The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Zion Williamson, Duke-UCF, and Rob Gronkowski

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

Colin explains the stardom of Duke F Zion Williamson, the non calls during the Duke-UCF game, and the career of New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski. Guests include Doug Gottlieb, James Harrison, and Aaron Torres. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Radio. Here we go on a Monday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, at FS1. One hour from now, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and there

are plenty of both. Joy Taylor is joining me in a Monday. What was a magical, magical weekend? March Madness, we both love. It was amazing. Amazing. So much fun. So much urgency. So let me start with this. Ratings are up 29%. Excuse me. They're up 8% that the highest ratings in 29 years. And whenever ratings go, everybody tries to guess why the ratings going up, it's gambling. It's not gambling. We've been gambling on the final four forever. It's not gambling. Well, let me tell you why the ratings are up. Zion Williamson. CBS has a Zion.

All right, college basketball, let's be honest, has become like a two, three-week sport. It's the honeymoon of marriage. It's great for about 10 days, but it's not reality. Zion Williamson is a superstar. This is what superstars look like at 17 years old. If he goes to the New York Knicks, he is going to blow past Janice, Kauai, Paul George, Westbrook, Hardin, Kauai Leonard, M. Bede, Ben Simmons, In name value, in star value, he is going to blow by them because he's got three factors which are massively important to superstars.

Number one, the name factor. Zion. Oprah. I'm a stern. Hannity. Rush. Pele. Rinaldo.

Kobe. I know it sounds kooky. But that one name factor is a marketer's dream. And the fact that he has the letter Z is even crazier, which is another perfect letter for a marketer. He's got the one name factor. It's not called the Rush Limbaugh show. It's called Rush. And that's the way marketing works.

Remember the movie? They were calling the Facebook. And somebody came in and said, just call it Facebook. Google, Yahoo, Amazon. There's a reason. One word. Second factor. He's a physical freak.

People are busy in life. They don't have time for subtlety and nuance. Zion jumps through a television set. It's not a clever crossover. Physically, dunks, even when he shoots a jumper, I can't take my eyes up, but he is not subtle, although he's got a beautiful touch. His smile, his size, his dunks, his game.

Not a lot of subtly. You don't have to be a huge basketball fan to turn on the TV and go, Oh, yeah, kind of like when LeBron broke into the league. You can be like, who's that big kid on the floor? The third factor, which is inarguable, he plays at Duke. It's the number one brand in college basketball. I didn't know who Yonis was for three years. I never watched Kauai Leonard play.

Chris Paul went to Wake Forest. I've been in a lot of forests. I've never been to that one. This kid's going to walk into the NBA, potentially with the New York Knicks. He is going to be a superstar. Not going to be LeBron big. I'm not saying that. He's probably not going to be like Durant and Steph Curry big.

But there's going to be about three or four guys in this league. He's going to blow past all of them. And if you want to know why the ratings are going up, it's Zion. It's not gambling. We gamble on this thing our entire lives. There haven't been a lot of upsets. There haven't been a lot of crazy finishes. There's, you know, the other big star plays at a college.

He's already out John Morant that most of you don't watch. This is what a superstar looks. like at 18 years old. This is what they look like. By the way, Tiger was a superstar. At 16 years old, Sports Illustrated when it was a huge publication that started narratives around sports. They were doing stories on him. He was the talk of golf clubs. Networks showed every shot when he was 17, 18 years old on any tournament he was part of. Name Factor, physical specimen, superstar from a great college brand. that is why the ratings are up 29%. I will get to

the Duke controversial win after the break because I do want to touch on that. But I think the second biggest story of the day, speaking of one name, Gronk. Not Rob Gronkowski. Gronk,

another star in America. One of the ten biggest sports slash character stars ever. He retired. There's two things about Rob Grancke. Ronkowski. Rob Gronkowski. Number one is college football does a lot of spread offense. So like tight ends in college don't block anymore.

So the NFL is struggling to find college tight ends who they think they can turn into blockers. There's a kid at Iowa, T.J. Hawkinson, who's probably the most underrated player in the entire draft. He's the next version of Gronk, though I don't think he's nearly as talented. But he blocks and college guys don't block. So Gronk, there's not a lot of Gronk's out there. We'll see talented tight ends, but he became an unbelievable force on the offensive line. Tony Gonzalez last year talked about what makes Gronk special. With Gronk, what he's better than me at is the blocking.

He can block. He's a big old guy. Blocking is about desire, first of all. Do you want to do it? It's not about can you do it. It's will you do it. You know, and a lot of those big tight ends, to a big tight ends, 250 pound Jimmy Graham,

250 pound Travis Kelsey. Not a knock against them. But they don't want a block because it's hard. It hurts. It's not fun. It really is not fun. It's not fun. I love that bite. But I got to tell you something about Gronk. When Gronk came into this league,

you saw him and I saw him as just a big dumb football player. He's goofy. But over the course of time, Gronk became one of the smartest NFL players. He did the opposite of sometimes what misguided athletes do. Gronk was incredibly coachable.

As he physically wore down, wasn't as fast, he accelerated his blocking skills. Gronk could have left multiple times more money. A lot of stars do that, but he knew that Tom Brady was the perfect fit and Belichick was the perfect coach. A lot of athletes spend their money. wisely, Gronk has never spent a dime of his. He's legendary. Gronk came into this league is a big dopey goofball. Talented. I'm not denying that. He was talented. But he actually became really wise and really smart in that he could have chased a lot of things. And he didn't. And he became incredibly coachable. And he accelerated his blocking skills. And he became an incredible ally to Tom Brady.

And he took care of his body. So by the end of the year last year, the two biggest games, he was arguably the best guy on the field. Gronk admitted that he came into this league and he wanted to have a lot of fun. And I'm not anti-fun. But Gronk, instead of pushing back at his coach and pushing back at the system and pushing back at a very complex New England system, Gronk said, you know what, it's better for me.

It's better for the team if I'm more focused. Remember this moment by Gronk at the podium? We got yelled at we're not allowed to talk about celebrations. That's what we got told, but I kind of want to talk about it. But I kind of don't because I'll get in trouble. So I don't know what to do. So it just happened on the spot. It wasn't planned.

We'll just keep it there. Gronk's a big personality. But Gronk understood, this place is good for me. This quarterback's good for me. This coach is good for me. learning to block is good for me working really hard is good for me it's okay to be a big personality and also fit within a system all sorts of people in my business have big personalities but they can appreciate having good box good bosses at Fox like I have a

personality it rub some people the wrong way but I try to never take advantage or never underestimate the value of a really good boss and really good management and a really good system. I know, I know, I know. It's such a sellout. Yes, our shows sell out. And some bands sell out, but they still don't have to compromise all their artistic value. Gronk entered the league as a big, dumb dope guy, right? I think he leaves the NFL and players who are stars with big personalities. You should take a look at Gronk. You never make more money in endorsements than when you're playing in aFC championships and Super Bowls.

Sometimes you've got to reduce a little of your personality, just a little, not all of it, to fit into a structure and a system. Sports loves personalities. Zion Williamson, by the way, I think has a great personality. But systems and cultures win. personalities don't. Gronk reduced his just a little to fit and leaves a first ballot all-time, arguably greatest tight-end talent ever.

Coachable, listened, evolved, grew. To me, that's what smart guys do in sports. You're not a victim if your coach and your culture ask you to pull back the Facebook live in the locker room for the betterment of the team. Tip of the Captain Grunk. Okay, there was a big controversial. big controversial call in Duke and UFC.

I was watching this around about 10 guys. Everybody's freaking out at Duke game. So why didn't the official call a push on that rebound on Duke? I'll explain why coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio, Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. By the way, so Doug Gottlieb in 10 minutes, we'll talk about that controversial call in the Duke UCF game. I said UFC earlier. That's obviously not UCF, Central Florida. And there was a no call on a push. And fans make this mistake a lot. And the media makes this mistake.

Sports are not officiated the exact same way late in games. games. Just like they're not coach the same way, just like rules change late in games. They did not call a push because refs swallow their whistle in close big games late, always. Ever noticed in the NFL on a Hail Mary, they never call pass interference, even though everybody's grabbing and pushing? You ever noticed in soccer, you very rarely with a minute and a half, two minutes left, see a penalty kick because refs don't want to call it unless it's egregious. in hockey. You go to overtime.

Riffs want it fully manned. They don't want to, unless it's egregious, a hockey ref is not going to take a guy off the ice. But calling games should be officiated the same way. Why? They're not played the same early as late. They're not coach the same early as late. There are rules that change. You have a two-minute warning late, not early.

In overtime, college or pro football, the rules all changed. By the way, in the NBA, if you call a timeout late in game, they take the ball and they move it to the other end of the floor. They don't do that in the first quarter, the second quarter, in the third quarter. Why do they do it at the end of a game to make the game more competitive? You also can't do hack a shack in the NBA late in games anymore. There's all sorts of rules in place telling you that games are different late. Football, basketball, baseball, you can't do a challenge in baseball after the seventh inning.

You can't do a challenge in football under the two-minute warning. So the rules change late in baseball. games. Officials also officiate differently. They get out of the way. Remember Christmas Day last year, LeBron and LeBron and LeBron claimed he was fouled twice? When you have LeBron and Kevin Durant, the two biggest stars in the NBA, going to the basket late, LeBron claimed he was fouled twice. They swallowed the whistle. By the way, several years ago in the finals, LeBron fouled Kevin Durant going on the baseline. They swallowed their whistle there. Go ask New Orleans Saints fans.

Referees will allow aggressive play late. They always have and they always will. They don't want to get in the way of an outcome. But Colin, they should. No, they shouldn't. Rules change late. Overtime rules are not the same as regular rules. NBA, they advance the ball.

NFL you can't challenge. Baseball, you can't challenge. Hockey, they won't call anything in overtime. That's the way it should work in sports. You don't drive to work going the same speed limit. There's the freeway. There's off roads. There's side roads.

There's school zones. This idea, there's, you just officiate, same rules, not the great ones. They get it. Officials do not want to be in the newspaper the following morning having called a foul that wasn't a foul. They're much better off, not calling anything, disappearing, and letting them play. I know it makes you mad, you don't want to hear it, but every time people are furious at officiating, almost always, it's because something that wasn't called, not something that was. And did I think it was a push? A lot of pushing in basketball.

But I didn't think they were going to call that. I don't think you'd decide a game that way. By the way, UCF had a chance for an alleyup dunk, blew it. Duke came down, hit a shot. It was a five-point swing. four or five point swing. That's your game. That's not your game.

That missed jam at the other end was the game. Rules change. Coaches coach differently. They substitute differently. You can't hack a shack late. They move the ball and basketball down the floor late. They don't do it early. That's sports.

Joy Taylor with the news. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So the Lakers were officially eliminated from the playoffs this weekend after their loss of the Nets. It's the first time the Bron has missed the playoffs in 14 years. And while LeBron is taking a lot of the blame for the Lakers woes this year, his physical therapist who worked with him during his groin injury,

is coming to his defense. Dr. Karen Jobert wrote on Instagram, I want you all to know how bad his injury was and is the pain he endured. He was on the court in six weeks. It should have been six months. Unselfishly, he endured pain, pain, pain. He did not want to let the Lakers down, the fans down, but I know what he went through.

I learned about determination, the will to win, how to get the job done, he is a force to be reckoned with. It was a picture of her and LeBron in what looks like the physical therapist office. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Physical training room with the Lakers. She's since deleted this, of course. It's kind of interesting timing considering that they had just been eliminated from the playoffs.

But I also don't know who this helps. I obviously don't think that the Lakers loved having this up because it's not really a good look for them. If he should have been out six months and he was out. they're playing in six weeks. But it's also not a great look for LeBron either because, of course, you can't just post information about a patient's injury on the internet. So someone had to approve this post, you're assuming. And then also it's like if you really had to be out six months, what are you doing out there?

