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- [00:00]
Danny Parkins
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Colin Cowherd
All right, folks, this is insane. For the first time ever, we got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City. Two title fights, same night. Let's go. If you're like me and love the action, DraftKings Sportsbook is where it's at. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app right now. The promo code is heard H e r d new customers 150 bucks in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [00:33]
Danny Parkins
Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 In Connecticut, help is available. For problem gambling, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario, bonus bets expire issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co Audio.
- [01:04]
Colin Cowherd
Thanks for listening to the Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
- [01:24]
Danny Parkins
Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Our number two, Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd. Danny Parkins from a new, soon to be expanded First Things first. That is still surreal. Chris Broussard will join next hour. My now teammate on First Things First. Unbelievably exciting. It's really cool to be in for Colin. I appreciate everyone allowing me to do it. One down, two to go. Bruce Feldman will join us in 20 minutes. How many teams have a legit shot at the national championship and where the College Football Playoff goes from here? But I know I'm not very popular in Philadelphia because when you do these jobs, you end up talking about the best teams and the best quarterbacks and the best coaches and anything short of it's the greatest I've ever seen is apparently blasphemous. And Eagles fans are awesome, right? You're insane. You're passionate. You defend your guy. You should. Everyone's playing the correct role here. But I just look at this and I ask, what is enough? Because here's everything I've said publicly. And we'll say again about Jalen hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles. They are the best organization in the NFL, with the best offensive line in the NFL, with the best running back in the NFL, with a top three wide receiver duo in the NFL, with a top 3 defensive tackle in the NFL, with a top linebacker and a top young secondary and a top general manager. Do I also have to believe that you have a top five quarterback? Do I also have to believe that Nick Sirianni is the best coach in the NFL? It's like nothing. No amount of praise is enough because I think Jalen Hurts is the 10th best quarterback in the NFL who is clutch, is a great leader and is unbelievably smart. Jalen Hurts, having nine different play callers over nine years spanning back to college speaks incredibly highly to his football character and his football intelligence. Jalen Hurts playing not one, but two, not good, but great Super Bowls obviously is incredibly valuable. No one would deny any of it. Clutch, smart leader. But I also think it's totally reasonable to say that the guy who was 22nd in the NFL in pass attempts last year is propped up by the system at which he plays in and the guys around him. And by the way, anybody would be. If you got to throw to Devonta Smith and AJ Brown and be protected by Lane Johnson and Jordan Mylotta and hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley, that's pretty good. Anybody would want to be in that situation. Patrick Mahomes would want to be in that situation. Josh Allen would want to be in that situation. Lamar Jackson, like anybody in the league would want to be in that situation. And the Eagles could have Carson Wentz on the verge of being an mvp. Now he's a backup in the league. He gets hurt. And Nick Foles wins a Super bowl like they were in a Super bowl with a different coach and a different quarterback and then a different quarterback and then a different coach. And now it's Jalen Hurts again. Like it's an unbelievable organization. I would argue the best organization. But for some reason, the pushback then becomes, oh, so you're saying you'd rather Jalen Hurts throw for 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns than just win? Not if I'm an Eagles fan. Obviously not. But if I'm evaluating a quarterback, then yeah, that is exactly what I'm saying. The primary job of the quarterback is to throw the ball. You would say, no, it's to win. No, it isn't. Winning is a team concept. Quarterback wins are not a quarterback stat. But if you want to make it a quarterback stat, I'm your huckleberry let's play the game. Let's show the company that Jalen Hurts keeps among winners. And then the amount of passing touchdowns that they have because he wins, including the playoffs since 2021, at a clip higher than Lamar, higher than Allen, lower than Mahomes, he wins at a clip second best in the NFL. But for passing touchdowns for those guys at that clip, Lamar Jackson 105, Josh Allen 