The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - A thrilling preseason game

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Colin celebrates a thrilling NFL preseason game between the Commanders and Ravens and how this illustrates the biggest difference between football's dominance in America over the NBA He criticizes the Colts for their latest controversy regarding running back Jonathan Taylor and the primary reason this once great organization has lost its stability Thoughts on Jim Harbaugh's 3 game suspension and why the NCAA is being ridiculousSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of the world. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by

searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Tuesday. A glorious Tuesday, a sunny Tuesday now in Los Angeles. Hopefully drying out live here. It's the herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.

Hopefully the fruit flies have subsided. Jay Mack and I were being attacked on the set yesterday. I've wiped this thing down about seven times. Oh, J.Mack. How's that no haircut thing looking like that? I'm not doing it. I'm not getting a haircut. They're just doing a little trim up top. And I don't know. You know what? It's a summer of Colin. I'm going forward. I'm at another vacation next week, getting ready for a big football season. You know, it's just, it's time to take care of me and my hair.

Oh, okay. That's what I like. We'll take care of you. Got to put yourself first. Top priority. How obnoxious. So I was locked on an NFL preseason game last night. The Ravens hadn't lost a preseason game. since 2015, and I don't spend a lot of time breaking down preseason game, so this may be a first. But they lost last night, and I was watching that, and you know what I honestly believed, that NFL players care more about the preseason than NBA players care about the regular season. That's the message I keep getting. Buck Sixers, TV Saturday, nah, I played last night. My calf's a little sore.

Ravens Commanders, All-Out, War, All-In. leagues and players send messages through their effort, commitment, and style. Baltimore and Washington had me locked in for 90 minutes of the second half. I said this to my kids years ago. They were doing and participating in sports, and I said, I'll care if you do. The minute you don't, I'm out. I'm not a taxi driver or a lift driver or an Uber driver. The second, you don't show passion, I got other stuff to do in the weekends.

trust me. And eventually, they didn't care that much about it. And I was like, all right, they're good students. I'm good. They like to water ski and snow ski with dad. They don't want to play sports. I'm good. But the SEC for years is the college football conference. I watch a lot because they care. The fans are crying. The cheerleaders are crying. The coaches are screaming. The announcers are all in. They care more. So I care more. I'm not from the South. I didn't go to Baton Rouge LSU. I've been there once. Why do I care so much? If you care, I care. People for years have said football's popular because of the scarcity of games. It's not just that.

It's an emotional investment. Careers can end at any time. By the way, we live in a very fractionalized world. People are on their phones and their social media stuff I didn't have when I was a kid. And what gets you to a TV set? What gets you to the radio? What gets you places? If it feels really important and you can't miss it.

The effort last night those two teams put in was significant. Why would I care? I'm not from the D.C. Baltimore area. This game doesn't mean anything. I wanted to say, memo to the NBA. Have your players at least fake like they care about the regular season. The NBA commissioner is now creating a mid-season tournament so that it basketball players will care about playing basketball. It's a problem. It wasn't in the 70s, 80s,

90s. Maybe they're all so rich now. I don't know. I don't really care. It's not my issue. But last night was so great and so contagious and so fun, it's why we love this game. You care, I care. And John Harbaugh talked about it after. In the end, it's about a bunch. It's about football and the men and women. now who play the game and it shows you what this what makes this game so great why it does matter so much because it takes those kind of efforts that that's what you have to do it's it's a courageous game it's a it's a game for courageous people and it's a game for people I want to go out there and throw themselves around and really tough awkward situations physicality you know it takes it takes that

kind of grit to play this game and to fight like that and that's I think most people that love football love it for that reason right there I don't know what the TV ratings were last night but I could not have been the only person out here 3,000 miles away on the West Coast that was sitting there watching. I think Troy Aikman at one point said this is the most fun I've ever had watching a preseason game. I got a little Sam Hal. I got a little Zay Flowers.

Obj didn't play, but they talked about him. I've never seen teams care more for a preseason football game. If you care, I care. It's that simple. Those men cared. So I was in. Here's a story. The Colts, this has gone back and forth,

are now seeking a first round pick for Jonathan Taylor. He was a second round pick. I loved that pick. He was terrific. But you'd have to sign him or trade for him and then sign him. It would be a lot of money. I don't know what his market is, but there's somebody out there that wants him. But let's just look, because I'm going to make a comp here.

