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July 22, 2025 • 42 mins

Colin discusses a report that LeBron James considered joining the Mavericks but chose to take the money with the Lakers and why his pursuit of Michael Jordan continues to impact his decisions

Jerry Jones continues to be the reason the why Cowboys have not played in a Conference Championship game in 29 years

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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 on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It is it Tuesday. We are really
really rolling today. Ryan Dale, Ohio State football coach Nick
Wright stops by.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Today.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
It is a Tuesday. We're live. It's the Herd. Jmac
interesting story. The athletic kind of broke an interesting story,
John Hollinger where there were whispers in league circles that
Lebron James, and we talked about it on this show
was looking at Dallas as a landing spot. We've talked

(01:02):
about this great frontline. Here comes Cooper flag better coach,
and you know, let's be honest, if he went to Dallas,
he would be the centerpiece, even though he's older. Lebron
in Dallas, every time he goes to a new team
for two years, it's like wow, whereas in LA it's
like Luca's team and everybody knows that new owners. It
kind of feels like it didn't have it against Lebron.

(01:23):
But he's not the future. But this is interesting, This
is really interesting. So the athletic does report. We've been
saying this now, I have been saying this for three
to four weeks. Dallas is a better place to go.
I mean, I get Cooper Flag or Austin Reeves, I
get a d or DeAndre Ayton. But Lebron wasn't willing

(01:45):
and this is what killed it. According to John Hollingdry,
he wasn't willing to leave fifty two million on the
table for a mid level exemption. So think about that.
Lebron's a billionaire. He's a billionaire. And my take is
with Lebron Rich Paul told us it was all about winning,
it's not anymore. I think Michael Jordan's still in his head.

(02:09):
He knows in the basketball community, with basketball fans, he's
never going to catch MJ. MJ is six for six.
MJ is more memorable. MJ's got the logo, the brand,
and sells more shoes. He's more romanticized. Michael Jordan. There
are a dozen plays to this day that you close

(02:30):
your eyes and think about and you can see Michael
Jordan do it unless you're driving with Lebron. There's one
that chase down block against the Warriors. That's it, and
so I think it Lebron at this point, he's never
going to catch him. He's never going to catch him
in net worth. MJ's networth is three point five billion dollars. Lebron,

(02:53):
even with the massive money he's paid, is one billion.
That's why you want throwing a basketball team. I think
he's chasing Michael. And here's the difference. Michael Jordan makes
you feel something and Lebron doesn't. MJ and I mean

(03:14):
high level salespeople will tell you you want to trigger emotion,
and advertisers and consumers, you want to make people feel
something about a product. Michael has that you wear his shoes,
you feel cool. You like being on that side of
the argument. So Michael's richer, more memorable, bigger brand, and

(03:38):
he makes you feel something and Lebron doesn't. Lebron has
kind of bounced around to the best basketball opportunity every
chance he gets. He's been the great basketball opportunist and
I've never criticized him for that. I understand it. His
first stop, he got drafted to Cleveland seven years in
they couldn't get him another All Star. I was on
the bandwagon get to Miami me but my taking, you

(04:01):
probably should have stayed in Miami. In fact, I'd argue
the only time Lebron has ever made his feel something
was when he went back to his hometown. When he
went back to Akron and he won in Cleveland. Remember
that letter, I'm going back home. Major feel something. Then
he won in Cleveland. Major feel something. But he's sort

(04:23):
of been the great basketball opportunists, and he's got more
points and more assists, and he's been to more finals,
but he's never made us feel anything. I said this
the other day, Tiger Woods, major feel something. Scotti Scheffler's
just great. That's the difference. Arnold Palmer was more beloved
than Jack Nicholas. People loved Arnie. Why major feel certain

(04:49):
way works in politics works in sports. Michael Jordan still
sells more shoes than Lebron. Just to give you the
influence of Michael Jordan. He got Derek in his prime
to wear his logo football jerseys all over this country
to Jordan logo. And I look at this, Lebron not

(05:12):
taking for one time in his career, giving up money
mid level exception to play with Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis,
Kyrie Irving, Derek Lively better coach.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Now, I'm not going to do it.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
In twenty sixteen, Lebron said it quote, my motivation is
the ghost I'm chasing he played in Chicago. Even with this,
I think Michael's still in his head. So NFL cams
are underway, including the Dallas Cowboys in Auxnard. They've had
a pretty rough twenty nine years, haven't been to a
single NFC championship. So yesterday or the day before, Jerry

(05:57):
Jones was asked, I think a very reasonable and appropriate
question about remaining as general manager.