148. Patrick Mahomes 160. Jalen hurts 89. And then he's got a ton of rushing touchdowns from the one yard line. And so then you say, well, Danny, no one's saying that he's better than Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes, okay? But there is what he does to contribute to the winning and again, leader, smart, clutch, durable. All incredibly valuable things. But a general manager once said his job is summed up very simply. It's very difficult to do, but it's summed up simply. Evaluate the individual within the concept of the team. Like if you're the best deep ball wide receiver, but you've got a quarterback with a noodle arm, tough to really prove it. Or if you're the best deep ball receiver but you got an offensive line that can't pass block, tough to give your quarterback enough time for the route to develop for you to really prove is a complimentary game. We all understand that. Philly fans understand that. But it's like I have to say that he's a top five quarterback with a top five coach. If they are really that well, then it's the best team in the history of the NFL. And I don't think anybody looks at Philly that way. They are very good. They were very dominant. They started 2 and 2. They started throwing less and running more and they basically ran the table. One loss the rest of the way and they bludgeoned people except for the Rams throughout the postseason. That is a really reasonable resume for a great team and a very good quarterback. It's tough for me to say that Jalen Hurts is better than Matt Stafford. It's just hard for me to do because when I watch them play and I see one guy sling it all over the field and the team's success is predicated on him slinging out all over the field, I believe that that guy is the better quarterback, not the better runner, not even necessarily the better leader. But that's what I think Eagles fans miss in this conversation. It's not a knock on Jalen Hurts. It's a compliment to your organization that you can be that dominant with a very good quarterback. It is a compliment. It's not a knock on Hertz. He deserves all his money. Eagles fans should love him. Eagles fans should want to trade Jalen Hurts for no one. But you got to admit, if Howie Roseman got the phone call, hey, Justin Herbert for Jalen Hurts. Does anyone actually think Howie Roseman would say no? Does anyone believe it? You say it. You say, well, Justin Herbert had four interceptions and he's got two losses in a playoff game. Okay, does anyone really believe it? That trade is proposed. Herbert for Hertz. Who says no? Because I don't think Jim Harbaugh is leaving Michigan to go coach Jalen Hurts. I think most people who evaluate it, watch it, would say, yeah, he doesn't have the playoff success, but he also has. Hasn't had the quality organization and line and receivers and defense and everything that Jalen Hurts has. And so maybe it's impossible for Jalen Hurts to be regarded as the best quarterback because he has such a super team around him. Oh, well, that's life. You still have a couple hundred million bucks and a couple of super bowl appearances and a Super bowl ring, and you can shut everybody up by continuing to win. So everyone, I think, is playing their role correctly here. I just don't. I don't believe that they also have the best coach and the best quarterback and everything on their. Their team is the best in the NFL. I think some of their elements are the best, and it props everything else up. Speaking of rankings, let's do it for the sake of the exercise. Top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2025 NFL season. Number 10, Jalen Hurts. I said it, and I mean it. He was like, you got to give him more credit for winning the Super Bowl. I am. He was outside of my top 10 last year. Like, spoiler alert, he's ahead of Dak Prescott. He wasn't this time last season. Kalen Hertz, great leader, clutch, perfect for that team in that system, but not asked to do nearly as much for his team's success as the guys nine through one on my list. Number nine, the Bake Show. Baker Mayfield is the poster child for patience. We'll see what Bryce Young ends up being in Carolina. But Baker Mayfield, man, they haven't figured it out in Carolina. They haven't figured it out in Cleveland. This guy, the last two seasons, comfortably inside the top 10. He's first in passing touchdowns, second in passing yards, fourth in passer rating, and sixth in yards per attempt. Baker Mayfield, all the respect. Number eight, Jared Goff, like Jalen Hurts, has a ton around him, no doubt about it. But doing it with two different franchises with the Rams to a Super bowl and now the Lions as perennial contenders year in and year out matters. And last year, I mean career highs in points per game, 33 completion percentage, passing touchdowns, passer rating, yards per attempt, and oh yeah, by the way, wins. Jared Goff's a stud and he's playing up to the billing of being the number one overall pick. Number seven. It's