June 9, 2025 • 32 mins
Colin is back following game 2 of the NBA Finals where the Thunder rebounded from their game 1 collapse with a dominant win to even up the series and Colin explains why this series lacks juice despite OKC's brilliance. He tells you why he was right about Tyrese Haliburton and wrong about Aaron Rodgers. Plus, he talks to 3-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck about Aaron Rodgers' decision to sign with the Steelers and Shedeur Sanders trying to win the starting job with the Browns.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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to The Herd podcast. Here we go live. It's the Herd.
(00:25):
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Jaymafter is
good to be back. Mischie Buddy, had some fun traveled
with my son hang out in the East Coast last night.
Things are good. But I gotta tell you watching Oklahoma City,
it's nothing to your ratings Bonanza. They are business like.
(00:47):
They are a business like organization. They're very young, and
Indiana's got their hands full.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Be using a B word, I would use boring.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
That's what I thought a game too.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, I think third quarter blow out sie.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So let's start with that. First of all, let's start.
I've never liked seven game NBA series. Baseball is different
because you have to work your way through the starting staff.
But basketball march madness beats the NBA ratings in the
playoffs normally with far less talent. And the reason is
it's sudden death basketball. One bad call, one bad possession,
(01:21):
it's over. And there's a reason one hundred meters dash
is more interesting than the marathon at the Olympics. So
this series feels small. Game ones Thursday, Game two is Sunday,
Game three is Wednesday. I'm forgetting about this series. That
is a forgetful, business like series for ok See, they're
a this is one of these games. Another downside to
a long series seven games, even five games, there will
(01:44):
be games built into a series that you know the
winner before the tip off. And last night, I'm sorry,
okay see, it was winning that game and they were
gonna win it comfortably. I mean, you got Aaron Wiggins
is hot and Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso. Forget SGA,
who's gonna break all or it's a playoff records, But
I mean OKASE has not lost back to back home
(02:04):
games all season. You have to go to last year
for them to do that, when they were even younger,
and SGA is getting better every year. So that game
was decided. We can pick up ourt HALLI Burton slow start,
you know, they made their customary run. This is what
the Pacers do. They fall behind, they can start very slow,
but here they come from behind. And they've done this
through the entire playoffs. But the rosters aren't necessarily that
(02:27):
even I like Indiana's roster, I love Oklahoma City's roster.
But through two games, OKAC has led for ninety one
minutes and through two games, Indies led for two and
that's kind of the series. So this series does not
have a lot of star power. Obviously, I don't think
market size of markets matters that much. I mean, I
think the highest rated NBA final ever included Utah, So
(02:48):
I don't think it matters that much. But there's not
a lot of star power. And even SGA's game, it's
very business like. It's not dynamic, it's not flashy, and
it's not going to be a series we talk about
much in between games. Oklahoma City's going to dominate it statistically.
The question is Oklahoma City is so young and they've
never been here before. Are they going to get tight
(03:10):
when they go back home or a chance in Indiana
to seal it? Is this young team gonna get tight
because The best player in this series is Sga. I'm
looking at numbers this morning, thirty plus points, five assist games.
He's tied with Lebron and Michael Jordan. He's gonna blow
through that. But he's not necessarily a fascinating player. And
there are a lot of businesses and teams that are
(03:32):
efficient and they're calculated, and they're highly productive, and they're
not that interesting. This series feels like that Saturday Night
Live when the celebrity host doesn't have a lot of
star power and you're kind of wishing Tom Hanks would
host it again, or Bill Murray would host it again,
or anybody not named Steven Sagall would host it again.
(03:53):
Just anybody to host it that you've heard of and
that you care about. And the band's not very good
and there's no star payer. We need a dream on
green in this series, something inappropriate, anything. It feels very
business like to me. And the team that has led
ninety one of the minutes is the team we all
thought would lead ninety one of the minutes, and here
(04:13):
is about to be record breaking SGA.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
On evening the series, you can't just throw the first punch.
You get to try to throw all the punches all
night and yeah, that's what we did. We sew enough
punches tonight t tow. You know, this is where I
feed out. This is where we are, and you can't
go back in the past. You don't need to try
to make the future better. So that's what I'm focused on.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
All right. So I was gone Colin Wright, Colin wrong
in about an hour from now and Matt Hasselbeck. So
I was gone. And there was some news with Aaron Rodgers,
who's not nearly as interesting as he used to be,
but it is news. The Pittsburgh Steelers are top four
or five brand, and Aaron over the last fifteen years
has been a top four or five brand in the NFL.
(04:56):
Discount double check guy like a lot of ads, a
lot of commercials. Now, some controversy, so he signed with
the Steelers. But my takeaway on this is when the
stories came out over the last three days. Quarterbacks can
be a lot of things in the NFL. They can
be small Kyler Murray, they can be Old Brady was
Joe Flacko. They can be unorthodox Philip Rivers. They can
(05:16):
be kind of unathletic or the second best quarterback in
the family Eli Manning. But they can't be weird. Head
coaches and quarterbacks can't be weird. Even if you're quirky,
go be a kicker. You start looking at the stories
that came out. According to Adam Schefter, Aaron Rodgers was
the Steelers third choice. They wanted Matt Stafford and they
wanted to keep Justin Fields. Here's another story from another reporter,
(05:41):
Sean McVay. Aaron Rodgers offered the Rams a major discount,
obviously a house in Malibu. Wanted to play for the Rams.
In McVeigh. They offered him nothing, so he went to
the Rams, told his agent, I'll play for the cheapest
deal possible. McVeigh passed. Oh, by the way, the Vikings
Kevin O'Connell. According to another reporter, Rogers had major interest
(06:05):
playing for the great play caller. Kevin O'Connell not interested.
And that office story i'll talk about later. Ross talker says,
Vikings aren't sir. JJ McCarthy's the guy. What's that tell you?
Even Aaron Glenn with a Jets a defensive coach, they
don't have a quarterback. First thing you did is we
get Aaron Rodgers in that weird meeting, almost uncomfortable, meeting
(06:27):
out of the building. So all these secret marriages in
ayahuasca and darkness retreats and passive aggressive nonsense and conspiracy theories,
weird doesn't work because weird is unpredictable, and you want
your coach to be predictable, and your quarterback, even if
he's limited, even if he's unathletic, even if he's small,
(06:51):
even if he's old. You want to know what you're
getting on Sunday and in camp and at halftime and
with Aaron, because the NFL is unpredictable, and when adversity
strikes in the NFL, which is, by the way, the
second quarter of Week one after Labor Day, the league's
all about adversity, and you're not sure what you get
(07:12):
with Aaron. So he wasn't this odd, He wasn't this
combative in his prime. But people age differently based on
a lot of factors. Aaron got old and rich and
for a long time was a single, and now he's
got a wedding ring, so he's not and I guess
I'm happy for him, but who knows. I just know this.
All these great quarterbacks in this league, the Lamar Jackson's
and the Joe Burrows and the Josh Allens and the CJ. Strouds,
(07:33):
and obviously the Patrick Mahomes and the Justin Herberts are
all totally committed. None are weird. They're kind of predictable,
you know what you get, and Aaron's not. And I've
had two general managers in the league tell me over
the last couple of years, Aaron comes off as odd,
You're not really sure what you get. A lot of
a passive, aggressive stuff. Nobody wants to deal with that,
And so I think Aaron's career when you hear about
(07:53):
Sean McVay saying, nah, Kevin O'Connell, nah, I thought Kyle
Shannon would be interested. Apparently that was a nah, Aaron Glenn, no, thanks,
Mike Tomlin, Adam Schefter reports third choice. They wanted Justin Fields.
