a big deal, right? Yeah. So for years, they had Spalding. And now they're going to Wilson. Like they're changing. This is a big big deal.

Now, my first thought was, wait a minute. Russell Wilson is losing a teammate because remember what Russell Wilson said when people asked him about getting Russell Westbrook about getting along with players in the NBA and Russell Westbrook said this this out goes when I hope I have no friends on the court they know not to talk to me but Stephen's a real close friend of mine but on inside those lines there's no friends spotting that's my friend. He lost a friend. He lost a teammate. So I thought I'd go back and look at some of the teammates Russell Westbrook has lost and how they've done since. Let's start with James Harden.

Now James Harden, when he was with Russell Westbrook, first three seasons, averaged 16, 17 a game. He left, went to Houston, and became the most dominant score in the NBA. So that teammate did very good. Let's go to Sir Jabatka. Seven years with Westbrook, averaged 11.5 points a game. He's now averaging 14 and a half points a game this year with Toronto. So so far, the teammates that he loses do okay. Kevin Durant, eight years, Westbrook, very, very good player. Nobody would deny that. He left. Many believed he became the best player in the NBA. I thought he was second. So that teammate did okay. DeMontas Sabonis spent the first season in Oklahoma City with Westbrook. Remember him, he was from Gonzaga, a very good rebounder.

Dad was Arbita Sabonas. Average five and a half points a game and three rebounds in Oklahoma City is now averaging 18 and a half and is an all-star without his friend Westbrook. So teammates are doing pretty well. Victor Oladipo, one year with Westbrook. Now, Oladipo, as points, rebounds, assists, block steals, went down from the previous season in Orlando. Then he joined Westbrook.

They all went down. Then he left. He made the All-Star team, his first two seasons without Westbrook. So far, the teammates are doing okay. Paul George, two years, Westbrook, OKC.

Numbers went down first year with OKC. Westbrook, Paul George, went on to win three playoff games, three and two years combined. This season, we don't know, but his numbers are up, And many believe that Clippers are the first, second, or third best team in the league. That's undecided.

Oklahoma City Thunder, let's go to the team. Westbrook first 11 years with OKC. Last season, big trade with Chris Paul. Thunder have been the biggest surprise. I think we'd both agree in the NBA this year. Houston Rockets. Westbrook reunites with Hardin last year. Rockets are the sixth seed in the West if the playoffs started today.

Despite his talent, only one game. better with Westbrook and hardened together. And finally, the ball, well, the ball, Westbrook leads the NBA and touches over the last four years. And the ball, his friend Spalding, got fired. Probably be an all-star next year in some other league. Is this coming off as way too harsh? I feel like there's some generalizations and, you know, circumstances. It does appear that, it does appear when you leave Westbrook.

you do pretty well. Is that unfair? I don't know how well Spalding's going to do after this. All right. Yeah, Spalding shooting percentage will go up. I ask that to give it. Let me just say this. So I gave the Dana White bite earlier.

Get the Dana White bite earlier. And I've talked about this. Is I like the UFC. I thought this weekend they did a great job. But I have so admired Dana White's toughness and his ability to deal with blowback. and go right at his critics. So Dana White, there was an article in the New York Times that criticized Dana White.

And it said, you know, the social distancing with the announcers and the fighters at the end, it wasn't ideal. And Dana White responded as only Dana can to that article in the New York Times. There was an article in the New York Times today that was very critical of the execution. That guy. I don't give a shit what that guy thinks, what he has to say or what he writes. Good for him. He's pulling good traffic. Do you don't worry about the, like the...

I don't give a... I'm going to defend him on that. And let me say another sport I'm going to defend. College football. I like college football. But college football wants to come back. And they're going to get a lot of criticism for it. Okay.

College football is going to get a lot of criticism for it. in some instances, schools won't allow students back, but you're going to have football back, and it's going to get a lot of blowback. And here's why I'm going to defend college football. Because I think college football has been paying all the bills for my entire life. None of these other sports make money. And if you're the top earner at a company, top sales guy, you get a little more leeway on the corporate credit card.

You know, you go out for an expensive dinner. Well, it's Susan is our top salesperson. Let's not flag it. And that's the way life works. College football is weird in that it pays for all the bills, but often gets the most criticism. The coaches make too much money, want it you to pay the players.

Let me tell you something. I'm going to defend college football when they go back, even if occasionally a student gets COVID on the team and that'll happen or a coach or they go back and the students aren't there because they have been paying the bills for everything.

Everything forever. Everything. Nothing in college sports outside of a handful of college basketball programs. Yukon women, dup men, makes any money. It's all a losing proposition. Everything hemorrhages money. I mean, and Ohio State

is a well-capitalized athletic department. They got like 36 programs. I have been told that if they don't do football, they're going to be in chaos. They're going to have to slice and dice a dozen programs. Okay. So

before you get up, you know, you get pious and you start lexering college football, remember, if you pay every bill in the family and the extended family and the extended family's family, you get to go on a vacation once in a while. Leave your

phone at home, no questions asked. You get a Vegas weekend. I'll be back in a few days. Don't call. College football is going to get blowback. They have paid every bill for every sport, most unwatchable, none make money my entire life. I think it's time for college football to consider privatizing and not being dragged down by other sports. But I'm going to defend them. They're going to get blowback, just like I'm going to defend the UFC. The people that are going to win in this pandemic are the strong, the willful, the relentless, and those capable of dealing with some criticism, some blowback. Congrats to a great UFC weekend.

I'm crossing my fingers on college football. I'm not sure what's going to happen in California. But the SEC is going to do it. They're going to get heat, and I'm going to defend them. I'm going to defend them. All right, good stuff. Don't forget, you're freaking out, you're anxious, you're nervous. Go to mDrivevRelax.com.

MDrivevRlax.com. 50% off for a limited window. Joy, great job. Thanks. We're back tomorrow. Joel Klatte, Les Sneed, Peter, King, Sam Munson, thanks. See you then. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source

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