August 11, 2022 • 40 mins
Derek Carr doesn't get the respect he deserves even though he has overcome so much
Kevin Durant would be a good fit for the Celtics
The Browns plan on having Deshaun Watson start this Friday
Is Tom Brady committed to the Buccaneers?
Guest: Ben Volin
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern,
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox
Sports Radio. Here we go on a Thursday. I know
(00:26):
it don't sound very good, head cold, I'm fine, feel good.
Live in LA. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be,
however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio and
FS one. Starting tonight, Giants play the Patriots. So starting
tonight until you know February, we're gonna usually have three
to four nights a week of football games. It usually
(00:47):
starts with a whim for a little bit. They're not
going to play a lot of starters. Tonight ends with
a bang the super Bowl, but a joyous time for
this show and this network. It's gonna be an incredible fall.
We're gonna have the World Series, We're gonna have the
World Cup, We're gonna have Big ten Football, We're gonna
have the best NFL package, Super Bowl and the Super
(01:10):
Bowl Yeah, what an unbelievable fall. That's the voice of
Alex Curry, the face of Alex Curry for our TV audience.
So it's it feels like a little bit like, you know,
we're moving into it starting tonight with regular games. The
Hall of Fame game's done, kind a huge audience, by
the way, this is what the audience wants, and they're
gonna get it and we're gonna have. You know, in
my history of doing this whole thing and bouncing around
(01:30):
a local and regional and national networks, I think it's
the most anticipated five months average. There's never been a
network that's had the World Series, the Super Bowl, the
World Cup, and massive college football which will probably be
first or second highest read to college football in the country.
So it kind of starts tonight. It feels like it's
the beginning of things. It's like we're at a Michelin
(01:51):
restaurant getting like a five course dinner, and this is
our appetizer. That's right, this is our very first course
for the most incredible fall. As you mentioned, I have
defended Derek Carr for a long time of the Raiders.
I saw a story this morning where Derek Carr has
not thrown an interception, not one in camp. And what
(02:12):
really makes it remarkable is that he's got a new
play caller, a new system, a new coach, a new coordinator,
and a new star receiver. Is a bunch of moving parts,
not a single interception. And I think what has always
hurt Derek Carr among fans because I think he's top
ten quarterback in the league. Most people don't have him
(02:33):
anywhere near that is that what is his it? Mahomes crazy, arm, talent,
Josh Allen, size, athletic ability, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, escapability,
dynamic speed for Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrows, cool, Tom Brady
pre snap, Aaron Rodgers. Play is sort of with a
(02:55):
style and a glamor in his release. What is his it?
And it's fun because in twenty twenty two, it's a
really weird world we live in, and I think social
media and is part of the problem. A big part
of it is that you used to be able to
give people like video proof or data or stats and
you would win the argument. But it doesn't work that
(03:16):
way anymore. I mean, we have video of glaciers melting,
we have a global warming issue, and people are like,
that's politics. No, it's environmental. I don't care about the
politics of it. We have glaciers melting. Here's proof, here's data.
Nobody wants to listen to it. So it's you can
give people proof. I'll give you three data points on
Derek Carr. He's indisputably an elite quarterback and by the
(03:38):
end of this rant you still won't believe it. In
the last four years, he has the highest completion percentage
in the league of anybody's still playing. Drew Brees was
slightly higher. That's it. He's the most accurate thrower in
the league. Okay, on the field today. In the last
eight years, he is the most reliable quarterback coming from
(04:01):
behind in the fourth quarter. Leads the NFL on that.
He has also faced the most crisis at head coach
for a top quarterback. This will be his sixth and
nine years. So he's the most accurate, the best playing
from behind late and he's done it in chaos. They
literally have different coaches. And my takeaway is his it
(04:27):
because you got to give fans an it. And I've
said this about Alex English playing in the NBA. He
led the eighties in scoring but Alex English didn't have
an it. He wasn't vertical, he wasn't flashy, he was
soft spoken. He just hit midrange jumpers. He did not
make the NBA's Top seventy five list. He led the
(04:49):
entire league in scoring in the eighties, didn't make the list.
What was his it? He had class and didn't mish
sixteen footers. But I think the it for Derek is
he overcomes things better than anybody in the league. Overcomes
coaching chaos, overcomes a teammate killing a citizen in Las
(05:10):
Vegas driving one hundred and ten miles an hour under
the influence. He overcomes weak drafts, a battle line, fourth
quarter deficits, and constant fluctuation in the organization, and now
the toughest division ever in the history of the NFL.
There's never been a division, which is why the Raiders
(05:32):
are the hardest team for me to protict in the
NFL this year. Is I like so much about him,
but there's never been a division in the history of
the NFL that has Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, Justin Herbert
and Russell Wilson, and I don't think they have the
defense to compete with the other three. But if you're
looking for his it it is nobody overcomes things like
(05:52):
Derek Carr and that is an absolute talent. And I'll
underscore it again. He has not thrown interception with a
new system, a new play caller, a new star receiver,
a new coach, not thrown an interception all camp. It's unbelievable. Okay,
(06:13):
the second story today. So there's been a lot. I mean,
Kevin Durant is one of the best get a basket
guys in the NBA ever, and so this is why
I keep talking about this Kevin Durant thing, even though
the NBA season done until October. Is the rumors now
or Kevin Durant wants to play for the Celtics. Okay,
so you can look at it two ways. Boston says,
(06:33):
no thanks, We're gonna bring the band back. But Milwaukee's
gonna be better next year because Chris Middleton's back and
Joe Ingalls Sixers I think are going to be better.
Tyrese Maxie is emerging as a massive star in this league.
Miami always well running, well coached, certainly could be better, right,
(06:54):
but you could bring it all back. You did get
to the finals and roll the dice. Or you could
bring in Kevin Durant. He's gonna hurt your chemistry a
little bit. He can be a little high maintenance. You're
gonna have to give up some of your bench and
some of your future to do it. But I don't
think it's a terrible idea. The coach of the Celtics
has coach KD. Kadi always gives you a great effort
(07:16):
on the defensive end. He's not Kyrie Irving to the
Celtics who didn't want to participate defensively, or James Harden
who doesn't participate defensively. Kadi always plays defense at a
very high level. And he's also we saw Jason Tatum
was not a reliable finisher in big games, so you
get a great historic finisher. I think it makes sense
(07:37):
to bring in Kadi for a Jalen Brown, a top
bench player and two draft picks. But I think we
have to come to terms, and I've seen this in
Hollywood recently. We got to come to terms with what
KD is. We thought we saw him as a lead actor.
He's a great supporting actor. He worked in Golden State
and I believe he would work in Boston because the
(07:59):
culture has already been and created. There are certain people
like He'll give you an example, Tom Cruise. You can,
if you're a movie studio, commit to ten movies with
Tom Cruise. He's totally into it, totally committed. He'll deliver
box office. Hell, he can manage people. Tom Cruise's life
(08:20):
is movies. Marlon Brando was talented. There's no way you
could give Marlon Brando that responsibility. There's absolutely no way.
He's just really talented. And I think Kad's more Brando
than Cruise. I think Lebron Wade, Kobe Jannis. There are
(08:41):
players I will build around. They are committed, they're unwavering,
they don't wander, they elevate others. They just have the
right personality for it. And I think Kad is closer
to Kauai or Kyrie or James Harden. You view them
is the movie star and what they are as great
supporting actors. They can't you can't build the foundation around them.
(09:05):
They're either quirky, odd, non verbal, high maintenance. It's a
lot of things. Now. Of all those players, Kadi is
easily the most gifted offensively. And I've said before, I
think He's the only guy in league history that would
beat Michael Jordan in a game of one on one
if they had a tournament. I think he's a great player,
but he's different. He is more Brando than Cruz, he
(09:25):
is more Kawai than Lebron, and we just got to
come to terms with it. That's why I think Boston
works just like the Warriors worked. The Warriors. If you
go back to Kawai's career, san Antonio had the culture built,
they added him championship. Toronto had a terrific culture built,
they added him championship. The Clippers needed Kawai to be
(09:47):
the foundational piece. It's not what he is. He's not verbal,
doesn't already communicate. That's not what he is. So they're
trying to build the franchise around him. You're gonna have
to build around Taylu's brain and the front office's ability
to get versatile defenders, the very versatile roster. You can't
build it around him. And it's the same thing in Hollywood.
There's just certain people you can build a franchise around,
(10:09):
and then they're just really talented actors and there's very
few of these, and it's not really a knock on KD.