the best rookie season I've ever seen. Jaden Daniels is the guy on this list who at the end that top four is just so ironclad. It's like Mount Rushmore. Hey, you know, we should do that as a sports radio hook. Mount Rushmore. Has anyone ever thought of that? But if there was a guy outside of the top four who could jump in. If Jaden Daniels builds on a rookie season with the third down efficiency, the fourth down efficiency, the winning, the one score victories, if he takes that Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes type of leap, he's in the MVP conversation. He's in the top four conversation. Number six, Matt Stafford's been that dude for well over a decade. As soon as he leaves Detroit, he goes to the Rams. He gets better coaching, he gets a little better talent around him, he gets a better system and he gets a ring in the playoffs. He's been a stud with McVeigh. He's been a stud. And this one is still a bit of the eye test. We'll see what the offensive line is for the Rams this year. Left tackles already hurt. They've got some questions kind of across the board with Humphreys there, but at his age, he needs good protection. But if he gets good protection, there's really no one in the world that's better at throwing the football. Number five. Except for maybe my guy, Justin Herbert, who I think is very Matt Stafford esque and still by the way, on the exact same career trajectory as Peyton Manning. Big year for Herbert. With Harbaugh, with the running game, with arguably the best tackle duo outside of Philadelphia in the NFL, 500 plus pass attempts, three or fewer interceptions. Justin Herbert. Last year Aaron Rodgers give him more weapons, which they did in the draft. The passing game produces even more. Justin Herbert, absolute stud, the fifth best quarterback in the NFL. Number four. This one I struggle with, but I'm giving it to Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson, statistically last year, him and Aaron Rodgers only quarterbacks with more than 40 passing touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions. He was brilliant, but he didn't win the MVP to Josh Allen. Once you get into the top four, I think we are dealing with parsing greatness among the guys in the postseason. And Lamar still has a losing record in the postseason, but he's a first ballot hall of Famer. Give him a ring, he jumps up on the list. Number three, Joe Burrow. I'm not going to knock him for his defense. Joe Burrow had a losing record in games where his team scored more than 30 points last year. It's an impossibility. He, he has a middle of the road defense. He's the MVP of the league. Last year his passer rating in losses was 108.2, second highest pass rating and losses ever for a quarterback to lose eight or more games. Joe Burrow, third best quarterback in the league. Number two. I've said it before, I'll say it again. It's very clearly Josh Allen. If it wasn't for Patrick Mahomes, it would be universally accepted that this guy was the best in the NFL. He's second to Mahomes and wins. He's second to Mahomes in passing yards. He's second to Homes in passing touchdowns in the last five seasons. This is your second best quarterback. This is your second best player in football. Which frankly has ruins the suspense for number one. Number one, Mahomes is still on that Brady track. Through eight seasons, he's still there. Double digit win seasons, he's still on the track. The Super Bowls, he's still on the track. The regular season wins, he's ahead of him. The playoff wins, he's ahead of him. The conference titles, he's ahead of him. Super Bowls, he's even to him. Guy's gonna play football for another 10 plus years and that Brady conversation is going to start really picking up. Give him that off. Explosive offense back with the Spagnolo's defense, He'll just add more to his trophy case. There's your top 10 quarterbacks heading in to this season. What a perfect list by the way. I don't know how anyone could dispute anything on there except apparently Philly fans. All right, coming up, realistic expectations for Bill Belichick this season. Nick Saban Collins says he's going to the NFL as he closed the door on coaching. We'll ask Bruce Feldman, Fox Sports College football insider. Next one more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand. Whenever you'd like, hey, we're Covino and Rich, Fox Sports radio every day, 5 to 7pm Eastern. But here's the thing. We never have enough time to get to everything we want to get to. And that's why we have a brand new podcast called Over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in our two hour show. We never get to everything honestly, because this guy is over promising things we never have time for. Yeah, you blubberlips. Blaming me. Well, you know what? It's called Over Promise. You should be good at it. Cause you've been over promising women for years. Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show and we want you to be a part of it. We're gonna be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk life and relationships and. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called Over Promised. Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure you check out Over Promised and also uncensored, by the way. So maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's going to be the best after show podcast of all time. There you go. Over promising. And remember, you could see it on YouTube, but definitely. Join us. Listen to Over Promised with Covino and rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [18:45]
