The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 – Oregon vs Texas Tech, Sam Darnold vs Kyle Shanahan, the Lamar Jackson Conundrum

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

FOX Sports Radio hosts Rob Parker and Kerry Rhodes are in for Colin, and the guys provide up-to-the-minute analysis of the CFP quarterfinal between Oregon and Texas Tech, tell us why the Baltimore Ravens absolutely have to start Lamar Jackson on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, discuss whether a deep postseason run is more important for Kyle Shanahan or Sam Darnold, and reveal their biggest sports moments from 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

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you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. I'm Joey Dardano. And on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to help from Hippocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcasts, Saigon.

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including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 Heart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Yeah.

This is the herd indeed with me, Rob Parker. And former all-pro safety, Kerry Road. You remember he played for the Jets and the Cardinals. The Jets were actually good when Kerry Rhodes played there. You go to the AMC Championship game two years in a row, right? Well, I went one and I got traded to Arizona in the next one. If I were to stay with the Jets. that year we would have won a Super Bowl, though, just to make him even more sick right now.

There you go. But I remember, giggas are actually good. I grew up in New York. And you were a jet fan. Growing up, I was. Oh, don't say just growing up, you're done? No, I'm done. I haven't been a fan for like 40 years of teams.

I'm just not, you know, I'm a reporter. Right, right, right, right. Now, I'm not wrong. Rob G, is he a jet fan underneath at all? No, I'm not a fan at all. No, but, you know, if the Yankees are on Rob G, let's get that on TV. one, two, and three. Just in case.

I just want to watch. And then if Aaron judge is up, turn down the monitors. I don't need to hear Kelvin. Let's get the sound. I want to hear them call the play-by-play. He's trying to hide his partiality here. Exactly. And then you know Lamar was his guy.

We're getting to Lamar Jackson in a few minutes. Lamar was his guy forever. I know. But when Aaron Rogers is there. Oh. That ain't one of this. Aaron Rogers got some beautiful balls, right, Rob? Oh, that's where it's from.

Yeah. I can't believe. That ain't it. Is that what it is? That ain't it. It's not. I just don't feel good about them. But anyway, it is a herd.

Happy New Year's Day. Great to be with you. That's right. And to get more of us, all you need to do is check out the new Odd Couple YouTube channel. Just search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. That's Odd Couple FSR. Be sure to hit us up.

Hit that subscribe button. Don't stop there. Also hit the thumbs up icon and comment away. just search Odd Couple FsR. Don't forget coming up. Later on in this hour, we're going to talk with Spencer Tillman, of course, Fox Sports Radio.

College football analysts will talk with him. And I know people are like, well, Rob, you're filling in on the herd, but what about the odd couple tonight? Who's doing that show? I'm doing that show. Me and Martin Weiss, Kelvin's off, but we will have the odd couple.

7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific. there, yes, I'm double-dipping on a holiday. You're doing double-duty on the holiday. In the first day of the year, when people are putting out there, you know, I'm going to be more balanced in my life. I'm not going to do all these things, but I'm going to pay attention to my health and myself. You're just like, I'm going all in. That's who I, Carrie, you know me for a few years. Yep. I'm a worker. Yeah. And I enjoy what I do. And you know, when I take off and spend If I'm not doing anything with the family, and I mean my extended family, then I'm going to work. If I have family or I got to, you know, going to go visit or do something, then I take off.

Yeah. But if I'm going to lay on the couch or New Year's Day, I might as well do the way. I admire you for that. I've kind of looked at you from afar and even getting to know you these past couple of years. And you know me. If I can come in and be here as well, I'm going to be here. You're going to be here. Just get done.

Yeah. But I'll tell you what, after we get done here, I'm going back to my bed. I don't know. You and Rob G, because of course, Rob G, ain't doing double-dip in Rob G. Hell no. I know, Rob's done. He's like, okay, nice. All right, we did the herd.

I'm driving back home. We'll see you on Friday. It's today, Thursday? I won't even be here on Friday. Rob G, will you at least listen to the show at all? Are you kidding? No. He can't stand the show when he's doing it.

All right, Rob G, you got an update on this Oregon, Texas. Yeah, big game in the Orange Bowl, college football playoff quarterfinals. We've been talking about it throughout the show. Very tight game, six to nothing. Even though Oregon has dominated in every major category. Yeah. This is an upset alert as far as like domination.

You can lose this game. They had a third and two at the 33 yard line or so. They call a deep shot incomplete. All right. Field goal, right? They bypass the field goal once again. They go forward on fourth down. Dante Moore scrambles, gets tackled short, ball back to the Red Raiders.