And I don't think I'm wrong. Look at the last three to four years at Indy. They fire Frank Reich, who immediately gets a great job and a raise from a really aggressive owner. They pulled the plug on Carson Wentz, despite the fact that he had a 27 TD seven-pick season in a 96-5 quarterback rating. That's pretty good. They've now ticked off their star running back, the best player on their team. They hired a head coach straight from ESPN. Jeff Saturday, good guy, not an NFL head coach.

Does it sound like a well-run business? Oh, by the way, they won't sign their best. player, which you can argue a second contract even for a star running back can be tenuous, but they will spend $100 million on a guitar collection for the owner. You know what Jim Ursay has become? The James Dolan of the NBA. Dad gave him a fortune, a great business. He's gotten rich, and he's now distracted and loves his music.

It's a problem. He's also the most active NFL owner on Twitter or X or whatever it's called. That's not great. For years, people questioned Ursa, but he had a grown-up in the room named Peyton Manning that kept it stable. And then he had Andrew Luck, Stanford IQ. No nonsense. Kept it stable. The longer Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck further away they get in the rearview mirror, the crazier and the loonier this franchise appears to be. Five years, eight starting quarterbacks. It is a problem. When you're a great franchise quarterback, it's like Joe Burrow and Cincinnati. You're a bit of a magician. You're showing us your right hand and all the greatness

over here, and then it's distracting us for all the goofiness and the ownership problems and the executive suite chaos over there. It's a great magician. Burrow did it in Cincinnati. We didn't know if Zach Taylor could coach. It appears he can. The O line was a mess. They didn't have an indoor practice facility in northern cold weather. they had a cheap owner. They didn't really have an official GM. And then a grown-up came into the room named Joe Burrow and solved all of it. And that's what happens in chaotic organizations. Maybe Deshawn Watson can solve the Browns, though I doubt it.

But Peyton Manning did that for years. And then Andrew Luck did it for years. There's only so much a general manager like Chris Ballard can do. He's just an employee working for the boss. But a star franchise quarterback has the fans. in their pocket too, and fans ultimately pay the owner. So Joe Burrow and Andrew Luck and Mahomes and Peyton Manning and Brady have real power, and the owner knows it.

They move merchandise, they get you on television, and you benefit. What can a GM and a front office guy do? You know, you're running around at the behest of the owner. But this is a problem in Indianapolis. another starting quarterback. Frank Reich is gone. Carson Wex wasn't great, but Carson Wentz was damn good for them. The Jeff Saturday situation, Jeff's a great guy, by the way, but that felt Looney Tunes. And now Jonathan Taylor, I've said before, you can make an argument that if Anthony Richardson is as good and productive athletically as most of us think he will be, sort of a

Josh Allen Cam Newton, that you could move, he's going to gobble up Jonathan Taylor's yards anyway, you could move Taylor if you could get a great corner and a receiver. There's an argument to be made. There is that Anthony Richardson, as mobile quarterbacks continue to gobble up running back yards, there's an argument that Anthony Richardson doesn't need a star running back. He could use a BB plus running back. I get that. But the whole thing, the last four years, two weeks ago, didn't he say we're not trading

Jonathan Taylor? and now I read this morning, they're moving off Jonathan Taylor. It's just chaos and you can't win in this league at the highest levels unless you've got the owner, the GM, the coach, and the quarterback buttoned up. You can't. Kansas City does, that's why they're a favorite again. Philadelphia now does. Nick Siriani proved to be better than I suspected at coach.

That's why they're a favorite in the NFC. All right, Jay Mack. Jonathan Taylor's a cult. They want to trade him. No, they don't. I have no idea where we stand with this thing. So riddle me this. Why wouldn't a team with a quarterback on a rookie deal go after Jonathan Taylor?

I get it. That makes a lot of sense. Oh, no, by the way, the Colts have a quarterback on a rookie deal. Yes. What are we doing? But, again, and I'm not saying it's the right call. You can argue if this young man is Cam or Josh Allen and is going to run for 1,200 yards and 9 to 12 touchdowns, he's going to gobble up so much of.

Jonathan Taylor's yards as he learns the throw from the pocket for two to three years, that giving Jonathan Taylor a massive deal may not make a ton of sense. But at least come out and say moving him, not moving him. Now, this thing's flip-flopping back and forth. So what's the message you're sending to the locker room? He's your best player. You're not going to trade him. You are going to trade him.