Colin Cowherd
All right, folks, this is insane. For the first time ever, we got a full blown all women's boxing mega event going down in New York City. Two title fights, same night. Let's go. If you're like me and love the action, DraftKings sportsbook is where it's at. We're talking the trilogy fight. Don't sleep on the co main explosive power taking on the undefeated WBA interim champ. It's going to be fireworks. Check it out. If you're new to DraftKings, throw down five bucks. That's it. Boom. You get 150 in bonus bets instantly. That's wild. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app right now. The promo code is heard H E R D New Customers. One hundred and fifty bucks in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [19:30]
Danny Parkins
Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny 467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Res 21 Plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void In Ontario, bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co Audio welcome back in to the Herd. I'm Danny Parkins in for Colin. And before we get to Bruce Feldman here in just a minute, we have some pretty big news in the world of college football, and that is that Deion Sanders has announced. We knew that there was going to be a press conference with his medical team, but Deion Sanders has announced that while he will be returning to Colorado this season, he had cancer and he had to have a tumor removed from his bladder. And his medical team says that the cancer is gone. He lost 25 pounds dealing with the cancer and complications from the surgery. So that is obviously very scary news for Deion and the Sanders family, but also very good news if you can have a tumor and have it be removed and have your doctors say that the cancer did not spread and it's gone. Right. That's the. There's like good versions of bad news. And thankfully Deion Sanders sounds like he got the best news possible for a very, very scary diagnosis. And so there was obviously some speculation as to what was gonna go on with his health scare and his situation, because there was a video that had been put out on his Instagram about him needing to create a will. And Deon is just so. He's so vulnerable and he's so public and he's so emotional that he is, you know, he's so in the public eye and he has these kids interests at heart that you knew he was going to be public with these types of things. And so it's good that this, you know, when you hear he's doing a press conference with his medical team, your mind goes into all, is he stepping away? Is he okay? Is this gonna be an ongoing situation? Which obviously it still could be. You know, anyone will tell you, you know, once you have cancer, you'll get cancer screenings and cancer tests for the rest of your life. But thankfully it sounds like, at least for now, that Deion Sanders is good and on the other side of his surgery and is getting ready to coach the Colorado Buffaloes this upcoming season. Who, by the way, I mean, let's be honest. How is it going to be better than coaching your son who gets drafted into the NFL and coaching Travis Hunter? So absolutely, you know, fascinating football story. He was linked to the Dallas Cowboys and NFL jobs and bigger jobs there. Dion's success at Multiple levels as a coach, you know, he's. He's got the, the noise and the sizzle to him, but he's also had the stake, like, did he win a bowl game? No. But the ability to take a program that was in the situation that they were in and get it to respectability and get a quarterback drafted and a Heisman Trophy winner and all of the things that they've been able to do, it's. It's an impressive turnaround. And he's great for college football, both for interest and based on the stories that come out of Boulder. He's great for those kids in Colorado. So all the best to Deon and their and the Sanders family. This is from the press conference just moments ago. Deion and his doctors explaining the procedure with a health health update for Dion. We discussed some options of treatment in the bladder and we discussed bladder removal as well. Given his commitments to his family and to the team elected to undergo a bladder removal. We performed a full robot assisted laparoscopic bladder removal and creation of a new bladder. And I am pleased to report that the results from the surgery are that