But by the way, when you go back and look
at the Pittsburgh Seater, Justin Field's numbers, we'll talk about
that later, they weren't terrible. So I think Aaron's career
(08:15):
is ending the way a lot of careers end for
relatives and musicians and actors, that the hat they wear
becomes a little bit more tinfoil, they start doing their
own homework. And when you got all these offensive coaches
who have watched Aaron Rodgers probably at some point worshiped
Aaron Rodgers, who would have loved to win his prime
had Aaron Rodgers all say even at a discount double check? Nah,
(08:39):
no thanks, Aaron's aging the way weird ages JMT. Colin
Wright Colin wrong on top of next hour. There's a
lot of things going on right now in the NFL.
Because you know what happens, my guy should or Sanders.
So OTAs are voluntary right starting tomorrow, mini camps are mandatory.
(09:06):
So tomorrow j mack old chedure Sanders with all the
veterans in tow in Cleveland, Are you ready for what
I think is? Remember a couple of years ago, you
and I know this that the off season in the NFL,
our job is basically football season and then waiting for
football season. And you go through all these camps and
what do they mean and what do they not mean?
(09:28):
Exhibition season doesn't mean anything anymore. Nobody plays, And a
couple of years ago we were all out of the
Kenny Pickett dilemma or the Kenny Pickett story, Like how
is he going to be in Pittsburgh. The Shadure Sanders
story is that. But my take is Shadour Sanders as
much better than Kenny Pickett. But it's one of these
AFC North teams and we're all waiting for this quarterback.
So tomorrow is official Chadure with the veterans in camp.
(09:49):
And you know what veterans do, J Mack. They leak
stuff to the press.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Interesting.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
You know, my favorite part of your vacation was when
you took time off of cycling around Europe to shine
in on social media about how great Schedure Sanders was. Meanwhile,
he's not even throwing the first teamers, Colin, I know
that irked you.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I'm sure you saw Cam.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Newton came after me upset with my Shodur take listen,
I'm just gonna rock with Stefanski.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
If he likes Dylan Gabriel, I like Dylan Gabriel. If
he likes Kenny Pickett, I like Kenny Pickett. I think Kevin.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Sefanski doesn't really love Shadour at this point, and that's
it fair to say, right.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Uh. Yes, I want to talk about this because I
think all of us in the media are forgetting about
the most important factor with Shador Sanders and it's not
Shaduur and it's not his dad. And I'll tell you
what that factor is coming up next.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get to.
Speaker 7 (11:03):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for. Yeah, you blubber list Jam and me.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see on YouTube,
but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with Coavino and
Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Here we go, what's ours. It is a Monday. We
are live in Chicago. It's the Hurt. I am back, Jason,
off my bicycle from Copenhagen.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I'm good to have you back, man.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
It's great to be back. Hey.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
By the way, you want to tell the audience, I
was texting you while you're in Europe. All lots of
important stuff happening around you.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
There is Yes, it's tomorrow, mandatory mini camps in the NFL,
so you've got to keep your eye on. Cleveland is
very fascinating. That's all I'm going to say. Everybody makes bets.
You can sit on the fence on this. My bet
is Shadur is going to start at some point in
the NFL season. There are people all over the internet
(12:42):
former NFL scouts he's going to be a bust. He
can't play.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Whoa, there's got to be a middle ground column like, yeah,
he may start, but.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Kevin Sewatski doesn't love it. It's the thing. He's going
to be a bust. Like, come on, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
That's a bit much, all right, Matt Hasselbeck's around the
corner first though, on a Monday. Haven't been here for
a while. Colin right, Colin wrong? Where Colin was right? Well,
this Tyrese halliburtons the most overrated player is nonsense. First
of all, I think he has one of the highest
IQs and eqs I have seen from a modern point guard.
(13:15):
Thirteen to fifteen times this year under two minutes when
he could tire or take the lead, he hit the shot.
That's insane, That is all time. That's better than Steph Curry.
So I never bought into this. I'm not surprised they
stole the game in Oklahoma City. I don't think they're
as good as Oksee. I don't think they'll win the series.
But this idea, this guy, even Sniff's overrated. I'll make
(13:37):
the argument he is the most underrated player the last
two years in the NBA. And tip of the cap
to Jmack who spotted it over two years ago. Where
Colin was wrong. I thought Aaron Rodgers was too smart
to sign with the Steelers because I don't think it's
a good fit. I think it's a defensive first organization
with an offensive coordinator he's not familiar with. They lost
(14:00):
their left tackle, they've struggled in pass protect they've got
no nause Harris, and it's a division with Joe Burrow
and Lamar Jackson four times a year minimum. So I listen.
I thought he had better offers. I thought he would
land a better offer, and I thought this was a
spot that won't end well. But I'm wrong where Colin
was right. Roth Tucker, somebody whose opinion I trust, is
(14:24):
reporting the Vikings do have concerns with JJ McCarty McCarthy quote.
No matter what they say about JJ, they wanted Sam
Darnold back and they weren't going to get Donald, so
they wanted Daniel Jones back. As much as their quote
sold on JJ McCarthy, they've got some doubts. So remember
(14:46):
he missed valuable time not only playing but practicing last
year because of his surgeries. And I've said it before,
he reminds me of an Alabama quarterback. His last two
years at Michigan, he played with a great he didn't
have to throw much with poor protection. He had the
best coach in every game he played, and he had
(15:06):
the lead for ninety percent of it, and an unbelievable
ground game in defense. I just don't know if he's
built to come from behind throw forty three times in game,
which you have to invariably do, especially in the NFC
norm where Colin was raw. I'm surprised the Knicks fired
Tom Thibodeau. Yeah, he's not the most creative guy offensively,
(15:30):
but that's why you build a staff. He built a culture.
They defend, they're tough, they're smart, they're physical. The issues
the Knicks had to me are personnel issues. Brunson's not
a great defender, so they can struggle having he and
Kat on the floor at the same time. That's not
really a Tims issue. I think the NBA is about
(15:51):
steps and the process, and they need to make another tweak.
I'd move off KD and bring in I'd move into
KD and OFFCAT, but I don't think firing him was
the answer. Where Colin was right. As much as I
love the NBA, I said this finals would be a
ratings whiff, and it has been a clunker. Listen, it's
a series for diehards only. The market size isn't great.
(16:15):
Halliburton is not really a known entity in America, even
though he's a fascinating player. OKC style aesthetically is not
appealing in SGA. Again, he's great, he's productive, he's efficient,
He's not necessarily dynamic or fascinating. So the ratings are
bad for this final, even though it's a diehard final.
You can't be a basketball casual and be into this.
