June 29, 2020 • 40 mins
Cam Newton in New England will but fun but not that successful
Brady's absence will be felt off the field
Cam and Belichick have a really tough schedule
Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong
Guests: Albert Breer, The MMQB
Aaron Jones, Packers RB
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern
on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. It is
(00:25):
a Monday. We've got real NFL news live in Los Angeles.
This is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. We're on iHeartRadio, We're on Fox
Sports Radio. We are on FS one. One hour from now,
one of my better Colin right, Colin was wrong? That
(00:46):
is one hour from now. Top of next hour. Albert
Breer later this hour from a New England perspective on
signing Cam Newton, and Joy Taylor is joining me in
a Monday. Joy, how are you? I'm great? Wow. That
was news to get in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.
It's more interesting than Jarret Stidham with a Patriot will
tell you. It's more interesting. It's wild. Yeah, it's fun.
(01:10):
I mean it's it's we've said this before. I don't
remember a time in my life where the NFL has
had more different types of quarterbacks, the big, strong, the small, runaround,
the pocket guy, the old guy, the young guy. New
England's gonna be interesting now. I don't think Cam's gonna
take New England to a special place. And here's five
(01:31):
or six reasons why. Number one, it's a very complicated
system and he has not taken a snap in it.
Number two is he's not going to get all the snaps.
Jared Stidham is going to get a lot of snaps.
Tom Brady wouldn't let his back up have snaps. Jared
Stidham's got fans in that locker room, fans on that
coaching staff. He's gonna get some snaps. Number three is
(01:52):
Dante Scarnekia, the best offensive line coach in the last
twenty years, retired and I don't think this is a
great offensive line. Number four is New England doesn't have
any deep threats. I mean, one of the things about Cam,
he's a home run hitter. You can not like Cam
all the time. He's not the most efficient guy, but
he's a home run hitter. They have no deep threats.
(02:12):
Number five is they don't really have a workable tight end.
Tight ends they drafted a couple tight ends generally struggle
in the NFL first year. It's just one of those positions.
The blocking assignments are difficult. The offenses are more sophisticated.
Let's be honest. This offense is built for like Brady.
It's built for efficiency in detail. There are no two
(02:33):
play drives. This is a ten play drive, eleven play drive.
Don't make a mistake, you know, efficiency detailed. They don't
have any game breakers. I mean, Patrick Mahomes doesn't have
to be great with details. He's gonna get some cheap
home runs without offense between Andy Reid schemes and you
know Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey, there are some cheap
(02:55):
touchdowns there. They just got guys beaten guys. This New
England offense. This is what drove Tom Brady nuts. It
has to be meticulous and precise because nobody's remember he
was screaming last year, get open, separate. Nobody does. So
this is kind of built for efficiency in details, and
I just don't think that's Cam's game. His career completion
(03:17):
percentage is fifty nine percent. Brady his career completion percentage
never went under sixty. It's about sixty four or sixty
five percent. Now. I do think they're going to go
from a boring six and ten with Jarrett Stidham, not
dynamic at all, to a more dynamic eight and eight
and fun to watch. I'm in, I said after about
(03:39):
two quarters of Stidham, I'm done with it. Oh, I'm
totally in. Now they'll be like Cleveland. I don't know
if they'll be good. They'll be fascinating to watch it grow.
But Cam's been in the NFL for nine years. If
you're in the NBA nine years, the NHL nine years,
the NBA, the MLS, I kind of know what you are.
He's dynamic, He's not terribly efficient. But this is the
thing that's going to be interesting. So in Carolina he
(04:05):
was the number one pick and it had to work,
and they really built everything around Cam. So every year
they got they got offensive lineman that worked, running backs
that work. Not that he was coddled, but at Auburn,
at Junior College and at Carolina, the system was built
for Cam. He was he really was panther football. I'm
(04:28):
not even know, you know, I mean he for that
period he was Panther football. That's not the way it
works here. They got a system. They won way more
than Cam without him. There's no coddling. They're not building
it for him. Here's our system. Hope it works. That's
not going to be easy for Cam Now. I think
he's talented enough that he'll just make plays. And I
do think he did himself a huge favor working his
(04:53):
ass off and putting videos every third day on the internet.
It showed me I'm committed on want to get wins.
I want to be a guy. I thought that was
a real important sign of maturity from sometimes a quarterback
that's not the most mature and the most focused I shot.
I thought in the last three months, I'm into it.
I'm focused, I'm driving, I'm working out with Odell Beckham,
(05:16):
I'm working out. I think Belichick and guys looked at
that and thought, all right, I'll roll the dice with that.
That's the kind of commitment I want. But it's different now, Carolina.
It was built to make it work. What kind of
commitment does New England have. They're not giving them all
the snaps. It's a one year deal. I mean if
(05:37):
I said to you Cam Newton, New England, do you
think it's a relationship in ten years? No? Do you
absolutely think it's a relationship in five years? I bet
most of you say no. So when you go into
any relationship business, person on person relationship, what's the commitment
(05:58):
going in? This feels like God, some sizzle, it's fun.
Here's a year I think the best Cam Newton can do.
Show he's healthy, show he's focused, add a little sizzle
to kind of a rigid, not very dynamic offense. And
then I think in the year from now, the market
(06:20):
will open up for people and they'll say, all right,
he's thirty two years old, he looks like he's healthy.
He will get better protection in New England that he
got in Carolina, because I think New England protects their
quarterbacks I don't know better than any franchives i've seen ever,
Like that's what they do. I saw pictures yesterday of
Cam Newton in a Patriot Jersey and there was like
grass on it and I'm like, oh, no, he won't
(06:42):
hit the turf munch. No, I mean they this is
what New England did with Tom Brady, better than anything
else it wasn't always about great defenses. They didn't aways
have great defenses. It wasn't always a great weapons. New
England protects their quarterback. That's what they do. So Cam's
gonna get lots of opportunities three and four seconds to
make throws. But nobody's gonna be open. Nobody's gonna be
(07:04):
open deep. You're not getting much from the tight end position.
I think it's an awkward fit player to system, and
I think it's a Hollywood marriage, a lot of fun
and sizzle. It's not gonna last real long, but hey,
I'm gonna watch it, and I'm a consumer of football.
But I mean, if you look at Cam since the
MVP Super Bowl year, you can just look at the
(07:25):
numbers kind of and that's where they were trying to
get coordinators and coaches and players that work for him. Here,
we don't care if it works for you. We got
a guy. If it doesn't work, we'll draft another guy
next year. If it doesn't work, come on in, do
your thing. I think the winner here is Cam Newton
(07:46):
if he can get the Belichick Seal of approval, if
he's healthy, focused, work hard, win some games, and Belichick
in the end says, Hey, we really enjoyed Cam. This
was great. We really enjoyed it. We got some other
things we're looking at, but we really enjoyed this relationship.
That's the win for Cam. It's not this job, it's
(08:08):
the job after this job. And I'm rooting for him.
I actually am okay, so New England, So New England,
this is what they do so news this morning. I
was going to lead about this story. The Patriots have
been fined one point one million dollars. They lost a
third round draft pick next year, they can't have TV
(08:30):
crews film any games next year. That was going to
be my lead today. That was going to be the
lead on Undisputed, Speak for Yourself, First Take, and every
show in every network. That was going to be the
lead story, which doesn't make Robert Kraft look very good
or the Patriots. And then seventeen minutes after the Patriots
learned that from the NFL, they signed Cam Newton. And
(08:52):
Cam Newton's a fun story. All you and I have
been talking about with football since the draft is COVID stories.
Cam's and actual player. He's polarizing, and it's kind of
like a feel good story, right, Like we all know
Cam's good enough to start somewhere. I heard the story.
Oh my god's fun. I mean, I don't think Cam's
ever been my kind of quarterback, but it's a fun story.
(09:14):
It's an actual player playing for an actual great coach.
And now that's the stories I was driving in this morning.
I bounced around to all the stations. Nobody was talking
about the one point one million fine in the draft pick.
It was all Cam all the time. This is what
New England does. This is the funny thing about New England.
And so you know, like think about Lebron and the Cavaliers.
(09:37):
The Cavaliers have been a mess my whole life, but
when Lebron showed up twice, he sort of added a
refinement and a polish and we forgot all that calms
basketball with their winners and winning games, winning series, and
then Lebron leaves in their back to being who they are.
In fact, you can argue with the Lakers, they were
a mess for seven years and then Lebron came in
and we all think, now number one in the West Man,
(09:58):
they really know what they're doing. Not really, it's it's
not a brilliantly run organization. Lebron makes it look polished
and refined. It's still kind of a mess. Brady is
sort of aspirational. He's got sort of a Joel Ostein
with a helmet quality, like he's make a better life
for yourself, and you know, doesn't drink beer during the season,
(10:20):
and he had sort of a polish and a nice
guy and a work hard He's an overachiever, and he's
a family guy and he loves his kids, and he's
kind of corny. He's kind of a suburban, corny dad,
joke guy. But he added a polish to an organization
that for the third time in thirteen years sort of
got caught cheating. But if you take the polish out
(10:44):
of New England, not very likable. Not very likable. I
mean Edelman got arrested this offseason. Belichick's grumpy with a hoodie.
