July 22, 2024 • 32 mins
Colin reacts to Jordan Love informing the Packers he will not be practicing until he signs a new contract and why this makes sense for both sides. He tells you why he was right about Caitlin Clark and wrong about Brandon Aiyuk. Plus Packers insider Matt Schneidman joins the show live from Green Bay with the latest on the negotiations between Love and the Packers
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
All Right, it is a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
NFL season getting close, college football season getting close, Olympics
getting very close, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,
Thanks for making us part of your day, Jamak. There
was a lot going on from the British Open WNBA basing,
the Olympic team, our men's basketball team, not yours personally,
(00:56):
but the Lebron team. There's a lot going on. But
this morning there is a story from an NFL camp
which looks very juicy and I've got to cut right
to the chase.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Let's get to it.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay. So Jordan Love, Green Bay Packer quarterback told the
team Saturday, I'm not practicing. I'm on a new contract now.
This isn't Brandon Aiyuk in the Niners. Green Bay wants
to get it done. Jordan Love wants to get it done.
But sometimes employees, yes, have to play hardball with the employers.
(01:30):
And I'm gonna side with Jordan Love here. First of all,
he signed a very team friendly deal before last season,
and he should have. He wasn't proven, and he blew
through it. He was fantastic and you could say, well,
I mean, he still has a year left, So Jordan
Love didn't just eclipse the contract. Through weeks ten through eighteen,
(01:54):
eight NFL weeks with the youngest offense in the league
in the best that it has been in years in NFC,
he had the most passing yards and the most total touchdowns.
He was better than Alan Lamar, Mahomes, Stafford, he was
better than everybody in the league. And that's with a
bunch of kids. He didn't have a dominant number one receiver.
(02:16):
Even the offensive line is young. Young team went to
Dallas blew out the Cowboys. And there's something else here
is that there is also a responsibility by an organization
to make evaluations of a player beyond just games. You
and I watch games, we can tell who can plan.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Who can't.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But he was in the building three years before last year.
You can make judgments on his maturity, his leadership, his judgment.
Not only had he started eighteen games, he'd played in
twenty seven and had over four hundred practices. He's twenty
five years old. Twenty five years old is different than
(03:02):
twenty one or twenty two years old. Twenty one, twenty
two years old, you're saying stuff to get you in trouble.
You're drinking more than you should, not necessarily a grown up.
By twenty five years old, you screw up. It's up
to you now. And NFL front offices, their responsibility is
not just watching games. We can all do that. The
(03:24):
best NFL scouts, they're going to practices. They're on the
phone sometimes with investigators to dig deep on players, what's
going on at home, what's going on on campus. The
Packers have had years and years of watching Jordan Love's maturity,
his judgment, his talent at practice, preseason games, starting backing up.
(03:46):
It's time to pay him again. I would love to
see more of Jordan Love, but I don't have the
video of the practices. I don't bump into him at
the lunch line at the Packer facility. I don't know
if he gets along with others. My guess says he does.
But the advantage to having any employee in the building
(04:06):
for three or four years before you have to pay
the big money is now it's on you, it's not
on them. If he's been as good at practice in
the last year as he's been in games, it's on you.
And remember, he did all this. I would love to
see more. But this isn't a kid who started ten
games in college like Anthony Richardson at Florida started ten
thirteen games. Something like that goes to Indianapolis gets hurt.
(04:28):
I still don't know what Anthony Richardson is. He's dynamic,
he's talented. I don't know what he is. I'm not
sure the Colts know what he is. So he's been
in the building for a year. Jordan Love has been
here almost a half decade. Practice is game starting exhibition,
So to me that advantage Green Bay knows quarterbacks. I
(04:49):
think they'll pay him. I think they should, and I
think to this point he looks like he can crack
into the top eight to ten quarterbacks in the league
very quickly. All Right, we got a lot of good
stuff today. Stephen Jones of the Cowboys After the Break
has some interesting thoughts on the NFL going to eighteen games.
So from the very beginning, women's basketball, from Olympics to
(05:13):
the WNBA has been sort of sending a message to
casuals like me and you, Caitlin Clark is not quite ready.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. And the more i
watch Caitlyn Clark, the more I'm convinced women's basketball isn't ready.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Kaitlyn Clark's more than ready.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
She helped her WNBA All Star team beat the USA
Women's Olympic team this weekend. She was the best playmaker,
She had tennisists, best playmaker, one of her teammates scored
thirty four, and Caitlyn just kept feeding her the ball
and the most assists in the win. Double digitus in
(06:00):
seven of her last eight games. Despite the WNBA butchering
her early schedule snubbing her for the Olympics, they put
her on the WNBA All Star Team. Indiana now is
a real potential playoff team, and what do you know,
she led everybody and assists as they beat the Olympic team.
Clearly she stretches the floor, she's great with spacing, and
(06:21):
she's also, in my opinion, a perfect Olympic or All
Star player, especially Olympics All Star games are a little
bit of showing off, but the Olympics, if you're not
the second third best player on the team, and she
wouldn't be yet, you need to be a facilitator, not
a ballhog. I would argue with Caitlin Clark, she passes
too much now. In the All Star Game this weekend,
(06:42):
her shooting was off, but her playmaking wasn't. And so
the Olympic Women's Olympic team said, you know, if we
put her on the team, there is no question she's
going to be a distraction. Well you know what's a
distraction her not on the team. That's what everybody's talking about.
So here's the other thing is that I've learned with
(07:04):
women's basketball as a whole, they're very much like men's
soccer in America. They're a little petty, they've been ignored
to a larger degree than other sports, and they've got
a chip on their shoulder and there's sort of a
prove you belong for United States men's national team. The
(07:24):
soccer fans it's like you have to have a pass
code to even talk about the sport online. And for
women's basketball, it's this constant prove you belong. Caitlin Clark
belongs on the Olympic team, she belongs on the All
Star team, she belongs in the skills competition. And here's
the thing, women's basketball. You can't use the excuse that
(07:44):
she caught you off guard, because a lot of times
overnight sensations do catch businesses off guard. But Ticketmaster, you
knew Taylor Swift was a massive hit. Eight years earlier,
be prepared, and two years before she entered the WNBA,
Caitlin Clark for Little Iowa was setting college basketball records.
(08:08):
She came back for her final year. You knew two
years in advance, Oh, we got a star. One year
in advance, she'll be the number one pick. There was
no excuse butcher in her early schedule. There's no excuse
not having months and months of discussions on the Olympic team.