(16:37):
But I do think Indiana's going to win more games
in this series than it goes at least six. Where
Colin was wrong. I thought Aunt Edwards of Minnesota was
about ready to grab the mantle as face of the league,
but he really struggled. Two things are true. You can
really get him off his game if you force him,
trap him, double him, and force him to make quick
(17:00):
basketball decisions. He is still fundamentally too young. He's not
a refined player. He had way too many turnovers, almost
as many turnovers as assists against Okay see, he shot
twenty eight percent from three, and they just forced a
really young, still developing star to make fast, quick decisions
in the half court. And he's not quite there yet.
(17:22):
So I'm wrong where Colin was right. I've been saying
the NIL is going to save college basketball, and Real
Madrid and Barcelona reportedly are considering shutting down their youth
academies in Europe, and that's where most of the good
players are in Europe that are seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old.
Why because American college basketball programs NIL money is greater
(17:47):
than europe can affoord And so you're seeing Auburn brought
back their star guard. Why they paid him more than
he can make in the NBA. Cooper Flag made eight
million a year at Duke, and now Illinois is gonna
have five European starters. American basketball programs may shut down
some of the great academies in Europe because they're buying
(18:09):
the best European players. Not to mention, like the Auburn guard,
many of the good college players are staying in college
for another year. So college football didn't need saving college basketball.
Did I predicted it? The nil is going to deliver
where Colin was raw. I thought the Dodgers roster was
(18:30):
all time stuff. But in their last twenty two games,
they're under five hundred. They're pitching staff injuries, They're decimated
for the third to four straight year. Did they have
to clean house on the pitching coaching staff? Like? What
is happening with the staff? They're only one game I
head of the Padres and the Giants over that twenty
(18:51):
two game skid, fifth worst team era Glass, Snow and
Snelle among fourteen Dodger pitchers still on the ion l
where Colin was right. Finally, Oh, for years I have
told been lectured by American soccer fans the United States
(19:13):
men's national team will flourish they only get an elite coach. Well,
they hired Mauricio to Dino. He is brilliant, and they've
lost three straight and the Gold Cups around the corner. Now,
Turkey's pretty good. It's okay to lose the Turkey two
to one. But I keep hearing my entire life from
(19:36):
every young American soccer fan it's the coach that's the problem.
And I keep saying, maybe we've overvalued our players, their grit,
their focus, their toughness, our academy system. Maybe it's that
and not always the coach. So they bring it a
brilliant coach who was lauded for his success in Europe.
(19:58):
We've lost three straight and kind of, you know, kind
of limping into the Gold Cup? Were we not? Colin right?
Collin wrong?
Speaker 5 (20:07):
On a Monday, be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
All right, Matt Hasselbeck, I don't know if that plays soccer.
Were you a soccer guy, Matt hassel Were you a
soccer guy?
Speaker 8 (20:22):
At everyone in America starts in soccer? What do you?
Speaker 9 (20:26):
I mean? Everybody you find me someone who did not
start in soccer? They I think that's just what everybody does. Guys, girls,
everybody first four?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
All right? Well, Aaron Rodgers, you called it. You never
had any doubts. You didn't want to hear.
Speaker 8 (20:41):
I think I called it on June ninth. Actually did
I say June ninth?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I mean you did, by the way, I don't look
so you were right. I don't love it as a fit.
I thought Minnesota would be better. What do you make
of the fit.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
For who?
Speaker 9 (20:57):
I mean, yeah, for him, like he probably likes Minnesota.
They've had an incredible offseason. They did a great job
in free agency. They were a fourteen win season, fourteen
win team last year. But Minnesota's taken the longer view
of this. I think, you know they I think their
original plan was Sam Darnold. They kicked the tires on
(21:19):
Aaron Rodgers, they considered Daniel Jones, and they said, you
know what, we've got a maybe like at least a
three year window here. We've got a bunch of guys
we've added to our team who are in like their thirties,
thirty one, thirty two, like that range, twenty nine, Like,
let's let's take a let's take an approach at this.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
We believe in our coach. He saw what he.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Did with Sam Donold, who was a backup the previous year.
We really believe in JJ McCarthy. And I think that
they basically said no to some good quarterbacks to say
yes yes to this guy because of what they've seen
in the building. He had a great red shirt season.
As Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Said, yeah, the you know the thing with Aaron and
I talked to some GMS about this is that there's
a story now that he was willing to give the
Rams a massive discount and they passed that. Adam Schefter
said Aaron was the third choice for the Steelers. I
know Aaron and Adam aren't close, but be that as
it may, I trust Adam Schefter. You have stories about
(22:19):
Minnesotas that net. We're going to go with JJ McCarthy,
Ross Tucker, somebody who's got strong opinions and well connected.
Like they got questions about JJ. And I talked to
a couple of general managers over the last year about
Aaron and they said, you know, quirky is for kickers.
We don't love our quarterbacks to be quirky or our coaches.
Jerry Glanville was quirky as a coach, and I feel
(22:41):
like Aaron's aging like a quirky quarterback would where the
teams that he really was interested in, according to reporters
I trust, weren't that interested in him. Do you think
that's just age or some of his quirkiness.
Speaker 9 (22:56):
Yeah, listen to answer your first question, it is a
good fit. I do believe Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers
is a really good fit. And I told you before,
the veteran quarterback market is like musical chairs.
Speaker 8 (23:10):
There's not a lot of chairs. The music stops.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
You know, all you need is one chair, but there
were maybe two chairs, and then at the end there
was probably one chair.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
This is the only team that he could go to.
Speaker 9 (23:19):
Mike Tomlin is well respected by veteran NFL quarterbacks, who
he was as a defensive coach, who.
Speaker 8 (23:26):
He is as a leader. The other part of this,
I think is Arthur Smith.
Speaker 9 (23:30):
I think Arthur Smith is a little bit misunderstood as
a coach. I played on teams with Arthur Smith. As
a coach, he has beloved, He is well respected. He
was on the defensive side of the ball as a
coach when I started in Tennessee. He was there, then
he was on the offensive side. You got to kind
of connect the dots on resume as well. Arthur Smith
was on staff and replace Matt Lafleur in Tennessee when
(23:53):
he got his first start as an offensive coordinator, first opportunity.
So like the thing for a veteran quarterback, you don't
want to go in and like learn some foreign language.
He's not going to have to do that with Arthur Smith.
Arthur Smith, although people think of him as like, run
the damn ball all the time, I'm not adaptable.
Speaker 8 (24:11):
I believe he's very adaptable.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
At the same time, I think Aaron Rodgers needs to
be adaptable to be a run first quarterback. Like that
was the plan in New York with the Jets. It
never really happened. So I think that this is a
good fit. Aaron Rodgers has the weapons, the quirkiness, as
you say, uh, there's a there's it's okay in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is the kind of organization that can handle it.
(24:35):
I think they're gonna thrive from it. I think there's
This is a good fit for a lot of reasons
and kind of look out.
Speaker 8 (24:42):
I think, look out for this team, look out for
this offense.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Okay, So when I was over bicycling in Copenhagen, you
know you live in the life.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
Are you're wearing a helmet? I just need to know, No,
I was not.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
By the way. I may have bet a Heineken in
my hand. I was fascinated by should but I was
really fascinated with was the dexterity of the reporting there was.
He looks great. Jylan Gabriel is lost Schadur and there
was just you can tell people are taking sides and people,
you know, listen, boxing matches have three different judges, three
(25:14):
different people can see three different fights. So but that's
OTA's now veterans show up, it's mandatory mini camp. That's
a whole different ballgame, and veterans are intimidating. Veterans are demanding.
