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Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast.
LeVar Arrington
Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One Bank Guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC introducing the new Dell AI PC powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor, it helps do your busy work for you so you can fast forward through editing images, designing presentations, generating code, debugging code, summarizing meeting notes, finding files, managing your schedule, responding to Jim's long emails, leaving all the time in the world for the things you actually want to do. No offense Jim. Get a new Dell AIPC starting at 699.99@dell.com how those ahead stay ahead the.
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LeVar Arrington
Okay, have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant and their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And degree listened. That doesn't happen often, they admitted. They effed up and they're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. There's a reason it's the number one men's antiperspirant and it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for Under Four bucks. So try and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG degree. Cool rush for yourself. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio at 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.
Jim
Now, let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Colin Cowherd
It is the Herd. Fox Sports Radio. T. Rex, I mean, Levar Arrington, Jonas Knox with you here in for Colin T. Rex.
Jim
I got to right now. Gotta keep my armpits closed. Very offensive. I don't know why I forgot to put deodorant on. Sorry.
Colin Cowherd
I mean, in our defense, normally we don't see another living, breathing human body.
Jim
So it don't even matter at the time.
Colin Cowherd
Generally at the time working because it's three in the morning, there's nobody around. So.
Jim
Valid point.
Colin Cowherd
Seeing actual people you work with, seeing traffic, light, sunlight, it really is, it really is bizarre.
Jim
Brilliant.
Colin Cowherd
But we are in for calling. It is the, the final hour of the show as we take you all the way up until 3 Eastern Time, noon Pacific. Here you can listen to us on the iHeartRadio app and you can find us on hundreds of affiliates all across the country here. Before we get into this discussion about latest on a quarterback competition in the NFL, we had a major, major discussion that needed to be concluded here on the air. And that was.
Jim
You were right. You were correct.
Colin Cowherd
Well, let's, I mean, let's, let's find out how correct I was.
Jim
Let's find out how correct.
Colin Cowherd
So this is. Welcome to July, everybody. Is Zach Wilson really Polynesian? And for that we go live to our Polynesian insider, Lee Dalap, who is standing in Waikiki for the latest. Lee.
Ryan Music
Yes, that is correct, Jonas Knox, that Zachary Cap Wilson is in fact a quarter Polynesian. His dad being half Hawaiian, he in fact did win the 2020 College Polynesian Polynesian college football player of the year and is in the Polynesian College Football hall of Fame.
Jim
There you go. Good for you, Zach. Had no idea. I was today years old when I found that out, man. God bless.
Colin Cowherd
What you think he was white?
Jim
Zach Wilson, you see the dude, he looks as, as freaking all American white boy as it gets, period. See? But that just goes to show you we live in a world where you just should not judge people by the appearance of them. You judge them by who they are, because it really shouldn't even matter.
Colin Cowherd
And it's. It's radio. I could be Jamaican.
Jim
Imagine. Exactly. Imagine if you was running up on him like, hey, white boy. Right? And. And he's like, but I'm Polynesian. You actually got offended by him saying he was Polynesian.
Colin Cowherd
And by the way, you don't want to play with them.
Jim
Oh, no, no. And. And if he. And if he's bringing that side of his family to the party, I'll just tell you right now, hey, I didn't know how deep that. That stuff was until I lived on the West Coast.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Jim
Let me tell you. Polynesians, the Tongans. What is it? Pacific. Pacific Islanders, man. Look here. Warriors. Like, for real Warriors.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, that's like.
Jim
They get the doorknuts. Oh, that. That stuff, right? Yeah. Forget about it. I don't want no parts of that.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, you go to. You spend enough. I remember we were staying. I went to Hawaii one time. We were staying at the hotel that the University of Hawaii players were staying at, because they would stay at a hotel the day before games. And these guys are walking around the lobby, and I'm looking at them going, first of all, maybe none of them are going to play professionally. And they're all walking around, and it's like a barn with legs. Just big dudes. Massive.
Jim
There's some big dudes. Dude, there's calf muscles and.
Colin Cowherd
Oh, my God.
Jim
They're just some big dudes, man. Like, different type of big. Different type of big dudes, man. Yeah, mamas be big, too. They big, too. Just big, solid built people, man. Good for y'.
Colin Cowherd
All.
Jim
I could use some of that. Them legs, because I got little legs. I got leg envy. Got no calves.
