The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Headlines

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

What to expect this NFL season plus a surprise team people should keep an eye on Tomorrow's headlines today   Guest: Peter SchragerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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 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 what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but the show. celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every

weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Well, Peter Schrager's been working at Fox for a long time, covering the league he once authored in New York Times bestselling book about the New York Giants out of the blue. So he knows the giant.

So I've been saying that Greg Kossel came on an hour ago, and he said, you know, as much as people don't like Daniel Jones, he's a better version of Alex Smith. He's bigger. He's got a stronger arm. And he's got a, you know, he's got tight. right in now that can play running back. He said, if you like Alex Smith a little, you should like Daniel Jones more. And I thought, that makes me like Daniel Jones more. There's a sense they're going to peel back this year. And I'm like, I don't know, NFC is pretty wonky. What is your take

right now and where the Giants are? Well, they're really happy, Colin. They're kind of lining the weeds right now where no one's talking about them as that third team. Everyone's got the Eagles, the 49ers, and it's usually the cowboys or there's some people who are like the lions. No one's talking about the Giants. They're happy with that. What the key is, and Waller's been great, and they're happy about Paris Campbell and some of the other young players on the outside, including Jalen Hyatt.

They really like their offensive line right now. And when I say that, they've got Andrew Thomas on one side, who they just gave a mega deal to. They got Evan Neal on the other, and they've got this young rookie and John Michael Schmitz, who they love at center. So they feel like they've got a young offensive line, and they've got all the players coming back from last year,

and they're still playing a third place schedule from their division. So the Giants, they don't shoot their own horn. You know how they go about their business. This is all about Team First, and it's not about Ra, Ra, and the Pichuan stuff might have been ugly at times. But everybody's back. They think everyone's going to be healthy. And they were a playoff team last year who won a game.

They were in the final eight last year. So Giants, they consider themselves a playoffs team, whether or not we in the media do. That's another story. So Corey Davis leaves. So now you have Garrett Wilson, a 23-year-old, number one. Lazzard's more of a three. He'll be moved up to a two. Hardman Andy Reid bailed on. Tide ends not terribly productive. But they've got some cap space here with Corey Davis leaving.

So my takeaway is Mike Evans, Van Jefferson, Tuesday's cut day. 19 million bucks is something, Shraggs. Do they go out and get a receiver of the Jets? They might. And that was the whole point when Rogers gave up that money that you can go get a Dalvin Cook and it's not going to completely set you off the rails. Now you've got some more money to play with. They really like this kid number 16, Jason Brownlee. And I know that's not the first name you wake up to listening to on the herd, Jason Brownlee, but he's a tall undrafted kid, six foot two. They believe he's going to be in the rotation. He'll likely make the team. They still have Cobb and Lazard, still have Hardman, who's a two-time Super Bowl champion and whether or not

Andy Reid didn't want to pay him big money, still one of the fastest players in the NFL and is still a deep threat. And they believe Garrett Wilson could be one of these elite wide receivers. So I don't think there's a great urgency at wide receiver. I also don't think there's a great urgency at linebacker. A lot of people were like, why don't the Jets go after Isaiah Simmons? Well, Jets didn't have to go after Isaiah Simmons. They'd like what they have. Jets have issues at offensive line, Colin.

That's going to be the story of the season. If they can keep Rogers upright, they'll be relevant. If they can't, goodbye. Yeah. So, you know, with Jordan Love, I had somebody inside the building say, you know, he's more than capable of starting in this league. there's not a lot of juice, but young quarterbacks, you know, here's the advantage. Good coach, good old line, good run game.

And the NFC is up for grabs. So my takeaway is Jordan Love's going to work, but compared to Farvin Rogers, it won't feel big. Is that fair? The Packers are just a really well-run business. They do quarterbacks well. He has had 18 pre-season dropbacks and zero pressures. That is so Green Bay. My guess is it's going to work.

It's just there's not going to be a lot of wow there. Is that what you hear? Yeah, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. I'll be honest with you. I've spoken a lot of people in Green Bay. Speaking of a lot of people who used to play for Green Bay.

And it's like, we don't know. He's a great kid. But that doesn't do you any good when it's, you know, third and ten. And you're up against, you know, a really good defense. We need a drive in the fourth quarter. No one knows. And they don't know. This is what I will say.

