The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Urban Meyer, Dez Bryant, Khalil Mack, and running QBs

Episode Date: August 23, 2018

Colin discusses why nobody wants FA WR Dez Bryant, the New York Jets interests in Oakland Raiders DE Khalil Mack, the suspension of Ohio State University HC Urban Meyer, and why running QBs need to learn how to play in the pocket. Guests include Ben Volin, Lane Kiffin, Jarrett Bell, and T. J. Houshmandzadeh.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Joy Taylor out, Jamie Maggio, again checking in with us today. I go out to the dinner last night with my wife. I look over at the table next to me, and there's Jamie. Jamie, what are you doing?

You can't get rid of me, Colin. Well, it's been great to have you on the show yesterday today, today. And we have a lot of ground to cover today. So just don't go anywhere for at least the next hour. We got a lot of ground to cover today. Here's the downside. And there are not that many downsides to what I'm going to talk about. The downside to getting a really good job or a very public job or a high-profile job.

If you make a mistake, it gets magnified. Everybody sees it. Okay. That's the downside to working at a public place. being a mayor, you know, being in a small town, being the, being the principal in a small town. One little mistake magnified. So when you give somebody a job like that, you got to make sure they're prepared for it. Not just the work, but the magnification of any mistake they make.

Des Bryant is the all-time leading Dallas Cowboy touchdown leader. Not Michael Irvin, not Jay Novichick, not Alvin Harper, not bullet Bob Hayes. You know how many great receivers the Cowboys have had? Des Bryant's the number one all-time touchdown leader for the Cowboys at Wide Receiver. All-time. Cleveland said no thank you. The Patriots cut Kenny Britt yesterday.

They said, no, we're desperate for a wide receiver. We don't want him. He's the Dallas Cowboys, all-time leading receiver. Still can play. But every tantrum he ever had was on national television. there's a rule in the NFL. People inside the league called the Dallas Cowboy Rule that you can only put a team on national TV and prime time like six times

because otherwise everybody would always put the Cowboys on. They call it the Dallas Cowboy Rule. Every network, Fox, NBC, CBS, we would all put the Cowboys in our primetime late-night game every single week. But you can't. The rule was instituted to protect the Dallas Cowboys. So they're not playing the late game every week. And they're not doing that to their fan base, which, you know, has work Monday.

And you're making them go to a game at 8 o'clock. As it is, they're on primetime maximum number of games. If Des plays for the Tennessee Titans, let's be honest. If it wasn't for the Red Zone channel, nobody outside of Nashville never watched the Tennessee Titans. Their first five games were on at 1 o'clock Eastern, 10 in the morning out west. You know that 1 o'clock game? Tennessee Jacksonville, the one you've never watched ever, unless you live in Nashville. they play that twice a year.

They play indie twice a year. If it wasn't for Peyton Manning, you wouldn't even watch that division. Right? So if Des Bryant plays for them, nobody cares. Think about this. Tony Romo, when I say Tony Romo, your first thought overwhelmingly, and it's unfair, is that guy threw so many picks in the fourth quarter.

Tony Romo has the second best past rating in the history of the NFL in the fourth quarter. He's the second best fourth quarter quarterback passer rating in the history of the league. But all his interceptions were on television because the Cowboys are always the most watch game on television. That's the reality of what is happening to Des Bryant. there's only three quarterbacks in league history who have ever had a higher passer rating than Tony Romo. The all-time leader for touchdown receptions for the Cowboys is not Drew Pearson.

It is not T.O. It is not Bullet Bob Hayes. It is not Jay Novichick. It is not Jason Witten. It is not Michael Irvin. It's Des Bryant. And the Cleveland Browns, desperate for players, said, no, thank you. And the New England patriots who cut Kenny Britt, I mean, they're down to throwing to stuffed animals at this point. I don't know. They said, no, thank you. Be very careful about taking a high profile job or hiring somebody for a high profile job.

Because any little tantrum, any little mistake will be magnified. Let me shift gears to this. I don't think I'm an overly aggressive guy physically. I bungee jumped, but I'd never jump out of a plane. And people say, Colin,

you've moved all over the country. You must be aggressive. Not really. I usually stay at places for a while and then, you know, maybe move after seven to ten years. I don't think my DNA is like super hyper aggressive. I don't like jumping off bridges,

jumping out of planes. I'm not a motorcycle guy. I've been on them as a kid. but I don't want to get banged up. But there are times you got to go for it. In the NFL, I think you should watch what you spend, mostly stay away from free agents, with one exception. That's when you have a really, really, really good quarterback

in the first three to four years of his contract, and you're not paying him anything. In the NFL, the smart GMs go for. for it. The Rams, the Eagles, Kansas City. It's very rare. It happens to about one or two teams in the league every year. Oh, this young quarterback's good enough to play now, and we're paying him nothing. If you're paying your quarterback under like $10 million a year, Rams, Jared Gough, in that ballpark, then you go get Indomac and Sue. You go out and get Brandon Cooks. When Philadelphia is only paying Carson Wentz that, you go go.

get Michael Bennett. You go get whoever you got to get. The New York Jets this morning are in discussions with the Raiders for Khalil Mack. The New York Jets have Sam Darnold. Go get Khalil Mack. This is what the good teams do. If you have a young guy good enough to start now, remember the NFL is very unique. It doesn't take 10, 12, you. years to go from the outhouse to the penthouse. They've got an elite safety already. They've got an elite corner. Trumane Johnson. They went and got him from the Rams.

Leonard Williams, an elite defensive lineman. Jamal Adams, an elite safety. But they were 28th in sacks. You get Khalil Mack. You've got a Pro Bowl level guide defensive line, pass rush, corner and safety. And a very good defensive head coach. Now with Sam Darnold, you trade Teddy Bridgewater. the picks you have to give up to get Khalil Mack, you get back trading Teddy Bridgewater for picks.

And then next year you recruit the hell out of the offensive line in the draft. You got to go for it. And I'm not always a go-for-it guy. There are times in my life that I've been very cautious physically, very cautious professionally. And in the NFL, I'm not a big believer in big splashy free agent signings. But there is a go-for-it time in the NFL. And if you're the Jets,

Never forget, Andrew Luck's first three years. Just like Sam Darnold, they had a bad all line, no running backs, weak tight ends, and marginal wide receivers. Yet, he was 22 and 1 when the Colts kept people under 20 points. This jet defense is not bad, and with Khalil Mack is pretty good. They'll solve their one defensive problem. It's pretty good. Then you got the franchise quarterback, you got the defensive head coach, You got the defensive personnel in every unit.

Then you go out and you solve the offensive line. Because you got six draft picks next year. More if you trade Teddy Bridgewater potentially. So this is one of those moments in the NFL. This is why I've been critical of the Cowboys on this. Dak Prescott, you're not paying him anything, man. You've got to go out now and spend some money on a big time safety or a big time wide receiver. I'd make that argument.

You're the Jets. The story is this morning. They're talking to the Raiders. about Khalil Mack, go get him, give up some picks, get him back with Teddy Bridgewater. This is not baseball. It's not the NBA. When you're bad and you don't have a star, like Memphis right now, that rebuilds six years minimum. You're not getting free agents.

That rebuild in Memphis, Orlando, those are five of Detroit Pistons, six, seven-year rebuilds. It doesn't work that way in the NFL. Once you get the quarterback right and you already have one side of the ball, which is close, jets and defense, and I can make it elite. with one guy, get it done. Trade Teddy. Maybe with Teddy you get an offensive lineman and a pick. The NFL's, this is why the NFL is great.

It gives fans hope. Even Cleveland right now, they get Tyrod Taylor, draft Baker, make a move for Jarvis Landry. They're going to go from 0 and 16. A lot of people think they're going to be 8 and 8. I don't think that's crazy. I got them at 6 and 10, but I don't think 8 and 8's crazy. Jets, this is your moment.

It is the NFL's go for it stage. You got a kid that's good enough to start. He'll be spotty. He'll have issues. He'll be choppy. He's good enough to start. Solidify your defense. Go get a star.

This is what the Eagles will do. This is what the Rams. This is what Kansas City. This is what they do. The smart teams do this. Coming up next, Ohio State Urban Meyer. Why in the world would anybody be surprised with the outcome? And what happened in Ohio State speaks to all of us.

And we've all done what Ohio State did. That's coming up. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of terms. Dealer price, list price invoice. Here's what not. Three grand off MSRP on average. Truecar.com.

Check out their true price. So yesterday, as predicted on this show, as I predicted on Twitter, Urban Meyer would keep his job. There would be a brief suspension. The media would freak out. out and Ohio State will go on to win a bunch of games. Obviously, he was going to keep his job. Folks, we all do this. We protect people who take care of us.

And if you're really good at your job, you get away with more. You just do. Urban Meyer's really good at his job. He's 73 and 8 at Ohio State. He's won three national titles. He's a remarkable 11 and 3 in bowl games. There was one year he coached at Ohio State that was ineligible. He went 12 and 0 that year.

He turned around Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State in hours. Four for four. Not even Nick could do that. When people are really good at their job, we give him second and third chances, and he's really good. This entire investigation was not to find information to fire him. They were seeking information to protect him and keep him. That's what they were looking for. We all do this.

I've done this. Somebody takes care of my kids. Somebody gives me something. I mean, let's just pretend wild scenario. We had an inappropriate president who had a relationship with a porn star. But the economy's good, so. He got me a job. I got his back.

We all do this. When people take care of us, monetarily, emotionally, take care of our family, make us feel good, we got their back. We get embedded. We protect them. Of course, Urban Meyer was not fired. Plus, Ohio State, they can say we got rid of that really bad guy.

We kept a guy that, you know, He's got some memory issues. That's what they said. But we got rid of the bad guy. So they feel good today. And Ohio feels good today. And 73 and 8, Urban Meyer, feels better today than yesterday. This is the way it works.

It's the way it's always worked. And whether we like it or not, I've done it, you've done it. And there'll be another story in the next few months of us protecting somebody that takes care of us financially or emotionally. we just pretend bad stuff doesn't happen. Here's Jamie with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin.

So the Patriots cut receiver, Kenny Britt yesterday, after already losing a bunch of their offense from last season, this is somewhat surprising, considering the fact that they were already thin at that position. and you mentioned it in the first block of the show here. The Jets and Khalil Mack, smart teams are going to go get Khalil Mack. The Patriots are a smart team. They have a proven track record.

I feel like they've got a plan. They've got it figured out. But if I'm a Pats fan, I am a little bit concerned as to what they're doing. We are two weeks away from week one. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to have a guest on. We're going to have a guest on here in about five minutes. There have been years before where there have been years. units that I didn't like with New England, but I feel like this year more than ever, Tom,

for the first month without Edelman, Gronks averaging 10 games a year. It's really interesting. Tom's now at 40 years old, and I don't think they've ever heaped more on him. They lost their left tackle. They lost a great running back. Danny Amandola leaves. Edelman's out for a month. Gronk can't stay healthy. This feels, it's not a Tom AIDS thing. I know he's great player, but it does feel different. The left tackle, the star running back, Edelman, Gronk's getting older. This wide receiving core is, I don't know, Dyer is not the word, because Tom will make it work to some level, but their best guy now in September is Chris Hogan. Honestly, Chris Hogan had, what, 40 catches last year? I think stuffed animals is what you said.

I mean, I just, it doesn't feel, and again, every year, the last five years, I'm like, you know, Once they had Brewski and Harrison and Moss and Welker and you're like, you know, and that group, you're like, this is elite talent. But, you know, they got to the Super Bowl last year. And when they lined up in that game against Philadelphia, it felt like to me, Philadelphia had a lot more good players than New England. And they came within a series of winning the Super Bowl. Remember Paul George was talking about coming to the Lakers. That was supposed to be a done deal. Well, as we know, as soon as free agency opened, he signed and returned with Oklahoma City.

