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Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast.

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on Fox Sports Radio. It

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be here. We're absolutely packed.

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This is the Herd

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wherever you may be and however

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you may be listening iHeartRadio,

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Fox Sports Radio and FS one.

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Joy Taylor is joining me today. We have

0:41

had a crazy, wild week.

0:44

Whoa what do you mean? What happens

0:47

calm here in Los Angeles? Zany?

0:51

You know? Joy? I like theories, Yes you do. And

0:54

summer right, summer wrong. I'm not paralyzed by

0:56

being wrong. I like to think about stuff, to throw it out

0:58

there, see what you think. Lakers

1:01

now need somebody to run the franchise, and

1:04

Rob Polenka is currently in house. But

1:06

this is a big franchise and a lot

1:08

of people wonder is he big enough

1:10

to land free agents, big

1:13

enough to be seen as the face of the franchise.

1:15

Genie Buss worries about that. A lot of people upstairs

1:18

worry about that. He's smart enough, but

1:20

it's more than that to be the president. And

1:23

Bill Orham, who writes for The Athletic,

1:25

came on the other day and he said

1:27

this about who could end

1:29

up leading the franchise. There's

1:34

always been an angst about the way things ended

1:36

with Lebron obviously left

1:38

the Lakers in the prime of his career. There

1:40

are two circles there that I think he could close

1:43

kind of in this final chapter of his career.

1:45

If you're Genie Bust, he would check two boxes.

1:47

One, he is seasoned, he has shown he can do the job.

1:49

He is admired, he's a Hall of Famer. And

1:52

he also does check the box of Genie

1:54

values, which is being a member of the Lakers family.

1:56

Okay, he's talking about pat Riley,

1:59

and I say, Phil Jackson,

2:01

Jerry West, pat Riley,

2:03

let's not live our life through the

2:06

rearview mirror. Those guys are

2:08

way. I mean, you look in your rear view mirror with those

2:10

guys. You can barely make him out. I

2:13

want to throw out Kobe Bryant. He's

2:16

not really in the rear view mirror.

2:19

If he is, he's in the back seat of the car.

2:21

He's really close to be in the front seat of the car.

2:26

I want to throw a couple of things at you, and I'm want you

2:28

to think about to

2:30

be a star in the NBA Ego matters.

2:33

Guys keep score Michael Jordan's Hall

2:35

of Fame speech, Guys get petty.

2:37

They keep score, all of them, the good

2:39

guys, the bad guys, Doctor J. Karn

2:42

they keep score. Kobe keep score.

2:46

Magic is the most popular Laker

2:48

in Los Angeles. Kobe is second. But

2:52

if Kobe replaces the apparently

2:55

incompetent face of the franchise

2:57

Lakers and succeeds, oh

3:00

Kobe's Kobe's gravitas

3:02

grows over Magic in this city.

3:08

Kobe is uniquely built to run a franchise.

3:10

Unlike Magic. Kobe's a grinder

3:13

and always has been. He's

3:15

not into Hollywood projects. He

3:17

can do them and succeed, But if he cared about

3:19

Hollywood like Lebron does, then

3:21

he'd live up near Hollywood. Kobe lives an

3:23

hour and a half south. His entire

3:26

career, hid no interest in getting all

3:28

connected to Hollywood. He's

3:31

not into it. That's not who he is. He's

3:34

he can do it, but he's not immersed

3:36

in it. Magic's done a couple of Hollywood

3:38

things. He's not immersed in it. He's

3:42

built for international scouting. His Kobe

3:45

grew up in Italy, speaks multiple languages,

3:47

revered in Europe. Also

3:51

Turkish Airline has been the spokesman. He's

3:53

revered internationally. He

3:55

sold more shoes in China than Yao

3:57

Ming. I'm not joking. Kobe

4:00

is a global figure. He

4:02

sold Jews everywhere, grew up in Italy,

4:05

knows the foreign game, knows the European

4:08

game, and

4:11

whereas Magic is somebody I

4:13

grew up idolizing the current

4:16

free agents guys available, Kevin

4:18

Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi

4:21

Leonard. They didn't grow up

4:23

idolizing Magic. They grew

4:25

up idolizing Kobe Bryant. As Rick

4:27

Buker on the show yesterday pointed

4:30

out, you and I

4:33

remember Magic as

4:35

the legendary player. Players

4:38

in the league today think of

4:40

him as a part owner of the

4:42

Dodgers there and movie

4:45

theaters and business executive,

4:47

and look at what he did post career. He's

4:50

not beholden to them and

4:53

now the big elephant in the room, Lebron

4:55

James. Genie Buss

4:58

owns the Lakers and his concerned.

5:00

This is no great secret of handing

5:02

the franchise over to Clutch Sports and

5:05

Lebron James if

5:07

they sign Anthony Davis. Anthony

5:10

Davis Lebron two biggest stars Clutch

5:13

Sports. She's handed the franchise

5:15

to Lebron. What is

5:18

Lebron james worst nightmare? Kobe

5:21

Bryant is his boss with

5:23

the power to trade Lebron

5:26

with the power in Los Angeles

5:29

much more popular to shrink Lebron.

5:33

Kobe Bryant idolized by Kawhi Leonard.

5:36

Genie Buss is also deeply concerned

5:39

about the Clippers getting Kawhi

5:42

over the Lakers. Who

5:44

was Kawai's favorite player growing up? It

5:47

was not magic. Kobe

5:49

Bryant takes the job his

5:51

best friend. It should be noted Kobe's best

5:53

friend is Rob Polinka,

5:57

who would stick around if Kobe

6:00

the job. Think

6:03

about this, He's built

6:05

to do this. Kobe's

6:07

too smart to be hanging around doing silly

6:09

Hollywood projects for the next twenty years.