Speaker 4 (06:07):
Stepping away as general manager? Ever been even a momentary
consideration for your griggs?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yes, momentary.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
A lot of moments.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
Now we're getting that to it, small fractions of seconds,
as you know, you see it. I'm in senior bowls.
Combines all of that, all of that melts into a
real good feeling about where we are, so that I'm

(06:42):
not sitting up there throwing darts about a player.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
The downside to wealth is that it starts to make
you feel you're great at everything. The Cowboys had a
great draft in twenty twenty. That's their last great one.
The Eagles last great was the last four. Their first
two picks last year home run, home run, position of
need corner. They nailed both. I think the minute you

(07:10):
start thinking you can do two to three things exceptionally well,
you get into trouble.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
Bill Belichick.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Six years ago was the greatest coach in the world,
but then he started taking over the draft in personnel,
and New England became the slowest team in the league offensively.
He was toned off to offense as the league pivoted,
and he got rushed out of town and couldn't get
another job. Bill O'Brien, I think a good coach. Houston
Texans made him GMN coach. Bad drafts, trades were worse.

(07:42):
Remember they gave d hop Away for like, you know,
a bag of Doritos, Like it was brutal. And I
think I think the way to do it's the way
Brad Stevens did with the Celtics. Very very good coach,
but he's like, you know, this coaching thing is hard
in a lot of travel, and I love basketball. I'm
just gonna move upstairs be a GM. Eventually, a great

(08:03):
one and give it to the new guy. That's the
way to do it. You're seeing it in college football.
The smart coaches, they don't want to be GM. They
make their school higher.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
One.

Speaker 1 (08:12):
Elon Musk brilliant, dabbled in politics. Tesla stocks still down
fifteen percent. It's hard to just do a bunch of
stuff really well unless you're show hey, O, Tony. The
Cowboys don't draft well. The Cowboys overpay for good players
and they're non existent last couple of years in free agency.

(08:33):
I said this a couple of years ago. How in
the hell could they not pay eight million dollars for
Derrick Henry and the Eagles, with a stacked, often veteran
expensive roster.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Pay for Saquon Barkley. How is that possible?

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Philadelphia is paying their quarterback, a receiver, tight ends, three
offensive linemen, everybody but Jalen carter, linebackers, safeties, and they
still have room. Dallas is like, I don't know if
we can afford I'm not sure if we can afford
eight million to improve the worst running back room in

(09:09):
the league. And they couldn't, and Baltimore could another well
run team, So but you know, sometimes with Dallas it feel.
It feels like nobody's clapped in Dallas since Jason Garrett
I was looking this morning. NFC Championship Game's most recent appearances.
The Bears, Giants, Panthers, Cardinals, Falcons, Saints, Bucks have all

(09:31):
been to a conference championship game, and the Cowboys havenen
since nineteen ninety five. And Jerry will never give up control.
If you don't believe me, believe him.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Listen.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
I gave every frigging thing in my life and then
exposed probably two or three times that to get to
set up here, and I danced with that devilin and
I'm dancing with it a few other times along the way.
So if you think a little bit of what you
write is going to deter me from sitting up here
doing what I want to do, You're wrong. It's just

(10:05):
not going to do it because I've danced with the devil,
the financial devil, and live to tell about it.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
That's the downside to wealth. You convince yourself you're great
at everything. And I mean think about this, justin coaching,
forget personnel. They let Dan Quinn walk to retain Mike McCarthy.
A year later, McCarthy walks off out of Dallas, and
Quinn becomes the coach of the rival and the next
superstar quarterback in the NFC. Coaching, free agency, drafting, developing

(10:38):
the cap, he's convinced he knows how to do all
of it.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
J mac. I am so fired up.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
I saw a quote today somebody recently got an extension,
a contract extension in the NFL.

