June 6, 2025 • 43 mins
It's time to put some respect on Haliburton's name
Dawn Staley with big praise for Caitlin Clark
More on the Steelers signing Aaron Rodgers
Guest: Mike DeFabo
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
We're back our number two here on a Friday, Spicy Friday,
Oh Boy, final day in for Colin Coward. He's back
on Monday. I think fifty percent of the audience is
probably excited Alex. The other fifty second No, no, jamac
you're crushing, You're killing people, You're starting bus fires. Cam
Newton's screaming at you on Instagram, Jamap.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Your confidence is unmatched, and I know it's that you.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Tyrese Halibert. He's gotten the confidence. I'm trying to match him.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
We're literally watching him.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Become a star in front of our eyes, like in
this playoff run, and it's so beautiful because this is
where stars are born. He either rise to the occasion
great players become superstars, or you kind of just like shrink.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Like SGA Live so not any Mike de Fabo coming
on aired about five minutes to talk about Aaron Rodgers
and the Steelers. I asked him, what is over under
on Rogers versus Arthur Smith. We'll say that answer for
we talked to him in five minutes. But I need
to start the top of our number two with just
some positive talk about Tyre's Halliburton. I mean, he's the man.
(01:36):
What can I say like? Tyre's Haliburton is cool. He's dripping,
as the kids say, He's so drippy with Aura right now.
Another game winner. He took down my mix, took down
the Cavs and the Bucks, which is unprecedented, historic run
of clutchness, and our staff came up with an unbelievable graphic. Folks,
this is career. This is playoffs and regular season. Most
(02:01):
game tying or go ahead field goals made in the
final five seconds since nineteen ninety seven, so we're going
back twenty eight years. Lebron obviously number one. Tyrese Haliburton
is tied with Kobe and Reggie Miller, and Tyrese has
four of those this postseason. This is uncharted territory. Obviously
(02:22):
Lebron's played you know twenty one seasons. Terrey saliber is
still a young guy. He's still in his thirties. Postseason
only this is just historic stuff. We really haven't seen it.
Here's Tyrese on his clutchness after last Sidees game.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
Yeah, a lot of confidence in me to make push outs.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I don't know what you say about it.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
I just know that this group is a resilient group,
and you know, we don't give up to zero o'clock.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So we were trying to come up with, like, what's
like an equivalent of this. This guy literally has come
out of nowhere. Okay, he was on the Sacramento Kings
a few years ago. They traded him for Sabonis. I
wonder how many casual basketball fans know Tyrese Haliburton was
on the Olympic team last year. He's like end of
the bench guy, didn't really play a lot, didn't wasn't
(03:07):
a story like Jason Tatum didn't play after winning the
title and it was like a big deal. Tyre's Aliberton
went to the Eastern Commerce Finals, got swept by Tatum,
didn't play and it wasn't a big deal. So I
don't know if he used that as fuel to get
back this season. John Hollinger said that, you know, he
had some kind of injury and that carried over a
(03:27):
little bit to the season. But he's made a jump
to light speed here this season. And someone came up,
this is just so good. So you guys saw the
movie Top Gun Maverick. Obviously great movie. I saw the cinema.
I was like, this is better than the first Top Gun.
It was awesome, and it was Tom Cruise and Miles Teller.
(03:48):
But a guy came out of nowhere to steal the show,
and that was Glenn Powell. You know, ripped big dude,
and all of a sudden, Glenn Powell in the next
like two years, is in like fifteen movies. He's what
see it, Sidney Sweeney in a movie that's not terrible.
It's a rom com, but it's not bad. He was
in Twisters, that movie made him a star. He's in
Top Gun Maverick, and then Boom.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
He's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And I feel like Tyrese Haliburton this postseason. I mean,
he's last two months. You know, I would not be
surprised to see him like on the cover of People
magazine here this summer. Tyrese Haliburton in the NBA's Next
Big Star. His dad kind of sort of wacky getting
ejected from the stadium for getting in Giannis's face. Oh look,
Tyrese Haliburton dating a very attractive girl. Look at that relationship.
(04:33):
Look at him hit and game one each other. Like
he is becoming one of these dudes where it's like,
is he I'm not gonna go face in the NBA.
And yes there's a whirl where the thunder get dusted
here or dust the pacers for one, and Haliburton's forgotten.
I just don't see that happening. Tyrese Haliburton has all
the qualities. We called him Halliburkele earlier because he's a
(04:57):
little nerdy, reminding people of Steve Rkele. You got a
graphics team, Oh yeah, baby, Steve Erkele, basketball legend on
family matters. If you're under like twenty five, you have
no idea what I'm talking about. But there it is,
Steve Rkele doing it up on Chet Holmdred. Oh they
did Chet dirty. There did him dirty. But Tarry's Alibert.
I'm a fan. I'm a fan fan. You know, I
(05:19):
might need to get a Haliburton Jersey this offseason. All right,
let's bring in Mike de Fabo, Steelers beat writer for
The Athletic, to talk. First of all, Mike, did you
happen to watch the game last underne You just all
about Aaron Rodgers and the big news that happened yesterday
for the Steelers.
Speaker 7 (05:38):
Well, it's kind of funny because I was watching the
game and I was so tired by the end of
it that I went to sleep right when it got interesting.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
So Pacers fans, maybe you don't want me watching the
rest of the series.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Wow, Oh man, it was a draining day. Tell me
about it. So we've been hearing reports for I don't
know three four months that Rogers was coming to the
Steelers and then it's like, no, maybe we'll see and
yesterday at all crescendo. Tell me what your day was
like with Rogers.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Well, it makes perfect sense that happened now, because, believe
it or not, I'm on vacation with my family and
so of course the most inconvenient time is when the
biggest news will break. But it's good and it provides
some finality because I don't think I can emphasize enough
what it does to a fan. Basis psyche to go
through the offseason not knowing who the quarterback is going
(06:25):
to be. And this whole offseason began with should the
Steelers sign Russell Wilson or Justin Fields? Because the president
of the team and the owner, Art Rudy, right after
the year said he preferred one of those two candidates.
And so it went from that discussion to just the indecision.
And I think people now, even if they have their
doubts about what Aaron Rodgers can do at forty one
(06:45):
years old and coming off of the Achilles injury a
couple of years ago, they're happy just to have an
answer and to finally stop talking about if he's going
to be the quarterback and now start talking about what
can he do as the Steelers quarter Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Well, Mike, first of all is major shout out for
the vacation appearance. Can I ask if it's like a
beach in the Caribbean, a lake house? How did the
wife take it when you said, Hey, hey, I gotta
go talk Steelers and Rogers on TV. Sorry, Yeah, we're
at the Ocean isle.
Speaker 7 (07:13):
And the only reason is this week is because my
little sister lives in London and it's very difficult to find.
There's four siblings in my family to get everybody together. Thankfully,
my wife, believer or not, is also in the business.
She works for local NBC affiliate and does a lot
of broadcasting, so she needs all about it and very supportive.
But yeah, everyone's at the beach right now and I'm
(07:35):
chilling inside talking Steelers.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, get used to it, Mike. I mean, listen, Aaron
Rodgers comes with baggage nonsense like as I'm a diehard
Jets fan and I had to deal with this crap
the last two years. He loves to talk about a
bunch of nonsense. I will just say this, the Jets
gave him everything he wanted. You want the oc you
want wide receivers, you want this that Steelers have not
really done that yet. I'm curious your take, or do
(07:59):
we see Rogers start bringing in his guys.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Well, the one.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
Area that I think that they could add his guys
as that wide receiver. Obviously, the Steelers this offseason went
out and acquired DK Metcalf, a blockbuster type of move
that really is a philosophical shift for a team that,
for the fourth consecutive year is going to lead the
league in defensive spending. They went and they paid big
money to a marquee wide receiver, but then a couple
of weeks later, months later, they turned around and trade
(08:25):
George Pickens. And so last year the season really came
undone and went into a tailspin when George Pickens got hurt,
and for basically the whole year people were ask him
Who's number two? Then the question was, are any of
these guys capable of stepping up in d number one?
So now that they have Aaron Rodgers, they know he's here.
Alan Lazard would make sense. He's worked with him, he
(08:46):
has that familiarity, you know, Kyle Pitts or another tight
end like John why Smith may make sense because within
Arthur Smith's offense, they love that tight end position. Arthur
Smith loves guys who played for him. So in some
form or fashion, I think the Steelers will find a
way to add a playmaker. Where that comes in the
form of a wide receiver or a tight end remains
to be seen. But I think there is a desire.
(09:06):
If you're bringing in a veteran like Aaron Rodgers, the
Steelers want to give him the best possible opportunity to
surround him with playmakers.
Speaker 6 (09:13):
To do everything they can to make a run this year.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
All right, So Steelers lose Naj Harris in the offseason.
Jalen Warren was there, but he was at the starter. Okay,
they lose Pickens or starting wide receiver that they got
a new number two receiver, I Broughderick Jones. I don't
remember how many games he started left tackle, But there's
a lot of newness quarterback, receiver, running back. Should we
expect some growing pains early for the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Well what they had done previously.
Speaker 7 (09:39):
I think this is going to be the biggest thing
to iron out, is what's the identity of this offense?
Because when they brought in Arthur Smith, he's one of
the most run heavy offensive coordinators in the league. And
last year the Steelers ran the ball fourth most. And
now they bring in a quarterback who had the second
most passing attempts.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
So what do you want to be?