Robert Krafft had the Florida thing. Tom Brady and Lebron
have an amazing quality that they just beyond their great
(11:06):
athletic skills. They add a certain gravitas or a sense
of aspiration and greatness and polish and refinement. The Lakers
aren't well run right now. Lebron's great the Cavaliers were
never run well. Lebron was great. New England is about
as likable as the Sopranos without Brady. I mean, it's
(11:29):
like there's a lot of hoodies and a lot of
grumpiness and a lot of incidents and a lot of problems.
And Edelman's in trouble, and Craft got in trouble, and
Belichick just got his hand slapped, and Tomo has made
us think, well, I know, but Tom to the rescue.
He was like a Captain America of football. You take
him out. New England just kind of look shady, right.
(11:57):
I think they're gonna miss that. I think they're gonna
miss I think the Calves miss Lebron, not just the basketball,
but the organizational excellence, in the stature of Lebron and
the polish of Lebron always says the right stuff. New
England lost their shield, their nice guy there, don't drink
(12:19):
a beer during the season guy. And if not for
Cam Newton, what would we be talking about this morning?
Kind of shady again, They're gonna miss that. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon
Eastern a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeart Radio app. So timing is obviously you know
(12:41):
everything in life. It's it's a huge component to life,
just luck, just timing. Tom Brady has really got good timing.
So Tom Brady, every year he was in New England,
it always felt like I must have done this story
fifteen times. New England got a lucky schedule, like it
was always like, how's our schedules? And they won their division.
It's the first place schedule. Tom Brady elects to leave.
(13:04):
Cam Newton comes in for the first time ever. New
England has the toughest NFL schedule in the entire Belichick era.
Go look at New England schedule next year. What Cam
would have to play. We gotta be fair with Cam here.
So they play out of division. They play the Seahawks
at the Chiefs at the Seahawks forty nine Ers, Ravens
at the Texans at the Rams. Last year, those teams
(13:26):
had a combined record of sixty nine and twenty seven.
They also play out of their division the Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers,
and I think both join. I well, I think some
of this. I think those are the three most improved
teams in the league this year. I think I think
Denver and the Chargers are going to look totally different.
And I think the Rams have sort of solved their
offensive line issues in the girly tension locker room issue.
(13:49):
You gotta be kidding me, I mean, that's what. This
is the toughest schedule in the NFL, according to the
people who look at the winning percentages from last year
plus Brady. The entire time Brady was in the division, Buffalo,
the Jets, Miami were running through coaches, a lot of
bad coaches. He leaves, and it looks like Sean McDermott
(14:10):
coach of the Bills and Brian Flores coach to the Dolphins.
It kind of looks like, finally grown ups. These guys
are gonna be around forever. We also now have Josh Allen,
Darnold and Tua I think's gonna pop. And the whole
time Brady was there, it was a revolving door coaches
and just bad quarterback play. And meanwhile, Tom, maybe this
(14:32):
was a plan. He segues to a division where Caroline
is in a rebuild, Atlanta's got a lame duck coach,
and Drew Brees has what a year left. Taysom Hills
the next guy, like, maybe it's all planned by Tom.
Maybe he looked at the schedule and went, whoo at Seattle,
at Kansas City, Ravens, I got no weapons, I'm out
of here. Or maybe Brady as the greatest luck of
(14:56):
any player of my life. Be sure to catch live
edition of The Herd week dayson noon Easter nine am Pacific.
Let's bring in Albert Breer via the Coward Global Satellite Network,
brought to you by Mercedes. Ben's the best or Nothing
Monday morning Quarterback. So let's start with this. Albert, how
long was this in the works? Well, I can tell
(15:18):
you that the pages have been making calls on him
for a couple of months. It intensified over the last
few days. But Bill Belichick talked to Norv Turner and
some other coaches who've worked with Cam, I'd say in
March and April, and it was sort of one of
those things that was a slow burn on the table
for them. And then i'd say, over the last couple
of weeks or so, some of the Patriots offensive assistants
(15:39):
started making calls on CAM, and the people around Cam
started to get the idea this thing could happen. Does
it mean New England's out on Jarrett Stidham, not necessarily.
I don't think they're going to hand the job to
Cam Newton. That said, I think Cam's clearly the favorite
for the job. Now they're gonna make him learn it.
(16:00):
It's so fascinating about this, Colin is they basically spent
the entire offseason preparing Jared Stidham to be the starter,
putting him through all that, developing him as a young quarterback,
giving him personal attention, and now on the doorstep of
training camp, they're giving him competition. They've got him under
contract for another couple of years they can continue to
develop him. So in a lot of ways, this is
(16:22):
sort of giving Stidham some competition. You see, if he's ready,
chances are you're going with Cam. Maybe he wows you.
If he doesn't, you've got a great answer from writing
for right now. And either way, you're throwing multiple darts
at the dartboard. Don't forget. That's how the Seahawks found
Russell Wilson ten years ago. They struck out on a
lot of guys Pete Carroll and John Schneider did before
(16:44):
they found Wilson. Guys like Matt Flynn, Charlie Whitehurst. That's
basically what the Patriots are doing now. They're throwing multiple
darts at that quarterback dartboard. So I'll tell you where.
I'm not pessimistic, but I have questions. This offense does
not have a deep thread, doesn't really have proven tight end.
I don't think it's one of the more talented old
lines in Dante Scarnekie retired. It is not an offense
(17:08):
built for easy touchdowns. It is going to need eleven
play drives, no fumbles, no penalties. Now, Cam is dynamic,
but he has not always been consistent and efficient. It
feels a little bit like you're asking Cam to be
what he's not instead of saying, hey, be yourself, you know,
do what you do, be dynamic. I don't think they
have the pieces around him, regardless of how good Cam
(17:31):
is to be special. Is that a fair Devil's advocate take?
This is going to test them, Colin and I get
all of your points right. I'm gonna take you back
two years to twenty and eighteen. The Patriots were looking
at Lamar Jackson. They really liked Lamar Jackson. They toyed
with the idea of drafting Lamar Jackson. Part of the
discussion in that room was, we would really need to
(17:52):
blow up what we are offensively and what we've been
offensively for almost two decades to make this work. For
Lamar Jackson, go back two years before that. Look at
what they did for Jacoby Brissette. You may remember he
started on a Thursday night, basically on three days notice.
They were able to flip their offense upside down and
run a totally different offense to accommodate Jacoby Brissette. They
(18:13):
beat the Houston Texans sixteen to nothing that night. And
so I get all the points that you're making. No
one is better at tailoring a offense or a defense
to what he's got on each side of the ball
than Bill Belichick is. We've seen it as just about
every other position on the field. We haven't seen it
so much at quarterback. Now we'll get to see it
at quarterback. But I promise you, if Cam Newton's the starter,
(18:35):
the Patriots are going to look a lot different offensively
than they have the last twenty years with Tom Brady.
So the Cam Newton announcement came, you know, seventeen minutes
after the cheating the fuzzy shady situation with the filming
of the Bengals practice. The skeptic in me says, they
(18:56):
kind of did that on purpose, right, Yeah, I don't think.
I don't think you're a way off base. I think
there was probably some attention there, you know. Look like
I even believe their story, Like, I think this was
an honest mistake. But if you're the New England Patriots, Colin,
what is the one piece of equipment that you cannot
be caught doing anything nefarious? It's a video camera. This
(19:19):
is like the Astros getting caught doing something with a drum, Right,
So I think the league looks at this and has
to say, well, we got to do something here. And
I think what's most interesting about it, Look, the one
point one million dollar penalty is certainly significant, even if
it is a drop in the bucket for Robert Kraft.
I think the draft pick part of this is really
really important because the Patriots had pushed for this to
(19:40):
be seen as sort of a non football violation. By
adding the draft pick in, they're basically telling Patriots football
operations you are responsible for this. So that was sort
of the interesting twist there. But I do believe on
the surface that this was an honest mistake, and I
also understand where the league has to come down on
them for this because of their history. By the way,
(20:00):
Demorris Smith, Players Association president says, the Tom Brady stuff,
the Russell Wilson stuff working out is not healthy. To that,
I would say it may not be healthy, but it
is about winning. And Russell Wilson and Tom Brady this
is who they are, man, They're they're driven cats. I mean,
what are you hearing behind the scenes. Is the league
really bothered by it? Or is it one of these
(20:22):
eye rolls like they want to pretend like they're bothered.