I mean, it's very easy top of my head to
just name the guys I'd build my franchise around, you know,
m J. Duncan, Magic Bird, Yannis. I mean, it's a
short list of about ten guys. D Wade like, it's
a tiny list, and then there's a bunch of talented guys,
(10:32):
and I think we just have to. That's why I
think Katie to Boston actually works. They got it, they
got the coach, they got the culture, they've got the intensity,
they got the brains upstairs. Dude, come on in and
deliver big buckets. And I think mostly that's what Katie
wants to do. And Katy, it looks like, understands that.
He understands that he'd be joining a great culture. I
(10:54):
think Katie looks at it and thinks it makes sense
for my Northeast business. It worked with the Warriors, where
I could just join something that was already rolling, And
to Katie's credit, he gets that. But and I think
we have to. I think we've always thought for years
and years, there's what is this. Katie's better than Lebron,
And I was always like, Lebron is so much more
than a basketball player. Lebron is leadership and stability and
(11:18):
elevation of others and a team builder and confronts the
media and not really that prickly and deals with crisis well.
And Lebron is so much more than get a hoop guy.
You know, he's Jordan's he's magic, he's well beyond And
it's not really a criticism. Not everybody is built like
(11:40):
Tom Cruise to build the franchise around. Not everybody's built
for that. Milwaukee's got one. The Lakers have had a
few through the years. It's a small number. Ben Voone
will be joining us from Bucks Dolphins joint practices in Tampa.
Tom Brady is out for a while. He's gonna take
some family time. Alex Curry, you'll have that around the corner.
(12:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeart Radio app. You know, we
all would admit, and we all know this to be true,
that there are there's a big gap in the NFL
between elite quarterbacks and everybody else. There's a huge gap
between like a Sean McVay and about twenty coaches in
(12:25):
this league, right, Like, we know there's a gap. We
know there's you know, really really good offensive lines, and
then there's like the Carolina Panthers offensive line. Like we
all know that, but we don't see front offices and
we don't see owners. And in my career, ownership has
(12:45):
been like the front office, the people you don't see
on air. The owners and the executives have so much control,
and there's also a massive gap in that. And the
Cleveland Browns are a poorly owned NFL franchise and they've
really put themselves on an island with this Deshaun Watson thing.
So you know, Cleveland announced yesterday what We're gonna start
(13:08):
Deshaun Watson tomorrow against the Jags. Okay, so the NFL
commissioner came out two days ago and said, we have
seen the evidence. It's predatory behavior. And Cleveland's owners like, yeah,
we saw it, Let's start him against the Jags. And
I think Dan Snyder of Washington, cal McNair, Houston and
(13:31):
the Haslems are bad owners, repetitively poor choices, coaches, quarterbacks,
some skivy stuff in their background, not learning from their mistakes,
and I just think now I think Detroit and Chicago
are not brilliantly owned either. I don't think they're morally corrupt,
(13:51):
but I think fans sometimes don't understand that the gap
has just not coaches and quarterbacks and wide receiver units
in this league, it is owners. And Cleveland has decided
to just like go on an island and take on
the NFL and they don't care. I think that puts
Kevin Stefansk in a brutal position. I remember I read
a quote I went and got it this morning, and
(14:11):
I don't know when this interview was, but Alex Smith
was on a Rich Eyes and show and his quote
about playing in Washington was, you got to try to
eliminate the noise there. There's just a lot of distractions,
said Alex Smith. That entire organization, everything surrounding it. Obviously deservedly,
it's been flawed the last twenty years. There's just a
(14:33):
lot of stuff going on there, a lot of distractions.
It makes it difficult to focus in on football. Just
think about that Brady had Belichick, Dante Scarnecki at Josh McDaniels,
Bob Kraft, sold out stadiums, or you can be a
quarterback from Washington. What a mess. I mean, I tell
people this all the time, is that at the company
(14:56):
I currently work for, I never see management. I come in,
the staff comes in, we do a show, and we
go home at noon three eastern noon Pacific. We never
see management unless we walk by him in the commissary
you know where you eat around here, and it's like,
it's just very easy. It's very easy here to do
a show. I just can't screw it up. Like, can
(15:17):
you imagine if I came I had people breathing down
my neck. They moved our time slot constantly, they changed
our personnel constantly. They told us right before the show,
we don't like your lead. I mean, Alex Smith is
basically saying, it's really hard to focus on, you know,
playing football in Washington, and I think Cleveland, Washington and Houston.
(15:42):
I think there's a lot of talented players and talented
quarterbacks and talented coaches, and those ownership groups make it
really hard on everybody in the building, whether they get
it or not. Alex Curry with The News No No,
The Herd Line News Well last week two, told reporters
(16:03):
he believes the Dolphins are all in on him. Following
the NFL's investigation into the team tampering with Tom Brady. Now,
with the Butts and Dolphins doing a joint practice this
week prior to the team facing off in their preseason opener,
it opens the door for more questions about the team's
interests in Brady. But Tua and head coach Mike McDaniel
aren't into the nonsense. I think they were doing that
(16:25):
in twenty nineteen, but then I came in twenty twenty,
so I I mean they picked me, So I mean
I'm still here. To me, that's all noise at this
point for me, nothing happened. Everyone else is the one
making it awkward. Doesn't occupy a single iota of space
(16:46):
with anybody we have. It's hard enough to be good
in this league. Were as the Miami Dolphins were very
We're all of our energy is very coordinated and only
has to do with us getting better and everything else
would be an opportunity cost that we're not willing to expend. Yeah,
(17:07):
I mean, if you looked at every question that Tuah
has ever been asked, if somebody categorized every question that
Tua has ever been asked at the podium, there's an
argument maybe Baker Mayfield is close. More of them had
a potential to end up ugly, and he generally skates
(17:30):
around them brilliantly, like like Tua has had the deal
with Deshaun Watson. Rumors, the Brian Flores stuff, now it's
the Tom Brady stuff. And I'll defend TWA on this.
Baker Mayfield should take really the playbook of Tua. Tuah's
ask questions more than any quarterback in this league. That
are trigger questions that there there and I'm not saying
(17:55):
the media doesn't never right to ask them, but they're
difficult questions there about other people will playing rumors, innuendos.
Tuah has got an incredible ability to consume it, not
be bothered by it, give the right answer. And I've
said this for years, that podium for a quarterback, that's
your microphone, and what you say can be like Baker
(18:18):
was disruptive, other people have to comment on it. Ta
basically kills all these stories he's and it matters to quarterbacks.
He is really good at the podium, and he gets
asked more stuff that could blow up if he didn't
have the brains or the dexterity to give it the
(18:38):
right answer, it could be a mess. Baker still just
struggled with that. Every every question got, you know, a
snarky answer to a just he's able to fall on
the sword. It's very Eli manning tah in a chaotic
organization for the last ten years. Tua is very soothing
(18:59):
at the microphone. Yeah, all was forward facing, never looking back,
talking about people that he can't control. We now know,
based on stories that have been released over the last
three or four months, he and Brian flores Like did
not get along at all, and he still handled that again,
not trying to win the argument, never bringing it up.
(19:20):
We found out how bad it was once Brian was gone. Yeah,
we didn't know it was a bat. I've known every
time certain quarterbacks have a rocky relationship with a coach.
You hear about it at the podium. So all you
quarterbacks go look at two as press conferences fall on
the sword, Go forward, move ahead, ye don't try to
(19:41):
win the press conference. Two is great at it. He
has the mindset of a leader. He doesn't live in
the mindset of what could have happened, and you can't
do that. You got to block out the noise, especially
in a situation like this where you're getting asked your
team might have wanted the greatest player of all time,
because let's be honest, any team is going to pick
the goat over probably the current quarterback they have. And
now this week you're practicing the same place. You're looking
(20:04):
hopefully not looking over at him too much. But as
you said, has that mindset. He has to stick in
that mindset and this is a make or break your
for him his third season. He's got a huge weapon
in Tyreek Hill. He has to prove it on the
field this year and he's got the right mindset for it. Ye,
you have to well, speaking of the Goat, Forbes just
released their highest earning NFL players for twenty twenty two,
(20:26):
and Tom Brady has come out on top, leading the
list for the first time in his career at seventy
five million dollars. Now, Brady has never been listed higher
the number two on Forbes annual NFL Earning leaderboard, which
he has just earned last season when he came in
second behind Dak Prescott, NWAD Matthew Staffordy and Rogers, Patrick
Mahomes Josh Allen rounding up the top five. But it's
(20:48):
crazy to wrap your head around. Is this endorsements too, Yes,
it's it's the full package. So that's the craziest part
to kind of wrap your head around the fact that
the goat this is the first time a player who
was more rings than any single franchise is the first
time that he is number one on that list. He
is entering his twenty third season, he is forty five
years old. Well, people forget that. Magic Johnson and Michael
(21:10):
Jordan for a majority of their careers had terrible contracts. Yeah, yeah,
Michael had a Magic signed a twenty five year, twenty
five million dollar contracts. So now Magic's done very well
for himself. When I look at that list and for
our radio audience, the list is Brady Stafford, Aaron Mahomes,
Alan Watson, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Kyler, Murray, Dak Prescott.