Speaker 7 (09:57):
Are you old skull, ground and pound Steelers foot or
are you a quick, precise passing game that would more
so fit the identity of Aaron Rodgers And I think
finding the marriage between those two and integrating these new
pieces is going to be key, and if I had
to guess, I think they're going to lean a bit
more towards the run game. They just also drafted Killed
Johnson out of Iowa, who fits Arthur Smith's scheme, is
(10:17):
a great outside zone runner, So you know, they're kind
of doing what they did last year with Russell Wilson.
It feels very similar, where they say we have the
high stayed defense, we think that they give us a
certain floor. Now what we're looking for is can this
veteran take what's been an unstable position at quarterback and
give us just something better than what we've got to
(10:39):
push us over over the edge. And really the hope
is can you win a playoff game for the first
time in eight years? Because that draft has been weighing
on the fans and they're very hungry for some postseason success.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
So I'm not sure if the audience heard it the
way I did. It sounds like we're shaping up as
a potential tug of war between Rogers and Smith. What's
their identity going to be? And it kind of reminds
me of when Brady went to Tampa. Remember him and
the head coach arians they kind of had different views
than after the bye week, they get on the site.
(11:13):
I guess they played golf during the byeek or something
happened like that, and boom, next thing you know, boom,
Tom Brady, I guess got his way and they go
on to win the Super Bowl. Rogers is kind of
older and set in his ways. I don't know. Is
there an oil and water situation shaping up here.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Well.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
One thing that concerns me a bit is at the
end of last season, there was some friction between Arthur
Smith and Russell Wilson based on how often Russell Wilson
could change the play at the line of scrimmage. And
that's the central piece of what Aaron Rodgers does. He
has all these complex hand signals that he wants his
guys to run to learn, and he wants him to
run very precise, detailed routes, and so I think that
(11:52):
could be something that.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
They really need to iron out.
Speaker 7 (11:55):
I think that maybe one of the biggest early things
they need to figure out is how much freedom are
we giving Aaron Rogers. Are we going to say you
are a four time MVP, you are a Super Bowl champion,
you go run the show, do your thing, Aaron. Because
that's why we brought you here, or do they say, look,
you're forty one years old. Let's both acknowledge that you're
not your prime anymore. Can we run a more simple,
(12:18):
more conservative type of offense? And really that's been Mike
Tomlin's calling card recently is he's all about turnover battle
and through OTA's numerous players said that he put stats up,
he put clips up saying this is how the Pittsburgh
Steelers win football games. We don't turn the football over
and we take the football away. So are they going
(12:39):
to go with that identity or are they willing to
be a bit.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
More risk averse. Those are all the things that I
think they need to figure out early in order to
have success.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Let me ask you, Mike, is that a little antiquated?
I mean, I thought offense wins in the modern era, like, hey,
let's be conservative and not turn them all over and
win with defense, Like I mean, many years without a
playoff lind do you have to go before thinking and
the same working?
Speaker 7 (13:05):
Well, that's been a frustration of the fan base, no
doubt is there have been times where the offense, really
before Arthur Smith especially, was more we're going to play
not to lose rather than we're going to play to win.
Speaker 6 (13:19):
And there's been repeated frustrations.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
About the Steelers not throwing the ball over the middle
of the field. For example, the Steelers again running the
football fourth most in the league last year. So I
think that Aaron will at least bring a little bit
of the over the middle stuff because he wasn't. You know,
I think it was six point six air yards per
attempt last year, which is pretty low. But he does
(13:42):
throw the ball over the middle, and that would fit
DK metcalf in terms of those slants and in breaking
routes and things of that nature. So you know, there
is going to have to be a discussion here and
they're going to have to figure out who what is
this offense going to be because truth be told, the
offense has been holding back a defense since been near
championship mber for years. This defense was completed in twenty
(14:03):
nineteen when they traded for MIKEA. Fitzpatrick and it came
together just in time to give an aging Ben Roethlisberger
one last chance to make a run and do something.
Now that defense is risking aging out before accomplishing anything
of its own. You know, Cam Hayward's getting older, he's
been healthy and in uniform for one playoff win.
Speaker 6 (14:22):
CJ.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
Watson line for his third contract, never won a playoff game.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
MIKEA.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
Fitzpatrick, who you know, he's in his late twenties, never
won a playoff game. So that is something that very
much motivates Mike Palmlin. He wants to get Cameron Hayward
that gold jacket, and he wants to get him that
Lombardi Trophy. And really that's I think that's a big
reason why they brought in a veteran because they felt
that gave him the best opportunity to capitalize on this
(14:46):
current window with this defense.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Yeah, Steelers fans hated me last summer when I said,
if I'm Pittsburgh, I don't think Russell Fields is getting
you any anywhere near the super Bowl. I would trade TJ.
Watt for a hole. And they went after me, and
then Pittsburgh started out hot, and I look like an idiot.
I forgot what has zero playoff wins? That's incredible. So
do you think that they've held on to him too
(15:09):
long and they should look to off load him or
would that kill this defensive strategy that Tolmlan has.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
I don't think that they would do that just because
they still could say we are the Pittsburgh Steelers, and
for the owner Art Rooney, it is important to play
defensive football and TJ is like the ultimate Steeler and
I think that right now he's in the middle of
a contract dispute and we're gonna have to see if
(15:36):
he reports to mandatory mini camp on Tuesday. That's going
to become the next big story in Pittsburgh is what
happens with TJ. Watt and Omarcan, at least on the record,
has said that he wants TJ to finish his career
as a Steeler.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
TJ had said previously he wants to finish as.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
A Steeler, but Omarkan is a tough negotiator, he really is,
and they're not going to just give in to the demands.
The other tough thing is the Steelers one of the
biggest rivals, the Cleveland Browns didn't do them any favors
when they just handed Miles Garrett a forty million a
year contract.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
Right now, TJ's making twenty eight.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
He's going to get a big pay raise, and it's
going to probably be right in that ballpark. So I
imagine it's going to come down to guaranteed money. I
think they will get it done. My guess, and there's
just a guess, is that it's going to get done sometime.
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Early in training camp.
Speaker 7 (16:26):
I think we could be talking about a hold in
situation if they aren't. If they are, you know, if
they don't get things done. But I still believe that
both sides want this to work, and I think that
they ultimately will find a middle ground.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
All Right, my two quick ones. Number one, let's just
say worst case scenario, this kind of spirals. They're four
and eight. Could Mike Tomlin be in jeopardy here? Has
he pushed for Rogers to the point like, hey man,
this is on you. If this screws up.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
If this were another organization, and if this was another
head coach, I would say absolutely, because we saw that
same thing unfold last year. And it's kind of interesting
because the assistant general manager, Omar Khan, his best friend
in the business is Joe Douglas, who just lost his
job because he believed too much in Aaron Rodgers and
now here the Steelers are basically doing the same thing.
(17:16):
But you know, Mike Tomlin has turn left on his contract,
and he has. When you win a Super Bowl when
you've never had a losing season, that builds up enough
equity within the organization that I would frankly be shocked
if they were to move on from him after this year,
just because, like, let's remember how long for them to
move on from Matt Canada, who had nowhere near the qualifications,
(17:40):
because they're just patient. This is the franchise that has
had three head coaches since nineteen sixty nine. I don't
think they're gonna have a new head coach next year.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
And lastly, Week one Steelers at My Jets. Steelers I
believe are a three point favorite. Rogers facing his old team,
Justin Fields facing his old team. Too early for a
prediction there, Mike, It.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
May be a bit early. I would rather see both
offenses in training camp. But it does create a fascinating
narrative here because initially the Steelers' first.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Plan was to go with Justin Fields this year, and.
Speaker 7 (18:16):
Because of either they got out bid by the Jets
or Justin was soured on the way that you know,
his tenure as a starter ended. He was four and
two when he was benched for Russell Wilson. Whatever the reason.
You have to ask Justin Fields why he chose to
go elsewhere. He's not a Pittsburgh Steeler right now, and
that was if he had chosen Pittsburgh, we wouldn't be
talking right now because that was their first choice.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
So really it's like, you know, the opportunity. You know,
you broke up. Now you're with a.
Speaker 7 (18:44):
New girl and you get to show right in front
of them.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
You know, I have a better situation now.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
So we'll see which one of the two quarterbacks is
ended up talking like that after this game.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
All right, Mike Defebo the Athletic covers the Steelers say, Man,
thanks for check in on vacation. Enjoy the rest of it.
I mean, you're gonna get Aaron Rodgers all summer. That's
much more fun than vacation, can't you get.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Yeah, I may need another vacation after next season because
I'm sure there's gonna be a lot to talk about
and plenty of drama.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Thank you so much for having me on the show.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
January. Steelers not gonna be in the playoffs. You can
you can take another.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Here we go, I'll book it for then.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
All right. Coming up next here on the Herd was
the Tibbs firing months in the making. Alex Curry has
a new report on the next we'll talk about that next.
We all want to feel completely safe after locking up
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(19:45):
simply Safe system with professional monitoring and your first month
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Speaker 2 (19:57):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nine am Pacific.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Back here on the Herd. Oh, we got a Kitlyn
Clark uptack coming in twenty ish minutes. Alex Curry with
the news.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Turn on the news. This is the Herd.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Line News or right j macer Starting In the NBA,
Chris Paul spoke yesterday about his future, and the Spurs
are not expected to re sign Paul, and Paul said
any decision about where he plays next year comes with
his family first. He three said he's lived away from
his family for the past six seasons and he wants
to be back near them in his Los Angeles home.
