The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 2 - Ranking Patrick Mahomes so far

Episode Date: January 31, 2023

What people take into account when discussing the greatest of all time Colin discusses the different eras in sports Looking at the bad NFL teams this season   Guest: Nick WrightSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It is our number two. Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Jason McIntyre is a man of his word. He lost his bet on the Seattle Seahawks. And because of it, today and today only he will wear a Seahawks logo shaved into the side of his head. Jay Mack showed the audience with great courage and acumen. You have stepped in front of a barber.

Give that guy credit again. Yeah, Justin. He works here at Fox. Outstanding job. I know he's watching. He's not a Seahawks fan, nor am I. Although I did root for the Seahawks when they had Camp Chancellor, Russell Wilson, Marciaun Lynch.

Those are some fun teams. Yeah, the great teams. We don't get a lot of great Seahawk teams up in the Northwest. We did not expect a good one this year. Not with Gino Smith and Drew Locke, slugging it out in the preseason. Probably the shock of the league. Denver being a disaster, Rams fell apart physically. Yeah, Rams were the worst record.

for any Super Bowl champion. A lot of it's just that's injuries. That old line was a mess. So before I get to Nick Wright, so another story this morning that Aaron Rogers and the Packers are at crossroads and more than 50% there'll be a trade. So

yesterday Eric Mangini was on the show and we were talking about this and he's in the camp that you know if you do whatever it takes you do whatever it takes you've got to keep this quarterback you keep him happy, you baby him.

Here's Eric Mangini yesterday. Look, we see organizations going through it now, whether it's the Colts, New Orleans, take your pick. When you lose a great quarterback, if you don't have a guy like that in the building to potentially give you what he gave, then you live with the frustration for as long as you can.

Let me caution on this. The Eagles moved off. Carson Wentz. They've been just fine. The Lions moved off Matt Stafford. They had a better offense this year than the Rams. Seattle moved off Russell Wilson. They were fine. Even the Colts with Andrew Locke, and that was by surprise. A couple years later, Philip Rivers, who runs like a batting cage, got him to the playoffs. The Packers moved off Fav. Fine. The Chiefs were a playoff team with Alex Smith, moved off him. Fine. 14 teams

now make the playoffs, almost half the league. Miami and Seattle were bad, bad in December. If you take the last 10 games the Dolphins and the Seahawks played this year, they were 3 and 7, they got in, right? And they presented themselves fairly competitively for a while, at least in Seattle, San Francisco, in the playoffs. Daniel Jones, with a rebuilding roster, made the playoffs. And Green Bay's roster is good.

and they've got stability and a capable head coach and they've got the sports car first round sports car parked in the garage you may want to take it for a ride but this is not your usual situation good coach stability good old line and with aaron you're at least going to get a first round pick Aaron's 39 not entirely committed in the off season a little prickly if I may I think it's time sometimes you got ripped the band-aid off but this is not Andrew luck shocking you. You got stability, the O-line, emerging weapons. Kids got some talent. Jordan Love looked like he's gotten capable. Minnesota's not going to go 11 and 0

and 1-score games. Bears are still a wreck. Lions were a great story. Still on a great team. I don't know. I think it's time. Nick Wright co-host, first things first, just doing great. Listen, I'm sure you handled yesterday's

show with Grace and humility. I was busy. I'm sure it was one of your more graceful shows. I did say this. I said, we never waited for Michael Jordan to win 11 titles like Russell. We decided he's the greatest. And that we don't do it in sports based on most championships. And whereas Mahomes can do everything Brady can do now, Tom can't do a lot of what Mahomes can do. Of course. And his instincts now with more experience, I've never seen anything quite like that. I mean, they were down to three receivers, one leg, no run game. I got to be honest.

It was about the best I've ever seen, considering what he was dealing with. Yeah, it's the most impressive performance from the best player we've ever seen. Now, does that make him the greatest player we've ever seen? involves the ring count and all of that stuff, but you mentioned Jordan not having to pass Russell. I think what's more instructive is this, Colin, when Jordan, to use that analogy, when Jordan retired the first time he had fewer MVP than Kareem, in fact, he would finish with fewer MVPs than Kareem, fewer rings than magic, the same number of MVP's and rings

as Larry Bird. Yet, on his statue, it literally says, the greatest there ever has been, the greatest there ever will be. Because in 1993, people were like, ah, accomplishments be damned. No one has ever played the sport of basketball better than Michael Jordan. It is outrageous to make the rules now for Patrick Mahomes.