Speaker 6 (10:54):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
I you know, you and I I think are both
really fascinated to watch JA J.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
McCarthy. We just don't know.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
It feels a little like Jordan Love and Green Bay,
where for two or three years we're like, we're just
not getting video. Everybody said it's great, and then we
saw him and it wasn't great, and then it was
briefly great, and then at the end of the last
year it wasn't great again, and you're like, I don't
know what Jordan Love is.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
Well. I feel like in the same division.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
JJ McCarthy, we saw him in college and then he
got hurt, and then we hear stuff and everybody said
it's great, but then there's other reports that are like, yeah,
this thing may not work out.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
JM. J McCarthy.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Almost ended up on another team in his division, Yeah,
that's coming up next.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 7 (11:53):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 7 (11:58):
We never have enough time to get to everything we
want to get to.

Speaker 6 (12:01):
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 me.

Speaker 7 (12:16):
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 6 (12:20):
Well, it's a Covino 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 Promised.

Speaker 7 (12:34):
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.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
A little harder.

Speaker 7 (12:41):
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.

Speaker 6 (12:44):
There you go, over Promising, and remember you could see
on YouTube, but definitely join us listen Over Promised with
Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or
wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
So one of the things if you're wordscaster and live
in Chicago, people talk Cubs and Bears and I get
this all the time, like, Hey, what do you think
the Bears are going to do? And I keep saying
the same thing. I like the roster, mostly love the coach,
really think the quarterback is talented. I think the family
makes it hard sometimes to operate. It's one of the

(13:18):
poor families, the oldest family that owns an NFL team.
And I've said, I don't really know if Ryan Poles,
who just got an extension, is a great GM. And
I think GM's increasingly in the NBA and the NFL
really matter. There's been just too many misses for my taste.
But this bothered me this morning. So according to The Athletic,
which we lean on a lot, Ryan Poles apparently told

(13:40):
people that he was very close to drafting JJ McCarthy
over Caleb Williams. No mention of Jayden Daniels. Okay, So
the two quarterbacks everybody's unsure of from that class, Caleb
Williams and JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
He loved both. And it's weird.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
Because I said, I mean, we could go find it
in our archive. It's somewhere out there. I said before
the draft, I was not a fan of JJ McCarthy.
He never played from behind. I saw him late in
close games. I didn't think he was great. Can you
play from behind? Can you play without a lead? Can
you play without great protection? Can you play with the

(14:18):
second best coach in the game. Jaden Daniels did his
entire career at Arizona State and LSU. JJ McCarthy never
approved that. At Michigan he had Hard Baugh. That Michigan
team that won the national titles one of the best
college football teams top to bottom talent wise in the.

Speaker 3 (14:34):
Last ten years.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
So Jaden Daniels was more productive in college. He's a
much better athlete. He threw two times as many touchdown
passes in the same number of picks. In fact, JJ
McCarthy is the first first round quarterback taken since Christian
Ponder that never had a three thousand yard passing season
in college and no five hundred yard rushing seasons. But
I also said that, and I've said it before the draft.

(15:00):
I said, Jaden Daniels is going to go to Washington
number two. I was told that we beat everybody on
that by about two weeks. And I said, he's gonna
be He's gonna look like Lamar Jackson. He'll be better
in the pocket as a rookie than Lamar Jackson, but
he won't be quite as electric.

Speaker 3 (15:14):
As a runner.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Check check.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
I didn't think it was a hard comp. I thought
it was an easy one. But all you had to
do was minimal homework to figure out. He was much
more NFL ready than JJ McCarthy. And here's two stats
in fourth quarter in their college career. Jaden Daniels was unbelievable,
arguably in a better conference, sixty five percent completion percentage

(15:39):
to fifty six for JJ McCarthy, three times as many yards,
three times as many total touchdowns in the fourth quarter
in his college career. Oh, by the way, that's what
Jaden was is a rookie in the NFL, A great
bizarrely accomplished fourth quarter quarterback. Okay, how about trailing in

(16:01):
the fourth row overtime. That's the NFL. No blowout wins,
that's the NFL. Jayden Daniels was a significantly better quarterback.
Trailing in college total touchdowns nineteen to three, doubles him
in everything, just minimal homework. You knew he was a
better athlete by watching. You didn't have to go scout
him at the games. You knew he was better in

(16:23):
terms of production. But if you just looked at the
stuff that matters for a college quarterback, how are you
when you trail?

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Because like, that's the NFL.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
John l Way and Brady trailed a lot, Dan Marino
trailed a lot. Peyton, Manning and Mahomes many of his
great early wins, he trailed a lot. Are you good trailing?
And are you good late?

Speaker 3 (16:45):
In games?