I mean, I think it's, you know, basically a message
to the public that we are taking this seriously, the
same way the protocols were. You know, you got those
nine pages of training camp protocols, and I think a
lot of the teams said, well, this is basically a
press release. This is a signal to the public that
they're taking COVID very very seriously and that we're all
going to have to adjust as we go. But some
(20:45):
of the stuff and the protocols weren't practical, and it's
also probably not practical in such a petitive environment to
tell quarterbacks not to gather all of their skill position
players people in one place and get to work if
they know everybody else is working. And this is happening everywhere.
We saw dak to it earlier in the offseason. Matt
Stafford has done this a couple of times. Matt Ryan,
(21:05):
I'm telling you. Colin basically ran a nine week off
season program for the Falcons in both California and Florida,
and most recently, Kyler Murray paid for all the cardinal
skill position players to fly to Dallas. They all worked
out at his high school, Alan High School for a
few days. So this is happening across the NFL. It's
such a competitive environment. I think the NFL knows there's
(21:27):
no stopping it, but they have to at least signal
to the public that they are taking these things serious.
By the way, when does Camra report to New England?
He goes, He goes NFC to AFC, warm weather to
cold weather, totally different environment. When're you gonna show up
in New England? Well, he would. The report date for
quarterbacks is going to be a few days before the
report date for everybody else but the Patriots open on
(21:50):
the first Sunday of the regular season, and all the
teams that start in that first Sunday have a report
date of July twenty eighth, So July twenty eighth would
be the veteran report date would be that Cam Newton
would be in probably sometime less than a week before that. Yeah,
it's gonna look so different in a Patriot uniform. It's
just crazy. Albert great stuff. Monday Morning Quarterback lead strategists
(22:11):
covered the NFL for fifteen years. Thanks, but appreciate it,
all right, Thanks, Going one more Herd. The Herd streams
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within
the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on
demand whenever you'd like. All Right, it's Colin right, Colin wrong.
I'm plenty of both on the Monday. Oh is it
this time? Here we go where Colin was right? Well, clearly,
(22:31):
Jared Stidham is not blowing everybody away, despite what everybody
has claimed for the last six months, even people I
like listen. They wanted to bring back Tom Brady at
forty three off his worst year in a long time,
and they brought in Cam for a reason. Belichick's seen
every snap of Jarret Stidham. He's obviously not blown away
by it. I watched Stidham in college. He was okay,
(22:51):
eighteen touchdowns at Auburn. They had plenty of NFL guys
on the old line running back, tight end, and wide receiver.
He's fine. My guess is Jarret Stidhim will end up
being a rear backup. But all this chatter and talk
about how Grady was, Belichick keeps telling you how Grady
thinks he is, and that ain't much where Colin was wrong.
Cam Newton in New England doesn't feel like an ideal fit.
(23:11):
I think it's interesting, and I'm in the interesting business.
I would have this, just didn't. A lot of people
suggested this, by the way, I just never bought into it.
It just didn't feel like a right fit. New England
system is kind of rigid, details efficiency, low turnover, and
know they win by defense. You know Cam's dynamic and
(23:31):
it's a risk taker and a big arm And it
doesn't feel like he fits them or their personnel fits
his style. I mean they don't. They don't have a
cheap touchdown on that roster. So it's a weird fit,
but it's a fit, and I was wrong where Colin
was right. I am a big believer in the forty
nine ers and I love hyper aggressive teams, and last
week they went after Jamal Adams of the Jets. Reportedly,
(23:55):
two different sources, Niners would like to make a deal
for the star safety for New York Let's. They have
been aggressive on Jimmy Garoppolo. They signed him before anybody
bought into him. They've been aggressive with Trent Williams. They're
aggressive now with DeForrest Buckner. They moved him. Aggressive wins
in the forty nine Ers not only play aggressively, they
operate aggressively. I think John Lynch has come in and
(24:16):
much like John Lynch was as a player, and I
covered him. John Blue stuff up and apologize later. And
San Francisco has taken a wildly aggressive stance on how
to run a franchise, and I really love it. Where
Colin was wrong. I like this, but I'm shocked by it.
(24:37):
Major League Baseball for the next sixty games in the
postseason will allow a runner to start at second base
and extra innings. It is gimmicky, it is sticky. I'm
for it, but this is a sport that's paralyzed by tradition,
that struggled for years to get instant replay right, and
(24:58):
for them to go, yeah, yeah, we're gonna do this
thing that we're gonna did. He tried it in the
minor leagues, and we're just gonna start a guy at
second base so we don't have these seventeen inning laughably
inam baseball games in the middle of a week where
the game ends at one forty five in the morning.
I don't think it's a bad idea. I don't think
(25:19):
the universal DH is surprising that was going to happen. Eventually.
They baseball guys were coming to terms with its fifteen
more jobs for sluggers and old well known players. DH
should be in baseball. Who wants to watch pitchers hit?
It's awful. It's like watching punter's pass. What's the point
where Colin was right? Zion Williamson, what do you know?
(25:40):
He got the easiest schedule in the NBA? Well, what
do you know? Zion Williamson also will be the first
game back on July thirtieth. Who's gonna be in it?
Not the Lakers, Zion Williamson. You ever notice how the
critics got very quiet on Zion. They were just picking
him apart. He can't shoot, he's not big enough, he's
not ready. This here's what he is. A star, unique body,
(26:07):
unique game, unique power. He's just a fascinating kid. And
he was so incredibly likable at Duke. I mean, we
all knew he was gonna last one year, and he
came out and said, no, I'm gonna play through my injury,
and I'd really come back and play another year. I
love college basketball, but you know everybody tells me, I
gotta go pro. You can't define star. I mean, like
(26:30):
Magic Johnson, the game, the name helped. Some guys just pop.
Other guys are good, but don't pop. The NBA gets it.
Let's get him into these games. Let's get him up first,
let's highlight him, Let's put him on television. Nothing against
Brandon Ingram, but that's not why they're playing first. It's
Zion where Colin was wrong. Not the only real criticism
(26:51):
I've ever had of Adam Silver. I think sometimes he
needs to be more defiant and stronger, and I've heard
he is behind the scenes, but I thought he did
a Roger Goodell move. And I actually liked it last
week and it surprised me. He came out and he said, listen,
COVID nineteen is with us for the foreseeable future. We
are left with no choice but to learn and live
(27:12):
with it, no options or risk free. We're very comfortable
in Orlando. And some media people won't like it, and
some players won't like it, but this is exactly what
the NFL is doing. We're gonna roll the dice. It's
not perfect, but these are world class athletes, and if
they do get COVID, we've got the doctors, we've got
the therapeutics. We cannot We're not built to shut down
(27:36):
the league. And by the way, if the league got
shut down, it would be horrible for the players. The
cap would plummet. The NBA owners have her right if
this season's canceled, to rip up the CBA and start over.
You want to have another lockout? You don't want to.
I mean, Lebron James is the face of the league.
You want him not playing now and not playing next year.
You gotta be strong, you gotta be defiant. The chance
(27:58):
of a player getting critically is incredibly low, and life
is full of risk, and I applaud being wrong and
Adam Silver being strong on them. Where Colin was right,
Lebron and Maverick Carter on the cover of Bloomberg Business
one hundred million dollars deal for Springhill Entertainment. This is
called the mogul stage. I've been told by somebody close
(28:21):
to Lebron he loves LA, He's never moving from La,
that it's a perfect fit for him. And though he's
never loved basketball more, the ability to make deals is
exactly why he moved to Los Angeles, where the big
financiers and the cities have all opened up their ears
(28:43):
and their wallets to him. This is exactly why he
didn't choose the Sixers, who had a better roster. For
the record, I don't think the Lakers are very well
run right now. I still think there's all sorts of issues.
But this is exactly why we thought the Lakers was
the best fit. Where Colin was wrong. I've always defended
Adam Gates of the Jets. I think he's smart, I
(29:05):
think he's intense. He had a winning record with Ryan
Tannehill in Miami thirteen and eleven, and he had a
winning record last year with Sam Darnald who had no
help and Mono and they got the roster. Stinks, but boys,
he toxic. Greg Williams last week, does not respect him
enough to hide during the Jamal Adams contract situation. Greg Williams,
(29:27):
let me talk, ask me questions. Oh you joy, Jamal
Adams is leaking stuff and firing shots at him. Listen.
I think he and Darnold work. I think he's demanding
and intense, and I think he's a really smart football guy.
I think he's got a lot of Kyle Shanahan. But
you know, maybe because I like him, I don't see
the toxicity as much. But I mean, he just they're
(29:49):
just certain people that drive other people crazy. And this
guy's got a lot of enemies in that locker room
and around this league. Where Colin was right, I've always
thought the fitting conclusion to this Dak situation, it's a
franchise tag. He's the perfect franchise tag quarterback. Last year,
he did not play well down the stretch. He did
(30:10):
not play well against good teams. I think he was
one in six against playoff teams. Let's see him with
McCarthy for a year. Well, we got two weeks left
and there is no more chatter from Cowboy insiders of
a contract. I have been hearing about a contract for
a year and a half, and I've been saying the
entire time, Dallas pays everybody. We know the numbers. Here,
(30:32):
show me the money. I'm not interested in anything else.