he is cured from the cancer. Give a clap. It's okay. You can clap. What an awesome pan over from the very serious medical doctor being like, we had to remove his bladder and build a new bladder and we're thankful to report that there is no more cancer. Cut to Dion in a hat and small rope. You can clap. And normally the journalist in me is like, yeah, we should be clapping at press conferences. That is an absolutely 100% appropriate time to clap at a press conference. And what an incredible pan over there was there. For those of you watching on FS1 for Deion Sanders, because Deion is always going to be Deion. But I would say, you know, Dion also, man, the, the, the content that he provides and the interest, he's one of the greatest athletes ever. Not football players, not of his generation. He's just one of the greatest athletes ever. So for that level of fame and cult of personality to then make this transition to coaching and grind his way up from the lower levels to the bigger levels and have the success and put kids into the pros and clearly love it and be dedicated to it is. Is really inspiring. It's like a really impressive thing. And then, you know, not to get too overly personal with you here, but coming up in a few days, I've got a big cancer fundraiser that I'm doing on the radio in Chicago in partnership with the Cubs. After I lost my brother to cancer And I talked to all of these patients and people who share their story with cancer because we all know that it's affected everybody. But when you get people who are willing to be public with their journey to talk about that surgery, to talk about having a new bladder, to talk about the weight loss, to talk about the complications from surgery, and then to be in the public eye going forward. It's not a stretch to say it's obvious, to say that it's inspiring. It's not a stretch to say that it can save lives, people getting checked, people taking ownership of their health. So good for Dion, man, that is a. That is a very impressive thing to do, to be able to be public about it and to be vulnerable in those moments. So that's a coach who, you know, he's made a difference in those kids. He's made a difference on the football field. And I had a poster of Deion Sanders on the wall, frankly. But it was the type of thing where it's like, man, now you have this other human part of it. So good to know that Dion will be back at Colorado this season and we'll see how he could figure out a way to move on from coaching his kid. Because he's not going to coach the Browns. And it doesn't look like Shador is going to be playing quarterback for the Browns, but now he gets to continue to build the legacy of what he's doing coming up in Colorado. So it's a pretty impressive thing. And we're all glad for the health update there on Deion Sanders. We're going to push Bruce Feldman back just a little bit, it looks like with some big news here on Deion Sanders. We'll have him in just a few minutes. So to the NFL, there was a story over the weekend with Shemar Stewart and the Cincinnati Bengals. The coverage of this story has bothered me and I'll explain why. Because she mar Stewart has not been doing anything wrong and now he's signed his contract and he's in. And Shamar Stewart was middle first round pick for a terrible defense and a talented pass rusher. And they needed Shemar Stewart to get ready. Right? And they needed Shemar Stewart to be there. Okay, fine. And then the Bengals are like, we want to put language into your contract that is not in any other first round picks contract. It was not in our first round picks contract for last year about what guarantees get voided if you get in trouble for stuff that happens off the field. And she mar Stewart's agent was like, no. Why are you doing that to my clients. You think she mar Stewart's going to get in trouble? And they're like, no, we just want to protect ourselves. And then the owner, Mike Brown came out and he said some version of, you know, I don't think I should have to pay a guy if he's in prison. And it's like, well, whoa. Do you think Shemar Stewart's a troublemaker? That's not fair at all. And he's like, I'm not even saying that. He's like, I just think that that's bad precedent. So the Bengals are trying to set a precedent and Shemar Stewart's agent doesn't want to acquiesce to a precedent because he's trying to sign next year's Shemar Stewart. Right? He's like, why would I get the next guy if I gave up guarantees and protections that were collectively bargained and that sort of thing. So. And it ends up reportedly getting. He got an extra 500 grand on his signing bonus early. And you know, they, they worked it out and it cost him a few days of training camp and it cost him some bad headlines. The Bengals side of this is an organization that has the perception of penny pinching for a defense that was terrible after signing T. Higgins and Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow that has a Super bowl ready