The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Tom Brady, Mike McCarthy, Joe Judge, and the Lakers

Episode Date: January 8, 2020

Colin gives his odds on Tom Brady returning to the Patriots, his thoughts on why Jerry Jones hired Mike McCarthy to be the HC of the Cowboys, why people were impressed with new Giants HC Joe Judge, and his thoughts on the Lakers so far this season. Guests include Nick Wright, Peter Schrager, Joe Thomas, Stanford Routt, and Chris Haynes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

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Fox Sports Radio. This son of Wednesday is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're live in Los Angeles. It's IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. We have Joe Thomas, the great left tackle of the Cleveland Brown, stops by today. Nick Wright, Peter Schrager stops by today.

We are packed. Good prep this morning. A lot of topics. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I'm great. There's so much going on. So much.

So much. A lot in the NBA, too. A lot in the NBA as well. Get to the Lakers in a few minutes. Let me just say this. Football is the sport. We watch in America. We like a lot of things.

We love football. We bet on football. We watch football. We go to football games. We're into football as a country. We really are in. The ratings are four, five, six, seven times greater than everything else out there, four times better than even college football.

We love that, too. So when you're really emotional about something like football, like family. Sometimes you need to take a deep breath. Add context, add perspective, because all of us, myself certainly included, we can get too far down the hole, too into the tunnel,

and not give things perspective. And I've been saying with Tom Brady, I think it's 50, 50 if he stays. And this morning, I really feel like it's 80, 20, 90, 10, he's staying in New England. Not just because of the Instagram post he released yesterday, that came out and said, listen, after a few days of reflection, I'm grateful and humbled by our team.

I can't get ready to go back at it. He says, in life and football, failure's inevitable. You don't always win. I've got more to prove. So on his Instagram, Tom is acknowledging, I'm not retiring. I'm coming back. So put that to bed. I do think it's a perfect time for him, but he doesn't think it's a perfect time for him.

So what I think doesn't matter. The question becomes, what does Tom do? And let me just throw this out. We do this a lot, and I'm guilty of it. I try not to be, but I think the public is really guilty of it. We always bury dynasties about a year early. Everybody wants to bury Alabama. Well, they just had the number two recruiting class in the country.

They just landed the first or second best quarterback. And outside of Florida in the SEC next year, nobody comes close to stacking up with what they return. Alabama is going to be in the playoff next year. right now they and Clemson are favored. And only Florida in the SEC, I think, can match up. LSU loses a lot of people. Okay, we want to bury New England.

I get it. We do this with dynasties. But let's look at New England. Let's take a deep breath now. The season's over. We love football. We get emotional. We bet it.

They lose. They win. They were 12 and 4. They're the best coach in the league. They have the best offensive line coach in the league. Matters for quarterbacks. Their division is still below average compared to other divisions. They get their fullback, James Devlin, their kicker Grotkowski, and their center,

David Andrews's back. Those will all help scoring. Nikiel Harry's in their second year as a wide receiver. It takes a long time. Mohamed Sunu comes back probably for another year. And let's be honest, best wide receiver draft ever. What they really missed this year, they didn't miss defense. It was number one in the NFL. The special teams weren't a problem. That was great. What they didn't have is weapons. And it's the best wide receiver draft class ever. AJ Green's a free agent. Amari Cooper's a free agent. Robbie Anderson or the Jets. A deep threat is a free agent. You don't have to even bring up OBJ or AB.

There's all sorts of free agent-wide receivers out there. All sorts of them. And, you know, we do this. We tend to bury things before they're dead. I'll give you an example. Friends, Frazier, and Seinfeld are still the most watched thing on all these Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime subscription services. They're all fighting over Frazier.

They're all frightening over Seinfeld, Hulu. They're all, you know, NBC, give us Frazier back, give us friends back, give us Seinfeld. They're still all fighting over this stuff. I know it's not cool to say you watch Seinfeld. I know it's not cool to say you watch Friends. That's what people are comfortable with.

So we tend to bury dynasties, and New England is still the smartest team in the AFC, they appear to be. They still have the best at several things. They get three key components back offensive. and I think they're fine. And this morning, here's what I know. I don't have anything in common with Tom Brady except this. I like habit. I love habit. I'm a repetitive guy. I can go to mock drafts

all day, the same one. And this is what I know about Brady. Brady loves habit. He loves process. He loves repetition. That's the only thing we have in common. And let me tell you, I've moved cross-country three times. It disrupts that. Lovar Erington came on this show and said, when you move all those little things that you love exactly where you park and exactly the freeway you take and it takes you nine minutes and you go to Pete's and get your coffee and then it's four minutes from there. Brady loves that. I love that. And moving, I've done it three times. It's a pain in the butt. Lovar Earrington talked about that for Brady. Will he be well. willing to give that up.

There's so many different things that will play a part after you've been in a place for 20 years. Think about how his locker is set up. Think about who handles the small, minute details of what he eats in the morning, what he eats in the noon time, what are his snacks. How does he like his socks? What type of spikes does he like? Where I sit in the meeting rooms. There are so many things just within the football aspect of it. This morning, context, take a deep breath.

Tom Brady went to Instagram, and I'm going on radio and TV. I think it's 80-20. He's a patriot. I didn't a couple days ago. That's what football does to us. I think 80-20 is back, and New England's very good next year. Right, let's go to this. Mike McCarthy, new coach of the Dallas Cowboys,

former coach Aaron Rogers, Brett Farber and the Packers, is going to hold a press conference today after our show. When our show ends, it'll be right after that, about 15 minutes after that. And there was a story yesterday that one of the reasons that Jerry Jones hired Mike McCarthy is because Jerry Jones felt we played him 10 times. He went seven and three against us, and we always thought we had better players.

And that's not a bad reason to hire somebody. I mean, there's a reason that people are hiring New England, GMs and New England assistants and New England coordinators. You know, Miami's like, well, if you can't beat him, join him, we'll hire Brian Flores. There's a reason Josh McDaniels and Nick Casario, you know, in New England probably take over the Cleveland Browns. It's not a terrible reason to hire somebody.

You go up against them and they beat you with less talent. Or at least the perception is you've got more talent. They've got less talent and they keep beating you. So I don't have a problem with that. But here's the funny thing. When Mike McCarthy, and I'm divorced, So when Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers got a divorce, people love to judge a divorce in the first month. I'm going to go to the gym and get my abs.

I won the divorce. And that's not how divorces go. Are we sure Aaron Rogers is going to win this divorce? Aaron Rogers plays Seattle and Russell Wilson this weekend, the best road team in the league. And Mike McCarthy takes over an incredibly talented offensive roster in Dallas. He never had an offensive line like that. He never had a running back like Zeke. He never had an owner in Green Bay.

He's got an aspirational-driven owner, the best offensive line he's had, the best running back he's had, and a very capable quarterback and a team that with Jason Garrett won the division. We do this in divorces. Go to the gym. I'm going to look great. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant.

Oh, Westbrook was the man for about six months. MVP. triple double. Five years later, we roll our eyes at Westbrook. Never won a playoff series. He's a stat monster having his worst shooting year of his career. No, I mean, he's now shooting 36%. It's the worst of his year.

You roll your eyes at Westbrook. Kobe and Shaq. Shaq won that divorce. First couple of years got a title in Miami. Five, six years later, Kobe's got multiple. multiple titles. Kobe's winning an Oscar. Kobe's very refined. His business has never been stronger. Kobe won. Farve and the Packers. Oh, Farv. You know, a little scrappy with the Jets, but he goes to Minnesota for a couple years. And every time they played Green Bay, they knocked the living, you know what out of him. He gets to the NFC championship. And then six, seven years later, it was the right move. Aaron Rogers won a Super Bowl. And Aaron Rogers was really talented.

and Aaron Rogers this year won the division and Farves down somewhere talking about football and Aaron's got another five, six years left and he's fantastic. Be very careful about the divorce and let's be honest about it. When McCarthy got fired, it was outdated dinosaur. This guy is he takes over. He's an offensive coach. He never had anything like that in Green Bay. He didn't have an owner.

He kept complaining to Ted. Thompson. Get me some players. Well, players, free agents don't want to play in Green Bay. You know where free agents do want to play? In a state with no state tax for an owner that tends to overpay Jerry Jones. That's a nice thing to have.

He now has an owner who will overpay, pay early, and by the way, in a state where players love, players love, professional athletes, love Texas. They love Houston, they love Dallas, they like San Antonio, they like no state tax. Great place to go. Free agents, Dallas is always competitive.

Basically, Dallas turns down players for free agency. So be very careful on this. I think the first little year, but we did look at stats yesterday. We talked about the stats of Aaron Rogers since Mike McCarthy's left. Yards down per game, third down conversions, down, second half adjustment points down. He didn't elevate. The record's better. because the bears and the lions imploded and because they gave them a defense.

But it's not like the Packers and Aaron Rogers elevated to a new galaxy. They still only have one Super Bowl in the last decade, and Mike was part of it. And it may be their last one. Great stuff today. Nick Wright's coming up this hour. Peter Schrager next hour. Joe Thomas, obviously, an all-timer for the Cleveland Browns. They're looking for a coach.

Only a job opening left. So they get the best choice, GM and coach. Brown's getting now the best choice of everything left. and there are still good people out there. Coming up next, though, Anthony Davis gets hurt, the story behind the story, why he turned down the Lakers offer, and what it all means, we'll wrap a ball on it.

That is coming up next. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs,

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Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then share. shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace,

and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown

from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Cold and flu season, nasty, nasty symptoms come up. Now the weather's bad. Stuffy nose. Top of the list. Vic Synex nasal spray works within seconds.

Last 12 hours. Nothing works faster. Vic Synex nasal spray. Use as directed. Nick Wright in 10 minutes. Peter Schreger, top of next hour. Joe Thomas. Chris Haynes today as well.

Stanford route. We got a lot of stuff going on, Joy Taylor, with the herd line news in a couple of minutes. I get people when you live in Los Angeles and I go to the car wash or I go to the grocery store, do those kind of things. People come up. You know, I had a couple people yesterday. What are you doing?

Blah, blah, blah. One of the things they ask me about is, why aren't you talking a lot about the Lakers? What do you think about the Lakers? And I said everything I needed to be confirmed about the Lakers was confirmed in like six games. Anthony Davis and LeBron and Danny Green, the three key components for postseason success, are playing beautifully together. I needed to see that.

It happened fast. Anthony Davis is always dealing with nagging injuries. Would he for the first time in his career be willing to play through them? He has. By the way, his MRI is clean this morning. we just got no to that. Anthony Davis yesterday declined the Lakers' max extension offer. It doesn't mean anything.

He's not leaving Los Angeles. It's been perfect. He's averaging 28 a game, 10 rebounds, almost three blocks, three assists. It's been terrific. He got hurt last night. He's going to travel with the team. He's fine. He is banged up a lot.

His shoulder, his back, you know, he's one of those guys. The knock on him in the NBA from the people I trust, one of the smartest guys in the NBA, when he was out there talking to teams, said, knock on him in the league is for a 25, 26 year old, he gets banged up a lot. You can't dispute that. The second thing was he doesn't love playing through injuries. Some guys do. Some guys do not.

Kauai doesn't want to. Anthony Davis didn't in New Orleans. But he has this year played through a lot of days. He didn't feel great. LeBron's pushing him. LeBron's hardening him. He's trying to create this sort of playoff medal, which nobody is healthy by the playoffs. Everybody's sore after the playoff.

playoffs, except James Harden, who, I don't know, doesn't get hurt, plays every game, and just parties all night and comes back the next day and drops 44. He's an outlier. But I don't think this team was built for January. I think they were built for June. I think they're older. I do believe they need to cash in this year because the clippers have more good young players. I think they'll age better.