She's clearly one of the better offensive, you know, long
range performers in the league. I'd argue she's first her
(08:29):
second best playmaker, leads the WNBA and assists seven of
her last eight games double digit assists, and this is
for a team that doesn't have a lot of finishers,
the Indiana Fever. So she always says the right stuff
at the podium. She's gonna downplay this win by her
All Star team over the coveted Olympic team. She's not
good enough to be on so far. She's more than
(08:54):
prepared and capable. It's women's basketball that's not quite ready
for ca Eitlan Clark, and here she is. I mean,
they're really good.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
They have plenty of talent on that team. I'm like,
I mean it was the same I think four years prior.
I'm pretty sure the team WNBA beat Team USA. They
were perfectly fine in the Olympics. I think for myself,
from my standpoint is like, you know, this is a
great opportunity to, you know, help prepare them for Paris,
and you know I'm going to be supporting them and
cheering them on, like I love the Olympics. I've loved
the Olympics ever since I was a young kid. And
(09:26):
they were going to be just spine. They're they're going
to win gold and dominate, So I'm I'm not worried.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
She continues to always say the right things at the
right time, and I'm going to stay on this Olympic
snub to the very end, despite the fact they'll win gold.
So Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Fifty minutes from now, Aaron
Rodgers already down playing get defensive about missing OTA's j Maac.
(09:53):
I'm sure you saw that on your timeline. I'm sure
that popped up. And I was not really on social
media this weekend outside of that small political story ago,
I didn't really. I was. You know, my son had
a chess tournament. I played a lot of hoops, got
to hang out with the family. Like I didn't spend
a lot of time online. I did not either.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I had a family gathering out east with lobster and
lobster pants, and it was a bit of a blur.
That's a long way to fly there and back for
a couple of days, but it was a fantastic played
a good round of golf yesterday in Rhode Island.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Excuse me, you played golf?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Oh? I played? Yes, I played golf in the summer.
Wow's your handicap? Well me, But I would say this,
for the first time in my life, I am committing
to clubs really committing, So golf clubs are clubbing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
The former, not the latter.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
All Right, Colin right, Colin wrong? And a Monday Baby.
Here we go Where Colin was right? Oh, what do
you know?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Caitlin Clark led the WNBA All Stars to a win
over the Olympic team. Oh so she is good enough
to play for the women's Olympic team, Colin, she would
have been a distraction. No, she's actually a distraction not
playing for the Olympic team. She's simply proving that she
doesn't need to put in all this time to be
(11:21):
an elite player. Her offense still can be rough, little
turnover heavy, but in the end, she's proving just like
Jalen Brown not in the Olympics for the men's a
lot of this stuff is petty and it's territorial. She
proved she's good enough to be on the Olympic team,
(11:41):
which was a huge argument that she wasn't. Where Colin
was raw, I said, this men's Olympic team is deeper
than the dream team think they're probably more skilled, but Manda,
they struggle against South Sudan and leave it to Lebron that,
once again in year twenty two, had actually save the team.
(12:02):
Not a terribly focused team. We let Australia back into
a game and Serbia late. I think it's just kind
of the reality of modern players. They don't quite have
the urgency i'd love, or the grit. But I will
say this, Lebron and Ad if you're a Laker fan,
have looked like the most consistent two top players for
this club.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Where Colin was right, I defended.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The Lakers drafting Brownie James in a bad draft. He'll
be fine.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
His official Summer League stats almost nine points a game,
three and a half rebounds. He got better every game,
and he was an excellent defender. He's fine again, I thought,
from the first Summer League game to the last, much
more comfortable offensively, found a little bit of a stroke,
(12:54):
take a deep breath. He's good enough to get drafted.
I don't ever think he'll be more than a rotational
NBA player, but in this draft, the fifty fifth pick
is probably going to be regardless of who it is.
In whearing Lands a rotational player.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I think the Niners are eventually going to move off
either Deebo Samuel or Brandon I Yuke. But ESPN reporting
the Niners now are saying we're not moving him. They've
gotten interest. I just don't think I think you can
get a first rounder for him. They just drafted two receivers.
And I believe that debo fits in to Kyle Shanahan
(13:37):
his DNA more. I think it's a debo Shanahan Christian
McCaffrey offense not a brand, and I Yuke offense. Though
I think he's super talented, a top five receiver in
the league. But I think he's getting moved. And another
story this week, the Niners aren't.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Moving him, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well, I've been saying that I think Nick Serry on
the hot seat, and Diana Russini reporting that Jalen Hurts
and Sirianni are still growing as a relationship and that
he is on some level of heat going into this season.
ESPN reporting also that the Eagles kicked the tires privately
(14:21):
about Bill Belichick. So I don't know if Sirianni is
the fit. I don't I don't know. Sometimes he acts
a little juvenile. Reports now that he and Jalen Hurts
is a work in progress. Either way, this idea that
the job is his, he's safe. I've said I think
he's on a similar hot seat to Mike McCarthy, But
(14:43):
it's McCarthy that everybody understands is on the hot seat,
and Sirianni people think he's safe.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I don't where Colin was right show Heyo, TAWNI.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I said it years ago, I said it this year,
I said it earlier. This season is better than Babe Ruth.
What a last week he had? And did you see this? Yesterday?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
To one is Hammer Day Bright Center Film, Way out
of here Hell. Tony joins the home run party a
thirty home run season for Shaw. Hey Tony's oh, how
do you like that? Four hundred and seventy three feet.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's the second longest home run since they've been keeping
track at Dodger Stadium. He also had the three run
home run in the All Star Game. He's gonna win
MVP as a DH. He is just a remarkable player.
He's not even pitching. I mean, the kid is absolutely remarkable.
The gambling controversy shrouded in that early no impact. And
(15:47):
by the way, the Dodgers, you know, guys sitting in
front of him starting pitching, are all banged up. So
he's had to carry a lot of the load this year.
That's more pressure. Hasn't affected him one bit. Where Colin
was raw, I said Caitlin Clark would triple the WUNBA
(16:08):
media rights in the next couple of years. I was wrong.
She's quadrupled it. According to a story, the league will
get two point two billion over the next eleven years. Now.
They've had a lot of good players, but you know,
let's be honest, Magic and Bird, Connor McGregor, they were
catalysts for their sports, not just great players. And Caitlin
(16:32):
Clark getting them on you know, kind of private flights,
getting this kind of media deal. I think it's good
for the league, but let's be honest here, this is
another reason you figure out a way to get her
on the Olympic team. She doesn't need to pay dues
because she's paying everybody else going forward.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
In this league. Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, I said last week Patrick Mahomes will figure it out.
