November 28, 2024 • 42 mins
World Series Champion Jack Flaherty joins the show in studio to talk about their heated series against the Padres in the playoffs and how everything changed in their series clinching win over the Yankees
He talks to 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady about what makes the Chiefs and Lions clear Super Bowl favorites through 9 weeks
Colin talks to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and their season so far
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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 1 (00:24):
July thirtieth, GM comes up to you and says you've
been traded to the Dodgers. Was your first reaction? Has
a lot of pressure this?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
No, definitely was not. That's a lot of pressure. It's like, Wow,
I can't believe that this is real. I can't believe
this, this is happening. I knew I was gonna get traded
it it was pretty much. It was made very evident
to me, like, yeah, we're gonna move you. We don't
know where, and then it's gonna be the Dodgers. And
I'm like, how quickly can I get this text off
to my mom before it breaks because this is going
(00:57):
to happen really quick, just so you didn't see it
from elsewhere, and be like and I just just one
word was Dodgers, and yeah, that was that was all
my thought.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So, and they relied on you that we said. It's
almost remarkable. They won forty different pitchers used in all
three series. I've never seen this a bullpen game in
the World Series, I thought, I said out loud. I
thought the Podres had you. The Podres series was different
because that team is all attitude. And when you came here,
(01:30):
did you realize how intense the Dodger Podre rivalry was.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
No. I think you see it. You could see the games.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
You see the way that it had gone and the
way that it had gone over the last couple of years.
I think it was twenty two when San Diego beat them,
But I didn't realize the record difference on the season
until we played them because I got there for it
was the series they were playing in San Diego, they
had one more game. I flew in just to be
(01:58):
there with the team before we took off for Oakland,
and and you know, they beat us pretty bad. You know,
it was a it was a rough day and but
the atmosphere was awesome. But then it was just different.
I didn't really realize how intense it was. I had
been in rivalries before with us in the Cubs, being
in Saint Louis, but that one was h trash talking. Yeah,
(02:19):
there was a lot of a lot of back and forth,
and it kind of felt like the second we didn't
react to everything that was going on, and we played
our game and we worried about us, the better position
we were in, like just kind of like one of
those things like they like it felt like they you know,
they were trying to get under our skin. Yes, and
you know, personally, like I let it happen. And in
(02:39):
game two where things got emotional, and uh, it felt
like once we just worried about us and went about
our business and relaxed a little bit, we were able
to relax a little bit for Game four and uh, yeah,
we took care of business.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So Freddie Freeman, you know, these first inning home runs
are insane. As a pitcher, we don't think that offense,
we know, we know, you know, pitching with a lead
probably helps a little. But it felt like those Freeman
home runs kind of change the pitching, like almost gave
(03:13):
you guys more confidence. You were more aggressive.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Pitching with the lead absolutely is a difference, especially in playoffs,
when you have a lead and you can go out
and attack the other team. And you can go out
and it opens the door to go get strike one
and just to go right at guys and to be
aggressive and not really worry about like, you know, I
gotta I gotta pitch the corners. And especially if you're
on the road now, you've got momentum going out there,
(03:38):
and it's just like, how quickly can I get these
guys back to hitting and how quickly can we get
you know, these guys back up again. So for me,
my job at that point is how quickly, you know,
just let's just get these guys out and get these
guys back in the dug out and let them keep
swinging it, and let's build this lead and let's end
this game early.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Because momentum in.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The playoffs is a is a real thing and it's everything.
And once that things starts to shift, things can happen
quickly and can go in whatever direction that it wants
to go.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
One of the things that struck me Jack Flaherty joining
us if you're listening on radio, Dodger Great came July
thirtieth at the deadline from Detroit and was really crucial
in the playoffs. I'm struck by Otani's the biggest superstar
in the game. Mookie Betts is one of the greatest.
I compare him to Joe Morgan. Probably you wouldn't remember
that as well. Joe Morgan I thought was the best
(04:28):
baseball player I ever saw, but because he was around
Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, he was overshadowed. Mookie Bets, similarly,
is an insane talent. I don't understand where he generates
that power. And then you have Freddy Freeman and guys
like you, and then Clayton Kershaw's not pitching, but there's
an aura around him, and then Walker Buehler, and here's
Dave Roberts having to manage injuries and resources. I'm struck
(04:53):
by the body language, how positive. I don't sense ego.
If Otani wanted to be.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
A jerk, he could be, Yeah, he could be.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
What when you came to the organization, were you immediately embraced?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I was, and it was it was Uh. It was
one of those things.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I had known a couple of a handful of guys
on the team already, so for me coming in, and
I had known Doc a little bit, and we had
we had family friends that knew each other. So I
felt like it wasn't. It wasn't a bunch of hey,
nice to meet you's. It was a bunch of hey, man,
good to see you, like like we all knew each other.
It wasn't like, hey, I'm so and so. It wasn't
(05:29):
you know, hey I'm Will Smith, Hey I'm Mookie Bets.
It was like, mooke, it's good to see you Will,
Like how we doing, how are we gonna make this
thing happen? So it was a lot more of that
where I have known or gotten to know some of
these guys a little bit, where they just embraced they
They brought me in, embraced me, and I felt like
I just, you know, just seamlessly fit in and was
able to go out, have a good start in Oakland,
(05:50):
and just just go from there. We had a bunch
of injuries and uh, but it was it was really
just next man up, whoever, whoever was ready to pitch,
whoever was ready to go that.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Day, give it everything you got and and just go
out and do it.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I thought the Padres actually matched up better than the
Yankees or Mets did against you. I thought they kind
of matched up. But they're a team, as you told
me during the break. They play with a lead, there
are a lot of emotion. They don't play as well
from behind. Going into the World Series, and I just
looked at the batting order and I thought, you know,
once you get past like a Stanton down, I just
thought that your pitching would beat their hitting, whereas you
(06:23):
guys can put Tommy Edmund batting ninth and it's like
he'll eat you alive. What was the scouting report going
into the World Series? Was there a sense that you
feel like we got the better we got the better
team here.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Look, I think that for me, it was just trying
to keep guys off base when it was trying to
you have to get the bottom of the order out
because once you get up, if you've got guys on
base and then you've got you know, Glabor, Soto, Judge
and Stanton coming up, you've got problems.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
You got a lot of problems.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So you have to you have to get the bottom
of the order out so that you're not facing those
guys with runners on. And if I can get to
a point where I'm facing you know, Soto, Judge and
Stanton without runners on, we'd be in a we'd be
in a better spot. You know, we trusted our lineup
what they were gonna do. You got the NLCS MVP,
hitting ninth for part of it, when when we got it,
which is crazy crazy, And but then that goes to
the no ego thing is Tommy has no ego.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
He won the MVP. He was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
NLCS, hey, by the way, we're gonna hit you ninth,
but then you know against rodn we're gonna hit you
fifth because you're maybe a little bit better right handed.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
But none of those guys had in the ego.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Mooki show hey, Freddie like they just wanted to do
whatever it took.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
To win, and they did it. And that guy comes
down to sacriflies.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You got Mooki celebrating sacriflies, which it's not to say
he wouldn't do that in the regular season, but the
emotion that he would show of like I got the
job done, we got a run because every single run mattered,
and what we were able to do so it was
I mean, the whole playoffs was a grind, and our
offense like they they they they they showed up and
(07:58):
and and and really they helped us throughout the throughout
the World Series.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
The I mean, you've picked Saint Louis good. Franchise been
a little lean in recent years. Detroit's had down years.
How I mean, I I watched the R and D
for the Dodgers. They don't miss on trades very often.
They bring up minor league guys. They're all good. I mean,
they're they They overachieved for a big for a team
that could spend a lot of money and overspend, they
(08:24):
spend it smartly. They passed on Manny Machado, Zach Greenky.
They don't always just spend the most money. I still
can't figure out how they got Monkey Betts and why
Boston let them go. But how is it different? Do
you feel having been with four let's say you've been Cards, Orioles, Tigers, Dodgers.
This is not the knock other teams. I always felt
the Dodgers were kind of elegant, they kind of stately
(08:46):
like it. Does it feel different?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Uh? You feel the you feel the.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You feel the the like like that they're any any
place they go, they're the They're the bigger, better team. And
you know, like Matt Kemp he told me this, he said,
it's just different wearing the Dodger blue and it's different
having Dodgers across your chest.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
He said.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Guys just come here and you just like the level
of their game just steps up for whatever reason. And
maybe it's it's the guys you're playing with that make
you feel like, hey, I'm on the same level as
this guy, like I get to I get to work,
I get to work with him every day. Or the
staff that they bring around, and how much staff that
they have to give you information or to help you out,
(09:30):
and the way that they watch you work, go about
your business, the way they watch you throw, the way
that their their meetings are held.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Everything it is.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It is top tier from top to bottom, and you know,
every single part of it goes that way, and I
think it goes a long way where you continue to
see the success throughout the regular season no matter who's
out there. It's not the same team every year. There's
a different piece here and there, and then you know,
the playoffs just comes down next. And I mean playoffs,
anything can happen. And I know that they you know,
(10:00):
they they they caught a lot for not winning in
the in the past, but anything can happen in baseball
in the playoffs. Is ever the best team doesn't win
every year, and you know, the Dodgers have been they've
been the best team. And when you go to certain
cities that you when you go to certain cities, teams
are like, okay, like we we got a real team
coming in now, and and that's that's the feeling that
(10:21):
you get when you play them.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
When the when the Yankees melted down in the fifth,
I mean it was I've never seen anything like You've
never seen it. And they were not a great fielding
team to begin with. You guys were a better fielding team.