Golden State's going to have a number one pick, Steph, Clay, Dremont, and a ton of room cap space for the Greek free. or a big free agent. So I do think this season is a cash-in season. LeBron's going to be going into what is 18th year. Danny Green is old and Anthony Davis is breakable. But that is my opinion on the Lakers. Everything I needed to know for the regular season was confirmed in two weeks.

AD and LeBron play great together. AD is for the first time in his career willing to play through nagging injuries. Danny Green seems to work perfectly with both. I do worry that if they trade Kyle Kuzma at the deadline, there's a lot of rumors about that. They get even older. I think they need to get a little younger so they can take some nights off in the regular season. Kuzma's value may be in the regular season, not in the postseason, where he's not going to get a lot of touches in May and June,

but he needs a lot of touches now so LeBron and AD and Danny Green and older players can rest a little. But Anthony didn't sign the contract extension. It doesn't mean anything. He's traveling with the team. that means something. To me, that means he's again this year willing to play hurt, and that was always the knock on him. Joy with the news.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Patriot's offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, is obviously a top candidate for the Brown's head coaching job. The next head coach in Cleveland could also have a say in the GM. Obviously, since John Dorsey has moved on and McDaniels already has some ideas, if he gets the job, Mary Kay Cabot is reporting that McDaniels,

Daniels has three recommendations for GM. One top choice would be Nick Casario, who's been the Patriots director of player personnel since 2008. And he would also recommend either Scott Pioly or Dave Ziegler, who have also both worked with McDaniels. So. They have the choice now. I mean, there weren't as many openings, Joy, as previous years. There weren't. We usually have about seven.

There weren't as many openings. They now have the best choice of everything out there. And there appears to be some pretty solid choices. but you and I both believe they got to give a five or six-year contract here. Well, the bar has been raised for what the contracts are going to be with the Matt Rule situation. So that seven-year deal just disrupted everything when it comes to contracts. So it's not like it's just not, we'll be unprecedented. If I was a coach going to the Browns and I wasn't a first time head coach who probably doesn't have as much negotiating power,

I would absolutely, well, Matt Rule was first time NFL head coach. So maybe not. you have to ask for more years of here with the Browns. You demand it. You say, time out. A, I'm in a good spot already. And B, you have shown no ability to be patient. I want seven years like Matt Rule.

I don't think that's unrealistic at all. I don't see how anyone goes to the Browns without a deal like that. Now that Matt Rule has that deal, having gone to the Panthers without any NFL head coaching experience. Right. It doesn't make any sense. And the Panthers have been, are not a dysfunctional organization. So that has to happen if you're at the Browns. It does kind of feel like this is just trending in Josh McDaniel's direction.

Totally agree. There's more stories about Josh McDaniels than anyone else. Again, I don't love that, but I also am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that it failed in Denver and whatever happened with Indianapolis. Who knows? Don't love that situation. But he may have learned from previous mistakes. And he does love Baker. I always say Josh McDaniels is the NFL version, Elaine Kiffin.

The IQ is high. The EQ sometimes is debatable. He rubs a lot of people the wrong way. It can be a little, you know, a little, a little off-putting for some people. But both, by the way, Lane was a rock star. Lane got fired. Lane got humbled. Lane came back and now look at Lane.

Now he's the talking point in the south outside of Nick Sabin. So just because you fail in life, a lot of people, you know, you can't now, you fail in life and Cleveland gives you job. I don't love the idea that he's going to now in Lamar Jackson's division and Mike Tomlin's division own it, but we can't. Well, yes, but also the Indianapolis situation kind of

is, it's like a little extra thing on top of the Denver situation. So it's not like he just failed in Denver. There's something to that, but it does look like it's trending towards Josh McDaniels. So the Ravens had a buy last week and many of their key players rested week 17 after locking up the top seat in the AFC, but the players are apparently

not worried about being rusty. Lamar Jackson said he's good to go and Earl Thomas stressed the importance of practice this week. One player missing from practice yesterday was running back Mark Ingram after straining his cap in week 16. John Harbaugh wouldn't comment on his status for Saturday's game. I do think that that is something to pay attention to. By the way, calf injury, I had a calf injury.

Caff injuries are the worst. Did you have a calf injury recently? Yes, they last forever. They're not that painful. Here's the problem with calf injury. It doesn't hurt that much. You're like, it gets a little tight. It's just nagging.

And you re-injure it over. They're very tricky. Calf injuries are not that painful for most people. So you go out and you play for in my case. I went and lifted and played tennis. It feels great. Boom, snapped it. So it's one of those things where they stay with you for a long time.

I mean, I still believe the Ravens are going to win whether Mark Engram is out there or not. But I just think it will affect, you know, probably where you put money on this game. But he was 14th in the NFL in rushing guards this year and fourth the NFL with 15 rushing touchdowns and tied the franchise single season record. He's a big part of their offense, obviously, aside from Amar Jackson. Also, emotionally, Ingram's great. He's really one of those. Big energy leader. Been there, one big games.

He's a total leader. It's a huge factor for that. Finally, Mike McCarthy will officially be introduced as the Cowboys head coach today, as mentioned earlier. He's expected to keep the team's young offensive coordinator. Kellan Moore. He will reportedly stay with the Cowboys for a second season. More led the Cowboys to a league best 431.5 yards per game and 27.1 points per game, which was sixth in the NFL. It's kind of, it's interesting to read the numbers. I know. Surrounding Kellyn Moore's offense because when you look at the Cowboys,

it doesn't really feel like they're putting up those kind of numbers. A lot of garbage time numbers, They had a lot of garbage time numbers. Yeah. I mean, Jack Prest got the season was second in NFL in passing yards and fourth and passing touchdowns. Right. And he had 3,885 passing guards, which was 15th in the NFL. I don't know. I just, I don't know.

It just kind of feels a little bit like a Jones family request. I have nothing of no information to verify that. No, that's fair. It does feel like we're not telling you to retain him, but it would make the, it made the Jones family, very happy if you retain him. It does feel a little bit like that. And McCarthy's also reportedly bringing in Mike Nolan as a defensive coordinator. Now, I do.

Some people don't love that. And John Fassel is a special team. That I love. Fassel's a great special teams. I don't hate the idea of keeping Kellynne Moore. It doesn't, my eyes tell me something differently than the numbers are telling you. And like you said, some of the garbage time. But he's also young.

He's not stubborn. young coaches get better. You know, if he was 68 years old, Kellen Moore, and I saw the things I saw this year, when you're 31, I'm like, okay, he's humbled. Yeah, it's okay to develop a little bit in your first year. I mean, we did a little deep dive about, you know, how he struggled against veteran defensive coordinators.

You have to learn, and he's learning on the job. I don't hate it. It just, I just, I want to see how it goes this year. Totally fair. I'm totally comfortable with him giving him another year. Yeah, that's good. Joy, Taylor, with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. There's a lot of things going on. I've got some thoughts on Joe Judge's hiring. I'm going to do that in about 10 minutes, but first, my buddy, host of First Things First via the Coward Goebel satellite network. Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing, Nick Wright. So I said yesterday, I love the way Jeter retired and John Elway retired and Kobe, and it's one

team, and you get, you're one of the all-time greats, and it's neat. Tony Gonzalez, you wrap a bone. and you're still capable. Elway won a Super Bowl MVP. It would be just so neat and tidy for Tom Brady to retire. Okay, he told us last night he's not retiring. But it's funny, Nick. Football's the sport.

We bet both of us do, and you get emotional to it. And Brady's emotional. So Brady takes a deep breath, comes out with an Instagram and says, okay, further reflection, I'm going to play again. And I sit in there driving to work this morning, and I'm thinking, further reflection. They still have the best offensive line coach. They were 12 and 4.

They have the best coach. They get their kicker back, their fullback back, their center back. Could I not argue, Nick, the Patriots are the best place for a guy that loves repetition, Tom Brady? Well, I think in theory they might be, but he, I think, clearly, would ideally like to stay in New England. I don't think that's ever changed. But New England keeps flirting with the idea that they don't want. want him to stay. And at some point, the disrespect becomes too much. You tried to bring in my replacement four or five years ago. I had to go above your head, Belichick, to get him shipped

out of here. I then, the three years leading into this year, had the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history in 2016, won a league MVP in 2017 and threw for five Hyundai in the Super Bowl, won another Super Bowl in 2018 while beating the league MVP on the road in the conference championship game in comeback fashion and you wouldn't give me an extension. You said, nope, we're going to play it year to year, Tom.

I said I want to play till I'm 45. You won't even give me an extension until I'm 43. And then this year goes as poorly as it does and he sees Drew Breeze as Michael Thomas and Russell Wilson as the rookie wide receiver. Maybe they should have drafted. And Patrick Mahomes has all these other weapons. and all of a sudden the Los Angeles Chargers look pretty good,

and you start to wonder if the Patriots, if Belichick would even fight that hard to keep him, because with or without a 43-year-old Tom Brady, the Patriot era, the Patriot dynasty is over. I feel like Belichick knows it, and I wonder if he has opened the door just enough for Brady to walk through it and become your next-door neighbor,

your Palatial Manhattan Beach Estate. I would love that, of course. Let me throw this out with Joe Judge. I thought it was a panic move. But let me just say this. Sean McVeigh, I didn't know who he was when he got hired at 30. I didn't know who John Gruden was when the Raiders gave him a job. Mike Tomlin was 34.

Young guys, if you go look at many of the great coaches, they got hired in their 30s. Belichick was 38 in Cleveland and grumpy. Okay? So Joe Judge is 38, and Belichick kept giving him more and more stuff to do because he spotted very early, this guy is special. Are guys like me overreacting to Joe Judge? Because yesterday I said panic move, not qualified, other better candidates. Did I overreact yesterday?

I don't know that you overreacted. I had two reactions to the Joe Judge hire. One is I actually like the idea of special teams coordinators getting head coaching jobs. I would prefer you have been a head coach at some point somewhere along the way, maybe a little more seasoned, but I've heard from enough players who played for John Harbaugh, who said they liked the way he was able to look at the entirety of the team, not focused just on one side of the ball, and I think it actually could be an asset, and nobody, if you remove the misfield goals part of it, nobody had better special teams than the Patriots.

So I'm happy for Joe Judge. He learned from saving, he learned from Belichick. I am not here to say that is the wrong hire. But the other thread to this is one a lot of people have discussed in it. It can't be ignored. In a league that is over 60% black, it is an abomination that we have three black head coaches. It is the same statistical probability if you woke up tomorrow and a quarter of the national hockey league's coaches were black.

You would say, well, that's a little curious development. But when it's white people in the majority of it, we don't have the same reaction. I'm not alleging racism. I'm not alleging a systemic issue to try to keep people out of jobs. But the league has clearly gone towards young, offensive-minded, typically innovators, yet Eric Bianamy continually gets passed over when the two people who had his job prior to him, Peterson and Nagy, immediately get head coaching jobs. All of a sudden, Andy Reid calling the plays isn't an issue for those guys.

It is an issue for Bienemy. Byron Leftwich helped James Winston, throw for over 5,000 yards. No one mentions his name. Leslie Frazier made the playoffs with Christian Ponder. Christian Ponder. Then has one down year. He's gone and he's relegated to being a defensive coordinator

for a damn good Buffalo Bills team and no one brings him up. But we're going to recycle Jim Schwartz again, really. So I don't know how to solve this. I'm not going to act like I have the fix. but and I feel badly that Joe Judge all of a sudden became the face of it. That ain't his fault. Right. Good for him for getting the job.