Well, we can have the discussion when he gets to six or seven rings. as if Tom Brady didn't in his first three rings have an all-time defense with an all-time coach, as if Tom Brady didn't go a decade between rings. So here's what I think. I think right now this moment, Colin, if Patrick Mahomes never plays another down, he's one of the five best quarterbacks we've ever seen this league. Absolutely. Absolutely.

I think that Brady, Manning, Montana, Elway, Mahomes. And then there's another group of Marino and Staubb and Rogers and Farve, and we can go through the list. In fact, we might do that at 3 p.m. today on First Things First. Tune in. However, he is already one of the five best quarterbacks in the history of the league, and I don't think it's debatable. Yeah, you know, and you can, and this, again, this will come off like a shot at Aaron Rogers. But think how good and talented Aaron is and then watch Mahomes. And it just feels different. It looks different. It is different. And that's, I've said this about Aaron.

This is not a sudden retirement. They've kind of built this puppy up. They're ready in that division to win. I would rip the Band-Aid off, not necessarily bad for either. I think both could flourish. Where are you standing on this? I totally agree. And if you remember, and I got criticized for this heavily for when I was on your show and on my show,

the last five weeks of the season, saying that Green Bay was being reckless and short-sighted by not sitting Aaron and playing Jordan Love. And everyone's like, oh, no, they have a chance, but they didn't. And you can say, oh, what do you mean, Nick, if they would have won their final game, what? They would have gotten the opportunity to go to San Francisco and get their teeth kicked in. Everything fell perfectly for him. They still didn't even make the playoffs.

This decision is a lot easier if they had played Jordan Love for a month, and if he's awesome, then it's a no-brainer. And if he's terrible, then maybe you do have to put up with Aaron's call it, as you put it, eccentricity, pardon me. However, given that Jordan loves something of an unknown and you know what Aaron is for good and for bad, I totally agree with you, Colin. If the Jets will give you the 13th pick of the draft, you send that trade in immediately. The flip side is, I wouldn't do that if I'm the Jets. I understand they're in this quarterback, no man's land.

However, much like LeBron has warped our vision of how good guys will be past year 15 in the NBA, Brady did that to us as far as how good quarterbacks will be past age 40. There is a very real possibility that Aaron Rogers is never coming close to the player he was two years ago when he won his second straight MVP. And if that's the case, he's wildly expensive, a bit of a pain to deal with, as you have pointed out, not as committed in the offseason as you would want a guy to be if you're bringing him into a new team with a new system. So I'd be hesitant. But the Jets just hired is the guy that he plays darts in Cornhole with. Nat Hackett to be their offensive coordinator. So I think they're all in on this, and I think

they're trading for it. Okay, so last night was one of those nights. So I watched the Lakers Celtics on Saturday night. I thought it was a fantastic game, marred a little bit by a bad call, but be that as it may. Little bit. Yeah, it was bad. My God, the NBA refs is invested as NBA media in making sure LeBron James doesn't approach Michael Jordan's legacy. I can't get a buzzer beater in year 20 against the Celtics. By the way, how long have I heard, Colin? Sorry, and I'll let you get you the question. You know what?

Why doesn't LeBron James at the end of the games drive to the basket? Why does he settle for jumpers? Maybe it's because he hasn't gotten a call in six years, and he knows that I drive to the basket. You hit me with a two by four. It's not going to matter. But go ahead. So, I interrupted.

So, you know, it's a very valid point. So last night, it's a great night. I get home, and I had a little bit of a ski accident. I'm fine. But I wasn't, you know, usually I'm out there just. lifting weights all night and getting ripped. And I thought, now I'm going to pour myself a bourbon and watch NBA, and LeBron

and AD don't play. And I'm like, yeah, so what's the point? So I watched some Jonah Hill documentary. The point being is I love the NBA. I think it's a problem. I don't like it. Were you bothered by that? Well, so I'm there. I was there. I'm a net season ticket holder.