6:12

He's a complete and utter grinder. He's

6:15

not in the rear view mirror, like Riley,

6:17

Phil Jackson, Jerry West. He's in the back seat.

6:20

You can see him in the rear view mirror, but you

6:22

can get right out of the car and take over the wheel.

6:26

He's smart, He's built for international scouting.

6:28

This is the best free agent summer, or

6:31

tied for the best in a decade. He'd

6:34

have his right hand man, Rob Polinka,

6:36

and he's family and Genie busses

6:39

vary and should be concerned about handing

6:41

the franchise over to Lebron Clutch

6:44

Sports and Anthony Davis and how do you

6:46

keep Lebron in line? Kobe

6:48

walks in already more powerful, with

6:50

the opportunity to

6:53

move him. I

6:56

think it's real. Kyrie Irving and

6:58

Kobe have a real relationship.

7:01

Kawhi Leonard and Kobe. It's a real

7:03

thing. I

7:05

think it's real. I think it needs to be discussed.

7:08

I don't think this is crazy.

7:10

I'm not a rear view mirror guy. I always

7:12

say, come out and used the windshield. Kobe.

7:16

Look at him. He looks young, he thinks

7:18

young. He's a grinder international connection.

7:23

By the way, I was told Jerry

7:25

West, who's now in the

7:27

Clipper team, loved competing

7:30

against Magic, loved it

7:32

stole Zoobach from him. Kobe

7:35

Bryant knows

7:37

what Jerry West knows, what Kobe's

7:40

about, Kobe's about work. You're

7:42

not throwing any seventy eight mile an hour off

7:45

speed pitches past Kobe Bryant.

7:49

You think it's nuts, don't you. I know what you do. If

7:51

Kobe even has an inkling to ever do

7:54

this, it is the perfect

7:56

time. He can

7:58

replace Magic, who was at a disaster. He'll

8:01

have power over Lebron. Don't

8:03

kid yourself, it matters. It's a great

8:06

free agent summer and his best friends

8:08

already in the building. And by

8:10

the way, Genie

8:13

Buss, it should be noted already

8:16

chose Kobe over Magic because

8:19

one of the reasons Magic left is

8:22

because Genie would not let him fire

8:24

both Luke Walton and Rob Polenka.

8:27

So Genie already chose

8:30

Kobe's opinion over Magics.

8:35

I'm gonna tell you something. If Kobe took

8:37

this team over and had power

8:39

over Lebron, they should create an NBA

8:41

Hard Knocks. Lakers should be the first team

8:43

on it. I want to be in the building. I'm

8:46

throwing it out there. I don't not

8:48

saying it's right you start connecting

8:51

all these dots. I

8:55

mean, Kobe has kind of ascended over

8:57

the past year. He's now the

9:00

Golden Mamba's He's

9:02

the untouchable Laker right now. Be

9:05

a real easy thing. When

9:07

you enter a job, the entry

9:10

points really really important.

9:12

And entering a job, okay, you don't

9:14

want to replace Howard Stern or I

9:16

mean, you don't want to replace Bill Belichick

9:18

in New England. You don't want to replace you

9:21

know, Joe Tory with the Yankees. Well, weirdly

9:23

it would seem like he is because he would be replacing

9:25

Magic. Woof was a mess.

9:28

It didn't work. It was a mess. So it's

9:30

the perfect entry. I mean, wouldn't

9:33

you argue that the guy that you trail in

9:35

Gravitas in the city, Magic

9:38

completely whiffed. I

9:41

mean, he did get Lebron even if

9:43

Lebron wanted to come here, he was responsible

9:45

for putting that together. I'm not I'm not saying that, but

9:47

Lebron is not embraced by Laker

9:49

Nation right now. They want his autograph

9:51

and a selfie. But if you moved him and got

9:53

picks in a player land, Kawhi and Kyrie,

9:56

and I just would be careful to obviously

9:59

the this did not end well, but I would be careful

10:02

to just write off this entire season as

10:04

a disaster. To me, the

10:06

genesis of all of the Lakers issues

10:09

everything that's going on right now was injuries.

10:12

But Lonzo Ball can't stay healthy, Brandon

10:14

Ingram now has a blood issue.

10:17

Those aren't going away. Those guys are not

10:19

really viable trade assets. And by the way,

10:22

Lebron's old had his first injury. I'm not

10:24

disagreeing, but this idea that next

10:26

year everybody will just being oh no, I don't think

10:28

no. There's a lot that has

10:30

to happen next year for this to turn around.

10:32

I'm just saying entry point

10:35

being what it is, you are replacing

10:37

a Lakers legend who is still loved,

10:39

although not in the best state with the team

10:42

right now, considering how things have gone,

10:44

we should mention. But you do have to fix

10:46

everything too, right, and I think

10:49

Kobe has a much greater chance to land free agents

10:51

and fix it. As

10:53

I said, entry point is really important.

10:56

You don't want to replace Jerry west

10:58

Way when he left or pat Riley when he left.