But when you're in that, when you're in that dugout,
because it kind of felt like we're going back to
l A, Yeah, we're going back to lat that way,
And in that fifth inning, I'm just I'm going, oh,
(10:44):
the Yankees are playing tight, which is remarkable because you're
the favorite and you played loose. Yeah, they're their underdog,
And could you sense they just got tight?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I think we could sense it from the feeling in
the in the stands, Like for the intros of Game three,
whatever reason, we were all kind of looking at each
other and just were like it just it feels like
a nervous energy in the stands and we couldn't quite
pinpoint it, and we were like, let's just go out
and play and like have some fun. We got Walker
(11:15):
Bueler on the mound, one of the best big game
pitchers that there is, like, he's gonna go do it.
Our bullpen is fresh and healthy because you know, y'am,
Mota had pitched all the day before and I did
enough in game one, and it was like, let's just
let's go out win this game and then this end
this series and and make go up three to oh
so we uh yeah, it felt And then game five,
(11:39):
I've that ending was crazy.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Everything that could have.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Gone wrong for them did everything, and we still had
to capitalize because that that played with with Rizzo and
and Cole happens and we're like, oh my goodness, like
like thank goodness. But then Freddie gets a hit, Tail
gets a hit, and then and now we're now we're
tyeball game.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
And now it's like, okay, now.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You took advantage of the momentum. Yeah, they gave you
an opening and you took advantage.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Of such advantage. That's the way it goes. Momentum is
a huge thing.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
They I didn't pitch well to start the game, they
had all the momentum Cole's throwing a no hitter. We
get a couple of guys on an air here there,
and all it took was was one hit from Freddy
and then it was then it was game on.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So you're intense on the mound, you look like you are,
and it's funny. Dave Roberts is the nicest guy, it
feels like is and you you pitch sometimes angry you
are you are? I mean, I mean, you're like intimidating looking.
So when you were coming today, I'm like, this guy,
he's got an edge. When Roberts comes to the mound,
(12:39):
do you guys, is it always like an understanding? Do
you ever fight to stay in What are those Discosscause
you're a very intense guy out there and you're not
in person, but you are in the mound. When Dave
comes out there, is it ever gotten intense?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
No.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Every time he's come out, he he has signaled before
he got out there that he was gonna to bring
in the bullpen. There was only one time where we
had a discussion and it was my first home start
against the Pirates and I got through five innings and
you know, he comes over to me, and I know
he's gonna tell me, hey, you're done, and I just
(13:14):
kind of looked at him. My guy just was like no,
and he was like, what do you mean. I was like,
I was like no, Like I'm good. I felt like
that day I could throw one hundred and fifty pitches
and my arm was gonna be fine, and I had
play in the tank and he just and he was
like okay, and he and he and he walked back
and and I went out and I, you know, I
threw one hundred and ten pitches or whatever it was like,
(13:35):
and he he he comeut to get me. I didn't
finish the inning, and you know, some of the pictures
were like we even like seen that where we let
we let a guy go over one hundred pitches. It's
your second start here. And I was like, I don't know, man,
I felt like I could throw a hundred fifty pitches today.
And Doc to to his credit, was like, okay, like
if you if you you say you got it, like sure,
and he let me go out and I, you know,
(13:57):
pitched well for that inning, didn't get out of it,
and he came and got me at the right time.
So that was the only time. Otherwise, the discussions on
the mound, we haven't had any. It was it was
usually hey, you know, good job, we're gonna get you,
or you know, I didn't pitch well, and it was like, hey,
we're gonna pick you up. We're gonna we're gonna go
win this game, which is kind of how Game five was.
It was like, hey, we're gonna pick you up.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
We got you.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Obviously you knew before you got here how great o'tawny was.
What was the moment when he was a teammate. It
could have been at the cage. It could have that
you went, all right, that's different.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Oh, there was a there was a ball that he
he hit. It was against Colorado against uh Kyle Freeland,
and he and he took a pitch that was up
and then left on left and he and it was
a pitch up here, and he hit it out to
left center and he hit it about ten rows deep
in the left center, which you don't do as a
left handed hitter at all.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And then we all went and.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Watched exactly where the pitch was and then we saw
its two balls above the zone and he hit it
out and we were like that's that's not normal. And
they had watched him all year and been with him
and everybody was still like, wow, that was that was
incredible And and show is just you know, he's just
he'll just be like you know.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
He looks like a movie star.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Yeah he is. He's he's a he's a stud.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
He man that that dude is He's incredible and he
will and he's just he's as cool, calm and collected
as they come. He just uh yeah, him showing some
emotion is is different.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
But it's he's awesome. I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
By the way, Arawan is a very bougie. It's very
high end. You've gone total la. You've got your own
smoothie at air one. My daughter's like, she tells me
she knowed airwe I'm like, is dad paying for it?
Because I know what it costs to get a smoothie
at Airwan. You've got your own smoothie.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Yeah, you're uptown. Yeah, look at it? Is that your Yeah,
that's that's the smoothie right.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
There before the big game.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Yeah, it was right before uh, right before the World Series.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Congratulations, I appreciate it, full blown l A. Yeah, what
a story your mom ran the Little League. I think
Sherman Oaks.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, Sherman Oaks to the league.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Your backstory is incredible. You become a Dodger. You're so
valuable and this was a real pleasure. You are welcome anytime.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Know, you're kind of intimidating when you pitch. They told
me you were on the show Tuesday, and I'm like,
I'm not gonna say anything. I'm not gonna get Jack
worked up, but you know what you do, put the
classic game face on. It is the day you pitch.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Different. It's there. It's very different. It's very different.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I come in, I don't talk to anybody, and really
I think it's it's a different thing. And guys are
you know. They got to ask like do you like
to talk on days you pitch? And I just no,
And then they start to realize, like that's just that's
just how I gotta be.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
It is.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
It's game day.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Yeah, it's different. Great meeting you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
This is the Herd Best Best. 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 1 (16:52):
This is the Herd, best bet, seven times Super Bowl champ,
Tom Brady twenty three years, best quarterback to ever play
the game. So I was thinking about this tom as
I'm watching Kansas City. I still feel like I said,
they're like an electric vehicle that's only charged about fifty percent.
They're not They're kind of trying to figure out what
(17:14):
they are back up running back. They don't know what
to do with Xavier Worthy. They just kind of go
back your Randy Moss team Boom. You knew very early
at special But did you ever have a team that
won a Super Bowl but in the middle of a
season you didn't quite know what the offensive identity was?
(17:34):
Because that's what I watched when I watched the Chiefs.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
I actually think they do have a great offensive identity.
I think they look the game's about winning. You talk
about points, you talk about you know, yards, and you
talk about penalties and defensive stops. To me, at the
end of the game, do you have more points than
the other team? That's the maturity of a great team
(18:00):
in a great organization. I played on a lot of teams.
Some were a lot of offensive strengths, some had a
lot of defensive strengths. Some years we were kind of
middle of the packet both but we played well situationally,
third down, red area, two minute every year. That's the
best part about the NFL is the constant transition, the
(18:20):
constant change. You see they add DeAndre Hopkins at the
trade deadline. So it's like in the end when you
have Patrick Mahomes and it's a one score game, everyone's
always betting on the Chiefs. Now, can someone get away
from the Chiefs. I don't know, because that defense plays
so well. But I don't think Patrick Mahomes is a
(18:41):
lesser player because he doesn't have twenty five touchdowns at
this point. It's just he's not playing with guys that
can produce that from the receiver position. So that naturally
Patrick's job is to and I covered him a few
weeks ago when I said the job of the quarterback
is to manage all the variables of the game and
(19:01):
the season, injuries, whether the rhythm of the offense, and
then ultimately go out there and make the plays that
puts you in a position to win. And that's what
winners do, and certainly Patrick is that. And then he's
got Andy Reid there who's as great of a coach.
You know, in NFL history, he's on the kind of
the Mount rushmore of coaches. So you have this consistency
(19:23):
of this organization from owner, general, manager, coach, quarterback, and
then to me a defensive coordinator in spags that the
way that defense plays puts them in a position to
win every single week. So it's obviously they can be beat.
There's probably games where they could have been beat this year,
but every game is decided by a few plays, and
(19:45):
the reality of the Chiefs team is they always find
a way to make the plays when it matters.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
You know, I remember when Randy Moss played with you,
when you guys brought a new player in and you
had talked at the time. You're like, you know Belichick
and you were like, he's just smart and he knows football. Obviously,
DeAndre Hopkins doesn't know the entire playbook yet, but I'm
watching him and I'm like, especially that play in the
back of the end zone, I'm like, God, you'd think they.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Had fifty practices.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
What is it about certain receivers with you, like Moss
or DeAndre Hopkins, they don't have to know the playbook,
But yet I felt like had I just landed on
the planet and watched it, I would have never guessed
he just showed up at the facility. What was it
with Moss? What is it with a veteran receiver that
a young receiver just couldn't do?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
And that's a great question. So the reality is, is
a great receiver, well, any receiver that's a veteran knows
what a knows what a practice weeks looks like. If
they know how to run all the routes in the offense, now,
they may not know exactly where to line up because
everyone has their variations of words and descriptive words they
(20:53):
use to get people aligned, to get the protections organized,
and then to call routes. Some people use number systems
people use some people use words that people have to memorize.