So that's two field goals. That's given up right. They said have 12 points on the board. So it's 6-0. Texas Tech has. the ball. Crazy. And Rob, if this score holds, this keeps going back to what you were talking hour one about, you know, first

round buys 0 and 5 in these playoffs so far, Texas Tech had a first round buy. It'll be 0 and 6. Yes. And look, they're still rusty. They're off. Wow. Well, what's in their favor is they're off and learned out by 6 points. Exactly. So hopefully by now they're warmed up and they should

be good here in the second half. If the formula sticks to being true, yep, 100%. All right. One of the biggest games, of course, is Sunday night football. Right? The Ravens, that's in Pittsburgh, correct? Yeah. That game is in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. And the winner wins the division and gets the playoff and a home game. And gets a host of game.

I mean, host a game. So somebody's coming to Pittsburgh or Baltimore for that game. And Rob G, lay it out here because there's a lot of stuff talking about. There's some consternation in Baltimore. You like that word? That's a big word. That is. I learned that from Southern Connecticut Tech State University. Whatever.

Home of the fighting Rob Parker's in the press box. Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. That's right. So big game, of course. Now, the Ravens have had must-win games each of the last two weeks. They had a win last week to set up this week. Lamar hurts his back in week 16. Snoop Hundley starts in Green Bay.

Must win, got to have a game. Plays great. 16 of 22-07 and a touchdown. He ran for another 60 yards. The big story, of course, Derek Henry. I was going to say Derek Henry. Exactly. Runs 36 carries.

Shout of 1990s football right there. 36 carries. Wasn't it in the week before that? They didn't even give them the ball in the second half? They didn't give the ball in the last drive, yeah. Right? Yep. And he didn't touch the ball after they got up by, I think, 11 points.

36 carries, 2.16, four touchdowns. So flash forward to this week, Lamar Jackson gets his first Wednesday practice in about two months. Comes back from his back injury. We don't know exactly how much he did. They haven't said that yet. We do know he's wearing a big flack jacket to protect his back in his midsection. I thought that was a fashion statement. Okay, I'm wrong.

Nope. So, and even as of today, Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern, John Harbaugh still has not said who is going to start on Sunday, Lamar Jackson or Snoop Huntley. But if you ask mutual friend of ours, friend of the show Shannon Sharp, he has an answer what he thinks should happen. Take a listen. I'm starting Huntley. What? What you're playing, Madden?

Nope. You talk about real life. Yep. Man, please. You trick. Just run the same form. There's no need to start Huntley. You can.

Huh? Because I know who he's back there. So I'm going to ask him to do more. Is Lamar going to be able to get out of harm's weight like Huntley did last night when Green Bay? Has he looked like Lamar Jackson since he's gotten back? No, not the one because he's coming off injury. So therefore start Huntley. Thank you.

Oh, my goodness. All right. And there you go. My thing is, is cut and dry. Is that another turnover? Yeah. Like Texas Tech. Strip sack.

Yep. Unbelievable. Where were there? This is, Oregon's going to have the ball in the red zone. Wow. Wow. At the five, I think. This is going to be ball game here, probably.

Yeah, they score a touchdown here for sure. Yeah, this will be ball game. But here I am. If Lamar's hurt, Kerry, I don't want him to play. If he's not, if he's hurt. Yeah. What does hurt mean to you? I mean, he can't perform.

Like, he's out there, like, you're trying to like, is a touchdown? Is it a touchdown? Yeah, it looks like a touchdown. Okay. So it's finally they broke through. Yep. And what I mean is he really shouldn't be out there playing. And I'll give you an example.

Kevin, Kevin Durant in the NBA finals. Yes. Okay. We all knew he shouldn't have been out there. Would you agree with that? I agree with that. I don't even think. Like they claim all the doctors cleared him and all that.

I'm like, well, who are the doctors? Take their degrees. Yeah. Because everybody was like, what is he doing out there? And, of course, it happens. You might have getting hurt. Yep. If he's 70%, 65, 70%, I'm going to play him over Hunt.

I am. Yes. I'm going to play him. And I'll try to protect him, try to make sure, you know, get the running game in there as much as we can establish it. And then, you know what I mean, where I'm not asking him to be Superman. Right. But I want my two-time MVP quarterback to play. Him at 70% is still better than Huntling.

Yes. Yes. Right. And specifically going into this game where if Baltimore doesn't know the blueprint for them to win right now, this isn't last year, this isn't the year before where they were an unstoppable offense and they had an unstoppable player in Lamar Jackson where he could do things that other guys can do. He had a ridiculous. They were unreal.