And, you know, listen, I'm in a fortunate position. I also have tickets to go tonight to Nick's Lakers, so I'll get to see LeBron, but I had a buddy of mine that traveled in town with his son, a buddy named

Prentice Penny, who's kind of in the entertainment business. They traveled cross-country to see a number of basketball games. One of them was that. And they, you know what I mean? They just got unlucky. The kids sitting in front of me seemed legitimately devastated that LeBron was not playing. I don't know what you

do, though. So I'm not And I know people are going to kill me for this. When it comes to load management, the one guy I'm going to give a break to is the guy in year 20 who's played more minutes than any player in the history of the league. But as the league as a whole, I know, I've heard Steve Kerr say, you know, it's why I wish that we played a 72 game schedule. Here would be my concern, Colin, even if they made it a 72 game schedule. then for the same reasons you want to load, manage an 82 game schedule,

don't you then load manage a 72 game schedule? Sure, of course. Don't you then all of a sudden just say, all right, guys, we want to be peaking in the playoffs, so we're going to play 60 of 72. I don't know that there is a fix here. The one thing that I have been adamant on that I wish the league would almost send out something of an edict is,

if you are on the All-Star ballot and if you are one of the guys that people show up to come see, can you please do your load management in your home games? Because it's such a bummer for the fans, the traveling fans that might, it's a league, Colin, that market stars that makes it about the individual players more than the teams. And when those guys come to Cleveland or,

Orlando or Charlotte one time a year and you don't get to see them. Yeah, it stinks. And I don't know. I wish I had a solution here. I don't know what, I don't know what it is. Yeah, I do. You can't make an all-star game unless you play 90% of your starts in the first half and you can't win a postseason award unless you play 85% of the games, which allows the missed two weeks with an ankle sprain, a bad back. Got to play 90% in the first half to get voted to be an all-star game. And 85% to win any MVP, any award, that stuff matters. Guys get bonuses. That's my, by the way, for some guys, it won't matter when they're on their 13th

All-Star game, but it feels like it's semi-impactful. Now, I grew up with Kareem. You know, I, because of his personality, you know, I was just watching flying the other day, I was watching a 30 for 30 on the beginning of the Celtics Lakers dynasty. It's fantastic. Another network, but it's fantastic. And, you know, Kareem was a different cat. Academic, total intellectual, almost disdain for the media.

Punched Kurt Benson in the face, which was pretty awesome. Remember that? Karim's a legend. I love it. No, listen, I love Kareem. I think he's a legend. That's back when, as you would say, when men were men, Kurt Benson, you're going to take a cheap shot, I mean, break your jaw.

Just how it works. All right, go ahead, as you were. Sorry. What does it mean? Because I've never thought of LeBron score first. I think he's the Swiss Army knife in the history of basketball and the greatest overall player. What does it mean for his legacy

to be the greatest all-time score? Well, let's put some context on this because this was considered the only truly unbreakable career NBA record. In the last 55 years, Colin,

two people have held this record. Wilt and Kareem. That's it. Wilt was the all-time leading scorer until the early 80s. Kareem broke his record in the early 80s and then played another eight years as the record holder. And it was considered unbreakable. So why is this not getting as much media attention as the latest Pat Beverly Histrionic with a camera? So let's think about it. It might be because so many folks have wrapped so much of their own.

personal sports nostalgia and professional credibility up in the take that Michael Jordan is so unimpeachable and unapproachable and this sure does put a wrinkle in that. Because in 30 years, Colin, when

people say, okay, make the case to me why this guy's the greatest ever. It's like, oh, does he have the most rings, Michael? Well, no, he is the same as Kareem and five less than Russell. All right, well, that's interesting. Okay. Did he do it for like the longest period of time?

No, not even close. He actually quit the sport two separate times only to come back. All right, well, that's not it. Oh, but everyone says he's the greatest scorer ever. So he is that right? Well, kind of. What do you mean, kind of? Well, I mean, you know, he's got 10,000 fewer points than LeBron

and 6,000 fewer points than Kareem. For some context there, Colin, right now this moment, Paul Pierce is closer to Michael Jordan's career points than Michael Jordan is to LeBron James's career points. Wow. That's true. Look it up. And so at the end of the day, when Jordan is sitting at 32,000, and LeBron's going to finish at 45,000, and people are like, oh, okay, well, then Jordan's better because the other things? No, no, no.

Everyone agrees. LeBron's a far better passer, far better rebounder. he was the more versatile defender, more, all these things. The case is going to be, wait, so why is this guy the best? Oh, I know, because the era of basketball he played in was the best ever, right?

He had to go through juggernaught super teams. So who'd he beat in the finals? Oh, a Blazers team that had one Hall of Famer and then a son's team that had one Hall of Famer and then a... Then a Sonic's team that had one Hall of Famer. Oh, was his conference

unbelievable to get to those finals? No, it was Reggie Miller and a Dutch guy and Patrick Ewing and a guy who used to, you know, play in the CBA and John Starks. So tell me again why he's the best ever. Oh, just because the media decided it a long time ago because he helped sell USA Today's. Seems foolish to me, but what do I know? I've only studied the game my whole life. Well, listen, he's on one, folks. You got two weeks of Kansas City.