11:00

You know, it's like whoever has to replace pat Riley

11:03

with the Miami Heat. Good luck or saving in Alabama,

11:06

but replacing somebody that came in. And it

11:08

looks like the job's tougher than they thought. And it just

11:10

happens to be in the city of Los

11:12

Angeles, the only basketball player that's currently

11:14

living more popular than you. And

11:17

let me just throw this out there, this idea

11:19

that Kobe's I hear this. Kobe's

11:22

not interested. Oh really? So

11:24

then why is he constantly in communication

11:27

with Rob Polinka. Why isn't he out, you know,

11:29

playing golf and drinking Corona

11:32

is in Newport and doing hot because

11:34

Kobe's still into it. Kobe knows

11:37

the NBA, loves the NBA knows

11:39

personnel. You think I'm

11:41

crazy. You just you write this off, uncle

11:44

crazy, Uncle Colin. I don't think

11:46

it's nuts. I do think Kobe also has

11:49

the let's

11:51

call it edge that you need to make the tough

11:53

decisions that Magic did not want

11:55

to do. So just their personalities

11:58

alone, Kobe is about didn't

12:00

you? I mean, well, you and I know this. If

12:02

you're thin skinned, this is a bad business

12:05

to be in, right right, right, right, like you have to have the right

12:07

sister, would not do this job. Well, she didn't

12:09

like all that pushback. You maybe have somebody

12:11

in your family. There are certain personalities

12:13

built for certain jobs, like you got to be

12:15

a good arture to be an attorney. If you don't like conflict,

12:18

don't be an attorney. Right, if you don't

12:20

like blood, don't be a surgeon. If

12:22

you don't have a little you know

12:24

what in you don't

12:27

be an NBA president or a GM because you're

12:29

gonna get ripped by everybody. And you got and

12:31

magic didn't like that. We'll not even getting rips.

12:33

You also have to make tough decisions. You have to

12:35

cut people, you have to trade people. You have to

12:37

be able to kill her, right, a

12:39

little star, but also

12:41

well, well you know it's a black mambo like you have

12:43

to you have to have that in you while also being

12:46

able to maintain relationships, which is a very

12:48

hard tight rope to watch. All right, So go ahead,

12:50

fire away. I'm crazy, I'm nutty.

12:53

I'm just saying it. I

12:56

could actually endorse this, and I'm

12:58

not for star players. Let's not pretend at all

13:00

star players or a disaster. Isaiah Thomas

13:03

did some stuff with the Raptors. If you go back and look

13:05

at his Raptor career. Isaiah Thomas

13:07

did a lot of smart stuff. Larry Bird had success

13:09

doing things in Indiana. So don't don't

13:11

tell me that like players can't succeed.

13:14

We've had players in front offices and sports

13:16

that have done a really, really good job. I don't think him

13:18

being a player has anything to do with him not being

13:20

able to be successful in this position. If

13:22

anything, it makes you more qualified. You've spent your

13:25

entire life around the game. These all relationships

13:27

that you could not pay for. I never

13:29

thought Magic or Barkley or a Clyde

13:31

Direx are built for post basketball

13:34

front office work. It's not their personality. They'd

13:36

like to have fun. They're big personalite. Kobe's

13:39

a grinder. Kobe goes home and he's sitting

13:41

there. I don't know

13:43

Kobe that well, but I know enough people that

13:45

do know him. Kobe's all business. Kobe's

13:48

doo smart to worry about goofy Hollywood

13:51

projects for the next thirty years. Really, if they're

13:53

going to keep Pelinka, it's kind of the only

13:55

thing that makes sense. Because to me, if

13:57

you're gonna if you're gonna start over and you're gonna

13:59

get an up and comer. You really

14:01

can't have Polinka in that position. You

14:03

know, I'm gonna retract something. This is not

14:05

even a crazy idea. It's the only reasonable

14:08

idea if you if you're going to hang on to Polinka, okay,

14:10

and well otherwise, what's the alternative? Hire David

14:12

Griffin, Hi, tylou Get, Anthony Davis,

14:14

Here's Lebron, it's the Calves West.

14:17

Do you want to give your franchise? Listen, you

14:19

can do that. Did work for one year. You

14:21

can do it. But I think Genie Buss when I hear

14:24

Genie's got real reservations about just making

14:26

it Cleveland West, That's what I hear. Be

14:29

sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

14:31

in noon Easter nine am Pacific on

14:34

Fox Sports Radio FS one

14:36

and the iHeart Radio app. The two

14:38

biggest stars in America right

14:40

now in American sports are NFL

14:42

quarterbacks and NBA stars other

14:45

against baseball, hockey. Whatever I'm

14:47

not saying, Serena, you know, isn't

14:50

huge, But I'm saying in the galaxy

14:52

of American sports domestically, kind

14:55

of the biggest stars are your durant's, your

14:57

staff's, your Lebron's your NBA

15:00

and your quarterbacks, Aaron rod Jeers, Patrick

15:03

Mahomes, Tom Brady, Breese,

15:06

the NFL quarterback, seems

15:08

to understand how

15:11

much coaching matters. Tom Brady

15:13

fights, goes to the owner to get

15:15

Josh McDaniels. Raises Brady

15:18

gets, it's all about my offensive

15:20

coordinator. That thing's got to work. It's

15:23

not that Tom wouldn't be good. Tom's had four

15:25

different coordinators in New England, maybe five.

15:28

But quarterbacks Drew Brees, Patrick

15:30

Mahomes with Andy Reid, they absolutely

15:33

get. They fight to get offensive

15:35

coaches that elevate their game. NBA stars

15:37

are different and by the way, Kevin

15:40

Durant would be good with anybody. You

15:43

don't think coaching no matters. Here's what's

15:45

interesting. Kyrie Irving reportedly

15:48

wants to go to New York or

15:50

move. But if

15:52

you look at Kyrie irving stats, playoffs

15:54

start tomorrow, Celtics play Sunday. I think

15:56

they win the East. He's had career highs

15:59

with everything with Stevens. Do

16:01

you remember what happened to Isaiah Thomas when

16:04

he left Brad Stevens.