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Jaden Daniels was a plus plus in both. JJ McCarthy
was c to C minus in both. So when I
read that Ryan Pols love JJ McCarthy and love Caleb
and there's no mention to Jayden Daniels, I didn't have
a single source of the at least five GMS that

(17:08):
I talked to JJ McCarthy was as good as prog
to prospect as Jaden Daniels, not one. It was five
for five Jaden Daniels, and his comp was an easy comp.
He's not quite as twitchy as Lebar Jackson, the fastest
quarterback in league history, but he's got about seventy five
eighty five percent of that. But it'll be better than
Lamar first couple of years from the pocket. It was

(17:29):
an easy one.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
I knew it.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Every GM I talked to knew it in Chicago, like
the two quarterbacks were still not sure they're any good.
It worries me, it does J mcklanews.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
No, no turn on the news. This is the herd
Line news.

Speaker 5 (17:47):
All right.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
Let's start with Tom Brady, Yes, our colleague here at Fox.

Speaker 8 (17:51):
He published his newsletter yesterday and in it Brady said
I maybe didn't fully know it at the time.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
But I needed some one to look it up.

Speaker 8 (18:00):
Who inspired me to be better and who gave me
a target to aim for?

Speaker 4 (18:05):
And Brady referred to Peyton.

Speaker 8 (18:07):
Manning as his enemy, adding now whatever I see him,
all I can say is thank you. Pretty cool little
newsletter there from Tom Brady, our colleague, you know, in
the moment, you don't realize this stuff, Like right now,
you open the show talking about you know, I felt
something for Michael Jordan. That's nostalgia, you know, from thirty
forty years ago. We're not feeling Lebron because none of

(18:28):
us are present right now. Brady in the moment didn't
realize what Manning was doing for him, and I think
we're kind of missing in the moment just how amazing
Lebron is right now for us here.

Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, I mean, I think most great athletes because they
need inspiration, right because success, you know, success for really
gifted people, it could be messy, it could be Brady.
Success gets kind of repetitive. You need motivators. So I
think I think Peyton Manning was more bad. Who doe
a college? He's from American Football Royalty, Eli Peyton, and

(19:05):
then Eli had beaten Tom Brady. So it's like I
think the Manning family as a whole was like a nemesis.
Eli beat him twice. Peyton beat him light in his
career in New England.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
So I get it.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
Yeah, I'll never forget.

Speaker 8 (19:17):
My parents would tell me, you know, I would read
the sports page every morning before going to school. My
parents like, you got to read other stuff. You've got
to read the business and the news. I'm like, I
don't care about that stuff. I only care about sports.

Speaker 5 (19:30):
You know.

Speaker 4 (19:30):
At that time, I'm like, guys, you don't know what
you're talking about. I wish I had done a little
more of that, Colin, although it has kind of sort
of served me well. Anyways, Let's go to the Cincinnati
Bengals and their owner.

Speaker 8 (19:42):
He has met with the media about this Trey Hendrickson
contract situation, and the owner of the Bengals said it's
been a long negotiation. Trey Hendrickson is a fine player.

Speaker 4 (19:53):
He's a good guy. We want him here.

Speaker 8 (19:55):
Dealing with him is sometimes not so easy, and that's
all right. He's got the right to argue his case.
We know Hendrickson isn't at camp after he posted on
his ig story down in Florida. Colin, you've been bagging
on the Bengals here for a little while now, and
this is just more.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
Fuel to the fire.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, I will say this, and you know this to
be true, is that Joe Burrow last year, and we
credit Joe Burrow for this.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
Joe Burrow last year was.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
Consistently unhappy with a franchise, confronting his coach in the
locker room at press conferences. And I've said before is
I do feel like of all the great quarterbacks in
the league, he's a little trapped. He said, he's got
a very frugal ownership. They got one of the smaller

(20:49):
scouting departments. They're also in a division with arguably the
best run football operation in the league, the Baltimore Ravens.
Many many people in this league may not say it
public they don't want pushback, but think the Ravens are
the best run operation in the league, top to bottom,
owner down, and so it kind of exacerbates or illuminates

(21:10):
the Bengals cheapness.