He did come out and say that the Lakers were not happy with the way that he handled things, but he explains that he had a bond with his teammates in OKC. I mean, L.A. was pissed at me. I didn't give magic, which I understand. I understand. But at that point, I mean, I knew I wanted to give it another shot. I didn't want to prolong it and waste people's time. I just felt comfortable.

I felt like I've been around those guys forever. That was just the field. I didn't feel like there was just like a new relationship. It felt like these are guys that I want to compete with. And coming down to free agency, it was no question. I wanted to get it done with it and over with. Most people, Jamie, 40% of Americans stay in their hometown. 40% of Americans choose comfort over aspiration.

In the end, because Paul George plays in the NBA, we see him as a rich star. But what he really chose was familiarity and comfort over new, dramatic, you know, in Oklahoma City, his status, he knows coming back number two behind Westbrook. LeBron, Magic, Luke Walton, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Kauai Leonard may be interested. I mean, what Paul, when it really comes down to it, yes, he makes more money in OKC, but he chose what most Americans choose, which is familiarity, status, guaranteed, little more money. I think it's pretty simple. And if you're the Lakers, I mean, I understand the insult, but wouldn't you rather the girl cancel the date before you pick her up, then you show up?

You bring flowers. You take her for the steak dinner. And then you say goodbye? Yes. I think there's an argument to me made that like, why waste my time? Right. If you're not interested in me, just tell me. And he let them know early on in the free agency, so they were able to strategize and figure out what they wanted to do. Another NBA story, final one here for you. Kauai Leonard, after all the talk of him wanting to be in L.A., they're changing the tune a little bit. Now he's reportedly open-minded on his situation with the Raptors. Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express News had this to say on Kauai's situation in Toronto. And based off of me talking to people within his circle,

they're going to give this every, they're going to go into this thing, and give this thing every last opportunity to work. And at the end of the day, you know, if that's the case, then it would be great if he stayed. You know, obviously I think part of, you know, his mind, yes, I mean, that's keep real. He still, I think he still feels like L.A. might be the destination. But at the same time, he plans on going into this thing with an open mind, giving it to every single shot in the world to make it work.

You know, lost in all this, because a lot of people just think myself included that he's going to go to L.A., lost in all of this, I was just in Canada last week, is that just moving one player in this league, Kauai Lennard, a top five player, to the east. Toronto, who was pretty good last year, will be absolutely better with him. Boston, I think, has a chance to win the championship. Philadelphia has got arguably the two best young stars in the east. They'll be third. And Milwaukee is ready to pop.

It's remarkable that just moving Kauai over, here's what's going to happen this year, and it's really predictable. Toronto's going to battle Boston for the number one seed. They had the number one seed last year, and it should be noted. Coi Leonard's significantly more efficient player than DeMarer Rosen. So, you know, and I'm not just saying this just to give Canada love because I was there last week and spent plenty of money. But lost in all this, forget the Lakers thing for a second, the imbalance between the West and the East doesn't feel as severe this morning. You have three, four teams now in the East, I think are real teams.

Boston, Toronto's way better. By the way, Simmons and Embed are getting better in Philadelphia. Those guys are only getting better. And I think Milwaukee's a legitimate team. It's amazing what one really great chess piece can do to a sport. I totally agree with you on that. But even if this is all BS and it's just for optics, I think his camp needed to leak this sentiment

that he's open-minded to Stan Toronto. You don't go to a team that got rid of Demard de Rosen to just say, yeah, I'm on loan for a year and I want to really be in L.A., whether it's with the Lakers or the Clippers. You're there, they're paying you. And like you said, I mean, they can be real contenders. This is good for his brand.

Because you know what? As much as I like Kauai, if he's dysfunctional here, then his brand is, okay, he's whack. He's off the rails. He's not on the fairway. He's one of these guys that's talented, but I'm not building my franchise around him. He needs to be, he needs to play his butt off, and average 27, be a great defender, get them a one or two seed, win a playoff series. And then that's when everybody in the league is going to vie for him and pay him whatever he wants. Jamie with the news

Well, that's the news And thanks for stopping by The Hurd Lie News We have good stuff today Baker Mayfield's playing tonight I can't wait for that All fired up on Fox Well, he's an NFL writer at the Boston Globe

He covers the Patriots In all sorts of news Let's bring in via the Coward Global Satellite Network Ben Volan covered the NFL for years Let's start with Des Bryant Okay, Kenny Britt's gone they've made since I think it's like April 3rd when Brandon Cooks left to the Rams

there's been 12 moves with their wide receiver why wouldn't they hearing the show yeah why wouldn't they be interested in Des Bryant New England I'm sorry I didn't catch you till the very end it was about Des Bryant in New England yeah yeah why why wouldn't why wouldn't they be interested a few reasons Bill Belichick first of all we all know he loves special teams and that's not where Des Bryant is right now if you're talking about the fifth guy in the roster probably has to be able to play on the punt team. Des Bryant's never been a truly versatile guy. Another big buzzword for the Patriots doesn't play in the slot is much more of an outside guy. And I'm worried about him

physically. I think physically he's just not the same person that he used to be. He's not that dominant receiver anymore. He has a tough time getting separation. And frankly, if the Patriots wanted him, he's been out there for a long time. They could have had him. And the closer gets to the regular season makes it that much tougher to bring a guy in and teach him the whole playbook. So I'd be very concerned about where he's at physically. And I just, don't think the Patriots are looking at him at this point. Edelman's out for a month. Am I overreacting, Ben, to what I perceive

as a fairly meager, feeble, wide receiving corps for New England? Am I overreacting to that? No, not at all. Absolutely. It's one of the thinnest receiving cores they've had in a while. Probably you go back to the 2013 season when they were relying on all these young guys,

like Kenbrell Tompkins and Aaron Dobson. And Tom Brady put up, frankly, among the worst stats of his career back in 2013. And that's when they started to go for more of these veteran-type receivers. Not having Edelman is going to be huge. They don't have much behind him. Chris Hogan, great is your number three option. You know, not so great is your number one receiver.

And they just have a lot of unproven bodies. They were hoping guys like Jordan Matthews or Kenny Britt could work out. Both of them are gone now. Neither of them could really get on the field. Look, they still have Rob Grunkowski. They still have some excellent past catching running backs. James White, Rex Burkhead, studying Michelle, the rookie, if he ever gets back from a knee injury.

So they have other people to catch the football. But they really need Grunkowski and Edelman to stay healthy through December and into January because they're very thin at receiver right now. Ben, dynasties rarely fall off a cliff. They look like San Antonio. They just are a lower seed and they only win one round of the playoffs. Dynasties like Seattle, they don't fall. off a cliff. It does feel like

Nate's older, Nate's older, Brady's older, Brady Belichick now have strife. In Boston, where it's all patriots all the time, does it feel like we're seeing the very end of it? There is slippage here.

There's definitely the least amount of buzz in this training camp that there's been in a long time. You know, last year we're talking about 16 and 0, all this excitement. They got Brandon Cook, Stefan Gilmore. Now, as you mentioned, all the offseason moves were subtraction. They lose Danny Amindola, Dionne Lewis, Nate Solder, Malcolm Butler, and they didn't do a ton to replace those guys on the offense.

So there's still a belief that as long as you have Brady and Belichick and that you play in the AFC East that you're going to win 12 games and win your division and go far. But there's definitely a lack of buzz around this team right now. I'm worried about both sides of the football, not having enough depth to be able to get past a Julian Edelman suspension or an injury. Did they do enough on defense after they got just shellacked in the Super Bowl last year? So there's definitely not a whole lot of buzz and something else working against the Patriots.

You know, it's been since the early 90s bills that a team lost the Super Bowl and got back the next year. Just for whatever reason, that dreaded Super Bowl hangover if you lose it, it's very tough to get back there the next year. Let's see what the Patriots can do now. They're not coming off a win. They're coming off a rare Super Bowl loss. From the Boston Globe perspective, you cover every practice. there is clearly a paradigm shift over the last 12 months in the Brady-Belichick relationship. If I said, Ben, pick aside who has been the bigger issue here? Who would you support and who would you be more critical of?

I side with Team Belichick in this little dispute here. Tom Brady has been a phenomenal player. There's no question in his legacy and everything he's done for this franchise. and there would not be five championships without him. However, he first of all is the one who kind of put pressure on Robert Kraft to get rid of Jimmy Garoppolo, get rid of the future. Tom Brady is the one who said, you want to play until he's 45. He wins the power struggle.

They get rid of Jimmy Garoplo. And now Tom Brady all of a sudden is saying, well, I'm not really sure how much longer I want to play. And he skips the offseason program. And if you're Kraft and Belichick, you've got to be like, are you kidding me? We just handed you the reins to the franchise for three more years. and we, you know, sold away the future for you. And this is how he gets repaid.

So it's been a bit of a bizarre offseason for Brady. And, you know, it would have been good for him to show up to some of those OTAs and just be the team leader. You know, Belichick has been the same, the entire 20-year history. Brady might be getting sick of him. And 19 years is a long time to be with someone. But Belichick has never deviated from who he is. And, you know, Brady's the one getting sick of him. Well, you know, that means Brady starts wanting special treatment.

and that's never been what Bill Belichick's about. You know, Brady wants his trainer to be on the sidelines and flying on the team plane and getting access that no other team grants an employee and outside employee like that. So it seems like Brady's the one who kind of wants a special treatment. And I guess if you're going to give it to anyone, he certainly deserves it. But after he won the power struggle, it's just you'd be like, Tom, why can't you just show up to the offseason workouts? And, you know, we handed the keys to you.

Now you start talking about retirement. It's just there's a very strange reaction all the way around. And finally, I said this to start the show. When you take a high profile job, any mistake, it's like a tantrum by a kid on a plane. Everybody sees it, right? And Des Bryant's tantrums, we saw all of them because he plays for the Cowboys. If he plays for Jacksonville the last eight years, I don't see them. And Des Bryant, New England doesn't want him.

The Cleveland Browns don't want him. When you watch the hard knocks in Des Bryant, what struck you? It struck me that Des Bryant really wants to play football. The way he was going around shaking everyone's hand and saying everything that the coaches wanted to hear, this guy wants a job. He wants to play football. And I don't think his phone's been ringing too much this off season. I also thought it was interesting that they didn't show any part of his workout.

That's what I want to see with Desbron. I want to see how he's moving and how he's catching the ball and if he can gain separation and how that knee looks. And the fact that they didn't show his workout, that gives me some pause for. for concern that maybe he's not all right physically. So I thought it was good for him to get on Hard Knocks. It's a good way to sell himself. But I, you know, and I can understand the Brown's a young team. Maybe they want to develop some young players.

As Brian, unfortunately, is a progress stopper at this point in his career. A team like a Patriots makes sense. They might be one piece away from winning the Super Bowl. And it's just, it's interesting that they have not reached out to him yet. All right. Good stuff. Ben Volan joining us. Brady took like completed 26 throws against the Eagles.