16:06

Isaiah Thomas is a B minus NBA

16:08

player who is in the MVP running

16:11

with Brad Stevens. Tangibly. Everything

16:13

Kyrie's done all career highs, assists,

16:16

rebound, steals, blocks, vorp. Vorp

16:18

is the baseball equivalent of war. NBA

16:20

people really care about Vorp. All career

16:22

highs go down the list. Okay,

16:25

if you're a guard in the NBA,

16:28

here's the two coaches you have to think very

16:30

strongly about ever leaving Mike D'Antoni

16:32

and Houston. He made Jeremy Lennis Starr

16:35

every guard, Steve Nash

16:38

MVP in the league, James Harden MVP

16:40

in the league, Chris Paul. Everybody

16:42

goes to Mike Tantoni at guard. Everybody's better.

16:45

That's what he does. And then there's Brad

16:47

Stevens. Every guard

16:49

under Brad Stevens excels. Kyrie's having a

16:51

great year. I got nothing against David Fizdale,

16:54

But what is David Fizdale. What's the history of

16:56

him tangingly, tangibly

16:59

making you better? Fizdale's reputation

17:01

great guy, can communicate with anybody. He's

17:03

a great communicator. He deals with stars really

17:05

well. That's something not

17:08

really tangible. He didn't get along with Mark Gassoul. He

17:10

also was close with Lebron, but Lebron's not going to be

17:12

a Knicks who cares? Who cares if he gets

17:14

along with Lebron. But what Fizdale's

17:17

known for is something that's hard to get your arms around.

17:19

You know, he's good with stars, Well, it's something

17:22

Brad Stevens is great with

17:24

point guards. So I five's Kyrie

17:26

Irving and there are places

17:29

you could go to have some success. And this is not a shout

17:31

at Fisdale. He's a good guy. And you

17:33

know, the Memphis was just a mess. It just was a disaster.

17:36

But if you can tangibly, you

17:38

don't leave Andy Reid. If you're an NFL

17:40

quarterback, you don't leave him. He makes every

17:43

quarterback like eighteen percent better

17:45

than they are. Everybody. I mean,

17:47

Michael Vick's career was over. Oh there's Andy Reid.

17:49

Michael Vick's career got paid again. Everybody.

17:52

Nick Foles was almost out of the league

17:55

and he read props him up. Now nick Foles banging

17:57

a bunch of money. He's got a super Bowl. So

18:00

you know, it's funny NFL

18:02

quarterbacks seem to get this whole Coaching

18:05

really matters golfers tend

18:07

to be really good at that. Tennis players really know that,

18:09

you know they like. Oh the coach matters. I mean, Serena would

18:11

win with anybody. But tennis coaches are

18:14

difference makers. Golf swing coaches

18:16

are difference makers. NBA

18:18

guys, Kyrie is gonna be good

18:20

anywhere, but just do not

18:22

deny that basketball

18:25

coaching to get the very best

18:27

out of you. Does Kevin Durant know he

18:29

may like Fizdale, but does he know that Steve Kerr

18:31

has the highest winning presentage in NBA history and

18:34

is an offensive guy. Now

18:36

there's other coaches. Mark Jackson's a defensive

18:38

guy. If you need defense,

18:40

Mark Jackson tangibly makes your

18:43

defense better. I

18:45

like coaches who give me something. I can see

18:47

data. Oh, this coach comes in, these

18:50

guys get better, that position gets better.

18:52

That's what I like to see. That means

18:55

Kyle Shanahan NFL forty nine ers

18:57

everywhere he goes. Quarterbacks get better everywhere.

19:00

Matt Ryan, for a year, you kept telling me he was better than

19:02

Aaron Rodgers because Kyle Shannon was there. Left

19:04

he was back to being Matt Ryan really really good,

19:06

not Aaron Rodgers. Be sure, to catch live

19:09

editions of the Herd weekdays and noon Easter

19:11

nine am Pacific. This is

19:13

a very like A lot of teams are hard

19:15

to predict for the draft, but

19:18

there are a lot of teams. I'll take the New York Jets.

19:20

They need to upgrade their offensive linemen. They

19:22

need a pass rusher. I'm right

19:25

now, Jets are gonna go get a pass rusher, and

19:28

they they need to upgrade their offensive line. They're

19:30

gonna draft that um. And

19:32

then there's teams. The

19:35

Raiders are an easy team to predict. The

19:39

Raiders need a pass rusher. They

19:41

need corners because they already spent money on

19:44

their offense in free agency. They're gonna draft

19:46

defense. They need they need another

19:48

linebacker, they need two corners. They need

19:50

an edge rusher because they let go Khalil Mack.

19:53

You can figure out where the Raiders are gonna go. So Mike

19:56

Mayock was talking yesterday,

19:58

and you know Gruden's order putting pressure on

20:00

him because Gruten's made all these moves of Maari

20:03

Cooper. You're out of here, Khalil Mack to get

20:05

all these first round picks. Here's Mike Mayock. John

20:08

keeps telling me, don't mess it up, dude.