(20:41):
So let's break down a situation here. Right, He's forty
years old, he's a free agent. Last season, he played
all eighty two games with the Spurs. He's only done
that twice in his career, so most likely probably not
going to play all eighty two games next season forever
he lands and ends up. It obviously wasn't a great
(21:05):
Spurs We're not a great team last year, but he did. Okay,
what's next?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
What what's next? I got out he's gonna sandbag me
and be like, oh, another old guy on the Lakers. No, no,
I don't Lakers. The crypt crypto dot COM's turning into
a retirement home, Lebron. I'm a Lakers fan. What are
you talking about?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is a great move.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I mean in this in the meeting this morning, guys
were taking shots at the Lakers and this being a
bad move. I'm like, well, last year we had Gabe
Vincent coming off the bench. Yeah, you know the Chris
pauls it upright over, gave Vincent for.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Fifteen minutes, and I he he and Lebron have a
good relationship.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, either in the locker room. I just I don't
see where the losses here, assuming he's at the right price,
I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Bring this would have to be like a like a
homey deal.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, Hey, you want to you.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Want to come home?
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Take the minimum?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Take yeah, come on, come hang.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Out to your kid.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
And that's the only way I see that happening. Interesting, though,
is that where you're putting your money is that he's
gonna end up. He wants to be close back to
La Obviously he's not going to go back to the Clippers.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
The Lakers could do worse than a Hall of Fame
point guard even at forty smart guy Zach in the meeting. Hey,
where Jean Rondo came to the Lakers in the bubble,
he was not quite a fossil, but he was a factor. Like,
you don't need thirty minutes of Chris Paul, maybe fifteen
minutes to night.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I mean, can he be team with averaging twenty eight
minutes a game last season playing in all eighty two
games with.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Spurs and not bad.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
He had a forty percent shooting percentage, seven assists, four rebounds,
nine points per game average like.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Someone off the betch.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Not bad.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I'm not the biggest Chris Paul saying, oh, okay, So
when he was on the rockets, he went after Steph Curry.
Do you remember that they take a.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Three to lead.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
He took it for a celebrating Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Hit in the threes. He would do the shimmy. Yeah,
Chris Paul hit it and did the shimmy in his
face to go up to side. Note as that watching
at the Strandhouse, Yeah, and I was cheering all the
Warriors and there were some jerk Rockets fans and they
started like kind of talking trash to Huh. I was like, Oh,
I'm out numbered on.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
My understand I like Chris Paull. I mean, obviously he's
forty years old. You know you are at the end
of your He's not Lebron forty. We'll put it that way, right,
He's it's a different kind.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Of Ford injuries. But this is a winning player, Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
He's saying he wants to be back with his family
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Sixteen minutes a night. Yeah, like TJ mccon, he could
be I'm Adam mcconneck, I'm back out. Well, he could
play pressure d transform work, Yes, Chris Paul. I played pressure.
D had to Alex come well every day, I've got it.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
I can't, David. We need like a bingo car, a
little drinking game any time anybody, All right, let's move
to your Knicks. And the decision to fire Tom Tibodow
surprised a lot of people considering how far they went
in the playoffs, But according to reports, New York has
been can considering the move from Tims, with Ramona Shellburn
reporting that the Knicks front office didn't field Tims, was
(24:05):
macting out Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns and there
is some smoke to this. Janis and Jason Kidd and
Nick spire Mark Sidin reported the Knicks are asking permission
to talk to Kid, and a Milwaukee based reporters saying
that the Knicks are preparing to make a tsunami type
offer to get Yannis. So I know, we we we
(24:28):
mentioned it, We talked on it. The connection there with
Jason Kidd, his first real big break is as on
the other side coaching was was helping Yannis really unlock
himself in Milwaukee and Joannie is a huge fan of them.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
So so it so I'm a weirdo. So you know,
you know, I'm weird. I think the audience is interesting weirdness, right,
So I always like tune out other people and just
focus on my takes. I don't really listen outside. So
that's why I like to be what I think is
first with a lot of like good takes and stuff. Yeah,
(25:05):
I wish I was first on this. Jason Kiddy, honest,
I'm like just doing that you uh and uh you
guys cooked it up and that's a great take. Listen,
it's starting.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
It's starting to get some heat out.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Remember earlier speaking was O kd you for kat Yeah,
and now it's like, hey, you can get Jason Kidd
and Yannesty? Where can I sign up for that? Out
do it? Why wouldn't you? This is next week is
going to be very interesting, very interesting. Katie is his agent.
I don't know how much you're doing on it, but
Katie's agent is desperate to get Katie out of Phoenix. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Like, well, because if Yannis goes somewhere first, he's going
to set the market. Yep, and they're not going to
get that for Katie. Not a lot of teams you're
not going to get that. You're trying to offload Katie
now so you can get as much as you can
before Yanni sets the market.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Yeah, so maybe this is going to be like the
twenty nineteen offseason. We're big names with Chris Paul, Lakers,
Kevin Duranco's to the Clippers, Jannis Nicks, you know of
Zion could be only like there's so many.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Big, lot of big names that could be on mooves
Ie excited.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It's fun, it's excited.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
All right, let's wrap things up. In the NFL, the
Lions are coming off their most successful two years in
team history, but wide receiver I'm and Ross Brown isn't satisfied.
He was asked by a reporter what his goal for
this season is and he said, for us, it's super
Bowl or nothing. But honestly, it's been super Bowl or
bust the last two years for the Lions. They've just
(26:34):
busted big time. The last two years, lost in the
second round last year, conference championship, the year before, and
you have to remember this year they're coming in the season,
new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, one of the toughest
schedules in the league. You just lost your your center,
Frank Ragnow he just retired. A positive is that I
don't think you have as big of a target on
(26:57):
your back. They're odds to win the super Bowl. There one, two, three, four,
five fifth favorite. Now they were like top last year
or the year before, but they're favored at plus one
thousand right now because you've got Eagles, Bills, Ravens, Chiefs,
Lions commanders as a odds Swebt super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Do you like that that he's saying for us super
Bowl or bust.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Well, that's what that should be the mentality of every
great player and every great team. If you're not going
into a season with that mentality, what are you doing?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
Why are you playing the game?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
I love when people say that because then you really
believe they're gonna go out there and give it their all.
The thing is like, that's what it has been for
the Lions the last two years. They've just busted in
the playoffs. They've had an incredible regular season. The last
two years they just were they have not gotten to
the super Bowl yet, and they were they've been favorites.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
But I'm more of an underpromise over deliver. I mean,
if you don't get to the super Bowl, then you're
gonna just say.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
That's what it was like three years ago. And they
kind of like took everybody by storm three seasons ago.
And then last year you had the biggest target on
your back, but they still had.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
An incredible regular season.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Now it's I think the positive is they don't have
that huge target on their back. Like there's still like
expectations within the organization obviously, but there's so many changes
that I don't think anybody's expecting them to be as
great as they were last.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Year with it fifteen wins last year, that's what it was,
because I think the Vikings were fourteen and second place.
What's your guests on this year, Alex Detroit lyons win.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
What was the over under?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I think ten and a half.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Can we get their schedule back up?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Wow, she's gonna go game by gay Alex. Oh, It's.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
It's tough, Like I have them right around.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
This is why, like the the odd steers are so great.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
They have a right at like ten to eleven wins.
I don't think we'll have as many as last year, so.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Fifteen and two to eleven.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Yeah, I don't think they get more than eleven wins
this season.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
It's it's tough.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
They literally have like, according to some models, the toughest
schedule in the league.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Well, you got to find a new offensive coordinator and
a new.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Defensive coordinator, and he just lost your most likely future Hall.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
Of Fame center. Like, there's a lot of big changes here.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So you got to face Lamar Burrow, Mahomes, Jaden Daniels,
Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love twice, Stafford. That's a lot of tough.
It's a lot and their defense kind of not great.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Back end too, I mean, after to buy again, we
don't know what JJ McCarthy's gonna look like. He's gonna
be good commanders coming back defending champs.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
What you're getting in New York, we don't really know.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
And then.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Yeah, the last last two games.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I mean, the Vision Games are always spicy because anything
can happen.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
There's so much emotion wrapped up in it.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Yeah, I had ten eleven one season.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
All right, Alex with the.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
News, Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by
the Heard Line News.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I want to make sure I read this right because
we haven't talked about Kaitlin Clark in a while. She's
been injured. But coming up, there's a former WNBA star
who thinks Caitlin Clark will be the best WNBA player ever. Well, yeah,
don't tell that to Diana DROSSI she gonna be very upset.
That's next year on leard.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Cavino and Rich.
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
(30:59):
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right. So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. From five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covin on
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 4 (31:35):
Team Journalism Base Off in the one hundred and fifty
seven Belmont Stakes, two of the season's biggest names one
race to Settle it Off. Coverage begins smart four pm
Eastern Live on Fox.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
All right back here on the Herd. They just notified
me that we have Ryan Hollims coming up final hour.
I wonder if he's as excited for Halliburton as I am.
He take jabs and overrated sga Okay, I'm just kidding. Listen,
anytime you talk Kaitlin Clark on area, you got to
be careful. You guys don't have a podcast. And anytime
(32:13):
I bring up Kaitlin Clark, the downloads go way up.