But the league's got to figure out and the teams have to figure out why they are so, they have no problem trusting black people to play for them and to be positional coaches for them. But there seems to be a very clear glass ceiling. And it's a major issue that now seems to be getting worse rather than getting better. By the way, we agreed with you on that. yesterday. There's sort of indisputable evidence that certain guys need opportunities and they're not getting him. And Schwartz is a great example who was a disaster in Detroit, an utter disaster. And by the way, is struggling in Philadelphia to get along with the head coach. Let me segue to this. You have a relationship. Aaron Rogers loves you. For some unknown reason, he just, he and I do not connect. There's no symbiotic relationship there. You guys connect. Whateves? Little jealous, not going to get into it. But I will say this. We judge divorce. based on the first week.

You go to the gym, you get your abs, we judge divorces. You know, Kobe Shaq, oh, Shaq won. About five years later, Kobe won it. Westbrook KD. We loved Westbrook winning all the awards. Five years later, Westbrook's kind of a mess in the playoffs. Let me say this. One year, McCarthy and Aaron Rogers,

if Aaron loses to Seattle and McCarthy takes over easily the most talented team he's ever had, in Dallas where they have an owner, they land free agents, they've got terrific young talent. He's never had a back like that. Is it possible in three or four years? We're looking back and saying maybe Aaron's difficult and maybe McCarthy was saddled with a guy who's hard to coach and McCarthy wins this divorce. It's not impossible. It's not the craziest theory of yours I've heard this month, but the month is young. And so, however, I don't think it's fair to say anyone was saddled with Aaron Rogers.

And I am very curious to see how Mike McCarthy works when all of a sudden he isn't coaching one of the two most talented quarterbacks ever. He has gone far to Rogers. Like you said you're sponsored, I just heard it, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, if you're driving nothing but S-500s, and you're going to, you're going far to Rogers. and then you get a really nice Accura, even if it's a good car, it doesn't quite get up the way you're used to on the highway. So I'm curious how McCarthy's offense works with Dak. As far as Aaron Rogers was the more important part of this. This is an incredibly critical

game for him. He has that he's only had a buy three times in his whole career. Brady had 13 of them. He's only had three. The first year with a buy, they were 15 and one. He was league MVP. and they get annihilated by Tom Coughlin's purple face and the Giants. His next time with a buy, that is the epic comeback by the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game that some people say was the fracturing point between McCarthy and Rogers all the way back in 2014. If they don't take advantage of not only having a buy this year, but avoiding the Saints who might have been better than them, then you start to wonder, is Aaron Rogers' talent, going to be used as an arrow that is slung towards him, a la Wilk Chamberlain.

People talk about Wilt and how dominant he was almost as a sling because he didn't win enough. So I'm not saying Roger's got to win the Super Bowl this year, but you can't go one and done when you have a Seattle team that's been overachieving their talent level coming to Lambo here this weekend. You know what? I was going to ask you another question, and I don't even know. I've only got a minute left. I'll just ask you this.

I'm not as high on Josh McDaniels as everybody else. I think he's Lane Kiffin and the pros. High IQ, debatable EQ. I think he can be rigid. I think he's got, and I like Lane. I text Lane all the time. I think he's a very good coach. But he's dug some holes for himself.

I don't know if Josh and that ego and that impatience is going to work with Baker. I really don't. I think he's going to get the job. So just weigh in for a minute. Is he the magic elixir that solves the Brown's nightmares? All right. I know you said we don't have a lot of times, and I apologize I got to do this. I got to once again bend over and pick up the name you just dropped. Oh, you text with Lane Kippin all the time.

Oh, sorry about that, Colin Coward. Now, listen, McDaniels, I wouldn't, I wouldn't hire a guy who reneged on the cults the way he did. But everyone seems to be over that but me. Like everyone seems to be like, that was ancient history. That was 24 months ago. No one cares anymore. So I've got to move past it. I do think it's possible he learned from his mistakes in Denver.

And I do think what he has learned from Belichick as far as teaching the team to not allow any outside noise is exactly what the Browns need. And as far as the recycled head coaches who are available, to me, he would be near the top of the list. but I do have similar EQ questions as you do. And I don't know that we know those have been solved. It's just that Belichick doesn't let his assistants talk so we don't have any exposure. No, honestly, they're not allowed. So we don't have any exposure to whether or not he has matured. And before I go, I missed your birthday Monday.

So a happy belated birthday. And they always say, the question always is, what do you get the person who has everything? And so my response was nothing. and so I'll just say happy birthday, but sincerely, no. I really appreciate your nothing. Nick Wright, one of the best guys I know. Thanks, buddy. Keep kicking butt.

Absolutely. Always makes me laugh. He makes a good point. Has he matured? Who knows? He doesn't talk. I don't know. Coming up next, Baltimore is Carolina in 2015.

But why I never bought Carolina and Cam and why I do by Baltimore potentially becoming a 10-year dynasty. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about, wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness. emotional well-being and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier.

We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network. on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Casper is the most loved and trusted sleep company. Casper.com, the code heard $100 toward the purchase of the mattress.

Terms and conditions apply. Casper.com sleeping them every night. It's great. So this weekend, Lamar Jackson hosts and the Ravens, John Harbaugh, they host the Tennessee Titans. I think Baltimore wins. I think they win it convincingly. Mike Rable was asked about how do you stop Lamar Jackson? And he had this funny response.

Other than try to tie his shoelaces together, I mean, not many people have had success. You know, we'll have to prepare and try to get our players as ready as possible, defend not only him, but Mark Ingram and Edwards. It's impressive what they've done. Let me just say this. Deshawn Watson had five game winning come from behind wins this year. He trailed more than he led this year. I think it's an amazing feat.

it's harder to play quarterback when you trail. I'm not saying Deshawn's better than Lamar, but Lamar hasn't trailed a lot this year. The way to beat Baltimore, and I mean at this point, it's about all I've got, get a lead and cross your fingers. Force him to play from behind. You'll scale off, you know,

they'll have to peel off some of their running plays and they become perhaps a little more predictable. Kansas City is 2 and 0 against Baltimore. In one of their games, they got a 23-6 lead. Baltimore had to throw. They had more success. The Chargers beat him once when they got a 12-0-0 lead.

20-3 at one point. They had to peel off, did the Ravens. Some of their running plays became a little more one-dimensional. You know, inevitably, what really makes Baltimore go is they're great at running and great at the quarterback running and great at passing and great at long ball passing. They do everything well. What you hope to do is if you get the coin flip, do not defer it. Take it.

Use every trick play, every scripted play, get a lead, cross your fingers, and hold on for dear life. They're doing so many things at a high level right now. If you could scale off, peel back some of their run options as the clock expires, late first half, force them to throw. That may help. It's not like it's a solution, but it's the only thing I can think of because they're not losing much. and I do see a little bit of a thread there, and I do think playing behind always impresses me.

Deshawn Watson trailed more than he led this year. That's really impressive. To make the playoffs and win a playoff game with that stat, that's hard to do. I've said before, this Baltimore team really reminds me of the Carolina 2015 team. A lot of energy, veteran coach, a unique quarterback talent, the league is kind of bailing water on,

trying to figure out how the hell to play it. In the middle of a year, it's like, how do we stop cam? But there's a difference here. And I got a lot of hate mail. I never bought into cam. Doesn't mean he can't be great, but he was needy and moody and inconsistent. I didn't think he was always coachable.

His mechanics got worse over time, and he wasn't very accurate. I never bought. I think teams ultimately become the personality of their quarterback. New England is efficient and hardworking. New England is resourceful. That's Brady. Brady gets every ounce out of his talent.

Carolina, to me, was inconsistent. So was Cam. Lamar's different. I can see them becoming a 15-year dynasty. First of all, he's going to get hurt, everybody tells me. Well, can I see him get hurt? once before you say that? He never got hurt in college. You had a sprained ankle and missed one game in college.

Anthony Davis, if you tell me, Joe L.M. B, you know, they get hurt a lot. All right, I've got several examples. I'd like to see Lamar get hurt before you tell me he's going to get hurt because I don't see him getting hurt. And I've seen him get whacked about 15 times this year. But here's why I buy into Lamar and I never bought into Cam. And everybody love Cam's arm and Cam's bigger and stronger and the best Red Zone quarterback running ever. but I never like Cam's traits. I love Lamar's traits. His mechanics are better.

Like, I didn't like his mechanics in college. Oh, they're better. And they're more consistent. And they're getting better. So he's more coachable. He's got a chip on his shoulder. Cam in college wanted to be a star. Lamar wants to win football games.

Lamar's like, I mean, literally, he don't want talk. He's not into all that stuff. He's totally into football. He's totally coachable. His mechanics are getting better. He puts himself in heart. arm's way, but he's incredibly humble. When I look at all these quarterbacks, you guys are falling in love with arms.

I'm falling in love with traits. I don't like Baker Mayfield's traits. I don't like Johnny Mansell's traits. I didn't like Jay Cutler's traits. James Winston and college, stealing crab legs. I don't like your traits. Your size is fine. Like Lamar's traits, those are dynasty traits.

I'm coachable. I got a chip on my shoulder. My mechanics get better. Brady's been working on mechanics. In the off season, he'll go down to Costa Rica with his wife. He's working on mechanics. He's obsessed with it. He's obsessed with film.

Russell Wilson, not the perfect size, not the greatest arm. He has great traits. Driven, chip on his shoulder, resourceful. So it's funny. This team really does remind me of the Carolina Panthers, and I don't think it means they'll lose in the Super Bowl. I don't. I would probably give them a Super Bowl win unless they play the Niners again.

And I don't know. I'll wait until I see it. But I think this thing lasts. I think it's durable. I think it's going to get better. I don't think Lamar cares about being a star. I think he wants to win games. I think he's humble.

And this to me, this Baltimore thing has 15 years on it. It feels like it's going to last a long time. I never felt that with Carolina. Never felt it. So it's exciting. I think they're going to win this weekend. I don't think there's a way to stop it. I think there's a way to force Baltimore to scale off some of their running plays if you lead late half, late third quarter.

But they're fun to watch. I like watching them. And if they're the next dynasty, I'm good with it. All the things I love about football, all the traits and habits, Baltimore's got all of them. I'm totally in. Never was on Carolina. Totally am here. Hour two next.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs,

the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapy.

Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, that's a lot. and Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood,

pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the. the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practice that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming.

The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Here we go on a Wednesday, live in Los Angeles.

This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me in less than 15 minutes. Peter Schreger from New York, the very latest on the Cleveland Brown situation. Shraggs has as many sources as anybody. We're so lucky here. We got Jay Glazer and Peter Schreger. They break a lot of stories.

So he'll give us all sorts of stuff under 15 minutes. Great to have him in. And Joy is joining me. How are you, Joy? I'm doing great. So yesterday, when Joe Judge got hired, you know, and happened right before the show, my takeaway is, good God, this feels like a panic move. Take a deep breath.

I come in the next day, read everything. And one of the things to remember about Dave Gettleman, who I don't think is my cup of tea, but he did get Daniel Jones. I thought it was a reach. And Daniel Jones looked very good this year. He looked very good. I'm wrong. He's right on that. He did a very good job. It's only fair to credit him for getting on Daniel Jones because we all kind of rolled our eyes.

He also worked with Ron Rivera down in Carolina and helped build a Super Bowl roster. So Gettleman knows personnel. I think he's bad at a microphone. He can be clunky and old school, which I'm not a huge fan of, but not all old is bad. Big Fangio at Denver had a pretty good year. He actually did. They should have won more games. They were in a lot of them. So let me just say this about Joe Judge. He's known the knock on Pat Schumer. I was told this by a source that's as good as any source you can have with the Giants. It's a player.

Pat Schumer had no presence. Smart guy, no presence. Joe Judge has a presence, walked into Gettleman, blew him away with his presence, so it's a pendulum swing higher. You have a guy with no presence. He's smart with no presence. Joe Judge walks in, doesn't have the experience you think, then blows you away verbally, blows you away with his presence. Guy was a quarterback in high school.