Veterans are a better comp as the what you're playing against.
You give me a thought on what will I need
(25:36):
to see at a Chadur Sanders Because I'm on the
camp that he was under drafted and that he can play.
I could be completely wrong. What will you look for
from the reporting from the video? What matters at that
mini camp with veterans now sitting next to you in
the locker room.
Speaker 9 (25:52):
Well, it matters more. I mean earning the respect to
the vets in the room is important. But for me
to answer your question, what matters more is how a
quarter plays when he is live. You know, so usually quarterbacks,
you know, they wear a different color jersey, like a
red jersey or something like that. You sit in the pocket,
you're cool, you're comfortable, you're calm. How do you play
when that jersey is off and you're where you're basically
(26:14):
live for the defense to take a shot that that
to me is a better sense of like when you
grade somebody. It's not like what I'm doing in quarterback
individual topping around bags, throwing to receivers or running backs
or tight ends on air with no defense, no consequences,
you know.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
To me, I don't know when you get that now.
Speaker 9 (26:34):
Because we've kind of lowered the number of preseason games
that we play, there aren't as many reps to go
around with all the quarterbacks in the room, So I
think you're gonna maybe a I don't know when you're
gonna get it, you know, like some people are trying
to manufacture that with joint practices and that kind of thing.
But a lot of this is going to be conjecture
and kind of what you think a guy is going
(26:55):
to be like when the lights turn on. That's when
you go back to the college tape for toughness great
some of that stuff certainly stuff that he showed when
he was at Colorado.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
So it doesn't bother me that Lamar Jackson missed OTAs
Because Lamar and John Harbaugh are linked. They know each other.
He knows the personnel, he knows a Flowers, Derrick Henry,
and I think he's probably got a little chip on
his shoulder about his current pay structure. I also think
he wins seventy six percent of his start, so I've
never questioned his work ethic. I think Lamar's completely committed.
(27:25):
But there are those that will push back and go, well,
you were tough on Aaron Rodgers and like, well, the
Jets were different. It was a new team. His best player,
Garrett Wilson was a kid like I kind of feel
like with Lamar in Baltimore, it doesn't bother me, should it?
Speaker 9 (27:38):
Well, it bothers me that he's leaving seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars in a roster bone it's on the table.
Speaker 8 (27:43):
I'm just like, ah, that hurts. I heard for you, man.
Speaker 9 (27:47):
I don't know, like, figure it out, Go go lift
some weights in Baltimore.
Speaker 8 (27:50):
Good to be that bad? I mean, shoot, what are
they doing that you don't want to be there? Is
Miami that fun?
Speaker 9 (27:55):
I don't know, but no, listen, much like Aaron Rodgers
didn't think he needs to be there till June ninth,
I kind of grew up in that same thing. It
was great for me as the backup quarterback of the
Green Bay Packers to develop the younger roster that Brett
Farv never showed up in the offseason. It actually, I believe,
kind of strengthened the team, strengthen the backup roles.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
You've seen backup quarterbacks like.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
Tyler Huntley like actually coming and play pretty well when
called upon at times for Baltimore. So you know, for me,
it's a little bit of this, like if I'm Jim
Harbaugh and the Ravens, I'm like, you know what, kind
of like Brett Favre back in the day with Mike
holmbrid Lamar, you're not here, You're not.
Speaker 8 (28:33):
Going to get hurt.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
You're going to show up ready to go. You're going
to be the MVP candidate that you are every year.
I'm not necessarily worried, but worried about it. Hey, quarterback room,
Let's see if you can develop and be a leader.
Speaker 8 (28:47):
Would I like him there?
Speaker 9 (28:48):
Sure, I'd like him there, But ultimately I think you
can look at a glass half full on something like this,
and Lamar is Lamar. He's kind of one of one.
A lot of people say like, Oh, this guy's like Lamar.
There's nobody else like Lamar. He's he's special, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I think it's interesting the one player drafted and it
wasn't a particularly strong draft in any position. Cam Ward
fascinates me. I like his journey. He was a no
star quarterback. I like that he transferred every time I've
seen him at the podium, totally focused, all ball, all
the time. Again at OTA's every report is God. And
(29:28):
by the way, he was accurate in college. He could
do a little hero ball. But tell me take me through.
So you come in and you're twenty two, twenty three
years old, and Tennessee has not been great at quarterback,
and here come all the veterans into camp tomorrow. And
was it harder for you when you were twenty eight,
thirty two, thirty three, thirty four And here comes the
(29:52):
kid to take over the culture? Is that a weird
vibe as cam Ward because they need him to be
a twelve year of They need him to run the show,
and I think he's capable of it. Is that always
been maybe in Green Bay? When the youngest guy in
the locker room is asked to be the leader. Is
that a weird feeling or the players. The veteran players
(30:12):
look at it and go, it's quarterback, the kids, smartest talented,
I'm watching him. Let's go all in.
Speaker 9 (30:18):
Yeah, what veteran players respect is excellence. I remember Bill
Cower speaking at my rookie symposium and he nailed it,
and it was really about like, how how much can
we count on you to do your job?
Speaker 8 (30:29):
How hard are you going to work?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
And listen call him.
Speaker 8 (30:31):
At the end of my career, I was forty years old.
Speaker 9 (30:33):
I was backing up a young quarterback, the first overall picked,
also named Andrew Luck.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
He was the hardest worker in the building.
Speaker 9 (30:39):
He was the first guy there, he was the last
guy to lead, and like, those aren't just cliche things.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
That was like actually legitimately true, to.
Speaker 9 (30:47):
The point that our quarterback coach was like, Hey, once
you sleep in a little bit tomorrow, Hey, why don't
you get out of here and go home.
Speaker 8 (30:53):
Let's set a time.
Speaker 9 (30:53):
We're going to let that loss from yesterday or that
win from yesterday, We're going to let that go and
move on. That's those are the reports that matter just
as much to me about about camp. He's been a
diligent diligent worker. He's setting the tone by when he
gets to work, how he works.
Speaker 8 (31:10):
When he's there. He's not about the flash and all
the other stuff.
Speaker 9 (31:14):
He's about the business of football, about the business.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
Of being the quarterback and the leader.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
That's the stuff that I don't care if you're young, old,
everybody respects in the locker room. And it's early, but
he's off to a great start. He's filling I think
he's filling a void in some ways. You know, that
city and that town is a distracting town. They call
it nash Vegas for a reason. It's a lot of fun.
So if you get somebody that comes in there and
(31:39):
it's all about football, that's very, very important in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Yeah, my daughter just moved there, and every time I
say how are you doing, I get a picture of
a music festival she's at. So I'm not sure she's
working anymore, but in.
Speaker 9 (31:54):
A bachelorette party or thirty on the streets.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
No, it's a great city as always, Buddy, Great seeing you,
Matt Hasselback, Thanks man, see it. Yeah, Now, Nashville is
one of the if you are I told my daughter this,
if you're twenty three years old and out of college,
go to Nashville and figure it out. That is a
good time when you got thirty places you can step
into on a Tuesday night that have live music. You
(32:20):
may be singing by the end of the night, but
it is a fun town.