Two weeks left now and it's a franchise tag and
I think this is inevitable. I think it's the right move.
I don't think it's a shot at DAK. I think
there's concerns in the building that the league's seen him,
and there's limitations. I actually do think he's gonna play
pretty well with Mike McCarthy and probably get a really
(30:52):
tasty long term deal. But as of now, I'm right
on the contract which has not materialized. Where Colin was right.
Nobody manipulates rules and the league quite like the Patriots.
Seveneen minutes after New England was tagged with a million
(31:13):
point one dollar fine, they signed Cam Newton. This is
so New England it hurts. They knew this was going
to be the story on every talk show, which is
not good for Robert Kraft and the brand. So Robert
Kraft says, anyway you could get this off the front
page of every newspaper in America. And what do the
Patriots do. Well, it's just a crazy, whacky coincidence. They
(31:36):
signed Cam Newton. Now, I think they were going to
sign Cam Newton anyway, according to reports, but seventeen minutes
after the stories handed down. It's just so Patriots. They
I'm not saying it's they just manipulate everything. Cameras and
rules and footballs is just what they do. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon
(31:58):
Easter ninety Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeart Radio app. Well. Aaron Jones of the Packers
not only great, he has a fascinating story. His parents,
Alvin and Burgess, have been two military sergeants almost sixty
years combined time in the service. He's lived everywhere, so
going from UTEP to Green Bay. Not culture shock. He
(32:21):
actually is joining US now via the Coward Global Satellite Network.
Tied in the NFL last year with Christian McCaffrey for
nineteen touchdowns. So just to introduce you to our audience,
we obviously know you the football player. You come in
a military background. You lived in Germany for three years,
so you were telling something, telling me something off fair.
So when did you live in Germany? And just tell
(32:42):
me something about the experience. From when I was two
to five, lived there with me and our brother, went
to a German daycare, so we became fluent in German.
We would go to the grocery store and we would
translate from my parents and so it was pretty fun.
And when we got back to you United States, it
was only me and my brother in the family who
(33:02):
knew Germans, so um, we were speaking to must each other.
But there was really no German tutors around at the time,
so we kind of lost it. Well. And then your dad,
your parents like retire and they start a marketing company
because they want to promote you to the recruiting services.
So you're not getting recruited by the by the by
the big dogs, by Texas Oklahoma. You go to UTAP,
(33:25):
you smash all their records, and you still dropped the
fifth round of the packers, even though you had you know,
four thousand yards at UTAP, most rushing yards in the
history of the program. So you have been overlooked. You
were overlooked in recruiting, You were overlooked in college. You
were overlooked in the NFL. Has that given you a
little chip on your shoulder as an NFL player? I
(33:48):
mean I've had a chip ever since I was little,
I mean coming up. I mean you know, as a kid,
you want to go to those Army All American games,
those under arm All American games, and you're not even
getting a look. Then you feel like you could play
with the best players in the country, and uh, you
don't even have stars, and you look up to have
five stars, and that just keeps adding to the chip
(34:10):
on your shoulder. And you don't, you don't forget those
things and you and you let it show in your play,
and um, you just continue to work and your time
will come. You know what's interesting when I watch you run,
I don't know if I see anybody else. I think
you haven't own your own style. I think you're hard
to bring down and you've got to burst. If when
you were starting, when you took the ball when you
(34:30):
were six years old, you're a little boy and you
want to be a running back, was there a running
back or something like? I don't see anybody else. I
think your style like if you were a silhouette and
you didn't have a jersey on. You have a unique style.
Um is there somebody you patterned after? Um? I mean
my favorite running back growing up was Emma Smith. But UM,
(34:51):
I mean I've watched a lot of running backs all
the time, the Damien Thomas and um who else. I'm
drawing a blank right now, Jamal Cha, Sorry, Marshall Falk
watching numerous amount of people. So I think I kind
of trying to take a little bit of everybody's game.
And I know speed kills and you play you get
(35:12):
vertical quick and defense plays on lines and different things
like that. So you you get vertical, you have you
always have a chance. Well, the other thing Aaron is
and you're very unique. Some guys can taste the end zone.
You had thirty high school thirty touchdowns a senior. In
high school, you were a touchdown machine at El Paso.
Even with Aaron Rodgers throwing to Davante Adams. You're a
(35:33):
touchdown machine in the NFL. You've got to feel for
it and a taste for it. When you went from
you tapped at Green Bay. That's a culture shock for
most people, but you obviously felt very comfortable very quickly
in Green Bay. Take me back to your rookie year,
you go to the smallest professional sports city in America.
(35:54):
It's cold, it's isolated, but it worked for you. Did
you You immediately feel like this is family and I
fit definitely. I mean, you get the college field from
it being such a small city and everything there is
about football, and you just feel the love from everybody.
And then I always have my parents coming up there,
(36:15):
and so it just felt like home. And it still
feels like home. And I love it there and the
people there get me going. So I've been critical from
time to time of Aaron Rodgers, and people think I
don't like him, and I say, he's a Hall of
Famery's first ballot. He's very unique, but he's very, very demanding.
And so you go to your first camp with Aaron Rodgers.
(36:35):
He probably barked at you a few times because he
barks at everybody, and he's smart and he's demanding. But
it's interesting if you go back to your very first
year there again, it looked like you and Aaron connected
on some level. He trusted you. Take me back to
your first year with Aaron. I wouldn't even say demanding.
I would say he just expects you to be professional.
(36:57):
He knows what everybody else is doing on the field,
from every receiver to offensive line into running back, to
what the olon call is and what blitz is coming.
So he expects you just to know your job so
the office can run smoothly. So that's the only expectation
he puts on you. So he's a great leader, a
great teammate, and he he has an eye for guys
(37:19):
who are ready to come in and work and about
their business. And that's what I did. I just came
in and it was about my business, put my head
down and worked in and practice, just kept gaining his trust,
trying to make as many plays I did in practice.
So when it did come game time, he knew he
could trust me or call my number. So was there
a moment? So you come from you're a fifth rounder,
(37:40):
you come from El Paso, and then all of a
sudden you go to the NFL and the party is
probably like, I think I can play here. I'm really good,
but I don't know, Like a lot of fifth rounders
don't make it in the NFL. When was the first
moment in camp or a game that you knew I'm
gonna make this team. I'm gonna make it in the NFL.
I'm gonna be an NFL football. When Davantae Adams came
(38:03):
up to me and he was like, we had drafted
three backs at the time in my class, and he
comes up to me and say, hey, you're my dark horse.
I've done too many people on the team got you
as winning the competition, but I got you. And coming
from him, I mean, like, man, this is one of
the best receivers. This is our best receiver on the team,
one of the best receivers in the league. And he's
(38:24):
telling me this. He sees something in me. And then
when I stepped on the field I think it was
Week four against Chicago to take my first offensive snap,
ra told me, I'm one of your biggest fans in
this organization. You got your opportunity. Now I'll make the
most of it. And I just took those words and
I ran with it because, like he said, you when
you get your opportunity, you have to make the most
(38:45):
of it because you never know when the next opportunity
will come. Okay, now, how are you staying in shape?
I mean you could do you could sit in a
treadmill all day and lift weights, but But do you
feel that if you compared this year Aaron to last
year at this time, are you in reasonably close shape
do a year ago? I'm in better shape. I mean,
(39:08):
I have a goal, had a nasty taste in my
mouth since we lost to Santa France. So I've just
been continued to work. I'm out here in the desert,
so I got sand hills. I got everything I need here.
So I'll just continue to work and work on my
craft and try to help my team get to the
super Bowl next year. Yeah, what a total pro. Tell
me about the pandemic. Has anybody in your family been affected?
(39:31):
What's kind of your I mean, obviously you in amazing shape.
Are one of the handful of Americans that probably would
be asymptomatic or suffer very little. Just you're an elite
American athlete. But family has a hit your family? Do
you know anybody are you a little uncomfortable going to camp?
(39:51):
It hasn't hit anybody in my family, leaving taking right
measures and steps to avoid it. Just be and healthy,
cleaning your hands every day when you come in, and
taking showers, just different things like that. Um, I do
feel comfortable plan, but I trust the nfl um to
get to get it right and um, they'll know when
(40:14):
the time is right. But like I said, I'm excited
to play. I'm ready to get back on the field. Now.
Now you spoke German and then you stop speaking it.
But I have to believe you remember some German, right,
Like could you say hi, Colin, thanks for having me
on the show in German? I did not remember any German. Okay,
(40:34):
oh my stars, I could speak a little Spaniard something.
I'm here and I'll pass on now a little Spaniard poquito.
There you go. Well, congratulations to you. Now when do
you head up to Milwaukee? When do you head up
to Green Bay? July twenty eight. It look like you're
in shape to me, Bud, it's great meeting you, sir. Congratulations,
(40:56):
great story, and thank you so much for coming on
our show.