He just won back to back Super Bowls with Rashi
Rice and Juju Smith Schuster was his top receivers. Yeah,
this weekend with a rookie Xavier Worthy, Mahomes rolls out
left on corks about a seventy yard bomb. Worthy at
the other end makes the catch. Jay Mack, I know
this hurts, but this team won the Super Bowl last
(17:12):
year and they were kind of bad weeks eleven through fourteen.
Look at that throw, Oh, Patrick Mahomes. As we said,
Brady Mahomes, they just figure stuff out and it looks
like they have found their next number one star playmaker.
(17:33):
Where Colin was right, I said, I think the New
York Giants had become the Jets with more trophies. But
this Hard Knock show, yikes, is it uncomfortable with John Mara,
Joe Shane, the general manager. We've seen several pieces of video.
My knock on the Jets has never been lack of talent.
(17:54):
It's sort of been lack of a plan. And as
I watched this Hard Knox, I'll be honest with you,
I am uncomfortable for Joe Shane, Brian Dabole, the Marras
and everybody with the Giants basically the Jets with more trophies.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non a em Pacific.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
To and that's why we have a brand new podcast
called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun
in our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for. Yeah, you blubber lit lame and me.
Speaker 7 (18:42):
Well, you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Prosed.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored, by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder it's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.
Speaker 8 (19:10):
There you go, over Promising, remember you could see on YouTube,
but definitely join us. Listen to Over Promised with Cavino
and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Well, a lot of times a story will sound much
more inflammatory than it actually is. And when you see
the headline, Jordan Love says, I'm not practicing until I
get a new contract. WHOA Brandon, I you Niners situation.
That's not really the case here. Both sides want to
wrap it up. But I took the side of Jordan
Love today because I said, you know, he's not a
(19:44):
kid that just walked out of college.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Into the NFL.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
They have three three and a half years of practice tape,
twenty seven games, eighteen starts. They know his maturity, they
know his leadership, They've watched his decision making, they know
who he gets along with, they know his persontiononality quirks.
If you're in a building three three and a half years,
it's the employee's responsibility to figure out who you are.
(20:07):
Like an employee is what they are right, So to
meet it with Jordan Love they have all this practice footage.
I haven't seen, but Matt Schneidman probably has seen a
lot of those practices. He's been covering the Packers for
about a half decade. Joins us live from the Athletic
and it sounds very inflammatory. I don't think it is,
but Matt it is weird because to just say I'm
(20:31):
not practicing is kind of like he's kind of putting
his employers on the hot seat. I'm okay with it.
Were you surprised by it?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
A little bit?
Speaker 9 (20:41):
Only because he participated in all the voluntary and mandatory
stuff this offseason without a new contract, but deadline spur
action and David Mulugeta, who represents a lot of high
profile clients in the NFL. You know, Deshaun Watson, Jalen Ramsey,
I think Derwin James, C. J.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Stroud, He has Jordan Love too.
Speaker 9 (20:59):
So the start of training camp was kind of that
first deadline. Brian goodacun said this offseason on local radio
that he wanted to get something done before camp, but
then Gudacunz opened today up. Packers opening training camp a
little early because they go to Brazil week one, so
they opened camp a little early since they play on
that Friday. So Goody said today, you know he wasn't
surprised by Jordan Love not practicing today.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
It's not a holdout, it's a hold in.
Speaker 9 (21:22):
Jordan Love was at practice, walked out to practice right
next to Matt Lafleur, is doing everything besides practicing. So
there is, like you said, this sense from both sides
that not only do they want to get something done,
but something will get done. Gudacun said point blank at
the podium this morning. I think we're close, So this
could be something where Jordan Love's on the practice field
(21:43):
by the end of the week.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I thought last year I'd never seen anything quite like it.
So we had joked for three years. I had more
footage of Bigfoot than Jordan Love. Like they didn't even
let like practice footage get out. Then he's kind of
bad in September and even to the point where Matt Lafleur,
who's a very likable player's friendly coach, was kind of
(22:05):
testy at the podium, and then he becomes Johnny Unitis
and Joe Montana in like a nine week period where
he's the best player in the league playing with a
bunch of kids. It's the youngest team in the league.
So part of me is like, what in what happened?
What's the flip? The switch that was flipped. Let's go
back to that, because generally it's a gradual ascension for
(22:28):
any quarterback. He just popped about week four, Week five,
What was the flip? What was the switch?
Speaker 9 (22:38):
Yeah, you know, that's the journalist question that we spent
pretty much the second half of last season asking. It
really started with that Steelers game in Week ten where
they lost, but that was the first game where we
really saw Love make a couple.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Okay, you might have it kind of throws.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
You know, there were times during the first half of
the season where receivers were running the same routes and
literally standing on top of each other in the same
spot as incomplete passes flew by. Jordan wasn't great himself either,
but it wasn't only a first year starting quarterback. You
have Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs, Jaden Reed, and Dontavian Wicks
as your top four receivers, all in their first or
(23:15):
second year. You know, you have to remember not only
is Aaron Rodgers gone, but they've gotten younger across the board. Yeah,
I think at that halfway point, it was just enough
practice reps in game reps built up between Jordan Love,
his weapons, his offensive line where they really kind of
started to gel. And that's why you saw things start
(23:36):
to click in the second half of last season. Going
into the season, like you said, they really only had
one game to go off of when Rogers tested positive
for COVID in twenty twenty one. Jordan Love started on
short notice against the Chiefs and Arrowhead and was bad.
You know, I think he was pressured like sixteen times.
They lost thirteen to seven or something. But I remember
(23:56):
talking to Brian Gudokuns over the phone last offseason and
he said, coming out of that game, he was really
pleased with how Jordan Love stood in the face of pressure,
kind of faced it. He kept coming back, and they
knew he had the intangibles. And it was a bit
of a waiting game. Not a bit of a waiting game.
It was a hell of a waiting game waiting out
those couple of years. But now they're paying the dividends
(24:17):
and now they think they have their franchise quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Listen, they never wanted to say it publicly. The Packers
are a pretty classy organization. Not pretty, they're a classy organization.
They don't have an outspoken owner. They just you know
that region, Minnesota, green Bay, Milwaukee, it's a humble, hard
working region. Aaron was a lot the last couple of
(24:40):
years there. He was a lot. I actually felt watching
Green Bay last year and it hit me about Thanksgiving
and I felt like, oh, this is finally Matt Lafleur's team.