People freaked out that game against Philadelphia. My takeaway was, Ben, he doesn't even know the names of his receivers. This isn't revenge. This feels like, hell, I don't even know who these guys are. Did you make anything at the Boston Globe of that extended playing time for Brady, which by the NFL standards was bizarre? What did you make of all those snaps and all those throws against the Eagles? I agree with you on this one, Colin. He needs the work. This is a guy who skipped OTAs and wasn't around for the offseason. And he can train on his own and stay in shape. And he did. And he even, you know, posted video of him throwing with Julian Edelman this summer. But that's not the same as getting in there with the starting offense, running 11 on 11 drills, working with, as you said, the guys whose names he doesn't even know yet. So he needed the work. And he didn't play in the first preseason game. So the Patriots didn't have any joint practices either at this training camp. They've just really been practicing with

themselves. Belichick really dialed it back this training camp. Tom Brady went like a full week without taking significant, meaningful reps in 11-on-11 work. So he just needs the work. And he even admitted, you know, that preseason game last week just to get your instincts back and your timing back a little bit. I think it'll be the same thing on Friday against Carolina. He'll probably play a half, maybe even into the third quarter. Not that a guy like him after 19 years really needs it, but you just, you can't throw him into week one cold and expect him to just pick up where he left off. he's not going to play in that preseason finale next week against the Giants. So this last game and this game, this is really it for him to get those live

reps before the regular season starts. Good stuff, Boston Globe, Ben, Ben, thanks so much for your insight. Totally appreciate it. Thank you, Colin. Coming up next, Lamar Jackson said something, and it worries me. It really worries me. That's 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 I-Hard Radio app. We're all for good sportsmanship. Big fans of Hyundai's new Shopper Assurance program, flexible test driving, streamlined, purchasing, transparent pricing. Learn more today, USA. Hyundai, USA.com slash shopper assurance. Well, there's a difference between want, I want to do something and need, I need to do something.

And let me give you an example. Americans, by and large, speak English, but most Americans don't speak a second language. They don't feel they need to. Now, I certainly think it would make us more cultured. I've strongly encouraged my son and my daughter to speak a second or third language. My daughter had taken several French classes. I think speaking to second language, it would be really great. But in America, maybe it's arrogance, maybe it's a reality.

1.5 billion people on this earth speak English. It is the universal language of air traffic controllers. At the World Cup, it was mandatory that every ref spoke English. So our team didn't qualify. Our language, even in Russia, was mandatory for the world. My producer, my daughter just went to Italy. Signage in English everywhere. The reality is, maybe it's arrogance or maybe it's reality.

In America, we don't feel we often need to speak a second language. But in Europe, it's different. All those countries next to each other, you can have breakfast in France, get on a train, hour later, have lunch in Italy. So in Europe, people speak several languages. It's not a want. Like, I want to speak French because it's romantic and I want to go to Paris. I say it is a need in Europe. In the NFL, I talked to my friend Michael Vick once.

It was on the air, and we've talked about it off the air. He said, I didn't feel I needed to become a pocket passer in the NFL. Because in high school, third and eight, I just took off. And in college at Virginia Tech, third and eight, I just took off. And in the NFL, first five or six years, third and eight, I just took off. I ran. And then Michael Vick got hurt a bunch and had surgeries. And wanting to be a pocket passer became needing to be a pocket passer.

And Michael admits now, my friend has said, it was too late. All my best athleticism was gone by the time I needed to be a great pocket passer. I've said this from the very beginning on Lamar Jackson. He's draftable. I didn't see him as a first. rounder. Moore is a late, second, early third. He is a project more than a prospect. Baker Mayfield's prospect. He's a project. Needs time. I saw this quote. He was asked about all those hits he's taking. And he was asked, what about taking those hits?

He said, I was just focused on winning. I wasn't really worried about those big hits. They're going to be delivered. RG3, who's taken hits and who now also plays for the Ravens, said, I'm trying to tell him that, you know, things happen faster here. It's not that you can occasionally run, but you better be smart when you do. Marty Morningwegg at a press conference was asked about Lamar Jackson taking all these hits in the first couple of games. Marty, how do you feel about Lamar when he's running and he's taking those hits? Yeah, that's not good. You see what I'm saying?

It's just that simple. We'd rather get down a step too early than a step too late or get up and out a step too early than a step too late. This has been from day one my question about Lamar Jackson. I don't care what he completed on third down in college. On third and eight will he shift his mind and be able to say no to something that rewarded him in high school and rewarded him in college. There's no need for Lamar Jackson. to be a great pocket passer, high school college, and his first few years in this league. It's mostly a want.

Do you want to do it? But use Michael Vic, my friend, as an example. Michael admits it's hard when you're so good at something, and it's really easy and natural to do something and not develop something you need to develop. because there are no quarterbacks that win Super Bowls in NFL history who are way better runners than throwers. Steve Young was initially, by the time he won Super Bowls, he was a good passer.

Russell Wilson first year, better runner than thrower, year two. He was a better thrower than runner or equally as good from the pocket. And this is just like Americans in language. We don't feel we have a need, and maybe it is arrogance. I would encourage everybody to try and learn a second language. But it should be noted that we are the mandatory language of a World Cup, which we can't even qualify for. And we are the mandatory language in air traffic controllers.

Can't get in the sky if you don't speak it. And 1.5 billion people speak English. 20% of the world speaks English. And maybe it's arrogance. Maybe it's real. But there is a different need and want. And I would say to all quarterbacks who have the ability to run, I know it's a gift and I know it rewards.

you, but you're going to need to figure out the pocket thing. Because here's the simplest way to put it. Think about how great Alabama is. 75% of their defensive players never do anything in the pros. Either don't get drafted or don't play at a high level. And they suffocate college offenses. Suffocate them. Favor to win the national title again.

Last eight years, dominate games, win by 40. 75% of their defensive players either don't get drafted or don't get a second contract than the National Football League. Look around the NFL. How many great defensive Alabama players are there? About a handful. And for eight years, look at how many they've recruited, drafted. So, Lamar, think about it. Think about the hits all the time.

Develop, develop, develop, develop, develop. It matters. All right, tonight, Baker Mayfield is playing here on Fox. I'm very excited to watch it. And I saw this. Whoa, look at this. Pro football focus grades Baker Mayfield above all first round picks. Here's all the quarterbacks.

First round, oh, brother, Baker's way better than everybody. Got like an 86 and Josh Rosen's got a 46 and Lamar Fisans. He's got a 46 and Lamarra 54 grade and Josh Allen is 72 and Darnal is 75 and Baker's at 86. And NFL preseason grades are really similar to junior high grades for kids. Colleges never ask for your seventh grade transcript. It doesn't matter. When you watch Baker tonight, trust your eyes. Don't be a pom-pom waiver in Ohio.

Okay. watch the game. Look for two things. Two words that will tell you the same thing. Poised or overwhelmed. That's it. And if he looks poised, got yourself quarterback.

And if he looks overwhelmed, you either don't or you don't currently have one. I've watched all these guys play. Lamar looks a little overwhelmed. He needs some time. Baker and Sam, they're ready to play in this league. Now, they're going to make a bunch of mistakes, but all these stats in the preseason, they don't mean anything.

They don't mean anything. 90% chance with Baker Mayfield, this is my biggest concern for Baker Mayfield. It's never been that he's going to be a bust. It's never been that. I've never said that. I don't think he's going to have this coaching staff next year. I don't think Baker Mayfield is going to have this coach next year, this offensive coordinator next year.

Sam Darnold, I believe, is going to have the same head coach, the same coordinator, and Josh McCown's still going to be backing him up. In one year, my belief is Baker is going to be dealing with what every quarterback in Cleveland deals with. A new coach. Tonight, not about stats. Poised, overwhelmed. You tell me tomorrow. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, Hour 2, Live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox

Sports Radio and FS1. Lane Kiffin's going to be joining us. He opens up at Oklahoma, Saturday, September 1st on Fox. He'll be joining us in five minutes. Jamie Maggio is sitting in for Joy Taylor today. Jamie, how are you? I'm great. Thanks for letting me be here.

Known Lane, a long time, very outspoken. That has become his brand. He's the needler. He's very funny on social media. Most college football coaches aren't funny ever. Lane is wildly, I would say, interesting. and relevant on social media. I wonder if he'd be like that if he had a super high profile job, but it's working now.

He has rebuilt his brand. He'll be joining us in five minutes. Speaking of brand, this happens all the time in America, where you have like this, you know, you have this battle at the top. McDonald's or Burger King and Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and Coke and Pepsi and, you know, it happens in Airlines, Delta and United. and then something happens and eventually, like, one of the brands pulls away from the other brand. And I thought that in college basketball a couple years ago.

Mike Shoshesky's been the face of the sport, and here came John Calipari at Kentucky, and he's getting up there and he won the title, and he's beating him in recruiting. And over the last three or four years, Coach Kay is back on top. Winning more, Calipari team. One didn't make the tournament, not as good in the tournament, getting kind of pears. petty in the media when he loses to Coach K in recruiting battles. Coach K's pull away. And here you have college football. And you have Nick Saban at the top of the hill and Urban Meyer goes to Ohio State.

And Urban Meyer is going to catch him and he wins a tie on. He's got to be. And after last night's embarrassing press conference, the second bad Urban Meyer press conference, Nick Sabin's now pulling away from Urban Meyer. I think of Urban Meyer now. I think really great coach, baggage. And I think of John Calapari and I think really great coach vacated wins at UMass and vacated wins at Memphis and getting petty with the media. There's just that kind of, he's not quite coach K. And the gap between Urban Meyer and Nick Saban grew in the last three weeks.

Nick, you get less chaos, steadier, you don't get the baggage, you don't get the constant drama. This is the second big program. Urban's taken over, and he wins a bunch of games, and he's a hell of a football coach. But this is part of his brand, too. Yesterday, they said he's got memory issues. Hell, don't we all? But that wasn't a good enough explanation. And, by the way, even if you're a Buckeye fan, you know it wasn't a good enough explanation.

And I like Herman. And I've met his wife. I like her, too. But we have this all the time, these big brands. and here comes Burger King and here comes Duncan Donuts and here comes Coach Calipari and here comes Urban Meyer and they're going to challenge the big dog

and the big dog pulls away and I've never had a bigger gap in my life between Sabin and Urban Meyer than I do this morning. Sorry, but when I think Urban Meyer this morning it has dinged his brand it has.

I don't even think Urban's the second best coach. I'll take Davoswini, Chris Peterson third. This morning, I feel better about Jim Harbaugh. Now, he is a little goofy. He drinks milk with his steak. And he wears the same thing every day, every day of the year. As Halloween, he still goes as Jim Harbaugh. It's the same thing.

But I'll tell you, Jim Harbaugh looks bigger today. I don't get this constant drama around Jim Harbaugh. Lane Kiffin will be joining us in just a couple of seconds. Let me say this. There was a picture. Can I give you something on LeBron? I want to show everybody this. So there was a picture that made the rounds with LeBron James.

This is a picture, and it made the Internet. And it created a little buzz. And it was at UCLA. And LeBron James was in the picture. and he was playing pickup games with Kauai Leonard, Darren, there in the red shirt, and then Kevin Durant next to Kauai in the blue shirt. He's the tall guy.

And that got a lot. That gala buzz. Now, there was also a video the same day at UCLA. This was taken by somebody on our staff. And Russell Westbrook was playing a game. And James Hardin was playing a game. This was shot by somebody on our staff. And Paul George was playing a game.

That was at UCLA the same day. anybody noticed anything about these two games? I want you to watch this for a couple. Anything, but what's the difference between that picture and that video? So let's go back to the video, or let's go back to the picture, excuse me. So let's go back to the picture. And it's LeBron James and it's Kauai Leonard and it's Kevin Durant. Why would

Why would LeBron playing that game? Colin, LeBron went to L.A. just for business. Yes, he did. And his number one business is basketball and winning basketball games is good for business. Do you notice that LeBron played pickup games

with guys who were free agents next summer? And let's go back to the video. You know who's not a free agent next year, who's locked into a contract? Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Paul George. LeBron came here for business. Basketball's his best business. Winning basketball makes LeBron's business better.

Same day, UCLA, two games. Who did LeBron choose to play with? The guys he's recruiting to join him in L.A. next year. And with that, via the coward global satellite network. I've been to Boker Raton. Boker Raton's amazing. If you're a high school football player and you like amazing,

go play for Lane Kiffin, who is sitting there looking like a head football coach. So first of all, I got to say this. You are Mr. Social Media now. You take jabs at people, you poke them in the ribs. You've become, you have really rebuilt your brand. And you are talked about now. all the time, all the networks. You're on this show.