Some people use a one term word that tells everybody
what to do. Kansas City does it kind of a
myriad of different ways. And then once DeAndre can really
comprehend that, he's gonna say, oh, okay, that's what I
(21:14):
used to call this outcut in Tennessee was like this,
or in Houston was like but in case it's like this.
But I still know how to run the route. So
you have these veteran players that have the experience to
run the routes, to know the offenses. It's not like,
you know, when he played for Tennessee, the field was
(21:35):
a different size. You know, it's the same rules, it's
the same routes. It's ultimately just how you call him.
So once he gets out there and he's confident in
what he has, you know he's going to look like
DeAndre Hopkins always has, which is you know, he's got
good quickness, he's got great catch radius, he's got this
ability and the situational place to make catches like that,
and certainly as a rhetoric target. And I just think
(21:57):
if you look at the Chiefs and their injuries at
the receiver position, to add someone like DeAndre who has
that veteran presence and no game is going to be
too big for him. He's played a lot of big games,
so that always gives a quarterback a lot of confidence.
I remember playing with certain rookie receivers literally it was
like the first day of OTAs and I'd call like, hey,
(22:20):
run a slant and he looked at me like a
slant okay. And that's kind of the most generic route
rook since we're running those in in in parking lots,
you know, with your friends. And there was a few
guys I play with that would they they'd start the
route slow, then they'd speed up into the break, then
they'd slow down coming out of the break, and then
they look for the ball and I look at him
(22:42):
and be like, what the hell was that? You know, like,
there's such a there's such a learning curve that needs
to happen from a rookie player. Whereas when you get
someone like DeAndre, you go, Heyjondre, run a slant and
it looks like a slant. It looks great, it's fluid,
it's smooth, you can play it. So with the rook
there's such a learning curve. There's so many things to
(23:03):
learn that you're never going to get that type of
production in a short period of time of the rookie
that you can get with a veteran unless that's just
a very special rookie. And I've had some of those.
Those guys, to me, are more anomalies than kind of
what the norm is.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
I know you probably haven't sat and watched too many
Denver games or Bears games, but when with the young quarterbacks.
Obviously they grew up in a different environment than you.
Seven on seven camps, way more snaps by the time
they're fifteen than you had. But go back to your career.
I remember you doing an interview with Jay Glazer once
and you're like, I've seen everything, dude, you could throw
anything at me. When was the time in your career?
(23:41):
You're pretty a learned guy, You're very committed. How long
did it take? You know, they always talk about things
slowed down a little. How long Mahomes said it was
year three?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
What was it for you?
Speaker 5 (23:57):
The answer is it progressively gets more and more. And
I would say maybe at year one it's fifty percent
of the way that you want it, and then year
two it's sixty percent, and ultimately you're trying to get
to one hundred percent. But even I think for Patrick,
if I look at his situation in his development, he
was very lucky to sit behind and Patrick, let me
(24:18):
get us out of the way. He is a phenomenal player.
To me, is you know he lamar Josh Allen. You're
talking about the upper echelon, as we all know, and
Patrick is going to go down as one of the
greats ever for a number of reasons. But if I
look at him, he went to college at Texas Tech.
He had Cliff Kingsbury there with him for three years,
an NFL caliber coach, running a lot of NFL caliber
(24:41):
type calls and methodologies by on what he's doing. So
three years of that, then he goes to the Chiefs
and he's got Alex Smith as the guy that's ahead
of him, who's a phenomenal player, great leader, does everything
the right way. And then he's got Andy Reid as
his play caller. So it's like, there's a reason why
(25:01):
it all works, and there's this development that happens and
why Patrick has been able to ascend so quickly, and
he would have found a way to ascend at some
point anyway. I'm just saying I could never have reached
this area of growth that I needed to. Whether that
was your one or three or five. It was accelerated
because all the things that I had in place when
(25:23):
I was in college. I ran a pro style offense,
I got drafted, I had Bill Belichick teach me, I
got to sit behind Drew bledsoe. I worked really hard
to learn all those things and embrace the challenge, and
I think when you're a young quarterback. Ultimately, that's what
you're trying to do. Be in a situation where you
can learn, grow, develop. It's all about mentorship. It's all
(25:44):
about the people that come in your life. I see
Bo Nicks from Denver. He's got Sean Payton there as
a phenomenal coach. He's gonna get great coaching, They're gonna
have great scheme. A lot of times, the first reads
for him are going to be open because he's got
a great play caller that knows how to design things.
So then you go on the other side of it.
You know, I've seen a lot of quarterbacks that don't
(26:05):
make it. Maybe they wouldn't have made it anyway, but
I'm just saying there's a potential that they could look
at Sam Darnold. Now, he's playing really well in Minnesota.
He's a good he's got a good coach, he's got
a good scheme, he's got some good receivers. He's playing well.
You know, when he was at the Jets, he didn't
have all those things quite in place. So we always
have to look at I think the physical makeup of
(26:27):
these young players. What are they capable of? Do they
have good arms. Do they have great arms?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
You know?
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Are they athletic? Can they get out of the pocket?
Can they? And then to me, there's a mental element
that always comes into quarterback play. And I said in
this last game against Green Bay, was watching Green Bay
Lions this last weekend. I said, there's no way for
me to really see sustained success in the NFL at
the quarterback position if you don't have total control of
(26:54):
what's being done out on the field. If you're expecting
your coach to call a play from the sideline and
that play's gonna come into your helmet, you're gonna call it,
You're gonna walk to the line of scrimmage, and that
play's gonna be successful, regardless of the defense of Look,
you're out of your mind. That's not the way it works.
The defense calls plays to stop you, and they have
(27:14):
their own tendency. So it's up to the quarterback ultimately
to decide, Okay, I got a play called. I see
what the defense is doing. Is this play gonna work
or not. If it's gonna work, you run it. If
it's not, what do I need to do to survive
the down? Or what do I need to do to
put us in a position to be really successful. That
to me is the operational control the quarterback's need. And
(27:37):
the problem is with the development of height of college
programs now they're not getting developed in the same way.
Now they get to a pro program and a lot
of the NFL programs, there's so much money going around,
you know. The need to develop is guys can sign
one or two contracts and not develop and still make
a great living. So I would love to see the
(28:00):
quarterback play continue to evolve and grow. It's only going
to come from more time on task, more time with
your coaches, more understanding of what your roles and responsibility are.
You're supposed to develop a tool kit as a quarterback
to deal with what you see on the game every
single day. I've seen Jared Goff again covering him this
(28:22):
last game. It was awesome to watch in LA. He
had a great system, he had McVeigh to learn under.
He brought that. He comes to a phenomenal program in
Detroit right now, where to me, they're doing a lot
of things the right way. Their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson says,
all right, Jared, we're going to put more and more
on your plate. We're going to give you a great
opportunity to succeed, and you have to have the ability
to process a lot of information, which is one of
(28:44):
jared strengths, to actually implement all those things, and when
you do it well, to me, that's what gets you
to that's what gives you a great chance to win
every single week in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
So Bill Belichick's had a couple of weeks ago when
asked about Detroit, He's like, they've got everything offensively. You
hope they make a mistake. And you just called the
game and green Bay's got a good team. It looked
like older brother, younger brother, let me teach you how
to play football. Go back, I mean Detroit O line tackles,
run game, tight end, quarterback. Go back to your career,
(29:17):
because I felt like green Bay very quickly was like,
we're a little out of our element here.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
This is a really really yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So go back to your career. Was there ever a
team you played and you may not have said this
to your teammates, but you thought to yourself, I'm not
sure they have a weakness like that is Pro bowlers everywhere.
I watched Detroit's offense, Tom, I don't know what the
weakness is, deep ball, slants, slots. Did you ever face
(29:46):
a team like that when you looked at the personnel
and thought it's almost a perfect offense?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
I would say the only I would say the early
Colts offenses we faced. They had Saturday. They had Terry
Glenn tight End, they had Pollard, they had at times
Dallas Clark. They had Marvin, they had Reggie, they had Stokeley,
they had Edgrin. They they were so good and I'm
(30:16):
lucky I didn't have to go against them. I mean,
to me, it was great. Belichick would say, guys, listen,
this would be a Wednesday meeting. Understand this. They are
gonna move the ball on us. They're too good. They
got so many guys, they're gonna go up and down.
We need to play good red area defense, and we're
gonna work on red area defense on Wednesday, Thursday and
(30:39):
Friday because that's gonna decide the game. They're gonna get
the ball down there. Which is a great humility from
a coach who's a defensive coach, who's essentially the coordinator,
to say, these guys are so good, we're not gonna just,
you know, pull the wool over eyes and thinks that
we're gonna keep these guys at two hundred and forty
yards offense, They're gonna have a going to have yards.
(31:01):
What we need to do is keep the points down.
If we can keep the points down and offensively we
can control the game, we can run the ball, and
then we can score points, we're going to give ourselves
a best chance to win. That to me is complimentary football.
So when you play the Lions, the only way to
beat them is to play a style where the offense
(31:23):
compliments the defense and then the kicking game does their job.