This feels like Matt's team. When you now, again, that's
just a reach by me, you're in the locker room,
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
No, it's not.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
I don't think it is a reach because and apologies
to cut you off, but you know, we spent the
entire offseason asking Matt Lafleur, what is your offense going
to look like? Because there's the narrative and some of
it's the Truth's probably somewhere in the middle that Aaron
Rodgers would just change every single play at the scrimmage. Yeah,
he obviously had the freedom too, as he should as
a quarterback of his stature in this league. But you know,
(25:19):
Matt Laflair always pushed back against that narrative that we
would finally see his true offense, and if you've spent
enough time in Green Bay, like you know, people have
spent much more time here than me.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
But this is my sixth season here, and.
Speaker 9 (25:32):
If you want to know the truth about what's going
on in the building, put Mark Murphy in front of
a microphone.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
President to start.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
Off training camp last season, after Laflour spent a whole
off season saying no, no, it'll be a collaboration. You know,
this isn't going to be my true offense, Mark Murphy
got to the podium and said, we're finally going to
see what Matt's true offense looks like.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
So we did.
Speaker 9 (25:53):
Now, I don't know where maybe we saw that most,
but you know, I think we kind of saw some
some collaboration that was really good to see between Lafleur
and Jordan Love as the season went on. And I
think that's what has fans and the Packers really excited
about this season is kind of where they left off.
They obviously surprised some people with that playoff run, and
they're going to hit the ground running this year.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I think, you know, it's funny. I remember talking to
a couple of GMS on Jordan leve at a college
at Eusta State, there was some potbust or something. I'm
not terribly judgmental on that, but for quarterbacks it's a
little different. I'm a little more punitive for a quarterback.
You know, how you handle yourself at the podium matters.
I think one of the things that you'd have a
much greater sense of than I would. But I always
(26:37):
say Dak Prescott is what I want all my quarterbacks
to be at the podium. He's got a crazy owner,
huge brand. He puts out fires and I've come to
terms with Baker Mayfield, but it's a little opposite of
Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
He started him. Dak puts them out.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
But I've really been kind of blown away by Jordan
Love at the podium because you're replacing Aaron. This is
a lot more than people think. You deal with Jordan
on a day to day So my my gut while
is coming in he's kind of immature. I've seen none
of that. I kind of think he's more mature, Like
what's he like as a guy? Fill me in a
(27:13):
little bit on this.
Speaker 9 (27:15):
Yeah, that's part of the reason why the Packers were
so comfortable trading Aaron without really seeing Jordan's start, all
that much was because they had seen him behind the
scenes for three years. In all my interactions with Jordan,
whether it be kind of off to the side in
the locker room or you know, in a press conference
setting in front of his locker, nothing but respectful, really
nice guy, very pc with his answers. He hasn't really
(27:38):
let us in yet. He's starting to do so more,
starting to show more personality. But I don't blame him
for in his first year starting not really you know,
wanting to do that. You know, there's kind of a
rule of thumb around here for local reporters that you
get one big one on one request for the entire season.
So I would request Aaron for a one on one
the first four years I was here, and he said yes.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
All four times.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
He would, you know, always be great and you know,
Aarin like he's an incredible interview for reporters.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Oh Lench.
Speaker 9 (28:06):
Yeah, he's so insightful, so knowledgeable. And I'm not saying
Jordan Love isn't that. He just doesn't give you kind
of the quotes and as much you know, insight and
storytelling and who knows he might become that. But I
requested Jordan for a one on one before they played
the Cowboys last year, and he respectfully declined it, which
I have no problem with, but it was because he
(28:26):
just wanted to, you know, keep the focus on the Cowboys,
kind of still prove himself and he hadn't really done
I don't think many local one on ones or however
many one on ones, because his thing last year was
I just want to prove that I belong, I think,
and he did that and this this contract is going
to reflect that. So maybe we see more of that
personality this year. His teammates love him. Keishawn Nixon after
(28:48):
they gave an extension to Kenny Clark yesterday, Keishawn Nixon,
they're all pro kick returner tweeted, Number ten is next.
These guys have his back. From everything I know and
everything I've heard, Jordan Love has been nothing but exemplary
in terms of a teammate and a personality in that
locker room.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
So expectations. So I kind of feel like there's a
handful of rosters in the NFL. San Francisco, Detroit feel
like they're just older than the Packers. They're really good,
They're especially San Francisco. It's like Hall of Fame veterans.
These guys are some on the precipice of maybe a
retirement like a Kittle. And then there's you know, you're
Baltimore's stack roster. I think Cleveland, Pittsburgh that you know,
(29:27):
Kansas City, Buffalo. I was so blown away by Love
and the Packers in Dallas, and you know it's one
of the last. And then the San Francisco game they
went down to the end. I think they're in my
like seven eight team super Bowl bubble. But I do
wonder if I'm just giving too much to two games
where I was so blown away by them. What feels
(29:49):
realistic to you? I mean, they upgraded it running back.
The old line's young, now it's not as young. I imagine,
like they always do, some of these draft picks will
hit and produce. What's realistic to you that if the
season ended blank, you'd have to be happy with it.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
Yeah. I don't think it's Super Bowl or bust necessarily,
but those are realistic expectations to have. Last year, with
the youngest team in the NFL, they went to the
Divisional round, and you have to remember they took a
lead into that fourth quarter against the forty nine ers,
and then they would have gone to Detroit where they
spanked the Lions a couple weeks prior. So for a
second there, I was sitting in the press box in
Santa Clara, thinking the Packer's going to go to the
(30:29):
Super Bowl this year. But I think, you know, home
field advantage in the NFC playoffs is realistic.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
You got to get back to winning a division.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
That should be the bare minimum for expectations inside that building.
I would put them up there with some of the
best rosters in the NFL, but I think they're still
kind of playing with house money with how young they are.
They still have the same receiver corps. Like you mentioned.
They replaced Aaron Jones with a running back in Josh Jacobs,
who is more than three years younger but made a
(30:59):
first team Pro two years ago. And their other massive
addition is Xavier McKinney, the perennial All Pro safety from
the New York Giants who's still twenty four years old.
They gave him almost seventeen million in free agency this offseason,
hired a new defensive coordinator and Jeff Hafley, the former
head coach at Boston College, so there's a lot of
change here, but at the meat of the bone is
(31:21):
this is still a really young team who feels they
did leave some meat on the bone last year.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (31:26):
And Jayden Reid, one of their promising receivers, said today,
you know they expect to just hit the ground, runn
right where were they left off last year?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Matt Schneidman covers the packers for The Athletic, which I
strongly encourage people subscribe to because I live on the thing.
They do great work. We haven't talked before. We want
to bring you on again. Appreciate you taking time. We
know you're a busy guy. You just got out of
locker room, down there and up there wherever it is,
and we just appreciate having your insight on the show.