You're on other shows. So we have a situation at Ohio State that's a mess and it's ugly. You have been in that world lane where everybody's beating up on you and you're getting criticized by everybody. Did it affect Urban Myers just dealing with this? Did it affect your life? Did it affect your coaching? Did it affect you? What is it like to live in that world where the world's caving in on you and everybody's ripping you and you're sitting there and all you care about your kids?

what is it like for Urban today? You've been there. Well, in somewhat a similar situation, they're always different, but we've talked about that before. I remember myself and Coach Ogeron talking about those situations when you feel like that.

It's almost he used to talk about, because you can imagine he's a bench-press guy that, you know, he's got the barbell and they just keep adding weight on. You know, here's this issue with the player, here's this issue with the coach. You know, here's a loss. You know, here's a loss.

losing a player in recruiting and, you know, it just keeps adding weight and wait and wait. And it's like how much can you hold? And that's kind of, you know, like a CEO, that's like being a head coach. You know, it can affect you. And I think it definitely, especially early on at a younger age, definitely affected me because you start to be consumed by it because it's all around you. And especially, too, if you let your job define you, it's going to really affect you. I don't know. How could you go to work if you're Urban today and it not be part of your world? Do you think they'll just bounce back and he'll bounce back because he's been through stuff before? Or when you're driving home and you're driving to work and you're at practice,

do you think he can just overcome the snap of the fingers, be back in coach and be all good? He probably can. You know, Urban's done this a long time. And so, you know, I'm sure at times throughout the day, you know, he's thinking of it. But as far as the coaching, I would think probably doing. it so long as he has, you know, once he gets back into a meeting, once he's on the practice field, you know, that he does forget about that stuff. You know, I would, you know, because, you know, you're involved in the X's and O's aspect, you know, and then you really, when it comes back is when you go to your press conference after practice is when it's going to really

come back at him again probably, and then he's going to have to go from that, put that behind him as it comes back and try to forget about it and then go back to his coach's meetings. conference last year. Conference USA. You won a bowl game in a blowout fashion. In one year, you totally turned around the program. It was one of the better offenses in the country. You're an offensive guy. Your recruiting is rolling. And you've said, I'm in no hurry to leave here. I know that you love the water. You're from Tampa. You love Boca. And you're not, you're not, you've moved around a lot in your life. It is funny. So I saw a list the other day of overrated, underrated coaches. And I just sort of rolled my eyes. Joel Clatt said the overrated guys was a jealousy

list and you were on the list and Nick Saban was on the list and when you were at Alabama with Saban every every five minutes somebody's ripping Nick Saban forget overrated underrated we know he's great Lane you know it I know what the world knows it but when you are at the top of the mountain like Nick is it what's the downside to that is there I mean obviously there's pressure but you've lived in that in that heat in that inferno of Alabama how does Nick handle it this is a decade shade long now he's been in this thing. Yeah, he does an unbelievable job of handling this situation. And, you know, he's in a longer version.

And, you know, I've discussed, you know, the Pete Carroll era and Coach Carroll was there and had one of those. And now Coach Saban has it. And that's just, you know, the crazy world we live in, you know, that, you know, I saw somebody showed me what you're referring to, you know, a list of overrated coaches. And Nick Sabin's on the list of being overrated. Or someone writes, Lane Kiffin and said, well, it's, It's probably, I'm partially jealous of them, so I'm going to put them on an overrated list.

And I looked at it and said, well, most people don't rate me, you know, because they say I'm not a good coach anyway. So how do I get on an overrated list if I'm not rated? I mean, most people are right that I'm not any good as a head coach. So now I'm overrated at it. So I don't know. By the way, your social media, would you be as active on social media as funny on social media, as provocative on social media, if you were at instead of FAU, if you were at the Georgia, if you were at, you know, Texas. Are you allowed now to take more risks because you're the little guy poking at the big guy?

Well, I don't, Colin, I don't look at it as risk. You know, I've said before, no matter where I've been, you know, I feel like my job is to the president, to the athletic director, to our players, to our fan base. And that has probably hurt me from a personal, national standpoint, of how I'm viewed because I've always tried to do what's best for the program, whether it's going to Tennessee that had been down a little bit. So the plan was to create some energy,

and make a joke about going to the swamp and winning and things like that to create buzz and energy. And that doesn't necessarily help in the eyes of other presidents or other athletic directors because I get that question all the time. Well, why do you put that on Twitter if you know some presidents, some athletic directors at other places may not like that?

And I said, that's how a lot lot of coaches operate. That's not how I do. Those aren't my boss. Those are not people in charge of me. Our president here hired me and wanted attention on the university. You know, our out-of-state applications in one year are up 40%. And he said himself, the only thing that changed was Lane Kiffin coming here. So, you know, I feel like I'm just doing my job for the people that hired me and not worried about other people's, you know, other people and other people's places and jobs at those places because that's not my job. By the way, Lane, you coach for the Raiders. You've been in the NFL. I have questions about John Gruden being gone for 10 years. There are businesses,

Lane, that you could not be present for 10 years, but I think like Silicon Valley and football seems to change about every two years. Let me ask you, if you were gone from football for 10 years, could you walk back into the sport and be effective? Can Gruden do that? Well, it depends. Could I walk back after 10 years or could anybody walk back after 10 years and be effective from a offense or defensive standpoint in game planning? Probably not because you would have fallen behind. Now, can you be a head coach? Sure, guys can be out of head coaching for a while and do it because some head coaches are just CEOs. They don't even necessarily know the X's and O's of their offense, defense, and special teams. So then it's easier to do because, again, you're just leading

coaches and players. But, you know, if you're calling plays and you're designing an offense or defense, you know, that would be very hard to do except for in John's situation because he's almost been coaching. You know, he's spent every week preparing for Monday night football like a coach, breaking it down. He understands how the game has changed on defense and offense. So John would be the one guy that could do it, not just from a head coaching standpoint like others, but from a X and O standpoint, he'll be able to jump right back in. You have been at the biggest heights of recruiting. USC dominates recruiting, certainly Denver West, Alabama number one classes.

Somebody said last week, you know, it's easy. Nick Saban, you know, when you cheat, when you have all the best players, I hear this all the time. Lane, you've been in, at FAU's a smaller school. You've been at the biggest schools. You're known as an elite national recruiter. A lot of people get discouraged with college football. I hear this all the time.

Everybody's cheating and they're paying for players. I don't believe that to be true. If I said to you today, Lane, you've been in those battles. Okay, you've been in those battles. If I said to you percentage of programs that you think do things that are unethical, what would the number be? I don't know an exact number, but not anywhere near, I think, the way people will talk. And a lot of that is because, and I hear it all the time, you know, someone loses,

I used to sit in staffing as a head coach, and an assistant coach would lose a player to another program. And they say, oh, they cheated. You know, they bought the player, you know, or they bought the mom, you know, or the dad, or whatever it is. And they don't know that at all. It's just an excuse.

So I think a lot of times people just say that to take blame off of, okay, why did we lose the player? You know, could we have done something better in the recruiting process to sign the player? So we're just going to say someone else cheated because, you know, that makes us look better instead of really, really dissecting why did you lose the player. So I don't think it happens near as much as people think. And like you said,

you know, like you mentioned before, people saying Nick Sabin, well, it's like cheating because he has better players and everyone. Well, they didn't just walk. They just didn't walk on the campus and through the doors. You know, he spent time getting him. He's, he's the best recruiter in the world because of the time that he spends. You know, people joke, okay, he doesn't have hobbies. He really He doesn't, you know, do anything else. Well, you know what he does? He recruits. So when other coaches on Thursday night, you know,

are going home or, you know, on the 4th of July are actually like, you know, doing something like a boat or fireworks, he's on the phone with recruits. Every single day, the entire off season, and during the season, at night he has a list of recruits that he's personally calling himself. So he just flat out how it works everyone else. So the people, I was there for three years. So the people that say Alabama cheats in recruiting,

the only cheating they do is that he just works harder than everybody else. Yeah. Florida Atlantic, by the way, 11 and 3 last year. Did you get coach of the year? You got a bunch of votes for coach of the year. Did you win coach of the year? No, I never win that because that's other people voting on things.

We didn't win that at USC when we were 10 and 2 and David Shaw won it, and we didn't win it this year going 11 and 3. Well, you were my coach of the year. And you won conference USA, you won a bowl game. you open up, this will be a firework show against Oklahoma. The bull game was a blast because you guys would do all sorts of clever stuff. Lane Kiffin, you're rolling. I'm happy for you.

Boca Raton is an amazing place, folks. Lane, thanks for coming on the show. All right, Colin. Thank you. Have a great weekend. You too. That is funny, isn't it? That is funny.

The whole Sabin thing, I swear to God, if I hear it once, I hear it a thousand times. There is paying for people. All right, well, then show me the proof. Because we know when you do bad stuff, like Ohio State, the coach gets punished. It makes the news. So show me. It's not like they're not a target. Everybody's trying to beat Alabama.

Coming up next. He made a choice, did Paul George, that 90% of America would. And it's not hard to explain. Shop Lowe's to get your debt looking at best. Your deck, new Valspar exterior stain available at Lowe's. One coat, rain ready in four hours. All projects have a starting point.

Start with Lowe's, Lowe's, Lowe's. Good to have you in. Jared Bell, USA Today, NFL reporter. We'll be joining us in about 20 minutes. T.J. Hushman Zada stopping by today. So when Paul George was out there and could have gone to the Lakers or could have stayed at Oklahoma City, he didn't even give the Lakers an interview.

And he said yesterday, the Lakers were ticked off about that. I mean, L.A. was pissed at me. I didn't give Magic a... Which I understand. I understand. But at that point, I mean, I knew I knew I wanted to give it another shot. I didn't want to prolong it and waste people's time. I just felt comfortable.

I felt like I've been around those guys forever. That was just the field. I didn't feel like there was just like a new relationship. It felt like these are guys that I want to compete with. And coming down a free agency, it was no question. I wanted to get it done with it and over with. Okay. So he chose Westbrook over LeBron.

I wouldn't. and he chose OKC's history over the Lakers. I wouldn't. But let's be honest about this. Chris Bosch is a very good player, probably a Hall of Famer. He struggled with LeBron at the end. And Kevin Love's going to make the Hall of Fame, and he struggled with LeBron. And Kyrie Irving's going to be a hall of famer, and he struggled with LeBron.

And several coaches have struggled with LeBron. LeBron's not easy. He's just better than everybody else. And Bill Belichick's not easy. He's just better than everybody else. And working at Apple is not easy, but it's just better than everybody else. Channing Fry said playing with LeBron. And Channing Fry is a good dude, smart dude, been around the league.

He said, when you play with LeBron, there is no room for mistakes. Because in all actuality, he could do it all himself. He could win 40 games by himself. He's done it. But I think it really comes down to a simple thing. What Paul George, you think he's a superstar, but. He's from a small town and he played at Fresno State. And he didn't come into this league out of college as a star.

He developed into one in one of the smallest NBA cities, Indianapolis. He didn't grow up hanging out in downtown L.A. grew up outside of L.A. A lot of small towns outside of L.A. And Fresno, Fresno's a small town when you compare it to L.A. Indiana is a small town. and most Americans, if you line up comfort, money, familiarity, and solidified status are going to choose that over uncomfortable, unfamiliar, little less money, and your status is a mystery.

He chose Oklahoma City because he was comfortable. He was familiar with his teammates. He made a little more money. And his status there, second best player on the roster, is solidified. It's not comfortable playing with LeBron. It's unfamiliar territory. You're going to make a little less money. And your status, let's be honest,

Kauai Leonard may be coming, is a total, absolute mystery. I would never have chosen Westbrook over LeBron. LeBron just wins more and ends up in the finals. I would never have chosen OKC's basketball brand in history. When you retire a Laker, you're just a bigger deal. You're just a bigger deal. They write and talk about you, Mora.