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 Sportsradio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening
to The Herd podcast. Here we go live. It's the Herd.
(00:25):
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Jaymafter is
good to be back. Mischie Buddy, had some fun traveled
with my son hang out in the East Coast last night.
Things are good. But I gotta tell you watching Oklahoma City,
it's nothing to your ratings Bonanza. They are business like.
(00:47):
They are a business like organization. They're very young, and
Indiana's got their hands full.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Be using a B word, I would use boring.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
That's what I thought a game too.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Yeah, I think third quarter blow out sie.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So let's start with that. First of all, let's start.
I've never liked seven game NBA series. Baseball is different
because you have to work your way through the starting staff.
But basketball march madness beats the NBA ratings in the
playoffs normally with far less talent. And the reason is
it's sudden death basketball. One bad call, one bad possession,
(01:21):
it's over. And there's a reason one hundred meters dash
is more interesting than the marathon at the Olympics. So
this series feels small. Game ones Thursday, Game two is Sunday,
Game three is Wednesday. I'm forgetting about this series. That
is a forgetful, business like series for ok See, they're
a this is one of these games. Another downside to
a long series seven games, even five games, there will
(01:44):
be games built into a series that you know the
winner before the tip off. And last night, I'm sorry,
okay see, it was winning that game and they were
gonna win it comfortably. I mean, you got Aaron Wiggins
is hot and Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso. Forget SGA,
who's gonna break all or it's a playoff records, But
I mean OKASE has not lost back to back home
(02:04):
games all season. You have to go to last year
for them to do that, when they were even younger,
and SGA is getting better every year. So that game
was decided. We can pick up ourt HALLI Burton slow start,
you know, they made their customary run. This is what
the Pacers do. They fall behind, they can start very slow,
but here they come from behind. And they've done this
through the entire playoffs. But the rosters aren't necessarily that
(02:27):
even I like Indiana's roster, I love Oklahoma City's roster.
But through two games, OKAC has led for ninety one
minutes and through two games, Indies led for two and
that's kind of the series. So this series does not
have a lot of star power. Obviously, I don't think
market size of markets matters that much. I mean, I
think the highest rated NBA final ever included Utah, So
(02:48):
I don't think it matters that much. But there's not
a lot of star power. And even SGA's game, it's
very business like. It's not dynamic, it's not flashy, and
it's not going to be a series we talk about
much in between games. Oklahoma City's going to dominate it statistically.
The question is Oklahoma City is so young and they've
never been here before. Are they going to get tight
(03:10):
when they go back home or a chance in Indiana
to seal it? Is this young team gonna get tight
because The best player in this series is Sga. I'm
looking at numbers this morning, thirty plus points, five assist games.
He's tied with Lebron and Michael Jordan. He's gonna blow
through that. But he's not necessarily a fascinating player. And
there are a lot of businesses and teams that are
(03:32):
efficient and they're calculated, and they're highly productive, and they're
not that interesting. This series feels like that Saturday Night
Live when the celebrity host doesn't have a lot of
star power and you're kind of wishing Tom Hanks would
host it again, or Bill Murray would host it again,
or anybody not named Steven Sagall would host it again.
(03:53):
Just anybody to host it that you've heard of and
that you care about. And the band's not very good
and there's no star payer. We need a dream on
green in this series, something inappropriate, anything. It feels very
business like to me. And the team that has led
ninety one of the minutes is the team we all
thought would lead ninety one of the minutes, and here
(04:13):
is about to be record breaking SGA.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
On evening the series, you can't just throw the first punch.
You get to try to throw all the punches all
night and yeah, that's what we did. We sew enough
punches tonight t tow. You know, this is where I
feed out. This is where we are, and you can't
go back in the past. You don't need to try
to make the future better. So that's what I'm focused on.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
All right. So I was gone Colin Wright, Colin wrong
in about an hour from now and Matt Hasselbeck. So
I was gone. And there was some news with Aaron Rodgers,
who's not nearly as interesting as he used to be,
but it is news. The Pittsburgh Steelers are top four
or five brand, and Aaron over the last fifteen years
has been a top four or five brand in the NFL.
(04:56):
Discount double check guy like a lot of ads, a
lot of commercials. Now, some controversy, so he signed with
the Steelers. But my takeaway on this is when the
stories came out over the last three days. Quarterbacks can
be a lot of things in the NFL. They can
be small Kyler Murray, they can be Old Brady was
Joe Flacko. They can be unorthodox Philip Rivers. They can
(05:16):
be kind of unathletic or the second best quarterback in
the family Eli Manning. But they can't be weird. Head
coaches and quarterbacks can't be weird. Even if you're quirky,
go be a kicker. You start looking at the stories
that came out. According to Adam Schefter, Aaron Rodgers was
the Steelers third choice. They wanted Matt Stafford and they
wanted to keep Justin Fields. Here's another story from another reporter,
(05:41):
Sean McVay. Aaron Rodgers offered the Rams a major discount,
obviously a house in Malibu. Wanted to play for the Rams.
In McVeigh. They offered him nothing, so he went to
the Rams, told his agent, I'll play for the cheapest
deal possible. McVeigh passed. Oh, by the way, the Vikings
Kevin O'Connell. According to another reporter, Rogers had major interest
(06:05):
playing for the great play caller. Kevin O'Connell not interested.
And that office story i'll talk about later. Ross talker says,
Vikings aren't sir. JJ McCarthy's the guy. What's that tell you?
Even Aaron Glenn with a Jets a defensive coach, they
don't have a quarterback. First thing you did is we
get Aaron Rodgers in that weird meeting, almost uncomfortable, meeting
(06:27):
out of the building. So all these secret marriages in
ayahuasca and darkness retreats and passive aggressive nonsense and conspiracy theories,
weird doesn't work because weird is unpredictable, and you want
your coach to be predictable, and your quarterback, even if
he's limited, even if he's unathletic, even if he's small,
(06:51):
even if he's old. You want to know what you're
getting on Sunday and in camp and at halftime and
with Aaron, because the NFL is unpredictable, and when adversity
strikes in the NFL, which is, by the way, the
second quarter of Week one after Labor Day, the league's
all about adversity, and you're not sure what you get
(07:12):
with Aaron. So he wasn't this odd, He wasn't this
combative in his prime. But people age differently based on
a lot of factors. Aaron got old and rich and
for a long time was a single, and now he's
got a wedding ring, so he's not and I guess
I'm happy for him, but who knows. I just know this.
All these great quarterbacks in this league, the Lamar Jackson's
and the Joe Burrows and the Josh Allens and the CJ. Strouds,
(07:33):
and obviously the Patrick Mahomes and the Justin Herberts are
all totally committed. None are weird. They're kind of predictable,
you know what you get, and Aaron's not. And I've
had two general managers in the league tell me over
the last couple of years, Aaron comes off as odd,
You're not really sure what you get. A lot of
a passive, aggressive stuff. Nobody wants to deal with that,
And so I think Aaron's career when you hear about
(07:53):
Sean McVay saying, nah, Kevin O'Connell, nah, I thought Kyle
Shannon would be interested. Apparently that was a nah, Aaron Glenn, no, thanks,
Mike Tomlin, Adam Schefter reports third choice. They wanted Justin Fields.