(21:31):
I give kirk Cousins credit. He has completely monestized this sport.
Good for him. I'm actually a little surprised. And you
said this does include endorsements, companies income. Okay, yeah, I
would think Mahomes would be a higher but I'm not listening.
(21:53):
They're all doing well. Yeah, yeah, I mean I would
say this. The reason it's the first time Brady's been
there is because Tom. And I've said this about other
quarterback I've said this about Aaron Rodgers in Russell Wilson,
you know, I love him, But if you want to
be the highest paid quarterback, understand is you won't have
a second great corner and a second great pass rusher,
(22:14):
and you won't have two elite tackles. Like you've got
to make decisions in life. I've said this about Lebron James,
and I think Lebron wants to win. But if Lebron
really really now, if LA was just about winning, there's
ways around it. Financially, Tom was all about winning. And now,
by the way, it's not a coincidence that Tom now
(22:34):
he doesn't care give me the money because he's leaving.
This is the last year. Yeah, he has a massive
million dollar deal with Fox waiting for him the moment
that he retires, and he's turned into quite the Businessman's
figured it all out all right, moving on. After acquiring
Baker Mayfield earlier this offseason, the Panthers are in the
midst of a quarterback battle as they head into the
first preseason game. Now Matt Roll's given praise to Baker
(22:56):
earlier this week and how he's fast. He's picked up
the playbooks the trade, which we thought might have been
an issue, But despite Baker's quick learning, NFL Network Steve
Marrucchi doesn't expect things to be settled by the end
of preseason, saying, Matt Rule said something interesting too, We
are keeping three quarterbacks. Well, they have to become because
they have to because they drafted Matt carl in the
(23:17):
third round from oh Miss. They got to keep the guy.
And a lot of teams don't keep three quarterbacks on
the active roster anymore. They keep one on the practice squad. Right,
this is a real true quarterback battle. It's going to
be interesting. Stay tuned because I think it's going to
be fluid all season. Well, if you were Matt Rule, yeah,
wouldn't the best outcome Alex b Yeah, Darnold and Baker
(23:42):
are good enough to win you games and keep you close,
and then by Thanksgiving Matt Coral emerges as Corral emerges
as better than both and you have your future quarterback.
I mean, if you look at what Matt Rule wants
to do a save his job, he wants to win games, right,
and we don't think Matt is ready to be the guy,
(24:04):
the old miss quarterback. Yeah, Southern California kid. The perfect
situation is Baker and Darnald win enough games to keep
you employed, and then the old miss quarterback emerges by
Thanksgiving as the kid you hand it over to. You're
not a playoff team. But then I can sell to
my owner, who's about to fire me, we found our guy.
(24:27):
Because if Baker starts every game, nobody thinks Baker's a
top ten quarterback, no reasonable person. So you have to
go to your owner. If Baker starts every game, you're
not going to have a huge, a winning record. You're
gonna be a very average team. If Sam starts all
the games, you're gonna be an average team. Whether one's
better than the other, neither's great. That's been established. Neither's
top fifteen in my opinion, and I don't think it's close.
Baker's closer, but it's not close. Right. So in the end,
(24:50):
if you were a Matt Rule and you want to
keep your job, the best way to keep it is
to say, listen, we brought Baker in and I won
with him a little. But hey, owner, I found our guy.
You can sell that to the owner. And if if
if this kid and he's got he's got an arm.
He's a little small, but he's got an arm. I
(25:11):
think the ideal situation is their third quarterback by Thanksgiving.
The staff goes upstairs and says, we're gonna go with him.
That keeps everybody employed. It and it may I'm not
saying it's just manipulation. It may be the truth. Yeah.
And you're also by having this battle, you're going to
get the best at a Baker and Darnold up until
that point. Yeah, if Matt ends up being the guy,
(25:34):
Alex Curry with the news, well that's the news, and
thanks for stoping by the Herdline News. Some people just
have a feel for something. My dad owned four cars
his entire life. They were just a utility. They were transportation.
We didn't romanticize him. I'm not good with cars. I
don't have any feel in a garage. I just have
(25:54):
no sense for cars. Some kids, dads love cars, they
collect cars. I've known people who just you get them
around a car, they know everything. They're just I got
no feel for it. My wife grew up her dad
was a restaurant tour. She is amazing in a kitchen.
She knows every spice, every We'll go to restaurants, she'll
try a soup. It doesn't matter if it's an Asian restaurant,
(26:16):
at tie restaurant, she'll know the ingredients. Go home, make
it and it'll be as good or better than the restaurant.
I wouldn't know where to start outside of Broth. I
wouldn't know where to start right Like some people, Alex's
mom is a chef. Some people just because of their
upbringing or whatever, they just have a feel for something.
(26:37):
And then I'm not sure what mine is. But it's
not cars, and it's not culinary. And the Patriots and
the Giants play at tonight in New England. Is not
going to play Mac Jones. And I don't think there's
a ton that you can get out a preseason, But God,
if there's a team that needs it, it's this team.
Because they have a defensive coordinator as their play caller.
(27:00):
They could probably use some live bullets here, some live
play calling. But you do get to a point is
we know that Belichick without Brady isn't the same coach.
But it's not just losing Brady it's losing Josh McDaniel
and Dante Scarneckia. New England had for years guys that
had a feel for it. SCARNECKI, I've gone to YouTube
(27:20):
and watch these Dante Scarneckia YouTube videos when he talks
to other coaches. He's just got a feel for offensive line, hands,
leverage hips. Josh McDaniels a brilliant offensive mine again, Josh
Derek Carr hasn't thrown an intersection in camp. Josh McDaniels
has a feel for it, and Brady obviously pre snap
(27:43):
is as good as anybody in the history of the league.
Before the ball is snap moving pieces around, you start
looking at New England. Now they have no field. They're
becoming the Steelers. The difference is the Steelers at least
draft the offense. Well, they're great at they have drafted
through the years, tie ends, receivers, backs. New England can't
draft it. I don't know if they can develop it.
(28:06):
And they can't even buy it. Nick Wright was on
our show yesterday talking about this. Is they open up
the checkbook, spent a record amount, and when that happens,
teams usually get better. If you buy a side of
the ball, is Nick Ryan had pointed out New England
can't even buy offense. No other team in the league
is spending twenty million on their tight ends. The Patriots
(28:28):
are spending thirty million on theirs. No, there's one other
team in football spending fifty million on their receivers and
tight ends combined. The Patriots is spending seventy million on theirs.
The Jaguars overpaid their guys, but Christian kurt Zay Jones
and Marvin Jones all have one thing in common. All
of them would be the patriots number one receiving threat
(28:50):
by a mile. I think the Jacksonville Jaguars will win
as many or more games than New England Patriots this year.
And you can say, well, I mean the collin I
think the four things that matter in offense do you
draft it, do you develop it, do you coach it?
Or can you buy it? Now that McDaniels, Dante Scarneckia
(29:11):
Brady are gone, are the Patriots last in the league
at all four? They don't draft it well, there's no
proof they develop it brilliantly. They can't buy it well.
And now they have their two top coaches gone, They
have their OC and their line coach gone. So you
can say, what about the Jags, Well, they drafted Alan Robinson.
They've drafted some nice offensive people. What about the Giants, Oh,
they drafted Ob j and Sequan Barkley before he got hurt.
(29:34):
The Giants have drafted some really great offensive talent. And
there's just teams in this league. Kansas City, San Francisco,
the Vikings draft and develop offensive talent. The Bengals, now,
like some teams, the Niners, the Rams, they've got a
feel for offense. I don't think I think New England
has none. I think all the all Brady McDaniel, Scarneckia
(29:58):
left the building. They have no feel for it. And
that's where the league is going. Albert Breer talked about
New England's offensive struggles yesterday on the show. I've heard
that he's frustrated, you know, and I don't like the
logic here. You know, a big part of the logic
for Bill and my understanding and not bringing Bill O'Brien
back from Alabama, was that he was afraid he was
gonna lose him after the year. And you see Bill,
(30:19):
and you know, now he's in his seventies, and is
this just because he doesn't want to go through a
lot of change over the next few years. That piece
of it's really hard for me because, like, if that's
why you're making decisions with something so critical as the
development of your second year quarterback on the line, I'd
have an issue with it. So if it wasn't Bill
(30:40):
Belichick doing this, I think a lot of people would
be very, very critical of what's going on there. Ben
vulland great reporter. He's in Tampa with Tom and the
Bucks and the Dolphins. He'll join us next. Be sure
to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays and noon
Easter not a Empacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast
is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all
(31:03):
the time, but it's more about the stories about what
made these people love their sport and all the interesting
interactions along the way. We talked to coaches, we talked
to players, We tell you stories. You download it. He
listened to it. I think you'll like it. Listen to
All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(31:23):
or ever you get your podcast. Well. Tom Brady stepped
away from the Bucks for it looks like a couple
of weeks our guests is it's a personal matter. His
mom has been ill. So with that though ben Voland
covers the NFL for the Boston Globe, Patriots, Buccaneers, Brady,
all things, he is tied in. Ben Voland now joining
(31:44):
us live covered the NFL for fifteen years. You're you
wrote an article for the Boston Globe today It says
Tom Brady looks as great as ever because he truly
committed to the Bucks. And you talked about he's been
a little surlier, and you know we now have stories
in twenty nineteen. Um, it is interesting. What let's ask
you the question, do you think he's committed to the Bucks?