You win in Oklahoma City, it makes them happy. You win in L.A., and it makes a world happy. It makes a league happy. Everybody wins. But I think when you get right down to it, LeBron's not easy. Ask Chris Bosch. Ask Kyrie. Ask David Blatt.

Ask Kevin Love. And by the way, in a few months, ask Luke Walton. LeBron, the payoff with Sabin. The payoff with Belichick, the payoff with LeBron. The payoff working at Apple. It's better. but if you're looking for comfortable and familiarity and a solid job status, you're not going to choose that.

You're not going to choose that. Chris Bosch went from 25 a game to like on some nights. He scored zero points in one of those game sevens. And Kevin Love went from an All-Star 25 and 14 to taking all the blame when LeBron's teams lost. You know, he came off the bench a couple times. If you're looking for familiarity, comfortable, status solidified, LeBron's not the choice. He never has been.

Ask his coaches and ask the stars he's played with. Here's Jamie with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Helmet rule, which outlaws players from lowering their head to are their helmet to initiate contact, has players and fans feeling that it's being over-officiated, poorly enforced. on the Pat McAfee show this morning, Aaron Rogers voiced his opinion.

I think the worry is twofold, first, that it's going to greatly impact the game on the highest level. You know, there's a sack or a certain play, and there's going to be a 15-yard film. They could really swing the entire game. Guys are worried about that. And the other part is the officials, because the officials have to be the ones making these calls. We also have to remember this is people at the highest level doing it at high rates of speed. I don't know what the resolution is going to be, but it's definitely going to change the game if it stays the way it is.

You know what I think's going to happen? I think between the catch rule being fixed and the helmet rule being instituted, it's going to be a big year for offense. How many games are there in the NFL? What is 32 times 16, top of your head? $450, $500? Is it reasonable assumed that we'll have one catch a game now that's not taken away? So 500 more catches?

in the NFL that will be granted, not subtracted. Won a game. Is that realistic? That's 500 more catches. 512. So we'll round it down. 500 catches this year, not taken away. And some of those, many of those will be touchdowns, right? Because we saw it touchdown. Second thing, the helmet rule, what does it do? Penalty, automatic first down. Is it realistic to think one time a game, 500 times a game,

you're going to get an extra first down? And at some point, that'll mean either a field goal or a touchdown. Absolutely. So I think all this helmet rule in the catcher, what it means is it's going to be a very good year for offense. Plus Carson Wentz is back. Deshawn Watson's back. Aaron Rogers is back. Andrew Luck is back.

And it looks like Cleveland's got a little bit of a quarterback thing going on. And now in Buffalo may have found their star. And the Jets have now two, three guys they can play. I think all this stuff means a lot of offense this year in the NFL. So it is going to change the way that the game's being played. But let's be honest, the NFL doesn't really have a choice. When they have lawsuits on their hands, they had to make some changes. This was necessary.

Yeah. Josh Allen, your guy Josh Allen, he seems to be in line to be the starting QB week one. He's been taking first team reps this week. He will be starting this weekend against the Bengals. A.J. McCarran had that shoulder injury this week. He's not as bad as it seemed. But pretty interesting that this guy might get the start week one in the regular season after he was dubbed the least NFL ready heading into the draft. Yeah. No, I mean, coaching matters and Buffalo's got a really good coaching staff because they got. got to the playoffs last year, and coaching matters. He has taken Jordan Palmer, Carson's brother is a coach. He coached him, and the Buffalo coaches, their offensive coordinators of former Patriot,

and he looks, now again, it's preseason. And it's not even about his stats. He just looks completely comfortable and significantly more accurate throwing a ball. Poised versus overwhelmed. Yeah, he doesn't look overwhelmed. And the other thing is, he was inaccurate as a college thrower. He was what they call an over-strider. His strides too long.

It affects your release point where the ball lands. He's accurate now. So this is really a great story. The league is better with good quarterbacks. Buffalo needs, you know, Tyrod left town. Buffalo needs a legit quarterback or their games are going to be unwatchable. It's a great story, Colin. It's also historic because never before has a playoff team drafted a QB in the first round

and then started him week one the following season. That's never happened in the history of the league. Isn't that amazing? Wow. Yep. So we'll see what happens. Finally here for you, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, it is on. They're calling it the match.

It will be Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, taking place at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Winner take all, $9 million purse. They are going head to head. It's going to be a pay-per-view. What's the pay-per-view, though? How much it costs? I don't know. I go to a place where it's free.

What's the... Yeah, it depends. If the price points $10. I'll pay for it. If the price points, 50 bucks, I won't pay for it. But don't you want to see this? No, I do. I do want to see it.

I think it's interesting. And they have it on the Friday after Thanksgiving. So Thanksgiving, I get three NFL games. Friday, you usually have a couple crappy college games. College football, once again, butchers it. That Friday, you could put great games on. They never do. You know, it's like Arizona, Arizona State, Texas, Texas, A&M.

You can go out and have just huge games. But the college games are sort of average. And if this is available for three hours and I pay $9.99, I think I'd buy it. A little bit of trash. Talk between Phil, who just created a Twitter account this week and Tiger Woods going back and forth. I bet you think this is the easiest 9 million you'll ever make. Tiger is saying, think you'll earn some bragging rights. Phil saying, let's do this.

But bragging rights could be on the line because Forbes list of highest paid athletes in the world for 2018 has Tiger is 16th with 43.3 million. Mickelson in 22nd with 41.3 million. So if Mickelson wins this head-to-head match, it would jump Tiger in the standings. So we don't know a price point. That has not been published yet. What would you price of that, Jamie? More than $10. Oh, I don't know if I would.

Given who golf fans are, I'm going to bet they jack that price up a little. Yeah, because they're older. You get a lot of people who are, you got a lot of families together after the holidays, so they're probably just doing one buy for the household. That's right. Friday after Thanksgiving. That's a good question. Okay, let's guess the spot right.

My guess is 12. Okay, you're right. 1299. You went up $3? I just went up $3. Well, no, you made a really good point. The golfing public is well healed. They make some money.

It's older Americans. 1299. Everybody put your guess in. Jamie's up here at the 40. 2499. Oh, good God. 25 bucks. Phil hasn't won a tournament in a while.

That's a lot of money. But Tiger's been in the headlines lately. I think this is going to be a fun one. All right, Jamie with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Jared Bell, long time USA Today NFL reporter coming up.

Lots of stories. Browns play tonight. Everybody getting into action this weekend. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. The NFL preseason continues tonight on Fox. Number one overall pick Baker Mayfield and the Browns taking all the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. Pregame starts at 8 Eastern live. from New York with Terry, Howie, and Michael.

And then on Sunday, the Bengals square off with the bills. Catch it all on Fox or stream it live on the Fox Sports app. Jared Bell joins us. NFL columnist USA Today has a vote in that Hall of Fame and you have for 20 years. I'll get to that in a second with T.O. You've been at the cowboy training camp, the Raiders training camp, the Niners, the Ravens, the Steelers, the Saints. Baker Mayfield tonight, what do you make of him so far? It's interesting because I have not been to the Browns camp, right?

But I watched them. And, you know, my first impression was this guy looks like he's got some instincts that are going to allow him to at least have the opportunity to develop and be a quarterback. And that's very important when you're talking about young quarterbacks getting out there on the field with live reps. I'm not ready to go on this train that says Baker Mayfield has to start immediately for the Browns. They've got Tyrod Taylor. They're going to be okay. When that happens, depends on how the season's flowing. Yeah, sure, at some point he'll get on the field.

But so far, so good. I like the fact that he knows kind of what to do with his physical skills, when to run, when to throw, and just kind of manage the game. So I'm impressed with that. You were at the Ravens camp. I always look for two things. Poised or overwhelmed. I think Baker looks poised.

I think Darnold looks pretty poised. Lamar looks a little overwhelmed, but I thought that coming in. I called him a project, not a prospect. I thought Josh Allen was a project, not a prospect. He sort of surprised me. What did you make at Ravens Camp? Yeah, I agree with that. And the day that I was there a couple weeks ago,

Lamar Jackson was talking about what he learned, discovered, in his first preseason game, that Hall of Fame game. And he talked about the speed of the game, which everybody talks about all the time with these young players going from one level to the next. But to hear him talk about, hey, I couldn't get to that course. corner. There was a linebacker there. It was like he was surprised that somebody kind of caught up with

him. And so that part of the game is definitely something he has to adjust to. But the other thing with him is, you know, you're going to have to win in the NFL as a quarterback with your arm. Even though you've got great legs and great speed and great instincts and all of that that Lamar Jackson can bring, he still has to be an accurate thrower. And I've not seen that consistent. And I've not seen that consistency yet. I didn't see it in college. It was spotty. And I love Bobby Petrino. Again, I'm not seeing he can't get there. I mean, good Josh Allen's throwing accuracy has changed in a month. All of a sudden, right? So it can happen, but I just think the key with him is patience. The Ravens are a good organization. Historically, they've been patient. Like Cleveland's not patient. I think

Lamar, the best thing he has going for him, this is a good organization. And that they don't need him to start right now. Thank you. I think Joe Flacco, by the way, is prime to have. have a hellacious season this year. You think about what happened the last time he kind of had his back against the wall and he was pressured to prove himself. Contract year, he goes and wins a Super Bowl. I think Joe Flacco is, he's got to be sick of all of this talk about Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson, what are they going to do as if people are ready to push him out the door? Now, obviously, when you look at how teams are built and salary caps and contracts, yes, that day will come at some point, but it's not here right now. And Joe Flacko has no excuses this year because

they've got a receiver's core that has been overhauled for him. They've got an offensive line that has Marshall Yonda back. So knock on wood, he stays healthy. But the supporting cast for Joe Flacko, yeah, it's better than it's been in a few years. And, you know, he's gone through this thing with, I don't know, four or five different coordinators in like five or six years. So it's all there for Joe Flacko. And right now, um, That puts Lamar Jackson, you know, way back in the learning mode. And that could be good for him. Yeah, I think it is actually.

Jared Bell, USA, today. Before we get to the Hall of Fame stuff with T.O. Because I'm fascinated. You were in those rooms voting on him, not voting on him. Let me say this. I'm not a big fan of free agency. I think you're basically, you don't know the odometer. It's like a car.

I don't use cars. Be careful. You know, if they didn't mess around with the odometer, they can still have a wreck and not tell you about it, you know? They're supposed to. They don't know us. The problem when you're getting free agents is, were they good practice players?

Are they good in the locker room? You know, in minor league baseball, you draft a guy. You know through the minors to be good dude or bad dude. So I've always been NFL free agency. I do think there's a time, though. When you have a quarterback who can start in the first three years in a rookie contract, then he's good, like Russell Wilson. Oh, yeah.

Go for it. Seattle's like Percy Harvin, Cliff Averill. Rams are like, okay, Jared Goff, we're paying him nothing. I got to tell you right now, Jared, Khalil Mack, Jets, there's discussions with Oakland. I think if I'm the Jets, I give you multiple picks to get Khalil. I got Leonard Williams, Trumane Johnson at Corner, Adams the safety. Todd Bowles, an elite defensive coach. I really like him.

I think if I'm the Jets, I go for it with Kaleel Mack. Am I crazy? They're not Panned Darnold or anything. No, I think that's great if you're the Jets. I mean, why not go forward? You have nothing to lose. Give away some draft picks and add this playmaker to your defense. But the problem, I think, in this whole scenario, is if you're the Raiders,

you'd be crazy to trade away Khalil Mack. Now, obviously, they could make some kind of offer that you can't refuse some type of draft pick package. But the Raiders, you can't get a guy like Khalil Mack, an edge impact player off the streets. And if you're talking about, like John Gruden told me, he wants to try to win immediately, well, you need your best defensive player. The problem with this, I think, is there's a couple different layers, obviously. one being a CBA that allows teams to have a fifth year option for these first round picks. So you talk about five years and then two franchise tags.