But by the way, when you go back and look
at the Pittsburgh Seater, Justin Field's numbers, we'll talk about
that later, they weren't terrible. So I think Aaron's career
(08:15):
is ending the way a lot of careers end for
relatives and musicians and actors, that the hat they wear
becomes a little bit more tinfoil, they start doing their
own homework. And when you got all these offensive coaches
who have watched Aaron Rodgers probably at some point worshiped
Aaron Rodgers, who would have loved to win his prime
had Aaron Rodgers all say even at a discount double check? Nah,
(08:39):
no thanks, Aaron's aging the way weird ages JMT. Colin
Wright Colin wrong on top of next hour. There's a
lot of things going on right now in the NFL.
Because you know what happens, my guy should or Sanders.
So OTAs are voluntary right starting tomorrow, mini camps are mandatory.
(09:06):
So tomorrow j mack old chedure Sanders with all the
veterans in tow in Cleveland, Are you ready for what
I think is? Remember a couple of years ago, you
and I know this that the off season in the NFL,
our job is basically football season and then waiting for
football season. And you go through all these camps and
what do they mean and what do they not mean?
(09:28):
Exhibition season doesn't mean anything anymore. Nobody plays, And a
couple of years ago we were all out of the
Kenny Pickett dilemma or the Kenny Pickett story, Like how
is he going to be in Pittsburgh. The Shadure Sanders
story is that. But my take is Shadour Sanders as
much better than Kenny Pickett. But it's one of these
AFC North teams and we're all waiting for this quarterback.
So tomorrow is official Chadure with the veterans in camp.
(09:49):
And you know what veterans do, J Mack. They leak
stuff to the press.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Interesting.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
You know, my favorite part of your vacation was when
you took time off of cycling around Europe to shine
in on social media about how great Schedure Sanders was. Meanwhile,
he's not even throwing the first teamers, Colin, I know
that irked you.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I'm sure you saw Cam.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Newton came after me upset with my Shodur take listen,
I'm just gonna rock with Stefanski.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
If he likes Dylan Gabriel, I like Dylan Gabriel. If
he likes Kenny Pickett, I like Kenny Pickett. I think Kevin.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Sefanski doesn't really love Shadour at this point, and that's
it fair to say, right.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Uh. Yes, I want to talk about this because I
think all of us in the media are forgetting about
the most important factor with Shador Sanders and it's not
Shaduur and it's not his dad. And I'll tell you
what that factor is coming up next.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day
five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We
never have enough time to get to everything we want
to get to.
Speaker 7 (11:03):
And that's why we have a brand new podcast called
over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in
our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for. Yeah, you blubber list Jam and me.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
Well you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a
little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast
of all time.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
There you go, over Promising. Remember you could see on YouTube,
but definitely join us. Listen Over Promised with Coavino and
Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Here we go, what's ours. It is a Monday. We
are live in Chicago. It's the Hurt. I am back, Jason,
off my bicycle from Copenhagen.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I'm good to have you back, man.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
It's great to be back. Hey.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
By the way, you want to tell the audience, I
was texting you while you're in Europe. All lots of
important stuff happening around you.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
There is Yes, it's tomorrow, mandatory mini camps in the NFL,
so you've got to keep your eye on. Cleveland is
very fascinating. That's all I'm going to say. Everybody makes bets.
You can sit on the fence on this. My bet
is Shadur is going to start at some point in
the NFL season. There are people all over the internet
(12:42):
former NFL scouts he's going to be a bust. He
can't play.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Whoa, there's got to be a middle ground column like, yeah,
he may start, but.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Kevin Sewatski doesn't love it. It's the thing. He's going
to be a bust. Like, come on, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
That's a bit much, all right, Matt Hasselbeck's around the
corner first though, on a Monday. Haven't been here for
a while. Colin right, Colin wrong? Where Colin was right? Well,
this Tyrese halliburtons the most overrated player is nonsense. First
of all, I think he has one of the highest
IQs and eqs I have seen from a modern point guard.
(13:15):
Thirteen to fifteen times this year under two minutes when
he could tire or take the lead, he hit the shot.
That's insane, That is all time. That's better than Steph Curry.
So I never bought into this. I'm not surprised they
stole the game in Oklahoma City. I don't think they're
as good as Oksee. I don't think they'll win the series.
But this idea, this guy, even Sniff's overrated. I'll make
(13:37):
the argument he is the most underrated player the last
two years in the NBA. And tip of the cap
to Jmack who spotted it over two years ago. Where
Colin was wrong. I thought Aaron Rodgers was too smart
to sign with the Steelers because I don't think it's
a good fit. I think it's a defensive first organization
with an offensive coordinator he's not familiar with. They lost
(14:00):
their left tackle, they've struggled in pass protect they've got
no nause Harris, and it's a division with Joe Burrow
and Lamar Jackson four times a year minimum. So I listen.
I thought he had better offers. I thought he would
land a better offer, and I thought this was a
spot that won't end well. But I'm wrong where Colin
was right. Roth Tucker, somebody whose opinion I trust, is
(14:24):
reporting the Vikings do have concerns with JJ McCarty McCarthy quote.
No matter what they say about JJ, they wanted Sam
Darnold back and they weren't going to get Donald, so
they wanted Daniel Jones back. As much as their quote
sold on JJ McCarthy, they've got some doubts. So remember
(14:46):
he missed valuable time not only playing but practicing last
year because of his surgeries. And I've said it before,
he reminds me of an Alabama quarterback. His last two
years at Michigan, he played with a great he didn't
have to throw much with poor protection. He had the
best coach in every game he played, and he had
(15:06):
the lead for ninety percent of it, and an unbelievable
ground game in defense. I just don't know if he's
built to come from behind throw forty three times in game,
which you have to invariably do, especially in the NFC
norm where Colin was raw. I'm surprised the Knicks fired
Tom Thibodeau. Yeah, he's not the most creative guy offensively,
(15:30):
but that's why you build a staff. He built a culture.
They defend, they're tough, they're smart, they're physical. The issues
the Knicks had to me are personnel issues. Brunson's not
a great defender, so they can struggle having he and
Kat on the floor at the same time. That's not
really a Tims issue. I think the NBA is about
(15:51):
steps and the process, and they need to make another tweak.
I'd move off KD and bring in I'd move into
KD and OFFCAT, but I don't think firing him was
the answer. Where Colin was right. As much as I
love the NBA, I said this finals would be a
ratings whiff, and it has been a clunker. Listen, it's
a series for diehards only. The market size isn't great.
(16:15):
Halliburton is not really a known entity in America, even
though he's a fascinating player. OKC style aesthetically is not
appealing in SGA. Again, he's great, he's productive, he's efficient,
He's not necessarily dynamic or fascinating. So the ratings are
bad for this final, even though it's a diehard final.
You can't be a basketball casual and be into this.
(16:37):
But I do think Indiana's going to win more games
in this series than it goes at least six. Where
Colin was wrong. I thought Aunt Edwards of Minnesota was
about ready to grab the mantle as face of the league,
but he really struggled. Two things are true. You can
really get him off his game if you force him,
trap him, double him, and force him to make quick
(17:00):
basketball decisions. He is still fundamentally too young. He's not
a refined player. He had way too many turnovers, almost
as many turnovers as assists against Okay see, he shot
twenty eight percent from three, and they just forced a
really young, still developing star to make fast, quick decisions
in the half court. And he's not quite there yet.