This isn't that year. Right. So you played last week in a must, I got to have a game. You ran Derek Henry 37 times and you won the game. You're telling me of 70% Lamar Jackson can't turn around and hand the ball off and steal more fear and give more fear to the defense with him being back there. Even if he's not, even if he's not 100%. Like this stuff coming out about playing Tyler Huntley over Lamar Jackson,

even if he's 70% doesn't make any sense. Coming from players, coming from Shannon Sharp, man, please be quiet. I agree. It doesn't make any sense. I can't get over because if you don't win that game, you can't live with yourself. Rob, if they don't win this game, wholesale changes are coming,

and I think they're coming anyway, but the Ravens that we know or have known the last few years, winning 73% of Lamar's game, this is going to all change. Yes. Okay, this is, this is, so I want to go down with my two-time MVP quarterback.

Now, again, if he really can't play and is injured, I'm not putting a guy out there, if I really know. But he's at practice. Like if he didn't practice all week and you're trying to play him on Sunday. That's, nah. Yes. You know this. Yes.

You're not practicing all week. You can't play on Sunday. I'm sorry. You've got to practice. You got to practice. So he practiced on Wednesday. Rob G even said it. First time in a couple months, he's had a Wednesday practice.

I got to feel like he's going to play. He's going to play. Right? The fact that hardball hasn't said it yet. That's just, that's for them. And if they lose, it's okay from the standpoint. You put your best people in, and it wasn't your night, and you lose. And now maybe this was the ending of what we had here.

We failed. We didn't get to the Super Bowl. We didn't, you know, it didn't even give our chance. So was a chance. Yeah. I told you, I picked them the last three years. I know you've been picking them. Yeah.

Because on paper. On paper, they should win. When I remember week one, and they go to Buffalo and put up 40 points and lose that game, do you remember? Of course. I remember looking at the score going, oh my God. Like, you know, this is the second year of Derek Henry and Lamar together, and they went up to Buffalo on the opener and put up a 40 piece and lost. And then wind up losing that game.

Yeah, no, this team, we know it. We both watched them very, very intently, and we know the makings and the inner workings of that team and that organization, those players. And this would be, this would be. be an abysmal loss and an abysmal season. If they don't win this game, Rob, and make the playoffs. And so

I'm going out with my top guns too. There's no way. If he's 70% I'm not playing. If they don't win the game, regardless to who's the quarterback, John Harbour has to be fired. I agree. I just think it's time. And

he won a Super Bowl. They've won a lot of games, but every year has been disappointing. And Mike Tomlin, too. Mike Tomlin is another guy who enough with the finishing above 500 record, whatever. They haven't won a playoff game since 2018. Dude, that's a long time. You can't keep living off of the one Super Bowl, which I'm not taking away from him or whatever.

And it doesn't mean you can't go somewhere else and be a new voice and win. Tony Dungey got fired in Tampa Bay and won in Indianapolis. And it doesn't make you a bad coach. No, it doesn't. It just means that the time here, everything has. has an expiration date. Yeah. Right?

Yeah. I was drinking the milk and then I realized it was a little lumpy and then I looked on the date and I realized it had expired. If you took you that long, realized a milk was... Then that's the real problem. I couldn't imagine drinking lumpy milk. I mean, like, seriously. Yeah.

Am I right? No, and that's the thing, Rob, you just need a breath of fresh air sometime. You need a new voice. A new voice, man. They're tired to hear the same message. many times can you change it with you still being authentic to who you are? Right. And that's where it is.

And John Harbour, like I said, they've had way too many disappointments for you to feel good about the rain. Every way you can be disappointed, Rob. I agree. It's crazy. All right. Should the Raven start Lamar Jackson over Snoop Huntley on Sunday night against Pittsburgh, 877, 484, 3437.

That's 8774 The Herd. We'll continue this conversation next with you. It is New Year's Day. It is The Herd. Rob Parker with Kerry Road sitting in for Colin. Right here on Fox Sports Radio and you know what you need to do. Stick and stay. Get up off that hangover, USA.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we, how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

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It is the herd here on Fox Sports Radio, Rob Parker and former All-Pro Safety. Of course, Kerry Road sitting in for Colin. Make sure you check out my show The Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin, Washington, weeknights, 4 to 7 Pacific, 7 to 10 Eastern, right here on Fox Sports Radio. Don't forget, Spencer Tillman from Fox Sports.