This is not the point of your career where you need to push through an injury during the middle of a regular season. It's another moment with LeBron where bad things are happening on the court and he races to Instagram to save his brand or elevate his individual accomplishments. I've felt this year it's been a bad year of kind of marketing and branding for LeBron. Everybody looks at his pizza chain and his TV shows. But like four times this year, you and I think we've agreed on these, there's been like eliminated from the playoffs, bad loss, and he races to Instagram to say,

I blocked a shot. And it's like, let's, you know what LeBron should do when the season ends? recalibrate. Take a month off, do what you want to do, go see a therapist, kumbaya, a guru. Get back into the team thing. I just feel like this year's been all about LeBron. And I get L.A. is very much a, you know, celebrity town. But it's almost like Cleveland and Akron kept LeBron in check. Like he felt like he was part of a community and a fabric. I think that at least in Cleveland, there was a feeling that if he doesn't do it, literally no one will. And it was this idea with the Lakers where he's just, he's going to get another star. We just know it and everything's

just going to work out. We just know it. And the basketball gods are just going to give this to us. And it didn't. And it was issue after issue, injury after injury. And this is just another example to me. Like, I don't get this. It doesn't help anyone. It doesn't help LeBron. Because if you're really that injured, there's no reason you should be out there. If it's a six-month injury, you're just no reason you should be out there in six weeks. And it doesn't have the Lakers at all. So it's just, It's just one more thing. And it's like, okay, this year is done. We know there was a lot of issues.

Stay off into the sunset of the summer. And allow us all to clear the air. So after blowing an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss in Charlotte, the Celtics were blown out on their home floor last night against the Spurs. Kyrie was seen sitting away from the team during timeouts and walked the locker room with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. And after the game, Kyrie was asked about his leadership. When he's hard, team environments are hard. Like, you know, it's not as simple as just, you know,

listening to everybody else speak about what's going on with the team. And, you know, it's hard being a professional athlete, being in a team environment and one to accomplish something very great. You know, everyone always going to say, oh, they need to do this, they do that, nobody knows. Nobody's been in my position. Nobody here. I'm expecting anybody here to understand that.

Everybody could just speak on it. My focus is figuring out, you know, the guys that have in this lockerer, how to get the best out of them, and get the best out of me. Celtics have lost four in a row in five of their last 10. It's just been... Not exactly the way you want to be rolling into the playoffs.

I don't know what to make of the Celtics. When they're playing great, it's like no worries. These are the Celtics we expected. And then when they're down, it feels... On their good nights, they're really good. Like when you watch them on their good nights, when Kyrie's hot and they're playing, and then Hayward's...

You know, they go into Golden State, box them, and it's like, but they have, they are wildly inconsistent. Like I always feel like certain teams like the Raptors, Denver, you kind of get the same team every night. Boston, you get Golden State and Boston. I get wild versions. They're just emotionally volatile. Yes, yes, they are.

And I don't understand it. I do think that Kyrie is still learning how to be that number one guy and he's still adjusting to that. And maybe they do have some chemistry issues with style of play with Kyrie and Gordon Hayward and it's not all just as simple as everybody just getting along. But it's just not the way you want to be going to playoffs. If you're great at anything, it is harder to move into a team concept. I mean, Dion Sanders didn't want to tackle.

Dion's like, I'll cover your best receiver. I'm not into the tackling thing. When you're great, it is harder to fit because you have no limitations, sometimes into a coach's system. And I think Kyrie's a 20-something-year-old kid, and he struggled a little bit. not the end of the world. He's not a bad guy. And I also think he said something that's true. Leadership's hard. I mean, I've seen politicians in their 40s that can't lead. It is possible

for a 27-year-old kid to still be maturing and figuring out how to lead. That's very human. That's very normal. Sure. I will say, though, basketball has always been a team sport. So if you're great at basketball, you've always literally been in the environment where you're playing with other people. So I do get it. He's still developing and figuring it all out. I think it's more on the court, actual system issues that are preventing the Celtics from being consistent. So do I. But again, want to get together before the playoffs. And finally, congratulations to everyone who picked the most boring bracket in your pool for the first time.

Since the tournament expanded the 64 teams in 1985, all 16 betting favorites won in the round of 32. Three times in 2009, 95, and 91, the favorite team had won 15 of 16 games in the round of 32. but this is the first year in which the chalk went undefeated. And a lot of the favorites won in blowout fashion, too. Duke was the closest call. Well, they were the consensus favorite. I'm a chalk guy, so I always go all chalk. I'll pick one upset 512.

So my bracket's in great shape. My bracket's not in great shape, but I went with a lot of the favorites too. I just think that the disparity in talent is today. Throughout the course of the year, I made a prediction on the championship game, which is now not possible because of seeding. But do you remember what that game was? It was Duke and Big Ten team

Michigan Michigan yeah so all year long I kept saying Duke Michigan are going to play in the championship one has the best talent one has the best in-game coach and I still believe that but they can't now now they'll meet on one side of the bracket they won't be in the championship but the two teams I feel best about this morning

are Duke Michigan and then I really like North Carolina yeah I mean I have Duke in North Carolina in the championship game yeah that's probably a good pig North Carolina is really good. They got a great combination of NBA guys and really good college players who aren't NBA guys who have been there. I think you still get credit for that, though.

You can't help the seatings. You're right. I should get humongous credit for that. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The He is a college basketball expert, but knows so much more. He's the Dugger Fox Sports Radio after my show.

You know we got him today. Let's bring in Doug Gottlieb. Awesome. Oh, man, I was sitting there watching that game with seven guys yesterday and they're all complaining. And I'm like, hey, UCF, hit the alley-you-dunk, you win the basketball game. What did you make of the no-call on the rebounding thing? Well, there's a series of no-calls.

Yeah. Right? First, Zion Williamson drives to his right and spins back to his left. Yeah. Now, it's, I hate it in college basketball, but nine times in 10, that's called to charge. Yeah. Then he drives in in Taco Fall, all of 7-foot-12. Yeah.

at the rim, not trying to take a charge, hand straight up. That's called verticality. Yeah. Okay. Eight to seven to eight times in ten in all of basketball now, that's not called a foul. It was called a foul for Duke. Then Zion Williamson, and this shouldn't be dismissed, and I love the kid, chokes the free throw, right? If you front room a free throw that you make it, you tie the game.

Yeah. That's choking a free throw. So even if we say, hey, R.J. Barrett pushed off, which is pretty clear, and but there is no box out. It should have been a foul. Okay. I could accept the other. If you look at the other side, the other block, it's what's called a hook and hold. Watch, as UCF's player tries to box out, and there's a hook and hold of his arm.

That's a point of emphasis in college basketball, because last year... So you don't like the officiating? I just thought that the way in which college basketball has been officiated all season long is one way. And in 30 seconds right there, it was completely different. Okay, so let me ask you this. College basketball is one... All basketball. is like this. I heard your opening rant,

you are right. End of the game, it's World War III. It is. Show me what you got, lower and test the fortitude. Go and get a rebound. No excuses. By the way, on the other hand, a shove in the back is usually called. Yeah, I mean, I just think, it was a foul. Officials generally just want to get the heck out. I remember LeBron, Katie, and the baseline about

two years ago in the final two or three, LeBron hooked him, and everybody's crying, and I'm like, superstars, basket, minute left, they just But there's a difference between a hook on an offensive move, right? And a push in the When a guy jumps, you push him in the back and get the rebound, lay it in. Like, that's a foul.

It's a foul. It's a foul on R.J. Bell. But Hail Mary. Hail Mary, you're pushing guys. Nobody calls anything. Those are all fouls. Yes. Again, different.

Like, this is one against one. I have inside position. I leave the ground. You push me in the back. Yes. Do I think it's a, do I think there's a similarity? Yes. But in basketball, it's almost always called.

It just is. The, the part I would, the only part I would defend. is if you're central Florida, you're not supposed to jump there. What you're supposed to do is the second the shot goes up, root a guy out and box him out. He didn't do that. Yeah. By the way, Zion, I've said this before.

One name, you know, Oprah, Madonna, LeBron, Kobe, magic, bird. There's a reason the Greek freak, although wildly talented, we didn't know who he was out of college. Last name's hard to describe or say for most people. Zion looks, sounds, feels like a superstar in this league. His game is Joy, it's Duke, Zion, Z, one name. I'm watching this kid. There's no subtlety.

He jumps off a television set. I think he's going to fly past all but about three NBA stars when he walks in in terms of value, excitement, ticket sales. He'll never be LeBron, at least not. He probably won't be Durant or Steph. When you watch him, but when's the last time of college basketball player was this big? Well, I mean, Ben Simmons didn't play in the end. But he wasn't, I wasn't rushing to my TV to watch Ben Simmons.

Well, it's also, it's the combination of the fact that there was a buildup with the YouTube dunks. Yes. He plays for Duke. Yes. Look, playing for Duke has a ton of value. Yes. Like, we don't, so many people in our positions are in such denial of what this, what the tournament does for the value of the brands of the players. Yes.

John Morant, everybody in basketball knew who John Morant was. He won one game and suddenly became kind of a household name. Why? Because his team played in the game. tournament beat Marquette, right? So I think Zion, the combination of the YouTube buildup, the dunks, the fact that he's a little bit different than other guys, he does appear kind of bigger than life, and then he plays for Duke, and he makes Duke likable, and he plays with a smile on his face.

So I love him. You know, look, when I sat in your seat and I told you this before off air, I think as long as people have reasonable, they're not going to, but reasonable expectations of what he will be, okay? he is if you combined Blake Griffin and Roddy Rogers and Dremon Green

and maybe a little bit of LeBron, right? That's what you mush him together. What about Barclay? A little bit of Barclay. People forget that when Barclay came out early in his career, he was a freak athlete. Oh, good Lord.

And if Barclay played the NBA today, he's really self-deprecated. He's like, I couldn't play. That's not true. He could play in the NBA today. He would be Draymond Green, only an offensive weapon. Ramon's really in his only offensive weaponry passing the basketball.

Barkley would be great any era. I understand. But back then, Barclay was an undersized power forward. Now Barclay would be a small ball center and small ball lineups, which is what Zion Williamson will be, and it'll be a very good one. He's making threes more now. He's comfortable as a passer. He's a high basketball IQ.

He plays hard. The question's going to be his body. What's his weight going to be? How long can he play it that weight? All right. Hey, stick around. We got a bunch of stuff today. We got stuff on Kobe and LeBron.

They don't like each other nearly as much as all the nice stuff thrown out there. The Kyrie Irving situation, Gronk's retirement. Don't go anywhere back in a second with Doug Gottlieb. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Great to have you in. Dreaded cold and flu season. Try Vic Sinai necks nasal spray. 12 hours, Vic Sinai next nasal spray.

The Doug or Doug Gottlieb joining us. All right, talk some college basketball. Let's shift to this. You know, it's funny about basketball, is that Brad Stevens is a great coach in college. and pro, he's got an offensive system. And sometimes, and I'm not blaming anybody here, then you get Kyrie, and I was saying this morning, in the history of the NBA, if you had a one-on-one tournament for guys under six three, Kyrie would potentially win it.

Left-hand, right, he's a great closer. Shoot, basket. I mean, he's really an amazing talent. Could I make the argument that it's not Kyrie's fault? It's not Brad Stevens' fault. That they just don't. By the way, Mike Dan Tony doesn't work well with a lot of bigs. Greg Popovich would not be good with Kobe.

As much as they said, they would have loved to a play together. Kyrie and Brad Stevens, it's not a good fit. Yeah, I don't know if it's just Kyrie and Brad Stevens, but there is something amiss with this team. You know, they were two of 18 from three in the first half the other day. Two of 18 from, like, stop shooting threes. Right. You know, at some point.

And who's taking those threes? But there is something to a fight over, Joy and I have talked about this. Is it the conch or the kunk from Lord of the Flies? I don't know. Okay, so whoever had the conch or kunk, which was it? Conk. Kong. Okay.

Whoever had the kunk had the power. Gronk and conk today on the show. And it's like they're all wrestling for it. Kyrie's like, look, I got it. I got it. All right, fine, dude. What are you going to do now when you leave? Right, right.

So I do think there's some sort of disconnect between that staff, which is made up of, you know, business types, right? Like Brad is there's no facial expression. There's no ups. There's no down. He's just solid as the day is long, almost, you know, kind of like a bad. Remember, that's his background after he got out of playing in college where he went back in. And the rest of his staff are all really smart, really good guys.