He's dealt with Belichick and save it, and he go, wow. Does that mean it'll work? No. But remember, Gettelman hired Ron Rivera. Ron Rivera's the ultimate presence guy. Ron is a big physical alpha male. He walks into a room. Rivera is not known as one of the great schemers. He's a presence guy. He walks into the room and players are afraid of him, right? He's a big man, like Jack Del Rio. He's a big dude. Anthony Lina of the Chargers. He's got a presence. Guys, respect guys, big, strong. Can use volume, can intimidate. And so Joe Judge has some of this. But here's the other thing I've seen in my life, because I got a lot of perspective on this, that almost, there are exceptions.

There are late bloomers, but most people who are exceptional, you spot very early. Andre Agassiz at nine years old, his dad had him play really good adults, not pro players, but adults. At nine years old, he beat him. Bryce Harper at 16 hit a high school baseball 500 feet. LeBron at 15. Tiger Woods signed with IMG privately at 11 years old.

They agreed to a deal privately at 11 years old. He was on Mike Douglas when he was four. The Mike Douglas show. Eddie Murphy got to Saturday Night Live at 19 years old. Steven Spielberg released Jaws in his 20s. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg by 23 were richer than anybody listening to this show.

Exceptional people separate early and you can spot them. Joe Judge is in his 30s. It's very possible. Gettelman saw what Savin did and what Belichick did. Belichick kept giving him more and more and more and more assignments. He gave him the special teams the last five years. The reason he gave him the wide receiver coach this year is because he wanted to give him enough to be impressive to get a job. That's what Andy Reid does.

He'll give us coaches more play calling, more exposure for the team so they get interviewed for jobs like Matt Nagy. And according to sources this morning, it's being documented that Belichick loved him and kept giving him more and gave him the wide receiver job so that he could get interviews for a head coach. He walked into the Giants and blew everybody away. Just think about this, though. of the legends, Sean McFey, Sean McVeigh, who was also a quarterback in high school, got a job at 30 years old in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles NFL team, Kyle Shanahan at 37 years old, Mike Tomlin and Bill Cower of the Steelers, not even 35 yet.

John Gruden had been offensive coordinator for a couple of bad Eagle teams, got a head coaching job in Oakland at 34. Al Davis spotted him. Mike Shanahan. You didn't know who he was, 35. John Madden, in an era that the NFL was a good old boy network, 32 years old. That is unbelievable. Don Shula, maybe the best coach in the 70s in the league, 33, and Belichick at 38.

Exceptional people, you spot him. Tim Legler told me one time he's a former NBA guy and a broadcaster. He walked into a gym in Philadelphia and all these NBA guys were playing. And he goes, who is that? I've been in the league 12 years. They said his name is Kobe Bryant. He's a junior in high school. And Legner went, oh my, junior in high school.

Just 16 turning 17. Coaching. There's no late bloomers in tech in comedy. in Hollywood. You look around. You can spot them early. Maybe Joe Judge walks into a room. Saban elevated him.

Belichick elevated him. Dave Gettlman blown away by him. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see. Still feels a little panicky. Matt Rule was my choice, but we'll see. I want to talk about the Cleveland Browns. Of course I do.

That's what I do for now a living. Everybody's got their coach and everybody's got their GM except the Cleveland Browns. And it appears, according to sources, we'll ask Peter Schrager about this in less than 10 minutes. Nick Casario, who's the Patriots, you know, de facto GM, and Josh McDaniels are the leader in the clubhouse. Chad O'Shea's on the market, another patriot. He could be the OC, I would guess. So now let me just say this. It sounds good, right? A lot of this New

England stuff hasn't worked. Atlanta, their GM is a former patriot, Thomas Dimitrov, and so is the assistant GM, and they are the most maddening, inconsistent team in the NFL. Houston's got a bunch of Patriots and is anybody more inconsistent? Detroit has a coach that's a Patriot and a GM that's a Patriot and the Lions once again stink. Kansas City had Patriots, Scott Pioli and

and Romeo Cronnell and Andy Reed had to come in and clean it up. And Cleveland's had Eric Mangini and Romeo Cronnell and that didn't work either. Tennessee you can't count Vrabel. He never coached under Belichick. They do have a former patriot as GM.

They didn't get worse, but they didn't get better. Once again, Tennessee, like always, is 9 and 7. Cleveland's issues to me really aren't head coach going forward. They're really not general manager. Cleveland has an owner and a quarterback issue. They're both incredibly impulsive. And impulsive does not win in this league. Patience, sleeping on it,

taking a deep breath on it, like Tom, Brady, did in his Instagram. The Brown's owner is impulsive, and Baker Mayfield, though talented, is absurdly impulsive. So the coach doesn't matter unless the owner improves. And McDaniels is not going to survive if Baker doesn't improve. Regardless of who you put in, no impulsive owners are winning Super Bowls and no impulsive quarterbacks are either. That's the issue. Both are clearly correctable. Baker's still a young man. Jimmy Haslam's certainly smart.

He could become more patient. Maybe that's his New Year's resolution. But we pay so much attention to Cleveland running through coaches and GMs. That is not their issue today. The owner's got to sign this new coach to a seven-year deal and back off. And the quarterback needs to grow up. That is the issue. Coming up next, Peter Schrager, all sorts of.

good stuff around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I-Hard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source. the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls,

we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, mom. I want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody!

But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, hope from a hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and 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 man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream, cream a chicken suit. This is help from a hair. Hippocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Portura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sunday, Russell Wilson leads the Seahawks into Lambo for a showdown against Aaron Rogers and the Packers and the NFC divisional rounds. It all starts at 6 Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports app. I feel like the whole season for Seattle's been a gift. I didn't think they'd be here. I mean, they're in a division with Kyler Marie was

better than we thought. The Niners are better than we thought. The Rams are still capable. And here's Seattle. I mean, it's just, it's just, if they, if they win this game, like, we should just really make an exception, put Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll in the Hall of Fame. While they're coaching and playing, because Green Bay should win this game. They're healthy. They're at home. They're rested. By the way, the herd brought to you by Discover.com slash cashback match. Discover match and all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year, no limit. All right, we got all sorts of stuff. And I lean on Peter Schrager.

He does a Sunday show with me. He also is one of the hosts, Good Morning Football on the NFL Network, via the Coward Global Satellite Network live from New York, Peter Schreger, Fox NFL reporter. All right, this is what you do for a living. This is what I lean on you on Joe Judge. I said, I read a bunch of stuff this morning.

He's verbal. He's got a presence. He blew away Gettleman. I know Belichick liked him. You did Intel. I said yesterday it felt like a panic move, but you did some intel. What are you hearing on Joe Judge?

That he comes from a great pedigree and is a leader of men. I want to give some splashy hot take that this was a rushed tire or they should have gone a different direction. But after talking over the last 24 hours, Joe Judge had an incredible interview over the week and over the weekend. And then they did their research. And it's Belichick and it's Sabin. And at the bottom, at the end of the day,

Giants were looking at it. And they said, okay, here are all our different options. We're meeting with all these different guys. This guy's got five championship rings in 10 years. and Belichick and Sabin from the mountaintops were recommending him to people to take a look. And Belichick this year not only gave him that wide receiver's role, but started opening him up to the media a little bit more.

He was being groomed as one of these leaders of men. Now here's the key thing, Colin. He's not an exes and O's guy. Right. He doesn't do, hey, third quarter, Daniel Jones, third and 12. He's not McVeer or Kyle Shanahan in the ear of the quarterback. He is a CEO. The key is going to be who he brings in as his offensive coordinator,

who he brings in as his defensive coordinator, and also what kind of culture he's building. Because Pat Schumer is a good offensive coach. He's also a good man. I'm told that Joe Judge, even though he's 38 years old, this is going to be a team that is going to practice hard. There will be some live tackling in practice, and there will be a new culture in New York,

one that might be a little bit more tough guy than finesse offense. Yeah, that was the knock on Schumer, not a ton of presence. He was a good play caller, but didn't have that. And the team couldn't get big, tough yards or make big tough stops. Let's go to Matt Rule. He's been a turnaround guy. A little bit more of a schematic guy

than just a presence guy, although he's supposed to be a great motivational speaker. Now, I thought everything I read he was going to be the Giants coach. Carolina snags him. Explain, please. Yeah, this is out of a Hollywood script, and you'll love this more than anyone, Colin. So David Tepper is the owner of the Carolina Panthers.

Not only was he a former minority owner of the Steelers, he's also maybe one of the richest men in the world, and he also built one of the most successful hedge funds from the ground up when he did at Appalusa on Wall Street. If you know Wall Street folks, they talk about Teper as a closer, a guy who just gets things done and has a vision ahead of the game.

So Teper walks in there, knowing he's going to interview Matt Ruhl before the Giants, and everyone's thinking, Rule has all these connections to New York and the Giants, and Teper basically did one of those moves where he's like, ABC, always be closing. You're not getting out of here. And what he told Matt Ruhle was,

I've already rebuilt the entire, business side of this building over 12 months. I've cleaned up a lot there and it's a blank slate. I want you to build from the ground up and I'm going to give you that opportunity to do so. I will also give you all of the resources both for you personally and for this program that you ever will need. Teper came in there and said, look, I used to work with the Steelers. I'm a Western Pennsylvania guy and we had three coaches from 1970 on. Chuck Knoll, Bill Cower, and Mike Tomlin. that's what I want to build here and stability is the key word.

You start thinking about all the money you can make, you can build it on your ground up, and you can really build the old culture. Then you look at the giants, and I'm not saying Rule was weighing one of the other, but there's Mara, there's Tish, there's Gettlement, there's Kevin Abrams, there's all this stuff that's...

This is a blank slate in Carolina and a blank check from David Teper. He never left his living room. He got the deal done. Amazing closing job by Teper, got the guy he wanted, and Matt Rule is going to be the Carolina Panthers head coach.

I'll tell you this. He's going to do his press conference, his welcoming press conference today. I think NFL fans are going to be very impressed with what they see. He's interviewed for two other jobs, the Jets and the Colts. And I've had leadership and brass from both those teams tell me he blew them away for those gigs. Matt Ruhl is going to be a guy to watch, not only at the podium, but with what he builds in Carolina. Okay, so Mike McCarthy gets the cowboy job, stayed the night with Jerry. He had to say something that Jerry liked to hear because I don't think any of us thought he was the lead candidate. Lincoln Riley didn't even get the, he didn't even get, you know, interviewed.

So is it, did he say something about, you know, Jerry, Dack? I mean, what was the sauce that got McCarthy for Jerry to say, stay the night at my house, we got to meet for breakfast and talk again? Sounds like a great situation if you're Mike McCarthy. Here's the deal. Jason Garrett was gone regardless. Jason Garrett is this Princeton academic, this erudite guy who can do it all and is really well respected and loved in that building.

If you bring in Lincoln Riley or you bring in Urban Meyer, you're basically saying, okay, guys, here's what we can offer you. Mike McCarthy came in there, and Colin from everyone I speak to was like, I just want to coach ball. I want to coach football, and I am focused on football. And I've taken the past year to not only look at what maybe went wrong at the end of the Green Bay era, but what I can do to get better. This guy, I talked about it on the Fox NFL kickoff show we do.

They built a bunker in his house. He would have Frank Signetti Jr. And he would have Jim Haslitt come over. And on Mondays, they would watch the entire league, not just the broadcast copy. They'd go through the All-22 and watch all of these different teams and use analytics. Yes, analytics. Mike McCarthy, who's this Western Pennsylvania, former toll booth guy, would come in and say, let's look at the analytics.

Let's embrace it. He sold this to Jerry Jones and said, basically, I just want to coach football. And I watched all these quarterbacks. There's a lot to like about Dak Prescott. I think I can get the best out of them. This is a football hire through and through. Jerry Jones is very happy with having a football guy and Mike McCarthy and also bringing in what he's going to have.