Sometimes when you punt, you play great field position. Okay, offensively,
the best defense against the Lions offense, to me is
the meet is possessed the football. You don't want to
make it a track meet against a team that can
run it. They throw it to their tight end, they
throw it to their receivers. When they get Jamison William back,
(31:43):
they have the explosive receiver. So there's so many and
they go for an un fourth downs so often. They
you got to stop them four downs, not just three,
which is a really hard thing to do. So there's
a lot of challenges that the Lions are presenting. And
look the one game they did lose this year, they
were one of six in the red area. That's right
against the Bucks.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
So so to me, they got a they got a
great offense, and they got a lot of humility, they
got a great culture. To me, they're doing so many
things the right way in the NFL right now.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So you're calling the San Francisco game this weekend, when
when you know, and I think Brock's a good player,
but I also think and the and the you're a
great example of this. Executives miss all the time on
players Antonio Gates and Tony Romo weren't drafted. There's players
all over. I watched a kid for the Rams this weekend.
Some undrafted safety had his fourth pick. There's talent everywhere.
(32:35):
What was the thing when the first the first time
you saw Brock Purty. Obviously you weren't wowed by his size.
His arm strength is good enough. What was the first
thing that you saw I wouldn't see this. You would
see this and you thought that guy's pretty good. Like
is there something that you see because you played the
position a tell like in poker, that you were like, yeah,
(32:57):
that this kid's gonna work.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
Sure, So I think it's poise and composure. It's calm
under chaos. That's what the quarterback needs to do. And
he walks into that huddle, he needs ten other guys
looking at him go all right, man, you're you're totally
under control. And whatever you say, we're gonna do to
our best leagues because we know you're gonna deliver. And
they all have that confidence in Brock as a player.
(33:24):
And you're right, Brock's not the biggest His arm strength
isn't like Aaron Rodgers. But if he can play with
anticipation in this offense, to me, even studying in the
last few days, is a lot different than the one
that they had last year and the year before. They
had so many weapons the last couple of years. You know,
(33:45):
Brock essentially was a point guard out there just delivering
balls to halfbacks and flip it out there to de
bone gain yards. And then he's got iuke, you know,
catching in cuts and running for a lot of Oh
you forgot about kittle boom, We're gonna throw over the
top of you there. This offense has been in and
out of a lot of their great players, and I
think getting McCaffrey back is so important to this offense
(34:06):
because he provides that passing threat out of the backfield
that they just haven't had this year. So now the
defense has to come up closer to the line of
scrimmage to defend the run with Christian as well as
the pass, and that to me opens up more of
the intermediate and deeper parts of the field for Bruck
where they've kind of been throwing more of these intermediate
type targets on the field, which I don't think is
(34:28):
necessarily the strength of that offense. So if they can
get back, if they can get Christian back playing well
with Mason and McCaffrey, wow, that's a great group. Then
at receiver, obviously losing Ayuk is a brutal loss, but
they drafted Pears in the first round. He's going to
get his legs underneath them. You still got Jennings, who
to me is one of the most underrated receivers in
(34:49):
the NFL to perform so well in the Super Bowl.
They have a ton of confidence in him, and then
Deebo his versatility. You still got Yuschek, who's a ridiculous
chess for Kyle, and then you have Kittle, who can
turn up from time to time and go, Holy the Cat,
we almost forgot about him, and then not to mention
a phenomenal offensive line. So they still have all the
(35:10):
pieces in place. Now. They've kind of always seemed to
turn around their season around the bye week. This is
when they need to do it. They just had their
bye week. We'll see, you know, if they get green
Law back on defense, that would be a huge boost. Unfortunately,
what they really missed on defense they lost Hardgrave. They
lost this interior rusher, so now it's really kind of
(35:30):
a one man show with Bosa on the perimeter. But
if they can get green Law back and get him
playing close to the way that he was playing in
there with Warner, you have one of the best handems
in the league, if not the best, at linebacker. They
rush the quarterback a little better, and then that safe
that secondary unit, which has always got a lot of
(35:51):
tight coverage, they can capitalize on offensive mistakes. So I
would never count out the forty nine ers. I think
they're so well coached. They got a great system in place,
a great culture of guys that know how to win.
You know, those are all the things you look for
with with the.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Niners seven rings. Tom Brady Fox Sports taking time for
us today, Tom, I appreciate it, man, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (36:10):
Thanks calling, great talking to your partner. All Right, I'm
here for you any time. You know that.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
All right?
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Thanks Tom. I appreciate that this is the herd, best stuff,
best best. Andy Reid, coach of the Super Bowl back
to back winning Chiefs, is joining us. You know, I
was thinking about this. Spags has been around forever. Chris
Jones is a veteran, Travis Kelsey as mahomes is. Do
you ever Andy, when I mean you guys have been
in so many close games in a row, do you
ever just go to your guys, the Bedrock guys, and
(36:38):
do they ever come to you. You're so close and
you've had so much success, and do they ever come
to you and say, Andy, we can't we gotta take
the shells off today, Andy, we can't hit the day
Or are you.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Just gonna go?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Listen, guys, this is football.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
It's tough.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
What's the communication like between you and those veteran Spags,
Chris all those guys.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Yeah, So with the players, I've got a player's committee, Colin,
so they let me know where they're at and how
they're feeling, and I try to check with him. And
it's important that in today's world we talk about recovery
and keeping guys fresh and all of that. So I
keep my ears open and I'm always listening and asking questions,
and they're willing to share, which is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
So I had defended Travis Kelcey in the first couple
of weeks. I said, my guess is and he's trying
to establish Rashi Rice is a number one target. He's
trying to get Xavier Worthy worked in. This isn't Travis issue.
It's let's get the young receivers up to speed. So
let's start with Worthy, who is a remarkably fast kid.
Not a lot of guys run like him. I don't
(37:43):
see him as a volume guy, but I think he's
really important. Do you see him as a guy that
could be twelve targets, nine catches? How do you see him?
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Yeah? I think you'd love him, Colin.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
I know Sarka told me he was his favorite guy,
which I probably shouldn't say, but he really liked the kid.
And he's a California kid too, Colin, So I'm partial
to him a little bit. But He's very smart, and
he's got great football instincts and loves play a lot
like Deshan Jackson and his football knowledge and his ability.
(38:13):
So I'm not sure I want to take him through
the middle of the defense every play, but I know
he's he can endure some hits, and he can he
knows how to avoid hits, which is a plus at
his size.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
You know, Gronk had this and Travis Kelsey does and
maybe an old Antonio Gates. They just have an ability
to get open on big plays, is it. And they're
willing blockers, which always helps. Travis doesn't run no tight
end runs in year ten on like they ran their
second year in the league. You ask him to block its.
(38:47):
Gronk got slow, but he was valuable. If I said
to you, give me the assets of Travis Kelcey, all
things considered, hand speed, knowledge, what to you makes him
special and different than other tight ends historically.
Speaker 6 (39:03):
Phenomenal instincts and ability to play in space, I would
tell you the second second, and none of the guys
that I've been around since I've been in the league
and watching this thing, so he just has a knack.
He's quarterback friendly, which you can appreciate. People don't know
that you are a quarterback, but I'm telling him that,
and so you know that. You know that that guy,
(39:24):
he's closest to you, and he becomes very valuable and
so and then he's got you know, he's one of
those football savant guys, player savants. He he knows knows
exactly what's going on. He knows all the positions, and
he does a great job with all that.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
One of the reasons teams don't win three in a row,
and it's harder now than ever because it's a much
more mobile league. Guys get richer, they have endorsements, they
get it distracted. So during the off season you're sitting
there looking at your trophies and thinking, how do I
avoid apathy and how do you Is it something you
brought into camp? Is it a talking point?
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Andy?
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Nobody's done this and Shoele has had great teams in
Belichick and Bill Walsh. They had the personnel to win
three straight and the league wasn't even as mobile as
it is now. You've had injuries. How do you attack
that or do you.
Speaker 6 (40:21):
No apathy for the trophies, Apathy for Tommy Berger is
not the trophy. But I just try to I step back,
and I understand Colin, what what it takes to play
in this league. It's it's not easy. And so training
camp is going to remain the same, and you better
get your cell. You can do whatever you want in
(40:41):
the off season that you better be prepared. And the
guys know that, and the veteran players know it, and
and so they come back in good shape. They work
their tails off in the off season. They and then
once they once the season comes around, they're ready to go.
And we don't talk about the troph we don't look
at the trophies and do all of that stuff. We
(41:03):
understand that the competition level is so high in this
league and the parody is so close that we've got
to make sure we stay on our a game every day,
and that's the way we go about it.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Spags, do you ever override him on anything? Or does
he run the show defensively?
Speaker 4 (41:20):
What I mean?
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Do you ever have to go hey, can we discuss this?
Can we talk about that? I know you have so
much respect for him. Where's the line on that?
Speaker 6 (41:28):
Yeah, I'm lucky to have these coordinators at all three spots.
And Spags does a great job. I let him roll
with what he does and nobody does it better. I mean,
he's a great teacher most of all, and has a
tremendous mind for the game. So very fortunate that way
as I am on the offensive side with Nags and
(41:50):
then with Tob so they're all they all do their
thing and I just kind of jump in when I
need to jump in and and have some fun with it.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs, the standard in the NFL
as always great, Senior, you always give us time. I
appreciate that, coach.