Speaker 3 (21:11):
If the Bengals were.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
In the AFC South with the dysfunctional Jags, you know
what I mean, or the Colts that can't find the
right quarterback, the mostly dysfunctional Texans the last twenty years,
I think we would think differently. But you put them
in a division with the Ravens and the mostly well
run Steelers, and you look up and it highlights that
you can't get Joe Burrow the right stuff around. I mean,

(21:34):
just like, when's the last contract that wasn't a battle publicly,
do they have any easy ones.

Speaker 8 (21:39):
While their first round pick is not signed. They drafted
him with the thought that he will replace Hendrickson should
he not return, and the guy's not signed, Like, it's
just it's embarrassing at this point. I know Bengals fans
are really dug in and they're defending their owner.

Speaker 4 (21:54):
But we had TJ.

Speaker 8 (21:55):
Housrazana on here who was just he played for the
Bengals and talked about the cheap the owner, And here
it is still an issue so many years later, Colin,
I'm still bad for Bengals fans. We can wrap up
with sho Hey Otani in Major League Baseball took to
the mound yesterday, gave up his first home run of
the year, which put the Twins up one nothing. Then

(22:17):
Otani steps to the plate and he hits his thirty
fifth home run of the season to give his team
to lead back Otani, how about this, Colin, first player
since nineteen seventy nine to give up a home run
and hit a home run in the same minute.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
Forty six years. The guy just keeps doing really cool,
unique things.

Speaker 8 (22:36):
And Dodgers get the dub against Minnesota.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Yeah, they had lost ten of their last twelve. They
have pitching injuries. Mookie Batts is going through a slump
like he never has in his entire career.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
J Mack with the News, Well.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
That's the news, and thanks for stopping by the herd
Line News.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
I saw something this morning, the athletic rank the top
twenty five. This is really interesting most valuable college football programs,
and the top ten was Texas by a mile in
terms of average football revenue per year and projected price

(23:17):
of the program. So the Texas Longhorns program would be
worth about two point four billion dollars and it drives
one hundred and eighty three million dollars. So for our
radio audience, I'm not going to read all of these,
but Georgia drives annually one hundred and forty seven million,
you know, Notre Dame one hundred forty three million, Michigan

(23:38):
one hundred forty million. Of the top ten programs, they
put USC eighth. Look at the average revenue in La
County half of Georgia seventy one million. Utah, Utah, Minnesota

(23:59):
and Iowa football drive more revenue than USC football in
Los Angeles. And he gives you some sense. The California
economy is the fifth biggest in the world. If La County,
where USC is located at, if La County was a country,
just La County, not Orange County, not Ventura County, La

(24:22):
County was a country, nineteenth biggest economy in the world.
And they drive less football revenue than Utah. And this
goes to something that for years and years people always
worry about market size and sports passion. Trump's market size.

(24:42):
Us SE is an incredibly distracted market.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Even in the.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
NFL, Packers great franchise, the Chicago's, the Atlantas, the two
New York franchises mostly last twenty years, but been a mess.
Go to Nashville on a Saturday morning, I've been there.
I mean, go to the Gate Meansville on Wednesday, people
are already parking and tailgaming. So and it's also, you know,
there's an old saying in politics. It's an interesting saying.

(25:10):
Democrats fall in love. Conservatives fall in line. They don't
get distracted, They find their candidate and they defend them.
They get in line. Democrats, guy has a great speech.
They fall in love. They don't agree with everything, they
fall out of love. Very emotional and I've said this
with college football got to be more like a Republican

(25:33):
fall in line. Don't worry about the rowing team, don't
worry about who else is doing well. If you want
to be a college football power, it's all football.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
You gotta lean in.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
And USC is highly political and highly distracted, and is
very concerned about all the programs getting theirs.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
That doesn't drive revenue.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Utah, Iowa and Minnesota drive more football revenue than USC.
And here's and people are talking about their twenty twenty
six recruiting class. Those guys aren't even on campus yet.
You can buy high school players and tweak your ratings
right now. The preseason All Big Ten teams came out

(26:19):
this morning. The first team All Big Ten offense, Indiana guy,
to Iowa guys, a Northwestern guy, No Trojans.

Speaker 3 (26:31):
The defense.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Another Indiana guy, and another Indiana guy, and another Indiana guy,
and to Iowa guys and a Minnesota guy and an
Illinois player.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
No USC trojans.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
California economy fourth biggest in the world, new facility. When
you're donors and your boosters have a lot of agendas
and a lot of egos, and they're very distract that
is the great thing about college football New York Chicago
and right now LA don't have a power. Utah drives

(27:11):
more revenue. Madison, Wisconsin drives more revenue for their football program.
So and it's just really interesting is that we keep
waiting for this program to rebound and Lincoln Riley's been there.