offense under contract in its prime. Why would you nickel and dime with your first round pick? What are you doing here that is reasonable and I'm not sitting here and telling you it's not. But Trey Hendrickson is not even with the Bengals in camp. And Trey Hendrickson wants to get paid like miles Garrett and T.J. watt. And the Bengals are like, your sack production is there, but your overall production isn't. And you're not as crazy of an athlete and you were a great player on a bad defense. Those guys have been on better defenses and you're a year older. And so we'll give you one year of guarantees. And he wants three years of guarantees. And so he left camp and Trey Hendrickson is greatly outperformed his contract. And so really all the Bengals have done now is sign Shemar Stewart and change defensive coordinators. But here's how I feel about contracts. They are the lifeblood of these guys careers because they play the most violent sport with the least guarantees. Baseball contracts are guaranteed, basketball contracts are guaranteed, and the injury rate in football is way higher than those other two sports in terms of injuries that can end your career. So they are fighting for every dollar they can get and they know that a team can cut them. Look what just happened with the Raiders. They're like, well, something happened with Christian Wilkins and how he's recovering from an injury. So we are going to void your guarantees and. And you can file your grievance and we'll see how it plays out. Maybe Christian Wilkins will win, maybe the Raiders will win. But that's why these players obviously fight for every dollar they can to be guaranteed. But. And this is maybe a little fourth wall taking you behind the curtain a little bit. But because the NFL is so popular and everyone gambles on it and everyone plays fantasy football on it, on shows like this, it can drive the conversation in the way that regular season basketball can't, that regular season baseball can't, that even playoff baseball sometimes can't, depending on the markets and the stars involved. So what's a good way in July to get us to talk some NFL? Oh, man. Terry McLaurin and the Commanders are upset on their contract. Is Terry McLaurin worth what A.J. brown got? How can the Commanders pay Deebo Samuel but not Terry McLaurin? And then do you know how the story always ends with the player signing the contract all the time in a post Le'Veon Bell? NFL players don't miss games. It's incredibly rare. Chris Jones missed one game and he had rings on his finger and was dominant in a Super bowl, and he showed up to the game with his agents on either side of him in the box. Like that was a big story. And he missed one game, and the Chiefs won the super bowl the year that he held out and missed the game. Teams now have so much money, and there is so much money at stake for the players that eventually, like you see it in free agency, the best players and the biggest names don't leave in free agency anymore because basically every team can sign their guys. The Bengals are regarded as cheap. I will be floored if they don't sign Trey Hendrickson. And that means that the cheap Bengals will have signed Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase T. Higgins and Trey Hendrickson all to market deals at premium positions. So contracts have a way of getting resolved. And players are supposed to be upset during the negotiation because the teams are supposed to try to lowball them during the negotiation. And then it eventually works out. Micah will be in Dallas, Hendrickson will be in Cincinnati. McLaurin will be in Washington. And is it necessary? Does it rankle some guys? No, it's not necessary. Yes, it rankles guys. But you know what? Let's bygones be bygones getting $38 million to rush the passer have a tendency to forgive and forget a little bit. So we had the breaking news with Deion Sanders announcing that he had his bladder removed to remove a cancerous tumor. So we have the Deion Sanders Colorado news, massive college football games that are happening in just a month. We've made it to football season. Bruce Feldman, Next, the hurt foreign. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app back in on the Herd of Danny Parkins in for Colin Cowherd today, tomorrow and Wednesday, huge news in the world of college football, in the world of sports because while Deion Sanders is a fixture in college football, he's one of the most famous athletes alive and one of the greatest athletes alive, announcing that he had his bladder removed because of a cancerous tumor that was on his bladder. That announcement coming just moments ago. So it's a great time to welcome to the Herd. Bruce Feldman, FOX Sports college football reporter and New York Times best selling author. Bruce, thank you very much for the time. Obviously, good news that the surgery was successful. But your reaction to the Deion Sanders press conference with his whole medical team there at Colorado?