Speaker 6 (42:09):
Yeah, thank you, calling you the best man.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
All right, Andy Reid, you just listened to the best
of the Herd with Colin Cowherd.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Please tune in tomorrow for more of Colin Cowherd right
here
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 noone 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 1 (00:24):
July thirtieth, GM comes up to you and says you've
been traded to the Dodgers. Was your first reaction? Has
a lot of pressure this?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
No, definitely was not. That's a lot of pressure. It's like, Wow,
I can't believe that this is real. I can't believe
this, this is happening. I knew I was gonna get traded
it it was pretty much. It was made very evident
to me, like, yeah, we're gonna move you. We don't
know where, and then it's gonna be the Dodgers. And
I'm like, how quickly can I get this text off
to my mom before it breaks because this is going
(00:57):
to happen really quick, just so you didn't see it
from elsewhere, and be like and I just just one
word was Dodgers, and yeah, that was that was all
my thought.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So, and they relied on you that we said. It's
almost remarkable. They won forty different pitchers used in all
three series. I've never seen this a bullpen game in
the World Series, I thought, I said out loud. I
thought the Podres had you. The Podres series was different
because that team is all attitude. And when you came here,
(01:30):
did you realize how intense the Dodger Podre rivalry was.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
No. I think you see it. You could see the games.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
You see the way that it had gone and the
way that it had gone over the last couple of years.
I think it was twenty two when San Diego beat them,
But I didn't realize the record difference on the season
until we played them because I got there for it
was the series they were playing in San Diego, they
had one more game. I flew in just to be
(01:58):
there with the team before we took off for Oakland,
and and you know, they beat us pretty bad. You know,
it was a it was a rough day and but
the atmosphere was awesome. But then it was just different.
I didn't really realize how intense it was. I had
been in rivalries before with us in the Cubs, being
in Saint Louis, but that one was h trash talking. Yeah,
(02:19):
there was a lot of a lot of back and forth,
and it kind of felt like the second we didn't
react to everything that was going on, and we played
our game and we worried about us, the better position
we were in, like just kind of like one of
those things like they like it felt like they you know,
they were trying to get under our skin. Yes, and
you know, personally, like I let it happen. And in
(02:39):
game two where things got emotional, and uh, it felt
like once we just worried about us and went about
our business and relaxed a little bit, we were able
to relax a little bit for Game four and uh, yeah,
we took care of business.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
So Freddie Freeman, you know, these first inning home runs
are insane. As a pitcher, we don't think that offense,
we know, we know, you know, pitching with a lead
probably helps a little. But it felt like those Freeman
home runs kind of change the pitching, like almost gave
(03:13):
you guys more confidence. You were more aggressive.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Pitching with the lead absolutely is a difference, especially in playoffs,
when you have a lead and you can go out
and attack the other team. And you can go out
and it opens the door to go get strike one
and just to go right at guys and to be
aggressive and not really worry about like, you know, I
gotta I gotta pitch the corners. And especially if you're
on the road now, you've got momentum going out there,
(03:38):
and it's just like, how quickly can I get these
guys back to hitting and how quickly can we get
you know, these guys back up again. So for me,
my job at that point is how quickly, you know,
just let's just get these guys out and get these
guys back in the dug out and let them keep
swinging it, and let's build this lead and let's end
this game early.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Because momentum in.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
The playoffs is a is a real thing and it's everything.
And once that things starts to shift, things can happen
quickly and can go in whatever direction that it wants
to go.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
One of the things that struck me Jack Flaherty joining
us if you're listening on radio, Dodger Great came July
thirtieth at the deadline from Detroit and was really crucial
in the playoffs. I'm struck by Otani's the biggest superstar
in the game. Mookie Betts is one of the greatest.
I compare him to Joe Morgan. Probably you wouldn't remember
that as well. Joe Morgan I thought was the best
(04:28):
baseball player I ever saw, but because he was around
Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, he was overshadowed. Mookie Bets, similarly,
is an insane talent. I don't understand where he generates
that power. And then you have Freddy Freeman and guys
like you, and then Clayton Kershaw's not pitching, but there's
an aura around him, and then Walker Buehler, and here's
Dave Roberts having to manage injuries and resources. I'm struck
(04:53):
by the body language, how positive. I don't sense ego.
If Otani wanted to be.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
A jerk, he could be, Yeah, he could be.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
What when you came to the organization, were you immediately embraced?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
I was, and it was it was Uh. It was
one of those things.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I had known a couple of a handful of guys
on the team already, so for me coming in, and
I had known Doc a little bit, and we had
we had family friends that knew each other. So I
felt like it wasn't. It wasn't a bunch of hey,
nice to meet you's. It was a bunch of hey, man,
good to see you, like like we all knew each other.
It wasn't like, hey, I'm so and so. It wasn't
(05:29):
you know, hey I'm Will Smith, Hey I'm Mookie Bets.
It was like, mooke, it's good to see you Will,
Like how we doing, how are we gonna make this
thing happen? So it was a lot more of that
where I have known or gotten to know some of
these guys a little bit, where they just embraced they
They brought me in, embraced me, and I felt like
I just, you know, just seamlessly fit in and was
able to go out, have a good start in Oakland,
(05:50):
and just just go from there. We had a bunch
of injuries and uh, but it was it was really
just next man up, whoever, whoever was ready to pitch,
whoever was ready to go that.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Day, give it everything you got and and just go
out and do it.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I thought the Padres actually matched up better than the
Yankees or Mets did against you. I thought they kind
of matched up. But they're a team, as you told
me during the break. They play with a lead, there
are a lot of emotion. They don't play as well
from behind. Going into the World Series, and I just
looked at the batting order and I thought, you know,
once you get past like a Stanton down, I just
thought that your pitching would beat their hitting, whereas you
(06:23):
guys can put Tommy Edmund batting ninth and it's like
he'll eat you alive. What was the scouting report going
into the World Series? Was there a sense that you
feel like we got the better we got the better
team here.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Look, I think that for me, it was just trying
to keep guys off base when it was trying to
you have to get the bottom of the order out
because once you get up, if you've got guys on
base and then you've got you know, Glabor, Soto, Judge
and Stanton coming up, you've got problems.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
You got a lot of problems.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
So you have to you have to get the bottom
of the order out so that you're not facing those
guys with runners on. And if I can get to
a point where I'm facing you know, Soto, Judge and
Stanton without runners on, we'd be in a we'd be
in a better spot. You know, we trusted our lineup
what they were gonna do. You got the NLCS MVP,
hitting ninth for part of it, when when we got it,
which is crazy crazy, And but then that goes to
the no ego thing is Tommy has no ego.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
He won the MVP. He was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
NLCS, hey, by the way, we're gonna hit you ninth,
but then you know against rodn we're gonna hit you
fifth because you're maybe a little bit better right handed.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
But none of those guys had in the ego.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Mooki show hey, Freddie like they just wanted to do
whatever it took.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
To win, and they did it. And that guy comes
down to sacriflies.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
You got Mooki celebrating sacriflies, which it's not to say
he wouldn't do that in the regular season, but the
emotion that he would show of like I got the
job done, we got a run because every single run mattered,
and what we were able to do so it was
I mean, the whole playoffs was a grind, and our
offense like they they they they they showed up and
(07:58):
and and and really they helped us throughout the throughout
the World Series.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
The I mean, you've picked Saint Louis good. Franchise been
a little lean in recent years. Detroit's had down years.
How I mean, I I watched the R and D
for the Dodgers. They don't miss on trades very often.
They bring up minor league guys. They're all good. I mean,
they're they They overachieved for a big for a team
that could spend a lot of money and overspend, they
(08:24):
spend it smartly. They passed on Manny Machado, Zach Greenky.
They don't always just spend the most money. I still
can't figure out how they got Monkey Betts and why
Boston let them go. But how is it different? Do
you feel having been with four let's say you've been Cards, Orioles, Tigers, Dodgers.
This is not the knock other teams. I always felt
the Dodgers were kind of elegant, they kind of stately
(08:46):
like it. Does it feel different?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Uh? You feel the you feel the.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You feel the the like like that they're any any
place they go, they're the They're the bigger, better team. And
you know, like Matt Kemp he told me this, he said,
it's just different wearing the Dodger blue and it's different
having Dodgers across your chest.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
He said.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Guys just come here and you just like the level
of their game just steps up for whatever reason. And
maybe it's it's the guys you're playing with that make
you feel like, hey, I'm on the same level as
this guy, like I get to I get to work,
I get to work with him every day. Or the
staff that they bring around, and how much staff that
they have to give you information or to help you out,
(09:30):
and the way that they watch you work, go about
your business, the way they watch you throw, the way
that their their meetings are held.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Everything it is.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
It is top tier from top to bottom, and you know,
every single part of it goes that way, and I
think it goes a long way where you continue to
see the success throughout the regular season no matter who's
out there. It's not the same team every year. There's
a different piece here and there, and then you know,
the playoffs just comes down next. And I mean playoffs,
anything can happen. And I know that they you know,
(10:00):
they they they caught a lot for not winning in
the in the past, but anything can happen in baseball
in the playoffs. Is ever the best team doesn't win
every year, and you know, the Dodgers have been they've
been the best team. And when you go to certain
cities that you when you go to certain cities, teams
are like, okay, like we we got a real team
coming in now, and and that's that's the feeling that
(10:21):
you get when you play them.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
When the when the Yankees melted down in the fifth,
I mean it was I've never seen anything like You've
never seen it. And they were not a great fielding
team to begin with. You guys were a better fielding team.