Mark Murphy, the president of the team, said something. something really sneaky that really didn't make a lot of news. He said, now we're going to run Matt's offense, which means they hired Matt LaFleur, and they had a vision of the 49ers, Shanahan Tree, we're going to run the ball, we're going to do those things. And when he got to it, it's like, wait, we have Aaron Rogers at quarterback. We're not reorventing the wheel. Rogers is really the one who's going to kind of figure things out on his own. And it was a mesh with two offenses. This is going to be a run-first offense with a couple of really good young receivers that they like in Watson and Dobbs. But I can't look at you in the eye as a friend

in a colleague for all this time and tell you, no, Jordan loves the real deal. No one can. We don't know. This is his fourth year. We should know by very soon, whether he's got it or not. This can't be like, oh, he's young and he's raw. He's been waiting for three years for this opportunity. He's been handed the kingdom. He's got to be able to do it, and he's got to be able to do it right out of the gates. It's interesting. There was a story that we, Jason and I had both confirmed through different sources that the Rams did try to rework Stafford's deal. And the Rams kind of pushed back on it. But then Stafford came out and said, yeah, they tried to.

So they couldn't. They had to move off some pieces. So it's a bit of a rebuild year. Not a bit. It is. But it's interesting with Stafford because recency bias is a real thing. I'm guilty all the time. I'm emotional.

A year ago, Stafford's thrown for over 5,000 yards. And they are, he looks fantastic. A little reckless, but fantastic. Now O-Line disintegrates, we think he's retiring. What is the vibe around Stafford in the building? Like, is he around? Are they going to draft a quarterback next? Where are they on Stafford?

Look, if everything goes terribly, and this team is a two-win team and a three-win team, of course they're going to consider a quarterback. And all I can say is what I'm hearing from the people that matter in the organization. And people that matter say Matthew Stafford looks better now than he has any times of a ram, including his first season there. when they went and won the Super Bowl, when we're talking about August, how he looks.

That's August. This team is so thin at every position on the roster. This is not the Super Bowl team. It's not. But it still does have Matthew Stafford. Still does have Cooper Cup, who is healthy and going to play this week, or he's at least been practicing against Denver,

who still has Aaron Donald, who's not with the team right now, but that's because he's having a kid, and Aaron Donald is in great shape and ready to go. So, like, you have those three, and then you need to have a two-two-at-well step up. And I know fantasy drafts are coming this week, and no one's looking at the Rams.

Draft 2-2 at well in the last round. Let me tell you something. They drafted him in the second round, and he's playing well, and he's got a big role. You might need a player on defense who hasn't made a big name yet, step up. This is going to come down to those three veterans. It's going to come down to Stafford, it's going to come down to Donald, it's going to come down to Cup, and then a bunch of guys stepping up.

But I can tell you right now, going into the season, they are not a defeated team. They are not a team that's in rebuild mode. If they were, those three guys would not be on the roster. So I have to ask, it's almost obligatory. because we work with Sean Payton and he was such a good teammate that I did think there was a little something Shreg that was a moment. So in that first preseason game, they sent him into the second quarter.

So he's telling you, it ain't right. Then I watched last week's game. And Greg Popper was the play-by-play guy. And he was like, hey, he's going to play some tonight. Very quickly, they pulled Russell out. And my takeaway was, Sean saw the juice with Russell. It's like, let's get him out. We're ready to go.

And when I watched Russell, my takeaway was, oh, he looks elusive again. And Sean saw it. And it was like, we're good. Let's get to game one. So my takeaway is that's substantial. How much you play somebody. How you don't play. I think Denver, I worried about him two weeks ago.

I kind of think they're in a better place today. What's your read? I would never doubt, Sean. So you and I could go behind. the curtain, break the fourth wall. We both had great experiences last year with Sean Payne. I worked with him every Sunday. He would come on your show every Monday. He would open up the book.

He would tell us everything. He was candid. He was great. I have kept in touch with him throughout this offseason. I talk to him very often. He is so excited, so invigorated. Russ is 15 pounds lighter. That was a decision by Russ. And that is confirmed. Fifteen pounds.

