The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - Chiefs vs Eagles

Episode Date: February 7, 2023

Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to explain why his Chiefs should win the Super Bowl over the Eagles Looking at stars who have and have not retired gracefully  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Wherever you may be listening. However, you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio FS1. So, if a business starts to unravel and it's going to be a disaster. Now, a lot of times you have a business, and it slowly erodes over time, J. Mack joining us. And you know, when a business slowly erodes over time, it's nobody's fault. necessarily, but cultures change, trees don't grow to the sky. Very few companies that were on, you know, great companies 30 years ago, maybe IBM is still a great company today. The world changes. And it's

nobody's fault. That happens all the time. It's nobody's fault. And then there are businesses that crash quickly. And there's usually somebody to blame. And there's a moment when you can say, Oh, remember when that happened. I'll give you an example. So when Nathaniel Hackett was named the Broncos coach, I don't want to pick on this guy. He's a nice guy. His dad was a nice guy.

But remember the first game against Seattle. When Nathaniel Hackett as an offensive coach, it's one thing of a defensive coach. I love Herm Edwards. He was terrible with the clock in the NFL defensive coach. They butchered the clock with two, two and a half minutes left. It was bad. And it was like, wait, time out.

Nathaniel Hackett doesn't know what he's doing. That's as bad as I've ever seen. Had no idea how to manage the clock. And it wasn't overreacting. We found out that he just really should have been a coordinator, not a head coach. Coordinators don't control the clock. The head coach does. The quarterback can.

It's not using a coordinator thing. And so there was that moment when you're like, oh, we should have seen that. Okay. So again, when companies over time slowly erode, it's not necessarily somebody's fault. There can be rivals, competitors. It's hard to keep pivoting and pivoting and pivoting and staying on top. But if a company crashes, there's a moment. So there's an argument to be made that KD.

Harden and Kyrie was the biggest bust in league history for three stars. Now, Kobe Nash and Dwight Howard was a mess. But Nash was at the very end of his career. Kobe wasn't far from the end of his career. That's different. KD. and Kyrie, when they went there, we thought they're at the end of their prime, but they're in their prime.

They're still great. And KD was crushing the MVP in the finals. And hardened the year before he came average 34 a game. He was the scoring king. And it didn't work. And it didn't work for a couple of reasons. One, they never played together. Remember, they were never playing.

Somebody was always hurt. And the other thing is, it didn't really fit. Kobe Nash and Dwight Howard at least made basketball sense. You had a back to the basket big. You had a prolific distributing guard and a great wing score. It made sense. Nash was old. Kobe was old.

It didn't work. This one was like two ball-centric guys. They're all scores. Their game is defined by points, getting a bucket. It didn't really work. It didn't really work. So it crashed. But there was also a moment to this crash.

And I listened to it this morning. So we knew at the time when they said it, it sounded ridiculous. But it even sounds more ridiculous today now that we know it imploded. This was an actual conversation. It sounds like a Saturday Night Live piece about Kevin Durant and Kyrie saying, coaches who needs coaches we don't need somebody to come in and put their coaching philosophy on everything that we're doing and change up the wheel and yo you guys need to start doing this and we start running on the first day of practice it's just like no i don't really see us

having a head coach you know what i mean like i got katie could be a head coach i could be a head coach jock vaughan could do it one day it could be it can be it's a collaborative effort i think on our part no no it's not think how good the dynasty for the Warriors is. And yet how many times it had to have been tweaked? And they have really, really, really selfless players. They have Draymond's the defensive guy, Steph's the score, Clay defense, catch and shoot, Wiggins, high intellectual player, wing knows his role, Kvon Looney's the rebounder.

Think about how great that team, Andre Aguadal is, the smart veteran guy off the bench, provides defense. And they have to tweak that thing constantly. This year has been constant tweaking, bridging older players to new players. Coaching is hard. It is. If you don't think Eric Spolstra is one of the reasons Miami's always viable, I don't know what to tell you. It is hard, even for great teams and great players.