(17:22):
So I'm wrong where Colin was right. I've been saying
the NIL is going to save college basketball, and Real
Madrid and Barcelona reportedly are considering shutting down their youth
academies in Europe, and that's where most of the good
players are in Europe that are seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old.
Why because American college basketball programs NIL money is greater
(17:47):
than europe can affoord And so you're seeing Auburn brought
back their star guard. Why they paid him more than
he can make in the NBA. Cooper Flag made eight
million a year at Duke, and now Illinois is gonna
have five European starters. American basketball programs may shut down
some of the great academies in Europe because they're buying
(18:09):
the best European players. Not to mention, like the Auburn guard,
many of the good college players are staying in college
for another year. So college football didn't need saving college basketball.
Did I predicted it? The nil is going to deliver
where Colin was raw. I thought the Dodgers roster was
(18:30):
all time stuff. But in their last twenty two games,
they're under five hundred. They're pitching staff injuries, They're decimated
for the third to four straight year. Did they have
to clean house on the pitching coaching staff? Like? What
is happening with the staff? They're only one game I
head of the Padres and the Giants over that twenty
(18:51):
two game skid, fifth worst team era Glass, Snow and
Snelle among fourteen Dodger pitchers still on the ion l
where Colin was right. Finally, Oh, for years I have
told been lectured by American soccer fans the United States
(19:13):
men's national team will flourish they only get an elite coach. Well,
they hired Mauricio to Dino. He is brilliant, and they've
lost three straight and the Gold Cups around the corner. Now,
Turkey's pretty good. It's okay to lose the Turkey two
to one. But I keep hearing my entire life from
(19:36):
every young American soccer fan it's the coach that's the problem.
And I keep saying, maybe we've overvalued our players, their grit,
their focus, their toughness, our academy system. Maybe it's that
and not always the coach. So they bring it a
brilliant coach who was lauded for his success in Europe.
(19:58):
We've lost three straight and kind of, you know, kind
of limping into the Gold Cup? Were we not? Colin right?
Collin wrong?
Speaker 5 (20:07):
On a Monday, be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
All right, Matt Hasselbeck, I don't know if that plays soccer.
Were you a soccer guy, Matt hassel Were you a
soccer guy?
Speaker 8 (20:22):
At everyone in America starts in soccer? What do you?
Speaker 9 (20:26):
I mean? Everybody you find me someone who did not
start in soccer? They I think that's just what everybody does. Guys, girls,
everybody first four?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
All right? Well, Aaron Rodgers, you called it. You never
had any doubts. You didn't want to hear.
Speaker 8 (20:41):
I think I called it on June ninth. Actually did
I say June ninth?
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I mean you did, by the way, I don't look
so you were right. I don't love it as a fit.
I thought Minnesota would be better. What do you make
of the fit.
Speaker 8 (20:57):
For who?
Speaker 9 (20:57):
I mean, yeah, for him, like he probably likes Minnesota.
They've had an incredible offseason. They did a great job
in free agency. They were a fourteen win season, fourteen
win team last year. But Minnesota's taken the longer view
of this. I think, you know they I think their
original plan was Sam Darnold. They kicked the tires on
(21:19):
Aaron Rodgers, they considered Daniel Jones, and they said, you
know what, we've got a maybe like at least a
three year window here. We've got a bunch of guys
we've added to our team who are in like their thirties,
thirty one, thirty two, like that range, twenty nine, Like,
let's let's take a let's take an approach at this.
Speaker 8 (21:36):
We believe in our coach. He saw what he.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Did with Sam Donold, who was a backup the previous year.
We really believe in JJ McCarthy. And I think that
they basically said no to some good quarterbacks to say
yes yes to this guy because of what they've seen
in the building. He had a great red shirt season.
As Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Said, yeah, the you know the thing with Aaron and
I talked to some GMS about this is that there's
a story now that he was willing to give the
Rams a massive discount and they passed that. Adam Schefter
said Aaron was the third choice for the Steelers. I
know Aaron and Adam aren't close, but be that as
it may, I trust Adam Schefter. You have stories about
(22:19):
Minnesotas that net. We're going to go with JJ McCarthy,
Ross Tucker, somebody who's got strong opinions and well connected.
Like they got questions about JJ. And I talked to
a couple of general managers over the last year about
Aaron and they said, you know, quirky is for kickers.
We don't love our quarterbacks to be quirky or our coaches.
Jerry Glanville was quirky as a coach, and I feel
(22:41):
like Aaron's aging like a quirky quarterback would where the
teams that he really was interested in, according to reporters
I trust, weren't that interested in him. Do you think
that's just age or some of his quirkiness.
Speaker 9 (22:56):
Yeah, listen to answer your first question, it is a
good fit. I do believe Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers
is a really good fit. And I told you before,
the veteran quarterback market is like musical chairs.
Speaker 8 (23:10):
There's not a lot of chairs. The music stops.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
You know, all you need is one chair, but there
were maybe two chairs, and then at the end there
was probably one chair.
Speaker 8 (23:18):
This is the only team that he could go to.
Speaker 9 (23:19):
Mike Tomlin is well respected by veteran NFL quarterbacks, who
he was as a defensive coach, who.
Speaker 8 (23:26):
He is as a leader. The other part of this,
I think is Arthur Smith.
Speaker 9 (23:30):
I think Arthur Smith is a little bit misunderstood as
a coach. I played on teams with Arthur Smith. As
a coach, he has beloved, He is well respected. He
was on the defensive side of the ball as a
coach when I started in Tennessee. He was there, then
he was on the offensive side. You got to kind
of connect the dots on resume as well. Arthur Smith
was on staff and replace Matt Lafleur in Tennessee when
(23:53):
he got his first start as an offensive coordinator, first opportunity.
So like the thing for a veteran quarterback, you don't
want to go in and like learn some foreign language.
He's not going to have to do that with Arthur Smith.
Arthur Smith, although people think of him as like, run
the damn ball all the time, I'm not adaptable.
Speaker 8 (24:11):
I believe he's very adaptable.
Speaker 9 (24:13):
At the same time, I think Aaron Rodgers needs to
be adaptable to be a run first quarterback. Like that
was the plan in New York with the Jets. It
never really happened. So I think that this is a
good fit. Aaron Rodgers has the weapons, the quirkiness, as
you say, uh, there's a there's it's okay in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is the kind of organization that can handle it.
(24:35):
I think they're gonna thrive from it. I think there's
This is a good fit for a lot of reasons
and kind of look out.
Speaker 8 (24:42):
I think, look out for this team, look out for
this offense.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Okay, So when I was over bicycling in Copenhagen, you
know you live in the life.
Speaker 8 (24:50):
Are you're wearing a helmet? I just need to know, No,
I was not.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
By the way. I may have bet a Heineken in
my hand. I was fascinated by should but I was
really fascinated with was the dexterity of the reporting there was.
He looks great. Jylan Gabriel is lost Schadur and there
was just you can tell people are taking sides and people,
you know, listen, boxing matches have three different judges, three
(25:14):
different people can see three different fights. So but that's
OTA's now veterans show up, it's mandatory mini camp. That's
a whole different ballgame, and veterans are intimidating. Veterans are demanding.