You know what? You know what? Colin, in the same week, Patrick Mahomes going to win the Super Bowl. Super Bowl and LeBron's going to break Kareem's record. Oh, God. I mean, if life, if this is a simulation, it is done purely for my enjoyment. Things couldn't be greater. I got to tell you.

No, I, listen, I'm going to sit back and enjoy your graceful manner for the next several weeks. I enjoy it. I really do. It's good seeing you, buddy. Yeah. New Year's resolution was, be less humble. And I am living up to it, Colin. I'll see you next Tuesday.

Okay, Nick Wright. Yeah, I mean, LeBron's going to break. the record. Mahomes is on top of the world for a kid from Kansas City who loves the Lakers. I get it. I understand it. You young guys. Is he a Lakers fan or a LeBron fan? Well, he's a LeBron fan. But he's, you know, I don't, LeBron is, listen, I saw old wilt. I watched Kareem. I used to as a kid in my yard fake the skyhook. So like that was, I mean, I've seen, I've said, the only athlete that I wish I would have seen in sports that I didn't was Sandy Kofax.

because they said for a three-year stretch, he's the greatest pitcher ever. But I saw Oral Hersheiser be unhittable for a few years. Kershaw on his prime. I went to three Kershaw games. They were all over in like two hours and 20 minutes. Like three pitches, out, out. So it probably looked a little like Kershaw. But I've seen almost everybody that, you know, I don't have, I'm not an East Coast guy.

So Mickey Mantle, there's not as much reverence, like a Bob Costas reverence for Mickey Mantle. I didn't grow up there. So I've seen everybody I wanted to. and Jordan is the most aggressive score all time. But there were holes in his game. He didn't have a lot of range. Kobe had more range. He wasn't a great teammate.

He took shots from people. He is the most. Took shots at people as well. Yeah, no, but he was, but Michael was great. He and LeBron are very different players. I've said this for years. I know it's hard to believe. I think Magic Johnson's underrated.

a Magic Johnson got to nine finals since when do we punish people for getting to 30% more finals than MJ And he only played like, what, 12 or 13 years? I'm not including when he came back for like 20 games in 95. No, I mean, Magic Johnson, you can go to YouTube. Now, guys wore short shorts and he was skinnier. But if you go back to Magic Johnson, there's high school footage.

I'd never, to this day, I'd never seen anything like it. But let's also remember. Michael beat an old Magic Laker team and couldn't get past, by the way, couldn't get past. the pistons when all those guys were closer to their prize. Let's just remember Magic for most of the 80s had basically an all-star team with worthy Jabbar and Magic. Like, I mean, as loaded of a team as you'll find.

You know, because Scotty Pippen, Phil Jackson. No, Scottie Pippen was nothing special when he came into the league. He became a great, great number two. How many playoff series did Jordan win without Pippin? I'll have to count. Not a lot. I'll have to give it a count. Colin, you know, back in 2018, I did a video for Fox saying why LeBron is going to be

better than Jordan. And it got like 3 million views. It was the most watched video at Fox Digital until like 2020 or whatever. And people are still, to this day, hitting me up on Facebook. You're so wrong. Like the Jordan fans are a weird crowd, man. It's just strange how they don't want to give LeBron credit. Well, Michael was great.

Michael was unbelievable. Of course he was. It's not a denigrating thing to say he's the second greatest player in the history of the sport. But Michael didn't grow up with social media. So it's just highlights and all the good stuff. You don't, you don't, LeBron has to live through good shots, bad shots,

miss shots. He lives through a different culture and world of media. Do you think anybody talks about that series when Jordan came back when he quit to go play baseball and they lost the Orlando Magic? You think anybody talks about that series? Or how Utah. Stripped by Donald Royal at half court?

By the way, or a limited offensive team in Utah gave the Bulls fits and often gave Michael bad nights? Limited offensive team. Well, I mean, it was Carl Malone and T. Bailey would they win a game off the modern warriors that LeBron had to face the last few years in the finals? Like a game, just a game, Malone Stockton, Jeff Hornacek against Cubs.