Speaker 3 (27:27):
What now this will be year four? They don't have
a single player.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
And I think Camari Ramsey the safety is a really
good player. Elijah Page left tackle, really good player. Maybe
they can buy for Big ten honors. Year four. Not
a single player offense or defense, all Big ten Indiana,
It's got four. I always got four.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
No Trojans.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
So again it's this always this fear about big market passion,
Trump's passion, Trump's market size, passion, Trump's money. By the way, Texas,
they don't have a lot of They don't have a
lot of national championships.

Speaker 3 (28:11):
Take out vinj.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Young, they don't have a lot of natties. By the way, Texas, Austin,
Texas music scene, food scene, football a little bit distracted
a lot of a lot of billionaire big donors, pulling, pushing,
grabbing agendas. Yeah, Clemson didn't have a lot of those
Alabama didn't have a lot of those. Georgia didn't have

(28:32):
a lot of those. That is really interesting the ten
most valuable programs. Look at how little the average revenue
at usc IS. Isn't that crazy? By the way, they
could have three hundred million average revenue. But it's a
very distracted environment and a very political environment.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
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Speaker 2 (29:19):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non a em Pacific.

Speaker 8 (29:24):
Saturday, it's a baseball night in America and it's showtime
as Shoe Otani leads the Dodgers against the Red Sox,
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Speaker 1 (29:39):
I think one of the really of all the positions
in football, the hardest position to draft in the first
round is wide receiver. Statistically over the last twenty years,
there's more busts. I have a theory on that that
wide receiver is a it's an ego position, and it's

(29:59):
hard to ego before somebody's in the building, even if
you have sources. And so there are more first round
wide receiver busts over the last twenty years than any position.
And I've told GM friends this, I would almost never
draft a wide receiver in the first round, very few exceptions.
Calvin Johnson was just Randy Moss just look different because

(30:23):
it's an ego position, and I'd rather they have to
fight their way to impress people. Amor On Saint Brown
fourth round, Pokin Nakoupa fifth round, Cooper Cup third round.
There's so many great receivers, second, third, fourth, fifth round.
I mean Jennings, Juwan Jennings for the forty nine ers,
is they're only receiver that's overachieved. Wasn't he a six
or a seventh round pick? So it's an ego position.

(30:44):
There are certain positions I would always draft in the
first round. Offensive tackle almost all, probably twenty eight of
thirty five of the great tackles of all time have
been drafted in the first round. The latest is Tristan Wurks,
who will go down as an all timer. Lane Johnson.
It's just that just generally where you get, there's only
so many people are six seven three point thirty with
great feet. But I always think it's interesting with quarterbacks.

(31:07):
More and more quarterbacks. It's always been about a fifty
percent hit rate in the first round. I think it's
getting to be a little bit higher than that. But
when you bail on a guy, because quarterback is so valuable,
I can see giving a running back another year, or
a pass rusher or a or a tight end. But

(31:28):
if you're wrong at quarterback, shouldn't you just bail? Anthony
Richardson's a great example. Now he's only twenty three years
old and he only started one year at Florida, so
it's very inexperienced.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
But it doesn't work at all.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
He has had a top ten run game, better than
average O line, excellent offensive coach. He's getting worse, like
it's it's again. Josh Allen started slow, got really interesting, popped.
You can't go backwards, so it's interesting. Arizona moved off
Josh Rosen after one year.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
They were right. Pittsburgh moved off Kenny Pickett after two.
They were right. Niners moved off Trey Lance very early.
They were right.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Cleveland moved off Johnny Manziel eight starts, they were right.
Eagles signed Carson Wentz, then moved off him quickly.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
They were right.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
When you try to validate your draft pick, like the
Jags with Lake Bortles or the Giants with Daniel Jones,
that is when you get into trouble.