Veterans are a better comp as the what you're playing against.
You give me a thought on what will I need
(25:36):
to see at a Chadur Sanders Because I'm on the
camp that he was under drafted and that he can play.
I could be completely wrong. What will you look for
from the reporting from the video? What matters at that
mini camp with veterans now sitting next to you in
the locker room.
Speaker 9 (25:52):
Well, it matters more. I mean earning the respect to
the vets in the room is important. But for me
to answer your question, what matters more is how a
quarter plays when he is live. You know, so usually quarterbacks,
you know, they wear a different color jersey, like a
red jersey or something like that. You sit in the pocket,
you're cool, you're comfortable, you're calm. How do you play
when that jersey is off and you're where you're basically
(26:14):
live for the defense to take a shot that that
to me is a better sense of like when you
grade somebody. It's not like what I'm doing in quarterback
individual topping around bags, throwing to receivers or running backs
or tight ends on air with no defense, no consequences,
you know.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
To me, I don't know when you get that now.
Speaker 9 (26:34):
Because we've kind of lowered the number of preseason games
that we play, there aren't as many reps to go
around with all the quarterbacks in the room, So I
think you're gonna maybe a I don't know when you're
gonna get it, you know, like some people are trying
to manufacture that with joint practices and that kind of thing.
But a lot of this is going to be conjecture
and kind of what you think a guy is going
(26:55):
to be like when the lights turn on. That's when
you go back to the college tape for toughness great
some of that stuff certainly stuff that he showed when
he was at Colorado.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
So it doesn't bother me that Lamar Jackson missed OTAs
Because Lamar and John Harbaugh are linked. They know each other.
He knows the personnel, he knows a Flowers, Derrick Henry,
and I think he's probably got a little chip on
his shoulder about his current pay structure. I also think
he wins seventy six percent of his start, so I've
never questioned his work ethic. I think Lamar's completely committed.
(27:25):
But there are those that will push back and go, well,
you were tough on Aaron Rodgers and like, well, the
Jets were different. It was a new team. His best player,
Garrett Wilson was a kid like I kind of feel
like with Lamar in Baltimore, it doesn't bother me, should it?
Speaker 9 (27:38):
Well, it bothers me that he's leaving seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars in a roster bone it's on the table.
Speaker 8 (27:43):
I'm just like, ah, that hurts. I heard for you, man.
Speaker 9 (27:47):
I don't know, like, figure it out, Go go lift
some weights in Baltimore.
Speaker 8 (27:50):
Good to be that bad? I mean, shoot, what are
they doing that you don't want to be there? Is
Miami that fun?
Speaker 9 (27:55):
I don't know, but no, listen, much like Aaron Rodgers
didn't think he needs to be there till June ninth,
I kind of grew up in that same thing. It
was great for me as the backup quarterback of the
Green Bay Packers to develop the younger roster that Brett
Farv never showed up in the offseason. It actually, I believe,
kind of strengthened the team, strengthen the backup roles.
Speaker 8 (28:16):
You've seen backup quarterbacks like.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
Tyler Huntley like actually coming and play pretty well when
called upon at times for Baltimore. So you know, for me,
it's a little bit of this, like if I'm Jim
Harbaugh and the Ravens, I'm like, you know what, kind
of like Brett Favre back in the day with Mike
holmbrid Lamar, you're not here, You're not.
Speaker 8 (28:33):
Going to get hurt.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
You're going to show up ready to go. You're going
to be the MVP candidate that you are every year.
I'm not necessarily worried, but worried about it. Hey, quarterback room,
Let's see if you can develop and be a leader.
Speaker 8 (28:47):
Would I like him there?
Speaker 9 (28:48):
Sure, I'd like him there, But ultimately I think you
can look at a glass half full on something like this,
and Lamar is Lamar. He's kind of one of one.
A lot of people say like, Oh, this guy's like Lamar.
There's nobody else like Lamar. He's he's special, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I think it's interesting the one player drafted and it
wasn't a particularly strong draft in any position. Cam Ward
fascinates me. I like his journey. He was a no
star quarterback. I like that he transferred every time I've
seen him at the podium, totally focused, all ball, all
the time. Again at OTA's every report is God. And
(29:28):
by the way, he was accurate in college. He could
do a little hero ball. But tell me take me through.
So you come in and you're twenty two, twenty three
years old, and Tennessee has not been great at quarterback,
and here come all the veterans into camp tomorrow. And
was it harder for you when you were twenty eight,
thirty two, thirty three, thirty four And here comes the
(29:52):
kid to take over the culture? Is that a weird
vibe as cam Ward because they need him to be
a twelve year of They need him to run the show,
and I think he's capable of it. Is that always
been maybe in Green Bay? When the youngest guy in
the locker room is asked to be the leader. Is
that a weird feeling or the players. The veteran players
(30:12):
look at it and go, it's quarterback, the kids, smartest talented,
I'm watching him. Let's go all in.
Speaker 9 (30:18):
Yeah, what veteran players respect is excellence. I remember Bill
Cower speaking at my rookie symposium and he nailed it,
and it was really about like, how how much can
we count on you to do your job?
Speaker 8 (30:29):
How hard are you going to work?
Speaker 2 (30:30):
And listen call him.
Speaker 8 (30:31):
At the end of my career, I was forty years old.
Speaker 9 (30:33):
I was backing up a young quarterback, the first overall picked,
also named Andrew Luck.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
He was the hardest worker in the building.
Speaker 9 (30:39):
He was the first guy there, he was the last
guy to lead, and like, those aren't just cliche things.
Speaker 8 (30:44):
That was like actually legitimately true, to.
Speaker 9 (30:47):
The point that our quarterback coach was like, Hey, once
you sleep in a little bit tomorrow, Hey, why don't
you get out of here and go home.
Speaker 8 (30:53):
Let's set a time.
Speaker 9 (30:53):
We're going to let that loss from yesterday or that
win from yesterday, We're going to let that go and
move on. That's those are the reports that matter just
as much to me about about camp. He's been a
diligent diligent worker. He's setting the tone by when he
gets to work, how he works.
Speaker 8 (31:10):
When he's there. He's not about the flash and all
the other stuff.
Speaker 9 (31:14):
He's about the business of football, about the business.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
Of being the quarterback and the leader.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
That's the stuff that I don't care if you're young, old,
everybody respects in the locker room. And it's early, but
he's off to a great start. He's filling I think
he's filling a void in some ways. You know, that
city and that town is a distracting town. They call
it nash Vegas for a reason. It's a lot of fun.
So if you get somebody that comes in there and
(31:39):
it's all about football, that's very, very important in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Yeah, my daughter just moved there, and every time I
say how are you doing, I get a picture of
a music festival she's at. So I'm not sure she's
working anymore, but in.
Speaker 9 (31:54):
A bachelorette party or thirty on the streets.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
You know.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
No, it's a great city as always, Buddy, Great seeing you,
Matt Hasselback, Thanks man, see it. Yeah, Now, Nashville is
one of the if you are I told my daughter this,
if you're twenty three years old and out of college,
go to Nashville and figure it out. That is a
good time when you got thirty places you can step
into on a Tuesday night that have live music. You
(32:20):
may be singing by the end of the night, but
it is a fun town.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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