I think it's very hard to get a first-round pick for Jonathan because I also have to pay him. So he was a second round pick. Now I've got to give you a first and pay him. That's going to be a hard sell. I think the market for that is pretty small, but I do think he has a market. 49ers, quarterback on a rookie deal. They see Christian McCaffrey out there. We will gladly take Christian McCaffrey off your hands.

We'll pay the remainder of his deal. Yeah. You then support him with Debo Samuel, Brandon Ayuk. You got a great defense. Like surely there's a team out there who's going to see this and be like, hey, that's going to work for us. I'm not saying you've got to pay Taylor what McCaffrey got, but a little less than what McCaffrey got should be reasonable, right?

Well, yeah, it's, again, there's been some hysterics about running backs not getting paid. If you're great at anything in this life, you're going to get paid. You're going to have a market. So Jonathan Taylor's going to have a market. Josh Jacobs absolutely has a market. Sequin Barclay eventually got his. You may not get what you want, but there's a market. So I think there's a lot of things here.

And I'm not saying I'm right. I'm just saying, I could understand a GM saying, you know, I've talked to GMs. They don't want to give running backs huge deals. and Jonathan made pretty good money. They just don't want to give a running back a massive deal. Did you consider McCaffrey's deal when he signed it with Carolina massive? No. Okay.

So, but I consider McCaffrey a different player. So I love that move for three reasons. One, Kyle Shanahan. 100%. He makes it work. For the defensive coach, it doesn't matter. Secondly, McCaffrey is a great running back. Third, he's an incredible receiver.

Okay. So McCaffrey is the Swiss Army knife of backs in the league. He offers different dimensions. So that I got. It's like Debo Samuel. You're paying him for a receiver and a back. If I had to just pay Debo for a receiver, I wouldn't give him huge money. I'd give Stefan Diggs big money, DeVonte Adams big money, Jamar Chase big money, Justin Jefferson, big money.

You know, your guy with a Jets here in a couple of years big money. But Debo's a good receiver, but what he is is a great chess piece. So McCaffrey feels different than Jonathan Taylor. Again, you just say, hey, McCaffrey is the ceiling. You're not getting that, Jonathan Taylor, but we will scale. behind McCaffrey a little bit, scale down a little, and we could give you that. It just doesn't seem that hard. Erstay just seems like he's so dug in and wedded to this narrative that running backs,

you cannot pay them, we refuse. And it's just like an old school way of thinking. He's butchered this. You know, you know Chris Ballard a little bit. Ballard must be just scratching his head. Like, what do I do? Well, I've got an irrational owner. GMs have no power over strong owners.

Quarterbacks do, because quarterbacks have a link to fans. They sign autographs. They do selfies. They sell merchandise. There's people all over Indianapolis where an Andrew Luck jersey is still. That's the people. That's why when Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck come to Indy, the owner understands. You got to give the, I mean, remember how emotional it was moving off Peyton Manning.

They had to make sure everybody knew he loves us. We love him. He's okay with us moving off him. That's a billionaire saying, you know, you got to take care of your court. Mahomes. Mahomes is more popular than the Hunt family, Brett V. Andy Reid combined, right? So the quarterback in this league is the only player that really the owner has to say sometimes you win.

I don't want to get into a publicity fight. But Mahomes only got there after the Super Bowl. See, that wasn't like number second year in the league. Mahomes is loved by everybody. I just got to wonder what Shane Stuyken is feeling right now, Colin. You know, he takes his Colts job. He's like, oh, we got Pittman. We got Jonathan Taylor.

When you take a job in the NFL, I remember talking to a friend who interviewed for the Clippers when they had Donald Sterling. And I had said I would not take that job. Coaches tend to think it's the last job you'll ever get and you've got to take every offer. This was not an ideal. I think Shane Steichen would have gotten a great job had he been a bit more patient because you didn't have a quarterback, impulsive owner, and the AFC is tougher. If Shane Steichen sticks around in Philly one more year and get, there's an NFC job and maybe a team that got Caleb, Williams. And I'm not banging on, you know, he's got an agent. Shane Steichen had made good money. Then you get offered great money. But the indie job

for Shane Steichen, you can argue, Stuyken was better than the job opening. Like Brian Daibble wasn't because the Giants are a great franchise. The Mara family's longtime owners. The NFC is weaker. For Brian Daibol, he had the chargers and the Giants. You could say, well, he was too good for that job. That was New York Giant is a blue blood job. The Colts didn't have a quarterback, impulsive owner, increasingly meddling owner, tougher AFC. Here's Trevor Lawrence.