- [34:43]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah, it's pretty jolting just to hear how serious this was to have the bladder removed. To have it was a cancerous tumor that was in there. They actually, according to the doctors who were at the press conference, they actually had the procedure done by robot. And when one of the doctors was explaining kind of the process here, when Dion was diagnosed with it, it was like he was told with this kind of cancer, there's a 50% chance of reoccurrence. And he wanted to explore his other options. And so that became this, to basically have a new bladder built for him and have the old one removed. I mean, it's crazy because in the course of this press conference, the doctor had said this was his 14th surgery that he's had just in the last four years, which is kind of mind blowing that he's had that many procedures. I had seen him@big12 media days earlier this month in Texas and he wasn't really back on the job, at least in terms of back with his team. But talking to him for a couple of minutes, you could tell that, you know, something significant had happened. It wasn't like this was a guy who was on vacation for a month or went to Europe or anything. And even from the people I know who are close to him they, you know, they really kind of stressed something, you know, significant had happened and now to hear it, it's really eye opening.
- [36:10]
Danny Parkins
Yeah. And it's courageous to be public with anything like that. So that'll make a huge difference both for those kids in the program, but just anyone who follows sports and hears that sort of thing. So again, congrats to Dion for the positive medical news there and in what apparently was a successful surgery. Football is so secondary here, but they kind of took the college football world by storm with Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter, who are not there anymore. How do you follow it up? What are you expecting from Colorado this season?
- [36:39]
Bruce Feldman
It's going to be, I think a rebuild. Not like the rebuild that that he and they had when they all came from Jackson State and it was an awful program. They had won one game the previous year and he made him respectable. You know, they went from four wins in the first year to nine wins in a top 25 season last year. But as you said, now his star quarterback who is the leader of the offense, his son is in the NFL and the real star of the team, the guy who won the Heisman, Travis Hunters in Jacksonville. And he was such a two way force and a difference maker, I think replacing not just the leadership but the star power of, hey, we need a big play and those guys could step up and make it. We saw that time and time again, especially with Travis Hunter. Those guys are gone now. So you have new quarterbacks. Cadence Salter, who's played a lot more of a running quarterback from Liberty. Juju Lewis is a 17 year old quarterback who is a big recruit. I think you'll see some, some version of a split. You'll see probably both quarterbacks play. There's, I think there's more talent in the trenches right now at CU than they had in Dion's first two years. I think they're probably a little more balanced across the board. I don't think they have the wow players and the splash players certainly led by Travis and they have a real tough opener. Georgia Tech has to come to Boulder, but this is a really good team. Remember, this is the same team that took Georgia to like 10 overtimes Thanksgiving weekend. They're good and they're physical. It is very much like the same team, same style of team that blew Colorado out in the Alamo bowl, that BYU team, really physical, punishing run game, very, you know, very diverse in how they attack you in the run game. And I think those are the challenges that, that Colorado is going to have to Learn from and see if they're up to it, because this is going to be a real physical test for them right out of the gate.
- [38:37]
Danny Parkins
Talking college football with Bruce Feldman. We are just over a month from the two teams with the two best title odds, Texas and Ohio State, playing each other. An unbelievable way to start it off for those two powerhouse programs. Who has the edge?
- [38:56]
Bruce Feldman
In this case, I'm going to say it's the team that's the home team, which is Ohio State. You know, so many changes. Obviously, both teams are replacing quarterbacks. You also have on the Ohio State side, they have to replace both the offensive and defensive coordinators. Ohio State lost, you know, pretty much its entire D line, whereas. Whereas Texas lost four of its five starters who were going to be in front of Arch Manning. Now, I think it's a really interesting chess match here between Steve Sarkeesian and Arch Manning against Matt Patricia, who's now the defensive coordinator, comes from the NFL to the Big Ten. Now, what I think is a big help. In addition to it being a home game for the Buckeyes, they have the best offensive and the best defensive players in the country. Coming back, Jeremiah Smith, who you're seeing all the highlights of now, that great receiver, he's 6 3, 225 pounds and is unguardable. You have to double team them. You may even have to triple team him. And then on the other side of the ball, Caleb Downs is a phenomenal safety who makes big plays all over the field and is really a leader and probably the smartest defensive player in college football. Those two guys are such difference makers. I think that gives them a big advantage. And again, Texas is loaded. I think they're a top five team, but with a rebuilt offensive line completely and going into a real hostile environment and a team that has such star power, I would give the edge. Not a huge one, but I would give the edge to Ohio State at the start of the year, at least.