My man, Thank you, Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Colin really appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Matt Schneidman does a really nice job with them, and
it's I love getting peep people that are in the
locker rooms at practice come right off of practice and
have great insight. And that's exactly what he delivered.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
All Right, it is a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
NFL season getting close, college football season getting close, Olympics
getting very close, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,
Thanks for making us part of your day, Jamak. There
was a lot going on from the British Open WNBA basing,
the Olympic team, our men's basketball team, not yours personally,
(00:56):
but the Lebron team. There's a lot going on. But
this morning there is a story from an NFL camp
which looks very juicy and I've got to cut right
to the chase.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Let's get to it.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay. So Jordan Love, Green Bay Packer quarterback told the
team Saturday, I'm not practicing. I'm on a new contract now.
This isn't Brandon Aiyuk in the Niners. Green Bay wants
to get it done. Jordan Love wants to get it done.
But sometimes employees, yes, have to play hardball with the employers.
(01:30):
And I'm gonna side with Jordan Love here. First of all,
he signed a very team friendly deal before last season,
and he should have. He wasn't proven, and he blew
through it. He was fantastic and you could say, well,
I mean, he still has a year left, So Jordan
Love didn't just eclipse the contract. Through weeks ten through eighteen,
(01:54):
eight NFL weeks with the youngest offense in the league
in the best that it has been in years in NFC,
he had the most passing yards and the most total touchdowns.
He was better than Alan Lamar, Mahomes, Stafford, he was
better than everybody in the league. And that's with a
bunch of kids. He didn't have a dominant number one receiver.
(02:16):
Even the offensive line is young. Young team went to
Dallas blew out the Cowboys. And there's something else here
is that there is also a responsibility by an organization
to make evaluations of a player beyond just games. You
and I watch games, we can tell who can plan.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Who can't.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But he was in the building three years before last year.
You can make judgments on his maturity, his leadership, his judgment.
Not only had he started eighteen games, he'd played in
twenty seven and had over four hundred practices. He's twenty
five years old. Twenty five years old is different than
(03:02):
twenty one or twenty two years old. Twenty one, twenty
two years old, you're saying stuff to get you in trouble.
You're drinking more than you should, not necessarily a grown up.
By twenty five years old, you screw up. It's up
to you now. And NFL front offices, their responsibility is
not just watching games. We can all do that. The
(03:24):
best NFL scouts, they're going to practices. They're on the
phone sometimes with investigators to dig deep on players, what's
going on at home, what's going on on campus. The
Packers have had years and years of watching Jordan Love's maturity,
his judgment, his talent at practice, preseason games, starting backing up.
(03:46):
It's time to pay him again. I would love to
see more of Jordan Love, but I don't have the
video of the practices. I don't bump into him at
the lunch line at the Packer facility. I don't know
if he gets along with others. My guess says he does.
But the advantage to having any employee in the building
(04:06):
for three or four years before you have to pay
the big money is now it's on you, it's not
on them. If he's been as good at practice in
the last year as he's been in games, it's on you.
And remember, he did all this. I would love to
see more. But this isn't a kid who started ten
games in college like Anthony Richardson at Florida started ten
thirteen games. Something like that goes to Indianapolis gets hurt.
(04:28):
I still don't know what Anthony Richardson is. He's dynamic,
he's talented. I don't know what he is. I'm not
sure the Colts know what he is. So he's been
in the building for a year. Jordan Love has been
here almost a half decade. Practice is game starting exhibition,
So to me that advantage Green Bay knows quarterbacks. I
(04:49):
think they'll pay him. I think they should, and I
think to this point he looks like he can crack
into the top eight to ten quarterbacks in the league
very quickly. All Right, we got a lot of good
stuff today. Stephen Jones of the Cowboys After the Break
has some interesting thoughts on the NFL going to eighteen games.
So from the very beginning, women's basketball, from Olympics to
(05:13):
the WNBA has been sort of sending a message to
casuals like me and you, Caitlin Clark is not quite ready.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. And the more i
watch Caitlyn Clark, the more I'm convinced women's basketball isn't ready.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Kaitlyn Clark's more than ready.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
She helped her WNBA All Star team beat the USA
Women's Olympic team this weekend. She was the best playmaker,
She had tennisists, best playmaker, one of her teammates scored
thirty four, and Caitlyn just kept feeding her the ball
and the most assists in the win. Double digitus in
(06:00):
seven of her last eight games. Despite the WNBA butchering
her early schedule snubbing her for the Olympics, they put
her on the WNBA All Star Team. Indiana now is
a real potential playoff team, and what do you know,
she led everybody and assists as they beat the Olympic team.
Clearly she stretches the floor, she's great with spacing, and
(06:21):
she's also, in my opinion, a perfect Olympic or All
Star player, especially Olympics All Star games are a little
bit of showing off, but the Olympics, if you're not
the second third best player on the team, and she
wouldn't be yet, you need to be a facilitator, not
a ballhog. I would argue with Caitlin Clark, she passes
too much now. In the All Star Game this weekend,
(06:42):
her shooting was off, but her playmaking wasn't. And so
the Olympic Women's Olympic team said, you know, if we
put her on the team, there is no question she's
going to be a distraction. Well you know what's a
distraction her not on the team. That's what everybody's talking about.
So here's the other thing is that I've learned with
(07:04):
women's basketball as a whole, they're very much like men's
soccer in America. They're a little petty, they've been ignored
to a larger degree than other sports, and they've got
a chip on their shoulder and there's sort of a
prove you belong for United States men's national team. The
(07:24):
soccer fans it's like you have to have a pass
code to even talk about the sport online. And for
women's basketball, it's this constant prove you belong. Caitlin Clark
belongs on the Olympic team, she belongs on the All
Star team, she belongs in the skills competition. And here's
the thing, women's basketball. You can't use the excuse that
(07:44):
she caught you off guard, because a lot of times
overnight sensations do catch businesses off guard. But Ticketmaster, you
knew Taylor Swift was a massive hit. Eight years earlier,
be prepared, and two years before she entered the WNBA,
Caitlin Clark for Little Iowa was setting college basketball records.
(08:08):
She came back for her final year. You knew two
years in advance, Oh, we got a star. One year
in advance, she'll be the number one pick. There was
no excuse butcher in her early schedule. There's no excuse
not having months and months of discussions on the Olympic team.
She's clearly one of the better offensive, you know, long
range performers in the league. I'd argue she's first her
(08:29):
second best playmaker, leads the WNBA and assists seven of
her last eight games double digit assists, and this is
for a team that doesn't have a lot of finishers,
the Indiana Fever. So she always says the right stuff
at the podium. She's gonna downplay this win by her
All Star team over the coveted Olympic team. She's not
good enough to be on so far. She's more than
(08:54):
prepared and capable. It's women's basketball that's not quite ready
for ca Eitlan Clark, and here she is. I mean,
they're really good.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
They have plenty of talent on that team. I'm like,
I mean it was the same I think four years prior.