Colin Cowherd
You do?
Jim
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
Look at me.
Jim
Yeah, we on the same. We're on the same leg program.
Colin Cowherd
My legs like crutches.
Jim
I mean, I ain't quite Jim Jones with my legs, but it's bad now, little legs. Speaking of quarterbacks, Cloudsdale never won the Kentucky Derby, though. Just keep that in mind.
Colin Cowherd
All right, That's a good point.
Jim
That's what my mom used to tell me. You never saw a lion catch a cheetah, so there you go. Yeah, that was how she made me feel good about my little legs, you know, because my legs was little. But go ahead, man.
Colin Cowherd
Go ahead. You know who's not Polynesian? Cam Ward.
Jim
You sure? So.
Colin Cowherd
That brings up the discussion of what's going on.
Jim
Hold on, hold on.
Colin Cowherd
Cam Ward, by the way, if he's Polynesian. We're going to have to. He's black dog if he was Polynesian. I'm literally walking right out in the traffic. I will do the show from my phone in the middle of Ventura. That's enough. But that being said, Cam Ward finds himself the number one pick of the draft for the Tennessee Titans, and he's going to be, quote, unquote, competing for the job with Will Levis, who is currently there. And so the Titans offensive lineman J.C. latham was on Sirius XM NFL Radio and discussed the QB battle for the Titans.
Jim
If you're a ball player, if you love this game, then Will is just not going to sit over here and say, oh, we drafted him, go ahead, take it. And Cam's not going to expect it to be just given to him. And throughout the spring, I think that's the one thing that all the coaches and players on the team have seen. Both of them taking the challenge of trying to really earn the spot and really fight for the spot, and it just made them better. You can see the improvements from Will and you can see the sharpness of Cam and Cam's taking a lot more of a leadership understanding of taking accountability. The team goes into the quarterback. So, you know, in that regard, setting.
Colin Cowherd
The tone, we can dress this up as a quarterback competition all we want. Will Levis has no shot. None at all, bro. Injury, okay, yeah, that. But Cam Ward was drafted number one overall. You've got a brand new regime.
Jim
Strike number one.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Jim
Strike number two drafted him.
Colin Cowherd
And you've got a head coach who, because of the new regime, if he doesn't win this year or at least prove that he's the guy for Cam Ward's development, he's gone. So it's almost like Brian Callahan, you get four strikes.
Jim
I mean, you didn't throw in there three wins last year. Yeah, I mean, if you're Will Levis, sure, you accept the, the, the challenge of trying to remain the starting quarterback, but you were the starting quarterback of a three win team the year before.
Colin Cowherd
Like Brian Callahan has no choice but to start.
Jim
Cam Ward, number one pick. That's number one pick at quarterback that says he's a day one starter.
Colin Cowherd
Day one started, but they dress it up as well. No, it's just, you know, competition and Will Levis, you know, look, man, tongue in cheek. Like we saw what happened last year. Gerard Mayo tried to, you know, play the song and dance when it came to Jacoby Brissette and Drake May and even said along the lines of, yeah, Drake Mays Actually outplayed Jacoby Brissette, yet named Jacoby Brissette the starter. And it's like, yeah, man, you can't. Like, I know that we want to make this out to be like it's this true competition. It's not, it's not because of all the other factors that are there. Even if Will Levis had slightly outplayed Cam Ward in training camp and in the preseason, I think Cam Ward would still be the guy. He'd still get the chance to be the starting quarterback from day one because there's too many other factors in play when it comes to the brand new regime. Who took him number one overall? He was the guy they identified as their quarterback of the future. And you've got a coach who is clearly on the hot seat. He's looking around going, man, the guy who hired me is out of here. There's been a new, there's a new structure in the front office. If I don't produce or if I'm not showing that I'm the solution, then I'm gone. And then we're going to be staring down the, down the barrel of another quarterback comes in. For one year there's a coach that's fired and now he's got to work with another guy the next year in the year two. We've seen it so many times.