Not five pounds. Not that. 15 pounds lighter. Part of it is because they want Russ to be able to move a little bit better than he was last year. But gosh, you see that stuff from today. Jerry Judy went down with an injury. Tim Patrick's gone. I don't know if the roster's there for them to compete in that AFC West yet. I'm thinking Sean Payton going to the season believes they're a playoff team.

It is such a loaded AFC. And I say this on the NFL Network morning show, and you can do it with Jason if you want. There are 16 AFC teams. Only seven of them can make the playoffs. When you start rattling off those names real quick, they go quick. Like we know the Bengals, the Bills, the Chiefs, the Jaguars likely are the favorites. their divisions. You only get three wild cards. So if you take Denver, you can't take the Jets, the dolphins, and another team. If you take the Steelers, you can't take the dolphins, the Broncos.

My point is this. It's a loaded AFC. It's really competitive. And I don't know if this team is a playoff team, but gosh, if there's one coach that has his guys believing, it is Coach Peyton. I can't wait. Do you have a team, Shreg's? It was Carolina, and I think I backtracked. They've just gotten overwhelmed in preseason. Like early, a team we like? Yeah, I'm like, I don't know, people trying to talk me into Atlanta. Is there a team kind of a, we say it every year, a double the win total team? They win four, they go to eight, five to ten.

Is there a team you look at it and you think people are sleeping on them? Some think it's Atlanta, which could very well be. I don't see it, but is there a team for you like that? Yeah, every year there's a team that goes worse to first. I don't know if this is a double the win total theme. these are two teams that everything I've heard from, that these teams are going to be really good. The Seattle Seahawks are going to be really good this year.

And I know that's, they were a playoff team last year. But when everyone just hands the division title to the San Francisco 49ers, I would say hold off. Seattle added a lot, gets a lot back from injury, including Jordan Brooks and Jamal Adams, and had two first round picks that were, you know, universally top 10 guys. And they're one of the best coach teams in the league. I think Seattle might be my team that I'm like,

okay, I know they're not double the win total team, but why are we not talking about Seattle as the NFC champion team? So that's one of them. And then the second one, I think the bears are going to be significantly better this year. I don't know about playoffs, but we talk about double the win total. I could see that happening. J. Mack, do you see that? He likes them too.

Yeah. 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. 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. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because, of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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 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. NFC's wide open. I know Philly's good. Filly will be good. San Francisco's got a lot of talent. What do you say what now? Peter, how are you, bud? Colin is really down on the Dallas Cowboys.

Can you talk some sense into them? They've won 12 games two years in a row. What do you make on the Cowboys? Really good team. Really, really ready to go. Wide Open NFC. Mike McCarthy is now coaching not only the whole head team coach as a health head coach, but he's also a the offensive coordinator and calling the plays. I think Kellen Moore was a really good play caller. I just see this offense before I cash in on the Cowboys. There you go, a little due diligence. So he's with me.

Their offense with Kellynne Moore was like six first and fourth. With Dak, who we don't consider a wildly gifted armed talents. I think Kellynne Moore was a rule. I'll be the first to say, Colin, I'll be the first to say. If they go and they win 12, 13 games, I will gladly. vote for Mike McCarthy coach of the year. He's got the skins on the wall. I haven't seen it yet. So let's see it. And then we can decide. So that's just too big of a factor for me to be like all in on the capitalist. He's got a weekly podcast on the NFL with IHeart, Peter Schrager, Power Brokers,

NFL Mover and Shakers, weekly podcast from the NFL and Iheart hosted by Shreggs. Always Fox Sports NFL Guy, our fave. Good seeing you, buddy. You're the best. Thanks, thanks guys. Appreciate it. Yeah. See, that's my thing. We know coordinators matter. Vic Fangio, We know they matter. I mean, I think Kellen Moore is really good, really good. Walks out the door and now you're just saying,

hey, Mike, go back. I don't love my NFL head coach, Colin plays. Do you? I don't love that. You got to be a walk-around guy. Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carroll, Belichick. I don't want them, you know, in their prime calling plays. It doesn't feel right.

J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So there is some breaking news that Traeger just attributed the Denver Broncos camp. Scary moment. Jerry Judy carted off the field, grabbing his hamstring. According to one report, Judy was visibly upset and had trouble getting on and off the cart.