Of course, he's a football analyst. He'll be joining us in about 10 minutes. We'll do that a lot still to get to in this final hour of the herd on New Year's Day. Hope you had a great New Year's Eve, a safe one. And here we are for you, working hard for your entertainment dollar. And also, to wrap up this show, we're also, Kerry going to talk about the biggest sports highlight of 2025. I think there's one that's head and shoulders above.

You think there's only one. Yep. I think there's only one. And it's not even close. I'm dead serious. And there are a lot of things that happen this year. A lot of stuff happened this year. Right? Sports-wise. What I really believe is just one.

Miami, of course, we could go back to that. It's 13-0 to update you on the Oregon, Texas Tech. Well, the game just started. The teams that have buyers, they like to fall behind by two touchdowns and then come back. so we'll see what happens. It's right, because Ohio State was down 14-0. Exactly. Right?

And now here we go. Texas Tech down 13-0. Down 13-0-0-1 on the move. It's fourth and one here. It's a big play here. The Miami, let's just go back there. Miami beating Ohio State. Good, bad for college football.

Just you're okay with it. Yeah, you know I'm okay with it. I think, oh, that's a terrible. Terrible call. What was that? Oh, my God. I decided to do a little read option, but they had like a Wildcat situation with the... But you knew he knew he wasn't getting there.

I saw it too. He was not getting there. It's terrible, Colin. What are you doing? Sorry. Yeah, I know. Did he fake it to the court? Was that the quarterback?

I just... Anyway, yeah, that's not good. But yeah, we talked about Miami and beating Ohio State yesterday. And is it good for football or bad for college football? And for me, I think we talked about it in the first hour. I think for, you know, Miami, you know, there are 10 seed and it's an underdog situation. They beat Ohio State. And people look at that number and say, you know, Miami, Miami beating Ohio State's bad because Ohio State's the brand and obviously had a chance to repeat.

But for me, I think it's great. I mean, you sell to teams that are lower rank that they can go in and win these things and beat the top teams. And so I'm okay with it. I know you got a little problem with it, though, Rob. I just, I think my problem is the way it's set up and what are we doing with the regular season, does it matter? In the old days, if you lost two football games in college, your season was over.

And now we're rewarding them by making the playoffs bigger, right? And expanding it to let teams that didn't. And two losses, you say, what's the difference between two and one? But in college football was big, right? Your season was over when you lost your second game in college football. That's what I remember. Two, you were done, yeah. Yeah, and now you're being rewarded because you've opened up the field

and you're going to put in these situations. And the other part is when you start looking and keep going like, okay, the teams, the better teams who get the buys since in this new format the last two years are now 0 and 5. Yeah. Something is there. It's not like somebody had a buy and they rolled and nothing happened or nothing changed. Why are these teams off to Texas Tech?

It could be 0 and 6. It looks like it's going to be 0 and 6. They don't have any points. Here we are in the third quarter. Right? Like we can't ignore what happened? What happened? What happened?

What happened? All right, Desi. I can't find that anywhere. You can't find that show? No, I can't find that clip. Oh, that clip. Of him saying, what hopper, Lucy, on the internet? I cannot understand why there's not one clip of him saying that.

He used to say it all the time. All the time, yeah. I don't know. I don't know, Rob. That's up for you to find. Chris, you got to find that for me. You got to find that for me, okay? All right.

I need you to find. Desi from, I love Lucy, saying, well, hopper. Yes, what hopper, Lucy, because I can't find it. Archival stuff is my forte. Yeah. You can probably find it somewhere. Thank you, buddy. But, yeah, I just, you.

you don't want the best teams to be knocked out. Like if you're a league or like, do you? Rob, you keep saying that. Miami isn't a slouch of a team. Miami was considered at this point. They were number two in the country. Ohio State is the reigning champ. Sure. The biggest payroll.

They're biggest payroll. They travel extremely well. Ohio State people everywhere. Yeah. Like those are the schools you want. to be involved going forward. And I'm just saying, I'm not saying that they can't be an upset occasionally or whatever, but 0 and 5 going to be 0 and 6 is worrisome.

That's the problem. That's because nobody's way. Yeah, that's the problem. I think, and we talked about it earlier again, you guys, if you guys are just tuning in in the first hour, we talked about maybe the issue is the receding of it and how they seeded. Because Miami, obviously, if you look at them, they're not a 10 seed, right? So I think receding can be the biggest issue here.

But if you lose two games, though, I mean, like, this is because expanding sometimes. Well, what have you lost two games? What have you lost one throughout the season? Then you lose your conference championship. Lost two games. I know, but those two games aren't created equal. Like, you made your league championship, and then you, I'm not saying that's not the case for Miami. But even in Ohio State, they won all their games, and then they lost their league championship.

but that was only one. That was the only, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So they lost. And then Ohio State, I don't want to, we could do revisionist history and now say they really shouldn't have been the number, I mean, number two, right? Yeah. Because they didn't play anybody in Indiana, beat them in the Big Ten Championship or whatever.