(32:08):
I do wonder where his head is at right now. Um,
it's funny, you know the article you mentioned I wrote today.
The older Brady gets, um, the less the less we
criticize him. Wonder if he could actually play. I mean,
he was so good last year at forty four. There's
there's no doubt in our minds that if Brady is
fully committed, that he can have a terrific season at
(32:28):
age forty five. But there are definitely signs that maybe
his head isn't fully into it. And I try not
to be the body language police. But I was out
at Bucks practice yesterday and he looked miserable. Um, I
don't think he loves the humidity here in Tampa. It
is very swampy out here. Every morning is Buddy Gronk
has retired. Um, you know that's his running mate, that's
(32:49):
his guy. Now he looks all over the field. He's
thrown a kyle of Roodolph. And you know, Chris Godwin's
banged up. We're not sure when he's gonna be himself again.
His sent Brady center goes down. There's just a lot
of things going on with the team. And we also
know that playing for the Bucks was not his number
one wish this year. That's gotten his way. He'd be
running the Dolphins. And the only reason he went back
(33:10):
to the Bucks was because he really had no other options.
He said, well, I guess I'll go back to Tampa Bay.
So you know, he hadn't excused absence last week too,
around his birthday, and the local reporters here they were
holding their breath. They thought this was it, that Tom
Brady had a change of heart, that he was going
to retire. Now, Todd Bowles announces today that Brady wasn't
at practice. He's going to be gone through next week,
(33:31):
through the second preseason game, so he's gonna be gone
another ten days. So I definitely question where his heads at.
And then, as you mentioned, it might be related to
a health thing with either his parents or a family member.
If that's the case, certainly it's going to be a distraction. Also, yeah,
it does seem like Brady is not one hundred percent
folks on football. Yeah. No, He's very close with his family,
(33:51):
super close. So that's my gut feeling on that. But
I think what you and I are talking about is,
and here's where I've defended Brady been is that at
the end of Michael Jordan's career when he was with Chicago,
he was talking to Abe Poland he wanted to own
a team, and Derek Jeter at the end got into
ownership of a team. Peyton Manning talked to the Titans
at the end he wanted to, you know, talk about
(34:13):
running or owning a team. Lebron has been mentioned as
Vegas expanding in the NBA, Lebron would own part of
the team. I do think Brady, and this is why
I've not picked Tampa to be great this year, I've
said he wanted to retire, he wanted to move in
to business, and then because of the Brian Flores lawsuit,
he pivots back and goes And I think this is
(34:34):
where I've defended Tom. He's got five hundred million dollars
or a billion dollars net worth with his wife and
the Jeters and the Michaels and the Lebrons. I think
this is a very natural move to Okay, I got
the legacy, I got the bag. I want to get
into the ownership group. So maybe I'm na naive on that,
but I'm kind of given Tom a pass on the
(34:56):
Dolphin rumors. Should I No? I think you're right. I
don't think Brady really did anything wrong with his dalliance,
his flirtation with the Dolphins this time around. I think
you're one hundred percent right. I think his ultimate goal
he's got all these side businesses now, the Brady brand,
the TV twelve, he's got an NFT company. I think
(35:16):
he wants to own an NFL team and maybe not,
you know, own it by himself. I don't know if
he can compete with the Walton families of the world
that are now buying these NFL teams, but I certainly
think he wants to front an ownership group, be the
face of an ownership group. And Stephen Ross of the
Miami Dolphins and Bruce Biel, his partner, offered Brady a
golden opportunity to get into the business of the NFL.
(35:38):
We'll sell you a small chunk of our team, will
make you the team president. I was actually told that
the way they sold it was you'll be our Derek Jeter.
Jeter was running the Miami Marlins and they wanted Brady
to come run the Dolphins. So I certainly don't begrudge
Brady for looking at that opportunity and to trying to
get into the business of the NFL. I don't think
he did anything wrong there. The only thing I think
(35:59):
is on seemly is how really, going back to the
twenty nineteen season, he's signing a new contract with the Patriots,
He's sang them all in and I'm focused, and literally
at the same time, he's flirting with the Dolphins again,
and all throughout that twenty nineteen season, which did not
go well for the Patriots, Brady is worried more about
his future destination than playing quarterback. But his flirtation with
(36:21):
the Dolphins this time and the front office thing, there's
nothing wrong with it, and I absolutely think that that
is Brady's goal post career is to be in the
business of the NFL and to try to front an
ownership group. Well, Ben, you've covered the Patriots. I said,
there are teams if you look at what matters in offense,
do you draft it, do you develop it, do you
coach it? Or can you buy it? There are teams
(36:41):
like the Rams are in Kansas City with offensive coaches.
They just coach it. They buy it, they draft it,
they develop it year after year. McDaniel's gone, Dante Scarnecki
is gone, Brady's gone. They're not drafting it great and
they're not buying it great. They spent a fortune last
year for a bunch of receivers that can't separate. DeVante
(37:01):
Parker was last in the league last year in separation.
I look at this, Matt Patricia move Man. I just
questioned whether they have a feel for offense with these
iconic Dante Josh Tom Leaving, I don't think they do.
Your thoughts, I agree with you, Colin. I don't think
they've done a great job of preparing for the future.
(37:23):
That was one of the hallmarks of the Patriots program
for fifteen almost twenty years is they always had the
next man up and the next guy ready, And the
last few years that's kind of fallen off the wayside.
McDaniels takes some coaches with him, Dante Scarneckia retires, They
don't really have good solutions, and so Belichick is really
he's just taking it upon himself. Him and Matt Patricia,
(37:44):
like their whole theory is I alone can fix it.
They're running the offensive line, they're coaching the receivers, they're
calling the plays. Matt Patricia's running the salary cap. Each
of these guys is wearing about twenty seven different hats
right now. So if it was anyone but Belichick, I
think you said it before. It is anyone but Belichick
who came up with this setup. With Belichick and his
former defensive coordinator now running the offense, any coach, anyone
(38:07):
other than Belichick would get crushed with this. I'm allowing,
you know, a little wait and see approach. Like Belichick
is certainly a football genius. He has a ton of
respect for Matt Patricia, so that has to count for something,
and I am coming around to the idea of I
like that Matt, Patricia and Belichick are defensive guys who
are going to be in mac Jones's headset. Tom Brady
(38:27):
always spoke about how crucial was for his development to
have that defensive perspective. So I am coming around to it.
But boy, to not have an experienced play caller or
many experienced offensive coaches around this team. They haven't drafted well,
They're just asking for a lot of things to go
right this year, and frankly, it might be too much
of an asking. And I think that the Patriots certainly
(38:50):
an offense, they're kind of asking for trouble this year.
Ben voland Boston Globe covered the league for a long time.
Great senior and stop playing golf in Tampa in the
afternoon again, Lord, good luck to you. Ben, all right,
thanks a lot, Colin. I just telling the story before
Ben came on with Alex, I worked in Tampa for
(39:10):
two years. It's fun town. But my first live shot
on the air. It's a sportscaster. I wore a blue
shirt and I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so
I had no real like intense humidity. And then I
moved to Vegas, which again is dry. So you don't
sweat in Vegas, right, you just it's hot. And I
go out and do a live shot in Tampa and
I am the shirt is soaking wet, and I'm doing
(39:33):
a five forty live shot and lightning storms in Tampa
in the summer hit about that time, and the water
is just you could see it in the air. And
I learned by day two in Tampa for WTVT wear
a white shirt or all black. Then you don't see sweat. Yeah,
do not wear a light blue shirt. It's it's so
when he talked about now Brady is taking about ten
(39:55):
days off, my feeling is this is a personal matter
with his Family's very close to his mother and father
and sisters, and his mom has been ill for some time.