20:10

You know I took a lot, a lot of slings

20:12

to get to get you three first round picks. Four

20:15

of the first thirty five picks. Gives you an

20:17

opportunity to consider all those scenarios

20:19

multiple times and again. That's why

20:21

we're opening up the line of communications with all the teams

20:23

around the league. We need to be nimble, and

20:26

nimble means depending on what the situation

20:28

is, to be able to react quickly according

20:31

to the situation and make the right decision. Okay,

20:34

I think the draft. I think here's the top four

20:36

picks. Kyler Murray's going to Arizona, the quarterback

20:38

from Oklahoma. I think San Francisco

20:41

has the second pick. They're gonna take Nick Bosa. They

20:43

need an edge rusher. I

20:45

think the Jets are

20:47

going to take Josh Allen, the pass rusher

20:49

because they have Leonard Williams on the defensive front.

20:51

He's terrific. The

20:54

Raiders are going to get Quinnon Williams from Alabama.

20:57

Now, the good news is he's the best player in the draft.

21:00

Every executive and scout I talked to the

21:03

best player in the draft is

21:05

Quinnin Williams from Alabama. Pretty

21:08

much one on one unblockable. Now if you double

21:10

him, you can

21:12

move him around, but one on one, he's

21:14

getting to the quarterback, he's stopping the run. He

21:17

is really, really good, best player in the draft.

21:19

Now you say, well, why wouldn't the other teams take him?

21:22

Because the Jets need a pass rusher. When

21:25

you're in a division with Tom Brady and play

21:27

him twice, they need a pass rusher more

21:29

than Quinnon Williams. And

21:32

San Francisco you know you're in a division

21:34

with Russell Wilson and Jared Goth

21:36

you need the best pass rusher available.

21:39

Arizona has Chandler Jones number

21:41

one pick. They don't, you know. The

21:43

bottom line here is the Raiders

21:45

are going to get the best player in the draft. My

21:48

gut feeling is Quinn and Williams. That's

21:50

the good news for the Raiders. Here's the bad news this

21:53

draft, and this is the way most drafts work.

21:55

Just because you get drafted in the first round does not

21:58

make you a first round talent. I've

22:00

been told there's about fifteen players

22:02

in the first round that are first

22:04

round guys. By

22:07

about the seventeenth pick, you're paying first

22:09

round money for a second round player. So

22:13

where you'll want to be in this draft is

22:15

in the top fifteen. The Raiders are

22:17

that's great. That's why New England, by the way,

22:20

is trying to trade up. You want

22:22

to be in the top fifteen. The no

22:24

man's land in this draft where you're not going to

22:26

get any value is from pick sixteen

22:29

to the last pick in the first round because you're

22:31

gonna pay a first round draft choice and their

22:33

second round players. There

22:35

is after about the fifteenth pick to

22:39

about the ninetieth pick in this draft.

22:41

There's a lot of similarity. The difference

22:43

makers are high. New England's

22:45

trying to get in there because they've got a lot of draft capital.

22:48

That's what New England's trying to do. That that's

22:50

not a secret. New England's looking to

22:52

move up in this draft. Where you

22:54

don't want to be this is the bad news for the Raiders.

22:56

They have two picks twenty four and twenty

22:58

seven. Don't want to be there.

23:01

The bottom of the first round, the middle of the bottom

23:03

of this first round is not a good spot this year.

23:05

You're paying a first round price for a second round

23:07

player. Does not mean it's a bad draft.

23:10

But you're always looking to

23:13

get value on every player. There's

23:15

no value in overpaying for anybody outside

23:17

of occasionally a quarterback because there's a scarcity

23:20

and they are the most important player. So

23:23

good news, Raiders are in that top

23:25

fifteen. The bad news is they're

23:28

in no man's land after that. They

23:30

have the twenty fourth to twenty seventh and the thirty

23:32

fifth, and that's kind of a

23:34

little bit of the first two or kind of no man's

23:36

land. Houston, by

23:38

the way, is in a good situation. They

23:40

got three picks, like second round to fourth

23:42

round. They got three picks. New England's got five picks

23:45

in that space. That's where you want to be in this

23:47

draft, really high or

23:49

second to third, late third.

23:52

There you go. Quinnon

23:55

Williams best player in the draft. Alabama One More

23:57

Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours

23:59

a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio

24:02

app. Search her to listen live or

24:04

on demand whenever you like. He

24:06

played for a decade in the NFL. I

24:09

won a Super Bowl with a Giant in twenty

24:11

eleven, initially drafted by Green

24:14

Bay. By the way, I want to show our

24:16

audience something. You and I have a lot in commons

24:18

so come over here. So he came

24:20

over before and he said, Hey, what up, And here's

24:22

here's what we do. Ah, that's it. Keep

24:25

it simple. Right in La. There's a lot of that

24:27

simple. But what did people in La do? It's it's

24:29

the it's the pound and the

24:32

the and then all that stuff. You

24:34

and I are not into that. It's impossible to

24:36

say hello to anyone in less It's very impossible

24:39

because everyone is from a different place and

24:41

everyone has a different way of saying hello. It's this Miami

24:44

is the easiest place to say hello to anyone because everyone

24:46

says the same thing. The professional athletes who

24:48

are drumophobes, they just pound. Yeah, I'm

24:50

about I'm about to start doing that, yeah,

24:53

because it's just it's too complicated. In Miami.