Twice. Gave them trouble. Jeff Hortisek was their third best player. He's not even coming off the bench, I don't know, for these warrior teams that beat LeBron in the finals. I mean, it's just, it's crazy how many great teams LeBron ran into. People understand. The NBA athletes today are so much better. If I have to watch, I just gave 30 for 30 love,

if I have to hear how great the Pacers' Nick series was, the games were in the 70s. They were free throw shooting contests. They were unwatchable. If they were on today, they would get crushed by the media. We'd say, Adam Silver, fix the game, it's awful. At the time, they were incredible, great game. We didn't have any options.

You go to the beach. We didn't have devices. There's nothing else to do. He's sitting and watch TV. Yeah. Now... Can you imagine Jordan Pool? Jordan Pool playing in like the 90s?

Ridiculous. John Starx was a really good player. Couldn't shoot. I mean, Game 7, don't talk to me about Game 7 Rockets Hicks. But I mean, it was a guard that couldn't shoot. Got in Jordan's face a lot. Talked a lot of trash. I like that.

I love that. That's my style right there. You know that. Your style's a Seahawk logo on your head. That's your style. I knew it was coming. I knew it. 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 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,

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple, podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. February 12th, it's the biggest event before the biggest event of the year. The Super Bowl 57 pregame show begins at 1 p.m. Eastern, February 12th, only on Fox. You know, one of the reasons you and I get along well, we're not rearview mirror guys.

We don't romanticize stuff. Like, we like good stuff. I always think it's funny. There's this idea that sports were so. Steve Kerr said it perfectly. Yeah, it's crazy. how it works, because he played for the Bulls and he coached the Warriors. So he knows the

two rosters. And he's like, yeah, it's crazy. Athletes get better and stronger. And the Durant, Steph, Clay, Dray, Dremont, if you played, if you couldn't hand check, they'd blow the Bulls off the court. Now, if you could hand check and you could play physical and tackle, advantage

bull. If you could tackle. But Michael, Michael was not a three-point shooter. He had two great years shooting threes when they moved three-point line in. They moved it back out. Michael never had the range of COVID-Bron. He had one great game in the finals against Portland. I think he had six threes. Remember the shrug game? But I mean, that Durant, Clay,

Steph team, and then you have Drame on the best defender in the league, the three best shooters in the league, the smartest coach, arguably in the league. And they had, like, I forget their bench. Was Iggy on the bench there, too? Andre, Guadala? It's weird, Colin. You look back and we don't talk about like 1980s baseball

players were way better than current players. We don't say 1980s NFL players were bigger, faster, stronger than today. But for some reason in the NBA, all of the players in the 80s and 90s were better than today's players. Those Nick's teams, very weird, everybody loved, had no shooters. Kenny Walker couldn't, I mean, Kenny Skywalker, John Starks, Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing.

Find me the great shooters. They had some, they had characters and toughness, and they were built for the era. For the era. But in terms of skill, the Warriors, not even, it's not even close. Isn't your good comparison that like computers have improved, airplanes have improved, vehicles? Literally everything is improved. proved for some reason, Colin, except for the NBA players.

Like, that's what the people online are screaming. That's what some of these old heads are screaming. It's like, just wake up and snap into reality. I know you loved, you know, 12-year-old Joe really loved the NBA in the 1990s. Listen, in baseball, so I grew up with a 75 Cincinnati Red, 74, 75, 76, Sparky Anderson. Big Red machine? I can go, Rose, Griffey, Concepcion, Perez, the whole lineup. Cesar Geronimo and Center Field, Dan Drieson.

I know the backup catcher was Bill Plummer, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, who may have been better than everybody. They had one guy in their staff that threw in the 90s, Don Gullet. He was a high school football star in Kentucky. Don Gullet, I think he were number 35, left-hander, had some arm injuries, threw about 94, unheard of. Like it was Nolan Ryanish kind of, right, right? The Angels are a bad team. What are they got, eight guys throwing 97? Like the size of athletes, the size, the power, the ability.

it's not even close. Those baseball players in the 70, they might have been smoking cigarettes during the seventh inning stretch. Like in the NBA, we know in the 70s and 80s, guys were drinking in the locker room after the game. So I had a friend in high school. His name was Brad Jones,

and his brother, Jack Jones, was my best friend in high school, talked to him randomly, and then there was Brad and great guy. And Brad, in my high school won. He won this contest. He was a great student. He went to the Air Force,

like number one academic powerhouse guy, right? And he wins something, I think through academics, to go into the locker room before a Raider Seahawk game. And he goes into the locker room of the Raiders. And Fred Boletnikov and Kenny Stabler, at least Stabler was knocking down Sigs and playing poker. They were like sitting in there and they're playing car. And it's like, Len Dawson, there's an old picture. He's smoking before a game. Like, folks, you can romanticize stuff.