I can argue the Colts wasn't a great job. Do you start to wonder if McDaniels, remember McDaniels took the job for like seven minutes and then was like, whoa, I'm out of here. Do you start to wonder like, did he get a look behind the curtain at what Ersays? My guess is Stuyken makes it work. But we all know this. not all NFL jobs are equal. But the problem is, if you've never made huge money and somebody offers you $6.9 million a year,

you're married, you have kids, what do you say to that? Coaches tend to feel like you'll never get that offer again. I think Stuyken was so respected in the market, like Dayball. Remember, everybody knew Dayball was, I mean, it was like Daveau was up for every good job that had a young quarterback, right? Stuyken was the next table. He was great with Justin Herbert. He was unbelievable with Jalen Hertz.

Dude in an offensive pivoting league, he was going to get multiple offers. There's an argument, this was not the best one. That's all I'm saying. These, you know what I mean? Like, the Phoenix Sun's job today is way better than it was a year ago with Robert Sarver. Same city, mostly same play it, right? Like, it changes. It's now a really good coaching job in Phoenix.

good owner, progressive, good roster. The Washington job, if Ron Rivera gets run out, is going to be a pretty attractive job. Awful job last year. Now you've got Mr. Harris. You've got Sam Howell looked pretty good lad. You don't know what you have. Sam Howell what? Come on.

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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

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

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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's 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 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. All right, so the Jonathan Taylor's sweepstakes. Here's the latest team, much to the chagrin of JMAQ. The Miami Dolphins reportedly are interesting in exploring a trade for star running back for the Colts, Jonathan Taylor. They can do this basically because Tua only eats up 4.3% of their cap. Dac, I'm not sure he's that much better than Tua. It's throwing a football gobbles up 12% of Dallas's cap. So there's only two ways to win a Super Bowl.

Have a star quarterback. There's about five or six of those. or have a pretty good quarterback that's not getting paid yet. You win a Super Bowl with those. Otherwise, you're the Vikings and the Cowboys. You're mostly fooling yourself. You have a B quarterback you're paying A money to. So what's fascinating about the dolphins, and I think they're doing it the right way.

Jalen Ramsey, Bradley Chubb, they bring in Vic Fangio. Now they want Jonathan Taylor. Two is the only quarterback in the NFL, but if he made a Pro Bowl and his contract was up, I couldn't give him an extension. So he's got a couple of years left. They're going to go all in for him because he is capable and they're not paying him big money yet. He gobbles up 4.3 million of the cap, 4.3 percent, 9.6 overall. And that's one of the ways you can get and win a Super Bowl, mostly get to a Super Bowl.

Jared Goff got to a Super Bowl, hard to win because you face a Mahomes or a Brady or, you know, a star quarterback. But I think what Miami's doing is basically saying, we got to go for it. You can't, you know, there's the old saying, all men are created equal. Yeah, maybe, but not in football. They don't remain equal. Some guys just get hurt more, and Tua gets hurt more, college pro. And so I think what the dolphins are doing is they're just saying, we're just going to go all in now, see how it plays out for the next two years.

I totally agree with it. We have a brilliant coach. And remember, Stephen Ross, the owner of the dolphins, gives you about three years. Gabe Adam Gays three years, gave Brian Flores three years. And then he loses patience. He's a real estate guy. He flips houses and he flips coaches. So my take is here.

If you're Mike McDaniel, this is year two. This year, next year, you've got to go for it. There is no long runway for Tua. I think Miami's one of those teams where, again, Tua is a great kid, but I could never give him an extension. You guys always talk about running backs not getting extensions. If Tua made the Pro Bowl, I wouldn't give him a long-term deal. I can't.

So instead of that, what I can do is give him. the great supporting cast and unbelievable support and give them an opportunity to, my takeaway is give them an opportunity to win now and next year, because I don't think you can, I don't think you can really construct a deal long term with Tua, considering it's not just an injury. That's not it. It's concussions. That's a completely different media narrative, a completely different concern.

So if I was the Dolphins, Jonathan Taylor, they've got some kind of middling running backs. think they'd be fantastic. I think it would put them in a Super Bowl class. I think it's another element that would put them ahead of the very competent jets. All very exciting. J. Mack with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. By the way, next year, Josh Allen is 18 and a half percent of the bills cap. That's why Buffalo this year has to win. Because Josh Allen, from next year forward, gobbles up a huge part of Buffalo's cap. Their Super Bowl window is like, This year. This year. Win now. You know, Rams basically had a one-year window when they went all in.