So Ben's article is not about that. It's a separate
issue about you know, Brady committed, you know, talking to
the dolphins while he's a bug. That's a totally separate issue,
and the column points that out. Think about your happy place,
(40:17):
maybe it's a sofa on game day, or your fishing boat,
wherever your happy places. Driveway dot Com lets you buy
or sell a car from there hour to John Smoltz
next
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern,
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox
Sports Radio. Here we go on a Thursday. I know
(00:26):
it don't sound very good, head cold, I'm fine, feel good.
Live in LA. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be,
however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio and
FS one. Starting tonight, Giants play the Patriots. So starting
tonight until you know February, we're gonna usually have three
to four nights a week of football games. It usually
(00:47):
starts with a whim for a little bit. They're not
going to play a lot of starters. Tonight ends with
a bang the super Bowl, but a joyous time for
this show and this network. It's gonna be an incredible fall.
We're gonna have the World Series, We're gonna have the
World Cup, We're gonna have Big ten Football, We're gonna
have the best NFL package, Super Bowl and the Super
(01:10):
Bowl Yeah, what an unbelievable fall. That's the voice of
Alex Curry, the face of Alex Curry for our TV audience.
So it's it feels like a little bit like, you know,
we're moving into it starting tonight with regular games. The
Hall of Fame game's done, kind a huge audience, by
the way, this is what the audience wants, and they're
gonna get it and we're gonna have. You know, in
my history of doing this whole thing and bouncing around
(01:30):
a local and regional and national networks, I think it's
the most anticipated five months average. There's never been a
network that's had the World Series, the Super Bowl, the
World Cup, and massive college football which will probably be
first or second highest read to college football in the country.
So it kind of starts tonight. It feels like it's
the beginning of things. It's like we're at a Michelin
(01:51):
restaurant getting like a five course dinner, and this is
our appetizer. That's right, this is our very first course
for the most incredible fall. As you mentioned, I have
defended Derek Carr for a long time of the Raiders.
I saw a story this morning where Derek Carr has
not thrown an interception, not one in camp. And what
(02:12):
really makes it remarkable is that he's got a new
play caller, a new system, a new coach, a new coordinator,
and a new star receiver. Is a bunch of moving parts,
not a single interception. And I think what has always
hurt Derek Carr among fans because I think he's top
ten quarterback in the league. Most people don't have him
(02:33):
anywhere near that is that what is his it? Mahomes crazy, arm, talent,
Josh Allen, size, athletic ability, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, escapability,
dynamic speed for Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrows, cool, Tom Brady
pre snap, Aaron Rodgers. Play is sort of with a
(02:55):
style and a glamor in his release. What is his it?
And it's fun because in twenty twenty two, it's a
really weird world we live in, and I think social
media and is part of the problem. A big part
of it is that you used to be able to
give people like video proof or data or stats and
you would win the argument. But it doesn't work that
(03:16):
way anymore. I mean, we have video of glaciers melting,
we have a global warming issue, and people are like,
that's politics. No, it's environmental. I don't care about the
politics of it. We have glaciers melting. Here's proof, here's data.
Nobody wants to listen to it. So it's you can
give people proof. I'll give you three data points on
Derek Carr. He's indisputably an elite quarterback and by the
(03:38):
end of this rant you still won't believe it. In
the last four years, he has the highest completion percentage
in the league of anybody's still playing. Drew Brees was
slightly higher. That's it. He's the most accurate thrower in
the league. Okay, on the field today. In the last
eight years, he is the most reliable quarterback coming from
(04:01):
behind in the fourth quarter. Leads the NFL on that.
He has also faced the most crisis at head coach
for a top quarterback. This will be his sixth and
nine years. So he's the most accurate, the best playing
from behind late and he's done it in chaos. They
literally have different coaches. And my takeaway is his it
(04:27):
because you got to give fans an it. And I've
said this about Alex English playing in the NBA. He
led the eighties in scoring but Alex English didn't have
an it. He wasn't vertical, he wasn't flashy, he was
soft spoken. He just hit midrange jumpers. He did not
make the NBA's Top seventy five list. He led the
(04:49):
entire league in scoring in the eighties, didn't make the list.
What was his it? He had class and didn't mish
sixteen footers. But I think the it for Derek is
he overcomes things better than anybody in the league. Overcomes
coaching chaos, overcomes a teammate killing a citizen in Las
(05:10):
Vegas driving one hundred and ten miles an hour under
the influence. He overcomes weak drafts, a battle line, fourth
quarter deficits, and constant fluctuation in the organization, and now
the toughest division ever in the history of the NFL.
There's never been a division, which is why the Raiders
(05:32):
are the hardest team for me to protict in the
NFL this year. Is I like so much about him,
but there's never been a division in the history of
the NFL that has Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, Justin Herbert
and Russell Wilson, and I don't think they have the
defense to compete with the other three. But if you're
looking for his it it is nobody overcomes things like
(05:52):
Derek Carr and that is an absolute talent. And I'll
underscore it again. He has not thrown interception with a
new system, a new play caller, a new star receiver,
a new coach, not thrown an interception all camp. It's unbelievable. Okay,
(06:13):
the second story today. So there's been a lot. I mean,
Kevin Durant is one of the best get a basket
guys in the NBA ever, and so this is why
I keep talking about this Kevin Durant thing, even though
the NBA season done until October. Is the rumors now
or Kevin Durant wants to play for the Celtics. Okay,
so you can look at it two ways. Boston says,
(06:33):
no thanks, We're gonna bring the band back. But Milwaukee's
gonna be better next year because Chris Middleton's back and
Joe Ingalls Sixers I think are going to be better.
Tyrese Maxie is emerging as a massive star in this league.
Miami always well running, well coached, certainly could be better, right,
(06:54):
but you could bring it all back. You did get
to the finals and roll the dice. Or you could
bring in Kevin Durant. He's gonna hurt your chemistry a
little bit. He can be a little high maintenance. You're
gonna have to give up some of your bench and
some of your future to do it. But I don't
think it's a terrible idea. The coach of the Celtics
has coach KD. Kadi always gives you a great effort
(07:16):
on the defensive end. He's not Kyrie Irving to the
Celtics who didn't want to participate defensively, or James Harden
who doesn't participate defensively. Kadi always plays defense at a
very high level. And he's also we saw Jason Tatum
was not a reliable finisher in big games, so you
get a great historic finisher. I think it makes sense
(07:37):
to bring in Kadi for a Jalen Brown, a top
bench player and two draft picks. But I think we
have to come to terms, and I've seen this in
Hollywood recently. We got to come to terms with what
KD is. We thought we saw him as a lead actor.
He's a great supporting actor. He worked in Golden State
and I believe he would work in Boston because the
(07:59):
culture has already been and created. There are certain people
like He'll give you an example, Tom Cruise. You can,
if you're a movie studio, commit to ten movies with
Tom Cruise. He's totally into it, totally committed. He'll deliver
box office. Hell, he can manage people. Tom Cruise's life
(08:20):
is movies. Marlon Brando was talented. There's no way you
could give Marlon Brando that responsibility. There's absolutely no way.
He's just really talented. And I think Kad's more Brando
than Cruise. I think Lebron Wade, Kobe Jannis. There are
(08:41):
players I will build around. They are committed, they're unwavering,
they don't wander, they elevate others. They just have the
right personality for it. And I think Kad is closer
to Kauai or Kyrie or James Harden. You view them
is the movie star and what they are as great
supporting actors. They can't you can't build the foundation around them.
(09:05):
They're either quirky, odd, non verbal, high maintenance. It's a
lot of things. Now. Of all those players, Kadi is
easily the most gifted offensively. And I've said before, I
think He's the only guy in league history that would
beat Michael Jordan in a game of one on one
if they had a tournament. I think he's a great player,
but he's different. He is more Brando than Cruz, he
(09:25):
is more Kawai than Lebron, and we just got to
come to terms with it. That's why I think Boston
works just like the Warriors worked. The Warriors. If you
go back to Kawai's career, san Antonio had the culture built,
they added him championship. Toronto had a terrific culture built,
they added him championship. The Clippers needed Kawai to be
(09:47):
the foundational piece. It's not what he is. He's not verbal,
doesn't already communicate. That's not what he is. So they're
trying to build the franchise around him. You're gonna have
to build around Taylu's brain and the front office's ability
to get versatile defenders, the very versatile roster. You can't
build it around him. And it's the same thing in Hollywood.
There's just certain people you can build a franchise around,
(10:09):
and then they're just really talented actors and there's very
few of these, and it's not really a knock on KD.
I mean, it's very easy top of my head to
just name the guys I'd build my franchise around, you know,
m J. Duncan, Magic Bird, Yannis. I mean, it's a
short list of about ten guys. D Wade like, it's
a tiny list, and then there's a bunch of talented guys,
(10:32):
and I think we just have to. That's why I
think Katie to Boston actually works. They got it, they
got the coach, they got the culture, they've got the intensity,
they got the brains upstairs. Dude, come on in and
deliver big buckets. And I think mostly that's what Katie
wants to do. And Katy, it looks like, understands that.