Speaker 3 (32:28):
You're lying to yourself, right, You're like trying to validate
your pick.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
And I look at Anthony Richardson and he went from
fifty nine percent completion percentage. Then the NFL defensive coordinator's
got video on him. He's down to forty seven percent.
That's the lost of any quarterback in twenty five years
with fifteen starts. Right, So call the lawyers, get the
paperwork ready. It's divorced time. Like, I just don't think
it works. I know he's young, but I just don't

(32:55):
think it works. There was a game last year against
Houston one he hit his best throw as a pro,
seventy yards over the top. He stumbled, he was and
the kids got to By all accounts, he's a nice guy.
He kind of he got in the pressure. You see
it here, he stumbled out, he let it, let it
go right on the money. But it's not that he
misses on throws. Same game against Houston, he misses short

(33:19):
throws badly, like he's not remotely close. So it's it's
one of those things where you know a movie can't
just be about one great scene. You know you gotta
have even in the middle. You can be slow for
about ten minutes, but you got to make the story
arcs connect. When you see that seventy yard throw, you

(33:42):
could argue that Drew Brees couldn't make that throw in Peyton,
Manning and Tom Brady aren't making that throw, but they're consistent.
And I think with Anthony richardson every other position in football,
I am more than willing to give outside of maybe
left tackle, the guy can play or he can't, I'll
give you another year. But at quarterback, you're everybody's kind
of tied to it, and I think you get into

(34:03):
a situation right now in Indianapolis with Jonathan Taylor, Shane
Steikn good old line, weak division, it's getting worse. I'm
not even mentioning the incident last year when he took
himself out of a game, which I've never seen anything
like that in the history of the NFL for a quarterback.
I don't even I didn't even have a strong opinion.

(34:25):
I'm like, yeah, that doesn't work. That's not going to
engender yourself to your teammates. So, I mean, the Colts
ended the season last year, the offensive line was twelfth.
They were given him protection. You've got a good run game,
You've got a brilliant offensive guy who made Jalen Hurts
an MVP level quarterback, who had Justin Herbert as a rookie,

(34:47):
and he broke every rookie quarterback mark, and his kid's
going backwards.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
So I think at some point you got to ask
yourself that question.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
I want to go back to the story that we
started the show where Lebron James was not willing to
take a mid level exception, but John Hollinger said there
were whispers around the league that he should strongly consider,
and he did going to Dallas. Now, I've said before,
I think Dallas is a much better situation going forward
than the Lakers. Who's your best young player for the Lakers,

(35:16):
It's Austin Reeves. For the Mavericks. It's Cooper Flag not close.
Who's your best big? DeAndre Ayton or Anthony Davis. Better
coach Dallas, better bench Dallas, more size Dallas. Not to
mention Lebron has played with Kyrie Irving and a d

(35:37):
And I said this, You could make a move to
get Lebron in Dallas. You could give up three first
round picks, which the Lakers would take. They may not
be great first round picks. They want draft capital. You
could give him two different bigs Gafford, PJ Washington, throwing,
Klay Thompson, maybe a Max Christie. You got a real team.
So and I think it comes back, and it's funny

(36:00):
with Lebron and Rich Paul keeps saying it's about winning.
But to me, there's a reason Brady took pay cuts
and Tim Duncan took pay cuts. They just wanted to
win more. They told you by what they were taking,
they were willing they wanted to win more. I think
it's fascinating that Lebron's made almost as much as anybody
in league history. I don't begrudge him one second, but

(36:23):
it's twenty twenty five. I mean, you could argue from
business standpoint, it doesn't matter. Lebron was going to come
to California. He was going to do all the Hollywood stuff.
It hasn't meant anything. I mean Hollywood, Chevron's left, in
and Out, Burgers left, Tesla's left, Hollywood's left, Oracles left.
If business in Texas right now is hummon, it's just
fine because part of the reason he came to LA.

(36:45):
Remember when he came to LA, it was not a
good roster, it was not a good organization. I mean,
Genie Buss was one of the least wealthy owners. Kobe's
last five years, it was the worst record in the NBA,
worse than Carolina, worse than Washington. So there was a
lot of talk He's going there for business, Well what business?

(37:06):
How many movies he in? I mean, they've got businesses
all over California leaving. So I just think it's really interesting.
There's an executive that came out in Hoops Wire is
reporting one NBA exec said why didn't he join Cleveland?
He made quote, he made a mistake. I'm not going
to sit here and tell somebody not to take fifty million.