Jim
There's a lot of ways the wind could blow this topic just because of all of the uncertainties and unknowns of what's surrounding this Tennessee Titans team. But one thing that we do know for certain is that the quarterback competition is with a quarterback that was a part of a three win team the year before. This year's quarterback that is added to the quarterback room is the number one overall pick. Not number two, not number three, not number four, not number five. And as amazing as it would be to be, because I know I was a number two overall pick, amazing as that is, it's not number one. It's not number one. Cam Ward is your number one overall draft pick in the draft. He's going to play.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Jim
Now, how that plays out in terms of how you view the coach, you know, and, and what his role will be. Callahan, with what he's able to do or not do, there's a lot of moving parts connected to that because you have to give a guy like Cam Ward the opportunity to be able to adapt and to adjust to being in the National Football League. That's just part of it. You got to give a guy the opportunity to grow. You got a Running gang. You got Tony Pollard in the backfield. He's a pretty serviceable running back. I ain't going to give him elite talent, but he's a really good football player that, that could take a little pressure off. I would like for them to have a better running back that it takes more pressure off of them. I would like for them to have a better tight end so it takes more pressure off of him. Those are guys that to me are very vital to the early stages of a quarterback and having successes, having those safety blankets, those valves in, in a running back, in a really good tight end. But you do have Calvin Ridley, you got Ty. They added Tyler Lockett. That's a lot of leadership value there. They have put players in place where you'd say they have weapons for the guy they brought in. They have the opportunity to see what they have. Don't ruin that by wasting your time trying to figure out if he's the guy for the job or not. When you're a number one overall draft pick, you've already made the determination that he's good enough to start at the league level. Day one don't have to have the conversation about giving it to him. Don't have to have the conversation about him earning it. All those things come with him within the locker room. But in terms of how the coaching staff should be looking at him, that's a day one starter. Yeah, it's a day. And it's not even, it's not even a hard decision to make.
Colin Cowherd
You don't have a choice how poorly.
Jim
The team played and performed last season. It's not even a hard decision. A hard debate to have.
Colin Cowherd
That's what I'm saying. Even if you did get to to training camp and into the preseason and Will Lev did slightly outplay him.
Jim
It's the preseason.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. You're still making Cam Ward the starter.
Jim
And then we've had this conversation numerous times about the four quarterbacks that are in Cleveland. I don't care if Dylan Gabriel or Shador Sanders lighted up in the preseason. It really does not matter. You're not climbing from fourth string to first string. Chances are it's very, very strong chance a third rounder is not going to climbing from third string to first string starting quarterback. It's, it's almost, it is a, almost a slim to none situation where it plays out that a fifth rounder some way somehow climbs up three spots to become the starter. A third rounder climbs up two spots to become a, a starting quarterback. It's just not Realistic. But, but when you look at a team like Tennessee and your depth chart is a three win team depth chart, some of the guys are new, some of the guys were there. One of the guys that was there is the starting quarterback from last year. It's not the same proposition when the number one overall pick comes in and it's a three win team from a year ago and the starting quarterback from the year ago is not like they are going to be given the benefit of the doubt. We're going to start Will Levis and see what Cam Ward can do. It's actually going to be the opposite.
Colin Cowherd
So when Zach Taylor was in Cincinnati, I think it was the first couple of years, they were pretty rough and I think he might have been a two win team his first year, four win team the second year, and then Joe Burrow was drafted like Zach Taylor. His whole goal in order to keep his job was to show some sort of hope and development of Joe Burrow so that he could be kept around. And if you're Brian Callahan, you're kind of in the same spot, which is interesting because he came from Cincinnati. But if you're Brian Callahan, you're kind of in the same spot. Your whole goal, yeah, you want to win games, but ultimately you want to show the front office who drafted that guy in the corner. Hey, your investment is better served with me guiding him than anybody else. And the only way you do that is by playing him as much as possible. And that's why there's like, well, you know, there's a competition. Will Levis, man. No offense to Will Levis. It's over.
Jim
Like it was over last year. They were trying to figure out how to put dirt on it last year. I mean, let's be real, by the end of the season. They were trying to put dirt on Will Levis last year. I mean, and that's what happens when you lose. There's no way around that. When you're not productive in a sport of total, total discrimination, they discriminate on your production. If you're productive, they love you. If you're not, get out of here. Period. And I don't care if you were productive last year, if you're not productive this year, you still can walk. Get out of here.
Colin Cowherd
Get out of here.