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are
you sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve
to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The
Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd.
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern
on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. It is
(00:25):
a Monday. We've got real NFL news live in Los Angeles.
This is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. We're on iHeartRadio, We're on Fox
Sports Radio. We are on FS one. One hour from now,
one of my better Colin right, Colin was wrong? That
(00:46):
is one hour from now. Top of next hour. Albert
Breer later this hour from a New England perspective on
signing Cam Newton, and Joy Taylor is joining me in
a Monday. Joy, how are you? I'm great? Wow. That
was news to get in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.
It's more interesting than Jarret Stidham with a Patriot will
tell you. It's more interesting. It's wild. Yeah, it's fun.
(01:10):
I mean it's it's we've said this before. I don't
remember a time in my life where the NFL has
had more different types of quarterbacks, the big, strong, the small, runaround,
the pocket guy, the old guy, the young guy. New
England's gonna be interesting now. I don't think Cam's gonna
take New England to a special place. And here's five
(01:31):
or six reasons why. Number one, it's a very complicated
system and he has not taken a snap in it.
Number two is he's not going to get all the snaps.
Jared Stidham is going to get a lot of snaps.
Tom Brady wouldn't let his back up have snaps. Jared
Stidham's got fans in that locker room, fans on that
coaching staff. He's gonna get some snaps. Number three is
(01:52):
Dante Scarnekia, the best offensive line coach in the last
twenty years, retired and I don't think this is a
great offensive line. Number four is New England doesn't have
any deep threats. I mean, one of the things about Cam,
he's a home run hitter. You can not like Cam
all the time. He's not the most efficient guy, but
he's a home run hitter. They have no deep threats.
(02:12):
Number five is they don't really have a workable tight end.
Tight ends they drafted a couple tight ends generally struggle
in the NFL first year. It's just one of those positions.
The blocking assignments are difficult. The offenses are more sophisticated.
Let's be honest. This offense is built for like Brady.
It's built for efficiency in detail. There are no two
(02:33):
play drives. This is a ten play drive, eleven play drive.
Don't make a mistake, you know, efficiency detailed. They don't
have any game breakers. I mean, Patrick Mahomes doesn't have
to be great with details. He's gonna get some cheap
home runs without offense between Andy Reid schemes and you
know Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey, there are some cheap
(02:55):
touchdowns there. They just got guys beaten guys. This New
England offense. This is what drove Tom Brady nuts. It
has to be meticulous and precise because nobody's remember he
was screaming last year, get open, separate. Nobody does. So
this is kind of built for efficiency in details, and
I just don't think that's Cam's game. His career completion
(03:17):
percentage is fifty nine percent. Brady his career completion percentage
never went under sixty. It's about sixty four or sixty
five percent. Now. I do think they're going to go
from a boring six and ten with Jarrett Stidham, not
dynamic at all, to a more dynamic eight and eight
and fun to watch. I'm in, I said after about
(03:39):
two quarters of Stidham, I'm done with it. Oh, I'm
totally in. Now they'll be like Cleveland. I don't know
if they'll be good. They'll be fascinating to watch it grow.
But Cam's been in the NFL for nine years. If
you're in the NBA nine years, the NHL nine years,
the NBA, the MLS, I kind of know what you are.
He's dynamic, He's not terribly efficient. But this is the
thing that's going to be interesting. So in Carolina he
(04:05):
was the number one pick and it had to work,
and they really built everything around Cam. So every year
they got they got offensive lineman that worked, running backs
that work. Not that he was coddled, but at Auburn,
at Junior College and at Carolina, the system was built
for Cam. He was he really was panther football. I'm
(04:28):
not even know, you know, I mean he for that
period he was Panther football. That's not the way it
works here. They got a system. They won way more
than Cam without him. There's no coddling. They're not building
it for him. Here's our system. Hope it works. That's
not going to be easy for Cam Now. I think
he's talented enough that he'll just make plays. And I
do think he did himself a huge favor working his
(04:53):
ass off and putting videos every third day on the internet.
It showed me I'm committed on want to get wins.
I want to be a guy. I thought that was
a real important sign of maturity from sometimes a quarterback
that's not the most mature and the most focused I shot.
I thought in the last three months, I'm into it.
I'm focused, I'm driving, I'm working out with Odell Beckham,
(05:16):
I'm working out. I think Belichick and guys looked at
that and thought, all right, I'll roll the dice with that.
That's the kind of commitment I want. But it's different now, Carolina.
It was built to make it work. What kind of
commitment does New England have. They're not giving them all
the snaps. It's a one year deal. I mean if
(05:37):
I said to you Cam Newton, New England, do you
think it's a relationship in ten years? No? Do you
absolutely think it's a relationship in five years? I bet
most of you say no. So when you go into
any relationship business, person on person relationship, what's the commitment
(05:58):
going in? This feels like God, some sizzle, it's fun.
Here's a year I think the best Cam Newton can do.
Show he's healthy, show he's focused, add a little sizzle
to kind of a rigid, not very dynamic offense. And
then I think in the year from now, the market
(06:20):
will open up for people and they'll say, all right,
he's thirty two years old, he looks like he's healthy.
He will get better protection in New England that he
got in Carolina, because I think New England protects their
quarterbacks I don't know better than any franchives i've seen ever,
Like that's what they do. I saw pictures yesterday of
Cam Newton in a Patriot Jersey and there was like
grass on it and I'm like, oh, no, he won't
(06:42):
hit the turf munch. No, I mean they this is
what New England did with Tom Brady, better than anything
else it wasn't always about great defenses. They didn't aways
have great defenses. It wasn't always a great weapons. New
England protects their quarterback. That's what they do. So Cam's
gonna get lots of opportunities three and four seconds to
make throws. But nobody's gonna be open. Nobody's gonna be
(07:04):
open deep. You're not getting much from the tight end position.
I think it's an awkward fit player to system, and
I think it's a Hollywood marriage, a lot of fun
and sizzle. It's not gonna last real long, but hey,
I'm gonna watch it, and I'm a consumer of football.
But I mean, if you look at Cam since the
MVP Super Bowl year, you can just look at the
(07:25):
numbers kind of and that's where they were trying to
get coordinators and coaches and players that work for him. Here,
we don't care if it works for you. We got
a guy. If it doesn't work, we'll draft another guy
next year. If it doesn't work, come on in, do
your thing. I think the winner here is Cam Newton
(07:46):
if he can get the Belichick Seal of approval, if
he's healthy, focused, work hard, win some games, and Belichick
in the end says, Hey, we really enjoyed Cam. This
was great. We really enjoyed it. We got some other
things we're looking at, but we really enjoyed this relationship.
That's the win for Cam. It's not this job, it's
(08:08):
the job after this job. And I'm rooting for him.
I actually am okay, so New England, So New England,
this is what they do so news this morning. I
was going to lead about this story. The Patriots have
been fined one point one million dollars. They lost a
third round draft pick next year, they can't have TV
(08:30):
crews film any games next year. That was going to
be my lead today. That was going to be the
lead on Undisputed, Speak for Yourself, First Take, and every
show in every network. That was going to be the
lead story, which doesn't make Robert Kraft look very good
or the Patriots. And then seventeen minutes after the Patriots
learned that from the NFL, they signed Cam Newton. And
(08:52):
Cam Newton's a fun story. All you and I have
been talking about with football since the draft is COVID stories.
Cam's and actual player. He's polarizing, and it's kind of
like a feel good story, right, Like we all know
Cam's good enough to start somewhere. I heard the story.
Oh my god's fun. I mean, I don't think Cam's
ever been my kind of quarterback, but it's a fun story.
(09:14):
It's an actual player playing for an actual great coach.
And now that's the stories I was driving in this morning.
I bounced around to all the stations. Nobody was talking
about the one point one million fine in the draft pick.
It was all Cam all the time. This is what
New England does. This is the funny thing about New England.
And so you know, like think about Lebron and the Cavaliers.
(09:37):
The Cavaliers have been a mess my whole life, but
when Lebron showed up twice, he sort of added a
refinement and a polish and we forgot all that calms
basketball with their winners and winning games, winning series, and
then Lebron leaves in their back to being who they are.
In fact, you can argue with the Lakers, they were
a mess for seven years and then Lebron came in
and we all think, now number one in the West Man,
(09:58):
they really know what they're doing. Not really, it's it's
not a brilliantly run organization. Lebron makes it look polished
and refined. It's still kind of a mess. Brady is
sort of aspirational. He's got sort of a Joel Ostein
with a helmet quality, like he's make a better life
for yourself, and you know, doesn't drink beer during the season,
(10:20):
and he had sort of a polish and a nice
guy and a work hard He's an overachiever, and he's
a family guy and he loves his kids, and he's
kind of corny. He's kind of a suburban, corny dad,
joke guy. But he added a polish to an organization
that for the third time in thirteen years sort of
got caught cheating. But if you take the polish out
(10:44):
of New England, not very likable. Not very likable. I
mean Edelman got arrested this offseason. Belichick's grumpy with a hoodie.