And already they've hired the special teams coach from the Rams. John Fossel, who's very well respected, known as Bones, and his defensive coordinator, and Mike Nolan, we know is a football man as well. So this is going back to basics. Cowboys football. Let's get us back to greatness. Okay, Cleveland's the last team. They got the pick of the litter here.

I've said before, I know Josh McDaniels is smart. he's better than Freddie Kitchens. But until this owner's less impulsive and until Baker's less impulsive, I don't care who coach is. I really don't. If the owner is this impatient, it'll never work. And if Baker's this impulsive, it'll never work.

So I think those two things are key, but they're going to hire somebody here. I would guess that is offensive-minded. That's my gut with Baker. You've got to save your number one pick. Or am I wrong? Is Josh McDaniel the leader in the clubhouse today? I don't think we're going to answer

to the Brown's coaching job until early next week. I'll tell you why. Josh McDaniels does an interview till Friday. And the day before him, to me, is a very interesting interview. Kevin Stefansky, and Amy, you're not going to hear a bunch out of, on every show. But Kevin Stefansky is the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. Last year, Stefanski came in there and wowed the Browns, absolutely blew them away using analytics, forward thinking, and spoke to Paul D. Podesta, who is one of the chief strategy guys in that room, and spoke very clearly with him. John Dorsey pushed hard and got Freddie Kitchens the job.

Well, the Podesta really liked Stavansky. He's going to meet Thursday. McDaniels on Friday, little note on McDaniels, the year that Baker was the number one overall pick, there was a lot of talk about how much the Patriots brass liked Baker Mayfield. And knowing that Brady's days might be done at some point, do we move up in the draft and try to take a swing at Baker if he slips?

He didn't slip. But when you think offense in New England, Josh McDaniels was one of those guys. And if he was interested in Baker, Mayfield then. I'm sure he's interested now. Two more names really quickly. Robert Sala, the defensive coordinator, very impressive out of San Francisco. He's a name you're hearing. And Jim Schwartz is interviewing with the Cleveland Browns today. He's got history with the Browns. Also a guy, defense, all business, no joking around. Let's be the best and most

disciplined team on Sunday. That might work more than the loudest team all offseason. By the way, I said this earlier. I got a lot of heat. I think the Ravens remind me a lot of the Carolina Panthers in 2015 where there's this unique quarterback. The league's bailing water on how to face him. They've got a ton of energy. A lot of young players in a belief system. They're playing at home. And I think Baltimore is a really special team.

I don't think you can stop Lamar. I think you can hopefully get ahead on him, force him to maybe run less. But I'll tell you, I never bought into Carolina and Cam because I didn't like Cam's habits. I thought he was sometimes unfocused. I didn't like his mechanics. I thought he was hard to coach. I didn't think he was always humble.

and frankly, even in his MVP year, he completed 59% of his throws. Lamar's a better thrower, deep, intermediate short. I think he's humble. I think he's all about football. I think the next dynasty could be staring us right in the face in Baltimore, and I'm all in on it. I like it. What do people around the league say to you about Lamar and the Ravens going forward?

How this team is so unique in that they were the outliers this year, and they were completely zinging when everyone was zagging. you know, over the off season, they built an offense around Lamar Jackson's talents. Now, Cam Newton was in that Mike Shula offense. He got a lot of draw plays. He did some things with his legs. This team, they run with a fullback and three tight ends in their core offense. Sometimes they put six offensive linemen out.

So everything Lamar is doing, a lot of that is just how great Lamar is in the open field and how well he can pass. The other part of it is they built a team and an offense around his skill set. You will never see a team block like they've been. block for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Watch it on Saturday night. A lot of times Andrews, Boyle, Anne Hayden Hurst are all in the field at the same time, and a lot of times they're blocking for him, and they've got a fullback in Patrick Ricard. Not a lot of these teams use fullbacks. They use the fullback. He's out there just about every play number 42. He blocks for Lamar Jackson. So it's not just Lamar. It's a philosophy, it's a culture, and a team that completely bought in

to what they're doing in 2020 and beyond. I love this. I think, like, Lamar Jackson's here to stay. And guess what? If no one's been able to hit him and knock them down in 17 weeks, I don't see it happening in the playoffs either. Yeah, never got hurt at Louisville either. Miss one game because I sprained ankle.

I sprained my ankle walking to the set this morning, so you can't tell me he's injury prone. Shrague's great seeing you, buddy. Happy birthday, Colin. You're the best, dude. All right. You know, the other thing about Cam and Lamar, Cam was such a beautiful football.

I mean, it was so, I mean, God, he's just so big and statuesque. We always thought great throw with the football. Not really. Lamar, because he kind of flips it and he's got a weird motion, we're like, I don't know about a thrower. He's a much better thrower with the football. This was always my knock on Kaepernick. Kaepernick had no breaking pitch.

Kaepernick would throw a screen pass 119 miles an hour. A lot of quarterbacks. I was talking to Jimmy Johnson about this with Troy Aikman. He goes, Troy was accurate. Troy threw so many balls great. He said, but Troy was never great at that little flag pattern where you got to go over a corner or a linebacker. And he goes, so we faced the Giants one year, and we knew the coverage.

And literally, I told Troy, you're going to have to make that throw about nine times. He goes, that's all we worked on. So as great as Troy was, quarterbacks can make some throws and struggle with others. Even Troy Ekman, who I view as big, strong, perfect, one of the eight best quarterbacks in my life. Great leadership skills. But Jimmy said there were throws, you know, the loft throw over a linebacker. He goes, that was never Troy's strength, arm strength, accuracy. When you watch Lamar, he's got a beautiful touch.

I've never felt Cam has a great touch. He's got a howitzer. He's got a cannon. He can throw a strawberry through a battleship. But I never feel like Cam can give you the soft and give you the touch. I mean, that's the first thing that jumped out to me when I watched Lamar last year. It's like, listen, he can deliver that little seam rainbow. He's great at it.

He is, I mean, you can't get past it, man. He is accurate. It is instinctive. He had kind of funky mechanics, I thought, out of college, but he's cleaned most of those up. He's getting better as a thrower. Joy Taylor, with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing. So Mike Braybowl is preparing his team to take on the dynamic Ravens offense, that you were just talking about. This Saturday, Lamar Jackson has led their electrifying rushing attack, and Brable had a pretty funny response when he was asked how to stop him. Other than try to tie his shoelaces together, I mean, not many people have had success. We'll have to prepare and try to get our players as ready as possible,

defend not only him, but Mark Engram and then Edwards. It's impressive what they've done. Now, the Titans' rushing game is nothing to shy away from either. Henry was unbelievable and unstoppable against the Patriots. Nice. And 34 carries for 182 yards and touchdown 5.4 yards per carry. How much does he weigh? Because he is a house.

He looks like he weighs 240 pounds. And he, Derek Henry is one of those guys. If he gets to the second line, Joy, cornerbacks are like, eh, not sure. 247 pounds? Yeah, I'm sorry. But he wrote. 6.3, 247. I mean, when you watch Derek Henry, you can see, Joy, when he gets through the first line.

Yeah, that's right. And it's safeties and corners. Like, they're all looking around like, ah. I wouldn't want to be in that position. No. But Lamar Jackson and Mark Engram have been incredible all season. The Mark Engram thing is kind of interesting, though, because he does have a lingering calf injury.

Harbaugh is not given a full report on him yet. We're probably not going to find out until Saturday. Something to pay attention to. But the Ravens are nine and a half point favorites against the Titans. You like the Ravens, according to Pax bet nine and a half points? I like the Niners. I like the Ravens. I like the Chiefs to win convincingly.

Seattle, Green Bay, I just, I'm done betting against Seattle. I have no idea. I just stay, I wouldn't bet that game. I think Kansas City and Baltimore, I don't think you, I think their defenses right now are as good as their offenses.

I think Kansas City's defense, something happened about week 12, it is Big Boy football. I don't think that the Ravens are going to have any rust per se. I don't, yeah. But I do think that was a huge, obviously. huge win for the Titans

last week. It was great for the city. It was a great franchise win. So I'm always a little weary of those big emotional wins like the Vikings. What happens the next week? Right. Like, are you going to be able to get up that way again? Totally agree. Far superior situation than what the

Patriots brought out. We said this this morning. If you go look at franchises that have a huge franchise win, they come back the next week, if they have to go on the road, and it's never the same team. Like, I don't think that is such a Did you see Clay Travis after they won? I don't think he slept for four days.

When you have a franchise win, like it is hard to go back on the road. I've seen this in college. Like you have the biggest win in the history of your program. And a week later, you can't beat the, you know, crappy team down the road. No, that said, these are pros. But I'm going to be very interested to see how the Ravens start. Because like you said earlier, there's not really a way to beat the Ravens, but the people that have beat the Ravens have done so by getting elite.

That's your best shot. So I'm interested to see how this game starts. So Tom Brady posted to Instagram today that he plans to keep playing football in 2020, but where is still the question? Well, his former teammate Drew Bledsoe got a new start with the bills after being traded by the Patriots, and he thinks that is the kind of challenge that Brady might just need. This is where it might be kind of intriguing for, you know, for Tommy. All of a sudden, you feel like a rookie again.

You know, you're in a brand new organization, you're in a new situation, new coach, new teammates. And it was kind of inspiring, honestly, to take on a new challenge in Buffalo. But, you know, different organizations do it different ways. But, you know, it may be interesting for them to go take on a new challenge. Gosh. Is it a different perspective? No, I think, listen to Drew is, I left a place I was at for 12 years. It is energizing.

It's a lot of work, but it really energizes you. You're just trying, you're meeting new people. You're doing new stuff. There's a new pressure. New challenges. Yeah, I mean, it's, I can, I still feel deep. Tommy loves being a patriot. He really loves being this franchise's quarterback.

I think he does. But every time that I think there is this undying loyalty that someone has. Anybody in any business. It evaporate. They sometimes just go ahead and surprise you. And I also think that we've gotten a little more of a glimpse into Brady's personality and, you know, his personal life over the past couple years, he's opened up a lot. you know, Tom versus Time.

And, you know, we know about some of the issues, if you will, that have gone on over the years with, I mean, obviously, Jimmy Garoppolo was a big situation. So I don't know. I just, I personally feel like he's leaving. And this is kind of part of why. Like, I think that he wants to win a championship without Bill Belichick. And I don't think it's anything about loyalty. Like, I don't think you could ever question Brady's loyalty to the Patriots. No, I mean, he's taking pay cuts.

He's all about the organization. Like, how much money is he left on the same? table? $100 million. Yeah. I don't know many people that are that loyal. Yeah. Not a lot at all. Finally, reseeding the NBA conference finalists in the playoffs has been discussed as part

of a proposal to reshape the league calendar. The plan would have the top four teams seated according to regular season record, not separated by conference in an effort to get the best matchup in the finals. But now that change is reportedly being tabled after concerns from NBA owners because teams on the coast are worried about increased travel, which could lead to competitive disadvantages and a loss of traditional conference rivalries. Can I have one opinion on this? Here's what we know in the world that we live in now, Joy, with Netflix and Hulu,

where there's a lot of good options at night now, that if you're not what I would call an urgent sport, like World Cup, Olympics, NFL, Tiger Woods Sunday at the Masters, a big fight, those are urgent. So the Netflix world is not going to penetrate that. We still love our sports when they matter. But sports played at night, and I can go to my wife. I just binge-watch seven episodes of Servant on Apple TV. The minute the football season ended, I felt like I owed my wife binge-watching for a couple nights. I still say the NBA, the product's fine.

68 regular season, first round of the playoffs. Get it down to three games. March Madness, college basketball is not close in quality to the NBA. It's not even close. It's a different sport. But March Madness rates because of urgency. You can create all these ideas, but just give me fewer NBA games, forcing me to have to watch because each one's more meaningful.