Jim
So, so the bottom line here, you do have to play with, you do have to play Cam Ward and you gotta, you gotta make it. So gets small victories, not big ones. Go for small goals, not big ones. Little victories, not big ones. You stack little victories, next thing you know you got a whole bunch of little victories next, next thing you know you've built some momentum and then you can take all of those little ones collectively and make them a big win. That's how you got to approach this with Cam Ward. And not because it, it's that Cam Ward can't be that type of quarterback in the league. He went number one overall. He can be. It's that your team might not be in the position be what Cam Ward needs to be or what Cam Ward can show to be if he's on a a team in the proper elements and the proper situation to have that type of level of success where he wins mvp, rookie MVP award and shows that, you know, he's one of these guys to be to looked at, be looked at in heading into the future of, of his career.
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's kind of wild because everything you hear about Cam Ward, great guy like every everybody talks about, stand up dude, works hard, keeps his head down, humble, great teammate, all like he's got everything you could want in a starting quarterback. He had a great year last year, all of it. He's gotten a fraction of the coverage as the number one pick to Shador Sanders who was picked.
Jim
That's not a fraction. That's not even a fraction.
Colin Cowherd
Number one pick of the draft. Number one over pick of the draft. And we've spent more time.
Jim
Yes. And we spent all our, all our time included. This is the first time we're talking about Cam Ward.
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
Jim
Since he's gotten drafted.
Colin Cowherd
So the moral of the story is if Cam Ward Ward would up his game and start getting some speeding tickets, we'd spend more time talking about YouTube. Okay. So get out there and just step on it a little bit.
Jim
It really works to Cam Ward's advantage if the attention and the focus is not directly on him, which you'll see that drastically, dramatically change soon as the season gets, you know, gets going because he is the number one overall pick and he is a quarterback and oh, and he is a black quarterback. So the always can add that into the equation as well. There will be a ton of attention that goes his way once this season gets ramped up. But it is curious to think that there have been a lot of players coming out of the draft that have been talked about ad nauseam and none more than Shador Sanders. And he's a fifth round draft pick, fourth on the depth chart and we're talking about him more during the course of shows and, and not just us. I'm not just saying us. I'm saying the media in than they are Cam. War in Tennessee.
Colin Cowherd
It's just, it's wild, man.
Jim
That is pretty wild.
Colin Cowherd
So, hey, you know, good to be guilty, good to be good to be sure, I guess.
Jim
And by the way, shame, shame on us. Hey, I'm talking about Cam Ward every day from here on out. Some way somehow I'm bringing up Cam Ward.
Colin Cowherd
Hell yeah.
Jim
During the show.
Colin Cowherd
Hell yeah.
Jim
Because he deserves that because he was number one overall draft pick.
Colin Cowherd
And you know, based on earlier, if he was Polynesian, it would have led the hour. So just saying, by the way, do you want to mention on a serious note, our hearts are with everyone affected by the Texas flooding. So join us in supporting recovery efforts through the Kerr County Flood relief fund. That's community foundation.net, community foundation.net all right, so coming up next here on the Herd, we are going to talk about somebody who made a decision and it was all about the cash. All about the cash. And it's yours right here on fsr.
Jim
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, what's up everybody? It's me, three time Pro Bowler Levar Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called up on Game. What is up on game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, TJ Hushman Zada and Super bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to up on Game with me, Lavar Arrington, TJ Hickmanzada and Plexico Burris on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast from.
LeVar Arrington
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Colin Cowherd
It's the Herd. Fox Sports Radio. Levar Arrington, Jonas Knox in for Colin. Coming up a little over 20 minutes from now. There's a, there's a ranking that's out and a familiar face is at the top. Find out who it is in the Herdline news. Coming up 20 minutes from now here on FSR.
Jim
Strong tease, bro.
Colin Cowherd
So we've got the latest layer to the nil world that we're all living in. Felix Ojo, who is a five star offensive lineman. He is committed to Texas Tech. All right, now me personally, I look at that because I'm not going to swim in the negative side of the pool like some people here. I look at that. This is great for Texas Tech. They got a big time recruit. Clearly somebody who loved the Texas Tech program and is doing it for all the right reasons.
Jim
Give us some, give us some.
Colin Cowherd
Greg Tuohy.
Jim
Yeah, Ratatouille. Give us, give us some context.
Colin Cowherd
Jose Altui.
Jim
Can't help you guys.
Felix Ojo
Well, I think this was a fascinating story that flew under the radar over the holiday weekend. But this kid, very talented, top 10 recruit in the country by most services and his supposed final four was Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas which are.
Jim
All way better teams than Texas Tech.
Felix Ojo
Playoff worthy national championship.