But when you hear that bite now, you're like, okay, that's the moment. That's the Nathaniel Hackett. Can't figure out the two-minute drill in football. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. come on now we don't need coaching it's like guys come on come on I could coach are you kidding listen one of the things I've always said about patrick Mahomes and football and basketball are different Patrick Mahomes likes hard coaching he does he like I know Andy Reid well enough he

likes hard coaching and Andy Reid coach is hard like like it what's funny is the players benefit from hard coaching Jimmy Butler wants hard coaching Kobe wanted hard coaching. Phil Jackson had hard conversations with Kobe and MJ. Player almost always benefits from it. It's not like a coach is doing something, stealing minutes, shots that would hurt you. Good, hard coaching from smart coaches almost always benefits the player. Is this a soft millennial thing? Because we know Kyrie Irving ran their problems with Tyron Liu, very well documented at a practice. Tyrone Lou called to play. Kyrie, you know, bounced past the ball to him and said, you have LeBron run it. It's his team. Out the door. Brad Stevens, basically driven out.

Kyrie's like, I don't want to work with Brad Stevens. Brad Stevens ends up leaving coaching after the Kyrie saga. And then, of course, he runs out Steve Nash. Kyrie Irving and Jason Kidd now. We're going to see how that works in Dallas. Like, there's a history here, Colin. At some point, that has to matter over that elite layup package or his crafty handle. I know the internet loves Kyrie Irving, but the history says he's just toxic. All right, let's go to Nick Wright. Call host First Things First.

I mean, listen, you're a season ticket holder to the Brooklyn Nets. You're like our on-site reporter. So, I mean, you tell me, that sound bite, I mean, it's easy for me to sit in the back seat. But you hear it now and you're like, oh, good God, that's absolutely ridiculous. You tell me where it all went wrong initially. Don't have audio with Nick Wright. We'll get it in a second. All right.

We don't have audio. Oh, there we go. There we go. There we go right now. Go ahead, buddy. There we go. Sorry about that, Colin. Let's go.

All right, so we're back. Listen, I think Jason kind of nailed it in this regard. I think it went wrong. The moment Durant decided to team up with Kyrie and not as part of teaming up with him decide to, for the first time in his career, be the true unquestioned leader of the team. Durant's well documented that he thinks that is not his job. I think he's wrong, but he thinks his job is to simply be the best basketball player possible. But that will create a leadership vacuum.

And Kyrie will step into that vacuum. And what we have seen is every place he goes, it ends with him having burnt it down. The 2017 Cavs were the best team LeBron James has ever been on. And Kyrie, the final game of that season after the finals, sat at the president. press conference when they lost to Durant and the Warriors. And the last thing he said to the media was, what a blessing and a privilege it has been to play with LeBron and how he hopes to continue to play with him and learn from him over the next decade of their careers.

Six weeks later, he threatened to have knee surgery if they didn't trade him. He then, a year later, goes to Boston, cuts a commercial saying he wants his jersey hung in the rafters. Six months later, he is plotting with Durant to leave Boston and go to Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, this summer, he said he would never leave seven, meaning Kevin Durant. Eight days ago, eight days. He held a press conference when he was asked about how this season's similar to last season. And he said, there are no similarities because unlike last season, I'm here all the way in and three days later demanded

a trade. So like there is one common thread here and the Mavericks now were so desperate because they made a mistake in trading for Porzingas. Then they made a mistake in not extending Jalen Brunson early and now they're worried that Luca is going to say you got to be kidding me.

Like what are you guys doing here? So now they are in my opinion making a terrible bargain which is maybe we peel a title this year, but in the long run, Kyrie will burn it down there as well, either leave this summer or make the situation toxic, and that won't be good for the Mavs long-term ability to keep Lukudansic. But that is the consistent thread throughout Kyrie's entire career, which is he leaves places in shambles, and he doesn't seem to recognize that he is the

common threat. Is there any benefit for Kevin Durant, who although injurial, who, although injurial, a lot it feels like in the last three years is still lethal offensively. Well, here's, listen, I actually think, so I don't criticize Dr. Grant for leaving the Warriors. I know you've called it one of the biggest mistakes, you know, any star players ever made, but the entirety of the media, aside from you, was basically telling him anything you do in Golden State doesn't count, go win a real ring, go lead a team. So then he tries to go do that, and now everyone's like, why'd you leave? What are you thinking? And the answer is because you guys all said I had to.