Because I'm telling you, the quality of the NBA is great. The kids are wonderful. No bad guys in the league. Yeah, you're preaching. Everything that you're saying is the truth. I mean, I do think that there's a factor of there are no villains this year. The storylines aren't as dramatic. and that is a big part of the NBA conversation.

It's just a part of the culture of the NBA. But yes, there is so many options for entertainment now, more than ever in the history of time. Especially at night. You have even mentioned your phone. There's a million different distractions that you have. It has to be more urgent. There is no grand, creative, play-in mid-season tournament thing that's going to fix this.

No. And players aren't going to buy into that anyway. Nobody wants to play a meaningless, tournament in the middle of the season. But what if you start in the season, make the games matter more. And your playoff series until you get to the conference finals, make them three. They're too long. They're two.

I mean, God, the Lakers could lose their first two games to a team in eight-seat. It doesn't matter. The issue is money, though. Like, you're going to be giving up ticket sales. Oh, God, the NBA is making a fortune on money. I'm with you. I'm with you. It's, you can't put the greed over the long-term macro situation.

That's what it is. It's not one single thing. The NFL has. all these young, great, exciting quarterbacks. There's all these amazing storylines. There's a lot of factors in it, but it all comes down to what you said, which is urgency. Yeah. Football, college, and pro is not going down.

The World Cup's not going down. Tiger Woods and a big tournament's not going down. Why? Because you've got to get to a TV and see it. It matters. NBA, shortened season, short and playoffs. Because I just went to an NBA game in Utah. It was so much fun.

Everyone is great. There's so many superstars. My family's like, how much fun was tonight? It was great. Every game is entertaining. The players are great guys. It's a wonderful product. All right.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. I took that whole segment over. I got to get this off my chest. I've been talking about this in meetings for two weeks. But you're right, though. That's all it comes down to.

Yeah, this Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV world at night. I'm a guy. I've got to give my wife some binge watching. So you make the games count and I don't go to Netflix. I go to the sport. Tiger Woods and a Masters. I'm not going to subscription TV. I'm watching, you know, the U.S. Open or the Masters with that.

You got to create urgency because that Netflix world is crushing non-urgent sports. Baseball, regular season, college basketball, regular season, hockey regular season. Just go and watch Narcos. Season 7. All right. Stanford Rout, former Chief D.B. next to Hurd. 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.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

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Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

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Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Stanford Rout, former NFL DB, seven years in Oakland, played for Kansas City and Houston two, drafted by the Radas who are moving to Las Vegas. Let's start with this, Stanford. Joe, Judge to the Giants, nobody knows who he is. You're a former player. he's going to walk into the room.

He's young. Nobody knows who he is. How do you think it plays? Man, that takes me back to 2007 when we hired Lane Kiffin as a head coach. And I remember he came over from USC. I believe he was the receivers coach. And everybody on the team that had no affiliation with University of Southern California had no idea who he was.

And so the main thing is that when you're coming into an organization, obviously as a young head coach, you have to make sure that you're authentic. You have to make sure that you're transparent because us as players, we can see it when you're trying to be something. You're not. We already know that, okay, the owner hired you. So really, you're just kind of like a puppet for him. So in a lot of ways, if he's going to win that locker room, he's got to make sure that he is authentic. Whoever he is, and nobody in America knows that except the New England Patriots players,

whoever he is, he's got to be that guy. Otherwise, players are going to be able to easily sniff that out. Okay. Similarly, here's another young guy who has experience it failed in Josh McDaniels. So how do the players, let's say Josh McDaniels gets the Cleveland job. So he failed in Denver. You know, nobody thinks he's running the team, Belichick is. Do you think he would work in Cleveland knowing that he's, would a player buy into he's failed?

And we know Belichick and Brady run the show. And not to mention, he bailed on the Indianapolis coach. Which I thought was a weird move. I think that he's going to have to make sure to go in there and be able to relate to those players. He's going to have to be able to relate to Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham, Juice Landry, Miles Garrett, David Njoku, he's going to have to be able to relate to these new age players because I remember when he signed on as the head coach for Denver, he immediately wanted to trade for Matt Castle.

And that was much to the ire of a Jay Cutler. They got off on the wrong foot right away. He also loved Tebow. Yes, exactly. He drafted Tim Tebow. in the first round. So I don't love his eye for quarterback. And by the way, he passed on Andrew Locke.

Yes, exactly. So I think that he's going to have to make sure that he relates to these players. Otherwise, they're going to go ahead. They're just going to bail on him from jump. Yeah. Stanford Rout is joining us. I want to talk about a couple of these games. Minnesota has this wildly emotional win in New Orleans.

And now they go and San Francisco is all healthy and sitting there waiting. Go to your career. think about the one or two emotional wins. Short week on the road. Can you overcome that? Sometimes teams are different five days later. I think that they can overcome it because they have a really good coach in Zimmer. I think that obviously he's been around this league for so many years.

He's going to know how to rein them in. He's going to know how to make sure to not put too much on them this week at practice because he knows that they already came off an emotional victory like you just said against the New Orleans Saints. and now they're going into a buzzsaw out there in San Francisco. I think that if Minnesota is able to get after the quarterback, they're able to get after Garoppolo, put pressure on him. Like they did against Drew Breeze, able to force some turnovers,

the fumble, the interception right before the half, the Breeze should not have thrown. I do believe the Vikings have a puncher's chance at taking down the 49ers because when you look at San Francisco over the last several weeks to end the season, yeah, they're winning games, but they're winning them very close. They're winning them very ugly. You see the loss against the Arizona Cardinals I'm sorry, the Atlanta Falcons, a few weeks right before the season ended,

that actually shows that, you know what, this team, they can be beaten and they are vulnerable in certain areas. Let's go to the Titans again, a franchise changing win for Tennessee. Oh, yes. All right, here we go to Rest at Baltimore. Do you give them a puncher's chance? I give them a puncher's chance because of Derek Henry, because of that run game.

If they're able to control the clock, maybe go ahead, get a, turnover early, be able to swing field position in the punt kicking game, things like that. I do believe they have a shot, but I believe that they're going to have to make sure, like Vrable said, that the Baltimore Ravens are playing from behind. To me, that's the game. Yes, because then you're putting Baltimore one-dimensional. Now they can't just go ahead and lean on the run game. Lamar's got to get back there.

He's got to throw it on first, second, and third down. Rather it be just running on first and second down. On third down, it's maybe third and four. that way he can go ahead and just scramble if the windows are closed. So I do believe that there's a recipe. There's a formula to beat the Baltimore Ravens, but you're going to have to make sure that you stick to it all the way to the endth degree. Kansas City, a team and an organization you respect sitting there waiting.

They get now the Texans who are talented but goofy, hard to get your arms around, mistake prone. It's flag football at times to win the game. Kansas City's defense played great in the last month. Why? What happened? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. Steve Spagnola, obviously, we know that he's won Super Bowl.

So obviously going back to his days with the New York Giants. So he obviously has the experience. And I'm just guessing that probably Kansas City finally started coming together. They had some new players, obviously. You got Terrin Matthew. Frank Clark. Frank Clark coming over. So I think that they're finally jelling together, becoming more cohesive.

Does it Stanford take? go back to your career. I've had players talk about this. Even if you're talented, a defense is at its best when you're not thinking. How long did it take you to adapt a new defensive system? Oh, wow. It would take usually

probably the latter part of the season just to adapt to a new defense because just like to your point, you've got to stop thinking. You've got to just be able to react. And when it's something brand new, you're thinking out there. So if you're somebody who runs, let's say, a 4-340, well, if you're

thinking you're going to run more likely a four, five, or a four, six because you're not able to actually play fast because you don't trust it all the way. Just like offensive coordinator with a new quarterback, he's got to actually be able to understand the offense where he knows like the back of his hand. Otherwise, you're going to be out there thinking, and that's why I think that Ken City's finally coming together. And then more importantly, I think that they're trusting each other because so much on defense is if I'm the corner, I got to trust that my safety has me over the top.

Because if he doesn't, and I don't trust it, I don't trust it. I'm going to play more so for the deep ball rather than underneath because I don't trust in my safety is going to be there and vice versa. Okay, finally, I'm done doubt in Seattle. They are an unbelievable road team. And I think a lot of it's just you got a veteran coach and a superstar quarterback. I don't remember a team that is this good on the road. I think they're 17 and 4 in their last 21 games in the Eastern Time Zone. Your thoughts about facing a rested Green Bay team?

Oh, man. Because Seattle has Russell Wilson, because they have a Pete Carroll, I give them a great amount of confidence in actually going to the frozen tundra up there in Lambeau Field because believe me, that's a tough place to play. I played there twice in my career in December, not in January, but it's a tough place to play. Like why? Just the sheer cold of it. Yeah, it's the cold. Obviously, both times that I went to go play Green Bay, they had a Hall of Fame quarterback and Aaron Rod. and before there was Brett Farb, so that doesn't make things any easier.

But because Seattle, much like I believe with Deshaun Watson with the Houston Texans, Russell Wilson is able to win games and make plays. And you really don't even know why. You just know that he's good and he seems to always make the right play. He seems to always make the right decision. And whenever you have a guy like that on your team to be able to be without, who is it, ProSise, Carson, Penny, and now you're back to Marshawn Lynch, not beast mode Marshawn Lynch, an older Marshawn Lynch, who can still get it done,

but not the same player that he once was. And when you just see the amount of injuries being without Dwayne Brown, their left tackle and still being able to get it done, that right there just speaks to the greatness of a Russell Wilson, being able to put the team on his back and take them to victory. Yeah. Stanford route, former NFLDB, a lot of years with the Raiders who are, of course, moving to Vegas. We appreciate that.

Folks, go to mDrive for Men.com. the code is heard, gets you 20% off your first month. Walgreens, right, it has it too. Stanford, great seeing you. Joe Thomas, who's going to be a first ballot hall of famer next hour of the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Cold and flu season here.

Check it out. Top of the list. Vic Synex nasal spray. Works within seconds, works up to 12 hours. Vic Synex nasal spray use as directed. Joe Thomas, 11 years in the NFL 10 times an all pro at left tackle. He's a first ballot hall of famer. that's going to happen very soon. He's also on the NFL network. The Tomahawk show by Uninterrupted with

Andrew Hawkins, super smart guy, and he loves him some Cleveland. I thought he was a perfect guy today because although he was remarkable and stable, he was often surrounded by the chaos, which has come to sort of define Cleveland. And as I said earlier, until the owner becomes less impulsive and the quarterback grows up, I don't think you can solve the current Cleveland situation. Now, I do think Baker is young and could grow up. And I do think Jimmy Haslam is smart and may get more patient. But I think there's an impulsiveness between the owner

and the quarterback that right now is holding the franchise back, regardless of who the coach is. And with that via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Joe Thomas, the all-pro. Let's start with this. You had a lot of different coaches. And I understand the, let's go to New England. They're the gold standard.

Let's pull some New England stuff over. But that stuff didn't work in Cleveland. So let's go back to the Mangini and the Romeo Cronel. They brought some New England in. Why did it not work, Joe? Well, the first thing that happens why it didn't work was because we didn't have as much talent as we needed to be able to succeed. But when I think back to Eric Mangini specifically, the one thing that I think he could

have done better as a head coach is he tried to just replicate the things that worked in New England. And you see that so often with the Bill Belichick disciples. You need to become your own person. And I think that's why most guys that have success as head coaches have worked for a lot of different head coaches before they got their opportunity to be a head coach so that you have this broad base of experience to pull from when you become a head coach. Because when you're sitting there as a coordinator or as an assistant, you're thinking, wow, I really like the things that my head coach does in this situation. Or maybe I don't love the things that he does in this other situation. When I get the opportunity, this is how I'm going to be.