People are obsessed. They are really into Caitlin Clark. I
don't know if that has to do with our political
climate the league, but KITLINN. Clark has clearly put the
WNA on the map. That is undeniable. I don't care
what anybody says by any metric you want. Since Kitlin
Clark arrived, the league is up. Revenue, Jersey sales, TV ratings,
(32:36):
any ticket prices, whatever you want. It's up since Clark.
She's had a massive impact on the league. Now she's
been hurt. And I'm not embarrassed to say I haven't
seen one WNBA score since you know, I haven't heard
one person say, oh, did you see Clark go off
last night? You know, I drive my kids around, like
we joke around. Dad's were a chauffeur after school because
(32:59):
your kids have to go to you know, whether it's
chess or volleyball or whatever it is, hang out with
their friends. And sometimes I'm in a car and I
can just turn on my phone and watch five minutes
of Kaitlyn Clark cook up the Washington Mystics or whatever.
But Clark's been out for a minute now, so w
NBA not a lot of pub Well. Dawn Staley a
legendary coach and player on the women's basketball front. She
(33:23):
talked about Kaitlyn Clark and listen, Diana TROSSI cover your
ear muffs this one, because you're not gonna like what
you heard. Caitlyn will will go down.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
It's probably one of the best players to ever grace
the league, and she's gonna probably do it. She's gonna
probably do it in half of the time that it
takes any any other great player. Her pass and ability,
her court vision is second to none. Like her ability
(33:54):
to deliver the basketball makes her like a I mean
a triple They surrounded her with just such great talent.
You know, a triple double is going to be a normal,
a normal thing for Caitlin's.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
I praise from Don Staley, I mean Don Stale, a
great coach, Sacramento, amazing player. I believe at Uva. I
think I was a young guy when she was coming up.
But it's weird. We don't get a lot of people
saying amazing stuff like that about Kaitlin Clark. Why is that. Well,
you can draw your own conclusions. I think a lot
of it has to do with jealousy that there have
(34:31):
been so many great WNBA basketball players who didn't do
this stuff for the league. I'm looking at you, Diana Tarassi,
and next thing you know, Kayln Clark's doing it and
she's getting all the attention. You know, Diana Tarossi and
company did a lot for the league. That's undeniable, but
I'm sorry people just didn't really care. Okay, Now, Caitlin
(34:54):
Clark regular season games are drawing massive ratings, enormous crowds.
I mean that presented me with some staggering numbers. Do
you guys know gambling on WNBA games is dropping precipitously
just because Caitlin Clark's not playing. People gamble on games
where she's involved. She's not playing. I'm not gambling ticket prices.
(35:16):
I mean you can walk up through a WNBA game
with the Fever now and get in for like eight dollars,
ten dollars. I think USA Today wrote about that. It
was like, oh, Kaitlin Clark, ticket's tough to get two
three hundred bucks. Oh Kaitlin Clark's out, Yeah, six bucks
get in. Like that's where we are. TV ratings look
at them for Fever games since Clark's been out, And
(35:37):
I know when you throw around the word jealousy, people
get very, very upset. This is not an apples to
apples comparison. But I'll never forget guys. There's a reporter,
Marcus something or other in the Bay Area. He's great
Marcus Thompson, and I had him on my radio show
way back as Steph Curry was ascending, and he said
(36:00):
something so fricking smart it was amazing. I said, why
does Chris Paul hate Steph Curry? This was like twenty fifteen,
sixteen seventeen. Why does Russell? The disdain those stars had
for Curry was just I could not process it. I'm like,
he's a nice guy, he's a family guy, he's a
great basketball player. He's not getting in trouble, he's not
(36:22):
stirring upon why do they hate him? And this guy
Marcus who wrote a book either with Curry or on Curry, said, well,
you know, Jay, there's this hierarchy in basketball. So it
was Kobe and Shaq, then Shaq. Peter's out that it's
Kobe and then Lebron. You got next, and then Lebron
takes over the league. Well, there was a moment where
(36:43):
KD and Russell Westbrook went to the finals and everybody
thought Russ is the next great point guard in the NBA.
There was a moment where Chris Paul was with Long
City and he was the next great point guard in
the NBA. And this guy named Steph Curry shows up.
It starts dropping bombs, from three, and he's got a
tag team partner in Klay Thompson and they're the Splash
(37:05):
Brothers and they kind of hit the league like a comet.
They couldn't get out of the first round. Remember they
had that tough first round loss to the Clippers in seven,
And I remember it because I bet it. I was
all in on Curry. And then the next year, pow,
they take off like a jet and they win the championship.
And what you know, you usually have to you have
to uh what is it? You have to before you walk,
(37:28):
you have to crawl, and before you run you have
to walk, and you have to take these steps in sports,
and Steph Curry bypassed those steps. And as such, the
guys who were on the doorstep like they'd been around,
they were like, how is this guy passing me? And
I believe there's some of that at play with Caitlin
Clark right now that she has become such a big deal,
(37:50):
not just in the league now, but I'm talking all time.
And would you hear Don Staley say, oh, she gonna
be one of the all time greats. That's when people
perk up and they're like, what, oh, no, wait a minute,
Caitlin Clark's gonna she's gonna get the business as a rookie,
She's gonna come in this is a totally different ballgame.
And then she was all WNBA like her first season, Okay,
(38:13):
it's like an MVP finalist. Oh and now she's utterly
dominant early before the injury to start this season. And like,
I know, it makes people upset, and yeah, there's probably
some jealousy, but sometimes you just got to accept the reality,
like Katelin Clark's doing everything right, She's dominating on the court,
She's helping the league reach heights they've never seen before.
(38:37):
And yet there's still that disdain and anger toward Clark.
And again, you know, I've never met Caitlin Clark, but
I do know this, trust me. My wife and daughter
were like circling on the calendar. Hey, when is Caitlin
Clark coming to LA? When are they playing the Sparks.
We went last year. It was a scene and it
was like Caitlin Clark. It was her first ever WNVA victory,
(38:58):
and I swear to you, the whole Lower Bowl was
rooting for Caitlin Clark here in LA. It was incredible.
After the game, she's doing an interview, Mobs of people,
my kid included, trying to get an autograph. It's crazy.
We haven't seen this for anyone in the league before.
And I know it, you're in your feelings about it,
(39:19):
but here's the reality. She's a huge deal and she's
gonna be She gonna be the goat in the WNBAS.
Who mean, she's healthy, guys, you know Juju Watkins is
gonna come up coming off the entry. She's very good
and we'll see, but there's no stopping Caitlin Clark in
the WNBA. All Right, We'll wrap up this hour with
an interesting story I saw out of Washington. So I'm
(39:40):
bullish on the Washington Commanders bouncing back in year two. Okay,
year one, Jaden Daniels unbelievable. They're calling it the greatest
rookie quarterback season ever. Like a dummy, I was betting
against them early. I'll remember last summer. I'm sure you
(40:00):
guys remember it. When I came on there and I
was like, there's too much newness in Washington. New owner,
new GM, new coach, new quarterback. Come on, that's just
too much to overcome. It literally hadn't been done in
NFL history where you have all of that new I mean, remember,
you got to get alignment with these guys. It's real tough.
(40:22):
Take a look what the Phoenix Suns did you know?
Ishbiah tried to put together a team with the front
office and everything to make the Sons a super team
and none of it worked. So what did he do
this offseason? He aligned with all Michigan state guys. Go
go look it up. He's a Michigan State guy. Oh
new head coach. Yeah, in Michigan State, of course, all
(40:44):
Michigan states. So you got to get that alignment. So
Washington didn't have it, and it didn't matter because this guy,
Jade Daniels was so good. Jaydan Daniels really helped a
certain guy by the name of Terry McLaurin have the
best season of his career thirteen touchdowns. By far, it
was his fifth straight one thousand yard season. I mean,
(41:04):
Tera McLaurin is great. Weren't probably the most underrated receiver
in the league because he was playing with like Taylor
Heineke and Ryan Fitzpatrick and still putting up numbers. Here
he is against the Cowboys in an extremely memorable game.
I mean, Tera mcluurin is awesome by most metrics. I
would say he's a top ten receiver in the league.
You could argue he's pushing top five just based on
(41:27):
numbers and unbelievable set. Has it fumbled according to Pro
Football SATs in the last four years, like terrem Quar's right,
And now he's upset with contract negotiations and there's talk
of a potential holdout. Not great when you're all excited.
(41:48):
You just got Laramie Tumpster, your left a new left tackle,
you just got Deebo Samuel. You're like, we got to
the NFC Championship. Can we make that next league to
the Super Bowl? Why not? And this is problem Washington's
up against. They've got cap space, the time to spend
on ancillary pieces. Wide receiver, running back is now. Jane
(42:11):
Daniels is making peanuts. When he's out of the rookie deal,
He's gonna be at sixty million a year. So what
is the hold up here? Now? I did get a
text right before the show that this is gonna be fine.
It's not a big deal.
Speaker 6 (42:27):
This is.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Not a huge agent trying to get his guy a
major payday. And that's understandable. My guess is this gets
done and it's much ado about nothing. That being said,
I don't love this now for Washington. I mean everything's positive.