And then you have, you know, there's kind of a different group there that they brought in from what they used to have. You know, like the Morris twin is a leader and a vet and a tough guy, but sometimes a tough guy to work with others. And then you have, you know, Kyrie. He's a big personality. Who is, he's still trying to kind of find himself alone, find. his leadership voice. Then you have Marcus Smart who can't shoot, doesn't seem to know he can't

shoot, but is invaluable with all the other little things he does. You know, then you got Terry Rozier's like, wait, I was good at times last year in the playoffs and I'm playing. There's just there's something amiss there with the Celtics where if you think chemistry doesn't matter, I give you the Boston Celtics who on paper should be one of the elite

teams in the NBA and yet are all over the map. The only problem with saying with calling the Celtics dead is look at the West and you got the Oklahoma City Thunder who a couple months ago were like a rocket ship. And now they're a disaster in their own right. Sometimes guys are around each other too much. That's also a problem.

By the way, in both situations, you have a star point guard, Westbrook and Kyrie, who are all-time talents. And basketball's a unique game. Kobe at the end was no day at the beach to play with because the game changed. But he also wasn't a point guard, and it's different. What happens with people is they look at assist numbers.

and they do this for Russell and they do this for Kyrie and like, well, look, all the assist he had. Like, you can be, and I know this because that's what I did. Like, you can be selfish and get assists. Yeah. Step Marbury. Yeah. I mean, listen, there's a way to do it.

In basketball, if you throw it to a guy and he jumps up and makes a shot, like, that's an assist for you. You can also hold the ball so it's not the hockey assist is what you want. You want to get it moving and have an extra pass, but that's not what these guys do. They want to make every single play. They want to either make the shot, get fouled, or create the shot for others. But going back to the Celtics, they are a mess. And I think we all assumed by now they would have it together,

but I think it feels worse, not better. So, you know, it's interesting about Kobe Bryant and LeBron. They were always different players. I always felt Kobe was sort of the closest thing I've seen in my life to Michael Jordan. That's not a revelation. We all know that. And I always thought when LeBron came into the league, he had a little bit more magic than Michael.

He's not the killer. he had a little pippin. He was a slasher, blah, blah, blah. And so Kobe and LeBron, they have different games. They also have different personalities. One is a score to the end. And one really is actually, I think LeBron's greatest asset is his unselfishness. In high school, junior to senior year, he averaged one more point. He could average 20 more points.

So I don't think Kobe's rooting for LeBron. I think he'll say publicly all the right things. But I thought last week Kobe came out and took a shot at LeBron, which is I would have to be dead not to play in games. What do you make of the relationship? Well, I think you nailed it in that Kobe might be saying one thing, but privately enjoying the fact that LeBron is struggling in L.A., and that suddenly now it's become Kobe's town yet again, right?

Right. The many lives of Kobe Bryant are fascinating to watch. Right. You know, because it was Kobe versus Shaq. You know, and then he had the off-the-court issues. He changed his numbers. And then remember he wanted to be traded. Kobe versus Phil.

And Kobe versus Phil. And then the end of Kobe, as you point out, like, people who want to come play with them. He had the ridiculous contract. He had the Achilles' standing. But somehow, you know, then he ends up with 60 points in his last game. You're like, well, yeah, but it was meaningless. Like, still 60. It was still 60 points, right?

I mean, he's put together. He had the lowest, I think, effective field goal percentage in the entire NBA. And yet he found a way to have 60 on his last night in an NBA uniform. I do think they're wired differently. I do think there's a massive. disconnect there. I don't think that they're boys. And I think he's privately enjoying it. The problem with it, though,

is that Kobe, at least part of his legacy, is tied to Rob Polinka. Like, they are the closest of friends. They're the closest of allies. That was his agent. That was his agent. And now he's in the front office. Now the GM of the Lakers. And so while I don't think he minds

LeBron failing in his first year, I don't think he wants his dear friend to fail. And I do think he's a Laker, and he knows that the Lakers winning is good for business. It's good for Kobe's brand long term. It is go. Like, look, he did that sit down interview with Mike Greenberg, and he was like, I'm over it. I moved on.

I don't care about the goat conversation. Dude, that is a stone face lie. Of course Kobe cares. Like, all of a sudden he's going to go like, no, I don't, I don't care about it. Of course he does. Like, that's why he did one, two, three, four, five. He was in the conversation with Mike. He wants to remain in that conversation with Mike.

And his legacy does remain very, very important to him. And by the way, for people that don't live in Los Angeles, this is a magic Kobe town. Wilts too long gone. Jerry West is 80. Shack is elsewhere. Kareem was to aloof. Worthy was good, not all time great. It's a magic Kobe town. They have immense juice in this town. Now magic's more communicative and out in front and Kobe's kind of Orange County, but Kobe's still got juice in this city. And when Kobe talks, people listen. And for the record, he's had a very good second career out of basketball. He's having an amazing career now. And he started his basketball academy, which is in Thousand Oaks, which is the other side of Los Angeles.

So he still is his daughter's team is like super dominant in youth basketball. So like he's actually doing a lot of very, very interesting things in Kobe 2. And then of course the movies and the books and all that other stuff that's out. All right. Rob Grankowski retires. My takeaway is we saw him as a big dumb dope. But he actually became a wise old man. They became, as he eroded, a better blocker.

he reduced his personality to fit into the Belichickian way, saved every penny he ever made, is that here's a guy that came into the league. He's a, you know, it's Gronk! And he was a very thoughtful, smart guy, Brady's best friend on the team. I kind of like the later Gronk better, but I'm kind of impressed by rookie gronk, retiring Gronk,

a little bit of two different people sometimes. I just think that he kind of had us all fooled a little bit. You know, because, look, we work here. You work on Sundays with Tony Gonzalez. You know, he and I grew up playing any of you basketball together. Right. He's the greatest past catching tight end of all time. Shannon Sharper is right there in that discussion.

So we work with two of the all-time grades. Gronk is greater because he was always a good blocker. Because in order to stick with the Patriots, you could not be a guy that we have to run the other way. Right. And he showed that. And the sacrifice of ego, much like Larry Fitzgerald going into the slot for a star, tight end late in his career to go like, hey, I'm not going to get, you know, I'm not going to get anything in the red zone even. I will be a star blocker, be a star role player to steal from what

LeBron said about Tristan Thompson going back a couple years ago. I think that the wide array of skills he had and the ability to late in his career when his body was starting to fail him, still make plays with his size and with his hands and with his brain. Like he had his fooled as a big oath. And does he, does he have a childishness to him? sure, but he's done like a fox. The money thing is just one part of it. Watch how he plays football. He was a savant on the football field.

And then by the way, you get out on top when he went a Super Bowl. And then Drew Rosenhouse earlier today throughout like, hey, you know, what's to say if Tom Brady doesn't call him late in the year? He doesn't come back. His body's failing him. And I'm sure he'll see how he feels if he feels like he can go late in the year. Yeah. You know, there's a tight end out of Iowa who I was talking to an executive in the NFL.

Which one? No, it's the blocking tight end. Yes, they have two tight ends out of Iowa. Yeah. The kid that can block, I have his name here. What is it? T.J. Hawkinson, who's a, I was talking to an NFL exec about two weeks ago, and he said, that's the closest thing to gronk that college football is going to give us because of the big 12 and the way they move the football.

Spread offense is no tight ends. Tight ends don't block. They said, Iowa's got the next gronk. He's not gronk, but he's the closest thing to gronk. And I think he's just been, you know, it's funny. You know, the Steelers, you know, Olivia and. Bell said, I can't do my music, and A, B, I can't have a personality. There is something, and I have always felt this, is that you can still be a big character.

Of course you can. And wildly successful. I mean, uh, gronk was smart enough to just say, I'm going to scale back a little bit on the boat cruises, not tick my coach off as much. And in the end, ended up playing in February and made a bunch of money on endorsements. No question. Again, like the guys who say, I can't do this and still. be allowed in the strictest organization in football, Rob Garnkowski, not just survived,

but he thrived. And some of that is because he has a lot of talent, right? But a lot of that is because the guys who say they can't do it, they just don't understand how to separate church and state. If you separate church and state, you do your thing off camera, it'll be fine. Doug Gottlieb, Fox Sports Radio after us. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Hour two. Next. One more, Heard? 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. Ah, hour two in L.A.

This is The Heard. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I don't know what the weather is today, Joy, I wore a sweater because it's often cold in our studio and it's been cold outside for the last two months. Is it a nice day today? I think it's supposed to be nice today. In all fairness, it's always a different temperature in this.

in this room than it is anywhere else. If you want to know why I wear sweaters, mostly because Skip and Shannon like a cold studio, I think that's what it is. David Letterman liked a cold studio. I mean, it's cold in here. There's lights and stuff. Yeah.

I mean, I have a heated blanket over here every day. Every day. Yes. On the high. Well, we always do this every Monday. We used to just do it in the football season. And I said we saw the numbers. People really liked it.

That I don't think enough people in our business admit when they're wrong and call themselves out. And I think it's something that I like to do because I have strong opinion. So it's only fair when I whiff. I've got to come out and say it. And you've responded by making often one of our highest-readed segments every week. So we do it on Mondays at this time. It's Colin right.

Colin wrong. Where Colin was right? Well, we said only six teams could win this tournament. And all six are left. We said Duke, Carolina, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Michigan and Virginia, those are six teams with the highest percentage. not just because of their seed. Here's the reality.

There's not a lot of NBA guys in college basketball. Find the teams that either have an NBA guy or two or in Duke's case four, and then find coaches who have a history of winning games. Coaching matters a lot here. NBA talent matters a lot. And even when you do find the occasional upset, the team that wins by upset the following game usually loses. Go chalk.

I've always been top 10% in every bracket I've ever had, and it's not because I watch more college basketball or some expert. I just go with the teams that have an NBA player or two, go with teams that have tournament experience, go with teams that plan a lot of big games and full arenas that can handle the pressure. Six for six, they're all remaining.

Where Colin was wrong. Gronk retired, and I said twice last week, I thought he was going to come back for one more year. Listen, it was either one more year retired. His body's falling apart. I didn't have any great sources on this, but I said, my hunch is he's become a really, really important. Gordon Blocker. College football doesn't produce those. And the truth is, he's a really coachable

player. And I think New England and him had kind of a wink-wink-n-n-nudge-nudge relationship where they didn't ask a ton of him until late in the year. And he was unbelievable in the Super Bowl and unbelievable in the AFC championship. But in the end, Gronk knows his body. It's probably as much about not wanting to practice, not wanting to go through the grind. He's probably going to go somewhere warm and end up on a boat somewhere. But I thought he was. had one more year left in him, and now he's gone. Where Colin was right? Listen, the NFL is pretty simple.

Get a quarterback, and even if he's a pain in the butt, if he can play, just keep resigning him. What did the Steelers do this weekend? Worked on a new Big Ben contract. I think he's passive-aggressive. I don't think he's the greatest leader. But in the end, you're going to let a star receiver go. You're going to let a star back go.

You got to go with a guy that takes 60 snaps, and they supported him in the press, and this weekend, they were working on a new contract. He had the worst PR week of his life. And in the end, it didn't matter, not one iota. Again, he and Aaron Rogers, Carson Wentz, have got to get better at uniting everybody in locker rooms. But Russell Wilson had a little pushback from star players. And you know what Seattle did? Got them all out of town.

And Seattle rebooted and made the playoffs. This is the NFL. If there's quarterback gets into a fight with the star, they're shipping the star out of town. they're keeping the quarterback. Another illustration of this with Big Ben and the Steelers. Where Colin was wrong. Listen, I picked the Lakers to win 48 games. In a million years, if you had told me,

they won't win any more than the year before LeBron got there. I'd have said the hard pass on that take. Injuries were a big component. And the other thing is, they just don't have enough shooters. It's not that they're average at shooting. They're terrible at it. They don't have a single elite shooter in the building. They had Brooke Lopez, one of the best shooting bigs, let him go.