24:55

Everyone says hello, the air kiss. That's

24:58

what they do in time meetings someone, if it's family,

25:01

I lived there, Yeah, you're right, yeah, question,

25:04

it's one side, it's not both sides a right, literally

25:06

anyhow, anyhow,

25:09

let me shift to this. So you were drafted initially

25:12

by green Bad Boston Colleges. So you

25:14

McCarthy's first year, so you got

25:16

the end of Brett and the beginning

25:18

of Aarond. You were there five years. I was there, Yeah,

25:21

well four and I got released in ten technically,

25:24

so you know, I

25:26

didn't think Brett aged great. I thought

25:28

he got a little stubborn, whereas

25:31

Brady's like I always feel Brady and

25:33

Breeze are kind of constantly reinventing

25:35

themselves a little. Well when you draft your replacement.

25:38

Yeah, so you thought you could sense the

25:40

little bit of animosity with Farvin Rodgers.

25:43

I didn't sense any animosity, not so much

25:45

with Farvin Rodgers. It was more so far

25:47

than probably Ted Thompson, maybe

25:50

far than McCarthy, because they're

25:52

the guys who want to get him out. Oh they tried

25:54

to jazzy jeffham fresh brand storm out

25:56

the front door. Really possibly. Yeah,

25:59

now I've which

26:01

was surprising because we literally just went

26:03

to the NCY Championship game, which

26:06

was a difficult loss. When Farve left

26:08

the building and Aaron came in, Yeah,

26:11

what was it like? You know what though,

26:13

we honestly we didn't

26:15

blink because we what we saw in practice,

26:18

well, Aaron, we knew what was up.

26:21

It was. It was really cool because in practice, what

26:23

the ones you win against far the

26:25

twos you win against Aaron Rodgers. So we

26:27

went out there in game day. It was like, if you're not better

26:29

on number two, no one is so good

26:32

luck. Aaron

26:34

just got kind of whacked in an article by

26:36

Tyler dunn. Um. I

26:39

mean, he had a lot of people come out and whack him

26:41

and say listen, he you know, he's part of this

26:44

McCarthy thing. He's hard to coach. He froze

26:46

receivers. How did that all land for you? For

26:49

me, it was it was just crazy because

26:51

it's almost like you have people who have

26:54

a dry sense of humor, right, you know, like I like

26:56

shows like Curby Enthusiasm, Right, I like I

26:58

have dry humor. So sometimes people

27:00

don't get me. I have a lot of people say, hey, well you

27:02

have a really good poker face. We don't know if you're serious or

27:04

not. We don't know if you're mad at us or not.

27:06

We don't we don't know. And with Rogers,

27:09

yeah, he could be sarcastic, but in a fun way.

27:12

Some people may not like the joking. He and I

27:14

we always, you know, mess with each other and would

27:16

always tease each other and have that. Yeah, but you're a Boston

27:18

college guy. He's a cow guy. You're a couple of brain

27:21

dudes. Boston College

27:23

like a brain school. So Berkeley, the

27:25

smart guys got each other because I've talked

27:27

to guys. Aaron can be quick

27:31

and sometimes like yeah, sometimes

27:33

Farve didn't like it. Yeah now we heard, we heard

27:35

something about Rogers the whole time. What really

27:37

called me off guard was coach

27:40

McCarthy getting massages, Like

27:42

what, like what is this? So that

27:44

in the article surprised you. Yeah, because

27:46

coach McCarthy when he got there, especially

27:48

his personality, he's all about like interity,

27:51

and I remember his free first meeting

27:53

he told everyone he said, conflict

27:55

is good. He said, if we have conflict

27:57

in the building, it's good because we're trying to understand

28:00

dan each other, you know. So he promoted

28:02

like, hey, let's figure it out because we're a team.

28:04

Where for him, let's figure it out to get on the same page. And

28:06

he was always disciplined in terms of what

28:08

he wanted as a team. So in terms of him leaving meetings

28:11

to get massages that first of all,

28:13

it's only like three massage fallows in Green Bay. First

28:15

of all, unless it changed, I haven't been there in a while.

28:18

Yeah, So that's that's surprising me. And

28:20

I guess to his defense, I know on Friday. On Fridays

28:23

every team I've been on, the days

28:25

are ended early, and sometimes coaches will turn

28:28

it over to the players to have a players meeting

28:30

and you know, go over some stuff and there are

28:33

massage tables available in the training room

28:35

and sometimes, yeah, coaches will go down there.

28:38

But that's that. That in the story was the crazy

28:40

part to you. It was do you because

28:42

it seemed like he didn't care and that's like,

28:44

that's so far from who he was

28:46

as a coach, and for him to have that personality,

28:48

they're not going to be that successful if that was the case. I

28:51

want to talk about um. There's

28:54

been a lot of criticism of Banned this offseason.

28:56

Now, you never played for the Steelers. You played for the

28:58

Packers, the Giants, Press, and the Redskins.

29:01

Uh. Some racial comments about

29:03

Ben is not I saw that. Those

29:06

are big comments. I mean, those are kind of anytime

29:08

you dropped the R words, it's a big

29:11

thing. What do you make of it? Ramon? Ramon

29:13

Foster came out and said, like, you

29:15

guys, a lot of this stuff is great for you radio

29:17

talk show host, but there's a lot of people

29:19

in the building that like him. Just what do you make

29:21

of all that? Is it possible?

29:24

You know? I mean Antonio Brown's hard

29:26

for me to figure out. I think

29:28

he just wants the football and Juju Smith Schuster was

29:30

a little bit of a threat, and that happens in all workplaces.