Things are looking rosy. This team legitimately could go to
(42:51):
the super Bowl, and now you got your best player
outside of your quarterback. Kind of chirping. Hopefully dan Quinn
a company can figure this out soon. Coming up next,
Captain Clutch does it again for Indian Game one.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Halliberkele T the rescue
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
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
We're back our number two here on a Friday, Spicy Friday,
Oh Boy, final day in for Colin Coward. He's back
on Monday. I think fifty percent of the audience is
probably excited Alex. The other fifty second No, no, jamac
you're crushing, You're killing people, You're starting bus fires. Cam
Newton's screaming at you on Instagram, Jamap.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
Your confidence is unmatched, and I know it's that you.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Tyrese Halibert. He's gotten the confidence. I'm trying to match him.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
We're literally watching him.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Become a star in front of our eyes, like in
this playoff run, and it's so beautiful because this is
where stars are born. He either rise to the occasion
great players become superstars, or you kind of just like shrink.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Like SGA Live so not any Mike de Fabo coming
on aired about five minutes to talk about Aaron Rodgers
and the Steelers. I asked him, what is over under
on Rogers versus Arthur Smith. We'll say that answer for
we talked to him in five minutes. But I need
to start the top of our number two with just
some positive talk about Tyre's Halliburton. I mean, he's the man.
(01:36):
What can I say like? Tyre's Haliburton is cool. He's dripping,
as the kids say, He's so drippy with Aura right now.
Another game winner. He took down my mix, took down
the Cavs and the Bucks, which is unprecedented, historic run
of clutchness, and our staff came up with an unbelievable graphic. Folks,
this is career. This is playoffs and regular season. Most
(02:01):
game tying or go ahead field goals made in the
final five seconds since nineteen ninety seven, so we're going
back twenty eight years. Lebron obviously number one. Tyrese Haliburton
is tied with Kobe and Reggie Miller, and Tyrese has
four of those this postseason. This is uncharted territory. Obviously
(02:22):
Lebron's played you know twenty one seasons. Terrey saliber is
still a young guy. He's still in his thirties. Postseason
only this is just historic stuff. We really haven't seen it.
Here's Tyrese on his clutchness after last Sidees game.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
Yeah, a lot of confidence in me to make push outs.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
So I don't know what you say about it.
Speaker 6 (02:40):
I just know that this group is a resilient group,
and you know, we don't give up to zero o'clock.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So we were trying to come up with, like, what's
like an equivalent of this. This guy literally has come
out of nowhere. Okay, he was on the Sacramento Kings
a few years ago. They traded him for Sabonis. I
wonder how many casual basketball fans know Tyrese Haliburton was
on the Olympic team last year. He's like end of
the bench guy, didn't really play a lot, didn't wasn't
(03:07):
a story like Jason Tatum didn't play after winning the
title and it was like a big deal. Tyre's Aliberton
went to the Eastern Commerce Finals, got swept by Tatum,
didn't play and it wasn't a big deal. So I
don't know if he used that as fuel to get
back this season. John Hollinger said that, you know, he
had some kind of injury and that carried over a
(03:27):
little bit to the season. But he's made a jump
to light speed here this season. And someone came up,
this is just so good. So you guys saw the
movie Top Gun Maverick. Obviously great movie. I saw the cinema.
I was like, this is better than the first Top Gun.
It was awesome, and it was Tom Cruise and Miles Teller.
(03:48):
But a guy came out of nowhere to steal the show,
and that was Glenn Powell. You know, ripped big dude,
and all of a sudden, Glenn Powell in the next
like two years, is in like fifteen movies. He's what
see it, Sidney Sweeney in a movie that's not terrible.
It's a rom com, but it's not bad. He was
in Twisters, that movie made him a star. He's in
Top Gun Maverick, and then Boom.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
He's everywhere.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And I feel like Tyrese Haliburton this postseason. I mean,
he's last two months. You know, I would not be
surprised to see him like on the cover of People
magazine here this summer. Tyrese Haliburton in the NBA's Next
Big Star. His dad kind of sort of wacky getting
ejected from the stadium for getting in Giannis's face. Oh look,
Tyrese Haliburton dating a very attractive girl. Look at that relationship.
(04:33):
Look at him hit and game one each other. Like
he is becoming one of these dudes where it's like,
is he I'm not gonna go face in the NBA.
And yes there's a whirl where the thunder get dusted
here or dust the pacers for one, and Haliburton's forgotten.
I just don't see that happening. Tyrese Haliburton has all
the qualities. We called him Halliburkele earlier because he's a
(04:57):
little nerdy, reminding people of Steve Rkele. You got a
graphics team, Oh yeah, baby, Steve Erkele, basketball legend on
family matters. If you're under like twenty five, you have
no idea what I'm talking about. But there it is,
Steve Rkele doing it up on Chet Holmdred. Oh they
did Chet dirty. There did him dirty. But Tarry's Alibert.
I'm a fan. I'm a fan fan. You know, I
(05:19):
might need to get a Haliburton Jersey this offseason. All right,
let's bring in Mike de Fabo, Steelers beat writer for
The Athletic, to talk. First of all, Mike, did you
happen to watch the game last underne You just all
about Aaron Rodgers and the big news that happened yesterday
for the Steelers.
Speaker 7 (05:38):
Well, it's kind of funny because I was watching the
game and I was so tired by the end of
it that I went to sleep right when it got interesting.
Speaker 6 (05:45):
So Pacers fans, maybe you don't want me watching the
rest of the series.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Wow, Oh man, it was a draining day. Tell me
about it. So we've been hearing reports for I don't
know three four months that Rogers was coming to the
Steelers and then it's like, no, maybe we'll see and
yesterday at all crescendo. Tell me what your day was
like with Rogers.
Speaker 7 (06:04):
Well, it makes perfect sense that happened now, because, believe
it or not, I'm on vacation with my family and
so of course the most inconvenient time is when the
biggest news will break. But it's good and it provides
some finality because I don't think I can emphasize enough
what it does to a fan. Basis psyche to go
through the offseason not knowing who the quarterback is going
(06:25):
to be. And this whole offseason began with should the
Steelers sign Russell Wilson or Justin Fields? Because the president
of the team and the owner, Art Rudy, right after
the year said he preferred one of those two candidates.
And so it went from that discussion to just the indecision.
And I think people now, even if they have their
doubts about what Aaron Rodgers can do at forty one
(06:45):
years old and coming off of the Achilles injury a
couple of years ago, they're happy just to have an
answer and to finally stop talking about if he's going
to be the quarterback and now start talking about what
can he do as the Steelers quarter Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Well, Mike, first of all is major shout out for
the vacation appearance. Can I ask if it's like a
beach in the Caribbean, a lake house? How did the
wife take it when you said, Hey, hey, I gotta
go talk Steelers and Rogers on TV. Sorry, Yeah, we're
at the Ocean isle.
Speaker 7 (07:13):
And the only reason is this week is because my
little sister lives in London and it's very difficult to find.
There's four siblings in my family to get everybody together. Thankfully,
my wife, believer or not, is also in the business.
She works for local NBC affiliate and does a lot
of broadcasting, so she needs all about it and very supportive.
But yeah, everyone's at the beach right now and I'm
(07:35):
chilling inside talking Steelers.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Well, get used to it, Mike. I mean, listen, Aaron
Rodgers comes with baggage nonsense like as I'm a diehard
Jets fan and I had to deal with this crap
the last two years. He loves to talk about a
bunch of nonsense. I will just say this, the Jets
gave him everything he wanted. You want the oc you
want wide receivers, you want this that Steelers have not
really done that yet. I'm curious your take, or do
(07:59):
we see Rogers start bringing in his guys.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Well, the one.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
Area that I think that they could add his guys
as that wide receiver. Obviously, the Steelers this offseason went
out and acquired DK Metcalf, a blockbuster type of move
that really is a philosophical shift for a team that,
for the fourth consecutive year is going to lead the
league in defensive spending. They went and they paid big
money to a marquee wide receiver, but then a couple
of weeks later, months later, they turned around and trade
(08:25):
George Pickens. And so last year the season really came
undone and went into a tailspin when George Pickens got hurt,
and for basically the whole year people were ask him
Who's number two? Then the question was, are any of
these guys capable of stepping up in d number one?
So now that they have Aaron Rodgers, they know he's here.
Alan Lazard would make sense. He's worked with him, he
(08:46):
has that familiarity, you know, Kyle Pitts or another tight
end like John why Smith may make sense because within
Arthur Smith's offense, they love that tight end position. Arthur
Smith loves guys who played for him. So in some
form or fashion, I think the Steelers will find a
way to add a playmaker. Where that comes in the
form of a wide receiver or a tight end remains
to be seen. But I think there is a desire.
(09:06):
If you're bringing in a veteran like Aaron Rodgers, the
Steelers want to give him the best possible opportunity to
surround him with playmakers.
Speaker 6 (09:13):
To do everything they can to make a run this year.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
All right, So Steelers lose Naj Harris in the offseason.
Jalen Warren was there, but he was at the starter. Okay,
they lose Pickens or starting wide receiver that they got
a new number two receiver, I Broughderick Jones. I don't
remember how many games he started left tackle, But there's
a lot of newness quarterback, receiver, running back. Should we
expect some growing pains early for the Steelers.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
Well what they had done previously.
Speaker 7 (09:39):
I think this is going to be the biggest thing
to iron out, is what's the identity of this offense?
Because when they brought in Arthur Smith, he's one of
the most run heavy offensive coordinators in the league. And
last year the Steelers ran the ball fourth most. And
now they bring in a quarterback who had the second
most passing attempts.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
So what do you want to be?
Speaker 7 (09:57):
Are you old skull, ground and pound Steelers foot or
are you a quick, precise passing game that would more
so fit the identity of Aaron Rodgers And I think
finding the marriage between those two and integrating these new
pieces is going to be key, and if I had
to guess, I think they're going to lean a bit
more towards the run game. They just also drafted Killed
Johnson out of Iowa, who fits Arthur Smith's scheme, is
(10:17):
a great outside zone runner, So you know, they're kind
of doing what they did last year with Russell Wilson.