They had Lou Williams, let him go to get Kyle Kuzma, which I guess you can argue. But they got eliminated before Sacramento and Minnesota. Two really bad teams or disappointing teams. I whiffed on the Lakers this year. Where Colin was right? But I've been saying for years, don't tell me Kevin Durant's better than LeBron. Kevin Durant's not the most valuable player on his own. team. And this Saturday night, Steph did not play for the Warriors, and they got blown out by 35

at home of the 14-seated Mavericks. Golden State this year without Steph Curry is five and seven. When Kevin Durant doesn't play, they're often better. Listen, Kevin Durant's great. He's an unbelievable all-time talent, but he's not that valuable. Golden State was fine before him. They'd be fine without him. When he misses games, they still win at the same clip. But when Steph Curry doesn't play, this team's a mess. By the way, nobody's disputing talent. But when they hand out these MVP awards, the word is most valuable.

Steph Curry is far more valuable to the Warriors than Kevin Durant is. Where Colin was wrong. Mike Trout signed a 12-year contract. In the last three weeks, Manny Machado signed a 10-year deal. Bryce Harper signed a 13-year deal. I just don't get it. I thought they were done.

I thought baseball execs went, you know, these are awful, all of them. None has ever worked. By the year two or three, you're basically begging to get out of the contract, and we've got three guys signing massive contracts. And what's interesting is Mike Trout's a speed guy. He's, you know, his big thing is he can steal bases. First to third, he covers a ton of ground in the outfield. I'm not sure he's going to age particularly well.

He's already in his peak. My guess is he's got four to five peak years left, and that will be less than half the way. through the contract. I don't get it. I understand he's a star. I would never in a million, well, Colin, what would you do? I would have gone out and gotten three first round picks, a closer, an ace, and a starting second baseman. I'm not signing any employee to a 13-year contract, but once again, I'm wrong. Baseball's now addicted to it, despite the fact none of them, none of them have worked out for the team. Where Colin was right?

Been saying for a year, I've been preaching it. The Cowboys are smart. They used to be quirky when Jerry was young and handball energy, but this pass-free agency, Randall Cobb, one-year deal, very affordable. George Iloca, a safety, one-year contract, very smart. The Cowboys have become one of the smartest teams in football. They're not paying Randall Cobb anything, and he's going to come in and be a number three receiver. He's probably going to play about 13 games, have 65 catches, four touchdowns. They paid nothing for him. Between their drafts, where they have been a, they have just nailed on the defensive side of the ball. They built. their offensive line on that draft, got criticized

for it, they were right. They made the Amari Cooper trade. They got ripped for it. They were right. They did this year in free agency. Last year, they drafted a linebacker from Idaho. You couldn't find the town on a map. He ended up being the steel in the draft. This is a smart and subtly

smart franchise. They go way against Jerry's brand, which is splashy and big and loud. The Cowboys have once again proven, along with Philadelphia, the Colt, New England. Maybe both With L.A. teams, Kansas City, they are a really well-run franchise. Where Colin was wrong.

I've been clobbering the Green Bay Packers for years because they just won't go out and spend money in free agency. But you know what? They did a great job. They spent $28 million on Billy Turner, a very good offensive lineman who will help Aaron Rogers. They spent $52 million on Preston Smith, $66 million on Zadaria Smith, linebackers who will both, especially Preston Smith, make an impact.

Adrian Amos, they spent $10,000. four years, 36 million. I loved every one of those signings. Their offensive line got better, protect Aaron Rogers, and their defense got better. Get the ball back to Aaron Rogers. I've been banging on the Packers for years for being cheap. I thought they had as good a free agency as any team in the NFL.

Not splashy names, but guys who will start, guys who will either protect Aaron Rogers or get the ball back to Aaron Rogers. I loved what Green Bay did. I'm actually fascinated to see what they do in the draft because the new owner, the new guy running this team between last year's draft, this year's free agency, has been really exceptional. Where Colin was right? March Madness, highest ratings in 25 plus years.

Why? Because of two things I always preach about. Stars matter. It's why I talk about Tom Brady and why I talk about Big Ben and why I talk about LeBron every day. college basketball has its first star in 15 years. Zion Williamson is why these ratings are through the roof. And the other thing, favorites are winning. Everybody always tells you they love the underdog.

No, they don't. If you love the underdog, then why do the ratings go down in this tournament every year when Duke and Kentucky and Kansas get eliminated? This tournament has always had its highest ratings when two things happen, two things I've preached for years. Favorites win and you've got stars. This year, you've got both. Where Colin was wrong.

Last year when Trevor Arisa left and Luke Mbawutei left the Rockets, I said, they peaked, it's over. You know what? I like them more now. They've done a great job. Daryl Morey deserves a ton of credit. They've rebooted this team. They've beaten the Warriors 3 out of 4. They've won 14 of 16.

Kenneth Verreed's a physical presence. Iman Shumpert and Austin Rivers are guards that can match up well with the Warriors. They play defense. They have quietly done a terrific job to reboot this team, and I've got to be honest with you. I think I like the way they match up against Golden State more than last year. I was surprised how well they matched up, and I kind of buried them when Trevor Arisa left. I'm like, you've got to re-sign that guy. And the other thing they did, they went and got mellow, which I hated.

And this is what smart people do. They're like, you know what? Doesn't work. Mistake out. They didn't try to convince everybody they were smart. They didn't try to grab onto their mistake. They're like, listen, it didn't work. We tried to bring in Carmelo.

It didn't work. All right. You know, even Derek Cheater struck out a lot. They're not paralyzed by making a mistake. They take risks. And I think they've worked really well. And I think they're going to be a good matchup for Golden State. I don't think they'll beat them.

but I think they've re-engineered this team and I love it. Colin right, calling wrong. There you go. Something this weekend happened, and I think it's kind of sad. And I know a lot of people will laugh at this person, and they'll pound their fist and say, I told you so, but it's kind of sad. We'll talk about that, plus James Harrison,

two-time Super Bowl champ, five-time Pro Bowl. His thoughts about Grong. He faced him a few times. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where

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

And for more, follow Timbo SlicLife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

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

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

Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies, I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star, Layla Edwards.

If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like. you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals.

At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Saturday, the season's biggest off-season signings hit the field with their new teams. First Bryce Harper and the Phillies take on Freddie Freeman and the Braves.

Then the Giants face off against Manny Machado and the Padres. It all starts at 4 Eastern 1 Pacific on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Philly's actually Harper's not the only guy they signed this year. David Roberts on the Yankee closer. Gene Seguer is on there. Andrew McCutcheon. So the Phillies actually spent a bunch of money. Harper is the big signing.

My takeaway is, though, these 10-12-year contracts. I love Bryce Harper. He's from Vegas. I know he's met him, met his dad. I just think halfway through the contract, he's out of his prime, and you're on the hook for another $200 million. I just don't get it. I mean, that's why the NFL, even if you have a bad contract in the NFL,

boom, you can get out of it in about 10 minutes. Something happened this weekend. A story broke. And for many people, they will say, I told you. The guy was a loud mouth, blah, blah, blah. Big Baller brand. It's been discovered.

Got ripped off by a business associate and LeVar Ball. Can't find $1.5 million. He got scammed. He is not a man that has $1.5 million to just give away in a business. It's a fledgling business. It's been a bad last six months for LaVar Ball and the Big Baller brand. LeVar Ball was loud. And the loudest guy at the bar is.

generally not the smartest guy in the bar. But LeVar had some good qualities. I think he's a good dad. I think he loves his family. The problem with LeVar is he didn't have a ton of substance beyond the loud. I'm okay with loud. Charles Barkley was loud and Dion Sanders was loud. There's a lot of loud guys.

Manny Ramirez made a lot of noise. I'm okay with loud. The Kardashians make a lot of noise, but they're brilliant behind the scenes. They have connected with the best retailers, TV producers in Hollywood. Gronk, by the way, is loud, but he saved every penny, became incredibly coachable, and evolved as a football player. For a lot of people today, it's an I told you so with LeVar Ball. I feel bad. I think it's sad.

He got taken. He's a victim here. He is. He's a victim of somebody who allegedly scammed him out of $1.5 million, which if you're starting a business, that doesn't mean anything for Adidas. That doesn't mean anything for Under Armour. But for a man, starting a business, that's the beginning and that's the end of the business. Some of it has been the loudness. Lonzo Bulls on the trade block.

He's hurt again. Lamello had the China theft disaster. But for those who were never fans, it's an I told you so moment. To me, it's an American scam. And I feel bad for anybody whoever gets caught up in that and gets hoodwinked and snookered by that. And so I feel bad for LaVar ball today. I do.

Yeah, I mean, it's a situation where somebody took advantage of someone else. And it happens all the time. It's not exclusive to athletes. They're famous people. People get scammed all the time. It's unfortunate. It's just that people were rooting against LeVar Ball and kind of rooting for him to fail. And I don't think this means it's a failure.

I mean, this was a family operation to begin with. It's just, you're right. Lonzo's a victim in this case. The family's got taken advantage of by someone who. It stinks. Lied and scammed. Yeah. By the way, they created a show called American Greed.

Did you ever watch that show? And a lot of smart people got taken to the bank? Smart people could take advantage of all the time. And however much money it is really doesn't matter. It's the principle of it. But, yeah, I mean, you really should be rooting for him to succeed. He's going against the grain and creating their own brand. So the people that rooted against it or rooted for it to fail never made sense to me anyway.

All right, James Harrison, let's bring him on. What a perfect time for James Harrison. Fifteen years in the NFL, all-time Steelers sack leader, multiple Super Bowls, multiple Pro Bowls. So there's a lot to talk about. Man, oh, man, did you pick a good day? First of all, let's just start with Gronk. I think he came into the league and we saw him as a big dopey football player

and at the end I was like savvy, situational, smart, hell of a blocker, Tom Brady teammate. What did you make of him as a player? You know, a very dominant player, you know, especially, you know, at his position. You know, he did. He put up numbers, you know, in those nine years

that, you know, are comparable to receivers. You know what I'm saying? Not people in his position. You know, just being there, you know, He's a good guy. He's funny. You know, he can be goofy sometimes. You know, very, very coachable, very approachable, personal, you know, person.

You're one of the few people on the planet played against him, schemed against him, and then played with him. Was he different in the room than facing him? He never really said anything. You know, he was a good blocker. I didn't feel like he was really, you know, a dominant blocker. I really didn't feel like it was truly a lot of, you know, dominant blocking tight ends out there.

Not many in the league at all anymore. Yeah. Yeah, so, you know, he really wasn't a talker out there. You know, same thing, you know, at practice, other than, you know, being goofy, playing around, you know, something like that. Yeah. Okay, so we got Steeler things to unpack here. First of all, Josh Harris had a tweet about a week ago, and he said, big band years ago, intentionally fumbled. And as I sat on the air at the time, how do I know?

I have no idea. I got no sourcing on this. I had somebody I trust in Pittsburgh text me and say, Josh Harris, his friends with Antonio Brown. They were guys, and they both hate Ben. Just unpack it for me. What do you make of this claim? You know, that's what he believes, obviously since he stated it,

I don't see anyone going to that extreme of an length, even if the situation was, as he said it was, he didn't like what was going on, the call, whatever, and he decided to, you know, do what he did. I don't see that. I don't see anyone going to that extreme. Anything can happen. you know, the ball, the other teams get the ball, they can run it back, touchdown.

Now you're in a fight, you know, the end of the game. James, were people talking about that fumble after it happened? Do you remember it? I don't even remember it. So there you go. It wasn't a big, so in the locker room, it wasn't a hot topic. Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't remember it, yeah. Wow.

Okay, let's talk about other things. Big Ben's not a great teammate. And by the way, not everybody probably loved you in the locker room. Not everybody's loved by everybody. There's probably somebody in New England doesn't like Brady, okay? This idea that everybody loves? I don't know about that. That's a hard one.

You know, I hated them all the way until I got there. Big Ben. Was he a good teammate? Yeah. I think it's dependent on the relationship that you have with that person, which gives you the way you see them or how you respond to them. And therefore, the lack of relationship that makes it to where now you're just going off what you perceive to be that person, because you don't have a deeper in, you know,

in detail understanding of them. as far as how you communicate with other people or don't communicate with people gives them their perception of you and how you communicate with other people around there. So them saying that he has an owner's mentality, you know, you see him talking to, you know, the head coach, the GM, the owners,

and, you know, a lot of guys are nervous or think that he's unapproachable. I came in and I was already there. there and when Ben came in in 04. So I met a rookie. I met a different player. So it was easier for me to bond with him, I guess it is, than a guy that's coming in, you know.