And it worked and they won the Super Bowl. That's right. You know, not looking good now. You're even backing off the Rams, aren't you? Well, but if Buffalo won a Super Bowl, who cares? Exactly. I mean, you win the Super Bowl. Chicago after the Michael Jordan stuff was still selling out,

if it was the United Center or wherever it was at the time, they were still selling the place out. You buy so much equity if you're the Steelers and you have rings or the Bulls and MJ. And so the Rams, went all in and everybody's like, yeah, but they're going to get clobbered. If you ask Sean McBan, Kyle Shanahan, would you rather have a ring or regular season dominance?

Shanahan would take the ring tomorrow. Obviously, yes. All right, let's start with Joe Burrow, who is still sidelined with that calf injury. Their season opener is two and a half weeks away. Zach Taylor had a positive update saying Burrow looks as good as he's ever looked and that he only needs one practice rep to be ready for the season. year he was coming off the appendectomy. I think he threw five picks in the opener. They went 0 and 2 to start. But that's a major surgery. This is a calf strain. You can't mess

around. You know what's not far from the calf, we don't say the A word. What? Achilles. You can't mess around with that stuff, man. That's like a real, real injury. Well, last year he had a major surgery. Yeah. I've had a calf injury. Hey, I was out there hitting tennis balls 140 miles an hour and pulled that puppy. serves 140 miles. I don't know. Burrow, week one. They'll be fine. You know what?

Joe Burrow doesn't make camp, and I'm okay with it. I don't think he's out of full camp yet, has he? No, I don't think he has. Does it matter, though? I don't think it does. They already shunk pre-seasoned three games, I think, right? Yeah, I don't. I think Sean McVeigh proved it.

I think I've told you this before. You could argue this. And they really, they hose the fans on this. You know, fans get charge extra for these tickets. That's what I've been told for preseason games, which is outrageous. That's just outrageous. So if it was up to me, I would just, everybody gets one preseason game, meaning every other year you get a home game and it has to be free to the fans.

It's a freebie. So it's free to kids. It's free to adults. So you don't even get a preseason game as an owner every year. You do as many inter-squad scrimmages as you want. And every other year, you get a home preseason game. And so that means every team has a preseason game. Home road, home road, home road, home road.

And think about this. So college football has a limitation on the hours you can practice and has 19-year-old kids. And they don't have any warm-up games. And I've watched college football games on Labor Day weekend be brilliantly played by 19-year-olds who get no warm-up games, no inter-squad games, and have limitations on the hours they can practice. Well, that's why they hire directional state university in the season opener.

You don't want to risk anything. No preseason game. Alabama and Texas are playing second week. Nick Saban's starting like 15, five-star guys. He's not really worried about that season open. But they just got Florida State plays LSU and Labor Day weekend. That's like. It's risky.

No preseason games, 19-year-old kids. You tell me 27-year-old men need three preseason games and you're hosing fans on this stuff. Yeah. They should be baked into season. You should not be able to charge fans. Everybody gets one preseason game, and you get a home. As an owner, you get a home one every other year. The other thing with the Bengals, I think they return like 10, 9 or 10, or maybe even 11 starters, right, offensively.

They still got the receivers, Mixing's there, offensive line. It should be fine. Next up, Bryce Young, man. He's gotten the crap beat out of him, basically, in two preseason games. No question. Jets hammered him. Twelve pass attempts, 56 yards through two games. Now, come on.

Frank Reich is confident that he will be the week one starter. Here's what he had to say. Yes, I feel he'll be ready. You know, he's very accomplished mentally, maturity-wise. He's gotten a lot of work and a lot of reps. It's why we made the decision when we did back in the spring to announce him as the starter, to put him in our team in a position, you know, say, hey, this is who we're going to be going forward. Let's get this work.

So yesterday, I talked to somebody I respect and I said everybody has a team that was bad last year that will make the playoffs. And I told my friend Ed Carolina, you know the team he picked? Atlanta. Yeah. Everybody is in on the team. I don't like. So I'm looking at the Falcons defensive line. Because the Panthers offensive line looks bad.

Like the number one unit is getting destroyed. The Jets annihilated him. Even the Giants did. So if you're looking at the Falcons against the Panthers in week one, you got Bud Dupree, Grady Jarrett, Callais Campbell, and Ebiquete. I think that kid from Penn State. Jared's great. I think I have to, I think I got to take Falcons there.