Jim
I mean that's just the truth.
Colin Cowherd
All right.
Felix Ojo
But over the weekend he shocked everyone and committed to Texas Tech with a fully guaranteed three year, $5 million contract.
Colin Cowherd
Right.
Jim
Does it say, do you have the article pulled up by Chad?
Felix Ojo
I do, yeah.
Jim
Does it say where the contract came from? Who gave the contract?
Felix Ojo
Yeah, it's one of their big, it's called the Matador Club, Texas Tech. And also if you remember, they got the girl, the softball, the pitcher from Stanford after this past year she took them to the national championship game. They basically bought her too.
Jim
So here's where it gets interesting for me and, and how you look at this. That's a collective, I'm, I'm assuming some type of collective to, to be able to pay the player. When you start getting into saying guaranteed contracts, one of the, the elements when the NCAA versus the house settlement came about was creating a cap for, for it is like 20 million cap. But I'm pretty certain that that that cap is for all sports. So whatever the cap is for, for the, the football team is the cap for the football team getting into doing guaranteed contracts. I feel like this now opens up a different door. One, how do you justify what those guarantees are? Because this is not pay for play. You're not hiring him as an employee of the university and you're paying him this guaranteed contract. That's, that's not correct. He's being paid for nil services. So whatever it is that you said $5 million over three years. So whatever it is that he has to do, that has to be approved by a governing body, an appointed group that says that, okay, he did this appearance, that appearance is worth X amount of dollars, not this amount. It's worth 5,000, not 100,000. Right. So now you have to be able to justify how much you're paying these athletes based upon what they're doing within the name, image and likeness space of college sports. That opens up an entirely different conversation because now if this kid says, okay, I'm gonna get the guaranteed money, I'm go here for one year and then I want to hit the portal because I'm having a good season, but our team isn't and I want to go somewh else, what happens next? That is now the conversation that has to take place. What happens next? If you have this air quotes guaranteed contract for three years time at Texas Tech and it came through a collective or whatever it is that they're called, I don't, they have a big billionaire.
Felix Ojo
Donor to his funnel.
Jim
It can't be right. It can't be coming direct from a billionaire donor straight to the athlete. That's, that's still a violation. That's, that's not, that's not compliant. So in this scenario, is the new team going to buy out the contract of the collective from this school? Are you going to pay the, the remaining three, $4 million? Because you'd have to assume if you come in with a guaranteed contract, your rookie, your freshman year is going to be a lower number than all the other years. You'd have to assume the numbers would go up as the years would go up because they haven't done anything. So you're, you're kind of trying to hedge your bet in terms of what you're going to invest in that player heading into their second and third year where perceivably they're going to leave after their, their third year in school. So now you're in a situation where you got to figure out who's taking care of these contracts. What happens like, okay, if I leave and I say I don't care if this next school pays out the contract that I have guaranteed with you guys, I'm leaving in the portal, what does that look like? Like, how does the school that has you manage that and how does the school that's taking you in, how do they manage that? There's just a lot of questions.
Colin Cowherd
This whole. It was so much better when things were illegal. Yeah. Like, like we all knew. We all knew what was going on, but we didn't know the details of it. And we could just be like, all right, listen, they got a five star recruitment.
Jim
It.
Colin Cowherd
They probably paid him fine and he's an offensive lineman. They would never go there. It's like, was it Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss who had all those guys come in, remember, like Laquan Treadwell and all those guys came as part of one. Robert, as part of one recruiting class. And everyone looked at it and said, well, that's a little suspect.
Jim
Hell of a recruiter that he.
Colin Cowherd
Freeze, Hugh Freeze. What happened there? And then, you know, Robert convicts, you know, like, you know, smoking synthetic weed and falling out of a window, said.
Jim
He was high jumping.
Colin Cowherd
But now there's just so much that we don't. It's almost like we have less answers now than we did before and we have all the information to where. You're not quite sure who's paying for what. You're not quite sure what this means. You don't know if he wants to opt out or if he wants to transfer somewhere, what that means. You don't know what, like all of these different factors that have just been thrown into it and I just, I don't know where we go from here. Like, what is. Like when are we gonna get to a point to where. All right, these are the rules. This is what's at play. This is what you can do, and this is what you can't do. Done.