He understands that he'd be joining a great culture. I
(10:54):
think Katie looks at it and thinks it makes sense
for my Northeast business. It worked with the Warriors, where
I could just join something that was already rolling, And
to Katie's credit, he gets that. But and I think
we have to. I think we've always thought for years
and years, there's what is this. Katie's better than Lebron,
And I was always like, Lebron is so much more
than a basketball player. Lebron is leadership and stability and
(11:18):
elevation of others and a team builder and confronts the
media and not really that prickly and deals with crisis well.
And Lebron is so much more than get a hoop guy.
You know, he's Jordan's he's magic, he's well beyond And
it's not really a criticism. Not everybody is built like
(11:40):
Tom Cruise to build the franchise around. Not everybody's built
for that. Milwaukee's got one. The Lakers have had a
few through the years. It's a small number. Ben Voone
will be joining us from Bucks Dolphins joint practices in Tampa.
Tom Brady is out for a while. He's gonna take
some family time. Alex Curry, you'll have that around the corner.
(12:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeart Radio app. You know, we
all would admit, and we all know this to be true,
that there are there's a big gap in the NFL
between elite quarterbacks and everybody else. There's a huge gap
between like a Sean McVay and about twenty coaches in
(12:25):
this league, right, Like, we know there's a gap. We
know there's you know, really really good offensive lines, and
then there's like the Carolina Panthers offensive line. Like we
all know that, but we don't see front offices and
we don't see owners. And in my career, ownership has
(12:45):
been like the front office, the people you don't see
on air. The owners and the executives have so much control,
and there's also a massive gap in that. And the
Cleveland Browns are a poorly owned NFL franchise and they've
really put themselves on an island with this Deshaun Watson thing.
So you know, Cleveland announced yesterday what We're gonna start
(13:08):
Deshaun Watson tomorrow against the Jags. Okay, so the NFL
commissioner came out two days ago and said, we have
seen the evidence. It's predatory behavior. And Cleveland's owners like, yeah,
we saw it, Let's start him against the Jags. And
I think Dan Snyder of Washington, cal McNair, Houston and
(13:31):
the Haslems are bad owners, repetitively poor choices, coaches, quarterbacks,
some skivy stuff in their background, not learning from their mistakes,
and I just think now I think Detroit and Chicago
are not brilliantly owned either. I don't think they're morally corrupt,
(13:51):
but I think fans sometimes don't understand that the gap
has just not coaches and quarterbacks and wide receiver units
in this league, it is owners. And Cleveland has decided
to just like go on an island and take on
the NFL and they don't care. I think that puts
Kevin Stefansk in a brutal position. I remember I read
a quote I went and got it this morning, and
(14:11):
I don't know when this interview was, but Alex Smith
was on a Rich Eyes and show and his quote
about playing in Washington was, you got to try to
eliminate the noise there. There's just a lot of distractions,
said Alex Smith. That entire organization, everything surrounding it. Obviously deservedly,
it's been flawed the last twenty years. There's just a
(14:33):
lot of stuff going on there, a lot of distractions.
It makes it difficult to focus in on football. Just
think about that Brady had Belichick, Dante Scarnecki at Josh McDaniels,
Bob Kraft, sold out stadiums, or you can be a
quarterback from Washington. What a mess. I mean, I tell
people this all the time, is that at the company
(14:56):
I currently work for, I never see management. I come in,
the staff comes in, we do a show, and we
go home at noon three eastern noon Pacific. We never
see management unless we walk by him in the commissary
you know where you eat around here, and it's like,
it's just very easy. It's very easy here to do
a show. I just can't screw it up. Like, can
(15:17):
you imagine if I came I had people breathing down
my neck. They moved our time slot constantly, they changed
our personnel constantly. They told us right before the show,
we don't like your lead. I mean, Alex Smith is
basically saying, it's really hard to focus on, you know,
playing football in Washington, and I think Cleveland, Washington and Houston.
(15:42):
I think there's a lot of talented players and talented
quarterbacks and talented coaches, and those ownership groups make it
really hard on everybody in the building, whether they get
it or not. Alex Curry with The News No No,
The Herd Line News Well last week two, told reporters
(16:03):
he believes the Dolphins are all in on him. Following
the NFL's investigation into the team tampering with Tom Brady. Now,
with the Butts and Dolphins doing a joint practice this
week prior to the team facing off in their preseason opener,
it opens the door for more questions about the team's
interests in Brady. But Tua and head coach Mike McDaniel
aren't into the nonsense. I think they were doing that
(16:25):
in twenty nineteen, but then I came in twenty twenty,
so I I mean they picked me, So I mean
I'm still here. To me, that's all noise at this
point for me, nothing happened. Everyone else is the one
making it awkward. Doesn't occupy a single iota of space
(16:46):
with anybody we have. It's hard enough to be good
in this league. Were as the Miami Dolphins were very
We're all of our energy is very coordinated and only
has to do with us getting better and everything else
would be an opportunity cost that we're not willing to expend. Yeah,
(17:07):
I mean, if you looked at every question that Tuah
has ever been asked, if somebody categorized every question that
Tua has ever been asked at the podium, there's an
argument maybe Baker Mayfield is close. More of them had
a potential to end up ugly, and he generally skates
(17:30):
around them brilliantly, like like Tua has had the deal
with Deshaun Watson. Rumors, the Brian Flores stuff, now it's
the Tom Brady stuff. And I'll defend TWA on this.
Baker Mayfield should take really the playbook of Tua. Tuah's
ask questions more than any quarterback in this league. That
are trigger questions that there there and I'm not saying
(17:55):
the media doesn't never right to ask them, but they're
difficult questions there about other people will playing rumors, innuendos.
Tuah has got an incredible ability to consume it, not
be bothered by it, give the right answer. And I've
said this for years, that podium for a quarterback, that's
your microphone, and what you say can be like Baker
(18:18):
was disruptive, other people have to comment on it. Ta
basically kills all these stories he's and it matters to quarterbacks.
He is really good at the podium, and he gets
asked more stuff that could blow up if he didn't
have the brains or the dexterity to give it the
(18:38):
right answer, it could be a mess. Baker still just
struggled with that. Every every question got, you know, a
snarky answer to a just he's able to fall on
the sword. It's very Eli manning tah in a chaotic
organization for the last ten years. Tua is very soothing
(18:59):
at the microphone. Yeah, all was forward facing, never looking back,
talking about people that he can't control. We now know,
based on stories that have been released over the last
three or four months, he and Brian flores Like did
not get along at all, and he still handled that again,
not trying to win the argument, never bringing it up.
(19:20):
We found out how bad it was once Brian was gone. Yeah,
we didn't know it was a bat. I've known every
time certain quarterbacks have a rocky relationship with a coach.
You hear about it at the podium. So all you
quarterbacks go look at two as press conferences fall on
the sword, Go forward, move ahead, ye don't try to
(19:41):
win the press conference. Two is great at it. He
has the mindset of a leader. He doesn't live in
the mindset of what could have happened, and you can't
do that. You got to block out the noise, especially
in a situation like this where you're getting asked your
team might have wanted the greatest player of all time,
because let's be honest, any team is going to pick
the goat over probably the current quarterback they have. And
now this week you're practicing the same place. You're looking
(20:04):
hopefully not looking over at him too much. But as
you said, has that mindset. He has to stick in
that mindset and this is a make or break your
for him his third season. He's got a huge weapon
in Tyreek Hill. He has to prove it on the
field this year and he's got the right mindset for it. Ye,
you have to well, speaking of the Goat, Forbes just
released their highest earning NFL players for twenty twenty two,
(20:26):
and Tom Brady has come out on top, leading the
list for the first time in his career at seventy
five million dollars. Now, Brady has never been listed higher
the number two on Forbes annual NFL Earning leaderboard, which
he has just earned last season when he came in
second behind Dak Prescott, NWAD Matthew Staffordy and Rogers, Patrick
Mahomes Josh Allen rounding up the top five. But it's
(20:48):
crazy to wrap your head around. Is this endorsements too, Yes,
it's it's the full package. So that's the craziest part
to kind of wrap your head around the fact that
the goat this is the first time a player who
was more rings than any single franchise is the first
time that he is number one on that list. He
is entering his twenty third season, he is forty five
years old. Well, people forget that. Magic Johnson and Michael
(21:10):
Jordan for a majority of their careers had terrible contracts. Yeah, yeah,
Michael had a Magic signed a twenty five year, twenty
five million dollar contracts. So now Magic's done very well
for himself. When I look at that list and for
our radio audience, the list is Brady Stafford, Aaron Mahomes,
Alan Watson, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Kyler, Murray, Dak Prescott.