I'm pretty sure the team WNBA beat Team USA. They
were perfectly fine in the Olympics. I think for myself,
from my standpoint is like, you know, this is a
great opportunity to, you know, help prepare them for Paris,
and you know I'm going to be supporting them and
cheering them on, like I love the Olympics. I've loved
the Olympics ever since I was a young kid. And
(09:26):
they were going to be just spine. They're they're going
to win gold and dominate, So I'm I'm not worried.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
She continues to always say the right things at the
right time, and I'm going to stay on this Olympic
snub to the very end, despite the fact they'll win gold.
So Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Fifty minutes from now, Aaron
Rodgers already down playing get defensive about missing OTA's j Maac.
(09:53):
I'm sure you saw that on your timeline. I'm sure
that popped up. And I was not really on social
media this weekend outside of that small political story ago,
I didn't really. I was. You know, my son had
a chess tournament. I played a lot of hoops, got
to hang out with the family. Like I didn't spend
a lot of time online. I did not either.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I had a family gathering out east with lobster and
lobster pants, and it was a bit of a blur.
That's a long way to fly there and back for
a couple of days, but it was a fantastic played
a good round of golf yesterday in Rhode Island.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Excuse me, you played golf?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Oh? I played? Yes, I played golf in the summer.
Wow's your handicap? Well me, But I would say this,
for the first time in my life, I am committing
to clubs really committing, So golf clubs are clubbing.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
The former, not the latter.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
All Right, Colin right, Colin wrong? And a Monday Baby.
Here we go Where Colin was right? Oh, what do
you know?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Caitlin Clark led the WNBA All Stars to a win
over the Olympic team. Oh so she is good enough
to play for the women's Olympic team, Colin, she would
have been a distraction. No, she's actually a distraction not
playing for the Olympic team. She's simply proving that she
doesn't need to put in all this time to be
(11:21):
an elite player. Her offense still can be rough, little
turnover heavy, but in the end, she's proving just like
Jalen Brown not in the Olympics for the men's a
lot of this stuff is petty and it's territorial. She
proved she's good enough to be on the Olympic team,
(11:41):
which was a huge argument that she wasn't. Where Colin
was raw, I said, this men's Olympic team is deeper
than the dream team think they're probably more skilled, but Manda,
they struggle against South Sudan and leave it to Lebron that,
once again in year twenty two, had actually save the team.
(12:02):
Not a terribly focused team. We let Australia back into
a game and Serbia late. I think it's just kind
of the reality of modern players. They don't quite have
the urgency i'd love, or the grit. But I will
say this, Lebron and Ad if you're a Laker fan,
have looked like the most consistent two top players for
this club.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Where Colin was right, I defended.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
The Lakers drafting Brownie James in a bad draft. He'll
be fine.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
His official Summer League stats almost nine points a game,
three and a half rebounds. He got better every game,
and he was an excellent defender. He's fine again, I thought,
from the first Summer League game to the last, much
more comfortable offensively, found a little bit of a stroke,
(12:54):
take a deep breath. He's good enough to get drafted.
I don't ever think he'll be more than a rotational
NBA player, but in this draft, the fifty fifth pick
is probably going to be regardless of who it is.
In whearing Lands a rotational player.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I think the Niners are eventually going to move off
either Deebo Samuel or Brandon I Yuke. But ESPN reporting
the Niners now are saying we're not moving him. They've
gotten interest. I just don't think I think you can
get a first rounder for him. They just drafted two receivers.
And I believe that debo fits in to Kyle Shanahan
(13:37):
his DNA more. I think it's a debo Shanahan Christian
McCaffrey offense not a brand, and I Yuke offense. Though
I think he's super talented, a top five receiver in
the league. But I think he's getting moved. And another
story this week, the Niners aren't.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Moving him, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well, I've been saying that I think Nick Serry on
the hot seat, and Diana Russini reporting that Jalen Hurts
and Sirianni are still growing as a relationship and that
he is on some level of heat going into this season.
ESPN reporting also that the Eagles kicked the tires privately
(14:21):
about Bill Belichick. So I don't know if Sirianni is
the fit. I don't I don't know. Sometimes he acts
a little juvenile. Reports now that he and Jalen Hurts
is a work in progress. Either way, this idea that
the job is his, he's safe. I've said I think
he's on a similar hot seat to Mike McCarthy, But
(14:43):
it's McCarthy that everybody understands is on the hot seat,
and Sirianni people think he's safe.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I don't where Colin was right show Heyo, TAWNI.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I said it years ago, I said it this year,
I said it earlier. This season is better than Babe Ruth.
What a last week he had? And did you see this? Yesterday?
Speaker 6 (15:06):
To one is Hammer Day Bright Center Film, Way out
of here Hell. Tony joins the home run party a
thirty home run season for Shaw. Hey Tony's oh, how
do you like that? Four hundred and seventy three feet.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's the second longest home run since they've been keeping
track at Dodger Stadium. He also had the three run
home run in the All Star Game. He's gonna win
MVP as a DH. He is just a remarkable player.
He's not even pitching. I mean, the kid is absolutely remarkable.
The gambling controversy shrouded in that early no impact. And
(15:47):
by the way, the Dodgers, you know, guys sitting in
front of him starting pitching, are all banged up. So
he's had to carry a lot of the load this year.
That's more pressure. Hasn't affected him one bit. Where Colin
was raw, I said Caitlin Clark would triple the WUNBA
(16:08):
media rights in the next couple of years. I was wrong.
She's quadrupled it. According to a story, the league will
get two point two billion over the next eleven years. Now.
They've had a lot of good players, but you know,
let's be honest, Magic and Bird, Connor McGregor, they were
catalysts for their sports, not just great players. And Caitlin
(16:32):
Clark getting them on you know, kind of private flights,
getting this kind of media deal. I think it's good
for the league, but let's be honest here, this is
another reason you figure out a way to get her
on the Olympic team. She doesn't need to pay dues
because she's paying everybody else going forward.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
In this league. Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, I said last week Patrick Mahomes will figure it out.
He just won back to back Super Bowls with Rashi
Rice and Juju Smith Schuster was his top receivers. Yeah,
this weekend with a rookie Xavier Worthy, Mahomes rolls out
left on corks about a seventy yard bomb. Worthy at
the other end makes the catch. Jay Mack, I know
this hurts, but this team won the Super Bowl last
(17:12):
year and they were kind of bad weeks eleven through fourteen.