The quality of athletes today is a thousand. thousand times better. It's not even close. Now, there are people like Jim Brown or Wilt, Michael Jordan. Walter Payton. Yeah. Walter Payton remains the best running back I've ever seen. Walter Payton today would be a star. But I mean, Walter Payton, again, there are athletes that transcendent. Bob Gibson would be a great pitcher. Sandy Kofa. I'm not denying that. But a lot of those, Babe Ruth was playing against roofers and sandwich makers. Who are we kidding here?

J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Yeah, we could do that discussion. And maybe we'll do it this summer, you know, when you're not gallivanting all over the globe. Let's start with the 49ers. Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, just such a bummer.

Suffered a torn UCL on that play in Sunday's loss to the Eagles. Sounds like a six-month recovery. So he gets, so he's out of the off-season workout. which is a seventh round pick is essential. I said on my podcast, this is like Groundhog Day for them. Remember last year, same deal with Garapolo and Trey Lance. And now here we go with Trey Lance is going to be back in as the starter, probably for week one. I don't think Purdy can recover in time to start, right?

From what I read, the news came out yesterday. I mean, he's not going to be at OTA. Six-month recovery process. Yeah, you're not playing in the preseason. And you don't want to rush back if you're brought in. Also, don't you feel like if you don't trade Tray Lance, do you got to kind of give him? Like this year, they started Tray Lance. Don't you have to give it another.

If you don't trade him, don't you have to give him another shot to start? Oh, yeah. He's got to be the start of. The big question is, do you bring back Garapolo? And now you've got three quarterbacks. San Francisco, this is a never-ending process for them. But ultimately, none of those guys are making that much money. At any rate, let's get back to the story.

Here's Tom Brady, your guy, weighing in on how the injuries impacted the Niners. injuries play a role in every game and you know your margin of air changes quite a bit obviously sam fran had really no chance to compete yesterday that was tough just to you know see that happen but at the same time it's the reality of the sport so it's contact sport and that's why it's a demolition derby and that's why you know all these games are somewhat unpredictable you know you go to the super bowl Patrick's had a sprained ankle jaylans had a hurt shoulder anything can happen in the first quarter of the game and of course it's going to affect the outcome so if you're relegated to handing the ball off down 28 points or whatever it was there in the fourth quarter, there's no

chance of coming back at that point. Yep. Worth noting, the two guys I just saw in the video, I believe Reddick was the one who drilled Purdy, off-season pickup, and Domic and Sue was the one who drilled Johnson. Yep. Offseason pickup. Well, this is what Tampa did. This is what the Rams did.

Rams picked up. Avon Miller, the Rams get, you know, the bucks went out and they pick up guys. Like, this is the new, that's what new GMs do. You got Howie Roseman's hyper-aggressive. Let's go find guys. And Domic and Soutes made quite a career of like kind of finding great. He was in Tampa. Now he's in Philadelphia.

He's done a really good job. Was he with the Rams quickly? Am I wrong on that? I don't know why I think that. He might have been. But it's interesting. Khalil Mack, keep an eye on him. I think I floated it to you.

There's an out with him in the deal. I think he could be the guy who moves somewhere to a team with a rookie quarterback, looking to pick up an edge rusher on the cheap. Next up, Joe Burrow has clearly lived up to the hype since the Bengals took him first overall in 2020. What a story. Three years ago, nobody didn't know who this guy was before he got to LSU and was tearing it up. Still on his rookie deal and he can receive a long-term extension this offseason. Zach Taylor has said internally, they've already started talks.

Colin, unbelievable statistic our team pulled up here. The Bengals, since 1991, 29 seasons before Burrow arrived. zero playoff wins. Three seasons with Burrow, five playoff wins, two AFC title games. Well, that's why... That's unbelievable.

If you hit in a quarterback, giving up five first round pick, what's Burrow worth? So, I mean, again, there's not many Joe Burroughs, but very few players outside of a quarterback

are worth a single point in a game according to Vegas. Jamar Chase is worth a point of game. Absolutely. But when you, you get this guy. I also think once you get this guy right, it really, it clarifies so much. Like, you know his style, you know what he needs. You know, because quarterbacks now all shapes, all sizes, aesthetically, they all play different stylistically. So, I mean, you know what he is.