Man, Oregon's trying to keep Texas Tech in this game. Well, they just got a pick, right? I mean, they keep going for them on fourth down. Park the ball. Was that a fourth down? Yes. My goodness. What is going on?

Don't know. These coaches, everything is mad now. Man, it's play field position, trust your defense. You got zero points. Right. What are you doing? I just don't get it. I mean, it's not even like they're in like that friends 35-year-old.

There were nowhere. Nowhereville. Why? Right. Rob, gee, what's going on with this? If you're not going to punt, then arm pun it. Tom Brady's big. I'm going to throw 50 yards up in any of this.

Be a touchdown interception, be one or the other. Yes. Right. And he's like, I'm going to throw a seven-yard crossing route that gets picked off to get the ball back in midfield. You know what? I got to admit. Brandon Staley did more damage to football than I ever thought.

You think he has that much credit that it's him. I'm going to blame Brandon Staley because he was the one doing those crazy, like I used to watch and go, are you kidding me? Just out of touch. I remember one. Were they playing Kansas City? They could have beat Kansas City here. L.A.

And he had like two or three calls that were just, and one was like fourth down, you know, on their nine. Yeah, like weird. Yeah, weird. And I'm like, you're going to give Patrick Mahomes and him the ball at the nine? See, but they don't view it like that, Rob. They're like, no, we're going to go for it and we're going to have first down at the 13 is what we're going to do. We don't view it as we're going to give them the ball back. That's why they go for it.

The analytic say. Yes. Yeah, no. And now you see that graphic on the screen. It says go. When does it ever say? I said punt. I've never seen on that graphic. Fourth and three from this spot says punt. You know what? It always says go for it. It's just like baseball. They don't want a bun anymore to move the runner over. And then guys hitting the double plays. All the time. Am I right? It drives you. It's like first and second nobody out. And they don't want to bunt the runner's over. And a guy will hit into a double play. And you're hitting into the shift usually. I mean, I know that's changed. But you know what I mean. Yeah, you're hitting into the shift. Like they're playing you for that. I'm like, they didn't score?

You know what I mean? Like, what are you doing? Like, man, at first and second, no outs. And they're swinging away. Groundball of shortstop, going to be a double play. I'm like, oh, my God, okay. Crazy. All right, we are going to talk with our man,

Spencer Tillman from Fox Sports, the college football analyst. We're going to do that. Again, do we have them? Are we ready? Okay. We're going to do that. Kerry talked to Spencer,

just about some of the stuff we're talking about with college football and what is cool, what maybe needs to be cleaned up in some of these ideas. But let's say this. Okay, so the big game is Saturday. Niners Seahawks, right? Yeah, a huge game. Who do you like in that game?

Man, it's for the number one seed. And obviously, I mean, it can be for the number one seed in the NFC and winning the NFC West as well, which has been a gauntlet this year. But both of those teams have played out of their mind, I think, for different reasons. Seattle, obviously, defensively. Here's another Sam Darnel game. I'm just –

It is. It is. I'm not even kidding you. And people think I'm too hard on him. But what happened in Minnesota last year is the reason he's not there. People could say, oh, well, they had J.J. McCarthy. Yeah. You got a quarterback who did what he did last year.

Carrie, how many times does he change teams after you take a team? and go 14 and 2 and put up the numbers and that team was rolling. Do you remember they carried that guy into the locker room after I can't remember

what game it was late in the season. This video of the Sam Darnal's celebration where they carry him into the locker room. And don't sign him back. And then they don't sign a back.

Week 16. That's that. I think that. Do you remember that? Yeah. Then he watched the bed against the Lions for the division on the line,

right? They're in the red zone four or five times in the first half. I remember, yeah. Can't get it in. Then they have the T has a terrible playoff game. And because of the fires, remember the game was played in Arizona.

That's right. Remember that? That's the whole thing. But anyway, neutral sight, he's terrible in that game against the Rams. And that's where people go, I can't trust him. Now here's another game, another year, it's a second year where he has a chance. To win a division.

To win the division and put your team. And I mean, and very similar situations and similar teams as well. Am I right? I mean, the Vikings team last year, obviously the Vikings scored a lot of points, but that defense was one of the top defenses in the NFL. Right. And the same can be said about the Seattle Seahawks this year. I mean, one of the most feared defenses in the league this year.