(21:31):
I give kirk Cousins credit. He has completely monestized this sport.
Good for him. I'm actually a little surprised. And you
said this does include endorsements, companies income. Okay, yeah, I
would think Mahomes would be a higher but I'm not listening.
(21:53):
They're all doing well. Yeah, yeah, I mean I would
say this. The reason it's the first time Brady's been
there is because Tom. And I've said this about other
quarterback I've said this about Aaron Rodgers in Russell Wilson,
you know, I love him, But if you want to
be the highest paid quarterback, understand is you won't have
a second great corner and a second great pass rusher,
(22:14):
and you won't have two elite tackles. Like you've got
to make decisions in life. I've said this about Lebron James,
and I think Lebron wants to win. But if Lebron
really really now, if LA was just about winning, there's
ways around it. Financially, Tom was all about winning. And now,
by the way, it's not a coincidence that Tom now
(22:34):
he doesn't care give me the money because he's leaving.
This is the last year. Yeah, he has a massive
million dollar deal with Fox waiting for him the moment
that he retires, and he's turned into quite the Businessman's
figured it all out all right, moving on. After acquiring
Baker Mayfield earlier this offseason, the Panthers are in the
midst of a quarterback battle as they head into the
first preseason game. Now Matt Roll's given praise to Baker
(22:56):
earlier this week and how he's fast. He's picked up
the playbooks the trade, which we thought might have been
an issue, But despite Baker's quick learning, NFL Network Steve
Marrucchi doesn't expect things to be settled by the end
of preseason, saying, Matt Rule said something interesting too, We
are keeping three quarterbacks. Well, they have to become because
they have to because they drafted Matt carl in the
(23:17):
third round from oh Miss. They got to keep the guy.
And a lot of teams don't keep three quarterbacks on
the active roster anymore. They keep one on the practice squad. Right,
this is a real true quarterback battle. It's going to
be interesting. Stay tuned because I think it's going to
be fluid all season. Well, if you were Matt Rule, yeah,
wouldn't the best outcome Alex b Yeah, Darnold and Baker
(23:42):
are good enough to win you games and keep you close,
and then by Thanksgiving Matt Coral emerges as Corral emerges
as better than both and you have your future quarterback.
I mean, if you look at what Matt Rule wants
to do a save his job, he wants to win games, right,
and we don't think Matt is ready to be the guy,
(24:04):
the old miss quarterback. Yeah, Southern California kid. The perfect
situation is Baker and Darnald win enough games to keep
you employed, and then the old miss quarterback emerges by
Thanksgiving as the kid you hand it over to. You're
not a playoff team. But then I can sell to
my owner, who's about to fire me, we found our guy.
(24:27):
Because if Baker starts every game, nobody thinks Baker's a
top ten quarterback, no reasonable person. So you have to
go to your owner. If Baker starts every game, you're
not going to have a huge, a winning record. You're
gonna be a very average team. If Sam starts all
the games, you're gonna be an average team. Whether one's
better than the other, neither's great. That's been established. Neither's
top fifteen in my opinion, and I don't think it's close.
Baker's closer, but it's not close. Right. So in the end,
(24:50):
if you were a Matt Rule and you want to
keep your job, the best way to keep it is
to say, listen, we brought Baker in and I won
with him a little. But hey, owner, I found our guy.
You can sell that to the owner. And if if
if this kid and he's got he's got an arm.
He's a little small, but he's got an arm. I
(25:11):
think the ideal situation is their third quarterback by Thanksgiving.
The staff goes upstairs and says, we're gonna go with him.
That keeps everybody employed. It and it may I'm not
saying it's just manipulation. It may be the truth. Yeah.
And you're also by having this battle, you're going to
get the best at a Baker and Darnold up until
that point. Yeah, if Matt ends up being the guy,
(25:34):
Alex Curry with the news, well that's the news, and
thanks for stoping by the Herdline News. Some people just
have a feel for something. My dad owned four cars
his entire life. They were just a utility. They were transportation.
We didn't romanticize him. I'm not good with cars. I
don't have any feel in a garage. I just have
(25:54):
no sense for cars. Some kids, dads love cars, they
collect cars. I've known people who just you get them
around a car, they know everything. They're just I got
no feel for it. My wife grew up her dad
was a restaurant tour. She is amazing in a kitchen.
She knows every spice, every We'll go to restaurants, she'll
try a soup. It doesn't matter if it's an Asian restaurant,
(26:16):
at tie restaurant, she'll know the ingredients. Go home, make
it and it'll be as good or better than the restaurant.
I wouldn't know where to start outside of Broth. I
wouldn't know where to start right Like some people, Alex's
mom is a chef. Some people just because of their
upbringing or whatever, they just have a feel for something.
(26:37):
And then I'm not sure what mine is. But it's
not cars, and it's not culinary. And the Patriots and
the Giants play at tonight in New England. Is not
going to play Mac Jones. And I don't think there's
a ton that you can get out a preseason, But God,
if there's a team that needs it, it's this team.
Because they have a defensive coordinator as their play caller.
(27:00):
They could probably use some live bullets here, some live
play calling. But you do get to a point is
we know that Belichick without Brady isn't the same coach.
But it's not just losing Brady it's losing Josh McDaniel
and Dante Scarneckia. New England had for years guys that
had a feel for it. SCARNECKI, I've gone to YouTube
(27:20):
and watch these Dante Scarneckia YouTube videos when he talks
to other coaches. He's just got a feel for offensive line, hands,
leverage hips. Josh McDaniels a brilliant offensive mine again, Josh
Derek Carr hasn't thrown an intersection in camp. Josh McDaniels
has a feel for it, and Brady obviously pre snap
(27:43):
is as good as anybody in the history of the league.
Before the ball is snap moving pieces around, you start
looking at New England. Now they have no field. They're
becoming the Steelers. The difference is the Steelers at least
draft the offense. Well, they're great at they have drafted
through the years, tie ends, receivers, backs. New England can't
draft it. I don't know if they can develop it.
(28:06):
And they can't even buy it. Nick Wright was on
our show yesterday talking about this. Is they open up
the checkbook, spent a record amount, and when that happens,
teams usually get better. If you buy a side of
the ball, is Nick Ryan had pointed out New England
can't even buy offense. No other team in the league
is spending twenty million on their tight ends. The Patriots
(28:28):
are spending thirty million on theirs. No, there's one other
team in football spending fifty million on their receivers and
tight ends combined. The Patriots is spending seventy million on theirs.
The Jaguars overpaid their guys, but Christian kurt Zay Jones
and Marvin Jones all have one thing in common. All
of them would be the patriots number one receiving threat
(28:50):
by a mile. I think the Jacksonville Jaguars will win
as many or more games than New England Patriots this year.
And you can say, well, I mean the collin I
think the four things that matter in offense do you
draft it, do you develop it, do you coach it?
Or can you buy it? Now that McDaniels, Dante Scarneckia
(29:11):
Brady are gone, are the Patriots last in the league
at all four? They don't draft it well, there's no
proof they develop it brilliantly. They can't buy it well.
And now they have their two top coaches gone, They
have their OC and their line coach gone. So you
can say, what about the Jags, Well, they drafted Alan Robinson.
They've drafted some nice offensive people. What about the Giants, Oh,
they drafted Ob j and Sequan Barkley before he got hurt.
(29:34):
The Giants have drafted some really great offensive talent. And
there's just teams in this league. Kansas City, San Francisco,
the Vikings draft and develop offensive talent. The Bengals, now,
like some teams, the Niners, the Rams, they've got a
feel for offense. I don't think I think New England
has none. I think all the all Brady McDaniel, Scarneckia
(29:58):
left the building. They have no feel for it. And
that's where the league is going. Albert Breer talked about
New England's offensive struggles yesterday on the show. I've heard
that he's frustrated, you know, and I don't like the
logic here. You know, a big part of the logic
for Bill and my understanding and not bringing Bill O'Brien
back from Alabama, was that he was afraid he was
gonna lose him after the year. And you see Bill,
(30:19):
and you know, now he's in his seventies, and is
this just because he doesn't want to go through a
lot of change over the next few years. That piece
of it's really hard for me because, like, if that's
why you're making decisions with something so critical as the
development of your second year quarterback on the line, I'd
have an issue with it. So if it wasn't Bill
(30:40):
Belichick doing this, I think a lot of people would
be very, very critical of what's going on there. Ben
vulland great reporter. He's in Tampa with Tom and the
Bucks and the Dolphins. He'll join us next. Be sure
to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays and noon
Easter not a Empacific. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast
is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all
(31:03):
the time, but it's more about the stories about what
made these people love their sport and all the interesting
interactions along the way. We talked to coaches, we talked
to players, We tell you stories. You download it. He
listened to it. I think you'll like it. Listen to
All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(31:23):
or ever you get your podcast. Well. Tom Brady stepped
away from the Bucks for it looks like a couple
of weeks our guests is it's a personal matter. His
mom has been ill. So with that though ben Voland
covers the NFL for the Boston Globe, Patriots, Buccaneers, Brady,
all things, he is tied in. Ben Voland now joining
(31:44):
us live covered the NFL for fifteen years. You're you
wrote an article for the Boston Globe today It says
Tom Brady looks as great as ever because he truly
committed to the Bucks. And you talked about he's been
a little surlier, and you know we now have stories
in twenty nineteen. Um, it is interesting. What let's ask
you the question, do you think he's committed to the Bucks?