You know, a guy can be tied up for seven years. But the other thing is that John Gruden and Khalil Mack have not worked together. Because Kalil Mack has not been there during the offseason, Gruden doesn't have the sense that a lot of people, and I've been around the Raiders a bit in recent years. And the respect level for Khalil Mack in that locker room as a team guy, Huge. Oh, no doubt about it. And Gruden, you want guys like that in your locker room. Fighting for your message. Because John will wear you out. John needs guys that love him. He needs like four guys behind him, the troops that are like, no, John's great.

Trust me. You've got to believe John. Okay, I've got to get into this. T.O. didn't get on the first ballot and then snub the Hall of Fame. You were in those rooms on T.O. voting. Was his behavior talked about? Was that the problem? Of course it was talked about. You can't talk about T.O. Without talking about the drama that is attached to the T.O. brand, if you will. Now, this Hall of Fame thing, I mean, that's the most T.O. thing T.O. has ever done. Okay.

But, Colin, let me tell you this. From the get-go, from year one with T.O., I was one of the voices in the room that was really promoting his cause as a Hall of Famer. and did not, you know, not acknowledge the issues that some people had with his personality. And you can argue a lot of different ways and extrapolate, you know, to the nth degree, what effect that has on what happens on the field. I mean, if a guy's, you know, a locker room issue, how does that carry over? So you can make those arguments. But bottom line, look at the guy's production, look at the elite players at his position during his era.

He didn't hurt teams either. Eagles went to a Super Bowl. Niners were good. To me, he wasn't always a great guy. I didn't get any drugs, and he didn't appear to unraveled teams. Yeah, and I know it's been said. That's not what we're voting on, right? We're voting on the player between the lines.

And so I was always kind of, you know, adamant in trying to express that to the other voters. And people changed by the time we got to the third year of, you know, of eligibility for T. as a finalist, you know, people kind of came around and said, okay, you know, I get that. So it is time to vote him in. Now, he goes and has his own speech. I mean, what do you do? I think the worst thing the Hall of Fame could do, and I haven't heard it really in the past couple of weeks, but heard about it coming out of Canton, that they were considering a T-O

rule that if a guy doesn't commit to coming to can. And that would just take away the integrity of the whole process of we're voting on the players. We can't vote on them. Based on if they'll show up. Exactly. So that's crazy. I invited people to my wedding that couldn't show up and they were my friends. Exactly.

I mean, David Bowie didn't show up. Kiss didn't show up to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I don't mind a player being petty. An organization shouldn't be petty. Right. The Hall of Fame's got to be bigger than this. You know, I mean, T.O. A lot of rock stars don't show up.

Yeah. At the Hall of Fame, yeah, Cleveland, yes. Yeah. So, I mean, by the way, I'll say this for T. He's come on my show twice. Never Ducks criticism. I rip him. He comes on the show and answers it.

Total respect for him there. Yeah. And I think there's a part of T.O. that actually kind of likes the attention that he gets, being the guy that people are always throwing darts at. So, you know, the T.O. brand is what it is. Jared Bell. Great seeing you.

Great having you on the show. When you're in Los Angeles, call my producers. We'll get you on the show. We love having you. Thanks a lot, man. I appreciate it. USA Today Hall of Fame voter. Hour 3, T.J.

Hushman Zadas around the corner in Los Angeles. It's the herd. This is the herd. Our number three live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Jamie Maggio is joining me again today. Joy Taylor will be back sometime of tomorrow or next week. We don't really know. Joy doesn't tell us.

She just some days she's here and some days Joy Taylor is not here. Take her time. I'm having fun here. It's great to have you. Thank you. Coming up in 15 minutes, one of my favorite guys, wide receiver, NFL or for a decade, T.J. Hushmanzada will be on the show. Coming up in best for last, I'll tell you the one thing LeBron never gave us.

All right, so Des Bryant recently visited the Cleveland Browns. The Patriot rumors are out there, but he still doesn't have a gig. So I'm starting there. Here's the downside. And they're not that many downsides to what I'm going to talk about. The downside to getting a really good job or a very public job or a high profile job. If you make a mistake, it gets magnified. Everybody sees it.

Okay, that's the downside to working at a public place, being a mayor, you know, being in a small town, being the principal in a small town. One little mistake, magnified. So when you give somebody a job like that, you got to make sure they're prepared for it. just the work, but the magnification of any mistake they make. Des Bryant is the all-time leading Dallas Cowboy touchdown leader. Cleveland said no thank you. The Patriots cut Kenny Britt yesterday. They said, no, we're desperate for a wide receiver. We don't want him. He's the Dallas Cowboys, all-time leading receiver. Still can play. But every tantrum he ever had was on national television. There's a rule in the NFL. People inside the league call to Dallas

Cowboy Rule that you can only put a team on national TV and prime time like six times. Because otherwise, everybody would always put the Cowboys on. They call it the Dallas Cowboy Rule. Every network, Fox, NBC, CBS, we would all put the Cowboys in our primetime late-night game every single week. But you can't. The rule was instituted to protect the Dallas Cowboys. Think about this.

Tony Romo, when I say Tony Roe, Romo, your first thought overwhelmingly, and it's unfair, is that guy threw so many picks in the fourth quarter. Tony Romo has the second best passer rating in the history of the NFL in the fourth quarter. He's the second best fourth quarter quarterback passer rating in the history of the league. but all his interceptions were on television because the Cowboys are always the most watched game on television. That's the reality of what is happening to Des Bryant.

There's only three quarterbacks in league history who have ever had a higher passer rating than Tony Romo. The all-time leader for touchdown receptions for the Cowboys is not Drew Pearson. It is not T.O. It is not Bullet Bob Hayes. It is not Jay Novichick. It is not Jason Witten. It is not Michael Irvin.

It's Des Bryant. And the Cleveland Browns, desperate for players, said, no, thank you. And the New England Patriots who cut Kenny Britt, I mean, they're down to throwing to stuffed animals at this point. I don't know. They said, no, thank you. Be very careful about taking a high-profile job or hiring somebody for a high-profile job

because any little tantrum, any little mistake will be magnified. Let me shift gears to this. In the NFL, I think you should watch what you spend, mostly stay away from free agents, with one exception. That's when you have a really, really, really good quarterback in the first three to four years of his contract. And you're not paying him anything. In the NFL, the smart GMs, go for it.

The Rams, the Eagles, Kansas City. It's very rare. It happens to about one or two teams in the league every year. Oh, this young quarterback's good enough to play now, and we're paying him nothing. If you're paying your quarterback under like $10 million a year, Rams, Jared Gough, in that ballpark, then you go get Indomacons. You go out and get Brandon Cooks. When Philadelphia is only paying Carson Wentz that, you go get Michael Bennett.

You go get whoever you got to get. The New York Jets this morning are in discussions with the Raiders for Khalil Mack. The New York Jets have Sam Darnold. Go get Khalil Mack. This is what the good teams do. If you have a young guy good enough to start now, remember the NFL is very unique. It doesn't take 10, 12 years to go from the outhouse to the penthouse.

They've got an elite safety already. They've got an elite corner. Trumane Johnson. They went and got him from the Rams. Leonard Williams, an elite defensive lineman. Jamal Adams, an elite safety. But they were 28th in sacks. You get Khalil Mack.

You've got a Pro Bowl level guy, defensive line, pass rush, corner and safety, and a very good defensive head coach. Now, with Sam Darnold, you trade Teddy Bridgewater, the picks you have to give up to get Khalil Mack, you get back trading Teddy Bridgewater for picks. And then next year, you recruit the hell out of the offensive line in the draft. You got to go for it. And I'm not always a go-for-it guy. There are times in my life that I've been very cautious physically, very cautious professionally.

And in the NFL, I'm not a big believer in big splashy free agent signings. But there is a go-for-it time in the NFL. And if you're the Jets, never forget Andrew Luck's first three years. Just like Sam Darnold, they had a bad all line, no running backs, weak tight ends, and marginal wide receivers. Yet, he was 22 and 1 when the Colts kept people under 20 points. This jet defense is not bad, and with Khalil Mack is pretty good. They'll solve their one defensive problem. It is pretty good.

Then you got the franchise quarterback. You got the defensive head coach. You got the defensive personnel in every unit. Then you go out and you solve the offensive line. Because you got six draft picks next year. More if you trade Teddy Bridgewater potentially. This is why I've been critical of the Cowboys on this. Dak Prescott, you're not paying him anything, man.

You've got to go out now and spend some money on a big time safety or a big time wide receiver. I'd make that argument. argument. Once you get the quarterback right and you already have one side of the ball, which is close, Jets and defense, and I can make it elite with one guy, get it done. Trade Teddy. Maybe with Teddy, you get an offensive lineman and a pick. The NFL's, this is why the NFL is great. It gives fans hope. Even Cleveland right now, they get Tyrod Taylor, draft Baker, make a move for Jarvis slandry? They're going to go from 0 and 16. A lot of people think they're going to be 8 and 8. I don't think that's crazy. I got them at 6 and 10, but I don't think 8 and 8's crazy.

Jets, this is your moment. It is the NFL's goal for it stage. You got a kid that's good enough to start. He'll be spotty. He'll have issues. He'll be choppy. He's good enough to start. Solidify your defense. Go get a star. This is what the Eagles will do. This is what the Rams. This is what Kansas City. This is what they do. The smart teams. do this. Coming up next, T.J. Hushman Zada, one of the smartest guys we bring on this show as NFL

football continues tonight and through the weekend. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. When you're ready to buy a new car, Hyundai's on your team. Shopper

assurance program, transparent price, flexible test drive, streamline purchases HyundaiUSA.com slash shopper assurance. played for over a decade in the NFL. He was a pro bowler. One of my favorite guests. Let's bring him on. I covered him in college as well at Oregon State.

T.J. Hushman Zada. So I didn't even think of something the other day. I'm listening to radio. And I'm listening to what's that called? Mad Dog Radio. My friend Nick Wright's on there. Yes. Nick, first thing's first guy.

And Nick, he just was on there for whatever reason, right? He's just making some extra lettuce. And so he brings up a point, and I had never thought of this. And I was going to call him. I didn't call him because I thought that I never even thought so when Des Bryant showed up at the Cleveland facility hard knocks for free agency he showed up in a tank top and he had headphones around his neck and Nick's like come on bro you can't you're trying to get a job here and my takeaway I didn't even register with me I didn't think it was a topic and then I looked at it and I'm like

that's how players dress right like now did you think about that I thought that I watched it actually with my wife and my kids and I thought I said I made a comment I'm like I wonder why he's dressed like that I thought that was odd why just you're a free agent you're coming in you're trying to impress them and so you don't have to be an assumed tie but I thought he would have been better served being in some jeans and a colored shirt or even a t-shirt now if he's he's come straight from the airplane that's different that's happened to me before like I when I was a free agent the Giants wanted to work me out. It was the year after the lockout, briefly, briefly lockout, the brief lockout, uh, 2011. And I had just got done working out, couldn't make the flight. So I had to catch a red eye. So I was in sweats. I went straight from the airport to the facility and worked out no sleep. Did you, did you apologize? Did you acknowledge it? Did you say anything like, guys, I just got off a late night plane? The thing was, I didn't even see a coach until the workout. So they, they didn't see me. The players and trainers and different people might have seen me in my sweats,

but I went straight and changed and went straight to the workout. But you're aware, so it popped to you. You thought, dude, you're trying to impress people. Yes. With the headphones, I'm sure they thought, what is they doing? Guarantee they did. Guarantee. I just thought it was odd.

Not professional enough. Yes. Yeah, no. But I would have never even have thought about that. The conversations, it threw me for a loop. I mean, it looked like Hugh was trying to sell Des on signing, and then it had to have been some things where they didn't show us where it wasn't as... We never saw his workout tape.