And so for Sam Darnel, man, it's just, and it's always been about him not turning the ball over because he plays well in spots, even in games when he has turnover. he plays well and then all of a sudden he just snaps back to throwing these weird turnovers of the interception. So if he can take care of the ball, I think Seattle has the team to get it done and win that division. But if he doesn't. If he doesn't. If he just say those a couple picks, you saw the first half because I go back to the first half of the Rams game. That narrative was buzzing because they were like, oh my right.

Like, oh my God, here we go again. Sam Darnold, that was a big spot for him. And that's why I think this is another big spot for him they has to respond. And if you're Seattle, again, they didn't give them like some monster contract either. And that's the difference. And I think what you're saying, Rob,

with Minnesota, I'm sure they could have matched that number. And the fact that they didn't match the number that they got in Seattle is alarming. It wasn't like, oh my God, they gave them $200 million. We're not doing that. Okay, right? We're not doing that. Right.

But it was like, Rob G. Was it a one year plus one? It was like a one plus one. It wasn't even a full two. And this one? Yeah. In Seattle? In Seattle. I'm not sure.

Rob, you got that? I got it right here. Now, it was marketed as a three years 100, right? But when you pull the onion back, when you pull it back, you look at it. And it's one year, of course, this season, big number. And then if they really wanted to get out of it, because there's, There's no other, like, guaranteed salary beyond 2025. Oh, wow.

Think about that. They could. Oh, that's insane. Now, you got to take some cap hit, obviously. No, no, but you don't got to pay a lot of money. Carrey. That's shocking. They got a fail, safe set in place?

Yes. Wow. With just a one year, like, coming off a year. And his numbers were crazy last year. It was. And obviously, you just said it. You hit on why. Those two games that mattered were bad.

And now he's got another chance. You saw, you referenced it. You referenced it. talked about the RAM game. On X, it was loud. Oh, after the first at Ryan. And then, you know, I hear people like after they came back and win and then they go, well, I guess you could stop that narrative on, no, no, we're not stopping the narrative on Sam Darnel, okay?

And they did win the game, you give him credit. You give him credit, he won the game, I'm not taking it away from him. But really, like, the whole idea that if he has a stinker in this one that people are going to be like, well, he won the Rams game, so he's good. No, no, no, no. He's got that with him, and I think he needs to win a couple. Not, I'm not saying he has to win every game, the Super Bowl, for people to start believing or trusting.

What do you think it is then? What do you think he needs for this playoff run in particular or the end of the season? I just think if they beat San Francisco and win a division, win a division, and then win a couple games, you know, like get to the, NFC championship game. I think that we're looking, people go, Sam Donald. I mean, he turned his career around, was a bus with the Jets. And now he's in the NFC championship.

I think that's real. Yeah. No, I think that because there is a progression when it comes to NFL quarterbacks and actually getting to that big game. I mean, we can talk about the 49ers, the other team, right? They had a quarterback that got a chance after a legend got hurt. He stepped in and was having remarkable, you know, regular seasons and would have flame outs in the playoffs.

And you know what that quarterback is, right? Who's that? That's Steve Young. Right. I mean, the narrative around him early was he couldn't win the big game. Right. And a lot of people forget about that. It took him years.

And especially replacing such a guy. In that part. Come on. Yeah. And so you have that situation happen. And the progression of that, you have to take some lumps and losses. And he's already taken his. And now it's time for him to course correct that.

To take that next step. Absolutely. Rob G. I just got a question for you, Rob, because I want to make sense of this whole situation. You just went for, what, 13 minutes talking about Sam Donald and he's got to get it done. I've never been a believer in Sam Ronald McDonald. And he's going to turn it to a pumpkin. But day one listeners of the odd couple, weeknights, four to seven, seven, FM, Eastern.

Carrie, you were here on Monday. Yeah. Did he not say, I don't care about Kyle Shanahan holding this team together in San Francisco? go. If he doesn't win in the playoffs, get to a Super Bowl, I don't care. Well, these two teams, in order for one of these things to happen, are going to play each other on Saturday, and conceivably play each other in the playoffs. That's right. So you can't have both of them. It's got to be Super Bowl or Bus. Rob.

Which one is it? Rob, no, no. Yes, you can. It's Rob. It's wrong. In the world according to part. But no, Jenahan's story is different from he keeps getting to these big days. been in the big game. And Rob G, you had the stats. I know you don't have them handy,

but the stats in the fourth quarter of those games, and people try not to give them credit for the loss that the Falcons had to the Patriots. I'm sorry. You do. Rob, G, give me those numbers. This is how you know that we use it a lot because I only took one search in my email and I had it handy. No, these are real numbers. All right.