It feels very similar, where they say we have the
high stayed defense, we think that they give us a
certain floor. Now what we're looking for is can this
veteran take what's been an unstable position at quarterback and
give us just something better than what we've got to
(10:39):
push us over over the edge. And really the hope
is can you win a playoff game for the first
time in eight years? Because that draft has been weighing
on the fans and they're very hungry for some postseason success.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
So I'm not sure if the audience heard it the
way I did. It sounds like we're shaping up as
a potential tug of war between Rogers and Smith. What's
their identity going to be? And it kind of reminds
me of when Brady went to Tampa. Remember him and
the head coach arians they kind of had different views
than after the bye week, they get on the site.
(11:13):
I guess they played golf during the byeek or something
happened like that, and boom, next thing you know, boom,
Tom Brady, I guess got his way and they go
on to win the Super Bowl. Rogers is kind of
older and set in his ways. I don't know. Is
there an oil and water situation shaping up here.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Well.
Speaker 7 (11:30):
One thing that concerns me a bit is at the
end of last season, there was some friction between Arthur
Smith and Russell Wilson based on how often Russell Wilson
could change the play at the line of scrimmage. And
that's the central piece of what Aaron Rodgers does. He
has all these complex hand signals that he wants his
guys to run to learn, and he wants him to
run very precise, detailed routes, and so I think that
(11:52):
could be something that.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
They really need to iron out.
Speaker 7 (11:55):
I think that maybe one of the biggest early things
they need to figure out is how much freedom are
we giving Aaron Rogers. Are we going to say you
are a four time MVP, you are a Super Bowl champion,
you go run the show, do your thing, Aaron. Because
that's why we brought you here, or do they say, look,
you're forty one years old. Let's both acknowledge that you're
not your prime anymore. Can we run a more simple,
(12:18):
more conservative type of offense? And really that's been Mike
Tomlin's calling card recently is he's all about turnover battle
and through OTA's numerous players said that he put stats up,
he put clips up saying this is how the Pittsburgh
Steelers win football games. We don't turn the football over
and we take the football away. So are they going
(12:39):
to go with that identity or are they willing to
be a bit.
Speaker 6 (12:42):
More risk averse. Those are all the things that I
think they need to figure out early in order to
have success.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Let me ask you, Mike, is that a little antiquated?
I mean, I thought offense wins in the modern era, like, hey,
let's be conservative and not turn them all over and
win with defense, Like I mean, many years without a
playoff lind do you have to go before thinking and
the same working?
Speaker 7 (13:05):
Well, that's been a frustration of the fan base, no
doubt is there have been times where the offense, really
before Arthur Smith especially, was more we're going to play
not to lose rather than we're going to play to win.
Speaker 6 (13:19):
And there's been repeated frustrations.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
About the Steelers not throwing the ball over the middle
of the field. For example, the Steelers again running the
football fourth most in the league last year. So I
think that Aaron will at least bring a little bit
of the over the middle stuff because he wasn't. You know,
I think it was six point six air yards per
attempt last year, which is pretty low. But he does
(13:42):
throw the ball over the middle, and that would fit
DK metcalf in terms of those slants and in breaking
routes and things of that nature. So you know, there
is going to have to be a discussion here and
they're going to have to figure out who what is
this offense going to be because truth be told, the
offense has been holding back a defense since been near
championship mber for years. This defense was completed in twenty
(14:03):
nineteen when they traded for MIKEA. Fitzpatrick and it came
together just in time to give an aging Ben Roethlisberger
one last chance to make a run and do something.
Now that defense is risking aging out before accomplishing anything
of its own. You know, Cam Hayward's getting older, he's
been healthy and in uniform for one playoff win.
Speaker 6 (14:22):
CJ.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
Watson line for his third contract, never won a playoff game.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
MIKEA.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
Fitzpatrick, who you know, he's in his late twenties, never
won a playoff game. So that is something that very
much motivates Mike Palmlin. He wants to get Cameron Hayward
that gold jacket, and he wants to get him that
Lombardi Trophy. And really that's I think that's a big
reason why they brought in a veteran because they felt
that gave him the best opportunity to capitalize on this
(14:46):
current window with this defense.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Yeah, Steelers fans hated me last summer when I said,
if I'm Pittsburgh, I don't think Russell Fields is getting
you any anywhere near the super Bowl. I would trade TJ.
Watt for a hole. And they went after me, and
then Pittsburgh started out hot, and I look like an idiot.
I forgot what has zero playoff wins? That's incredible. So
do you think that they've held on to him too
(15:09):
long and they should look to off load him or
would that kill this defensive strategy that Tolmlan has.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
I don't think that they would do that just because
they still could say we are the Pittsburgh Steelers, and
for the owner Art Rooney, it is important to play
defensive football and TJ is like the ultimate Steeler and
I think that right now he's in the middle of
a contract dispute and we're gonna have to see if
(15:36):
he reports to mandatory mini camp on Tuesday. That's going
to become the next big story in Pittsburgh is what
happens with TJ. Watt and Omarcan, at least on the record,
has said that he wants TJ to finish his career
as a Steeler.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
TJ had said previously he wants to finish as.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
A Steeler, but Omarkan is a tough negotiator, he really is,
and they're not going to just give in to the demands.
The other tough thing is the Steelers one of the
biggest rivals, the Cleveland Browns didn't do them any favors
when they just handed Miles Garrett a forty million a
year contract.
Speaker 6 (16:10):
Right now, TJ's making twenty eight.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
He's going to get a big pay raise, and it's
going to probably be right in that ballpark. So I
imagine it's going to come down to guaranteed money. I
think they will get it done. My guess, and there's
just a guess, is that it's going to get done sometime.
Speaker 6 (16:25):
Early in training camp.
Speaker 7 (16:26):
I think we could be talking about a hold in
situation if they aren't. If they are, you know, if
they don't get things done. But I still believe that
both sides want this to work, and I think that
they ultimately will find a middle ground.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
All Right, my two quick ones. Number one, let's just
say worst case scenario, this kind of spirals. They're four
and eight. Could Mike Tomlin be in jeopardy here? Has
he pushed for Rogers to the point like, hey man,
this is on you. If this screws up.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
If this were another organization, and if this was another
head coach, I would say absolutely, because we saw that
same thing unfold last year. And it's kind of interesting
because the assistant general manager, Omar Khan, his best friend
in the business is Joe Douglas, who just lost his
job because he believed too much in Aaron Rodgers and
now here the Steelers are basically doing the same thing.
(17:16):
But you know, Mike Tomlin has turn left on his contract,
and he has. When you win a Super Bowl when
you've never had a losing season, that builds up enough
equity within the organization that I would frankly be shocked
if they were to move on from him after this year,
just because, like, let's remember how long for them to
move on from Matt Canada, who had nowhere near the qualifications,
(17:40):
because they're just patient. This is the franchise that has
had three head coaches since nineteen sixty nine. I don't
think they're gonna have a new head coach next year.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
And lastly, Week one Steelers at My Jets. Steelers I
believe are a three point favorite. Rogers facing his old team,
Justin Fields facing his old team. Too early for a
prediction there, Mike, It.
Speaker 7 (18:03):
May be a bit early. I would rather see both
offenses in training camp. But it does create a fascinating
narrative here because initially the Steelers' first.
Speaker 6 (18:13):
Plan was to go with Justin Fields this year, and.
Speaker 7 (18:16):
Because of either they got out bid by the Jets
or Justin was soured on the way that you know,
his tenure as a starter ended. He was four and
two when he was benched for Russell Wilson. Whatever the reason.
You have to ask Justin Fields why he chose to
go elsewhere. He's not a Pittsburgh Steeler right now, and
that was if he had chosen Pittsburgh, we wouldn't be
talking right now because that was their first choice.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
So really it's like, you know, the opportunity. You know,
you broke up. Now you're with a.
Speaker 7 (18:44):
New girl and you get to show right in front
of them.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
You know, I have a better situation now.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
So we'll see which one of the two quarterbacks is
ended up talking like that after this game.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
All right, Mike Defebo the Athletic covers the Steelers say, Man,
thanks for check in on vacation. Enjoy the rest of it.
I mean, you're gonna get Aaron Rodgers all summer. That's
much more fun than vacation, can't you get.
Speaker 7 (19:09):
Yeah, I may need another vacation after next season because
I'm sure there's gonna be a lot to talk about
and plenty of drama.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Thank you so much for having me on the show.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
January. Steelers not gonna be in the playoffs. You can
you can take another.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Here we go, I'll book it for then.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
All right. Coming up next here on the Herd was
the Tibbs firing months in the making. Alex Curry has
a new report on the next we'll talk about that next.
We all want to feel completely safe after locking up
at night and headed to bed. That's the peace of
mind simply Safe provides. Get fifty percent off your new
(19:45):
simply Safe system with professional monitoring and your first month
free at simplysafecolling dot com. There's no safe like simply Safe.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nine am Pacific.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Back here on the Herd. Oh, we got a Kitlyn
Clark uptack coming in twenty ish minutes. Alex Curry with
the news.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Turn on the news. This is the Herd.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Line News or right j macer Starting In the NBA,
Chris Paul spoke yesterday about his future, and the Spurs
are not expected to re sign Paul, and Paul said
any decision about where he plays next year comes with
his family first. He three said he's lived away from
his family for the past six seasons and he wants
to be back near them in his Los Angeles home.