Look at that throw, Oh, Patrick Mahomes. As we said,
Brady Mahomes, they just figure stuff out and it looks
like they have found their next number one star playmaker.
(17:33):
Where Colin was right, I said, I think the New
York Giants had become the Jets with more trophies. But
this Hard Knock show, yikes, is it uncomfortable with John Mara,
Joe Shane, the general manager. We've seen several pieces of video.
My knock on the Jets has never been lack of talent.
(17:54):
It's sort of been lack of a plan. And as
I watched this Hard Knox, I'll be honest with you,
I am uncomfortable for Joe Shane, Brian Dabole, the Marras
and everybody with the Giants basically the Jets with more trophies.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non a em Pacific.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
To and that's why we have a brand new podcast
called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun
in our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for. Yeah, you blubber lit lame and me.
Speaker 7 (18:42):
Well, you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Prosed.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored, by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder it's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.
Speaker 8 (19:10):
There you go, over Promising, remember you could see on YouTube,
but definitely join us. Listen to Over Promised with Cavino
and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Well, a lot of times a story will sound much
more inflammatory than it actually is. And when you see
the headline, Jordan Love says, I'm not practicing until I
get a new contract. WHOA Brandon, I you Niners situation.
That's not really the case here. Both sides want to
wrap it up. But I took the side of Jordan
Love today because I said, you know, he's not a
(19:44):
kid that just walked out of college.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Into the NFL.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
They have three three and a half years of practice tape,
twenty seven games, eighteen starts. They know his maturity, they
know his leadership, They've watched his decision making, they know
who he gets along with, they know his persontiononality quirks.
If you're in a building three three and a half years,
it's the employee's responsibility to figure out who you are.
(20:07):
Like an employee is what they are right, So to
meet it with Jordan Love they have all this practice footage.
I haven't seen, but Matt Schneidman probably has seen a
lot of those practices. He's been covering the Packers for
about a half decade. Joins us live from the Athletic
and it sounds very inflammatory. I don't think it is,
but Matt it is weird because to just say I'm
(20:31):
not practicing is kind of like he's kind of putting
his employers on the hot seat. I'm okay with it.
Were you surprised by it?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
A little bit?
Speaker 9 (20:41):
Only because he participated in all the voluntary and mandatory
stuff this offseason without a new contract, but deadline spur
action and David Mulugeta, who represents a lot of high
profile clients in the NFL. You know, Deshaun Watson, Jalen Ramsey,
I think Derwin James, C. J.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Stroud, He has Jordan Love too.
Speaker 9 (20:59):
So the start of training camp was kind of that
first deadline. Brian goodacun said this offseason on local radio
that he wanted to get something done before camp, but
then Gudacunz opened today up. Packers opening training camp a
little early because they go to Brazil week one, so
they opened camp a little early since they play on
that Friday. So Goody said today, you know he wasn't
surprised by Jordan Love not practicing today.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
It's not a holdout, it's a hold in.
Speaker 9 (21:22):
Jordan Love was at practice, walked out to practice right
next to Matt Lafleur, is doing everything besides practicing. So
there is, like you said, this sense from both sides
that not only do they want to get something done,
but something will get done. Gudacun said point blank at
the podium this morning. I think we're close, So this
could be something where Jordan Love's on the practice field
(21:43):
by the end of the week.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I thought last year I'd never seen anything quite like it.
So we had joked for three years. I had more
footage of Bigfoot than Jordan Love. Like they didn't even
let like practice footage get out. Then he's kind of
bad in September and even to the point where Matt Lafleur,
who's a very likable player's friendly coach, was kind of
(22:05):
testy at the podium, and then he becomes Johnny Unitis
and Joe Montana in like a nine week period where
he's the best player in the league playing with a
bunch of kids. It's the youngest team in the league.
So part of me is like, what in what happened?
What's the flip? The switch that was flipped. Let's go
back to that, because generally it's a gradual ascension for
(22:28):
any quarterback. He just popped about week four, Week five,
What was the flip? What was the switch?
Speaker 9 (22:38):
Yeah, you know, that's the journalist question that we spent
pretty much the second half of last season asking. It
really started with that Steelers game in Week ten where
they lost, but that was the first game where we
really saw Love make a couple.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Okay, you might have it kind of throws.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
You know, there were times during the first half of
the season where receivers were running the same routes and
literally standing on top of each other in the same
spot as incomplete passes flew by. Jordan wasn't great himself either,
but it wasn't only a first year starting quarterback. You
have Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs, Jaden Reed, and Dontavian Wicks
as your top four receivers, all in their first or
(23:15):
second year. You know, you have to remember not only
is Aaron Rodgers gone, but they've gotten younger across the board. Yeah,
I think at that halfway point, it was just enough
practice reps in game reps built up between Jordan Love,
his weapons, his offensive line where they really kind of
started to gel. And that's why you saw things start
(23:36):
to click in the second half of last season. Going
into the season, like you said, they really only had
one game to go off of when Rogers tested positive
for COVID in twenty twenty one. Jordan Love started on
short notice against the Chiefs and Arrowhead and was bad.
You know, I think he was pressured like sixteen times.
They lost thirteen to seven or something. But I remember
(23:56):
talking to Brian Gudokuns over the phone last offseason and
he said, coming out of that game, he was really
pleased with how Jordan Love stood in the face of pressure,
kind of faced it. He kept coming back, and they
knew he had the intangibles. And it was a bit
of a waiting game. Not a bit of a waiting game.
It was a hell of a waiting game waiting out
those couple of years. But now they're paying the dividends
(24:17):
and now they think they have their franchise quarterback.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Listen, they never wanted to say it publicly. The Packers
are a pretty classy organization. Not pretty, they're a classy organization.
They don't have an outspoken owner. They just you know
that region, Minnesota, green Bay, Milwaukee, it's a humble, hard
working region. Aaron was a lot the last couple of
(24:40):
years there. He was a lot. I actually felt watching
Green Bay last year and it hit me about Thanksgiving
and I felt like, oh, this is finally Matt Lafleur's team.
This feels like Matt's team. When you now, again, that's
just a reach by me, you're in the locker room,
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
No, it's not.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
I don't think it is a reach because and apologies
to cut you off, but you know, we spent the
entire offseason asking Matt Lafleur, what is your offense going
to look like? Because there's the narrative and some of
it's the Truth's probably somewhere in the middle that Aaron
Rodgers would just change every single play at the scrimmage. Yeah,
he obviously had the freedom too, as he should as
a quarterback of his stature in this league. But you know,
(25:19):
Matt Laflair always pushed back against that narrative that we
would finally see his true offense, and if you've spent
enough time in Green Bay, like you know, people have
spent much more time here than me.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
But this is my sixth season here, and.