You were one of the bedrock guys for him. Like so when he came in, he probably leaned on you a little bit. So you guys grew together. Yeah, we all grew together. You know, when Ben first came in, it was a defensive team, you know. Yeah. The defense is what, you know, helped us to win a lot of games. And Ben, you know, of course, he did his thing.

And a lot of the things that he did was when he was. scrambling. You know, he's scrambling. He'd make big plays because we'd run the ball, play action, play action, and then, you know, they hit him with a long pass. So the people that are saying he's not a good teammate, that's their truth. That's how they feel. That's their understanding. As far as their relationship they have with him, for me, I think Ben is a good teammate. I think Ben is a good leader. I think you have the offensive linemen that are coming out and, you know, they're like, hey, Ben is a great leader. You got Marky Ponce, you got Ramon Foster. And, you know, Ben was a lot closer with his offensive line than he was with anybody else, you know, in that organization.

So that's true. You know, I believe they might have had a weekly thing that they did where they got together. You know, with Antonio and Levion, maybe they felt like they should have been closer or they wanted to be closer. And, you know, that's fought on both sides, on Ben, on them. If that's something that you wanted, you guys should have, you know, tried to build a relationship. If it's nothing more than, you know, saying, hey, let's meet up once a week and, watch film or go eat, do something so that we could get a better understanding relationship between you and me.

Levy and Bell said something. I thought it was kind of nonsense when he said, you know, I'm a person, I'm a human, I can't do my music here, and I can't do my video games. And my takeaway was I'm watching Juju Smith-Schuster create a real brand. And so, Levy, I mean, by the way, Juju's out there every day on Instagram. They seem to embrace it. And I've always felt the Steelers, unlike the Packers, are very much about, do your thing just come and play football. So here was Levy and Bell about that.

Like they don't shoot like a human. What I mean by that is like I'm yeah I'm an NFL athlete but it's still I'm a human being. You know what I'm saying? So I still play video games. I still make music. It's like they don't want to like allow you to be yourself for real. It's like they want you to be if you're a stealer like you're literally supposed to be playing football 24-7 you're not supposed to be playing video games and making music, playing basketball. You're not supposed to be doing that. Okay.

So, Levyon says, listen, playing music, basketball, they just want you to be all football. Did you feel that was the truth? No, no. I didn't feel that way when I got there. If any place I felt like they wanted you to be all football, it was when I went to the Patriots. You know, there's no social media in their facilities.

That's what, you know. That's a rule. Yeah, that's a rule. That's what Bill goes by. even when I posted the picture with Tom and I when I first got there, I didn't know that. But later, you know, a day or two later, he was like, hey, you know, we have a rule. I have a rule. And this is the, so, you know, I'm like, cool, that's fine.

I don't have an issue with it. To be honest, you, I feel like social media itself has created a lot of these issues that we have because everybody's so worried about their followers, their likes, you know, their comments, what's going on. Yeah. So, yeah, it's funny because Pittsburgh. has always been to me the Steelers really ahead of the curve in terms of empowering players,

which is interesting because Pittsburgh, Joyce from Pittsburgh, it's not that it's a small town. It's not go crazy. It's not Omaha. It's a big city with a small town mentality. It's like a high school, really. It's a big city that's like a high school.

Everybody knows somebody to know somebody else. Right. And I've always thought the organization, starting with the Rooney's, has always been sort of pro player. Players have brands. Players make endorsements for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Green Bay, you can argue,

suppresses it. New England suppresses it. I've never felt New England does. He's James Harrison. It's great seeing you. I love you have it back in the studio. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. So all eyes are on the Arizona Cardinals to see what they'll do with the number one overall pick in the draft. I'm fired up for this. Cliff Kingsbury's not giving us any insights, of course. You told the NFL network, I think everything's on the table. When you have that first pick, you've got to turn over every stone and look at every scenario that's out there, so we're definitely doing that. Coaches on the road, scouts from the road, private workouts, pro days, we won't even discuss until next week, try to fill out our boards

and go from there. I do think there's a truth to this. They haven't made up their mind yet. I do believe that's true because I've talked to people this year and they say when the season ends, you're kind of scrambling to catch up. I got combines. I have pro days. I have free agency. I have draft. So I think there's a lot more joy that goes on when the season ends than people think. Because think about it. You kind of gave everybody a little bit of rest. You wait for the season.

The NFL limits what you can do. Okay, now we have the combine. We have to get our free agency. We have to rank all the players. And we have the combine. And I got the draft. So I don't think Arizona's made their mind up yet. I think I know where they're leaning, which is getting Kyler.

But I don't, honestly, I don't think they've made their mind. I agree. I don't think they've made their mind up. I mean, the draft isn't until April 25th. It's March 25th today. Right. So they still have quite a bit of time. A lot can happen between now and then.

And it gives, it's no benefit to them to tell us what they're going to do. Unless it was an obvious, we have the number one pick. We need a quarterback. And the obvious number one pick in the draft is the best quarterback in college football. Like that whole scenario, then it's like, duh. Of course they're taking that player. But it's not that obvious. So it doesn't benefit.

them in any way. Like I said, to me, if I was them, I would trade back. Keep Josh Rosen and get more picks. You have so many pieces that you need to fill on your team. So it doesn't benefit them. I mean, we would like to know so we can talk about it, but it doesn't benefit them to tell anyone what they're going to do. That only hurts them. So Gronk's agent Drew Rosenhaus has several interesting things to say in an interview with Peter King. He revealed that he received a call from Bill Belichick to check on Gronk's status Thursday, who urged Gromx to make a final decision. But even more interesting is that he told him he wouldn't be surprised if Bronc were turned to the Patriots sometime in 2019. Rosenhaus told Peter King. Peter King

wrote Rosenhaus said it wouldn't shock him if Broncosky decided to come back sometime in 2019. We'll see there's nothing to indicate a return to football now. For now there's a void in New England and the NFL. A really fun player, a really good player, walked away with something left in the tank. By the way, what if he did decide at Thanksgiving or near that period when you can come back into the league. My bodies feels great. I've been hanging out in Arizona and Florida. I don't know. I think

Gronk, like you said, everybody thinks Gronk is just this big goofy guy. He really actually is very smart. He's been smart with his money. He's managed his career well. I've known Grong for a very long time. He's a good guy and he's not going to make some rash decision

about the rest of his career. He's very close with his family. I'm sure he talked it over with the doctors. He's had a lot of injuries. He's talked about recovering from his injuries and how exhausting that has been. So I don't think this is something that he could, a decision that he took lightly that he's just going to walk back into football. There's a lot of talk about him joining WWE too, which is the obvious transition for him. But don't forget, WWE is not easy on your body either. It's not like he's just going to be walking around the ring talking the whole time. He's going to have to do some physical stuff too. So

that's not that simple of a transition either. Do you know WWE is a 52 week a year? enterprise. I've gone to a WWE event. When it ends within 20 minutes, you know where the wrestlers are, in Uber's going to the airport to the next event. If you think football is rigorous? It's genuine. Oh my God. I just saw Stephanie McMahon.

I was at an event with her. She's wonderful. That's Vince's daughter. You have no idea. Like this wrestling, you just think, oh, they're throwing each other again. Guys' careers in wrestling in pretty quick, too. Don't kid yourself. It's very physical. So, yeah, I don't know if that's going to be the exact move for him, but I don't see him coming back. I don't think he took this decision lately.

Finally, reaching the NCAA tournament is a college basketball player's goal every season. They're put up in hotel rooms, but their families aren't, and some families can't afford to get to the tournament to watch them play. So University of Houston coached Kelvin Samson spoke about it over the weekends. I've had families ask me, can I sleep on my son's floor in his room? Think about that now. You know, that's my life. That's not unusual for me. Can I sleep on this?

Because they don't have the money to pay for a room. But when you look around at how big this industry has become, why can't we figure that out? I'm not saying give them this or give them that. I'm saying that when young men get to the NCAA tournament, let's find a way to get their parents and their brothers and sisters. a plane ticket and a hotel room. I don't think that's asking too much.

You know, it's funny, Joy, years ago, there was all this talk about, you know, college football should just do it like Division III and they should just have like layers of playoffs. And I was always like, I've known people who have gone to bowl games and taken their family, like to the Fiesta Bowl. And it's like, that's a $6,000 weekend. Oh, yeah. So you're going to ask families, Ohio State Buckeye fan. And then after that bowl game, you go to the Cotton Bowl. And the fuck, folks, this stuff's expensive for people. Like, A, there should be some sort of reservoir of money for families, obviously.

Secondly, everybody loves all these playoff systems. They're expensive. My wife sometimes will ask, not a big sports fan, should be like, how do I like all those Iowa state people travel across the, don't they have jobs? And I'm like, yeah. And they have to give up Fridays and Thursdays. And like, everybody loves the playoff system in the media. you're not paying to go to all these different places and fly your family to watch your kids play.

No, he's absolutely right. There should 100% be money set aside to just pick a game, whatever family, it doesn't have to be ridiculous. Whatever game the family wants to go to, you fly their parents and their brothers and sisters to the game. I mean, that's not too much to ask. It's ridiculous that families would have to sleep on their child's floor to watch them play.

Taco Falls mother had never seen him play a college basketball game and hadn't even seen him in seven years. They brought her out to the game. She saw them play Cincinnati. I mean, that's ridiculous. It's really not too much to ask. Like the amount of money that these tournaments are making, you want to get into the whole conversation

about paying players and stuff. Okay, that's a different conversation. But this definitely should be taken care of. I agree. Joy of the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news.

We got a lot of great stuff left. We really do. I've got some thoughts on a remarkable award was handed out this weekend that I think in football, that it didn't get a lot of headlines. It's fascinating. I want to talk about that. Plus, coming up next, Aaron Torres, great college basketball guy on the team's remaining. Is Zion the best NBA prospect since LeBron James?

There's a lot of nitpicking here. I want to go to somebody who talks to scouts, who talks to coaches. We'll do some final four stuff and March Madness stuff coming up on Zion Williamson, who I think is going to be a tremendous NBA player. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Geico, quick and easy way you could save money. Go to Geico, 15 minutes. Geico.com, see how much you could save.

Aaron Torres, my friend, we bring him on a few times a year, college basketball insider, Fox Sports Radio host. You've got multiple books you've written for college basketball one. One and Fun, the 2010 Kentucky Wildcats. So here we go, Aaron. This is 10 minutes if you love college hoops, and there's been a lot to like about it. First of all, we've got no upsets this year, virtually no upset, and the ratings are through the roof. Let's start with this.

Is there a reason or is it coincidental why? I don't remember a year with fewer upsets. Well, this is only the second year ever that all won, two, and three seeds advanced this second weekend. Yeah, and so I don't think there's any reason other than that it's this weird kind of confluence of events where all of the good teams are really good, right? North Carolina is really good. Duke is really good. Virginia, for all their struggles, is playing better. They're kind of... They have an NBA guy. Yep, they have an NBA guy. Kentucky, the same.

Even the teams that don't have the NBA guys like Tennessee, old. Old experience, they play together three, four years. And so I just think it was a year that all season long, it felt like those top six. seven teams, you know, you include Gonzaga, maybe, maybe Michigan State. It always felt like they were better than everybody else and significantly better all season. We're seeing it in this tournament. Okay, let's go to the call, the no call against RJ Barrett, right? Like he pushed, right?

It should be a call, right? And my takeaway is, late in games, pro or college, they don't call pass interference on Hail Marys. Sure. Refs swallow the whistle. That's what it felt like to me. Were you bothered by it? No, I really wasn't. and I've never been blame the ref guy at the end of games.

It just felt like, listen, it was a hotly contested game all year. Obviously, UCF, they're the only team of the tournament with a guy that's 7'5 foot 6, right? Like every play at the rim could be a foul one way or the other. And there was two or three calls that could have gone against UCF at various points throughout the game. They didn't. That one happened to go against Central Florida, obviously the fifth foul. By the way, I would mention Zion Williamson the end won. They missed a shot on that.

possession and got an offensive rebound. Thank you. So I'm just saying, is the refs didn't cost anybody. By the way, UCF had two good looks at the buzzer. They had an alley-up dunk that would have sealed the game, and then Duke came back and either hit a two or a three, but it was a five-point swing, wasn't it, or a four? Yeah, no, yeah, it was, yeah, I think they came back and hit the three. But, oh, by the way, here's the other one, too. How about the shot clock violation?