But when you're in that, when you're in that dugout,
because it kind of felt like we're going back to
l A, Yeah, we're going back to lat that way,
And in that fifth inning, I'm just I'm going, oh,
(10:44):
the Yankees are playing tight, which is remarkable because you're
the favorite and you played loose. Yeah, they're their underdog,
And could you sense they just got tight?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I think we could sense it from the feeling in
the in the stands, Like for the intros of Game three,
whatever reason, we were all kind of looking at each
other and just were like it just it feels like
a nervous energy in the stands and we couldn't quite
pinpoint it, and we were like, let's just go out
and play and like have some fun. We got Walker
(11:15):
Bueler on the mound, one of the best big game
pitchers that there is, like, he's gonna go do it.
Our bullpen is fresh and healthy because you know, y'am,
Mota had pitched all the day before and I did
enough in game one, and it was like, let's just
let's go out win this game and then this end
this series and and make go up three to oh
so we uh yeah, it felt And then game five,
(11:39):
I've that ending was crazy.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Everything that could have.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Gone wrong for them did everything, and we still had
to capitalize because that that played with with Rizzo and
and Cole happens and we're like, oh my goodness, like
like thank goodness. But then Freddie gets a hit, Tail
gets a hit, and then and now we're now we're
tyeball game.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
And now it's like, okay, now.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You took advantage of the momentum. Yeah, they gave you
an opening and you took advantage.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Of such advantage. That's the way it goes. Momentum is
a huge thing.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
They I didn't pitch well to start the game, they
had all the momentum Cole's throwing a no hitter. We
get a couple of guys on an air here there,
and all it took was was one hit from Freddy
and then it was then it was game on.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
So you're intense on the mound, you look like you are,
and it's funny. Dave Roberts is the nicest guy, it
feels like is and you you pitch sometimes angry you
are you are? I mean, I mean, you're like intimidating looking.
So when you were coming today, I'm like, this guy,
he's got an edge. When Roberts comes to the mound,
(12:39):
do you guys, is it always like an understanding? Do
you ever fight to stay in What are those Discosscause
you're a very intense guy out there and you're not
in person, but you are in the mound. When Dave
comes out there, is it ever gotten intense?
Speaker 4 (12:52):
No.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Every time he's come out, he he has signaled before
he got out there that he was gonna to bring
in the bullpen. There was only one time where we
had a discussion and it was my first home start
against the Pirates and I got through five innings and
you know, he comes over to me, and I know
he's gonna tell me, hey, you're done, and I just
(13:14):
kind of looked at him. My guy just was like no,
and he was like, what do you mean. I was like,
I was like no, Like I'm good. I felt like
that day I could throw one hundred and fifty pitches
and my arm was gonna be fine, and I had
play in the tank and he just and he was
like okay, and he and he and he walked back
and and I went out and I, you know, I
threw one hundred and ten pitches or whatever it was like,
(13:35):
and he he he comeut to get me. I didn't
finish the inning, and you know, some of the pictures
were like we even like seen that where we let
we let a guy go over one hundred pitches. It's
your second start here. And I was like, I don't know, man,
I felt like I could throw a hundred fifty pitches today.
And Doc to to his credit, was like, okay, like
if you if you you say you got it, like sure,
and he let me go out and I, you know,
(13:57):
pitched well for that inning, didn't get out of it,
and he came and got me at the right time.
So that was the only time. Otherwise, the discussions on
the mound, we haven't had any. It was it was
usually hey, you know, good job, we're gonna get you,
or you know, I didn't pitch well, and it was like, hey,
we're gonna pick you up. We're gonna we're gonna go
win this game, which is kind of how Game five was.
It was like, hey, we're gonna pick you up.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
We got you.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Obviously you knew before you got here how great o'tawny was.
What was the moment when he was a teammate. It
could have been at the cage. It could have that
you went, all right, that's different.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Oh, there was a there was a ball that he
he hit. It was against Colorado against uh Kyle Freeland,
and he and he took a pitch that was up
and then left on left and he and it was
a pitch up here, and he hit it out to
left center and he hit it about ten rows deep
in the left center, which you don't do as a
left handed hitter at all.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And then we all went and.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Watched exactly where the pitch was and then we saw
its two balls above the zone and he hit it
out and we were like that's that's not normal. And
they had watched him all year and been with him
and everybody was still like, wow, that was that was
incredible And and show is just you know, he's just
he'll just be like you know.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
He looks like a movie star.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Yeah he is. He's he's a he's a stud.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
He man that that dude is He's incredible and he
will and he's just he's as cool, calm and collected
as they come. He just uh yeah, him showing some
emotion is is different.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
But it's he's awesome. I love that.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
By the way, Arawan is a very bougie. It's very
high end. You've gone total la. You've got your own
smoothie at air one. My daughter's like, she tells me
she knowed airwe I'm like, is dad paying for it?
Because I know what it costs to get a smoothie
at Airwan. You've got your own smoothie.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Yeah, you're uptown. Yeah, look at it? Is that your Yeah,
that's that's the smoothie right.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
There before the big game.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
Yeah, it was right before uh, right before the World Series.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Congratulations, I appreciate it, full blown l A. Yeah, what
a story your mom ran the Little League. I think
Sherman Oaks.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, Sherman Oaks to the league.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Your backstory is incredible. You become a Dodger. You're so
valuable and this was a real pleasure. You are welcome anytime.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
I appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Know, you're kind of intimidating when you pitch. They told
me you were on the show Tuesday, and I'm like,
I'm not gonna say anything. I'm not gonna get Jack
worked up, but you know what you do, put the
classic game face on. It is the day you pitch.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Different. It's there. It's very different. It's very different.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
I come in, I don't talk to anybody, and really
I think it's it's a different thing. And guys are
you know. They got to ask like do you like
to talk on days you pitch? And I just no,
And then they start to realize, like that's just that's
just how I gotta be.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
It is.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
It's game day.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Yeah, it's different. Great meeting you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
This is the Herd Best Best. 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 1 (16:52):
This is the Herd, best bet, seven times Super Bowl champ,
Tom Brady twenty three years, best quarterback to ever play
the game. So I was thinking about this tom as
I'm watching Kansas City. I still feel like I said,
they're like an electric vehicle that's only charged about fifty percent.
They're not They're kind of trying to figure out what
(17:14):
they are back up running back. They don't know what
to do with Xavier Worthy. They just kind of go
back your Randy Moss team Boom. You knew very early
at special But did you ever have a team that
won a Super Bowl but in the middle of a
season you didn't quite know what the offensive identity was?
(17:34):
Because that's what I watched when I watched the Chiefs.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
I actually think they do have a great offensive identity.
I think they look the game's about winning. You talk
about points, you talk about you know, yards, and you
talk about penalties and defensive stops. To me, at the
end of the game, do you have more points than
the other team? That's the maturity of a great team
(18:00):
in a great organization. I played on a lot of teams.
Some were a lot of offensive strengths, some had a
lot of defensive strengths. Some years we were kind of
middle of the packet both but we played well situationally,
third down, red area, two minute every year. That's the
best part about the NFL is the constant transition, the
(18:20):
constant change. You see they add DeAndre Hopkins at the
trade deadline. So it's like in the end when you
have Patrick Mahomes and it's a one score game, everyone's
always betting on the Chiefs. Now, can someone get away
from the Chiefs. I don't know, because that defense plays
so well. But I don't think Patrick Mahomes is a
(18:41):
lesser player because he doesn't have twenty five touchdowns at
this point. It's just he's not playing with guys that
can produce that from the receiver position. So that naturally
Patrick's job is to and I covered him a few
weeks ago when I said the job of the quarterback
is to manage all the variables of the game and
(19:01):
the season, injuries, whether the rhythm of the offense, and
then ultimately go out there and make the plays that
puts you in a position to win. And that's what
winners do, and certainly Patrick is that. And then he's
got Andy Reid there who's as great of a coach.
You know, in NFL history, he's on the kind of
the Mount rushmore of coaches. So you have this consistency
(19:23):
of this organization from owner, general, manager, coach, quarterback, and
then to me a defensive coordinator in spags that the
way that defense plays puts them in a position to
win every single week. So it's obviously they can be beat.
There's probably games where they could have been beat this year,
but every game is decided by a few plays, and
(19:45):
the reality of the Chiefs team is they always find
a way to make the plays when it matters.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
You know, I remember when Randy Moss played with you,
when you guys brought a new player in and you
had talked at the time. You're like, you know Belichick
and you were like, he's just smart and he knows football. Obviously,
DeAndre Hopkins doesn't know the entire playbook yet, but I'm
watching him and I'm like, especially that play in the
back of the end zone, I'm like, God, you'd think they.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Had fifty practices.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
What is it about certain receivers with you, like Moss
or DeAndre Hopkins, they don't have to know the playbook,
But yet I felt like had I just landed on
the planet and watched it, I would have never guessed
he just showed up at the facility. What was it
with Moss? What is it with a veteran receiver that
a young receiver just couldn't do?
Speaker 5 (20:32):
And that's a great question. So the reality is, is
a great receiver, well, any receiver that's a veteran knows
what a knows what a practice weeks looks like. If
they know how to run all the routes in the offense, now,
they may not know exactly where to line up because
everyone has their variations of words and descriptive words they
(20:53):
use to get people aligned, to get the protections organized,
and then to call routes. Some people use number systems
people use some people use words that people have to memorize.