29:34

Bell I know a little bit about

29:36

al Avian. I still

29:38

can't quite get my arms around what happened because the

29:40

tweet I saw was saw Menenhall,

29:42

the former running back of the Sealers. That's where I initially

29:44

saw that. What do you make of those comments? I

29:47

think it is unnecessary? Like what is it gonna

29:49

do? Like what are you trying to say? What is it that

29:52

doesn't make any sense to me in that regards?

29:55

You know, the only thing that can make sense if it is

29:57

maybe maybe they just didn't have

29:59

a relationship with that player, a good

30:01

relationship with that person. Did you ever

30:03

play with the player that did divide a locker

30:05

room? I mean you said you and Aaron clicked.

30:08

Yeah, Aaron's got a little bit of big band where

30:10

maybe there's some guys in the locker room then aren't the biggest

30:12

fans. Jamichael Finley did not get along with Aaron

30:15

from the eighteen times he's called him

30:17

out. Now on a small scale, this was

30:19

there was no rivalry at all. But

30:21

I know when we had Donald

30:23

Driver who was our guy, and then Greg

30:26

Jennings emerged. You know

30:28

I can tell like, hey, Donald, Donald

30:30

had to stay on his game. You know, he said, I need

30:32

to stay on my game to be successful because

30:35

you know, some of my passes are going over here to this

30:37

guy. I had a great relationship with Farve

30:39

and Farves throwing you know, hell Mary

30:41

overtime Touchdownald's to Greg. How about this with

30:44

the Steelers and the Packers, how about this? Not

30:46

everybody in the locker room gets along. Not everyone

30:49

in the locker and gets along. But at the end of the day

30:51

when we line up on Sundays, we figured out and get

30:53

it done. I mean, there was so much things. There were

30:55

so many things going on in the Redskins locker room, you

30:58

know, with everyone leg swearing, drow whatever is

31:00

going on. But they were still a good team.

31:02

When you were with the Giants and one year Super Bowl, was it a

31:04

tight locker room? We our locker room was solid.

31:07

We had leaders, best best, best

31:10

best locker room by far because we had we had leaders

31:12

on every and every single room giving

31:15

him um well, in the offense, we had you know,

31:17

obviously Eli was one of our leaders. We had

31:19

David Deal, Shaunahara, we had Um

31:21

Chrisnee on defense. We had tuck oce

31:24

Maura, Dion Grant, and Chase

31:27

Blackburn. I mean, we just had solid

31:29

guys. And Coach Coughlin he had a

31:31

leadership committee where he would meet with those guys and

31:33

like he's like, hey, whatever you guys

31:35

can't handle, sure, bring it to me. But you

31:38

guys, let me know what's going on. We want me to change,

31:40

and you guys handle it. And literally, if

31:42

you slipped up, everybody held you accountable,

31:44

like you you might get beat up if you if

31:47

you, you know, disobey or don't follow our rules.

31:49

You know, so um that that's what kept

31:52

our locker room extremely tight because we had guys

31:54

who truly held each other accountable. And nothing,

31:56

nothing really got to Coughlin unless it got out of our control.

31:59

I want to go to Arrow Zona. There's a story out today

32:01

they're already negotiating with Kyler Murray.

32:03

I think Joey brought this up a

32:05

month ago. I thought it was a really good point where

32:07

she said part of having

32:10

a young quarterback is building an optimism

32:12

from your fan base, your advertisers, your

32:14

locker room. Okay, if you don't make the move

32:16

now with Kyler, I mean it's almost

32:18

like, oh, we got Josh Rosen going into

32:20

the season. It almost feels like Arizona

32:23

has to make a move, right they have to. I

32:25

feel like last year they were in position

32:27

where we have to get a quarterback,

32:29

especially when he's there. He was there, Josh was there. We

32:31

have to go get him. They didn't know they were going to pick

32:33

number one this year. They didn't know that.

32:36

You know, this guy was gonna light it up. Kyler

32:38

Murray's gonna light up and be available. Like

32:40

so, I mean they're doing all their due diligence.

32:43

I mean something create like a few years ago, the

32:45

Patriots, they brought in Manzielle for a visit just

32:48

to do their due diligence on him. I

32:50

wouldn't be surprised that if they took him and held

32:52

onto two quarterbacks really and figure

32:54

out what's gonna happen. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. You

32:57

know, I've seen in Seattle when when they

32:59

signed at Flint to a deal. They

33:01

drafted Russell and had him duked

33:03

it out, and they traded Matt Flint to the Raiders.

33:06

You know, I look at the Redskins. They got Robert

33:09

first round and they got Kirk in the fourth. Yeah,

33:12

but it usually means really bad news for somebody.

33:14

No, it does, but it's still I mean,

33:16

it's on a different skille because you're looking at two first round

33:18

quarterbacks back to back. I understand that. But nothing

33:21

surprising me anymore, nothing at all. It's

33:23

really interesting. RG three was the runner, Kirk

33:25

Cousins was the quarter was that was that? But

33:28

the pocket guy won in

33:30

this one. You've got I mean, Josh and Kyler

33:32

are completely different quarter completely different.

33:34

Matt Flynn and Russell were completely different.

33:37

So Seattle chose the athletic guy. Ye, Washington

33:39

chose the pocket guy. So you can go either way on the Russell

33:42

can stand in the pocket. Oh no, no no he can't. Yeah, but

33:44

when when they made that decision early in his career

33:47

where he's a much better pocket guy now than six

33:49

years ago. I mean he was, he was moving around

33:51

a lot. He know, he's a young kid. He was learning the offense.