Jim
It's because there's so many legal battles that are taking place, it's hard to even. Even with the future of what the NCAA as a governing body represents to these schools. What. What is the dynamic between conferences? What is the dynamic between conferences, the NCAA and television? You know, the, the. The television stations. There's so many moving parts here. And the one part that to me is going to be the most interesting of them all is athlete versus employee. That's going to be the biggest conversation. Because once you get to a place of where you have to call these ATH Floodgates employees, then now the floodgates are open to all the other elements that come into play. Because as of right now, this is still not pay for play. It has to be stated in all of these conversations. It is still not play. Pay for play, meaning I'm not hiring you Penn State isn't hiring this kid to come there and play there for three years. Right? That's not how this works. So until you get to a point of where you say, and even once you get to that point now the question becomes, are you hiring them as an employee? What are you hiring them under? Are you hiring them as an employee to the university? Are you hiring them as an employee under a different entity? How is that happening? If you don't hire them as an employee, how are you hiring them? Are they an independent contractor? How is that contract being done? Can I get out of the contract because I'm an independent contractor and I did the deal in a different way where I can loophole getting out of this contract because I'm an independent contractor. There are so many effed up conversations connected to where the NCAA or where college sports is now in this nil era. And they don't have. I can't even imagine that they have the answers to be able to put in place to create the structures that are able to make these healthy and safe environments for all involved. It's just not there.
Felix Ojo
I think the other fascinating thing, Lavar, we were talking about this in the break is that nowadays the best players in the country are not necessarily going to the best schools.
Jim
That's correct.
Felix Ojo
And this kid is chasing short term money instead of long term potential success at a better school with better coaching. Schools are going to be playing for national championships in the playoff prime time. Like that's not going to happen in Texas State.
Jim
That's a strong observation.
Colin Cowherd
And also I understand it from their standpoint because they're looking at it going, yeah, the ceiling is higher if I go somewhere, get developed and get to the next level, but there's no guarantees I'm going to get to the next level.
Jim
There you go.
Colin Cowherd
So here's my $5 million. I'm going to get.
Jim
There you go.
Colin Cowherd
And at least this 5 million I can see. The 50 million NFL career I can't see. So I'm going to take what I can see.
Felix Ojo
Well, here's the quote from his agent. He said in the story, football is a brutal sport and athletes are not able to play professionally until their graduating class has been in college three years. It was important to be able to secure Felix's future and give him and his family some security as he continues to develop into a first round NFL draft.
Jim
You do realize what this is? It's a bargaining tool. It is a establishing of what he represents within the market. So in other words, if I'm a five star and I chose to go here. And this is the contract that I have that's guaranteed. I'm not going any lower than that. So I have every intentions of leaving Texas Tech to go play somewhere else and y' all got to pay me more or I'll just stay where I'm at. I have this guaranteed contract here. I'll stay where I'm at that or it becomes a bargaining chip for these athletes for their agents to be able to go to the other schools, shop their, their client around and say, here's our starting point. He's making 3 million this year. Out of that 5 million, what are you willing to do? What are you willing to do? Because at the end of the day I would assume that these, these contracts can't be, they got to be at will contracts. Like you can't lock a dude in and say, nope, we own your rights. At least not that I think, I mean I could be wrong, but I would think that these are at will contracts.
Colin Cowherd
Felix Ojo's agent was on Fox Sports Radio on Friday night talking with Aaron Torres and Arnie Spanier and he says, he claims it was all through revenue share and he said that they chose Texas Tech because they guaranteed three years no other school would do more than one.
Jim
There you go. So there you go. And now this is, this is again, this is like Cleveland Given, given DeSean Watson a guaranteed contract, right? You have one that jumps out there to get a player that they wouldn't maybe necessarily thought they would have been able to get a hold of. You're going to have schools that jump out there and offer these types of opportunities because they wouldn't have been able to get hold of a five star athlete to this caliber if they didn't do something differently than what the other schools are doing, which now will eventually. There's two ways of looking at this. The bigger schools will hold their water and hope that they can recruit guys that want to come there for the reasons that they want them to come there for. And if the guy goes and proves out at a Texas Tech, then they make their decision from there. Or they say, I don't want you at all. You're not the type of guy we want want on our team. That exists as well. But you have two ways of approaching it. Either you say, okay, good, we're never going to do that. We are never going to give more than a one year contract two guys because of how competitive this, this field is, or you're going to say we got to start Doing guaranteed contracts. The ones that say we're doing one year contracts, they're generally the ones that are going to be able to dictate what the rules are to a certain degree, in a certain capacity still can get the type of recruits that and can come get your recruit if they prove out. If you start doing the guaranteed contract for more than one year at say Ohio State or a Michigan or a Texas or, or one of those Alabama at one of those type schools, then the landscape has now took a turn for the wildest period forever. There's no going back. If Ohio State says we're giving out three year guarantees for nil contract before we even get to the point of them being employee contracted players, the whole game is going to change.