Robert Krafft had the Florida thing. Tom Brady and Lebron
have an amazing quality that they just beyond their great
(11:06):
athletic skills. They add a certain gravitas or a sense
of aspiration and greatness and polish and refinement. The Lakers
aren't well run right now. Lebron's great the Cavaliers were
never run well. Lebron was great. New England is about
as likable as the Sopranos without Brady. I mean, it's
(11:29):
like there's a lot of hoodies and a lot of
grumpiness and a lot of incidents and a lot of problems.
And Edelman's in trouble, and Craft got in trouble, and
Belichick just got his hand slapped, and Tomo has made
us think, well, I know, but Tom to the rescue.
He was like a Captain America of football. You take
him out. New England just kind of look shady, right.
(11:57):
I think they're gonna miss that. I think they're gonna
miss I think the Calves miss Lebron, not just the basketball,
but the organizational excellence, in the stature of Lebron and
the polish of Lebron always says the right stuff. New
England lost their shield, their nice guy there, don't drink
(12:19):
a beer during the season guy. And if not for
Cam Newton, what would we be talking about this morning?
Kind of shady again, They're gonna miss that. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon
Eastern a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeart Radio app. So timing is obviously you know
(12:41):
everything in life. It's it's a huge component to life,
just luck, just timing. Tom Brady has really got good timing.
So Tom Brady, every year he was in New England,
it always felt like I must have done this story
fifteen times. New England got a lucky schedule, like it
was always like, how's our schedules? And they won their division.
It's the first place schedule. Tom Brady elects to leave.
(13:04):
Cam Newton comes in for the first time ever. New
England has the toughest NFL schedule in the entire Belichick era.
Go look at New England schedule next year. What Cam
would have to play. We gotta be fair with Cam here.
So they play out of division. They play the Seahawks
at the Chiefs at the Seahawks forty nine Ers, Ravens
at the Texans at the Rams. Last year, those teams
(13:26):
had a combined record of sixty nine and twenty seven.
They also play out of their division the Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers,
and I think both join. I well, I think some
of this. I think those are the three most improved
teams in the league this year. I think I think
Denver and the Chargers are going to look totally different.
And I think the Rams have sort of solved their
offensive line issues in the girly tension locker room issue.
(13:49):
You gotta be kidding me, I mean, that's what. This
is the toughest schedule in the NFL, according to the
people who look at the winning percentages from last year
plus Brady. The entire time Brady was in the division, Buffalo,
the Jets, Miami were running through coaches, a lot of
bad coaches. He leaves, and it looks like Sean McDermott
(14:10):
coach of the Bills and Brian Flores coach to the Dolphins.
It kind of looks like, finally grown ups. These guys
are gonna be around forever. We also now have Josh Allen,
Darnold and Tua I think's gonna pop. And the whole
time Brady was there, it was a revolving door coaches
and just bad quarterback play. And meanwhile, Tom, maybe this
(14:32):
was a plan. He segues to a division where Caroline
is in a rebuild, Atlanta's got a lame duck coach,
and Drew Brees has what a year left. Taysom Hills
the next guy, like, maybe it's all planned by Tom.
Maybe he looked at the schedule and went, whoo at Seattle,
at Kansas City, Ravens, I got no weapons, I'm out
of here. Or maybe Brady as the greatest luck of
(14:56):
any player of my life. Be sure to catch live
edition of The Herd week dayson noon Easter nine am Pacific.
Let's bring in Albert Breer via the Coward Global Satellite Network,
brought to you by Mercedes. Ben's the best or Nothing
Monday morning Quarterback. So let's start with this. Albert, how
long was this in the works? Well, I can tell
(15:18):
you that the pages have been making calls on him
for a couple of months. It intensified over the last
few days. But Bill Belichick talked to Norv Turner and
some other coaches who've worked with Cam, I'd say in
March and April, and it was sort of one of
those things that was a slow burn on the table
for them. And then i'd say, over the last couple
of weeks or so, some of the Patriots offensive assistants
(15:39):
started making calls on CAM, and the people around Cam
started to get the idea this thing could happen. Does
it mean New England's out on Jarrett Stidham, not necessarily.
I don't think they're going to hand the job to
Cam Newton. That said, I think Cam's clearly the favorite
for the job. Now they're gonna make him learn it.
(16:00):
It's so fascinating about this, Colin is they basically spent
the entire offseason preparing Jared Stidham to be the starter,
putting him through all that, developing him as a young quarterback,
giving him personal attention, and now on the doorstep of
training camp, they're giving him competition. They've got him under
contract for another couple of years they can continue to
develop him. So in a lot of ways, this is
(16:22):
sort of giving Stidham some competition. You see, if he's ready,
chances are you're going with Cam. Maybe he wows you.
If he doesn't, you've got a great answer from writing
for right now. And either way, you're throwing multiple darts
at the dartboard. Don't forget. That's how the Seahawks found
Russell Wilson ten years ago. They struck out on a
lot of guys Pete Carroll and John Schneider did before
(16:44):
they found Wilson. Guys like Matt Flynn, Charlie Whitehurst. That's
basically what the Patriots are doing now. They're throwing multiple
darts at that quarterback dartboard. So I'll tell you where.
I'm not pessimistic, but I have questions. This offense does
not have a deep thread, doesn't really have proven tight end.
I don't think it's one of the more talented old
lines in Dante Scarnekie retired. It is not an offense
(17:08):
built for easy touchdowns. It is going to need eleven
play drives, no fumbles, no penalties. Now, Cam is dynamic,
but he has not always been consistent and efficient. It
feels a little bit like you're asking Cam to be
what he's not instead of saying, hey, be yourself, you know,
do what you do, be dynamic. I don't think they
have the pieces around him, regardless of how good Cam
(17:31):
is to be special. Is that a fair Devil's advocate take?
This is going to test them, Colin and I get
all of your points right. I'm gonna take you back
two years to twenty and eighteen. The Patriots were looking
at Lamar Jackson. They really liked Lamar Jackson. They toyed
with the idea of drafting Lamar Jackson. Part of the
discussion in that room was, we would really need to
(17:52):
blow up what we are offensively and what we've been
offensively for almost two decades to make this work. For
Lamar Jackson, go back two years before that. Look at
what they did for Jacoby Brissette. You may remember he
started on a Thursday night, basically on three days notice.
They were able to flip their offense upside down and
run a totally different offense to accommodate Jacoby Brissette. They
(18:13):
beat the Houston Texans sixteen to nothing that night. And
so I get all the points that you're making. No
one is better at tailoring a offense or a defense
to what he's got on each side of the ball
than Bill Belichick is. We've seen it as just about
every other position on the field. We haven't seen it
so much at quarterback. Now we'll get to see it
at quarterback. But I promise you, if Cam Newton's the starter,
(18:35):
the Patriots are going to look a lot different offensively
than they have the last twenty years with Tom Brady.
So the Cam Newton announcement came, you know, seventeen minutes
after the cheating the fuzzy shady situation with the filming
of the Bengals practice. The skeptic in me says, they
(18:56):
kind of did that on purpose, right, Yeah, I don't think.
I don't think you're a way off base. I think
there was probably some attention there, you know. Look like
I even believe their story, Like, I think this was
an honest mistake. But if you're the New England Patriots, Colin,
what is the one piece of equipment that you cannot
be caught doing anything nefarious? It's a video camera. This
(19:19):
is like the Astros getting caught doing something with a drum, Right,
So I think the league looks at this and has
to say, well, we got to do something here. And
I think what's most interesting about it, Look, the one
point one million dollar penalty is certainly significant, even if
it is a drop in the bucket for Robert Kraft.
I think the draft pick part of this is really
really important because the Patriots had pushed for this to
(19:40):
be seen as sort of a non football violation. By
adding the draft pick in, they're basically telling Patriots football
operations you are responsible for this. So that was sort
of the interesting twist there. But I do believe on
the surface that this was an honest mistake, and I
also understand where the league has to come down on
them for this because of their history. By the way,
(20:00):
Demorris Smith, Players Association president says, the Tom Brady stuff,
the Russell Wilson stuff working out is not healthy. To that,
I would say it may not be healthy, but it
is about winning. And Russell Wilson and Tom Brady this
is who they are, man, They're they're driven cats. I mean,
what are you hearing behind the scenes. Is the league
really bothered by it? Or is it one of these
(20:22):
eye rolls like they want to pretend like they're bothered.
I mean, I think it's, you know, basically a message
to the public that we are taking this seriously, the
same way the protocols were. You know, you got those
nine pages of training camp protocols, and I think a
lot of the teams said, well, this is basically a
press release. This is a signal to the public that
they're taking COVID very very seriously and that we're all
going to have to adjust as we go. But some
(20:45):
of the stuff and the protocols weren't practical, and it's
also probably not practical in such a petitive environment to
tell quarterbacks not to gather all of their skill position
players people in one place and get to work if
they know everybody else is working. And this is happening everywhere.