What's the number on that? I don't know off the top of my head. Atlanta's probably favored. Atlanta's at home. Atlanta's favored by two and a half. Listen, I'm doing the nerdy research. Frank Reich in season openers, 04 and 1 against the spread. Not great.

Does that mean he doesn't have his team prepared? He's got a rookie quarterback. Do you know, I bet Atlanta 20 times in the last decade, and I'm, I think I'm 0-N-20. Nobody has burned me more than the Atlanta Falcons. They are my kryptonite. Well, they're taking money, hand over fist. All the wise guys are on Atlanta.

We've been talking about it since July. It's a lot based on the schedule. Nobody knows what's up with Desmond. I can still have them winning a division. There's nothing locked in yet. They could win the division, yeah. They could beat the Saints for the division. I don't know.

It ain't going to be Bryce Young. I'll tell you that. All these smart people I talk to love Atlanta. No, Atlanta, yeah, they're the number one team for an over. Final story, Todd Bowles held off on naming a starting quarterback through most of the preseason, letting Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask battle it out. But just this morning, a few hours ago, the bucks named Baker Mayfield, the week one starter when they head to Minnesota to take on the Vikings.

Colin? What? I don't really have much to say about Baker. Listen, you know, he's dealing with some stuff. I don't know if you saw there's like a lawsuit against some family. He's wondering where some family members invested some money. It looks shaky. Really?

Yeah. His family's trying to take him or something? It's complicated. It's not pretty. We don't need to talk about that. But bottom line, he's going through a lot. And now he's dealing with a buck's team here that goes to Minnesota against the Vikings. Flores and that defense should be ready.

They don't have a lot of great defensive players. Baker maybe makes some things happen in that game. Shocks the world. You're feeling that? Evans a Godwin? Shocks the world. He should win that job. He's better than Kyle Trask.

He should win that job. He's better than Kyle Trask. I didn't know he had some nonsense, some family memory. Is that the worst? Now I feel bad for him. Somebody's trying to take him for a few. I don't know. It's unclear, but he just wants to know where did the money go.

He's not officially blaming anyone, but his family handles a lot of it. Oh, brother. But at least he's a starting quarterback in Tampa for week one. So he's got that going for him. She does have that going for him. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Heard Lye News. I read this this morning, just this stat. The Cowboys haven't been to the NFC championship in 28 years. But listen to this line. In the first 29 years of the team, they went to 12 conference championships in the team's first 29 years, 12, zero in the past 28. And yet I would argue they are more popular now as a franchise than ever. Or certainly than the first 29 years.

Just a repeat. So last 28 years, zero. Zero haven't been to an NFC championship in 28 years. So there's an entire generation of kids who have never seen them have success in the playoffs. 12 conference championships in the team's first 29 years. So 12 versus zero. And yet I would argue that they are more popular now as a franchise, as a brand as a business, than they were 42 years ago. Am I wrong? 99% of things are more popular now than they were 30 years ago. Almost every. They got the new

stadium, you know, there's now social media. Everybody loves the Cowboys from the 90s. But the New York Jacks, by the way, have been to three conference championships in the last, what, like 26 years, 25? Yeah. Testa Verdi and then Mark Sanchez. The Jets have had more success. Well, the Cowboys have won. They're just not winning big games. It's what Yankee fans are saying. They win a lot. That's a bad year. They win a lot. They're not winning enough big series. That's a difference. Georgia football won forever before Kirby Smart. They won all the time. they weren't beating Bamas in LSU

and they weren't winning the big games but Georgia was very rarely bad. They were always good. I mean, Georgia's hard to lose at football. They've got players all over the state of Georgia. It's a great high school region. So Georgia was good forever. They were never great.

The Yankees right now mostly for 12 years, it's been really good. They're not great. You know, it's just funny. The Dodgers and the Yankees, you know, one has looked at the gold standard, the Dodgers. Well, they only got one champion.

in the last so many years. The Yankees have won, and they're considered, like, poorly run and shaky front office and non-committed ownership. And it's like, well, they both got a World Series title in the last, you know, how many years 15 or whatever. News flash, it's difficult to win championships. Really, really hard. That's just a fact. It's super difficult. Bill Parcell's winning percentage, like 57%. And one of the most important coaches ever, like the four biggest coaches in my, since I've been alive, you can't count Lombardi. So like, you know, I'm as a lie, but it's young. I would say the four most important football coaches, Bill Walsh, the West Coast offense, Bill Parcells, the psychology of football,

the incubator for Belichick, Belichick. So three bills, okay. Okay. I mean, I mean, literally, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick. And then does Andy Reid get in the floor? Well, well, I think, Jimmy Johnson, because his ability to be the best college coach, and then the best NFL coach. Also, Jimmy Johnson did something that's huge. He created the draft chart, which I look at constantly on the internet. So nobody made trades before Jimmy Johnson. So when he was in the NFL, he was considered the best coach.