He's a pocket guy who can run in crisis. And by the way, throws a great, lovely, catchable deep ball. So you just know everything he needs. I don't see them going back. I think they're here for Buffalo. By the way, Buffalo, I worry about the defensive culture. It's valid. Rams, I worry about their roster in that division where Seattle's got great young players and Niners have great old players. A window for the Rams are shrinking. Let me ask you. So Deshawn Watson demanded a, or got a fully guaranteed contract from the Browns. What if Joe Burrow, and I'm not saying he's going to do this, I don't think he would. Yeah. Joe Burrow goes to Brown's owners, sorry, Bengals' ownership. Hey, guys, I want the Deshaun Watson deal.

fully guaranteed. I don't believe that I have to do something because a bad organization did. The Browns are poorly run. The Bengals are better run than they were when Burrow arrived. I don't think, people say oh, that would be a precedent. Why do I have to follow your lead? No, but what if Burrow

does that? He's not going to do that. Well, here's a thing. If you're his agent and you say, look at this, 29 season, zero playoff wins. He'll get less money then. So organizations, like Lamar Jackson, they were willing to give him, I believe I read, 13, 3 million guaranteed.

But he knows he could get 200 million, not guaranteed. It's like the powerball lottery. Well, didn't Deshawn Watson reset the market? No. I think the Browns are poorly run. Why would I have to follow the Browns? Well, if I'm Joe Burrow, why am I taking less than Deshawn Watson? I'm better than him.

I've got to a Super Bowl in an AFC title game. But Joe Burrow, like a Brady, like a lot of these guys, like Mahalms, wants to win. So he's not going to handicap his team. Burrough's too smart. Mahomes is too smart for that. Brady's too smart. Mahomes did an interesting deal. A smart deal.

Huh. Okay. It could be a fun topic going forward. I don't think a bad business should set the market. If you do something that's ill-informed or misguided, why do I have to do it? I mean, if I ran Fox and other networks did things, I'd be like, that's their problem. Well, you know why? If you don't want to give me fully guaranteed, I've got at least 25 other teams that would consider it.

That's not his personality. That's fair. But if his agent starts... starts planting those seeds. Well, then you call your agent and say, I'm from Ohio. Get out of here. Hey, by the way, there's a lot of agents. There's one Joe Burrell.

A lot of agents. This is going to be a fun topic. Settle down. Joe, Joe, do it. Just do it for the fun of the show. All right, final story. Load management has been a controversial topic in the NBA recently. Plenty of stars skipping games.

We know LeBron and AD were out. Last night, they will play tonight. Steph Curry has defended players when asked about load management. He's the campaign to play every game. That's the misconception about load management and how it goes. It's never the player that's usually saying, hey, I want to sit. So for all those people that are worried about that part of our league and all that, it's usually not the player that's going to the training staff and saying,

hey, I don't have it tonight. It's usually the other way around. And there's a lot of science involved. So, yes, I will campaign to play, but we'll see how it goes. He's not wrong. I think the really veteran coaches like Eric Spolstra that have good teams or Doc Rivers with a veteran team. Doc's always been very pro player. He'll rest guys.

He did that with the Celtics. He'd cut practice. If they went on the road and they won their first game, he wouldn't practice. That's what I was told. So I think my takeaway is if I was a coach and I had a veteran team, Golden State's a prime example. They've just won a couple games. Los Angeles, I'm playing my guys. I mean, if you don't have LeBron, you don't have a team.

But I can see Golden State saying... LeBron's 38. He can't handle back-to-back. Oh, boy. What do you mean, oh, boy? Do you watch him against Boston and look like a guy that can't handle a back-to-back? Well, I mean, do you want to perform in the playoffs or do you want a back-to-back in January? Play-offs!

Here we go. You're not going to get to the playoffs. They're going to get... Ten teams make the playoff, coward. Come on. There's a play-in. You're literally... I want to rest LeBron for the playoffs.

Think you're a little ahead of yourself on the Lakers. Colin, are you serious, wait, hold on. I do want to look something up. Minutes. That matters. You don't want the tread on their tires. No, no, no. LeBron's play. You know the NBA now, the NBA playoffs.

I think it's like you've got to win, what, 21 games to win the finals, right? A bunch of seven games here is most likely how far it's going to go. You look at minutes played around the league, Colin. Some of these stars are logging. Jason Tatum's second in the league in minutes. I don't want that if I'm Boston. We're going to be fine, whether we're the one seed or the three seed. I have a Celtic take.