We saw dak to it earlier in the offseason. Matt
Stafford has done this a couple of times. Matt Ryan,
(21:05):
I'm telling you. Colin basically ran a nine week off
season program for the Falcons in both California and Florida,
and most recently, Kyler Murray paid for all the cardinal
skill position players to fly to Dallas. They all worked
out at his high school, Alan High School for a
few days. So this is happening across the NFL. It's
such a competitive environment. I think the NFL knows there's
(21:27):
no stopping it, but they have to at least signal
to the public that they are taking these things serious.
By the way, when does Camra report to New England?
He goes, He goes NFC to AFC, warm weather to
cold weather, totally different environment. When're you gonna show up
in New England? Well, he would. The report date for
quarterbacks is going to be a few days before the
report date for everybody else but the Patriots open on
(21:50):
the first Sunday of the regular season, and all the
teams that start in that first Sunday have a report
date of July twenty eighth, So July twenty eighth would
be the veteran report date would be that Cam Newton
would be in probably sometime less than a week before that. Yeah,
it's gonna look so different in a Patriot uniform. It's
just crazy. Albert great stuff. Monday Morning Quarterback lead strategists
(22:11):
covered the NFL for fifteen years. Thanks, but appreciate it,
all right, Thanks, Going one more Herd. The Herd streams
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within
the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on
demand whenever you'd like. All Right, it's Colin right, Colin wrong.
I'm plenty of both on the Monday. Oh is it
this time? Here we go where Colin was right? Well, clearly,
(22:31):
Jared Stidham is not blowing everybody away, despite what everybody
has claimed for the last six months, even people I
like listen. They wanted to bring back Tom Brady at
forty three off his worst year in a long time,
and they brought in Cam for a reason. Belichick's seen
every snap of Jarret Stidham. He's obviously not blown away
by it. I watched Stidham in college. He was okay,
(22:51):
eighteen touchdowns at Auburn. They had plenty of NFL guys
on the old line running back, tight end, and wide receiver.
He's fine. My guess is Jarret Stidhim will end up
being a rear backup. But all this chatter and talk
about how Grady was, Belichick keeps telling you how Grady
thinks he is, and that ain't much where Colin was wrong.
Cam Newton in New England doesn't feel like an ideal fit.
(23:11):
I think it's interesting, and I'm in the interesting business.
I would have this, just didn't. A lot of people
suggested this, by the way, I just never bought into it.
It just didn't feel like a right fit. New England
system is kind of rigid, details efficiency, low turnover, and
know they win by defense. You know Cam's dynamic and
(23:31):
it's a risk taker and a big arm And it
doesn't feel like he fits them or their personnel fits
his style. I mean they don't. They don't have a
cheap touchdown on that roster. So it's a weird fit,
but it's a fit, and I was wrong where Colin
was right. I am a big believer in the forty
nine ers and I love hyper aggressive teams, and last
week they went after Jamal Adams of the Jets. Reportedly,
(23:55):
two different sources, Niners would like to make a deal
for the star safety for New York Let's. They have
been aggressive on Jimmy Garoppolo. They signed him before anybody
bought into him. They've been aggressive with Trent Williams. They're
aggressive now with DeForrest Buckner. They moved him. Aggressive wins
in the forty nine Ers not only play aggressively, they
operate aggressively. I think John Lynch has come in and
(24:16):
much like John Lynch was as a player, and I
covered him. John Blue stuff up and apologize later. And
San Francisco has taken a wildly aggressive stance on how
to run a franchise, and I really love it. Where
Colin was wrong. I like this, but I'm shocked by it.
(24:37):
Major League Baseball for the next sixty games in the
postseason will allow a runner to start at second base
and extra innings. It is gimmicky, it is sticky. I'm
for it, but this is a sport that's paralyzed by tradition,
that struggled for years to get instant replay right, and
(24:58):
for them to go, yeah, yeah, we're gonna do this
thing that we're gonna did. He tried it in the
minor leagues, and we're just gonna start a guy at
second base so we don't have these seventeen inning laughably
inam baseball games in the middle of a week where
the game ends at one forty five in the morning.
I don't think it's a bad idea. I don't think
(25:19):
the universal DH is surprising that was going to happen. Eventually.
They baseball guys were coming to terms with its fifteen
more jobs for sluggers and old well known players. DH
should be in baseball. Who wants to watch pitchers hit?
It's awful. It's like watching punter's pass. What's the point
where Colin was right? Zion Williamson, what do you know?
(25:40):
He got the easiest schedule in the NBA? Well, what
do you know? Zion Williamson also will be the first
game back on July thirtieth. Who's gonna be in it?
Not the Lakers, Zion Williamson. You ever notice how the
critics got very quiet on Zion. They were just picking
him apart. He can't shoot, he's not big enough, he's
not ready. This here's what he is. A star, unique body,
(26:07):
unique game, unique power. He's just a fascinating kid. And
he was so incredibly likable at Duke. I mean, we
all knew he was gonna last one year, and he
came out and said, no, I'm gonna play through my injury,
and I'd really come back and play another year. I
love college basketball, but you know everybody tells me, I
gotta go pro. You can't define star. I mean, like
(26:30):
Magic Johnson, the game, the name helped. Some guys just pop.
Other guys are good, but don't pop. The NBA gets it.
Let's get him into these games. Let's get him up first,
let's highlight him, Let's put him on television. Nothing against
Brandon Ingram, but that's not why they're playing first. It's
Zion where Colin was wrong. Not the only real criticism
(26:51):
I've ever had of Adam Silver. I think sometimes he
needs to be more defiant and stronger, and I've heard
he is behind the scenes, but I thought he did
a Roger Goodell move. And I actually liked it last
week and it surprised me. He came out and he said, listen,
COVID nineteen is with us for the foreseeable future. We
are left with no choice but to learn and live
(27:12):
with it, no options or risk free. We're very comfortable
in Orlando. And some media people won't like it, and
some players won't like it, but this is exactly what
the NFL is doing. We're gonna roll the dice. It's
not perfect, but these are world class athletes, and if
they do get COVID, we've got the doctors, we've got
the therapeutics. We cannot We're not built to shut down
(27:36):
the league. And by the way, if the league got
shut down, it would be horrible for the players. The
cap would plummet. The NBA owners have her right if
this season's canceled, to rip up the CBA and start over.
You want to have another lockout? You don't want to.
I mean, Lebron James is the face of the league.
You want him not playing now and not playing next year.
You gotta be strong, you gotta be defiant. The chance
(27:58):
of a player getting critically is incredibly low, and life
is full of risk, and I applaud being wrong and
Adam Silver being strong on them. Where Colin was right,
Lebron and Maverick Carter on the cover of Bloomberg Business
one hundred million dollars deal for Springhill Entertainment. This is
called the mogul stage. I've been told by somebody close
(28:21):
to Lebron he loves LA, He's never moving from La,
that it's a perfect fit for him. And though he's
never loved basketball more, the ability to make deals is
exactly why he moved to Los Angeles, where the big
financiers and the cities have all opened up their ears
(28:43):
and their wallets to him. This is exactly why he
didn't choose the Sixers, who had a better roster. For
the record, I don't think the Lakers are very well
run right now. I still think there's all sorts of issues.
But this is exactly why we thought the Lakers was
the best fit. Where Colin was wrong. I've always defended
Adam Gates of the Jets. I think he's smart, I
(29:05):
think he's intense. He had a winning record with Ryan
Tannehill in Miami thirteen and eleven, and he had a
winning record last year with Sam Darnald who had no
help and Mono and they got the roster. Stinks, but boys,
he toxic. Greg Williams last week, does not respect him
enough to hide during the Jamal Adams contract situation. Greg Williams,
(29:27):
let me talk, ask me questions. Oh you joy, Jamal
Adams is leaking stuff and firing shots at him. Listen.
I think he and Darnold work. I think he's demanding
and intense, and I think he's a really smart football guy.
I think he's got a lot of Kyle Shanahan. But
you know, maybe because I like him, I don't see
the toxicity as much. But I mean, he just they're
(29:49):
just certain people that drive other people crazy. And this
guy's got a lot of enemies in that locker room
and around this league. Where Colin was right, I've always
thought the fitting conclusion to this Dak situation, it's a
franchise tag. He's the perfect franchise tag quarterback. Last year,
he did not play well down the stretch. He did
(30:10):
not play well against good teams. I think he was
one in six against playoff teams. Let's see him with
McCarthy for a year. Well, we got two weeks left
and there is no more chatter from Cowboy insiders of
a contract. I have been hearing about a contract for
a year and a half, and I've been saying the
entire time, Dallas pays everybody. We know the numbers. Here,
(30:32):
show me the money. I'm not interested in anything else.