- [40:25]
Danny Parkins
Yeah. I can't believe Jeremiah Smith still can't enter the NFL. The guy is an absolute beast. You mentioned the offensive line in front of Arch Manning. You'll be asked this a million times between now and the end of the year. Do you expect him to be an NFL draft pick at the end of this season?
- [40:42]
Bruce Feldman
I don't. I think just knowing the Mannings and his parents a little bit, I think they know that it's probably in his best interest to keep getting reps and keep playing and keep getting game action. Now. It's a little different these days compared to Just, you know, when, when his brother, his uncles were playing where the season could be a lot longer. I mean, if Texas is as good and does as well as I think they're going to do, they're probably going to play 16 games and that's a lot more than a 12 game schedule. There's also more injury risk with a longer stretch. I mean, he only started two games though last year. He's played some, but not a lot. And I think just to be a one year starter, even if everything goes great and let's say he leads him to a national title and they go 15 and one and win a national title, I still think there's going to be some, you know, hesitation about is he ready, is it in his best interest to jump into the NFL? I, you know, when I talked to Cooper Manning, his dad, a couple months ago, one of the things we talked about was just, you know, he brought up about when you're ready. You know, he's seen so many examples of, especially in the NFL, quarterbacks who might not be as ready as they could be getting thrown under the bus pretty quick because the process doesn't, doesn't wait, doesn't have much patience. But I think he's super talented. Everybody I talked to at Texas raves about his football intelligence. He's really athletic. I think he's in a really good position. It's just, I think time is something that's, you know, you can't put a price on that. I just think that maybe the added reps of being a two year starter probably would help his long term development. But, you know, let's see, we don't have a crystal ball. We're just kind of, just kind of going on how we think the process.
- [42:31]
Danny Parkins
Will play out for him. All right, I got to do this quickly. I feel like I owe it to Colin Cowherd since he's letting me sit in this seat. What do you make of this idea of Nick Saban maybe not being done coaching and if he is better suited nowadays for the NFL than college and.
- [42:49]
Bruce Feldman
He'S going to be 74 in a couple of months, I just, I think he is, even if he's tempted to look at the NFL, look, you know, Pete Carroll is around the same age and he's in Las Vegas and he's got a ton of energy. Saban seems to have a ton of energy. I know from, from the conversations he had when he walked away at Alabama. It was, it was all the things going around the sport and the way everything's Running just, he didn't need it anymore. He seems like he's doing a really good job in tv. I, I just think if he's going to jump back into it, you know, that's not just him, that's him and his wife who have to, you know, make that decision. I'd still be very surprised, being in his mid-70s, if he decided to come back to the grind that is coaching. Even if it's in the NFL. You have more of an off season than you do as a college coach.
- [43:40]
Danny Parkins
Bruce Feldman, football college football reporter for Fox Sports and New York Times best selling author. Thank you so much for the time on a big news day in college football. Thank you, Bruce.
- [43:50]
Bruce Feldman
Thank you, Danny.
- [43:52]
Danny Parkins
I love that theory from Colin. He's like, it's just, it's not even a good, well kept secret. Nick Saban in the NFL. I'm like, I didn't know that secret. Someone kept that secret from me. That would be a massive story. How about him and Bill Belichick on the same staff in the NFL? Let's go just old timers, bring it back together. Recreate that documentary. It'd be a good story. I wouldn't hire him to coach my team, but I'd want them to coach a team in the NFL. Thanks to Bruce Feldman and again, congrats to Deion Sanders on a positive health update from a very, very serious health situation. But coming up, there's another LeBron story on the Internet, but I don't think it's exactly how people are making it out to be. He's not trying to push his way to Denver. And yes, it is an inevitability for Micah Parsons to get paid. I think I've cracked Jerry Jones's code. It's all coming up on the Herd. This is an iHeart podcast.