We couldn't tell if it hit the rim. I thought they were going to take the points off the board. They gave them to UCF. Exactly. And so to me, I just sit there and I look at it and say there were a couple calls in those final 15 or so seconds that went Duke's favor. But if you go forget the totality of the game, just the last two or three minutes, a lot went UCF's favor to. They didn't close. Okay, Zion, listen, we've had players who have been great college players, Pearl Washington, Harold Minor.

They go to the NBA and you're like, oh, this doesn't work at all. Adam Morrison, Gonzagher, 28 a game. just couldn't play at the NBA level. So I'm not saying there's no chance, Zion, Jimmer Ferdat, Buddy Heald took a while to figure out the NBA. I just see this guy and I see a little Larry Johnson. I see a little Barclay. I see a lot of Blake Griffin.

To me, he's an NBA star. What are your people saying? Sean Kemp, by the way, a little Sean Kemp? With the hops, the power. Did he go high school? He did, but I'm just saying in general the kind of... There's some Sean Kemp with him, yes. The power to his game.

I see this guy as a star. Listen, I see him as a star too, absolutely. I don't think, and I've said this on all the platforms, you know, I went on with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker on their radio show the other day. I said nobody, there is no chance. And by the way, this was why I was in favor of him coming back and playing, because God forbid if some kind of major injury happened, he's still going to go number one.

Nobody is passing up on the chance to have this guy. I think he's going to be a star. I can't ever remember a guy looking this awesome. dominant in college. I mean, look at yesterday. Yesterday, and this is something that's kind of crazy about this whole Duke run, they have not been the same team since he went down and since

he came back. You look at yesterday, he had 32 points. I don't think anybody else had more than 15 or 16. R.J. Barrett struggled. Zion had more than half of their follow shots. So his value to that team is through the roof in terms of NBA long term. I see a superstar. My only concern would be he had a couple smaller injuries

in high school. Obviously, the anything this year. Could injuries be a factor? He's a little bit heavier. He's got to trim down some weight. But yeah, if you're betting on me on this guy to be like superstar, two, three, four best players in the league for the next 15 years, I could totally buy that. Yeah, by the way, he's going to go to the NBA. He's going to have better weight training. He's going to eat better. The NBA now is a wide open spacing game, so he's going to get one-on-one matchups near the basket. You can't sag your defense. In college, I can just sag in on him. He should have more trouble in college. In fact, the congestion in college is intense. In the

NBA, he's going to get a lot of threes and fours down low, and he's going to draw fouls. Now, would you take Duke or the field at this point? Oh, I take the field, no doubt. No doubt. That's a serious question. No, no, no. I think Duke in Michigan are the two best teams I've seen. My thing about Duke is they have four NBA guys, but there is one problem with Duke.

Yeah, they can't shoot threes. I mean, they have like the, you could argue of everyone left in the tournament, and if you want to say even just like one seeds, two seats, the real contenders, they have by far the most glaring weakness, which is they shoot 30% from the three-point line. They're not built for 2019 basketball. They're just not built for 2019 basketball. If you have one of those guys, that's fine. You have all three.

And I think you even saw it in their opening round game. For people who didn't see that game, they played North Dakota. Yes. Yes, they struggled for a while. Struggle for a while. North Dakota State packed it in. Central Florida packed it in, make them make jump shots. You see yesterday, I'm telling you, Zion had 32.

Nobody else played well on that team. And by the way, this regional, just this weekend, forget the Final Four, forget North Carolina, Virginia, whoever they may play. This weekend, they have Virginia Tech who already beat them once. They got Michigan State who is tough as you know what. I mean, you have to be when Tom Mizzos yelling at you like that. Right, of course, yeah.

LSU has a bunch of NBA guys as well. If you gave me Duke or the field this weekend in D.C., I would probably take Duke. But if you give me the field, the other 15 teams, I will absolutely take Duke. Okay, in the last several years, I can make an argument the best college basketball programs, not Duke. It's Carolina. So Carolina, unlike Kentucky and Duke, isn't winning the recruiting battle.

How's Roy Williams doing it? Because I think the last four years, Carolina has been a two national title games. I think they're the best program right now. It's unbelievable. And, you know, it's ironic because that huge academic scandal that went on for years, it really cost them in recruiting. Like Brandon Ingram was going to go to North Carolina, and everybody's telling them, I'm not saying Duke necessarily to this, but everyone's telling them, they might not be eligible for the NCAA tournament. Heard them. Yeah.

Jason Tatum, all those guys. And so I think that the bottom line with North Carolina is I think Roy Williams maybe took some guys that he might not have taken, but it worked out for the best. And as you said, he's got the blend of the young guys, the old guys. And the old guys, by the way, are unselfish because the young guys are the NBA guys and his old guys are 22 years old. But they don't need to be stars. They know they're not NBA guys. And it's unbelievable because I think this is the toughest thing that nobody talks about, right?

Everyone's like, well, how come Duke has no depth? Well, how come Kentucky has no depth? It's because when you're recruiting the best players every year, you don't want to come for three years and wonder year to year, who are they bringing in next year, right? And so that's why Duke has no depth. That's why Kentucky in past years has struggled with depth. North Carolina, they found those guys that are willing to,

one, maybe even sit on the bench for a year or two, not be a star year two, year three. Maybe year four, they're star, maybe year four they're not. But the bottom line is they buy into what they're doing. And as you said, Colin, they consistently win in an insane level. Yeah, I think if Carolina faced Duke again, I think Duke could be in a little bit of trouble because Carolina can get hot from the outside. His name is Aaron Torres.

He's a college basketball insider. He works for Fox Sports Radio. Good football stuff around the corner as well. Good seeing you. Aaron. Hour three next on L.A. It's the herd. One more herd.

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, live in L.A. Hour 3, baby. This is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. I have an award was handed out this weekend to John Gruden and the Raiders. And it didn't get a lot of press.

And it sounds crazy. But I'm going to talk about that later this hour. Also, we got this a real lively hour. Sirius XM Channel 83 as well. 15 minutes, Catino Mobley. What is wrong with the Boston Celtics? They're a mess now. What's wrong with Oklahoma City?

Later and best for last, also. We're going to have fun list. In the history of sports, a recent history, the 10 athletes who put their money where their mouth was, they were big talkers and big personalities, but were also great players. And I think Gronk fits into that. list of personality, big talk, crazy, goofball, but was unbelievable when the game mattered.

And so we'll have that coming up. All right. Record ratings. I mean, best in 29 years for the NCAA tournament this year. And I think I know why. College basketball, let's be honest, has become like a two, three week sport. It's the honeymoon of marriage. It's great for about 10 days, but it's not reality.

Zion Williamson is a superstar. This is what superstars look like at 17 years old. If he goes to the New York Knicks, he is going to blow past Janice, Kauai, Paul George, Westbrook, Hardin, Kawhi Leonard, Embed, Ben Simmons. In name value, in star value, he is going to blow by them because he's got three factors which are massively important to superstars. Number one, the name factor. Zion.

Oprah. Ima, Stern, Hannity, Rush, Pele, Rinaldo, Kobe. I know it sounds kooky, but that one name factor is a marketer's dream. And the fact that he has the letter Z is even crazier, which is another perfect letter for a marketer. He's got the one.

name factor. It's not called the Rush Limbaugh show. It's called Rush. And that's the way marketing works. Remember the movie? They were calling the Facebook. And somebody came in and said, just call it Facebook. Google, Yahoo, Amazon. There's a reason, one word, second factor. He's a physical freak. People are busy in life. They don't have time for subtlety and nuance. Zion jumps through a television set. It's not a clever crossover. Physically, dunks, even when he shoots a jumper, I can't take my eyes up, but he is not subtle,

although he's got a beautiful touch. His smile, his size, his dunks, his game. Not a lot of subtle. You don't have to be a huge basketball fan to turn on the TV and go, oh, yeah, kind of like when LeBron broke into the league. You can be like, who's that big? kid on the floor. The third factor, which is inarguable, he plays at Duke. It's the number one brand in college

basketball. I didn't know who Janus was for three years. I never watched Kauai Leonard play. Chris Paul went to Wake Forest. I've been in a lot of forests. I've never been to that one. This kid's going to walk into the NBA, potentially with the New York Knicks. He is going to be a superstar. Not going to be LeBron big. I'm not saying that. He's probably not going to be like Durant and Steph Curry big. But there's going to be about three or four guys in this league, he's going to blow past all of them. And if you want to know why the ratings are going up, it's Zion.

It's not gambling. We gamble on this thing our entire lives. There haven't been a lot of upsets. There haven't been a lot of crazy finishes. There's, you know, the other big star plays at a college. He's already out John Morant that most of you don't watch. This is what a superstar looks like at 18 years old. This is what they look like.

By the way, Tiger was a super star. It's 16 years old. Sports Illustrated when it was a huge publication that started narratives around sports. They were doing stories on him. He was the talk of golf clubs. Networks showed every shot when he was 17, 18 years old on any tournament he was part of. Name Factor, physical specimen, superstar from a great college brand. That is why the ratings are up 29%.

But I think the second biggest story of the day, speaking of one name, Gronk. Not Rob Grankowski. Gronk. Another star in America. One of the ten biggest sports slash character stars ever. He retired. There's two things about Rob Grongowski. Rob Gronkowski. Number one is college football does a lot of spread offense. So like tight ends in college don't block anymore.

So the NFL is struggling to find. college tight ends who they think they can turn into blockers. There's a kid at Iowa, T.J. Hawkinson, who's probably the most underrated player in the entire draft. He's the next version of Gronk, though I don't think he's nearly as talented, but he blocks and college guys don't block. So, there's not a lot of Gronks out there. We'll see talented tight ends, but he became an unbelievable force on the offensive line. Tony Gonzalez last year talked about what makes Gronk special. With Gronk, what he's better than me at is the blocking.

He can block. He's a big old guy. Blocking is about desire, first of all. Do you want to do it? It's not about can you do it. It's will you do it? And a lot of those big tight ends, 250 pound Jimmy Graham, 250 pound, Travis Kelsey, not a knock against them.

But they don't want to block because it's hard. It hurts. It's not fun. It's not fun. I love that bite. But I got to tell you something about Gron. When Gronk came into this league, you saw him and I saw him as just a big dumb football player. He's goofy.

But over the course of time, Gronk became one of the smartest NFL players. He did the opposite of sometimes what misguided athletes do. Gronk was incredibly coachable. As he physically wore down, wasn't as fast, he accelerated his blocking skill. Gronk could have left multiple times more money. A lot of stars do that. But he knew that Tom Brady was the perfect fit and Belichick was the perfect coach. A lot of athletes spend their money unwisely.

Gronk has never spent a dime of his. He's legendary. Gronk came into this league is a big, dopey goofball. Talented. I'm not denying that. He was talented. But he actually became really. wise and really smart in that he could have chased a lot of things and he didn't and he became

incredibly coachable and he accelerated his blocking skills and he became an incredible ally to tom brady and he took care of his body so by the end of the year last year in the two biggest games he was arguably the best guy on the field gronk admitted that he came into this league and he wanted to have he wanted to have a lot of fun. And I'm not anti-fun. But Gronk, instead of pushing back at his coach and pushing back at the system and pushing back at a very complex New England system, Gronk said, you know what? It's better for me. It's better for the team if I'm more focused. Remember this moment by Gronk at the podium? We got yelled at. We're not a lot of talk about celebrations. That's what we got told,

but I kind of want to talk about it. But I kind of don't because I'll get in trouble. so I don't know what to do. So it just happened on the spot. It wasn't planned. We'll just keep it there. Gronk's a big personality. But Gronk understood, this place is good for me. This quarterback's good for me.

This coach is good for me. Learning to block is good for me. Working really hard is good for me. It's okay to be a big personality and also fit within a system. All sorts of people in my business have big personality. but they can appreciate having good bosses at Fox. Like, I have a personality. It rubs some people the wrong way,

but I try to never take advantage or never underestimate the value of a really good boss and really good management and a really good system. I know, I know, I know, it's such a sellout. Yes, our shows sell out. And some bands sell out, but they still don't have to compromise

all their artistic value. Gronk entered the league as a big dumb dope guy, right? I think he leaves the NFL and players who are stars with big personalities should take a look at Gronk. You never make more money in endorsements than when you're playing in AFC championships and Super Bowls.