(37:27):
But Lebron's a billionaire man, said the NBA exec. I'll
argue Cleveland and Dallas are championship teams with Lebron. And
here's the other thing. Yes, you get Luca in Los Angeles.
He's a great offensive player. Let me repeat that, he's
a great offensive player. There is a caveat with Luca.
He'll never be committed to defense. He'll never be an

(37:50):
elite defensive player or even very good. And he is
much more ball centric than anybody on Dallas, including Kyrie Irving.
Luca needs the ball. He's not nearly as an effective
player off ball. He needs the ball and should have
it at this point Lebron's career. So I think it's
really it's just an interesting story that John Hollinger, who's

(38:12):
somebody that is tied into the league, said there were
whispers around the league about Lebron. He was looking at
Dallas and he decided against it. And the reasoning here
is he would not take a mid level.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
Exception.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
It's like, I mean, Michael Jordan was underpaid the first
nine years of his career. He's making a really bad
contract early. So not to mention Texas no state tax,
California's thirteen three. If you care about that stuff, I mean,
you know, Lebron. I'm sure cares someone about it, but
most billionaires do. Lebron has made five hundred and twenty
eight million in just NBA contracts. That's got to be tops, right,

(38:53):
That tops all time, has to be tops. I mean,
if you add this year's contract, that has to be
tops in NBA history. So the Dallas thing, it is tops.

Speaker 8 (39:02):
Yah.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
For a while, it was Kevin Garnett that then it
was Kobe Bryant. Now it's Lebron. So I don't know,
I've don't you. Jmck think that is like the idea.
And again I'm not here to mess with the guy's money.
But when you're the highest paid guy in the history
of a sport and you can move to your hometown

(39:25):
or an incredibly business friendly state where you could play
with Kyrie ad a better coach and the great domestic star.
And here's the thing with Lebron. Whenever Lebron goes somewhere,
even though Cooper Flagg is we're all very excited when
Lebron moves to a team. For the first two years,
it doesn't matter if he's the best player or not.
He's the most interesting part of the team. Dwayne Wade

(39:47):
May had the keys of the city. It was Lebron's team.

Speaker 4 (39:50):
I got it.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
Listen.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
I don't want to be conspiracy theory guys. So I
did read the article this morning.

Speaker 8 (39:55):
I saw it, so then I just went back to
it about three minutes ago, and the article has been
wiped off the internet.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
Now, that could just be my phone and my computer.

Speaker 8 (40:03):
But I wonder, I mean, Colin, the idea of Lebron
going from fifty two to a mid level exception kind
of sort of lunacy. There's zero chance he was doing that, right,
Why on earth would he take that much money less?
I mean, Michael Jordan remember at the end, demanded to
be the highest paid player in the league. I'm sure
you remember those days. He was like making like thirty something, which.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
The Lebron is a lot.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yeah, Michael made ninety three million playing. Yeah, Lebron's made
almost six hundred.

Speaker 8 (40:29):
Again, it's ninety three million in nineteen ninety was, you know,
a metric ton of money.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
But I.

Speaker 4 (40:38):
Colin, you're not as competitive as me.

Speaker 8 (40:42):
You know, I do sports and I like try to
stack my teams and win all these championships. There, No,
that's not me, right now, Why would Lebron not want
to play with a friends and.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
Be on a sack team. Why would you want to
be on a bad team.

Speaker 8 (40:55):
Like the idea that, yeah, you got Cooper Flag and
my guy Kyrie and my guy.

Speaker 4 (40:59):
Ady, can we link up? How can I get over there?

Speaker 8 (41:02):
I'm sure that crossed his mind, But the reality is
there was no chance that was ever happening, right none.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
I don't know. I just these new owners were the Lakers.
They got their eye on re signing Luca.

Speaker 3 (41:17):
It's very odd.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
I mean, Lebron's made a lot of business decisions. He
is the ultimate NBA opportunist and I will defend that
to the ends of the earth. I have no problem
with mobility. Cleveland couldn't get him good players. Miami got
old really fast. He went to the Lakers. They that
was a business move because they weren't the best. They
didn't have the best roster. There were were many able.

(41:39):
They were horrible. But I don't think LA's paid him off.
I mean, think about it, where all the movies would
have been done?

Speaker 4 (41:48):
Is it yet to hand pick the coach and his
sons on the team.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
How's that worked?

Speaker 4 (41:52):
I don't know. They were third seed in the West,
I mean, Bronni's in the NBA. That's exciting.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
Couldn't have done that in plea one couldn't do that
Dallas really, Nick Wright, Ryan Day both Next

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Hour mm hmm
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