I want to address here. We don't have video for it. Maybe you should get some. That Celtic Laker game, I have an issue with Tatum. You have an issue with Jason Tatum? Yeah, yeah. These eyes, my dad was an optometrist. These are laser eyes.

I see through things. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. He's a little passive for me. Just put it out there. A little passive.

Jalen Brown, never have to look around when I watch the Celtics late in the game. I can see him. He wants the ball, demands the ball. Tatum, a lot of times hanging out in the corner. Okay, just real quick. Passive. Jason Tatum is third in the league and field goal attempts per game. What's passive about that? All I care about is three minutes left.

I don't care about the first quarter. So, okay, all right. Back in a second, live in L.A., it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Two NBA Insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you right into the NBA great vibe. All happening in only one place.

This League Uncut. The new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines. And me, Mark Stein. Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haines and Mark Stein. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'll say. Yep. That's me, Clifford Taylor the fourth. 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 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

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

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're going to the Super Bowl. Take a look at our amazing set that's being built in Arizona. We'll be there next Thursday and Friday, right outside State Farm Stadium. We'll have great guests getting ready for Eagles and Chiefs. That's next week right here on The Herd. Looking forward to it.

You know, a lot of you people, NFL's rigged, Cincinnati fans, stop embarrassing yourself. It's not. If it was, the Cowboys wouldn't go like. what is it, 25, 30 years without getting to a Super Bowl? Yeah, I'm going to go with it's not rigged. Also, Chicago wouldn't stink, D.C. wouldn't stink. New York teams wouldn't stink. That's not the way it would work.

Houston wouldn't stink. Atlanta wouldn't stink. The reality is two things blow up a season or a game. Bad coaching and injuries. Who was the most underachieving team in the league? Denver, bad coaching. Who was second? Rams, injuries. Tampa, may have.

have had both. Miami and Baltimore, very good early in the end, beat up, not as good late. That's what happens. So San Francisco and Philadelphia played. Who had the worst injury? Niners lost two quarterbacks, got blown out. Cincinnati and Kansas City played. Who had the worst injuries? Mahomes was productive, so was Travis Kelsey. But three offensive linemen for the Bengals did not play. It's not rigged. It's you had cluster injuries. Go look at Mahomes, blow out in the Super Bowl to Brady a couple years ago. Lost both tackles. Blown out.

Mahomes doesn't get blown out. It did. Joe Burrow, worst passer rating since week one. Why? Chris Jones. Frank Clark. Three backup offensive linemen. It didn't cost you against the bills.

Why? Because Vaughn Miller got hurt. And it was snow. It's very hard for rush ends to get their footing. But we talked about this. Last week we said, watch out. Chris Jones, Frank Clark. Backups on the offensive line.

Footing's going to be better than a snowstorm in Buffalo, and it was. The reality is, Burrow did not play well, and Burrell almost always plays well. Big game, small game, he plays well. Week one, he didn't. He had an injury he was coming off of. This week his offensive line. Cluster injuries. The two bad Sundays all year for Joe Burrow, he was hurt, and now his team was hurt.

His protection was hurt. That's the way it works. San Francisco, lost both quarterbacks. They got blown out. This league is not that hard to figure out. If you start looking at the most disappointing teams in the league, it's almost always bad coaching, Denver, injuries, Rams, Tampa Bay at the end, some thought both. For the record, I thought the bills got completely, not only did they lose Vaughn Miller,

got completely out-coached against Cincinnati. So there are reasons for everything. If you look at Kansas City's win, if the NFL, you know, once sports gambling got legalized, you know, a guy loses $40 and the world's out to take his money. The reality is attrition is a big part of this league. The healthiest teams at the end of the year have advantages. So this week, we got two teams. Both quarterbacks are hurt.

Mahomes is banged up. Jalen Hertz is banged up. And Jalen Hertz did not play well against San Francisco. So my takeaway is the quarterback, who is the healthiest in this Super Bowl? You know, some of it's just genetics and luck. has a better chance to win the game. Jalen Hertz, as good as he is, I don't think he's beating Kansas City

if he plays like he did against San Francisco. He was off. He's been dealing with this shoulder stuff for weeks and weeks and weeks, and they didn't run him much in the first half. I don't believe they ran him much. All right. Hour number three, the power hours around the corner. With Mr. Logo, it's the Hurd.

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

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your 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 IHeart 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, Cliford 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 conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.