So here's what I'll say. Because I am a season ticket holder, and I do actually like the pieces Brooklyn has now. They have switchable wings on defense. They have tons of shooting. They have some decent size. I like Dorian Finney Smith a lot, and I think they're going to add a backup center. I'm not sure Spencer Dinwiddie is actually going to end up playing for the Nets. I think they might make another move before the deadline.

if Kevin Durant takes this team on a run, even if they don't win the title, this is a better supporting cast than LeBron had in 2018 when they went to the finals. This is a better supporting cast than Luca had last year when they went to the Western Conference finals. If Kevin Durant can, as the unquestioned to use Charles Barkley's term, bus driver, make this team viable, make this team a real threat in the war. in the Eastern Conference playoffs, to me, that is an important benchmark for him legacy-wise, that even if they don't win the title, because here's the other piece of it. There are people to this day that will argue Kevin Durant's the best player in the league.

I think it's unquestionably Janus with Luca in second. Colin, if this net's roster were the exact same, but in place of Kevin Durant was Janus, would anyone be writing that team off? The answer is no. If it was Janice Andenicompo and then this supporting cast, would you say that team can win the title? I would because you would say they have shooting, they have defense, and they have a super-duper star who can go for 40 on any given night. So that is now the opportunity that sits in front of Kevin Durant when he gets back healthy. So I said earlier in the show, the remarkable thing about LeBron surpassing Kareem is.

Kareem was the Ironman before LeBron. If he surpassed M.J. We'd say, well, MJ retired twice. He took time off. At the end, he played for a cruddy team and didn't care. But Kareem played forever and could hit a skyhook on his last possession. And he's viewed as a score. LeBron's not.

And he's going to blow past him. You know, I grew up with Kareem. I don't remember the Milwaukee, Kareem, because that was like 71. And then he got traded. I started watching basketball. football like 72, 73. But that's remarkable to me that I don't view LeBron as a score. I think he's magic, but a better athlete stronger and a little better jumper. Be that as it may, I do find it remarkable that I always viewed like really Kareem's record is kind of one of those

nobody would beat. That's how I viewed it. Unbreakable. Of course. And if it was going to be broken, it would be broken by someone who that season was averaging nine points a game in year 20 or 21 kind of limping towards the finish line. Here's what, the fact that LeBron James is going to break this record in a season where he's averaging 30 points a game is unfathomable. And I would like to debunk this idea that LeBron James is not a great score. You can make a compelling argument. He is the greatest score.

And the argument is very simple. And you know what? Let's just give greatest scorer title to Jordan. So let's just say Jordan's one and LeBron is two. Well, what about Kobe? LeBron literally averages more points per game than Kobe and is wildly more efficient. And I know folks will say this isn't true, but it literally is a better three-point shooter than Kobe. But makes a higher percentage.

And of course, has double the career buzzer-beaters as Kobe on double the efficiency. efficiency when everyone says the clutch stuff is all Kobe. Kevin Durant and LeBron, they both average exactly 27.3 points per game for their careers, and LeBron does it at a higher efficiency. When people say LeBron is not a great score, what they are actually saying is he's not a pretty score. That there's not as much majesty to watching him score. You know who's one hell of a scorer, Janus. how I know how I know it? Because the dude averages 30 whenever he wants to, but he does it with

brute force. And I do think there, because when people talk about LeBron as a score, they say, well, he only has the one scoring title. Jordan, of course, has 10. I think you can make a very compelling argument that the fact that year's 19 and year 20 for LeBron James, he's top five scoring in the league each of those years, number two last year, and averaging more than 30 points per game. Why? Because that's what his team demanded due to the injuries or the roster construction that if he wanted to win the scoring title the way Jordan did all those years, he obviously could have. Instead, he was more focused on getting teammates involved in other things. But he's going to, I told you this last week, but I want to reiterate it. Right now, there is a smaller gap in

career points between Michael Jordan and Paul Pierce than there is between Michael Jordan and LeBron James. And when he finishes, he's going to finish with 44,000 and Jordan's at 32,000, and folks are still going to argue one guy was a better score. That's pretty well said. So I've got to ask you this, and I know this could either be one of the, this could either be one of the great 10-day periods of your life, or Kansas City gets dusted, and it's just miserable. So you live on that emotional cliff every day. And you don't do yourself any favors because you're poking people in the ribs all day. And so you're just begging.