Speaker 9 (25:32):
If you want to know the truth about what's going
on in the building, put Mark Murphy in front of
a microphone.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
President to start.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
Off training camp last season, after Laflour spent a whole
off season saying no, no, it'll be a collaboration. You know,
this isn't going to be my true offense, Mark Murphy
got to the podium and said, we're finally going to
see what Matt's true offense looks like.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
So we did.
Speaker 9 (25:53):
Now, I don't know where maybe we saw that most,
but you know, I think we kind of saw some
some collaboration that was really good to see between Lafleur
and Jordan Love as the season went on. And I
think that's what has fans and the Packers really excited
about this season is kind of where they left off.
They obviously surprised some people with that playoff run, and
they're going to hit the ground running this year.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I think, you know, it's funny. I remember talking to
a couple of GMS on Jordan leve at a college
at Eusta State, there was some potbust or something. I'm
not terribly judgmental on that, but for quarterbacks it's a
little different. I'm a little more punitive for a quarterback.
You know, how you handle yourself at the podium matters.
I think one of the things that you'd have a
much greater sense of than I would. But I always
(26:37):
say Dak Prescott is what I want all my quarterbacks
to be at the podium. He's got a crazy owner,
huge brand. He puts out fires and I've come to
terms with Baker Mayfield, but it's a little opposite of
Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
He started him. Dak puts them out.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
But I've really been kind of blown away by Jordan
Love at the podium because you're replacing Aaron. This is
a lot more than people think. You deal with Jordan
on a day to day So my my gut while
is coming in he's kind of immature. I've seen none
of that. I kind of think he's more mature, Like
what's he like as a guy? Fill me in a
(27:13):
little bit on this.
Speaker 9 (27:15):
Yeah, that's part of the reason why the Packers were
so comfortable trading Aaron without really seeing Jordan's start, all
that much was because they had seen him behind the
scenes for three years. In all my interactions with Jordan,
whether it be kind of off to the side in
the locker room or you know, in a press conference
setting in front of his locker, nothing but respectful, really
nice guy, very pc with his answers. He hasn't really
(27:38):
let us in yet. He's starting to do so more,
starting to show more personality. But I don't blame him
for in his first year starting not really you know,
wanting to do that. You know, there's kind of a
rule of thumb around here for local reporters that you
get one big one on one request for the entire season.
So I would request Aaron for a one on one
the first four years I was here, and he said yes.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
All four times.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
He would, you know, always be great and you know,
Aarin like he's an incredible interview for reporters.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Oh Lench.
Speaker 9 (28:06):
Yeah, he's so insightful, so knowledgeable. And I'm not saying
Jordan Love isn't that. He just doesn't give you kind
of the quotes and as much you know, insight and
storytelling and who knows he might become that. But I
requested Jordan for a one on one before they played
the Cowboys last year, and he respectfully declined it, which
I have no problem with, but it was because he
(28:26):
just wanted to, you know, keep the focus on the Cowboys,
kind of still prove himself and he hadn't really done
I don't think many local one on ones or however
many one on ones, because his thing last year was
I just want to prove that I belong, I think,
and he did that and this this contract is going
to reflect that. So maybe we see more of that
personality this year. His teammates love him. Keishawn Nixon after
(28:48):
they gave an extension to Kenny Clark yesterday, Keishawn Nixon,
they're all pro kick returner tweeted, Number ten is next.
These guys have his back. From everything I know and
everything I've heard, Jordan Love has been nothing but exemplary
in terms of a teammate and a personality in that
locker room.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
So expectations. So I kind of feel like there's a
handful of rosters in the NFL. San Francisco, Detroit feel
like they're just older than the Packers. They're really good,
They're especially San Francisco. It's like Hall of Fame veterans.
These guys are some on the precipice of maybe a
retirement like a Kittle. And then there's you know, you're
Baltimore's stack roster. I think Cleveland, Pittsburgh that you know,
(29:27):
Kansas City, Buffalo. I was so blown away by Love
and the Packers in Dallas, and you know it's one
of the last. And then the San Francisco game they
went down to the end. I think they're in my
like seven eight team super Bowl bubble. But I do
wonder if I'm just giving too much to two games
where I was so blown away by them. What feels
(29:49):
realistic to you? I mean, they upgraded it running back.
The old line's young, now it's not as young. I imagine,
like they always do, some of these draft picks will
hit and produce. What's realistic to you that if the
season ended blank, you'd have to be happy with it.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
Yeah. I don't think it's Super Bowl or bust necessarily,
but those are realistic expectations to have. Last year, with
the youngest team in the NFL, they went to the
Divisional round, and you have to remember they took a
lead into that fourth quarter against the forty nine ers,
and then they would have gone to Detroit where they
spanked the Lions a couple weeks prior. So for a
second there, I was sitting in the press box in
Santa Clara, thinking the Packer's going to go to the
(30:29):
Super Bowl this year. But I think, you know, home
field advantage in the NFC playoffs is realistic.
Speaker 4 (30:36):
You got to get back to winning a division.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
That should be the bare minimum for expectations inside that building.
I would put them up there with some of the
best rosters in the NFL, but I think they're still
kind of playing with house money with how young they are.
They still have the same receiver corps. Like you mentioned.
They replaced Aaron Jones with a running back in Josh Jacobs,
who is more than three years younger but made a
(30:59):
first team Pro two years ago. And their other massive
addition is Xavier McKinney, the perennial All Pro safety from
the New York Giants who's still twenty four years old.
They gave him almost seventeen million in free agency this offseason,
hired a new defensive coordinator and Jeff Hafley, the former
head coach at Boston College, so there's a lot of
change here, but at the meat of the bone is
(31:21):
this is still a really young team who feels they
did leave some meat on the bone last year.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (31:26):
And Jayden Reid, one of their promising receivers, said today,
you know they expect to just hit the ground, runn
right where were they left off last year?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (31:34):
Great stuff.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Matt Schneidman covers the packers for The Athletic, which I
strongly encourage people subscribe to because I live on the thing.
They do great work. We haven't talked before. We want
to bring you on again. Appreciate you taking time. We
know you're a busy guy. You just got out of
locker room, down there and up there wherever it is,
and we just appreciate having your insight on the show.
My man, Thank you, Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Colin really appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Matt Schneidman does a really nice job with them, and
it's I love getting peep people that are in the
locker rooms at practice come right off of practice and
have great insight. And that's exactly what he delivered.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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