Two weeks left now and it's a franchise tag and
I think this is inevitable. I think it's the right move.
I don't think it's a shot at DAK. I think
there's concerns in the building that the league's seen him,
and there's limitations. I actually do think he's gonna play
pretty well with Mike McCarthy and probably get a really
(30:52):
tasty long term deal. But as of now, I'm right
on the contract which has not materialized. Where Colin was right.
Nobody manipulates rules and the league quite like the Patriots.
Seveneen minutes after New England was tagged with a million
(31:13):
point one dollar fine, they signed Cam Newton. This is
so New England it hurts. They knew this was going
to be the story on every talk show, which is
not good for Robert Kraft and the brand. So Robert
Kraft says, anyway you could get this off the front
page of every newspaper in America. And what do the
Patriots do. Well, it's just a crazy, whacky coincidence. They
(31:36):
signed Cam Newton. Now, I think they were going to
sign Cam Newton anyway, according to reports, but seventeen minutes
after the stories handed down. It's just so Patriots. They
I'm not saying it's they just manipulate everything. Cameras and
rules and footballs is just what they do. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon
(31:58):
Easter ninety Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeart Radio app. Well. Aaron Jones of the Packers
not only great, he has a fascinating story. His parents,
Alvin and Burgess, have been two military sergeants almost sixty
years combined time in the service. He's lived everywhere, so
going from UTEP to Green Bay. Not culture shock. He
(32:21):
actually is joining US now via the Coward Global Satellite Network.
Tied in the NFL last year with Christian McCaffrey for
nineteen touchdowns. So just to introduce you to our audience,
we obviously know you the football player. You come in
a military background. You lived in Germany for three years,
so you were telling something, telling me something off fair.
So when did you live in Germany? And just tell
(32:42):
me something about the experience. From when I was two
to five, lived there with me and our brother, went
to a German daycare, so we became fluent in German.
We would go to the grocery store and we would
translate from my parents and so it was pretty fun.
And when we got back to you United States, it
was only me and my brother in the family who
(33:02):
knew Germans, so um, we were speaking to must each other.
But there was really no German tutors around at the time,
so we kind of lost it. Well. And then your dad,
your parents like retire and they start a marketing company
because they want to promote you to the recruiting services.
So you're not getting recruited by the by the by
the big dogs, by Texas Oklahoma. You go to UTAP,
(33:25):
you smash all their records, and you still dropped the
fifth round of the packers, even though you had you know,
four thousand yards at UTAP, most rushing yards in the
history of the program. So you have been overlooked. You
were overlooked in recruiting, You were overlooked in college. You
were overlooked in the NFL. Has that given you a
little chip on your shoulder as an NFL player? I
(33:48):
mean I've had a chip ever since I was little,
I mean coming up. I mean you know, as a kid,
you want to go to those Army All American games,
those under arm All American games, and you're not even
getting a look. Then you feel like you could play
with the best players in the country, and uh, you
don't even have stars, and you look up to have
five stars, and that just keeps adding to the chip
(34:10):
on your shoulder. And you don't, you don't forget those
things and you and you let it show in your play,
and um, you just continue to work and your time
will come. You know what's interesting when I watch you run,
I don't know if I see anybody else. I think
you haven't own your own style. I think you're hard
to bring down and you've got to burst. If when
you were starting, when you took the ball when you
(34:30):
were six years old, you're a little boy and you
want to be a running back, was there a running
back or something like? I don't see anybody else. I
think your style like if you were a silhouette and
you didn't have a jersey on. You have a unique style.
Um is there somebody you patterned after? Um? I mean
my favorite running back growing up was Emma Smith. But UM,
(34:51):
I mean I've watched a lot of running backs all
the time, the Damien Thomas and um who else. I'm
drawing a blank right now, Jamal Cha, Sorry, Marshall Falk
watching numerous amount of people. So I think I kind
of trying to take a little bit of everybody's game.
And I know speed kills and you play you get
(35:12):
vertical quick and defense plays on lines and different things
like that. So you you get vertical, you have you
always have a chance. Well, the other thing Aaron is
and you're very unique. Some guys can taste the end zone.
You had thirty high school thirty touchdowns a senior. In
high school, you were a touchdown machine at El Paso.
Even with Aaron Rodgers throwing to Davante Adams. You're a
(35:33):
touchdown machine in the NFL. You've got to feel for
it and a taste for it. When you went from
you tapped at Green Bay. That's a culture shock for
most people, but you obviously felt very comfortable very quickly
in Green Bay. Take me back to your rookie year,
you go to the smallest professional sports city in America.
(35:54):
It's cold, it's isolated, but it worked for you. Did
you You immediately feel like this is family and I
fit definitely. I mean, you get the college field from
it being such a small city and everything there is
about football, and you just feel the love from everybody.
And then I always have my parents coming up there,
(36:15):
and so it just felt like home. And it still
feels like home. And I love it there and the
people there get me going. So I've been critical from
time to time of Aaron Rodgers, and people think I
don't like him, and I say, he's a Hall of
Famery's first ballot. He's very unique, but he's very, very demanding.
And so you go to your first camp with Aaron Rodgers.
(36:35):
He probably barked at you a few times because he
barks at everybody, and he's smart and he's demanding. But
it's interesting if you go back to your very first
year there again, it looked like you and Aaron connected
on some level. He trusted you. Take me back to
your first year with Aaron. I wouldn't even say demanding.
I would say he just expects you to be professional.
(36:57):
He knows what everybody else is doing on the field,
from every receiver to offensive line into running back, to
what the olon call is and what blitz is coming.
So he expects you just to know your job so
the office can run smoothly. So that's the only expectation
he puts on you. So he's a great leader, a
great teammate, and he he has an eye for guys
(37:19):
who are ready to come in and work and about
their business. And that's what I did. I just came
in and it was about my business, put my head
down and worked in and practice, just kept gaining his trust,
trying to make as many plays I did in practice.
So when it did come game time, he knew he
could trust me or call my number. So was there
a moment? So you come from you're a fifth rounder,
(37:40):
you come from El Paso, and then all of a
sudden you go to the NFL and the party is
probably like, I think I can play here. I'm really good,
but I don't know, Like a lot of fifth rounders
don't make it in the NFL. When was the first
moment in camp or a game that you knew I'm
gonna make this team. I'm gonna make it in the NFL.
I'm gonna be an NFL football. When Davantae Adams came
(38:03):
up to me and he was like, we had drafted
three backs at the time in my class, and he
comes up to me and say, hey, you're my dark horse.
I've done too many people on the team got you
as winning the competition, but I got you. And coming
from him, I mean, like, man, this is one of
the best receivers. This is our best receiver on the team,
one of the best receivers in the league. And he's
(38:24):
telling me this. He sees something in me. And then
when I stepped on the field I think it was
Week four against Chicago to take my first offensive snap,
ra told me, I'm one of your biggest fans in
this organization. You got your opportunity. Now I'll make the
most of it. And I just took those words and
I ran with it because, like he said, you when
you get your opportunity, you have to make the most
(38:45):
of it because you never know when the next opportunity
will come. Okay, now, how are you staying in shape?
I mean you could do you could sit in a
treadmill all day and lift weights, but But do you
feel that if you compared this year Aaron to last
year at this time, are you in reasonably close shape
do a year ago? I'm in better shape. I mean,
(39:08):
I have a goal, had a nasty taste in my
mouth since we lost to Santa France. So I've just
been continued to work. I'm out here in the desert,
so I got sand hills. I got everything I need here.
So I'll just continue to work and work on my
craft and try to help my team get to the
super Bowl next year. Yeah, what a total pro. Tell
me about the pandemic. Has anybody in your family been affected?
(39:31):
What's kind of your I mean, obviously you in amazing shape.
Are one of the handful of Americans that probably would
be asymptomatic or suffer very little. Just you're an elite
American athlete. But family has a hit your family? Do
you know anybody are you a little uncomfortable going to camp?
(39:51):
It hasn't hit anybody in my family, leaving taking right
measures and steps to avoid it. Just be and healthy,
cleaning your hands every day when you come in, and
taking showers, just different things like that. Um, I do
feel comfortable plan, but I trust the nfl um to
get to get it right and um, they'll know when
(40:14):
the time is right. But like I said, I'm excited
to play. I'm ready to get back on the field. Now.
Now you spoke German and then you stop speaking it.
But I have to believe you remember some German, right,
Like could you say hi, Colin, thanks for having me
on the show in German? I did not remember any German. Okay,
(40:34):
oh my stars, I could speak a little Spaniard something.
I'm here and I'll pass on now a little Spaniard poquito.
There you go. Well, congratulations to you. Now when do
you head up to Milwaukee? When do you head up
to Green Bay? July twenty eight. It look like you're
in shape to me, Bud, it's great meeting you, sir. Congratulations,
(40:56):
great story, and thank you so much for coming on
our show.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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