Some people use a one term word that tells everybody
what to do. Kansas City does it kind of a
myriad of different ways. And then once DeAndre can really
comprehend that, he's gonna say, oh, okay, that's what I
(21:14):
used to call this outcut in Tennessee was like this,
or in Houston was like but in case it's like this.
But I still know how to run the route. So
you have these veteran players that have the experience to
run the routes, to know the offenses. It's not like,
you know, when he played for Tennessee, the field was
(21:35):
a different size. You know, it's the same rules, it's
the same routes. It's ultimately just how you call him.
So once he gets out there and he's confident in
what he has, you know he's going to look like
DeAndre Hopkins always has, which is you know, he's got
good quickness, he's got great catch radius, he's got this
ability and the situational place to make catches like that,
and certainly as a rhetoric target. And I just think
(21:57):
if you look at the Chiefs and their injuries at
the receiver position, to add someone like DeAndre who has
that veteran presence and no game is going to be
too big for him. He's played a lot of big games,
so that always gives a quarterback a lot of confidence.
I remember playing with certain rookie receivers literally it was
like the first day of OTAs and I'd call like, hey,
(22:20):
run a slant and he looked at me like a
slant okay. And that's kind of the most generic route
rook since we're running those in in in parking lots,
you know, with your friends. And there was a few
guys I play with that would they they'd start the
route slow, then they'd speed up into the break, then
they'd slow down coming out of the break, and then
they look for the ball and I look at him
(22:42):
and be like, what the hell was that? You know, like,
there's such a there's such a learning curve that needs
to happen from a rookie player. Whereas when you get
someone like DeAndre, you go, Heyjondre, run a slant and
it looks like a slant. It looks great, it's fluid,
it's smooth, you can play it. So with the rook
there's such a learning curve. There's so many things to
(23:03):
learn that you're never going to get that type of
production in a short period of time of the rookie
that you can get with a veteran unless that's just
a very special rookie. And I've had some of those.
Those guys, to me, are more anomalies than kind of
what the norm is.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
I know you probably haven't sat and watched too many
Denver games or Bears games, but when with the young quarterbacks.
Obviously they grew up in a different environment than you.
Seven on seven camps, way more snaps by the time
they're fifteen than you had. But go back to your career.
I remember you doing an interview with Jay Glazer once
and you're like, I've seen everything, dude, you could throw
anything at me. When was the time in your career?
(23:41):
You're pretty a learned guy, You're very committed. How long
did it take? You know, they always talk about things
slowed down a little. How long Mahomes said it was
year three?
Speaker 4 (23:52):
What was it for you?
Speaker 5 (23:57):
The answer is it progressively gets more and more. And
I would say maybe at year one it's fifty percent
of the way that you want it, and then year
two it's sixty percent, and ultimately you're trying to get
to one hundred percent. But even I think for Patrick,
if I look at his situation in his development, he
was very lucky to sit behind and Patrick, let me
(24:18):
get us out of the way. He is a phenomenal player.
To me, is you know he lamar Josh Allen. You're
talking about the upper echelon, as we all know, and
Patrick is going to go down as one of the
greats ever for a number of reasons. But if I
look at him, he went to college at Texas Tech.
He had Cliff Kingsbury there with him for three years,
an NFL caliber coach, running a lot of NFL caliber
(24:41):
type calls and methodologies by on what he's doing. So
three years of that, then he goes to the Chiefs
and he's got Alex Smith as the guy that's ahead
of him, who's a phenomenal player, great leader, does everything
the right way. And then he's got Andy Reid as
his play caller. So it's like, there's a reason why
(25:01):
it all works, and there's this development that happens and
why Patrick has been able to ascend so quickly, and
he would have found a way to ascend at some
point anyway. I'm just saying I could never have reached
this area of growth that I needed to. Whether that
was your one or three or five. It was accelerated
because all the things that I had in place when
(25:23):
I was in college. I ran a pro style offense,
I got drafted, I had Bill Belichick teach me, I
got to sit behind Drew bledsoe. I worked really hard
to learn all those things and embrace the challenge, and
I think when you're a young quarterback. Ultimately, that's what
you're trying to do. Be in a situation where you
can learn, grow, develop. It's all about mentorship. It's all
(25:44):
about the people that come in your life. I see
Bo Nicks from Denver. He's got Sean Payton there as
a phenomenal coach. He's gonna get great coaching, They're gonna
have great scheme. A lot of times, the first reads
for him are going to be open because he's got
a great play caller that knows how to design things.
So then you go on the other side of it.
You know, I've seen a lot of quarterbacks that don't
(26:05):
make it. Maybe they wouldn't have made it anyway, but
I'm just saying there's a potential that they could look
at Sam Darnold. Now, he's playing really well in Minnesota.
He's a good he's got a good coach, he's got
a good scheme, he's got some good receivers. He's playing well.
You know, when he was at the Jets, he didn't
have all those things quite in place. So we always
have to look at I think the physical makeup of
(26:27):
these young players. What are they capable of? Do they
have good arms. Do they have great arms?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
You know?
Speaker 5 (26:32):
Are they athletic? Can they get out of the pocket?
Can they? And then to me, there's a mental element
that always comes into quarterback play. And I said in
this last game against Green Bay, was watching Green Bay
Lions this last weekend. I said, there's no way for
me to really see sustained success in the NFL at
the quarterback position if you don't have total control of
(26:54):
what's being done out on the field. If you're expecting
your coach to call a play from the sideline and
that play's gonna come into your helmet, you're gonna call it,
You're gonna walk to the line of scrimmage, and that
play's gonna be successful, regardless of the defense of Look,
you're out of your mind. That's not the way it works.
The defense calls plays to stop you, and they have
(27:14):
their own tendency. So it's up to the quarterback ultimately
to decide, Okay, I got a play called. I see
what the defense is doing. Is this play gonna work
or not. If it's gonna work, you run it. If
it's not, what do I need to do to survive
the down? Or what do I need to do to
put us in a position to be really successful. That
to me is the operational control the quarterback's need. And
(27:37):
the problem is with the development of height of college
programs now they're not getting developed in the same way.
Now they get to a pro program and a lot
of the NFL programs, there's so much money going around,
you know. The need to develop is guys can sign
one or two contracts and not develop and still make
a great living. So I would love to see the
(28:00):
quarterback play continue to evolve and grow. It's only going
to come from more time on task, more time with
your coaches, more understanding of what your roles and responsibility are.
You're supposed to develop a tool kit as a quarterback
to deal with what you see on the game every
single day. I've seen Jared Goff again covering him this
(28:22):
last game. It was awesome to watch in LA. He
had a great system, he had McVeigh to learn under.
He brought that. He comes to a phenomenal program in
Detroit right now, where to me, they're doing a lot
of things the right way. Their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson says,
all right, Jared, we're going to put more and more
on your plate. We're going to give you a great
opportunity to succeed, and you have to have the ability
to process a lot of information, which is one of
(28:44):
jared strengths, to actually implement all those things, and when
you do it well, to me, that's what gets you
to that's what gives you a great chance to win
every single week in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
So Bill Belichick's had a couple of weeks ago when
asked about Detroit, He's like, they've got everything offensively. You
hope they make a mistake. And you just called the
game and green Bay's got a good team. It looked
like older brother, younger brother, let me teach you how
to play football. Go back, I mean Detroit O line tackles,
run game, tight end, quarterback. Go back to your career,
(29:17):
because I felt like green Bay very quickly was like,
we're a little out of our element here.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
This is a really really yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So go back to your career. Was there ever a
team you played and you may not have said this
to your teammates, but you thought to yourself, I'm not
sure they have a weakness like that is Pro bowlers everywhere.
I watched Detroit's offense, Tom, I don't know what the
weakness is, deep ball, slants, slots. Did you ever face
(29:46):
a team like that when you looked at the personnel
and thought it's almost a perfect offense?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
I would say the only I would say the early
Colts offenses we faced. They had Saturday. They had Terry
Glenn tight End, they had Pollard, they had at times
Dallas Clark. They had Marvin, they had Reggie, they had Stokeley,
they had Edgrin. They they were so good and I'm
(30:16):
lucky I didn't have to go against them. I mean,
to me, it was great. Belichick would say, guys, listen,
this would be a Wednesday meeting. Understand this. They are
gonna move the ball on us. They're too good. They
got so many guys, they're gonna go up and down.
We need to play good red area defense, and we're
gonna work on red area defense on Wednesday, Thursday and
(30:39):
Friday because that's gonna decide the game. They're gonna get
the ball down there. Which is a great humility from
a coach who's a defensive coach, who's essentially the coordinator,
to say, these guys are so good, we're not gonna just,
you know, pull the wool over eyes and thinks that
we're gonna keep these guys at two hundred and forty
yards offense, They're gonna have a going to have yards.
(31:01):
What we need to do is keep the points down.
If we can keep the points down and offensively we
can control the game, we can run the ball, and
then we can score points, we're going to give ourselves
a best chance to win. That to me is complimentary football.
So when you play the Lions, the only way to
beat them is to play a style where the offense
(31:23):
compliments the defense and then the kicking game does their job.