Sometimes you've got to reduce a little of your personality, just a little, not all of it, to fit into a structure and a system. Sports loves personalities. Zion Williamson, by the way, I think has a great personality. But systems and cultures win. personalities don't. Gronk reduced his just a little to fit

and leaves a first ballot all-time, arguably greatest tight-end talent ever. Coachable, listened, evolve, grew. To me, that's what smart guy. doing sports. You're not a victim if your coach and your culture ask you to pull back the Facebook live in the locker room for the betterment of the team. Coming up, Gronk is one of the 10

money where your mouth is, characters and personalities, to me in the history, recent history of sports, we'll give you that list coming up. Catino Mobley around the corner. Celtics are a mess. I thought they'd be in the finals. I don't know if they'd get out of the east.

We'll talk about that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

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Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free. iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world,

he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke.

The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of terms. Dealer price, list price, invoice. True Car shows you what other people paid for the car you want. Truecar.com, true price. Three grand off MSRP. Success in life equals equity.

The more successful you are, the more passes you're given if you make a mistake. Oh, he's successful, he's smart. Bill Belichick can whiff on a draft pick, but he's Bill Belichick. The Raiders, John Gruden, traded away Khalil Mack. Kahliel Mack's a great player. He's really expensive. They're paying him what you pay quarterbacks. Gruden said, I'm not going to pay a pass rush or that.

This weekend, the Sloan Analytics Conference gave John Gruden's trade of Kaleel Mack the highest award as the best transaction. Now, analytic people like draft picks and cheaper players. You know that about analytics. They don't think paying a lot for individual stars generally make sense. There are exceptions, quarterbacks, dominant NBA players. But here's what the Raiders got for Kaleo Mack. Two first rounders.

And it's the greatest draft for defensive players in 20 years with all sorts of edge rushers. And Gruden's got more first round picks than anybody. He got two first round picks, and they saved a bunch of money. Now, Bill Belichick, by the way, traded Chandler Jones, and they had no pass rush. And Chandler went and led the NFL in Sacks for Arizona. And New England got Jonathan Cooper, who they cut two hours later, and a second round pick. Crickets. Crickets.

It was only recently, and barely recently, they regained any sort of pass rush with Trey Flowers, and now free agency, he's in Detroit and gone. Nobody criticized Belichick for this. He gave up the NFL sack leader. Now, Chandler Jones is not Khalil Mack, but Kalil Mack makes $23 million a year. And when you've got to pay Mitch Trubisky in a couple years, you're going to have a problem with depth.

Did we blister Gruden because, ah, it's John Cruden, he's been out of the sport for 10 years. The Sloan Analytics Conference says, if you look at the value of what he got, it's a great transaction. Football makes us emotional, but it is interesting. Success equals equity. Warren Buffett has been investing in newspapers the last 15 years.

They have not been good investments, but he's Warren Buffett. And he mostly is a billionaire, and he makes good investments. So when Warren Buffett invests money in something, we're like, well, it's just a great. No, investing in newspapers really is not a great investment. investment, and it hasn't turned out to be one of his top 50% investments. So anyway, I thought it was news. I know success is equity, but Belichick did something, got virtually nothing in return, and Gruden got a ton in return, and it's a great defensive draft, and he's got more

picks than anybody. And so the analytic people at Sloan MIT Conference, they liked it. They thought it was great. And with that, many years in the NBA over a decade, one of my favorite guests. And we got a lot of stuff to talk about. Katino Mobley joining us today. The best-dressed man in our network. A style master.

So good to see you guys. A hipster maven. So good to see you guys. Okay, let me start with this. I saw a story today. Jason Kid to the Lakers. And I thought, oh, he's perfect. He's famous.

They only hire famous people now in Los Angeles. Jason Kid to the Lakers. What do you make of that? I don't like that. I don't like Jason Kidd, the Lakers. I love Jason Kidd as a player when he played. He's actually one of my favorites. Maybe to me, to me, there's Maddox Johnson and his Jason Kidd as far as point cards. Yeah. And that's just my opinion. Super smart, super smart on the court. But I mean, Jason had successful as a coach. What year was really successful? He left Milwaukee. They went from seventh to the best team in the East.

Right, right. Like, I don't know. I just don't like Jason Kidd, especially with LeBron James. Why? LeBron's hard to coach. Yeah. And see, Jason's better playing with LeBron James like he did Carmelo Anthony, opposed to, and LeBron James and Jason Kiddah to kind of play the same, right?

They're triple doubles in the making. Yeah. They're both cerebral. They're both make their team back. better, right? It could be a pack of coals and they're still going to make it look good. Like, that's just Jason Kidd. But when it comes to being a coach and coaching a superstar,

it just doesn't match up with Jason Kidd to me. By the way, the three coaches this year, three of the four best records in the NBA, the coaches name Nick Nurse, Mike Malone, and Mike Boonehounser. They're not famous. No. I know the Lakers are now addicted to famous people in their franchise. Right, right.

It's like by and large in the NBA, nobody knew who Popovich was before he was Greg Popovich winning titles. Like famous coaches generally, that means they were successful doing something else. And coach is an absolute grind. I'm not a big fan of famous coaches. I want to shift to this. There are times in basketball, which has always been a team game, where a wildly talented score, Kyrie Irving, can struggle with a coach that has a strong system. Could I make the argument? it's nobody's fault.

But when you give me the Celtics numbers with and without Kyrie Irving, our radio audience can't see this, and there's too many numbers to read. They are significantly better without Kyrie. They average almost 10 points a game more. For a fact. They shoot better. Their spacing's better.

Can I just argue, Katino, they're just not a good fit. Nothing against either. A coach, a player. They don't work together. He's more of an ISO, great individual one-on-one player. Right, right. Listen, you're spot on.

And listen, I'm not just saying this, but you guys on this show are so accurate. And that's just my opinion. Like what I think you guys say. And Kyrie Irvin, to me, it's like Alan Iverson. Jerry Stackhouse was there. Tim Thomas was there. Larry Hughes is there. They leave.

They're all stars. Right? Like, so now Alan Iverson has to get Eric Snow and Aaron McKee and Matumbo. There were people that Alan played well with. and those guys sacrificed their bodies and with defensive guys. Maybe that's what Kyrie needs. Because having these guys who are young Tatum's and Browns and Smarts and and Rojiers, they want to be stars as well.

And they like to play well together. It's like Kyrie is, like you say, he's an ISO more individual guy. But for the record, I said this, if you did an all-time one-on-one tournament in the NBA, like all the great players, but you'd have to do like six, three, and under, then 6-4 to 6-7, then Biggs. You can't have Kareem facing Isaiah Thomas. Right, right. I could make an argument, 6-3-and-under, Kyrie would win the tournament.

He's one of the great one-on-one players left or right in the history of basketball. I love that. I love that. I love this one. The top three finalists for that is Kyrie Irvin, Isaiah Thomas, the old Isaiah Thomas. Oh, Isaiah Thomas was. Isaiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, because he had so much heart. and he was so talented.

And my last one would be... Steph Curry, maybe? Well, not Steph Curry. I would go Alan Irison. Because Alan Iverson was deceptively... He was... See, some guys are like fast and then some guys are quick. He was both. Yeah. I mean, he had floaters from damn near, you know,

15 feet from the basket. Right. Off the glass. He was so hard to stop. And I think Kyrie is... And I, this is where I defend... Let's say it was singing. Let's take basketball out. Okay.

And let's say Joy had the, she had a Whitney Houston voice. Yeah, you do, don't you? Of course. In my mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So all of a sudden, she joins a choir. Right. And the choir, the teacher of the choir is legendary.

Right. Okay. But she's really the next Whitney Houston. Right. Of course it would be hard because singing voices, you know, they don't last forever. You have like an athlete, you got about 15 years to hit it and the voice goes down. anybody that's seen an old rock and roll concert it's more music than voice

of course it would be difficult for the superstar singer with a limited shelf life to play within a system because Kyrie's walking into the gym every day thinking I'm the best one-on-one player ever in my sport I mean he told Kobe that remember that? Yes you see what did with the USA games

and they were in practice and he said I beat you one-on-one Kobe's like are you serious are you on drugs? Of course you're not going to beat me now 6-4 to 6-7 is Kobe Bryant all day long Right. Because he's not playing. So I guess what I'm saying is I don't think less of Kyrie or less of Brad Stevens. I think you have an all-time classic one-on-one player and an all-time system offensive guy.

By the way, Mike Dan Tony is a good coach, doesn't work with a lot of bigs. Greg Popovich does not work with ball stoppers. Right. You know, Kobe always said I would have loved to play with Pop. I don't think Pop would have wanted to coach Kobe. Right. I think Duncan worked for him, man who worked for him. Tony Parker worked for him.

I don't know. Let me shift to this. Lons old ball. Sad story this weekend. Oh, it's crazy, huh? Awful. So LeVar Ball gets kind of scammed by a business guy allegedly. They'll figure out $1.5 million is gone.

Lonzo had warned him, his business partners, the bank had warned LeVar, get out of this relationship. Right. But I'm wondering, does this whole thing force Lonzo to separate from his dad a little? I mean, it would be a great excuse, don't you think? I mean, for me, so I'm listening to the whole tobacco, the whole. crazy thing that's going on. And I, for Lonzo to say, listen, I want to part ways, like, I'm cool, it's something else going on besides that with inside the family. I don't know, just speculating, with inside the family where, you know, you're taking pictures down from

your pop, you're, you know, you're quoting Nike, you're just kind of being your own self. Now, what else is going on besides that money part, right? Because if something has, happens in your family and I've done nothing wrong to you, Joy O'Connell, and we're family for years and one thing happens and it's about money, do you get to that extreme or do we talk about it first? So something else is going on within that family. What we know nothing about, maybe pulling the youngest out of school, now he's not eligible for college, maybe the other one pulling him out of UCLA where you got him a scholarship there because he thought the youngest is going to go there. Listen, young people, we listen to our dads. Right. And then they're, they're

comes a point with our fathers that we realize they're human. Right. And sometimes we separate, if not emotionally, professionally from our dads. We realize, you know, dad doesn't get technology. He dropped the ball. He dropped the ball. I actually think, you know, one of the things that I didn't love early in the LeVar-A-Lonzo thing was his kids didn't talk.

Right. I mean, dad was, they were mute. They were mute. They were mute. It's like. The youngest one did speak and he said something crazy when they were to do the WWF or whatever, the WWE, they had to ban him from talking because he just got a little crazy

and sent some inappropriate stuff. But other than that, they don't even talk. They're mute. Yeah, I think he's separating. Finally, Zion Williamson. Wow. I think he's going to be an NBA star. I think he's big, quick, got great touch.

I think he's got a great joy for the game. I think his body is, you can't duplicate it. Yeah. I see Larry Johnson plus Charles Barkley. Yes, that's what I said. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. So what do you make of Zion?

Just all, like a lot of people are saying he could get heavy. He's not tall enough. He'll get all. overwhelmed by length and big. Like, what do you see? Everybody's entitled to the own opinion. What I'm just looking, it's like the eye test, right? This kid is super special.

That's one thing. Okay. And he can improve. Jump shots, playmaking, right? Look how quick he is. I mean, he's just, it's unbelievable to be 285. 285. And to be so fast like that.

It's kind of like Shaquille O'Nealish. A little bit. Where you're so big, but yet you're so agile. Go YouTube, Charles Barkley at Auburn. He was chubby. Phenomenal. And would race guys down the floor. Unbelievable.

Fast break. Look at that move right there by Zion. Sorry for our radio audience. We keep showing that one move, Joy, where he goes, and he hops. It's not this one. Now, I want to show our TV audience this. I apologize to the radio audience. Watch this hop move.

Now I want you to watch this. Not this one. It'll come up right after this. This is just brute strength, which he obviously has. All right. We've got about six highlights. I want to show it one more time. Look at this.