So then you find out how I become the best version of myself. whereas Eric Mangini and some of the other guys that haven't had success coming from the Belichick system. All they know is Belichick. So what do they do? They just try to become Belichick. Now, let's talk about Josh McDaniels. Now, he did go to Denver, but he could be abrasive. I mean, let's be honest.

He didn't have a great eye for quarterback talent. He loved Tebow. And I think if I recall, he wasn't into Cutler at all who actually is very talented. So my question is, There is, I said earlier, Joe, there's a little Lane Kiffin where I get big IQ, but sometimes you can question EQ, the emotional ability to connect with young men. Does Josh McDaniel, does that fit in Cleveland? Well, I think he fits on a lot of different levels.

But I think you are right with the emotional side of things. To be able to connect with a bunch of 22, 23, 25-year-olds in the modern NFL, which is skewed younger right now, you have to have that emotional IQ and understand that these guys have emotions. They are growing up. They are trying to learn how to mature. And so, well, on one hand, you want to be disciplined and tough. And abrasive is not always a bad thing because a lot of times it does raise the pressure and gets the most out of players. You can't just have the New England mantra of let's totally remove emotion from the equation whatsoever and just focus on the minutia of what my job is because it doesn't always play with everybody, especially when you're trying to

build that winning culture. And so for me, the big question if I sat down with Josh McDaniels is, what did you learn from your first time as a head coach in Denver? Because it didn't work out. You tried to just replicate Bill Belichick. How have, even though what you did is after you left Denver, gone back and worked for Bill Belichick, how have you learned anything and how are you going to be a better head coach, a better version of yourself?

And how do you become your own person as a head coach rather than just trying to replicate what your mentor was? Yeah. I know I'm not particularly beloved in Cleveland. And I didn't like the Freddie Kitchen's hire. I was not a fan of Dorsey. and Baker wears me out. But I do think

Baker's impulsiveness can be corrected. I don't think he's a lost cause, but I do think whoever is there is going to have a real short leash. They're not going to, you know, I don't think Kevin Stefansky or Josh McDaniels

is going to sit through nonsense for two years. Is some of my criticism on Baker Fair that he just needs to grow up? This is a big boy job. Well, I think one of the reasons they're looking at the guys that they're looking at right now to be head coaches because they understand that right now,

Baker is your franchise. He's your franchise quarterback. He's got tons of talent, but he does need somebody to be able to come in there to instill some discipline, to instill some professionalism, because as a quarterback, you are the face of the franchise.

So what you say and do is a reflection not only on yourself, but all of your teammates and the entire franchise. And when you're in a city that's as crazed for football as Cleveland is, you're a reflection of the whole city. So maybe what you said at Oklahoma or what you used to say and get away with is okay. It was funny. But now that you are in this situation that you're sitting in this throne, the expectations have changed and bringing in a guy like a Josh McDaniels or Kevin Stefansky or Robert Sala or some of these other names, they're going to come in and instill that

discipline. They're going to be tough. Baker might not like them all the time, but after going through the Freddie Kitchens experience, which was, hey, let's hire Baker's buddy. We've seen that to get the most out of Baker, you've got to put pressure on them. You got to put him in difficult situations. You might not always be best friends, but that's what he needs because he's a competitive person that has a chip on his shoulder, and he performs at his best when people count him out and they give him difficult situations that he has to handle and has to grow from. Yeah, Pete Carrolosa says that. What you say as an assistant coach and what you say when you're the head coach, it will, it will create different waves, and the same thing goes for quarterback. You can say things as a wide receiver. Nobody cares.

You say it as a quarterback. It's on the, you know, it's the lead headline of the Cleveland plane dealer. I also want to ask you about Mike McCarthy to Dallas. So again, you've had a lot of coaching experience. The thing I worry about Mike McCarthy is his coaching DNA at his core, he didn't develop great running games. He was never 13 years, never top 10 in rush attempts. Can coaches change?

Can Mike change? What have you seen in your over decade in the NFL? I appreciate how you put it. you said I had a lot of coaching experience rather than, hey, you got five coaches fired. But no, I think the reason Mike McCarthy got fired in Green Bay was because his offenses got stale, right? He was always relying on the matchups and the passing game. And it worked for a long time. And so when things are working, you're more likely not to change.

And so having that year off, I think he must have been very persuasive with Jerry Jones and helped them understand, look, I had a chance to step away. And a lot of times you have to remove yourself from a situation before you're, able to honestly and openly evaluate the job that you did and what are the things that you can do better the next time. And so by all accounts, Mike McCarthy had some time away. He was able to study how the NFL has evolved since he first took over in Green Bay. And he's going to be a better version of himself. And I think the report is today that Kellan Moore is going to be his offensive coordinator. He's going to see things differently. He's going to have different concepts.

And as long as those guys are able to form a good partnership, that could bring out the best in both of them to be able to give Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense the best version of two really good offensive minds that could really take that team to the next level. Listen, you're as good a left tackle. You and Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden, as we have seen in 20 years in the NFL, you played at a high level. But then you decided it, and you, by the way, you played 10,363 straight snaps. You could have kept playing.

But you were able to go, listen, nice, clean package, sea crest out, I'm done. And you're very happy with it. and you've done a great job. I want you to take me into the mind of Tom Brady, who has this aspirational, willful, relentless pursuit and love of football. So we know he's going to play again. He went to his Instagram. But let me ask you this.

It's different. You and Tom play at a different level. Take me to what he could be thinking about leaving New England and changing the legacy. Did you ever think about leaving Cleveland? Does it matter? What goes through the mind of a great football? player. When you have everything, you got your money, you've got your career, the leaving part. Well, that's always the hardest question for any athlete. And the longer you're around, the longer

you play in the NFL, the more it becomes a part of you. It becomes the threads in your fabric of who you are. You identify as a quarterback or as a left tackle. And saying that I want to become somebody else, which is what happens when you retire, is really hard. And it's always hard to know when the right time is for me. I had a really bad, knee. I've got a bad left knee. So I could feel myself getting to the level where I couldn't practice anymore. And I knew it was starting to affect how I could play on the field. And so for me, I never wanted to be the guy that people had to make excuses for on the field. As a left tackle, it's my job to keep my quarterback from being sawn in half on every single play. And so I knew that

I needed to be at my best. And if I couldn't be at my best, I was putting other people in danger. I never wanted people to make excuses and say, well, he used to be a great player, but now he's just old and beat up. And He's hanging on and well, he might be better than what we can get out there, but he's just not the same guy. I didn't want to do that. And so the question for Tom is, how long is he willing to stretch it out? Because we know that he can be one of the best 64 quarterbacks in the NFL for probably a lot longer than five years, because he still has the ability for the most part. And it's not about ability.

Can he be one of those 64 guys that can be in the too deep in the NFL? It's about at what level do I want to say, this is not acceptable anymore and I need to walk away? because I will say this, Peyton Manning, he stretched it out. He won a Super Bowl at the end of his career in Denver, but people still remember those balls floating in the air, the flutter it passes, and how he needed a great team around him to kind of carry him to win the Super Bowl. And I think that hurt his legacy a little bit.

The conversation was always who was better, Brady or Manning. And until the end of Manning's career, it was really close. But we remember how he finished in Denver and how he didn't have it the way he used to. And you wonder if I'm Tom Brady, do I want to tarnish my legacy by trying to hang on and go somewhere else? Or am I happy with all the things that I've done and I'm ready to maybe say, okay, it's either time to walk away as in New England. Walk out when I still feel like I'm playing at my best. Or do I want to hang on and try to do it again in Cleveland?

Yeah. Well, yeah. Hey, by the way, gut feeling 30 seconds here. Who's the next coach of the Brown? What's your gut feeling? What are you hearing? So I'm hearing that there's a few names they really like. but I just have this feeling that McDaniels is that guy that they really like,

that they think personality-wise he fits with what Baker needs, which is that tough, discipline, smart approach, that professionalism. And he brings experience, which I think for the Hasms was something after having Freddie Kitchens, they want. They want a guy that sat in that seat that understands what it was like being a head coach, and they can see those icebergs ahead, whereas when you're in their first time, there's a lot of things that you don't even know that you don't know. Yeah, that's a great point.

He's hit a few of those. Joe Thomas, good to see anybody. Thank you so much. And by the way, it's on the NFL network. You can follow them on Twitter at Joe Thomas 73. Thanks, bud. Thanks for having me on, Colin. You bet.

Weather can be unpredictable on the road. Go to Michelin Endurance X-D Silicon Wiper Blades, real-world proven extreme weather performer. Two times longer than other blades, available only at Walmart. Michelin. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, as he just mentioned, Patriots, Offensive Coordinator, Josh McDaniels, is a top candidate for the Brown's head coaching job. The next head coach in Cleveland could also have a say in the GM, and McDaniels has some ideas if he gets the job. Mary Kay Cabot is reporting.

McDaniels has three recommendations for the GM. One top choice would be Nick Casario, who's been the Patriots director of player personnel since 2008, and he would also recommend either Scott Pioli or Dave Ziegler, who have both also worked with McDaniels. Nick Casario's contract with the Patriots expired after 2019 season. Oh. So he's available.

They got a lot of those expiring contracts in New England. Don't they, though? Yeah, they do. A lot of them. You end up all at the same time. Coaches, players, Matt Slater, Dante Scarnacki is post-70.

It's very interesting. Maybe it's time for a reboot. I do think that this is looking more and more like it's, it's looking like it's trending towards Josh McDaniels. Obviously, there's a lot that could happen, and a lot of surprises kind of have popped up throughout this. open all the openings at the coaching positions in the NFL that we've had obviously Matt rule with the seven-year contract and now Joe judge or the giant so one of the other names that's

out there could end up getting this job but it's as McDaniels seems to be the drumbeat here I think we're kind of both on the same page with McDaniels I don't really know what to expect with him I don't know what to expect with anyone at the Browns but we've seen a little bit with McDaniels and it's not all been great sometimes the answer is Let me watch it for a while. The thing with the Browns is I don't want to watch it anymore. Like if it's not trending in a positive direction, I really don't have a lot of more energy to put towards.

Okay, now they're, I mean, obviously they're going to basically be rebuilding a culture. Like if they're starting over again, they have all the pieces in place. Obviously, they have the quarterback. They have Odell. They have Drivers Landry. They have Nick Chubbs. It's not like they don't have the players. So you're not rebuilding in that sense.

But they have no culture. They have no direction. They have no GM. They have no head coach. So they are starting all the way over from the top down, aside from the owners, obviously. So what are we watching? We're going to sit back and see if Josh McDaniels is really that guy. Well, it's funny when I used to cover boxing more, there's the old saying,

styles make fights. So sometimes, like I knew Connor McGregor could not beat Mayweather. Like I knew that. But there are a lot of times I'll watch a fight and I'm like, like Thurman Pacchio. After about two rounds, I'm like, oh, oh, Paciow is just content. completely manipulating the ring. He's landing four punches to Thurman's one. With Josh McDaniels, I'm like, can I watch it for a year?

Their schedule won't be as tough, and we know he's better than Freddie Kitchens. So that tells me they're going to win more than six games. But Baltimore could be, still be great. Big Ben comes back, and Cincinnati may get Joe Burrow or Tua. So it's one of those, if they got Josh McDaniels, I'm absolutely sure two things. The schedule can't be any tougher, and it's better than Freddie Kitchens. That I know. Right.

That's better than six weeks. But what we don't know is if they're going to give Josh McDaniels more than a year and a half because it's Cleveland. They have to. I mean, at this point, it's really... Do they? You would think. I know you would think. But what evidence do we have to support that?