Broncos, remember, they're already down a couple receivers. Tim Patrick Achilles. K.J. Hamler was waived due to a heart issue. what's his name? Peyton recently said it's a hamstring injury, not the end of the world, but we know hamstrings, they can be two to four to six weeks, you know? You look at the wide receiver room, Cortland Sutton is still a stud. Marvin Mims, young kid, I like a little more than the market out of, I believe, Oklahoma. KJ. Hamler could come back.

He could? Well, the story I read, Tim Patrick Achilles, that could be out for the year. He's done for the year. But at KJ. Hamler, I think there's a possibility. comes back. Okay. So you see a couple names on there. Callaway is a guy from New Orleans who Peyton has had previously. And obviously there's some familiarity with the offense. He could pop. But it's just one negative thing after another. This is back-to-back years. Wide Receiver rooms had some issues in Denver. It's not great. Not great. Cortland Sutton has been

great at times. So I like him. He's had an injury, but he's really talented. If you're on the gambling front, Broncos were minus four in the opener. Against two. Damn it. Oh, Raiders. So, you know, there's some of these groups in gambling who are, you know, big money, they went heavy on the Denver Broncos this morning. I did piggyback them. The line's now five.

Denver's now up to five against the radio. And then this happened. Well, this just happened in the last 20 minutes. The bet was earlier. I don't know, Denver minus four. There are a team that's like, ooh, do you want to touch them? I think it's still a bet on Sean Payton, right? Trusting Peyton.

He's always done great jobs with, you know, diminished rosters in New Orleans. Even when Drew Breeze was hurt. How did you hear about this big group? Where did you hear about this? I'm not going to go into that. But, yeah, so that happened this morning. I'll tell you about it off there. Next up.

Let's go to Deshawn Watson, who you're seemingly still curious about. We'll see. He's entering his second season with the Browns and looking to regain his status as a top 10 quarterback, which he was. Now in year two under Kevin Stefansky, Watson knows what he has to do to prove he could still be elite. I missed two years of football. So I shouldn't be in those rankings, to be honest. If you're asking me, I haven't played ball.

I haven't played enough football the last few years to even be up there. So I got to go out there and prove and show what I can do to get back in those conversations. I'm self-driven. I want to be the best I can be for DeShon Watson. I can't get caught up in the other guys and seeing what they're doing, and all of them are elite. That's fair. I'll be stunned if Watson isn't a top 10 quarterback this season.

Stunt. He was amazing. Come on, man. Clemson and then Houston? He was top 10 before all that stuff. Look at these numbers, man. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong.

He had New Hopkins, but now he's got Amari Cooper, and Stefanski's a good. Good offensive line. In a couple years, I've seen Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, World's Chaburro has now become a star. Oh, yeah, Burrow passed on you. We'll see. Watson's a big unknown.

Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen. So sometimes, and this is tough, you've got to remove yourself from caring about the external stuff if you're just looking at the quarterback. I know that stuff is bad and ghastly and the lawsuits, but if you just look at him as a quarterback in Houston, he was phenomenal, man. Right? We would agree. He carried that team.

Yeah. Final story, college football. Texas Longhorns entering their final season in the Big 12 set to join the SEC next year. Texas AD Chris Delcanti knows the team will have an even bigger target on their back this season, but wants the Longhorns to use that as motivation. We know we have to embrace the hate this year.

Everyone in the Big 12 is mad at us. They think we broke up the Big 12. They think we broke up the Pac-12 because we laughed. We left for what's right for the University of Texas. And that's my job. That's our job as leadership is to protect the brand and put ourselves in the best position to be successful. So we know we have the T-shirts we gave all of our staff and kids

embrace the hate. That's our mantra this year at the same time. It's the farewell tour. And our goal is we won big 12 championships last year the year before we won 13. Our goal is to win all 20. People, you got to get over loyalty in sports. Texas and Oklahoma bailed on their brethren.