And we never saw the work. Maybe he didn't have a good work. No, I'm sure. I'm almost certain he didn't work out. You don't think he worked out? I'm almost certain he did not. They would have shown glimpses of that, I'm sure. Okay.

So, Josh Allen is the one quarterback. I said, Lamar and Josh. are projects. Yes. Baker Mayfield's a prospect. He can play. Darnold can play. It won't be great, but can play right now.

Those guys are projects. Then I watched Josh Allen, and I'm like, hell, I made a mistake on that one. I watched, you know, in college, he looked overwhelmed. He wasn't accurate. He was an overstrider. He was wild. Well, I'm watching him now, and I'm like, he's all accurate. Huh?

Are you shocked? He's a better pro thrower than he was in college. Who'd you have on your show on Tuesday? Jordan Palmer. Ding dong. Bingo. It's the reason why. Jordan knows what he's doing. He won't say it.

He'll come on a show and give the coaches in Buffalo all the credit. They haven't been around Josh Allen long enough to change him that much. That's Jordan Palmer working right there. That's Jordan Palmer working his magic and really helping this kid out. Now, in a couple years now, then you can start to give the Buffalo Bills coaching staff the credit they do deserve. But right now? That's Jordan Palmer all day.

Dang. He has really look good. I'm telling, man, Jordan does a really good job with these guys. And he spends so much time with him that they trust everything he's telling and teaching. He does a really good job, man, with these college kids that he works with. Okay, Baker Mayfield plays tonight. You've watched. What do you think?

He's done well. I will say that. He was really, really good in the first game. So, so I thought in the second game. I think what Cleveland is doing is best for him. I would not start him this first year if I, you open up with Pittsburgh in New Orleans. So the probabilities of you starting O and two are high. It doesn't matter who's starting.

So do you want to put him in that fire with Pittsburgh and they run these fire zones and all these exotic coverages that he's never seen before? I don't think they want him in that fire. Not with those looks that the Steelers are going to throw at him. I want to throw something to you. You supported Tom, Brady, and Alex Guerrero. And you were like, this guy's amazing. So when I came out and I said, this Alex Guerrero, some fitness guru, you stopped me in my tracks.

You're like, timeout. I know that dude. That dude's good. And you told me you're like cutting edge, cutting edge, cutting edge, he's great. And then I saw something on hard knocks, and I want to play the tape for you. Go ahead and play this and listen. World War I, World War II, all those guys that fought in that war, right? They did push-ups, jump in.

jack's sit-ups to climb the rope and ran but none of this fancy okay right and they won two world wars two world wars by doing jumping jacks push-ups and sit-ups two world wars you think they were worried when they're running across normandy about stretching are you kidding me huh well let me see me my rubber band so i can stretch to run across that beat you got to be kidding me let me ask you is the gap between new england and cleveland that great like is that common in NFL? Yeah. With coaches that are of age and they haven't updated themselves with the technology and the

training that goes on today, I mean, honestly, when I heard him saying that, he was just doing that for TV. He didn't really mean that. He just wanted to make sure they put him on and they featured him a little bit. There's no way he really believes that. There's no, he said he drives a Maserati. There's no way he believes that he's driving a Maserati. Absolutely not.

He's just talking. That's just performing for TV. 100%. There's no way he believes what he's saying. Push up, sit up to jumping jacks. You know he ain't doing any of it, by the way he looks, but I'm just saying, there's no way. I mean, I saw that I'm like, that's embarrassing. That isn't. There's no way. I laughed when I saw that. And then he said, I drive a Maserati. No way. Let me ask you, he does drive a Maserati? How's he fitting it? Okay, it takes him a while to fit to it.

So maybe I'm overreacting. And I know Tom Brady's great. And he elevates everybody, right? Wes Walker was just a guy in Miami. Then he became kind of a star. But I look at this now. So Kenny Britt's not there. Chris Hogan in the first month is their go-to guy.

Coro Patterson feels more of a return guy than a wide receiver. Philip Dorset in Indianapolis looked lost to me. A borderline bust. They don't have Edelman for a month. Gronk plays 10 games a year. Is it possible not even Tom Brady can fix this? They released Kenny Britt. I mean, Amandola's gone.

Is it possible, TJ, that Tom's met his match? This is just a bunch of guys. But this is what he does. This is what Brady does. That's why he's as great as he is. He'll go down as the greatest quarterback to ever play because this is what he does. He's going to find a way to make this work.

Dorset is going to try to replace the production down the field that Cook's hat, whether it's statistically he does it, but he will be in that role. I was hoping that they would at least give Des a shot. If Belichick is a disciplinarian that everybody says, Dez is going to fall in line. He's going to fall in line. And if he's not, you get rid of him is quicker than you got him. Simple as that.

If they don't, Tom's going to be fine because he'll have Gronkowski and like you said, Hogan will be their number one wide out. He'll make it work. I'm almost certain of that. Wow. By the way, the Urban Meyer thing, let me ask you. Just to, you play the... Man, we had this.

discussion yesterday with friends about the Urban Meyer. What were you and your friends saying about it? He's been suspended three games. My takeaway at the top of the show was he's a great coach. Universities find ways to keep great coaches when they're in trouble. Number one, when they didn't fire him right away, you knew he wasn't getting fired. Number one, at least that's what I thought. Number two is when I'm about, like I've seen my mom get beat up by a man.

I have three daughters. And so I've grown up seeing this, you know, when I was younger, I've seen a man put hands on my mother. And so we had this discussion yesterday with some friends of mine, some coaches that I coached with at Polly. And I said, what is Urban Meyer to do? If he confronts Zach Smith and says, X, Y, and Z, this is what I hear you're doing? And he says, no, what do you say to that? You, you're lying to me. How do you confront that?

How do you handle that situation? I don't know how you handle it because if he tells you he's not doing this, do you tell him he's lying to you? How do you handle that situation? Well, in 2009, I think Urban did confront him. And Zach at the time said there wasn't that part of it, that element. And so how I don't know how the head coach is in charge of the team. How is he in charge of what I do at home, how I handle my family at home?

I don't know how you handle it because men to men, we're not going to get in each other's business when it comes to that. If I see it, I will address it. But if I don't see it for myself or my wife does not see it, how do you handle that? There are reports that Urban erased text messages, which I think is the most damning part of it. Again, I haven't read every accusation, but I read a ton of stuff. You know, I mean, in the end, here's the way I look at college sports, is that if you're great, you can, you're just. you know what? When they, Jim Tressel was great and they got rid of him. So I was like, Ohio State,

when it comes to things that matter, they don't play. You know, they fired a couple really good coaches. Right. But it's once they say that we will investigate in 14 days, we'll have an answer. Once you say that, it shows, it showed me at least they weren't going to fire him because they would have fired him within three or four days. Once they let it linger on for about seven to ten days, I knew knew they weren't going to fire him. I said to start the show, they were looking for ways to keep him and protect him, not convicted. him. Exactly. That was a 14-day trial to find ways to keep him, not get rid of it. And Urban is what a lot of coaches do. How do you get his starting coaching college football? By Zach Smith's grandfather gave him that opportunity. And so he was trying to repay that opportunity a little too much and it almost cost him his livelihood. And he was just being loyal because Earl gave Urban that opportunity and he was trying to look after Zach Smith. That's how I see it.

Yeah, no, that's true. He did actually. I mean, that that's been confirmed that they had a real relationship. And loyalty is a very interesting thing, TJ. You know, in life, it's very interesting. We've all had friends. And at some point, as your status grows, you've got to cut friends. Yeah.

Have you had one? A little bit, yeah, especially when they're doing things that I don't do anymore. I don't agree with the way you're living your life. Yeah. That's it. You know, if you need something and it's legal, if I can help you, I might. I might not. I mean, that's just the reality of it. Yeah. Good seeing you, man.

The same. Jamie with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, well, you are not going to believe this, but LeVar Ball was talking to the media. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. Today. So let me give it this week. So let me give you a little backstory, and you'll remember this, Colin. Back in March, Levar Ball had said that it's going to be hard for LeBron's kids to grow up in his shadow and to grow up with all that pressure, to which

LeBron said, keep my kids' names out of your mouth. Well, this week, LeVar was asked if Brony James would be good enough for LeVar's JBA League. Here's LeVar. You've got to try out and make sure he's good enough. He's not good enough if he's only like 14 years old. Yeah, he's good enough for college, but he can't get the JBA a step above that. Yeah, right, okay. So let's assume that LeBron's going to even let his kids play in the JBA League or that the JBA League will even be around by then.

Well, I've seen, he's 14 years old, his son, right? He's just a baby. He's not ready for G-League, JBA League. He's a kid. He's not ready for college basketball at this point. He looks like a little boy. He is a little boy. He's 14 years old.

LeVar can't help himself. I mean, the media bates him. They put the mic in his face, and he just has no filter. Yeah. All right. Well, Jason Tatum, Boston Celtics Rising Star, got to cross off a bucket list item this off season, which many players do.

But his bucket list item was playing with Kobe Bryant, working out with Kobe Bryant. So Jason Tatum told the Boston Globe this. He said that was a dream come true. Him always being my favorite player and getting an opportunity to chat with him and just get in the gym with him,

really just getting into his mindset, how he thought as a player. It was a surreal moment. I really couldn't believe it. Jason Tatum looks up to Kobe Bryant. I get it, but Kobe, you're a Laker legend. Why are you helping the enemy? Why are you helping this young Celtics player?

investing your time. I think actually, I think what's happened in the NBA is, and I kind of back the players on this, is it's not a lack of loyalty, but to give back to the game, you're just going to help anybody. I mean, LeBron, by the way,

used to work out with Kevin Durant when Durant was this young star for Oklahoma City, and they met in the finals. I think for a lot of these legends, it's way bigger than your team in your local jersey. It is, I'm going to give back to the game of basketball. I mean, LeBron has sort of been the ringleader on a lot of different movements in the league. He's been the guy. And it's kind of he's, I mean, LeBron James, whether it's an

SB appearance or it's working out, I mean, the I Can't Breathe T-shirts, he is, and I'm not trying to think of the word that's a, he is sort of either a symbolic or a physical leader, an emotional leader of very important movements in his eyes. So, you know, I think just Kobe's like, listen, it's bigger than anything else. Here's a star. He idolized me. By the way, let's say there was a radio guy that said, oh, I always calling you, I looked up to you, and he worked at another

network. Why wouldn't I help him? I'm not saying I'm Kobe, obviously, but if all these years doing this, if there was a young guy that wanted help and he was going up against me, I'd be like, you know, you're at another network, but I'll help you. As long as you're not taking my job, I'll help you. Clearly, you're very mature and much more mature

mature than I am. By the way, today's Kobe's 40th birthday. It is. 40th, yep. Look at what he's accomplished at 40 years old. Yeah, a lot. Oscar winner. All right, finally, we get back-to-back Marshawn Lynch stories this week.

Marshawn Lynch has gotten his own custom-made Skittles pack. They are making 2,400 of them, an honor of his number 24 jersey. And fans can go to Marchonspack.com. But look at that. Oh, he's so happy. He just wants to roll around in those skittles. John, is he still playing for the Raiders? Is he, Jamie?

Is he still? Is he still? Yeah, he's still a Raider. But he won't play when they go to Vegas. He only wants to play in Oakland. Okay, so this is the last run for him. I think. Raiders going to Vegas in two years?

Yeah, because it takes two years to build the stadium. It's still a little, well, it's still a little up in the air because they could end up playing at UNLV for a year before the stadium is, but it's, they're committed to one more year in Oakland. That's about all we know. Well, and I don't think they have a deal, Oakland City Council. They don't have a deal with a stadium next year. I mean, they're just hanging.

out there. So they'd go playing Sam Boyd Silver Bowl? Well, the Chargers were playing possible, but they had to do, you have to do certain things to make it NFL ready as a stadium, so they'd have to make some upgrades to it in order to play there. It's like a whole thing. It's a mess, basically.