Watch. Look at the speed. There's nothing wrong with that knee. That's a 300-pound dude. Yeah, that's nothing wrong with that knee. The way he hops like that, he just gets right. He's like a pogo stick. He gets right back up and all that weight.

I don't think people really understand all that weight. Full speed down the court. In college, you can have congestion in the paint. But in the NBA, it's all spread out. He's going to get one-on-one matchups against 235-pound guys. As soon as he rips through an NBA, it's a dunk. It's a Blake Griffin. You can forget about it.

Contino Moble, good seeing you, bud. Thanks for having me. 11 seasons in the NBA. We love having you on. Sharp, Dress, Man. Joy with the News. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So the Lakers were officially eliminated from the playoffs this weekend after their loss of the Nets. First time LeBron missed the playoffs in 14 years. He's taken a lot of the blame for the Lakers woes this year. But his physical therapist, who worked with him during his groin injury, is coming to his defense. Dr. Karen Joubert wrote on Instagram, I want you all to know how bad his injury was and is the pain he endured.

He was on the court in six weeks. He should have been six months. Unselfishly, he endured pain, pain, pain. He did not want to let the Lakers down, the fans down, but I know what he went through. I learned about determination, the will to win, how to get the job done. He is a force to be reckoned with. She has since deleted this.

She posted a picture of her and LeBron in the training room. I believe it at the Lakers facility. This helps no one. This doesn't help the Lakers, which I'm sure the Lakers had no part in this because it makes the Lakers look like they force LeBron back too early. It doesn't help LeBron because it looks like he came back too early and tried to push himself through an injury that he clearly should have gotten better. This is not the point in your career where you need to be pushing through injuries

during the regular season when it's mostly a trial year. Like this is not the year that everyone thought that they were going to make it to the championship of the finals. Now, people thought they were going to make the playoffs, obviously, but this injury was clearly more significant than he let on. And that's the case. You don't need to be out there. It's not helping the fans for you to not be out there at 100% and be hurting yourself long term. Yeah, also, it tells me he had a really bad injury. Sure. That's okay. That happens to literally everyone. But if I was a free agent on the market, I'd be like, tell my agent, that injury for LeBron, like, that was a real injury. This I'm saying, this doesn't help anybody.

Yeah, keep stuff quiet. This is not the thing that you want that you want out. It doesn't help anyone. And like I said, she's deleted it. So after blowing an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss in Charlotte, the Celtics were blown out on their home floor last night against the Spurs. We're just discussing this. Kairi was sitting away from his team during timeouts and walked to the locker room with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

And after the game, Kairi was asked about his leadership. Got cranky. When he's hard, team environments are hard. You know, it's not as simple. Let's just, you know, listening to everybody else, speak about what's going on with the team. And, you know, it's hard being a professional athlete, being in a team environment,

want to accomplish something very great. You know, everyone always going to say, oh, they need to do this, they don't do that. Nobody, nobody knows. Nobody's been in my position. Nobody here. So I don't expect anybody here to understand that. Everybody could just speak on it.

My focus is figuring out, you know, the guys I have in this locker on how to get the best out of them and them to get the best out of me. Selfics have lost four in a row and five of their last 10. Not the way you want to be playing going into the playoffs. They're still in the fifth seed, but... They have a lot of good players, too.

Like, I mean, like eight legitimate NBA players. To me, this is everything you just talked about. Kairi being an ISO player, but I just... I don't have as much sympathy as you do because if you're a basketball player, then you've always played a team game. Right.

So even if you are primarily an ISO player, you still have to play a team game at some point or another. But you saw that. this is maybe just the not the right system for him because he excelled with LeBron in a situation where he had the opportunity to close and do what he does. I just don't think that this is the right system for him. Whether, like, they can be a great team without him. They can be a great team with him, but they're so inconsistent.

I don't know how you do that through a seven-game series in the playoffs. The two teams in the NBA playoffs, I can't wait to watch, Oklahoma City, because I think they're somewhat combustible, and Boston because I think they're somewhat combustible. I find myself, like I know Golden State's good. but I want to see OKC. Can they write this shit? Because we have two teams in the NBA that we know are talented. Oklahoma City and Boston.

And they're both like bailing water right now. And can they kind of, okay, let's put our stuff aside. Historically, talented teams kind of do flip a switch and get over their stuff. But I think you could have man overboard for both. I think actually this year is a fifth seed. Who would Boston stack up with now? Like, the East is pretty good at the top. So you could have, I don't think it's going to happen, but I've...

I'm not bailing on Boston just because they do have Kyrie and they do have an incredible amount of talent. But I just don't feel good about them going into the playoffs this way. Fair enough. Finally, for the first time in the 35-year history of WrestleMania, a women's match will close out the show for the main event. The raw women's championship match between Rhonda Rousey, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair will close out the show, which will be on April 7th at MetLife Stadium. First ever... for New Jersey. First ever all women's pay-per-view?

No, they're going to close out the match. They're going to close out the match as the main event of the show. By the way, have you gone to Charlotte Flair's Instagram and Twitter recently? I've not, no. I'm a big fan of Charlotte Flair.

I like Ronda Ronda. I love this move for Ronda Rousey. That's why I think it's a great move for Gronk. Rhonda Ronda's the perfect move for her. She's actually very entertaining and very good. just a natural. And you said you spent some time with Stephanie McMahon as well, right? She's great. Stephanie's great. I've met

Charlotte Flair. You don't mess with Charlotte Flair. No. She's a very good Twitter page, very good Instagram. She's a very beautiful woman and an amazing wrestler. Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lie News. In honor of Rob Grankowski, who are the ten biggest personalities he retired today? who are yesterday, who are the 10 biggest personalities in sports, but they've been money where their mouth is. They were not just talkers and funny and glib. They were great.

A top 10 list and best for last coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Men and women across America upgrading from their tattered multi-pack underwear to Tommy John. Tommyjohn.com code her 20% off. You know, a lot of athletes have had big personalities. and then they dry up on the field. They're more personality than they are more performer than they are productive. Gronk is not one of those.

And I thought today we'd have fun. We'd have a list. I call it your money where your mouth is. They had mouths, they talked, they were celebrities, they were personalities, but they always delivered in the biggest spots. Here's our money where your mouth is list. Number 10. Number 10.

John Daly. He won two majors. He won actually a PGA championship as a ninth alternate. Okay, yes, he had a mullet and drank a lot and smoked when he played. But he invented the grip it and ripet style. I didn't put him number one and I didn't put him number two. But John Daly, for a sport that could use celebrities, was a real golfer and a great golfer for about a half decade.

Grip it and rip it, smoke, drank, swore, did everything you're not supposed to, and actually won majors. Number nine. Connor McGregor. Cust swore through things, attacked a bus, but he also simultaneously held the featherweight and lightweight belts. And he is without question, not only the biggest personality in the history of the UFC, but for a while, not anymore, was the best fighter, pound for pound in the UFC. Number eight. Andre Agassie. Flashiest tennis player of all time.

Big Rebel. Big hair. He was Bjorn Borg meets Bon Jovi. And while he was doing this, he won eight majors. And upon his retirement, the BBC said he was perhaps the biggest worldwide star in tennis history. Of the two or three tennis stars in my life, Serena, John McEnroe, and I think Andre Agassiz. By the way, Pete Sanberts was a great player.

Yvonne Lendell, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, but to me, Agassie is perhaps the biggest star. Number seven. Charles Barkley. You forget how likable, because he is so likable now, Charles was nothing but trouble. He was the anti-Jordan.

He had no interest being a role model. In fact, the first time Charles really became nationally a big deal was when he did a commercial. for Nike saying, I am not a role model. I do not want to be a role model. He was frequently involved in fights, although as he got more handsome as he aged, he avoided the fights and stayed on the periphery as he became a TV star. He once elbowed a player from Angola in the Olympics, which was seen as really over the top, but he also was one of the great players' transition, low post, scoring, and he's now one of the great TV personalities in America.

Number six. Mani B. and Mani, Mani Ramirez. He once left a game, disappeared into the green monster where he went to the bathroom in the middle of a game. He once cut off. I think this is the moment. He cut off Johnny Damon. He cut off the cutoff throw. He would shake hands with fans as he was climbing up the wall.

But he was also the 2004 World Series MVP and broke the curse. and a two-time World Series champ at Fenway 2004-2007, manny being manny was an all-time crazy personality but delivered. Number five. Rob Gronkowski, Gronk. It appeared for a while. His off-season appeared to be one really long booze cruise, but he cleaned it up, never spent any of the money he made,

work hard, play hard, three Super Bowl wins, five Super Bowl wins. five Super Bowl appearances in nine years, and this year, as he just retired, he was a go-to star, a blocker, a catcher, a red zone guy. You can say what you want about Grong. When the light was on in the biggest games, he was Tom Brady's favorite target, even at the end of his career. Number four. Dennis Rodman. I mean, he wore a wedding dress on his book promotional tour. He was an outrageous personality, hooked up with Madonna, Carmen Elektra, colored his hair. every week. Say this for Dennis, though. Seven straight years led the NBA in rebounding.

In my lifetime, there's not even a question. He is the biggest star who didn't score points in basketball, almost always in the NBA. Even if you're a good defensive player like Kareem, you got to score points. Rodman couldn't shoot. He was kind of Draymond before Dreyman, but with even more personality, Dennis Rodman. Number three. I'd say Dion Sanders, primetime. neon Dion. The flashy suits, the big personality. He released at one point a rap album,

hung out with MC Hammer. He's the only person to ever appear in a Super Bowl and a World Series. He's the best corner cover of all time. And the best punt returner of all time. He didn't like to tackle much, even though that piece of video there, he wasn't great against the run. But in terms of just locking down a great pass receiver,

huge personality, now works at the NFL network. Number two. I'm going to go Shaq. I mean, he was, he had to, I've always defended him. He had to leave Orlando. He was simply too big. I mean, he was just a mega star in America, called himself a big Aristotle. He tried to become a rap star and a television star during his playing days.

Some of his movies were good. Blue Chips was good. Kazam did not win an Oscar. That was not one of the great moves by him. But he won four titles with the Lakers and a heat, three-time MVP. I mean, listen, Kobe Bryant was moving into his prime, and Shaq was the finisher. So to me, Shaq is the second biggest money where his mouth is, big personality, but absolutely delivered on the court. Number one.

And Muhammad Ali. If you put it Muhammad Ali, he was the first trash talker, poetry, rhyming. He had a relationship with Howard CoSell that sort of, I remember as a kid, it kind of transcended like sports. he was the first athlete to really get polarization working for you. He was political. He was good-looking. He was funny. He was gifted. His fights were Super Bowls.

I mean, go to Zaire. He was a star. New York, Vegas star. It just didn't matter. He was largely considered. Now, think about this. This is pre-Cable TV. This is pre-Internet.

Pre-Google, pre-Facebook. he was the biggest, most recognizable sports star in the world. And I say that, there was no internet. Like, that's how big he was. By the way, he wasn't even on broadcast TV. His fights were pay-per-view. So you had to go behind a paywall to see him. But between the look and the personality and he was political, courageous.

I've said before, to see Muhammad Ali today, and I'm not joking when I say this, he would be Tiger and golf. He would literally take the sport and double its popularity. And that's what Tiger did with golf. I mean, he basically took the sport,

doubled it, he laughed it, came back to being what had always been, semi-popular. Muhammad Ali. Look at this. I think you've got an honorable mention Tyson and Mayweather. My only problem with Tyson, was he famous or infamous? Mike Tyson's pretty famous.

Yeah. He's in that group. Good stuff today. Doug Gottlieb stopped by the show. James Harrison and all that Steeler stuff and Rob Gronkowski. Aaron Torres gave us 10 great minutes of college basketball. It really feels like to me Duke and Carolina are on a collision course. They're built differently. Duke's got all these phenomenal freshmen.

Carolina's got a couple of good freshmen, but some upper classmen. Carolina matches up really well with Duke. I also like teams sometimes that are built for the tournament. Michigan State beat Michigan during the year, but I think Michigan is better than Michigan State for the tournament. So some teams, I think, are built for the tournament. They've got some upperclassmen maybe. They've got maybe a better in-game coach.

I like Michigan and Duke and Carolina. The three teams I really think are the best I've seen this year. We'll see you 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,

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Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going?

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