USC, UCLA bail on Stanford and Cal Washington bails on Washington State, Oregon and Oregon State. D. Wade and LeBron are best friends. LeBron bails on him. There's loyalty to family, and then there's sports loyalty. You do what's best to win games

and keep the revenue flowing. I know you don't want to hear it from harsh Uncle Colin. Loyalty in sports is nonsense. You do what is best to keep the revenue rolling and Texas made the right move because it got increasingly hard for Texas to sell to their biggest boosters, Iowa State and Kansas State,

the minute they announced the SEC, they can double the ticket prices and the sweet prices for Georgia, Bama, LSU, and Florida. And they did what was best for Texas. So, you know, this whole loyalty thing, you've got schools with a hundred-year rivalries and they're like, buy. Don't, don't.

Derek Jeter, the Yankees, Derek Jeter was perfect. But, you know, I mean, and it ended perfectly. That is so rare. It doesn't end like that. Do you want to guess the Texas Alabama line, which is a really good game coming up on September 9th? Alabama. It opened in February, so.

Alabama minus two and a half. Woo! So it is, it opened at eight, I'm seeing, and it's down to Alabama favored by seven at home. I would take Texas. Yeah. But wouldn't I? Quinn yours.

Quinn yours is good against them. That's a lot of points. Now, it is in Alabama. But they don't have a quarterback. Well, that's the thing. This is a weird Alabama season. You know, there's some people saying, hey, they could be a three or a four lost team. Has Bamma even named a starting quarterback yet?

I don't think they have. Sark going into Alabama? That's going to be an amazing game. I think it's in, is it same weekend as NFL? Yeah. I'm seeing here on the. ninth. That's going to be good. Yeah, I think Alabama,

Quinn Ewers has struggled against good teams, so I take Alabama. Seven's a lot. Your U-Uers was great against him until he got hurt in that game. I'm going to go ahead and call my shot. I'm going Texas money lining that one. You think they beat him? I think they won. I'm all in on Uers. Youers. You know, Feldman was here hyped in Uers a lot.

Was that this week or last week? We got his hair cut and he's eating better. That's everything. Well, it's something. When you're young and you're eating hot pockets and slurpees and then somebody says, hey, get your act together. Yours came out and said, I feel better, I have more energy.

Well, he sees what's next, the NFL. That's on the horizon, dude. Get your act together, clean it up. Clean it up. Three words, clean it up. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lie News. The show is sponsored by Better Help. Therapy can bring out a whole new you. B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P dot com slash her. 10% off your first month of online therapy. Better help. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. He's my Carmen. I'm Dan Byard. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened,

what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the world. waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman document. recommended 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, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment,

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories, that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple 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-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 you? little Kim. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, yeah. 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. College football is finally here. J-MAC's been here all day. Used to be a newspaper guy. Did headlines for a living kick that career to the curb. But we brought him over here. He still makes headlines, and we call it tomorrow's headlines today, predicts.

And college football this weekend, USC has a game against San Jose State. Notre Dame plays Navy. So we got some college football headlines. Ready to go? Yes, sir. Tomorrow's headlines today. What's the first headline for a college football playoff? All right, so we're going to go with four teams that make the playoff.

This team's kind of been under the radar since losing a star quarterback who you love to the NFL. But they're back, baby. The headline will be. Dabo knows football. Clemson Tigers. Colin, they are in great shape to go back to the playoff. I look at their schedule. Are you kidding me? I mean, they're playing nobody.

You know, basically, you schedule a title now, and like their toughest games in the ACC are always easy. And when you get them at home, it's doubly easy. Clemson's going back to the playoffs. I don't love their quarterback. I did like DJ before they, you know, he moved on to Oregon State, but they're running back Shipley, fringe Heisman contender, but I

like Clemson to get back to the playoff. All right. Tomorrow's headlines today. What's the second headline for the college football playoff. So going back to back is impressive. Nobody thinks you can do a three-peat. When was the last time a three-peed happened?

Like the 30s, the 40s? The headline will be breakfast at sniffonies. Bulldogs find familiar scent. Listen, it's going to be tough to three-peat for Georgia. But again, the schedule call it. They don't play Alabama in the regular season. They also do not face LSU. They are going to be double-digit favorites in every single game,

probably two touchdown favorites except one. the game at Tennessee, which will be interesting. They'll be favored still by like 7, 8 or 9. But again, Georgia, this team's just a machine. They're actually, if you look at their roster, it's probably a better roster than last season. Wow. They're going to be very good.