Gambling on it. Yeah, all of it. Sure, yeah, no problem. And smoking cigs while you're gambling and watching. So it's a lot of stuff going on for you. All right. Okay, here we go. Go ahead.

Chief Seagles, is there something in your head? You're like, that does worry me a little. Worry me a little about Philadelphia. Okay, listen, I think Philadelphia has, I think the Chiefs have a good offensive line. I think Philadelphia has the best offensive line. The Chiefs finished this year with the second most Saxon football. The Eagles finished with the most Saxon football. The Chiefs, as far as great pass catchers, have won in Travis Kelsey.

The Eagles have a far greater overall pass catching crew receivers and tight ends. The Chiefs have three rookies playing corner. the Eagles have expensive veteran corners, right? So they have, I think the Chiefs are good almost everywhere. I didn't even mention the running game where the Chiefs are starting a seventh round rookie and a journeyman and Jerich McKinnon and the Eagles have one of the most efficient running games in league history, right? The reason I don't think it's going to matter is because I agree with you that Jalen Hertz is not yet nearly the caliber of quarterback as Patrick Mahomes. Jalen Hertz has thrown for 270 yards total in the playoffs and has not

looked great doing it. And Patrick Mahomes is the most talented football player any of us have ever seen with our own eyes. And I think this Sunday he can paint his masterpiece on one and a half feet. I think that the only thing missing from Mahomes' resume is a start to finish dominant Super Bowl performance, and I think that's what we get on Sunday. I think he's going to look as healthier than he did last week. I think the fact that, yes, the Chiefs lost a Super Bowl a couple years ago. However, you were up against a quarterback who had been to nine of them previously, and a coach and Bruce Ariens who had been to a Super Bowl previously, even though he had lost.

Now you're up against a coach who's never been there, a quarterback who's never been there, your offensive line isn't banged up, and for Mahomes, it would be. the capstone to the greatest start to any career in the history of the sport. I understand Brady won three of them in his first five seasons starting, but he also missed the playoffs once, didn't make the conference finals another year, and never won league MVP. If Mahomes in his first five years has two league MVP's, two Super Bowl victories, makes at least the conference finals every single year,

and wins two Super Bowls, makes a third. third, there is no comparison. And I think that's what we're in store for. And I know some folks believe, oh, the Eagles might be able to run away and hide. Colin, the Chiefs have played 32 games in a row that they have either won or lost by four or fewer points. 32 games since they were last beaten by more than four points. You're not going to blow this team out. All right.

But by the way, part of the charm and appeal of you is the black and tans, the gambling, the putting yourself. Black and tans. They're black and mild. But that's fine. I appreciate that. No, I understand. It makes me relatable to the audience. Can I say something very quickly and I know you have to get to the news?

I didn't know what they were either. This is very important. No, no, no. No, they're not cigarettes. It doesn't matter. They're cheap cigars. I offered you one at your house and you were like, does this come from Havana? If not, I don't smoke.

You threw it on the ground. I want to tell you something. I have been chasing you professionally since I was in college, since before we knew each other. And then we became friends and we ended up working together. And it's been one of the great stories of my entire life is our relationship. Six days ago. Yeah, what happened?

I finally thought I had something over you. And I couldn't wait to see it at the Super Bowl. because I got Patrick Mahomes on my TV show, and you had never gotten Tom Brady on yours. And I'm like, oh, man, I can't wait to see Colin on Wednesday. And then yesterday, I turned on the herd, and Tom Brady's there. Four days after I get Mahomes. And I'm like, not even this. It's unbelievable.

How does this happen? It's unbelievable you did that. You know, as your mentor, I was not going to bring it up, but I'm glad you did. It's true. It's unbelievable. Four days after I get my homes, you get Brady. I can't have nothing, man. It really is unbelievable.