That's another reason. But there's Skittles now, so it's okay. Yeah, the skills make it all better. Yeah, Jamie with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. All fired up for Baker-Mayfield tonight. Just don't worry about the stats, just is he poised or is he overwhelmed? And I think he's going to be fine.

You know, one of the things I did, remember those things I showed, you guys, I did my three tiers of quarterbacks coming into the draft. Sam, you could bring it up if you wanted to. One of the reasons I kept doing that over and over and over. I must have done it 10 times on this show is I said when it comes to quarterbacks, and I made sure I said it more on Baker Mayfield than anybody else. I told you exactly what I thought he would be because I didn't want you to come back and go, Colin, you said, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I said from the very beginning, he's going to have success in this league. He is really an accurate thrower and he's got some interesting instincts and he can move a little bit. Way more talented than Tim Tebow, who I called as a bust. Way more talented than Johnny Mansell,

who I called as a bust. Way better chance of playing, unlike Jamarcus Russell, who I said was going to be a bust. Here it is. Our guys found it. My takeaway was Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold can win right now in the NFL. Baker can win, but he's going to need some help.

He's not as talented a thrower as Rosen. He's not a talented athlete as Sam Darnold. And I said that Josh and Lamar Jackson, they're not ready to win early. So let's look at where we're at. I still believe exactly that. This is exactly what I believe. Now, I didn't say Baker couldn't win. What I believe with Baker, he's not as good an athlete.

He's not as good of an armed talent as Josh Rosen. He's not as big and strong and as athletic as Sam Darnold. So he's going to need overtime more help around him. If you gave him all the exact same help, Darnold and Rosen would win more games than Baker. But if Baker now has Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb, I think has a chance to be offensive rookie of the year in the AFC. See, I do think they have a good run blocking offensive line.

The receiving course, pretty interesting. But this is what I said pre-draft, and this is what I believe now. Now, where it appears, I could be wrong is Josh Allen, the kid in the lower, depending on how you're sitting. It's that lower left. That's lower left for me, how TV is at right side. He, through coaching through Jordan Palmer, has looked great. Now, again, vanilla defenses.

My gut feeling is Josh Allen's going to start week one because they don't have anybody else, and it's not going to look great. He's facing vanilla stuff. He's playing with the ones. It's going to get really, really ugly. I don't think Darnold and Baker, if they play now, they wouldn't be great, but it wouldn't be ugly. I predicted yesterday.

Sam Darnold's going to throw over 18 touchdowns and have 15 picks. But it won't be terrible. I mean, Farr have had years. He threw 25 picks. It won't be terrible. Baker Mayfield could play right now. It's not going to be awful. Josh Rosen could play right now.

not going to be awful. I do think if Lamar started, it would be really bad. And I think my takeaway, Josh Allen, is better than I thought, but I still think with Josh Allen going from Wyoming to NFL defenses, exotic coverages. Now, pro football focus came out this morning and said, here's the grades on everybody so far. Now, again, remember, none of these guys have faced number one defenses. None of them have.

Now, Josh Allen. will in his next start. So these guys have all faced vanilla defenses and second and third team defenses. It'll be interesting to watch of all these guys, Josh Allen, because he is going to start. And he's going to face ones. And remember, in week three of the NFL preseason, it's the one game where they play starters. Everybody plays starters for a half and they'll throw some exotics at you. They'll throw some different defenses.

They will challenge their players, the coaching staffs, will. Coming up next, I'll tell you the one thing LeBron never gave us. That is next in best for last. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of different terms. Dealer price. List price. What's not confusing? Saving three grand off MSRP. Newer you is go to truecar.com. Jamie Maggio, who I bumped into at dinner last night. I was with my wife. I looked over there's Jamie just hanging out. And so we can't get away from each other. Joy Taylor returns at some point. John, do you have any Intel on Joy. Joy's just joy to the world. She's just doing what she's doing. I think she's back. Everyone likes to take a few days right now because football's about to start.

Because you're like your last chance for a vacation. So Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are set to play, as Jamie reported earlier, November 23rd. And it'll be winner take all $9 million on pay-per-view. Now, the price has not been set. Jamie said 24 bucks. I said about 12. two of the best golfers, two of the biggest names, certainly in the last decade in the sport. And with that, it got me thinking about the biggest matchups I've never seen before.

So let's go to best for last. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last. What are the biggest matchups in sports that we'd love to see, but we've never seen? How about this? when George Foreman made a comeback in the 80s,

the reason he made a comeback is he said he could beat Mike Tyson. It was one of the real turnoffs to me in boxing. They never met. And the only reason they didn't meet was greed. Foreman had said, this is why I got back into fighting. Neither was a nuanced fighter by the end. They were both haymakers. George would throw a haymaker right.

Tyson would throw a haymaker left. Consider two of the best knockout heavyweight boxers of all time would have been the most watched fight at the time ever and they never met. How about this one? If I said what's the biggest college basketball rivalry, you would say Duke and North Carolina. Do you realize they have met 248 times but never in the NCAA tournament? that doesn't even sound right. They have combined for 36 final fours and 11 national championships, but my staff told me this morning, they've never met in the tournament.

That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. I cannot even believe that is true. Now, I understand that the NCAA would want to separate them in different brackets, but there have been years. They're both, you know, one or two seats. They've never met in the tournament. That's incredible. How about this?

Rinaldo and Messi in a World Cup. The two greatest individual players, I didn't get to see Pele Live, so they're the two best soccer players I've ever seen. Two of the top scores in Champions League history. One of them has won the last 10 player of the year awards. They've won five each. They have never met in the World Cup.

I mean, think about that. Player of the Year and a year. soccer last decade. They're the only two winners, and they have never met in the World Cup. How about Rogers and Brady? The most talented quarterback in 25 years and the most accomplished quarterback ever, never met in a Super Bowl. In fact, they've both been in the same year in the AFC NFC championship, but I think it was that year Matt Ryan, didn't he knock out Aaron Rogers? Brady's got three MVP's, five Super Bowl tights. Five Super Bowl tights. titles, Rogers, passer rating, best in league history, two MVP's.

They have only faced each other once ever. All these years, think about that. You're talking combined like 20 some, 25 years. They have met one time, I'm told, in the regular season, Green Bay won a narrow game a few years back. And here's another one that is hard. It's really, these are just staggering to me. They do this year. So Rogers and Brady play this year.

That'll be the second time. November. Where's that game at? It's in New England? All right. They'll be one-on-one. Okay. Kobe and LeBron. One of them have been in the last 12 finals and 16 of the last 19. Two best players. Could I say last 10 years? These are the two best players? Kobe and LeBron are the two best players in the NBA.

they've been, one of them's been in the last 12 finals, both players considered arguably the best player of their generation. They have never met in the finals. Aren't those amazing? Yeah, both got into the conference finals at the same time, one year. Yeah, remarkable. Never saw Kobe. So think about that.

All these great players playing simultaneously, that's what was so great with Bird Against Magic. People forget this in the NBA. You know, if you're a 20-year-old, you didn't see this. The NBA in the 70s was a mess. They had a drug problem, empty arenas. The NBA finals were on tape delay.

They weren't even live. They didn't even put them on live TV. I can remember this as a kid. The NBA finals were on tape delay after the 11 o'clock local news. The league was not dead, but it was irrelevant. It was an NFL, college basketball, college football, baseball, baseball world. And the NBA was irrelevant. Magic and Larry Bird became these transformative college stars.

Larry Bird played at Indiana State, the Sycamores. One other good player on the team, I think for an hour made the NBA. Magic played with Greg Kessler, Judd Heathcote on Michigan State. They met and Magic won in the championship. And they both come into the league, right, in the two-year period. And they're both great, right out of the gate. Now, Larry Bird's the best shooter in the league, like right out of the gate. Magic Johnson first year in the league.

He inherits Kareem, Jamal Wilkes, really good finals, all that stuff. They really resurrected the league. The great gift of that is that they, for 12 years in the NBA championship, either Bird was winning it, Magic was winning it,

but one of them was in it. You just don't get that. You think you get it all the time. You don't. We got a little tiger fill, and that's where this whole thing started in Best for Last. do get, you do get some of this in golf. We got, but we, we didn't get a lot of Sundays at 4 o'clock, Tiger and Mickelson

at the Masters against each other. It was generally one was hot that week and one was not that week. What would you spend on pay-per-view to see Kobe in his prime versus LeBron in his prime? In the finals? No, just one-on-one. One-on-one? Yeah, we're talking about the one-on-one matchup in golf. I've always thought that is the one thing.

You know how the big three comes in now? It is remarkable to me. We've never had a one-on-one NBA tournament. In my lifetime, we've never had one-on-one. Talk to the executives here, make it happen. That, to me, is pay-per-view. Kobe LeBron. Now, you can't do it now.

We had five-on-five. We have three-on-three. We're getting there. We may do a pick-and-roll two-on-two league, and then we'll go to one-on-one. Yeah, Floyd, Mayweather and Manny Pacchio, by the way, we got, but neither was in their prime. Floyd was old and Pacchio had lost all his punching power. You don't get these great matchups as much as you think.

You just don't. We got Brady and Peyton in their prime. We got Brady and Peyton in their prime. We got Tiger and Phil in their prime. But in golf, it's like who's hot that weekend, who's now very rarely. Yeah, but I mean, it did feel like eight years ago. they were both guys that were going to a tournament and you put your money on them.

How many times did Tiger and... I don't even remember. I'm not a golf addict. How many times did Tiger and Phil on a Sunday at 4 o'clock, you turn the TV on, and it was those two and a major to the end. I can't remember many.

It was usually one of their weekends and one of them didn't play a while. By the way, Lane Kiffin was on earlier, and I love this. Lane said, there's been a story this week. A poll came out that Nick Sabin's one of the most overrated coaches in college football, and one anonymous source said he cheats.

It's easy to win when you cheat. Lane Kiffin used to coach under Nick Saban, and I asked him about that. Nick Saban cheating. I used to sit in staffing as a head coach, and an assistant coach would lose a player to another program. They said, oh, they cheated. You know, they bought the player. People just say that to take blame off of, okay, why did we lose the player? You know, could we have done something better in the recruiting process to sign the players?

So we're just going to say someone else cheated because, you know, that makes us look better. People saying Nick Saban, well, it's like cheating because he has better players and everyone. Well, they didn't just walk. They just didn't walk onto campus and through the doors. You know, he spent time getting him. He's the best recruiter in the world because of the time that he spends. The only cheating they do is that he just works harder than everybody else. Now, Lane Kiffin says that having coached under Pete Carroll,

and Nick Saban. So when he's telling you, Nick's the best recruiter I've ever seen, okay, that means Pete Carroll's not. And Pete Carroll was really the first guy that came into college football that I remember that literally we talked about his recruiting more than his coaching. I mean, Nick, that was Pete Carroll's thing. Like, he was the, they were the number one class, number one class, number one class, NFL guys. Sabin has said that before.

He goes, I don't know if I'm the best coach. Nick Saban has said, I am the best recruiter. So everybody keeps slinging arrows at Nick. Listen, if he's cheating, 10 years running, somebody give me proof. Because I got proof at Ohio State. I mean, Ohio State investigated at Ohio State. They just suspended their coach. I got proof there were shenanigans at Ohio State.

They didn't investigate him. They didn't suspend Urban Meyer because they didn't find something. They didn't like what they found. Or they wouldn't have suspended him. it was Ohio State investigating Ohio State, right? They wouldn't have suspended him. So they found enough stuff that didn't like. Tomorrow, Doug Peterson, coach of the Eagles, joining us on the show.

Jamie Moshio, it's the herd back tomorrow. 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, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the

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