Georgia's going back to the playoff. Yeah, have to replace Stetson Bennett, but it's Georgia. They'll have a quarterback. It's not Trevor Lawrence, okay? Tomorrow's headlines today. What's the third headline for the college football playoff? We've probably spent more time talking about this team in the last month than any, because you, you seem to like them a lot. The headline

will be, take a Michigander at this, but Wolverines are balling out. I like Michigan a lot this year. So do I. When I did go to Vegas recently to play some futures bets, this was the one team I bet to win the Natty. Again, I love the running back room is probably the best in the country. Blake Corum is back. Edwards is very good. I like the quarterback a lot. Offensive line is all seniors or grad transfers. Colin, this is a veteran team. They're going to maul people. and again, not to harp on the schedule. I mean, their first six games are like just automatic victories. They do have a bit of a tough stretch.

You know, they do host Ohio State, which is a big one. They also have to go on the road for one tough game. But other than that, you know, I think they should be good. I've got Michigan in the playoff. You know what? All those Harbaugh doubters. Yeah. Crickets.

It's like there's a power outage on all their processors and their computers. They can't get online. Patience is tough. People want it now. They want the results. Immediately, and, you know, Harbaugh, it took a little while, but they've turned this thing around. He won 10 games in his first year, but as he discovered, the speed wasn't good enough to beat the teams down south. And so, you know, and by the way, it's okay to lose to Ohio State.

It took him a while to get the staff right and the people right. But all the Harbaugh critics awfully quiet now. Tomorrow's headlines today, what's the last headline for the college football playoff? So I didn't know if I should go with two teams. from the Big Ten. I thought about Ohio State. You know, is there a sleeper out there? So I deferred to you. My guy, the headline will be.

Now you see me. Now you don't. Trojans make doubters disappear. Colin, it's tough not to like Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley what they're building there. Yes, the defense was very porous last year, but they're going to be fine defensively. And again, I want to look at the schedule. The only hiccup, back-to-back Notre Dame, Utah. That's going to be tough to win both those. Well, you know, Oregon, Washington are pretty good.

Yeah, well, Washington's good, and Oregon. It should be tough. But I think on paper offensively, this is going to be the best team in the division. I really like them a lot. And I kind of want to see Caleb Williams make a run to the playoff. And they've been healthy through camp. They have their skill positions, tight-end, wide receiver, and running back now are really, not only good, they're like SEC deep. They've got like multiple Sunday guys.

Does anybody do offense right now better than Lincoln Riley in college football? No, I don't think so. You just watch the stuff he's dialing up? People say Ryan Day, but they've kind of lost their weight. I mean, they, I don't, I don't even know what the numbers are. I feel like they're just so gifted at wide receiver. They're a little bit more finesse than Ohio State would like to be. But the receivers are so good, you have to throw to them.

Stroud, Harrison, Olave, Wilson. Oh my God. I mean, three of those four guys are gone now. We'll see what happens. I'm sure they'll be good again. But I don't think they'll be as good as Michigan. Ohio State. I just don't think so.

Finally. What will the headline be? tomorrow's headlines today for the Heisman winner. I can't go back-to-back, Caleb wins. I just can't do it. Back-to-back is very rare in Heisman. It's tough. So I'm going to go with who I think is the best player on the best team.

The headline will be, it's McCarthy. I can heist if I want to. J.T. McCarthy. I'm not a great singer of Michigan. I think he takes home the Heisman. I'm sure I'm going to be just on people are going to unload on me. for this prediction because there's a lot of guys ahead of him in the uh if you look at the odds to win the heisman but colin between this offensive line the running back room the schedule he's gonna have

a great season and i know he was just unbelievably bad against tCU with the pick sixes and it cost him but he was as bad as he was in that game he was excellent against ohio state yeah i don't he's a little hit and miss for me i that i like him sometimes if i recall he holds on the ball a little long for me. Like he just sits in the plot. Like, kid, let her rip. There's something there. I'm interested to see what happens to him because is he an NFL quarterback? He's a little small.