Thank you, Colin. All right, buddy. Great seeing you, though. First thing, first. A good friend and one of the really talented guys in this biz, Nick Wright. Just by the way, it was all happenstance and crazy. But I did think about that. I thought, oh, my God, Nick got my homes.

I couldn't believe. We tease it on this show. And it was literally a day later. I got a call. Hey, Brady's going to come on the show. I was like, I'm not going to rub it. it in. There's no, you know, just be a good guy. There's no reason to rub it in.

Kind of felt good though. I'm not going to. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Clipper 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 Podcasts, 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 you? do a little kill. 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 yeah, yeah, literally. 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.

Thank you for 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. I have a little scoop I got last night. Incidentally, at dinner.

Went out with my daughter for dinner last night. I'm not going to give it later this hour. because I want to get to your thing. But it was... Are you going to drop all the names from the famous people to the restaurant you were at? Nope, no, no, no, no. See, I'm a man of the people. Sat next to Al Michaels.

He was right. I didn't even bother him. I saw him. I thought, I'm going to give him after that Amazon package he had to endure this year. Oh, yeah. I didn't want to bother him. So when you see an Al Michaels, are you more of a head nod like a what's up or you had fist bumped, you go over with the shoulder pat.

Al, how are you, bud? I don't like to bother people. Nothing. No, I don't, no. I mean, I would say hi and wave, but I don't like to bother people. That's not my thing. So you're more of a wave than a head knot. You know, you see your buddy, you're like a sup.

Hey, you know, people are busy. It's very casual. My mom was very strict on manners and stuff like that. The idea of interrupting somebody is not, like dinner or something would not work. Well, you could argue that it's better manners to walk up, shake hands, look him in the eye, and then go back to your business. I don't like people touching my hands when I'm like eating dinner, you know? I'm one of those weirdos. That's not that weird.

I don't touch a lot of door handles, do you? Well, I have to open doors. I mean, outside of my house. Do you touch door handles? How do you get into doors? How do you go anywhere? You use your shirt or a jacket or a glove? Really?

So you're a little germophobic? A little bit. All right. I got that from Howard Stern, who shares a birthday with me. I think there's a lot more people than Howard Stern that are germophobic. Yeah. That's the one you know. J-Mack with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd-line news. I don't believe I just admitted on... I don't know how you use a shirt to get into a door. You know, you wear the untucked shirt, and you just... use that. You know how many...

I'm learning a lot of things I'm not sure I want to know. Oh, geez. Okay. All right. Fair enough. Let's go to Jalen Hertz, who you had as the ninth best player in the game. In the Super Bowl. Well, he's had a decent season, right?

He was MVP for most of the season until he got injured. Eagles had the best record in the NFL. They're in the Super Bowl. Owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke at opening night about the prospect of initiating contract talks with Hertz. Here's what he said. I don't think he has anything to prove to be a long-term answer of quarterback. He's an MVP-caliber quarterback and incredible leader of the team on the field, off the field. He's 24 years old, incredibly mature, most importantly, driven to be even better.

What we're seeing today, I think, is just the beginning for Jalen. This guy will attack every weakness as he has done since high school, since college. The future is bright and very exciting for us. I like two words, incredibly mature. Tyler Murray throws a better football. Jalen Hertz is more mature, and that's the difference. And so for all the young quarterbacks out there is incredibly mature, I've argued this for years, all you folks out there,

every time I look at a Johnny Mansell or a Cam Newton or a Baker Mayfield, and I think, James Winston, I'm like, there's talent, there's some maturity issues, and you always push back. And folks, all four of those guys, Baker and Cam, and Jamis all underachie. Johnny Mansell. Drew Locke. I didn't like the lack of maturity.

Maturity at this position is vital, and Jalen Hertz is incredibly mature. Even though I saw during the Super Bowl, NFC championship after they won, they put Bradshaw on a stage with Jalen Hurts. And he's at the center of the stadium, and I forget what Terry asked him. He asked him about some accomplishment, and Jalen Hertz immediately was about the team.

And I'm like, A, I believe he meant it. But his ability to understand, can you imagine standing in front of 75,000 Eagle fans? You just beat the Niners. Adrenaline flying through your body. National TV, Bradshaw asked you about, you know, you and what a year you've had. And it's like, he didn't even pause. He's like, no, the year we had. He immediately deflected it to teammates.