(20:41):
So let's break down a situation here. Right, He's forty
years old, he's a free agent. Last season, he played
all eighty two games with the Spurs. He's only done
that twice in his career, so most likely probably not
going to play all eighty two games next season forever
he lands and ends up. It obviously wasn't a great
(21:05):
Spurs We're not a great team last year, but he did. Okay,
what's next?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
What what's next? I got out he's gonna sandbag me
and be like, oh, another old guy on the Lakers. No, no,
I don't Lakers. The crypt crypto dot COM's turning into
a retirement home, Lebron. I'm a Lakers fan. What are
you talking about?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
This is a great move.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I mean in this in the meeting this morning, guys
were taking shots at the Lakers and this being a
bad move. I'm like, well, last year we had Gabe
Vincent coming off the bench. Yeah, you know the Chris
pauls it upright over, gave Vincent for.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Fifteen minutes, and I he he and Lebron have a
good relationship.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, either in the locker room. I just I don't
see where the losses here, assuming he's at the right price,
I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Bring this would have to be like a like a
homey deal.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, Hey, you want to you.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Want to come home?
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Take the minimum?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Take yeah, come on, come hang.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Out to your kid.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
And that's the only way I see that happening. Interesting, though,
is that where you're putting your money is that he's
gonna end up. He wants to be close back to
La Obviously he's not going to go back to the Clippers.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
The Lakers could do worse than a Hall of Fame
point guard even at forty smart guy Zach in the meeting. Hey,
where Jean Rondo came to the Lakers in the bubble,
he was not quite a fossil, but he was a factor. Like,
you don't need thirty minutes of Chris Paul, maybe fifteen
minutes to night.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
I mean, can he be team with averaging twenty eight
minutes a game last season playing in all eighty two
games with.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Spurs and not bad.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
He had a forty percent shooting percentage, seven assists, four rebounds,
nine points per game average like.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Someone off the betch.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Not bad.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I'm not the biggest Chris Paul saying, oh, okay, So
when he was on the rockets, he went after Steph Curry.
Do you remember that they take a.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Three to lead.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
He took it for a celebrating Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Hit in the threes. He would do the shimmy. Yeah,
Chris Paul hit it and did the shimmy in his
face to go up to side. Note as that watching
at the Strandhouse, Yeah, and I was cheering all the
Warriors and there were some jerk Rockets fans and they
started like kind of talking trash to Huh. I was like, Oh,
I'm out numbered on.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
My understand I like Chris Paull. I mean, obviously he's
forty years old. You know you are at the end
of your He's not Lebron forty. We'll put it that way, right,
He's it's a different kind.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Of Ford injuries. But this is a winning player, Hall
of Fame.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
He's saying he wants to be back with his family
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Sixteen minutes a night. Yeah, like TJ mccon, he could
be I'm Adam mcconneck, I'm back out. Well, he could
play pressure d transform work, Yes, Chris Paul. I played pressure.
D had to Alex come well every day, I've got it.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
I can't, David. We need like a bingo car, a
little drinking game any time anybody, All right, let's move
to your Knicks. And the decision to fire Tom Tibodow
surprised a lot of people considering how far they went
in the playoffs, But according to reports, New York has
been can considering the move from Tims, with Ramona Shellburn
reporting that the Knicks front office didn't field Tims, was
(24:05):
macting out Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns and there
is some smoke to this. Janis and Jason Kidd and
Nick spire Mark Sidin reported the Knicks are asking permission
to talk to Kid, and a Milwaukee based reporters saying
that the Knicks are preparing to make a tsunami type
offer to get Yannis. So I know, we we we
(24:28):
mentioned it, We talked on it. The connection there with
Jason Kidd, his first real big break is as on
the other side coaching was was helping Yannis really unlock
himself in Milwaukee and Joannie is a huge fan of them.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
So so it so I'm a weirdo. So you know,
you know, I'm weird. I think the audience is interesting weirdness, right,
So I always like tune out other people and just
focus on my takes. I don't really listen outside. So
that's why I like to be what I think is
first with a lot of like good takes and stuff. Yeah,
(25:05):
I wish I was first on this. Jason Kiddy, honest,
I'm like just doing that you uh and uh you
guys cooked it up and that's a great take. Listen,
it's starting.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
It's starting to get some heat out.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Remember earlier speaking was O kd you for kat Yeah,
and now it's like, hey, you can get Jason Kidd
and Yannesty? Where can I sign up for that? Out
do it? Why wouldn't you? This is next week is
going to be very interesting, very interesting. Katie is his agent.
I don't know how much you're doing on it, but
Katie's agent is desperate to get Katie out of Phoenix. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Like, well, because if Yannis goes somewhere first, he's going
to set the market. Yep, and they're not going to
get that for Katie. Not a lot of teams you're
not going to get that. You're trying to offload Katie
now so you can get as much as you can
before Yanni sets the market.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Yeah, so maybe this is going to be like the
twenty nineteen offseason. We're big names with Chris Paul, Lakers,
Kevin Duranco's to the Clippers, Jannis Nicks, you know of
Zion could be only like there's so many.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Big, lot of big names that could be on mooves
Ie excited.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It's fun, it's excited.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
All right, let's wrap things up. In the NFL, the
Lions are coming off their most successful two years in
team history, but wide receiver I'm and Ross Brown isn't satisfied.
He was asked by a reporter what his goal for
this season is and he said, for us, it's super
Bowl or nothing. But honestly, it's been super Bowl or
bust the last two years for the Lions. They've just
(26:34):
busted big time. The last two years, lost in the
second round last year, conference championship, the year before, and
you have to remember this year they're coming in the season,
new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, one of the toughest
schedules in the league. You just lost your your center,
Frank Ragnow he just retired. A positive is that I
don't think you have as big of a target on
(26:57):
your back. They're odds to win the super Bowl. There one, two, three, four,
five fifth favorite. Now they were like top last year
or the year before, but they're favored at plus one
thousand right now because you've got Eagles, Bills, Ravens, Chiefs,
Lions commanders as a odds Swebt super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Do you like that that he's saying for us super
Bowl or bust.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Well, that's what that should be the mentality of every
great player and every great team. If you're not going
into a season with that mentality, what are you doing?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
Why are you playing the game?
Speaker 4 (27:30):
I love when people say that because then you really
believe they're gonna go out there and give it their all.
The thing is like, that's what it has been for
the Lions the last two years. They've just busted in
the playoffs. They've had an incredible regular season. The last
two years they just were they have not gotten to
the super Bowl yet, and they were they've been favorites.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
But I'm more of an underpromise over deliver. I mean,
if you don't get to the super Bowl, then you're
gonna just say.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
That's what it was like three years ago. And they
kind of like took everybody by storm three seasons ago.
And then last year you had the biggest target on
your back, but they still had.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
An incredible regular season.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Now it's I think the positive is they don't have
that huge target on their back. Like there's still like
expectations within the organization obviously, but there's so many changes
that I don't think anybody's expecting them to be as
great as they were last.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Year with it fifteen wins last year, that's what it was,
because I think the Vikings were fourteen and second place.
What's your guests on this year, Alex Detroit lyons win.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
What was the over under?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I think ten and a half.
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Can we get their schedule back up?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Wow, she's gonna go game by gay Alex. Oh, It's.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
It's tough, Like I have them right around.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
This is why, like the the odd steers are so great.
Speaker 5 (28:57):
They have a right at like ten to eleven wins.
I don't think we'll have as many as last year, so.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Fifteen and two to eleven.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Yeah, I don't think they get more than eleven wins
this season.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
It's it's tough.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
They literally have like, according to some models, the toughest
schedule in the league.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Well, you got to find a new offensive coordinator and
a new.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
Defensive coordinator, and he just lost your most likely future Hall.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
Of Fame center. Like, there's a lot of big changes here.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So you got to face Lamar Burrow, Mahomes, Jaden Daniels,
Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love twice, Stafford. That's a lot of tough.
It's a lot and their defense kind of not great.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Back end too, I mean, after to buy again, we
don't know what JJ McCarthy's gonna look like. He's gonna
be good commanders coming back defending champs.
Speaker 5 (29:49):
What you're getting in New York, we don't really know.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
And then.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Yeah, the last last two games.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I mean, the Vision Games are always spicy because anything
can happen.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
There's so much emotion wrapped up in it.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Yeah, I had ten eleven one season.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
All right, Alex with the.
Speaker 7 (30:03):
News, Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by
the Heard Line News.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
I want to make sure I read this right because
we haven't talked about Kaitlin Clark in a while. She's
been injured. But coming up, there's a former WNBA star
who thinks Caitlin Clark will be the best WNBA player ever. Well, yeah,
don't tell that to Diana DROSSI she gonna be very upset.
That's next year on leard.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
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We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
(30:59):
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something, right. So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
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Speaker 2 (31:18):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
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Speaker 4 (31:35):
Team Journalism Base Off in the one hundred and fifty
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Speaker 3 (31:49):
All right back here on the Herd. They just notified
me that we have Ryan Hollims coming up final hour.
I wonder if he's as excited for Halliburton as I am.
He take jabs and overrated sga Okay, I'm just kidding. Listen,
anytime you talk Kaitlin Clark on area, you got to
be careful. You guys don't have a podcast. And anytime
(32:13):
I bring up Kaitlin Clark, the downloads go way up.