So Kyle Shannon has been in the Super Bowl three times. Once as an OC in Atlanta, twice as a head coach with the Niners. He has blown a 28 to 3 lead as an OC, the largest in Super Bowl history. And he has blown two separate 10.4th quarter leads. Those would be tied for the second largest blown lead in Super Bowl history. That's what he adds on his resume. And that's not even your favorite stat. This is Rob's favorite stat right here.

Between the three Super Bowls, once as the OC, twice as a head coach. Kyle Shanahan's teams have been outscored a combined 58 to 12 in the fourth quarter in overtime. 58 to 12. Hello? Is this on? And here's my thing. When he was O.C.

Yeah. The reason he got that job was the job that he had done, right? Right? When he got the head coaching job, I would have rescinded that after they lost that Super Bowl. That would have been there? I would have pulled it back. Here was the problem.

Julio Jones makes an unbelievable catch on third down. Right? to set them up. First and 10 at the 22. 22. Run the ball. Carrie. You run the ball three times.

Just don't fumble it. Don't three. Just go forward. A, you have a shot for a chip shot as a field goal, right? And you might have picked up in three runs. You might have picked up five or six yards. You're at the 21 or, I mean, at the 16 or the 15 or whatever, okay? Also, you eat the clock.

Go back and watch. I'm telling you of your football fan, go back and watch the end of that game. On the play clock, they're starting plays with 25 seconds still left on the play clock. Just no awareness. No aware. Make it run all the way down before I start my play.

That gives me, that gives less time for Tom Brady. If they were to get the ball back, you always have to be thinking in those terms. you don't pass the ball in that spot. I don't care what you did all year. There's winning football and there's football. Yes. It's winning time.

And we talked about it, Rob. I told you, those guys like Shanahan and McVeigh, sometimes are too smart for their own good. Yes, instead of going, hey, all we need to do is we need to run the football. And instead, there's a holding, there's a sack. You're out of field goal range. How? Yeah, that's insane.

I know. I know. Arthur Blanked you to have had a heart attack right on the sideline. Remember he came down, ready for some of the brain? It was his fault. I blame him. I don't blame him. What was he doing down there?

I know. I remember that too. Oh, that's funny. Jumped on the phone. Exactly. And the other box. I heard we're going to Miami tonight. Tell me where the strip mall is.

Exactly. No, he didn't say that. I hope he didn't say that. He said tell Wayne to be at live waiting for him. So that's what it was. Exactly. All right. Through another interception, Texas Tech in the end zone.

Oh, my goodness gracious. Really? Yes. Carrie, who did you pick to make the national championship game? To reach the national championship game, I had Miami and I still haven't looked at the other. Remember I had this? Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

It wasn't Texas Tech? No way. No way. No way. It wasn't? It was. It was. Oh, that.

Oh, no. Kerry's like, see, that's why he couldn't remember. No, I couldn't remember the other one. I knew. It was Miami, though, right? Miami. Okay, all right. Wow.

I was just going to say the one that I had that advanced that made it through so far. All right. We're going to put a bow on this bad boy. A bow on 2025 sports calendar. And we'll do that next. It is the herd. Rob Parker, Kerry Rhodes, filling in for Colin right here on Fox Sports Radio. And you want to stick and stay.

You too could get an interception. on Texas Tech in the USA. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you

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We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to our first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra. special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and... Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a

very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notebook had Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong on what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success.

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Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice. into man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream of chicken suit. Hey, cream. Cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the I-Hart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It is the herd on your New Year's Day. Hope you had a great New Year's Eve. and you're just chilling watching college football, 13-0-0 Oregon over Texas Tech. They're in the fourth quarter, about nine minutes to go.

Rob Parker, former All-Pro Safety, Carrie Rhodes, sitting in for Colin. And if you missed any of today's show, you'll want to catch the podcast. Rob G's putting it together as we speak, not just on the herd feed, but the odd couple feed as well. Just search the herd or the odd couple wherever you get your podcast. right after the show, today's podcast will be posted. Be sure to follow the podcast, rated at least five stars, and even provide a review. Because we're awarded.

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It's all good. I got a lot of stuff coming out. We got the Super Bowl we're going to in San Francisco. Got a speaking engagement at Syracuse in February. Nice. So I got these other things coming up. So these extra days will be good for me. And I don't mind working on a holiday.

I told you that before. Same. Me neither. Both of us. It's all good. It's not like we're digging ditches or something. be honest. But we're going to wrap on this.