He's considered an NFL quarterback. However, like he doesn't have the pressure of, can he win the starting job? Remember last year, it was like him and the other guy early and then he won it out. Now he goes in, you're the guy. This is your offense. I think he's the best player on the best team. I'll give you a Heisman guy. It's hard

to win maybe at wide receiver, but Harrison Marvin Harrison's kid, the receiver for Ohio State. I think he's the best college receiver I've seen since Randy Moss. Wow. Calvin Johnson was really good at Georgia Tech. But Georgia Tech at that time didn't throw the ball, but he was taking it already well. I mean, you had A.J. Green at Georgia was phenomenal. Julio Jones at Bama.

No, Julio Jones was great. Remember the Falcons gave up a bunch of picks to get a receiver? And everybody banged on it, but he was great for 10 years. Harrison's insane. I mean, I think Devante Smith wanted a couple years ago with Bama. It's tough for receivers to win the Heisman. But Devante Smith was not fragile, but he was thin. Like I worried about his body.

Like Harrison's big, strong, fast catches. Like, I don't, I mean, if Harrison was in the NFL this minute, I don't think there's eight receivers better than him. He'll walk into the NFL and be a, he'll be Jemar Chase, but better. if he gets a decent quarterback. He is great. Did he get it, was it a concussion? He had some tip of injury against Georgia.

If he doesn't get hurt? Yeah. I think it was a play in the end zone, right? It was a back of the end zone. I thought Ohio State was better than Georgia that day. I thought they were. They just, they didn't win. But when I watched that game, I felt like Ohio State was the better team.

That was the game where Stroud looked. I mean, he looked awesome. You're like, wow, CJ Stroud. Holy cow, running her all around. That was one of the better games. You know, and it was funny because they lost to Michigan, and everybody just buried Ohio State. Yeah.

And the kids heard it. and the staff heard it. And then I thought they played one of the best. Forget the winning and losing. I thought that was about as well as Ohio State had played in years. They were better than Georgia, which almost nobody has been for three years. But they went out there on a game day and you're like, oh, they're going toe to toe. They're giving Georgia fits.

Those two college football semi-final games, the TCU Michigan was on just, I think there was like, what, 60 points in the second half, something unbelievable. But those two games were. College football is very exciting. And by the way, after week zero, which is okay, the first two weeks are pretty damn good. There's some big games on the slate. Yeah, the – by the way, it's a prime example. So, you know, the Pact 12 conference dissolved, right? This is the last year.

Go try to find the USC San Jose State game on TV. No, I'm dead serious. So Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley, USCLA Market. Try to find it in your cable outlet. Try to find that game. I guarantee you go look at what ESPN's airing and what other networks are airing,

you'll have easier access to watch regional state schools. Go find out where USC is playing San Jose State. Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley. I'm just interested. I'm just interested. If you want to know why the, I said this years ago, I remember sitting in a bar

in Connecticut, and this is when Pete Carroll was at USC a long time ago. And I was in, it was like a chicken wings bar, beer and chicken wings place. Everybody went to in Connecticut. And I'm with a buddy. And USC was literally top of the world. And they were playing cow, I think. Like eight TVs could not get the game.

And I think they were number one in the nation. And I turned to a buddy. I'm like, I'm a pack 12. Duke football was on TV. I remember that. Like Duke football was on one of the TVs. And I'm like, when you're out West, you could always get a Big East basketball game. I always get Clemson on TV. You go out east. USC and the Pac-12 don't even exist. So if you want to know everybody's about loyalty, if you want to know why the Pack 12 died, they hired a guy from the Tennis Network to run the Pac-12. And the truth of the matter is, you know,

PAC-12 was good in a lot of sports, not football. It went down the two. But that was always my takeaway is if you want to know why USC sort of spearheaded it, that was it. They're like, we have the biggest brand, all these national title games. Why are we being treated like Washington State? Like Alabama gets treated differently than Missouri, right? In the SEC, it's understood. They'll speak first at the SEC Media Days. But it'll be interesting this weekend because Lincoln Riley's high profile,

Caleb Williams is high profile. I was looking last night to see where I can watch it. Maybe my eyes were fuzzy. I do have my mouth clogged up. Maybe I was loony last night. All right. Got through it. Is first things first on today after us?

Are they? Yeah, they are. All right. You know, it's August. There's a lot of moving parts here. A lot of stuff to unpack. Jay Mack, good luck. Tomorrow.

He is a fatalist. You're going to be fine. Looking forward to it. Keep in touch. It's the herd. 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 I-Hard Radio app.

or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.