33:53

Well, the cool thing about Russell was that he asked a

33:55

lot of questions early. He asked a lot of questions

33:58

like to me in terms of like what do

34:00

I gotta do to How did you know him? Well? I was

34:02

there uh during training camp, just

34:04

training camp. I didn't play a full season, but I was there in training

34:06

camp in like thirteen and for

34:09

Seattle. Yeah. And he always

34:11

asked questions to Aldo Verner's like how do I take care

34:13

of my body? He would, you know, he idolized

34:16

guys like Drew Billes, like how do I stay healthy? How

34:18

do I do this? He's always trying to get better

34:20

and improve himself. He's never satisfied,

34:22

and I think that's why he's able to be durable

34:25

and last long and be successful. Finally,

34:28

Alex Guerrero says, Tom Brady

34:30

would play until he's fifty. Now, let's

34:32

take away because you're different, because when you're

34:34

a corner um, you're

34:37

a secondary guy. It really comes down to

34:39

speed. Can you can you cover? So guys

34:41

just get slorer as they get older. Quarterbacks different

34:45

physically. How long

34:47

could you have played again if your

34:49

speed was the same. Let's

34:51

say you just you were the like Daryl Green played forever

34:54

because he was still like

34:57

for you, But the time you were done with football,

35:00

were you done with football? I'm

35:03

still not done with football. Honestly.

35:05

Someone someone asked me other that, They said, if somebody called you

35:07

right now, would you go? I said, I probably entertain

35:10

it. I could go right now. I'm still good. You

35:12

played with two years ago with Redskins a

35:14

bunch of games, Yeah, so you'd go today.

35:16

I could go right now, no questions. So you miss football,

35:19

Oh, I would always miss football. I will always miss football

35:21

because it was it was my childhood dream to play it.

35:24

I'm not that guy like, oh, I don't need it anymore. I

35:26

don't like it. That drives me crazy, by the way, when people say

35:28

that, because there were guys like me who

35:30

like, that's what I wanted to do, That's

35:32

that's what I love. So yeah, I will always

35:35

miss football. But I feel

35:37

like Tom Can because I'm

35:39

a huge boxing fan, right and I and I

35:42

love like Bernard Hopkins. But Hawkins

35:44

fought at fifty two years

35:46

old. God, okay, right,

35:50

So I look at that. I'm like, sure Tom,

35:52

especially nowadays. First of all, Tom protects

35:54

himself, you know, I think between him

35:56

and Rogers, he played one

35:59

hundred more games Ames and Errant it was only sacked

36:01

probably sixty more times, you

36:03

know, And that just shows to him he knows how to protect himself

36:05

get rid of to football. It's also his diet,

36:08

you know, being a stay healthy and it and he's

36:10

figured that out, you know. And NBA guys are

36:12

now going to this no meat diet thing that

36:14

does not happen in I can't do it. I

36:16

love Brazilian steakhouses. I had a pork chop

36:18

last night. Why not. My favorite thing in

36:20

the world was a shaking bake. No,

36:23

but I've done that a lot. It was a restaurant

36:25

pork chop. I'll tell you my favorite thing in the world to eat.

36:28

He is a hamburger, no doubt, a great

36:30

grilled burger, fries and milkshake,

36:32

all day American meal. It's the best thing

36:34

in the world. What are you doing after this? No

36:37

kidding, bunk, You owe me a few meals? I

36:39

actually do you really program serious?

36:41

You look tight today, by the way, you know what? Um

36:44

I I was gonna just casual like you and just

36:46

beat chill, but um yeah.

36:49

Marcus Smith are seeing director

36:51

of talent relations. He doesn't like that. He was

36:53

like, listen, well, you better come in too tuxedo

36:55

today, at least a tuxedo.

36:58

And I was like, you know what, I'll wear a tie market

37:00

you look tight. Yeah, people upstairs they like everybody.

37:03

I'm I'm like the only guy in the company allowed

37:05

to look like a slob. You

37:08

got you got the Far rule, Friday, This is a

37:10

little more casual any years. You have the FARV rule.

37:12

You had you had to wear a suit on the plane. And

37:15

Far showed up with his wranglers and

37:17

a button up, and so McCarthy

37:20

was like, listen, all right, guys, you guys

37:22

can wear a wranglers and button ups. It's

37:24

a Far rule. It was a five rule. So you get the Far

37:26

rule. I'm Far. You're a little uncoachable,

37:29

little grumpy, but there you go again. Uncoachable.

37:33

Pratt was a little uncoachable at the end, a

37:36

little uncoaching. No, he wasn't. What are you gonna

37:38

say to a guy who's been there four hundred and sixty five

37:40

years. He was some jumping Jackson win football game he

37:42

did. He showed up. He never was a game. You don't think

37:44

he was a little uncoachable, a little

37:46

bit of an ego, rightfully.

37:49

So when you drive down forty one, you gotta

37:51

you have your own street, you have

37:53

your number on the biggest barn in

37:55

Green Bay. Yeah, you're gonna

37:57

have a little ego. You get the park under the stadium

38:00

him next to Ted Thompson. Yeah he didn't park with us.

38:02

Really, Oh yeah, fark yeah, you didn't park with us.

38:04

He parked underneath the under the stadium. Yep,

38:07

he was football lord. Man. That's pretty

38:10

cool. Good to seeing you about it, you too,

38:12

man, Have a great weekend. One

38:15

more Heard. The Herd streams twenty

38:17

four hours a day, seven days a week. Within the

38:19

iHeartRadio app, Search Herd to

38:21

listen live or on demand whenever

38:23

you like.