People are obsessed. They are really into Caitlin Clark. I
don't know if that has to do with our political
climate the league, but KITLINN. Clark has clearly put the
WNA on the map. That is undeniable. I don't care
what anybody says by any metric you want. Since Kitlin
Clark arrived, the league is up. Revenue, Jersey sales, TV ratings,
(32:36):
any ticket prices, whatever you want. It's up since Clark.
She's had a massive impact on the league. Now she's
been hurt. And I'm not embarrassed to say I haven't
seen one WNBA score since you know, I haven't heard
one person say, oh, did you see Clark go off
last night? You know, I drive my kids around, like
we joke around. Dad's were a chauffeur after school because
(32:59):
your kids have to go to you know, whether it's
chess or volleyball or whatever it is, hang out with
their friends. And sometimes I'm in a car and I
can just turn on my phone and watch five minutes
of Kaitlyn Clark cook up the Washington Mystics or whatever.
But Clark's been out for a minute now, so w
NBA not a lot of pub Well. Dawn Staley a
legendary coach and player on the women's basketball front. She
(33:23):
talked about Kaitlyn Clark and listen, Diana TROSSI cover your
ear muffs this one, because you're not gonna like what
you heard. Caitlyn will will go down.
Speaker 9 (33:33):
It's probably one of the best players to ever grace
the league, and she's gonna probably do it. She's gonna
probably do it in half of the time that it
takes any any other great player. Her pass and ability,
her court vision is second to none. Like her ability
(33:54):
to deliver the basketball makes her like a I mean
a triple They surrounded her with just such great talent.
You know, a triple double is going to be a normal,
a normal thing for Caitlin's.
Speaker 3 (34:10):
I praise from Don Staley, I mean Don Stale, a
great coach, Sacramento, amazing player. I believe at Uva. I
think I was a young guy when she was coming up.
But it's weird. We don't get a lot of people
saying amazing stuff like that about Kaitlin Clark. Why is that. Well,
you can draw your own conclusions. I think a lot
of it has to do with jealousy that there have
(34:31):
been so many great WNBA basketball players who didn't do
this stuff for the league. I'm looking at you, Diana Tarassi,
and next thing you know, Kayln Clark's doing it and
she's getting all the attention. You know, Diana Tarossi and
company did a lot for the league. That's undeniable, but
I'm sorry people just didn't really care. Okay, Now, Caitlin
(34:54):
Clark regular season games are drawing massive ratings, enormous crowds.
I mean that presented me with some staggering numbers. Do
you guys know gambling on WNBA games is dropping precipitously
just because Caitlin Clark's not playing. People gamble on games
where she's involved. She's not playing. I'm not gambling ticket prices.
(35:16):
I mean you can walk up through a WNBA game
with the Fever now and get in for like eight dollars,
ten dollars. I think USA Today wrote about that. It
was like, oh, Kaitlin Clark, ticket's tough to get two
three hundred bucks. Oh Kaitlin Clark's out, Yeah, six bucks
get in. Like that's where we are. TV ratings look
at them for Fever games since Clark's been out, And
(35:37):
I know when you throw around the word jealousy, people
get very, very upset. This is not an apples to
apples comparison. But I'll never forget guys. There's a reporter,
Marcus something or other in the Bay Area. He's great
Marcus Thompson, and I had him on my radio show
way back as Steph Curry was ascending, and he said
(36:00):
something so fricking smart it was amazing. I said, why
does Chris Paul hate Steph Curry? This was like twenty fifteen,
sixteen seventeen. Why does Russell? The disdain those stars had
for Curry was just I could not process it. I'm like,
he's a nice guy, he's a family guy, he's a
great basketball player. He's not getting in trouble, he's not
(36:22):
stirring upon why do they hate him? And this guy
Marcus who wrote a book either with Curry or on Curry, said, well,
you know, Jay, there's this hierarchy in basketball. So it
was Kobe and Shaq, then Shaq. Peter's out that it's
Kobe and then Lebron. You got next, and then Lebron
takes over the league. Well, there was a moment where
(36:43):
KD and Russell Westbrook went to the finals and everybody
thought Russ is the next great point guard in the NBA.
There was a moment where Chris Paul was with Long
City and he was the next great point guard in
the NBA. And this guy named Steph Curry shows up.
It starts dropping bombs, from three, and he's got a
tag team partner in Klay Thompson and they're the Splash
(37:05):
Brothers and they kind of hit the league like a comet.
They couldn't get out of the first round. Remember they
had that tough first round loss to the Clippers in seven,
And I remember it because I bet it. I was
all in on Curry. And then the next year, pow,
they take off like a jet and they win the championship.
And what you know, you usually have to you have
to uh what is it? You have to before you walk,
(37:28):
you have to crawl, and before you run you have
to walk, and you have to take these steps in sports,
and Steph Curry bypassed those steps. And as such, the
guys who were on the doorstep like they'd been around,
they were like, how is this guy passing me? And
I believe there's some of that at play with Caitlin
Clark right now that she has become such a big deal,
(37:50):
not just in the league now, but I'm talking all time.
And would you hear Don Staley say, oh, she gonna
be one of the all time greats. That's when people
perk up and they're like, what, oh, no, wait a minute,
Caitlin Clark's gonna she's gonna get the business as a rookie,
She's gonna come in this is a totally different ballgame.
And then she was all WNBA like her first season, Okay,
(38:13):
it's like an MVP finalist. Oh and now she's utterly
dominant early before the injury to start this season. And like,
I know, it makes people upset, and yeah, there's probably
some jealousy, but sometimes you just got to accept the reality,
like Katelin Clark's doing everything right, She's dominating on the court,
She's helping the league reach heights they've never seen before.
(38:37):
And yet there's still that disdain and anger toward Clark.
And again, you know, I've never met Caitlin Clark, but
I do know this, trust me. My wife and daughter
were like circling on the calendar. Hey, when is Caitlin
Clark coming to LA? When are they playing the Sparks.
We went last year. It was a scene and it
was like Caitlin Clark. It was her first ever WNVA victory,
(38:58):
and I swear to you, the whole Lower Bowl was
rooting for Caitlin Clark here in LA. It was incredible.
After the game, she's doing an interview, Mobs of people,
my kid included, trying to get an autograph. It's crazy.
We haven't seen this for anyone in the league before.
And I know it, you're in your feelings about it,
(39:19):
but here's the reality. She's a huge deal and she's
gonna be She gonna be the goat in the WNBAS.
Who mean, she's healthy, guys, you know Juju Watkins is
gonna come up coming off the entry. She's very good
and we'll see, but there's no stopping Caitlin Clark in
the WNBA. All Right, We'll wrap up this hour with
an interesting story I saw out of Washington. So I'm
(39:40):
bullish on the Washington Commanders bouncing back in year two. Okay,
year one, Jaden Daniels unbelievable. They're calling it the greatest
rookie quarterback season ever. Like a dummy, I was betting
against them early. I'll remember last summer. I'm sure you
(40:00):
guys remember it. When I came on there and I
was like, there's too much newness in Washington. New owner,
new GM, new coach, new quarterback. Come on, that's just
too much to overcome. It literally hadn't been done in
NFL history where you have all of that new I mean, remember,
you got to get alignment with these guys. It's real tough.
(40:22):
Take a look what the Phoenix Suns did you know?
Ishbiah tried to put together a team with the front
office and everything to make the Sons a super team
and none of it worked. So what did he do
this offseason? He aligned with all Michigan state guys. Go
go look it up. He's a Michigan State guy. Oh
new head coach. Yeah, in Michigan State, of course, all
(40:44):
Michigan states. So you got to get that alignment. So
Washington didn't have it, and it didn't matter because this guy,
Jade Daniels was so good. Jaydan Daniels really helped a
certain guy by the name of Terry McLaurin have the
best season of his career thirteen touchdowns. By far, it
was his fifth straight one thousand yard season. I mean,
(41:04):
Tera McLaurin is great. Weren't probably the most underrated receiver
in the league because he was playing with like Taylor
Heineke and Ryan Fitzpatrick and still putting up numbers. Here
he is against the Cowboys in an extremely memorable game.
I mean, Tera mcluurin is awesome by most metrics. I
would say he's a top ten receiver in the league.
You could argue he's pushing top five just based on
(41:27):
numbers and unbelievable set. Has it fumbled according to Pro
Football SATs in the last four years, like terrem Quar's right,
And now he's upset with contract negotiations and there's talk
of a potential holdout. Not great when you're all excited.
(41:48):
You just got Laramie Tumpster, your left a new left tackle,
you just got Deebo Samuel. You're like, we got to
the NFC Championship. Can we make that next league to
the Super Bowl? Why not? And this is problem Washington's
up against. They've got cap space, the time to spend
on ancillary pieces. Wide receiver, running back is now. Jane
(42:11):
Daniels is making peanuts. When he's out of the rookie deal,
He's gonna be at sixty million a year. So what
is the hold up here? Now? I did get a
text right before the show that this is gonna be fine.
It's not a big deal.
Speaker 6 (42:27):
This is.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Not a huge agent trying to get his guy a
major payday. And that's understandable. My guess is this gets
done and it's much ado about nothing. That being said,
I don't love this now for Washington. I mean everything's positive.
Things are looking rosy. This team legitimately could go to
(42:51):
the super Bowl, and now you got your best player
outside of your quarterback. Kind of chirping. Hopefully dan Quinn
a company can figure this out soon. Coming up next,
Captain Clutch does it again for Indian Game one.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Halliberkele T the rescue
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