And when he was in college, he was considered the best coach. Pete Carroll can make close to that claim. So I think Jimmy Johnson and Andy Reed feel like they're the next guy. That's a tough one because Andy Reid's the most creative guy in the sport. He's going to go down with discovering Patrick Mahomes, who could be the next time Brady or maybe better. I mean, the GM. Okay, fair enough. So I would say your big three are Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick.

And then I think Andy Reid and Jimmy Johnson have arguments. Jimmy's the great personnel eye in the history of foot. I mean, the ability to recruit. I mean, people forget the Miami Hurricanes had a ton of three-star players. He would go fine. I match Jimmy. They never got like five-star offensive linemen. he just found him.

And then I think, so his personnel, I and Andy Reid's creativity offensively, put them in a class where they just feel different than other really great coaches. Oh. Am I wrong on that? I'm throwing that. I mean, I'm not going to count Lombardi, but it's the bill, Bill, Bill, and then Andy and Jimmy. And now you could say, Colin, you know Jimmy and you like Jimmy, but Jimmy literally created, the New York Giants had made one trade ever before Jimmy Johnson created the draft chart.

Who was the Steelers coach who won a some Super Bowl? Chuck Noel. No. But a lot of that was considered, I mean, it was just their defense literally had the same great players. Does Joe Gibbs get in this discussion? Now, Joe Gibbs, if Alex wasn't on vacation, Gibbs is a really an interesting one because Joe won Super Bowls with like multiple quarterback. Oh, Shula. Yeah, but he never won a Super Bowl with Marino.

Isn't that kind of, now the most underrated coach in my lifetime easily is, is Mike Shanahan. Half the league runs his offense. And he's got two Super Bowls. And by the way, Elway had Dan Reeves before Shanahan, and it didn't work. So Shanahan wins Elway,

two Super Bowls. Half the league today runs that offense. And he's not in the Super Bowl. Terrell Davis. Well, but again, it was the run game of Shanahan, which Kyle and Mike have proven.

I mean, Elijah Mitchell, six-rounder can run for... So, the Hall of Fame is so weird. in football. So the basketball Hall of Fame will put it in an official. They'll count your college.

They'll count your pro. They count everything. The NFL, how am I supposed to not consider Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll's college dominance? When they were in college, they were the best college coach in the whole sport. And then they transitioned to the NFL and turn around franchises and become, like, and create just dominant teams and cultures. and I can't count the college stuff?

So the NFL has a level playing field because of the salary cap. Yeah, well, kind of. College football does not have any semblance of a level playing. Okay, but let me just say this. That's a great point. The NFL, the perception is because of the salary cap, it's an even playing field. No, it's not. Stan Cronky allows less need the GM to have 130 million more dollars per year to play with

because he can write checks that Bidwell can't. So the fans think it's all a salary cap. No, it's not. If you have Stan Cronkey or Jerry Jones, you can write, because in the NFL, you've got to have that money in the bank. Mark Davis can't write those checks. Bidwell can write those checks. Cronky can write any check any time to get anybody. Right off Bobby Wagner, Vaughn Miller, Matt Stafford.

It doesn't matter. So the salary cap is overstated. It's a hard cap. But if you, the Arizona Cardinals have over $100 million less to work with annually than Jed York's Niners and Stan Cronkies Rams. Well, okay. In terms of writing off stuff. Of the three, the big three,

baseball, not even close to level playing. Well, we know that. NBA, I would say, has a bigger gap between the halves and the half, not small markets and the big markets. But that's created by cultural and by players who just don't want to play in certain markets. But also some of these owners, like you said, don't want to spend. And then you got Balmer who's just got billions and billions of dollars. I think the NFL has the most level of the big three playing field.

And it's way more of a level playing field than college. Let me ask you this, though. as the leagues become more quarterback-centric, why is it now easier to pick divisions? If you have Trevor Lawrence, you're going to win 13, 12 games. So this is something I warned about three years ago. I believe you were right three to four years ago.

But as the league, because of safety reasons, has made it more quarterback-friendly, quarterback protective. If you don't have a star quarterback, the only other way to get to a Super Bowl is to have a capable kid you're not paying. I mean, the league is totally quarterback dependent.