And I was like, man, you, I don't, that's good parenting. That's intelligence. Can we stop defending and pandering at this position? Maturity is huge. I don't need it from my receivers. I don't need it from my Mike linebacker necessary. I mean, I'd love to have it. But for my quarterback, it's like a huge, huge thing.

I think I've said this on the show before. There's a great quote, hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life. And if you remember when the Eagles drafted Jalen Hertz, they had this guy named Carson Wentz at quarterback. They drafted him near the top of the draft. He was nearly an MVP candidate one year. They had him in the building, and they still drafted Jalen Hertz.

They knew something about Hertz, whether it was the maturity, the way he bounced back after leaving Alabama. And people were upset that they drafted Hertz. Do you remember this in Philadelphia? They're like, why are we drafted Hertz? We got a quarterback. Yeah. That goes down to hard choices. You have the easy life.

You got to make the hard choice. Hey, let's bring in Hertz. We can't pass up on this. How about this? Even if it's the same person and you change. Gino Smith early immature. Gino Smith today, mature. Same tool set.

Same dude. When he changed upstairs, totally different players. This idea, when I banged on Baker, I banged on Cam, James Winston, Johnny Mansell. I'm like, guys, it's not a casual, Drew Locke. I was like, it's too casual, too cool. Get out of that space. Gino Smith's a great example. You can even take the same person.

Gino deserves so much credit for going, man, I screwed that up. I'm not doing it again. Here's an amazing opportunity with the Hall of Fame coach. I'm going to grow up. Look at the year Gino had. It's tough to quantify when you're looking at these quarterbacks maturity. That's really tough to figure out.

You can't find it on a spreadsheet. You can't find it looking at tape. Jalen Hertz is mature. You can see it all the time. I'm going to go back to it because we love talk about building teams. There's two quarterbacks in this draft who you see maturity, you see a little older, the wisdom. Max Duggan, obviously from TCU,

and I know he had a misstep off the field recently, but Stetson Bennett at Georgia, being an older guy, I think he was 25 years old. Yeah, but I think I get it from Bryce Young. Well, that's certainly, but that's at the top of the draft. I'm talking about a later round pick. Jaylen Hertz was not a first round pick. Dak Prescott was not a first round pick.

I'm talking about a later round pick who you could draft a quarterback, and you know if your QB goes down. We've got a mature guy, we can insert him and work. I think you've got to draft a quarterback almost every year in finding Jailen Hertz's. Very difficult. Yeah.

He's a great story. Next up, Arizona Cardinals. Set to interview a second set of candidates for their head coaching search. Colin, I don't know if you saw this. You've been hyping Brian Flores as an option. He saw what was going on in Arizona and said, I think I'll take the D.C. job in Minnesota. So Flores to the Vikings, he's got an uphill climb.

They don't not have a lot of talent. I mean, their best defender might have been Patrick Peterson, and he's like 32 years old or so. I mean, is he only 32? I mean, they had some injuries in the secondary. Two young guys, Andrew Booth, I believe, and seen the guy they drafted. I'm going to guess. I could be wrong. Didn't the Vikings draft a lot of defensive players last year?

Yeah, and they had a couple guys get hurt. Yeah. So I think he's inheriting a little more talent than we think. And I also think they're coaching. I had a coach tell me the Vikings were poorly coach defensively. Not blaming anybody, but it just didn't work. So, you know, the head coach, rookie head coach, hires a D.C., it doesn't. doesn't mesh. I think Flores, I thought what he did in Miami was brilliant. Their special teams

and their defense, literally in eight games, you were like, whoa, I mean, we always give these offensive coaches credit. Flores turn that Miami defense around and special teams in like eight games. So Arizona appears to be down to two guys. Lou Amaruno from the Bengals, the defensive coordinator's being excellent. Yeah. And Giants OC Mike Kafka. Yeah. Who, I don't know how you determine the Daible, Kafka, like, they worked together really well with Daniel Jones. I don't know how you determine who was... Well, Dayball, well, Daibol's been around the league for a long time. So, so is Kafka.