Billionaires have to have some level of self-awareness. He's a billionaire. Jimmy Haslam's a billionaire. He just don't fall into that. It's like he earned it. It wasn't like given to him. He's got to have some self-awareness from business. I mean, you are one of the greatest sports broadcasters of all time.

Certainly. Considerable. You buy a makeup company. Does that make you an excellent makeup artist? Or would you hire excellent makeup artists to run that company and make those decisions? Your first, I think many would argue with your first statement. Secondly, I would not wouldn't know what I'm doing. I would hire you and say, tell me about makeup. Yeah, and I wouldn't be the best hire.

And I would tell you to hire someone who knows a little bit more about it. So the Ravens had a buy last week and many of their key players rested week 17 after locking up the top seed in the AFC. But the players are not worried about being rusty. Lamar Jackson said he's good to go. And Earl Thomas stressed the importance of practice this week. One player missing from practice though yesterday was running back Mark Ingram. He strained his calf in week 16. John Harbaugh would not comment on his status for Saturday's game. We likely won't find out until way later in the week.

If Mark Ingram is going to be 100% for this game. They're going to win. you just know they're going to win. Yes, I do feel like the Ravens are going to win. But I think that how healthy Mark Ingram is. I'll make a deal. Remember the Clemson game? I bet a lot of money.

Did I ever say how much I bet? You didn't say to the public. I know how much you bet. There's a lot. I will bet all of it on Baltimore this weekend. Because I've still never spent my money. And the points? Just the win straight up, nine-off.

Yep, Baltimore wins by over nine and a half. I'm going to take my Clemson winnings. That's how good I feel about. Baltimore. And I'm going to take it. That's a lot of winnings. So I'm going to take it. And this is a, this is not a small amount of money. You know how much it is. And I don't bet gigantic. I bet a hundred bucks on football games. I went.

Even the way Derek Henry ran last week. You cannot win the biggest game in your franchise in 10 years. I mean, I tend to agree with you. And then short week it, you know, because Baltimore's had two weeks. I think Baltimore's going to blow them out. Blow them out. I think so too. I am really interested to see how.

this game starts though. Okay, and if I win this bet, I'll have so much money, I'll buy presents for people. Okay. Who's people? Tuey, you got to get that Houston Texans team straightened out. You may not get one. Don't you still owe you responsible for that mess down there. Did he ever give you that TV?

I do have the TV. I bought him a TV. That was a long time ago. Yeah. Finally, Mike McCarthy will be officially introduced as the Cowboys head coach today, and he's expected to keep the team's young offensive coordinator, Kellyn Moore. I want to watch that president. He will stay with the Cowboys for second season.

Yes, I, I, I, it will, yes, I want to see what. What does he look like in a cowboy gear? Yeah. I'm really excited for that. That's an interesting press conference. Listen, I really like this higher. I'm, I'm not as terrified of it as everyone else is, I think, but I also think it just depends on if Jerry Jones lets McCarthy do what he does, which is coach football.

Yeah. And everything we were just talking about. You know what, with Dallas, I'm not anti- Jason Garrett. I'm just, I want a new voice. I want a new story. It's very similar to why Mike McCarthy left Green Bay. Sometimes things just get stale. Yeah, I just want a new story with the Cowboys.

Garrett felt like it's repetitive. We're getting to the same thing. I've seen Garrett Dack. Like, give me a new guy. Give me a new voice. Are you okay with them keeping Kellynne Moore? You know, I think I need to see a little more from Kellynne Moore.

Yeah, Kellynne Moore looked a little over his skis to me against veteran defensive coordinators. First year. Young people get better. I mean, when I first took Goulet on, he was giving me hockey score. That's all you give me. Now he occasionally covers the NFL. He's grown a lot.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line. Chris Haynes is going to stop. We haven't talked to NBA a lot because the NFL season's been so great. But there's a lot of NBA topics. Number one, Anthony Davis gets hurt.

MRI this morning. It's clean. We'll talk to Chris Haynes about some NBA stuff. I still think the Kauai Leonard won't plan back to backers is strange. But the Lakers can't get past the clippers. I think Utah is sitting there waiting in the wings. Watch out at the trading deadline for the Utah Jazz. Talk about all that stuff coming up next.

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. Want to hear something amazing? Discover matches all the cashback you earn into the first year automatically. No limit. Go to Discover.com slash cashback match. Chris Haynes been covering the NBA. He used to cover the Warriors and then the Cavs. And now he's an insider, senior NBA insider for Yahoo Sports.

We bring him on all the time. Look at he's got those vibrant colors. Look at that. You look like you're covering the NBA, my man. And how about the Lakers? Anthony Davis hurt. MRI is clean. He's going on the road.

So here's something I heard behind the scenes. Maybe you can confirm this. Anthony gets minor injuries. But LeBron and the fellas have been pushing him this year to play through them because they're trying to build up that playoff toughness where nobody's healthy. And LeBron is really liked that Anthony. he has played through a lot of nagging injuries this year. I haven't heard that.

It wouldn't surprise me, though. That was some of the concerns that people had, you know, and trading for anti-divism. Yes, it was. His durability. You know, he would get banged in the elbow, take a few games off in New Orleans. And this game, up to this point,

he's only missed, I believe, three games this season. And he's been dealing with a shoulder issue, the whole season. The whole season. And so there might be some validity to that, Colin. changing that whole perception. And we've seen like, you know, last night, you know, they were, they were a little ticked off. They were pissed. You know, they felt like the Knicks were abusing.

Oh, the KCP fouls brutal. Yeah, that was pretty bad. That was pretty bad. But, no, I can definitely see that color. You know, it's really interesting about there's a difference between great player and makes the team better. Kairie is a great talent. Nobody disputes that. But Boston's better than this year without him.

and Brooklyn is kind of not as good as we thought they would be with him. At this point, what is Kyrie Irving? He's injury prone. He's a great individual talent. I can make an argument he can be hard to play with. Around the league, when you talk to people about Kyrie, where do they land now? I think it really hasn't changed. I think we land on Kyrie as being just one, the potent offensive weapons.

we have in this game. When he's on and healthy, he's right there with James Hardin. There's some of the most, you know, unstoppable players to guard out there, just with the individual one-on-one skills. With all that being said, Harden never gets hurt.

He never gets hurt, yes. I'm talking, you know, clearly just strictly on his offense. But with all that being said, up to this point, the only way to truly maximize Kyrie Irvin's gifts is you have to have a great team surrounded around him to do all the dirty things. He's not going to, he hasn't shown up to this point that he makes players better.

But like LeBron, LeBron did all of that work. Then they had other defensive weapons out there to do that thing. And then you let Kyrie Irvin, give him the ball to them score. Yes. No, I think that's fair. As long as you identify, he's more Robin than Batman. Listen, we're going to put you on a wing, and there are going to be days we ask you, take the quarter over.

Yeah. But don't ask him to be a stopper. Don't ask him to, that's not who he is. Not everybody can be the president. I will say I think it's too young. He's too young of a player to just limit him to being Robin right now. I think he has Batman tendencies at times, but it's just up to this point maturity level or whatever it may be.

He just hasn't gotten to that point. Luca Donzich is a remarkable player. He's also incredibly young. Could I make the argument? Uh-oh. He's the best 20-year-old, Olegs ever had. he's a baby. He can't legally drink in 50 states.

He's 20 years old, Chris. Yes. Look, the numbers he's putting up is fantastic. Could you make an argument? You can mention him in the argument. I would say this, Chris. His offensive game is more developed than LeBron. He's maybe not as good as LeBron, but offensively, Chris.

He is elite at 20 today. He is, but the style of play and how you're able to play the game. Fair. You have to take that in consideration as well. I still would throw Magic Johnson and LeBron James up there. It's the top two.

Magic was 19. Yeah. Are you surprised how good Luca is? Oh, hell yeah. Can I say that? Yeah. Okay. Hell yeah.

Even if you couldn't, you did. So it's too late, Chris. No, I mean, I didn't see this. He is 28 a game for the rest, for another 15 years if he wants to be. If you look at the way he plays, you know, he doesn't overpower. you with physicalness.

He doesn't have the lightning quick step. And so you just look at his frame and just look at the way he moves. He was like, how is he getting this done? He's just so crafty. He plays angles well. He knows how to create a shot. The step back is, you know, it's like James Hardin. It's unguarable.

You can't get to it. And he's six, six, seven, six eight. Listen, I grew up with George Gervin. George couldn't jump. George was, it was literally 175 pounds. There are dudes in this sport. Chris, you see him at the Y. Yeah, I see.

They score. Alex English. I grew up with Alex English. Couldn't jump above my phone. I mean, Alex English was 24 a night. Kiki Vanaway. Yeah, yeah.

So some guys just play the angles, know their body. I'm going to take you a word for it because all those guys are before my time. Let me tell you something. I know what you're saying. Alex English in the 70s was 26 a night in Denver. He was great.

Okay, so when we look, it's funny about this. I'm like everybody else. I want to see Zion. But here's what's interesting. The Pelicans are bait. They're treading water without Zion. So A is he going to play?

And are you surprised? They're okay. They're not that far out of the eight spot. He's going to play out. I am surprised of what New Orleans is doing. But I'm surprised at the Western Conference in general. Usually the Western Conference is the Power Conference. But if you look at the overall standings compared to East of the West,

East is better this year. And that's why New Orleans is being able to stay in the hunt. Portland is a team that's falling off. and they're still in the hunt for that. Yeah, they're struggling. They need. They're two Damien Lillard dependent. I agree with you 100%.

I went and watched them play in Utah. If he doesn't get hot for about a five-minute stretch, they get blown out by 15. I agree with you 100%. They have to make a move. But to your point about New Orleans, like Zion is going to be back. And they're going to be in contention for most of the years.

You know, Alvin Gentry has done a great job. But Brandon Ingram, we got to give him props too. He's held down to fort. All right. All right. All right. You put me on the spot, Colin. Let's go.

I want to see him. Now today, best players. Okay, who's your number one? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not giving a number one. You're not doing that to me. I'm going to give you five, Colin. Okay, but it seems like the first guy comes first.

I'm going to give you LeBron. Yeah. I'm going to give you Kauai. This is no order. I'm going to give you James Hardin. I'm going to give you Janice Antacupo, and I'm going to give you. I'm missing one more. Hardin, Janice, Kauai.

Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis. Yeah, I don't have a problem with any of that. I totally agree with you. Are you throwing Luca in there? No, not yet. No, no, these are the five best players. That's what I was concerned about.

By the way, they all have something. I think Kauai Leonard is the best two-way player. James is the best ISO player. Yonis is the most impactful defensive player. Shout out, though, I'll tell you somebody, Rudy Gobert gets no love in this league. I like that, Colin. Let me tell you something.

Thank you. Rudy Gobert, every time NBA always has an underrated player. I go to watch a jazz game, and I remember I text to my buddies. Forget the 18 points. Forget the 4 blocks and the 11 rebounds. He literally changes every other shot down the floor. When the shot clock's running out for the jazz, they just throw it up. And he either dunks it, tips it, keeps it alive.

No, I think your top 5 is right. Everybody there offers something. Colin, thank you for mentioning Rudy Gobert because I get into an ongoing argument with Gary Payton, who doesn't think he's that good defensively saying he wouldn't have played well in his day and time. No, no. Respect Rudy Gobert. deserves some respect and he deserves to make the all-star teams. Okay, if we acknowledge Lakers, Clippers, best two teams in the league, I think that.

Who's your three? Milwaukee. All right, that's fair. Who's your four? Boston, maybe. All right. I don't know if I buy Boston. There's a gap.

I think it goes too great. Milwaukee very good. And I want to see what Utah does at the trade deadline. They could use another athlete on the perimeter. Jordan Clarkson helps a little. Chris Haynes, FS1, Yahoo Sports. See you tomorrow. Speak for yourself next. It's the hurt. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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