You're not winning titles in the NBA without a star. I mean, you need a star quarterback in the NFL, period. But there's a bunch of stars. You can have a variety of different stars. Milwaukee had a star, Denver at a star, Golden States had stars. You say, well, you have to have a star in the NBA. But they're top 10 players, Janice and Yon.

But half the league has an elite star player. Now, there are, Miami's a much more attractive market to play in. If you ask players than maybe a Memphis. Don't we talk about number one? How many number ones are there in the NBA? There's like seven, eight, maybe nine number ones. You don't even know if Tatum's a number one. In the NFL, number one quarterbacks, you say there's five or six.

So it's kind of sort of simple. It's just tougher to find and identify because the pool is smaller. It's just college football. I think the NFL, you go international. You can find superstars. I think the NFL increasingly, there's an illusion of parity. No, there's no. There's an illusion of parity in the NFL.

Now, college football has no illusion of parity. Ohio State, Michigan, Clemsoneman. and, you know, whatever. NFL says there's an illusion of parity. That you think there's parity. Okay, define parity then. Anybody can win, please. Okay, so we're starting the season.

I can take nine NFL teams, eliminate them completely, nine others, and say you can't win more than a playoff game. 18 to 32 teams have no chance to win more than one playoffs. This season? Absolutely. All right. When we take a break, let's do that exercise next hour. There's no way.

18 teams can't win more than one playoff game. Give me the standings right now. Give me the standings right now. I'll write the second, but yes, we got a commercial break. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byrd.

We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy. football world. That's right, Dan. Every week, we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 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, but just so you're just so you, 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. So, oh. Thank you finishing that sentence. And 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Dionne Sanders. Coach Brian, she's coming to the biggest

season opener college football has seen in years as his Colorado Buffalo's face National Powerhouse TCU. Big noon Saturday on Fox starts September 2nd. I'll top of next hour. I'll give you the teams that can't win a Super Bowl. My point being is there is an illusion of parity. They couldn't get us a standings. There's an illusion of parity in the NFL.

That you think there's all this parity. We know it's not in college football, tennis. We know it. I mean, like you know even in the World Cup, the Olympics. you know who's going to win the medals. And there's an understanding. The NFL does a great job to sell you hope and optimism and parity. And it doesn't really exist because increasingly the sport is only about quarterbacks.

If you don't have an elite coach and a quarterback, you're out. I mean, just off the top of your head, you know Washington and Houston. And there's a handful of teams, Atlanta, Carolina, there's like eight of them. They're not winning the Super Bowl. And then there's teams like the New York Giants who are certainly capable of making the playoffs and winning a game, but they're not winning a Super Bowl. and I think it adds up my guess at the top of my head is 18. 18 of the 32 teams have no chance to win a Super Bowl.

Now, now, now, that gives you 14, and I think I'm being diplomatic. I don't think Gino Smith is ever going to hold the trophy up, but I think Seattle's got the coach. They're too young, in my opinion, to win a Super Bowl, but I do think they can win a division in multiple playoff games. I don't see Gino holding up the AFC championship, you know, trophy over a Mahomes or a Burrough. You probably didn't see Nick Foles and Doug Peterson, right, winning a Super Bowl, what, like six, seven years ago?

Well, that was absolutely true. Now, that was, let's be honest, Carson Wentz got all those wins. Foles takes over a loaded roster, and they had the coach. Joe Burrow has his rookie year, whatever gets hurt. Second year, absolutely nobody had the Bengals sniffing the Super Bowl. They go all the way to the Super Bowl. We viewed Burrow. Remember, I was the one that said slow down.

on Burrow. People were saying he was going to be LeBron and Brady. And Joey and I were like, what? You guys are crazy. Well, he ended up being great. So, like, I was a pushback guy on Burrow initially. I said he'd be a better version of Tony Romo. I still think he's a better version of Tony Romo.

He's just much better than Tony Romo. Going into the season, if we were doing this exercise three years ago, we would have said, Cincinnati, can they win the Super Bowl? You would have said, ah, no way, no shot. They got to the Super Bowl and nearly beat the Rams. Like things happened. Last year or this time, if we said Eagles, could they win the Super Bowl?

I'm not saying things don't happen. But the Eagles also had a stacked roster. Fair. And we both picked them to win their division. Our two next. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey, Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for

banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's

unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman. documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand

new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Boil Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.