He's been... Kafka's done some good things. Day Bowl will be fine without Calca. Are you optimistic about either of those guys in Arizona? Well, you never know. I never thought Tom Coughlin. I thought he was a really good college coach. I didn't think he would make Jacksonville a threat and then beat Valichick and Brady twice in the

Super Bowl. Who can guess this? I mean, I remember Tom. Tom Coughlin coaching at B.C. And he beat a really good Notre Dame team once. I was like, man, that's a good coach. But I thought he was kind of grumpy and stoic. And he beats Brady and Belichick, 2 and O in Super Bowls.

Who would have guessed that? Final story in the NBA, LeBron obviously could set the record tonight for scoring in the NBA, 36 shy of Kareem. I've looked at some lines for this. It seems like everybody, if you want to bet the under, there's a lot of juice on it. LeBron recently sat down with Fox Sports Melissa Rowland for an exclusive interview ahead of this historical moment. Here's what LeBron said. I still feel like I got plenty of gas in this tank to help any franchise win a championship.

And I'm here with the Lakers right now. That's my emphasis. So I'm trying to help them get back to the promised land for the 18th time. So that's where the motivation comes from. That's very interesting that you notice the word now, right now. Well, the producers underlined it for me, so I was extra aware of it. It is interesting. He's pretty ticked off that they didn't get Kyrie.

Okay. So can I give you my story? Last night or LeBron? From last night. I didn't mean to unearth this gem, but it happened at dinner. So everybody in L.A., and I'm very critical of the Lakers. Of all the local teams, I bash the Lakers constantly because I don't think they're as well run right now as USC football or the Clippers. or the Dodgers.

Clippers. Okay, Clippers are well run. They just got, you know, Kauai is never available. So, Joe Sy is the owner of Brooklyn. So the Lakers offered an expiring contract and two good picks, right? A couple picks.

I was told that Joe Sy, the owner of Brooklyn, was so furious at Kyrie Irving for giving him everything and getting very little in return. He refused to make a deal with the Lakers. He did not care what team it was. he was not going to the Lakers. He was not going to give Kyrie exactly what he wanted. And he knew Kyrie wanted to live in L.A. and wanted to play with LeBron and redeem himself after he broke those two hours.

I wouldn't want to give it. I wouldn't. But Laker fans are crushing the organization feeling that they didn't do enough. I'm told Rob Polenka had no shot to make it happen. That Joe Seiz said, absolutely not sending him Kyrie Irving to LeBron. It's weird. Palinka doesn't really have a chance as GM, because you know every other team in the league

is going to make you pay the Lakers tax if you're doing a deal with them. You've got to toss in an extra pick or a player, just because it's the Lakers. People do not like them. There's animosity toward LeBron. Nobody wants to give the Lakers a deal. So I can't fault Polinka for this. He feels like the obvious fall guy.

But Colin, he offered both unprotected 27 and 29. Like, what more could he do? I know. It's not a Polinka issue. It's not. It's also they gave up a ton to get Anthony Davis to L.A. By the way, LeBron called for that and they won a championship. They gave up Brandon Ingram among others.

Then they gave up a ton KCP and Kuzma to get Westbrook. So when you give up assets, you mortgage your future, don't be shocked when all you have is draft picks in a bad Westbrook country. By the way, how unfair? People are going to scoff at that. How unfair is it that everybody says, don't give LeBron what he wants. He wanted Westbrook. Yeah, LeBron also wanted Anthony Davis delivered him in a championship.

That never gets brought up. It's like forgot. Oh, well, you won a championship. What, two, three years ago? Who cares? What have you done for me lately? That's what these Laker fans are. They're so irrational.

In fairness, it wasn't that difficult to identify AD as a good fit. Well, I mean, I do believe AD came over to the clutch sports group. You think that just happened? You don't think LeBron had anything to do with that? That would be like me saying, I think I'd like that Bryce Harper, you know, in my lineup offensively. I'd like to identify Bryce. And Bryce is saying, I want to play with you.

I think we should identify. It's like saying Mookie Bay. D. D. D. D. D. Before he came here, how many years ago was that three or four? Everybody was saying it was like a second, third best player in the league. It doesn't take much for LeBron to go, he's good. He wants to be here. Could we call him?