Sometimes when you punt, you play great field position. Okay, offensively,
the best defense against the Lions offense, to me is
the meet is possessed the football. You don't want to
make it a track meet against a team that can
run it. They throw it to their tight end, they
throw it to their receivers. When they get Jamison William back,
(31:43):
they have the explosive receiver. So there's so many and
they go for an un fourth downs so often. They
you got to stop them four downs, not just three,
which is a really hard thing to do. So there's
a lot of challenges that the Lions are presenting. And
look the one game they did lose this year, they
were one of six in the red area. That's right
against the Bucks.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (32:04):
So so to me, they got a they got a
great offense, and they got a lot of humility, they
got a great culture. To me, they're doing so many
things the right way in the NFL right now.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
So you're calling the San Francisco game this weekend, when
when you know, and I think Brock's a good player,
but I also think and the and the you're a
great example of this. Executives miss all the time on
players Antonio Gates and Tony Romo weren't drafted. There's players
all over. I watched a kid for the Rams this weekend.
Some undrafted safety had his fourth pick. There's talent everywhere.
(32:35):
What was the thing when the first the first time
you saw Brock Purty. Obviously you weren't wowed by his size.
His arm strength is good enough. What was the first
thing that you saw I wouldn't see this. You would
see this and you thought that guy's pretty good. Like
is there something that you see because you played the
position a tell like in poker, that you were like, yeah,
(32:57):
that this kid's gonna work.
Speaker 5 (33:01):
Sure, So I think it's poise and composure. It's calm
under chaos. That's what the quarterback needs to do. And
he walks into that huddle, he needs ten other guys
looking at him go all right, man, you're you're totally
under control. And whatever you say, we're gonna do to
our best leagues because we know you're gonna deliver. And
they all have that confidence in Brock as a player.
(33:24):
And you're right, Brock's not the biggest His arm strength
isn't like Aaron Rodgers. But if he can play with
anticipation in this offense, to me, even studying in the
last few days, is a lot different than the one
that they had last year and the year before. They
had so many weapons the last couple of years. You know,
(33:45):
Brock essentially was a point guard out there just delivering
balls to halfbacks and flip it out there to de
bone gain yards. And then he's got iuke, you know,
catching in cuts and running for a lot of Oh
you forgot about kittle boom, We're gonna throw over the
top of you there. This offense has been in and
out of a lot of their great players, and I
think getting McCaffrey back is so important to this offense
(34:06):
because he provides that passing threat out of the backfield
that they just haven't had this year. So now the
defense has to come up closer to the line of
scrimmage to defend the run with Christian as well as
the pass, and that to me opens up more of
the intermediate and deeper parts of the field for Bruck
where they've kind of been throwing more of these intermediate
type targets on the field, which I don't think is
(34:28):
necessarily the strength of that offense. So if they can
get back, if they can get Christian back playing well
with Mason and McCaffrey, wow, that's a great group. Then
at receiver, obviously losing Ayuk is a brutal loss, but
they drafted Pears in the first round. He's going to
get his legs underneath them. You still got Jennings, who
to me is one of the most underrated receivers in
(34:49):
the NFL to perform so well in the Super Bowl.
They have a ton of confidence in him, and then
Deebo his versatility. You still got Yuschek, who's a ridiculous
chess for Kyle, and then you have Kittle, who can
turn up from time to time and go, Holy the Cat,
we almost forgot about him, and then not to mention
a phenomenal offensive line. So they still have all the
(35:10):
pieces in place. Now. They've kind of always seemed to
turn around their season around the bye week. This is
when they need to do it. They just had their
bye week. We'll see, you know, if they get green
Law back on defense, that would be a huge boost. Unfortunately,
what they really missed on defense they lost Hardgrave. They
lost this interior rusher, so now it's really kind of
(35:30):
a one man show with Bosa on the perimeter. But
if they can get green Law back and get him
playing close to the way that he was playing in
there with Warner, you have one of the best handems
in the league, if not the best, at linebacker. They
rush the quarterback a little better, and then that safe
that secondary unit, which has always got a lot of
(35:51):
tight coverage, they can capitalize on offensive mistakes. So I
would never count out the forty nine ers. I think
they're so well coached. They got a great system in place,
a great culture of guys that know how to win.
You know, those are all the things you look for
with with the.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Niners seven rings. Tom Brady Fox Sports taking time for
us today, Tom, I appreciate it, man, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (36:10):
Thanks calling, great talking to your partner. All Right, I'm
here for you any time. You know that.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
All right?
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Thanks Tom. I appreciate that this is the herd, best stuff,
best best. Andy Reid, coach of the Super Bowl back
to back winning Chiefs, is joining us. You know, I
was thinking about this. Spags has been around forever. Chris
Jones is a veteran, Travis Kelsey as mahomes is. Do
you ever Andy, when I mean you guys have been
in so many close games in a row, do you
ever just go to your guys, the Bedrock guys, and
(36:38):
do they ever come to you. You're so close and
you've had so much success, and do they ever come
to you and say, Andy, we can't we gotta take
the shells off today, Andy, we can't hit the day
Or are you.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Just gonna go?
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Listen, guys, this is football.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
It's tough.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
What's the communication like between you and those veteran Spags,
Chris all those guys.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
Yeah, So with the players, I've got a player's committee, Colin,
so they let me know where they're at and how
they're feeling, and I try to check with him. And
it's important that in today's world we talk about recovery
and keeping guys fresh and all of that. So I
keep my ears open and I'm always listening and asking questions,
and they're willing to share, which is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
So I had defended Travis Kelcey in the first couple
of weeks. I said, my guess is and he's trying
to establish Rashi Rice is a number one target. He's
trying to get Xavier Worthy worked in. This isn't Travis issue.
It's let's get the young receivers up to speed. So
let's start with Worthy, who is a remarkably fast kid.
Not a lot of guys run like him. I don't
(37:43):
see him as a volume guy, but I think he's
really important. Do you see him as a guy that
could be twelve targets, nine catches? How do you see him?
Speaker 4 (37:51):
Yeah? I think you'd love him, Colin.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
I know Sarka told me he was his favorite guy,
which I probably shouldn't say, but he really liked the kid.
And he's a California kid too, Colin, So I'm partial
to him a little bit. But He's very smart, and
he's got great football instincts and loves play a lot
like Deshan Jackson and his football knowledge and his ability.
(38:13):
So I'm not sure I want to take him through
the middle of the defense every play, but I know
he's he can endure some hits, and he can he
knows how to avoid hits, which is a plus at
his size.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
You know, Gronk had this and Travis Kelsey does and
maybe an old Antonio Gates. They just have an ability
to get open on big plays, is it. And they're
willing blockers, which always helps. Travis doesn't run no tight
end runs in year ten on like they ran their
second year in the league. You ask him to block its.
(38:47):
Gronk got slow, but he was valuable. If I said
to you, give me the assets of Travis Kelcey, all
things considered, hand speed, knowledge, what to you makes him
special and different than other tight ends historically.
Speaker 6 (39:03):
Phenomenal instincts and ability to play in space, I would
tell you the second second, and none of the guys
that I've been around since I've been in the league
and watching this thing, so he just has a knack.
He's quarterback friendly, which you can appreciate. People don't know
that you are a quarterback, but I'm telling him that,
and so you know that. You know that that guy,
(39:24):
he's closest to you, and he becomes very valuable and
so and then he's got you know, he's one of
those football savant guys, player savants. He he knows knows
exactly what's going on. He knows all the positions, and
he does a great job with all that.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
One of the reasons teams don't win three in a row,
and it's harder now than ever because it's a much
more mobile league. Guys get richer, they have endorsements, they
get it distracted. So during the off season you're sitting
there looking at your trophies and thinking, how do I
avoid apathy and how do you Is it something you
brought into camp? Is it a talking point?
Speaker 4 (40:05):
Andy?
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Nobody's done this and Shoele has had great teams in
Belichick and Bill Walsh. They had the personnel to win
three straight and the league wasn't even as mobile as
it is now. You've had injuries. How do you attack
that or do you.
Speaker 6 (40:21):
No apathy for the trophies, Apathy for Tommy Berger is
not the trophy. But I just try to I step back,
and I understand Colin, what what it takes to play
in this league. It's it's not easy. And so training
camp is going to remain the same, and you better
get your cell. You can do whatever you want in
(40:41):
the off season that you better be prepared. And the
guys know that, and the veteran players know it, and
and so they come back in good shape. They work
their tails off in the off season. They and then
once they once the season comes around, they're ready to go.
And we don't talk about the troph we don't look
at the trophies and do all of that stuff. We
(41:03):
understand that the competition level is so high in this
league and the parody is so close that we've got
to make sure we stay on our a game every day,
and that's the way we go about it.
Speaker 1 (41:15):
Spags, do you ever override him on anything? Or does
he run the show defensively?
Speaker 4 (41:20):
What I mean?
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Do you ever have to go hey, can we discuss this?
Can we talk about that? I know you have so
much respect for him. Where's the line on that?
Speaker 6 (41:28):
Yeah, I'm lucky to have these coordinators at all three spots.
And Spags does a great job. I let him roll
with what he does and nobody does it better. I mean,
he's a great teacher most of all, and has a
tremendous mind for the game. So very fortunate that way
as I am on the offensive side with Nags and
(41:50):
then with Tob so they're all they all do their
thing and I just kind of jump in when I
need to jump in and and have some fun with it.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs, the standard in the NFL
as always great, Senior, you always give us time. I
appreciate that, coach.
Speaker 6 (42:09):
Yeah, thank you, calling you the best man.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
All right, Andy Reid, you just listened to the best
of the Herd with Colin Cowherd.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Please tune in tomorrow for more of Colin Cowherd right
here
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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