(32:08):
I do wonder where his head is at right now. Um,
it's funny, you know the article you mentioned I wrote today.
The older Brady gets, um, the less the less we
criticize him. Wonder if he could actually play. I mean,
he was so good last year at forty four. There's
there's no doubt in our minds that if Brady is
fully committed, that he can have a terrific season at
(32:28):
age forty five. But there are definitely signs that maybe
his head isn't fully into it. And I try not
to be the body language police. But I was out
at Bucks practice yesterday and he looked miserable. Um, I
don't think he loves the humidity here in Tampa. It
is very swampy out here. Every morning is Buddy Gronk
has retired. Um, you know that's his running mate, that's
(32:49):
his guy. Now he looks all over the field. He's
thrown a kyle of Roodolph. And you know, Chris Godwin's
banged up. We're not sure when he's gonna be himself again.
His sent Brady center goes down. There's just a lot
of things going on with the team. And we also
know that playing for the Bucks was not his number
one wish this year. That's gotten his way. He'd be
running the Dolphins. And the only reason he went back
(33:10):
to the Bucks was because he really had no other options.
He said, well, I guess I'll go back to Tampa Bay.
So you know, he hadn't excused absence last week too,
around his birthday, and the local reporters here they were
holding their breath. They thought this was it, that Tom
Brady had a change of heart, that he was going
to retire. Now, Todd Bowles announces today that Brady wasn't
at practice. He's going to be gone through next week,
(33:31):
through the second preseason game, so he's gonna be gone
another ten days. So I definitely question where his heads at.
And then, as you mentioned, it might be related to
a health thing with either his parents or a family member.
If that's the case, certainly it's going to be a distraction. Also, yeah,
it does seem like Brady is not one hundred percent
folks on football. Yeah. No, He's very close with his family,
(33:51):
super close. So that's my gut feeling on that. But
I think what you and I are talking about is,
and here's where I've defended Brady been is that at
the end of Michael Jordan's career when he was with Chicago,
he was talking to Abe Poland he wanted to own
a team, and Derek Jeter at the end got into
ownership of a team. Peyton Manning talked to the Titans
at the end he wanted to, you know, talk about
(34:13):
running or owning a team. Lebron has been mentioned as
Vegas expanding in the NBA, Lebron would own part of
the team. I do think Brady, and this is why
I've not picked Tampa to be great this year, I've
said he wanted to retire, he wanted to move in
to business, and then because of the Brian Flores lawsuit,
he pivots back and goes And I think this is
(34:34):
where I've defended Tom. He's got five hundred million dollars
or a billion dollars net worth with his wife and
the Jeters and the Michaels and the Lebrons. I think
this is a very natural move to Okay, I got
the legacy, I got the bag. I want to get
into the ownership group. So maybe I'm na naive on that,
but I'm kind of given Tom a pass on the
(34:56):
Dolphin rumors. Should I No? I think you're right. I
don't think Brady really did anything wrong with his dalliance,
his flirtation with the Dolphins this time around. I think
you're one hundred percent right. I think his ultimate goal
he's got all these side businesses now, the Brady brand,
the TV twelve, he's got an NFT company. I think
(35:16):
he wants to own an NFL team and maybe not,
you know, own it by himself. I don't know if
he can compete with the Walton families of the world
that are now buying these NFL teams, but I certainly
think he wants to front an ownership group, be the
face of an ownership group. And Stephen Ross of the
Miami Dolphins and Bruce Biel, his partner, offered Brady a
golden opportunity to get into the business of the NFL.
(35:38):
We'll sell you a small chunk of our team, will
make you the team president. I was actually told that
the way they sold it was you'll be our Derek Jeter.
Jeter was running the Miami Marlins and they wanted Brady
to come run the Dolphins. So I certainly don't begrudge
Brady for looking at that opportunity and to trying to
get into the business of the NFL. I don't think
he did anything wrong there. The only thing I think
(35:59):
is on seemly is how really, going back to the
twenty nineteen season, he's signing a new contract with the Patriots,
He's sang them all in and I'm focused, and literally
at the same time, he's flirting with the Dolphins again,
and all throughout that twenty nineteen season, which did not
go well for the Patriots, Brady is worried more about
his future destination than playing quarterback. But his flirtation with
(36:21):
the Dolphins this time and the front office thing, there's
nothing wrong with it, and I absolutely think that that
is Brady's goal post career is to be in the
business of the NFL and to try to front an
ownership group. Well, Ben, you've covered the Patriots. I said,
there are teams if you look at what matters in offense,
do you draft it, do you develop it, do you
coach it? Or can you buy it? There are teams
(36:41):
like the Rams are in Kansas City with offensive coaches.
They just coach it. They buy it, they draft it,
they develop it year after year. McDaniel's gone, Dante Scarnecki
is gone, Brady's gone. They're not drafting it great and
they're not buying it great. They spent a fortune last
year for a bunch of receivers that can't separate. DeVante
(37:01):
Parker was last in the league last year in separation.
I look at this, Matt Patricia move Man. I just
questioned whether they have a feel for offense with these
iconic Dante Josh Tom Leaving, I don't think they do.
Your thoughts, I agree with you, Colin. I don't think
they've done a great job of preparing for the future.
(37:23):
That was one of the hallmarks of the Patriots program
for fifteen almost twenty years is they always had the
next man up and the next guy ready, And the
last few years that's kind of fallen off the wayside.
McDaniels takes some coaches with him, Dante Scarneckia retires, They
don't really have good solutions, and so Belichick is really
he's just taking it upon himself. Him and Matt Patricia,
(37:44):
like their whole theory is I alone can fix it.
They're running the offensive line, they're coaching the receivers, they're
calling the plays. Matt Patricia's running the salary cap. Each
of these guys is wearing about twenty seven different hats
right now. So if it was anyone but Belichick, I
think you said it before. It is anyone but Belichick
who came up with this setup. With Belichick and his
former defensive coordinator now running the offense, any coach, anyone
(38:07):
other than Belichick would get crushed with this. I'm allowing,
you know, a little wait and see approach. Like Belichick
is certainly a football genius. He has a ton of
respect for Matt Patricia, so that has to count for something,
and I am coming around to the idea of I
like that Matt, Patricia and Belichick are defensive guys who
are going to be in mac Jones's headset. Tom Brady
(38:27):
always spoke about how crucial was for his development to
have that defensive perspective. So I am coming around to it.
But boy, to not have an experienced play caller or
many experienced offensive coaches around this team. They haven't drafted well,
They're just asking for a lot of things to go
right this year, and frankly, it might be too much
of an asking. And I think that the Patriots certainly
(38:50):
an offense, they're kind of asking for trouble this year.
Ben voland Boston Globe covered the league for a long time.
Great senior and stop playing golf in Tampa in the
afternoon again, Lord, good luck to you. Ben, all right,
thanks a lot, Colin. I just telling the story before
Ben came on with Alex, I worked in Tampa for
(39:10):
two years. It's fun town. But my first live shot
on the air. It's a sportscaster. I wore a blue
shirt and I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so
I had no real like intense humidity. And then I
moved to Vegas, which again is dry. So you don't
sweat in Vegas, right, you just it's hot. And I
go out and do a live shot in Tampa and
I am the shirt is soaking wet, and I'm doing
(39:33):
a five forty live shot and lightning storms in Tampa
in the summer hit about that time, and the water
is just you could see it in the air. And
I learned by day two in Tampa for WTVT wear
a white shirt or all black. Then you don't see sweat. Yeah,
do not wear a light blue shirt. It's it's so
when he talked about now Brady is taking about ten
(39:55):
days off, my feeling is this is a personal matter
with his Family's very close to his mother and father
and sisters, and his mom has been ill for some time.
So Ben's article is not about that. It's a separate
issue about you know, Brady committed, you know, talking to
the dolphins while he's a bug. That's a totally separate issue,
and the column points that out. Think about your happy place,
(40:17):
maybe it's a sofa on game day, or your fishing boat,
wherever your happy places. Driveway dot Com lets you buy
or sell a car from there hour to John Smoltz
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