I mean, you're not. I mean, that's like me. saying, you know, Apple, that company's really coming into its own. They bake phones. You may want to buy some stock. One playoff series in his career, I'm pretty sure. One. Pretty good.

John Moran's pretty good. I consider myself a scout. LeBron called Kevin Love. He won a Kevin Love out of Minnesota. Demanded Kevin Love. What did Kevin Love done? Nothing. He was averaging 25.

How many guys in the league averaged 25, Cowher? Kevin Love was going to be a Hall of Fame. Oh, stop it. I don't think he has won't a playoff game in Minnesota. Yeah, but he was a great player in a crappy franchise. Kevin Love was a great player. He was a high school American. He was a high school American.

He was a stack hog on a bad team. What is that? 25 at 10. What did damn do? Look at that. Look how many guys average 25 a game now. Scouting players is getting Draymond Green in the second round. That is scouting. You're claiming that LeBron going, there's a guy down in New Orleans.

His name is Anthony Davis. I think he's good. Can we send our scouting department down there to check him out? The guy was a monster. Oh, my goodness. Wow. All right. Jay Mack for the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line. 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. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game.

What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow pro-bowler, T.J. Hushmanzada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J. Hushman Zata and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast from.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrate. 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 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. from black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This season all comes down to one word, championship. Going deep, caught for the touchdown, and the stallions are in business. You cannot throw the ball better than that, folks. Ooh, bam. Laying some serious wood. Throws it in it back in the end zone for the touchdown. Puts the stars in the lead for the first time tonight. Yeah, let's go.

I love this guy. Bolden touchdown. Birmingham. throws that and it's picked off. Scooby-Right, all the way to the house. The Birmingham Stallions are the champions of the USFL. That's how the 22 U.S.FL season ended, and now we're ready for the 2020 season. Today, the schedule is being announced and it all kicks off April 15th.

This year, the U.S.FL will play games in four host cities, Detroit, Memphis, Birmingham, and Canton, Ohio. for the full schedule and to buy your tickets, go to usFL.com. I don't know why this is, but I've seen a lot of NFL careers and elegantly. Barry Sanders had a lot left in the tank, retired, Calvin Johnson, retired. John Elway won a Super Bowl, retired. I think Brady's is pretty elegant. Three straight playoffs, retired. It feels like in a sport where you get tackled a lot and break down,

I've seen a lot of football careers end perfectly. You know, in baseball, Derek Jeter, that's about as good as you can do. But there's something about basketball. I don't have, I don't really know why, but it's hard to end perfectly. Shack bounced around. It felt like the 30 teams. Patrick Ewing in the end, wasn't he in like a Rafters uniform or something? Sonics, I think.

It was just ugly. Michael Jordan for the Wizards, nobody could stand him. Kevin Durant's career, I hope, doesn't end like that. So the Oklahoma City years were awesome. You know, he got drafted. They were the Sonics. They moved. And he and Westbrook made a finals.

They were amazing, this emerging superstar. And then he pivots to the Warriors and got a lot of criticism. I was shocked. He went there. I didn't see it coming. And he was unbelievable, a two-time finals MVP. And then he made inexplicably a move I just never, ever got, which is, let's go.

to a worse organization with worse players. Okay. Now I'm sitting to myself thinking, what does Kevin Durant do? Does he care would he like to end it with a better team? I said yesterday, call the Warriors up. Memphis, by the way, he's got a lot of different parts. John Morant and Kevin Durant. That'd be pretty good.

Or does he want to say, listen, man, I've moved around. It was great in two spots. It's not great here, but I'm going to make it great. and I'm going to trust Jock Vaughn and the front office. I don't know. I don't know the answer to it. The problem is Milwaukee and Janus have another five years of dominating, and Boston's not going away anytime soon, and Philadelphia is good.

Whereas the West, you have the Warriors. They're getting old fast. They're getting really old, really fast. And then the West is wide open with a bunch of teams like Denver and Memphis. You know, what are they? Another podcast from some SNL late-night comment. 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 headwriter

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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcast, you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.