What was your biggest sports highlight in 2025? And USC Chris or Rob G, if you guys want to join in too, it's cool. Rob G, do you have what we need? Okay. Here's mine. I'm just going to go to mine first. Yeah, do that. Without question, I don't care what anybody says.

Yeah, you said there's nothing else that competes. There's nothing else that competes with this. Here we go. Pay off. Yeah, that was a big one. What? Kerry, if he doesn't bail out the Dodgers, remember, that's a $2 billion bust. Yes. That was one out, nobody on in the ninth inning in Toronto, right? Toronto's winning by one run.

Miguel Rojas, of all people, to hit a home run in that spot with Otani on deck. Like, seriously. And the pitcher got in trouble because you don't want to pitch from behind. You got to know. go after Rojas. You have to. Three and two, he knows you got to throw a carry. You know baseball. Dude, you walk in me with Otani on deck?

Nope. No. You got to throw the ball over the plate. I'm going to be ready. He's a major league baseball player. He's old, but he's a major league player. You throw a ball over the plate. And I know it's coming? Yeah. Dude. Yeah.

Saved the bacon of Otani, who didn't play well. He didn't play well. No. Mookie Betts didn't hit well. Freddie Free. Like, that was going to be a big Oh, my God. How did the Dodgers lose that World Series with all this firepower, all these great, you know, rotation or pitching, all these guys? They got, they got, was it $2 billion dollar ball?

And Miguel Rojas hit that big home. That's a good one. For me, I mean, for me, the biggest sports highlight from 2025. I don't know if it's a highlight or a low light, but they fit in the same space. Okay. That Luca Dodgers trade to the L.A. Lakers was one of the biggest stories, obviously, of 2025. And it was a low light now because he won't play defense. See?

But look, I've watched them play as my team for years. And I told people, I said, yeah, he's going to score. He's going to be flash. He's going to have fun. But can he play enough defense and help that team win? It's bad. It's still up to see, yeah. It's bad.

I don't think it's going to happen. Rob G. USC Chris, y'all got any? Yeah, I was torn between two and Kerry took the one I was thinking of. But the other one that immediately came to mind, This is another negative, but it shocked the sports world. Shadour Sanders falling in the NFL draft. Okay.

Oh, my goodness. That entire. It's a big story. It defined sports media coverage and NFL coverage for ever. Those draft nights, Mel Kiper losing his cool, losing everything. That was like Mel Kiper for a guy who's gotten so many wrong. He got me wrong. I don't like Mel Kuiper.

You're the beef? Mel Kuiper. No, I'm done. But you know what I'm saying. Like he was like, like they don't know what they're like, like everybody in football, he knows but nobody else knows. Exactly. Like you haven't gotten every pick right.

So let's not act like it's an exact science. And it's not. No. And there were people don't even watch football who knew about that story. They're like, oh man, there's this kid from Colorado and he's supposed to be drafted. And he's on day three and he hasn't been drafted yet. And they're breaking through on ABC local television. Right.

It was. You do her watch on the NFL draft. He has not been taken yet. and we're at pick 127. That's true. What's you got, Chris? All right. I mean, it's just so hard to beat that World Series.

It's probably the best World Series had a long time. It was incredible. This might be another low lie for me, but just everything around that day of what happened in the NBA, against the arrest of Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, the FBI indictments. Because I feel like once that moment hit, our entire relationship between what we do and what we watch on TV and sports gambling, which had slowly but surely. been encroaching more and more into the space. We had to question everything about that relationship after that moment. Chris, that's a great point. Rob, aren't you tight with Chauncee? Isn't that what you said?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, you and Chauncee like hang out together. He knew about the game, Rodney. He knew about the game, Rod, dude. No, Bob, gee. I worked in Detroit when Chancho won the championship in 2004. We ain't that tight like that. You weren't at the house.

No. Never at the house. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, suddenly after that, Everything started to get questions. No, I mean, and that's the scale of it. And then the other thing with, you know, this is not like just on basketball. You're talking about fake tables and mirrors, like really, really.

Shady stuff. You know what I mean? That's a sitting NBA coach in the pocket of the mafia. What else are they asking him to do? And then we know every week in the NFL, all we see trending every Sunday is rigged. And the NFL script, you see it. Every time there's some play or some. something and people lose money.

People go crazy over it. I don't know if you saw it last night. Who was it? The Knicks and Spurs. Jalen hit a meaningless three and it messed up the spread. All right. It is the herd right here on Fox Sports Radio. See you guys.

See you guys. The Unus'Under's later on tonight. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it out. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcast, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city. a divided country and the war that tore America apart.

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