Colin Cowherd
Man along for the good old days when Ricky Rose dad got a tractor, Chips, I mean nice, nice new John Deere in the driveway. Instead we got all this mumbo jumbo with contracts going around and you don't.
Jim
Even know, you don't even know what happens. Like you don't even really know what, what really all of the ins and outs of how it's going to be handled. If this, all of the contingencies. What if he gets injured, what if he fails out of school? Do you have all of those things written into that contract? How many pieces, pieces of language are going to be in that contract? How many things that they think about versus how many things that they might have not have thought about yet? Like you're going to. You can't take a pro contract and compare to an athlete in college as a contract because the deliverables are much different. They're much different. If a kid doesn't get a certain GPA and he finds himself academically ineligible, does he still get that? You can't call that conduct detrimental to the organization. I mean maybe you could, but how? You just didn't get the grades. So now, because of the institution that he's in, which is in a way separate from what you're doing in football, is now saying you're not eligible to play because you don't have a good enough grade. I still want my money. I still want my money. You can put me on the sideline, rule me ineligible, but this contract says if I'm here and I'm on this team that I get paid this amount of money. How are all of these things going to be navigated? It's so many questions. It's concerning in a lot of ways. I mean, I know it's exciting. Players should have been paid. They should get compensated but there should have been more of of a structure in play and prepared for a time such as this. And and now it's like the you know, the roosters are coming back home to to roost.
Colin Cowherd
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Jim
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am.
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Colin Cowherd
FDIC OX Sports Radio Levar Arrington Jonas Knox in for calling. We'll be back here tomorrow as well too, so make sure you you come back. We'll have the the fun stuff on a Tuesday here on Fox Sports Radio. By the way, a reminder though, before we get to the Herdline news that shortly after the show, the podcast will be going up. So if you've missed any of today's show, be sure to check it out. Search Herd or two Pros Wherever you get your podcast, be sure to follow and review it again. Just Search Herd or two Pros. Wherever you get your podcast, you'll see today's show posted right after we get off the air.
Jim
No, no, no. Turn on the news.
Colin Cowherd
This is the Herd line news. All right, Ryan Music Music all right.
Ryan Music
Now, NFL training camp right around the corner. ESPN has released their latest rankings surveying league executives, coaches and scouts. The first rendition of this is ranking the backs in the league coming in at number one. Probably no surprise to anyone, Saquon Barkley receiving every first place vote but one in the 70 people surveyed.
Jim
Good for him.
Ryan Music
Saquon Barkley, a near unanimous number one Derrick Henry, number two, Jir Gibbs, number three, Bijan Robinson, fourth, and Christian McCaffrey coming in at five.
Colin Cowherd
Okay, and these.
Jim
How does CMAC come in at five?
Ryan Music
Some of the feedback there was, he's a great player, but he has had.
Jim
Yeah, he's not durable. I mean, it's. Again, it's just like that lemon car that we were talking about. Right. Did we talk about that on the air, or was that off air?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. On there.
Jim
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Jim
You don't want to. You don't want to drive a dependable car.
Colin Cowherd
I remember the stuff we talked about off the air.
Jim
I try. I tend to try to forget intentionally.
Ryan Music
Regarding Christian McCaffrey, NFL personnel executive was quoted saying, he's an elite trainer. He takes great care of himself. Just doesn't have a big enough body.
Jim
An elite trainer, takes care of himself, but gets hurt. Like, that's what you want to say, right? You can't make him a top five player if he's always hurt. I'm just. That's just all I'm saying.
Colin Cowherd
I mean, like, it feels like there's some racial undertones there.
Jim
To be honest, I wasn't going down that road.
Colin Cowherd
So I'm just wondering who's voting on this again.
Ryan Music
This is league executives, coaches and scouts.
Colin Cowherd
And. And there was one that voted.
Jim
Against Saquon Barkley, but it probably took Derek Henry.
Colin Cowherd
Or he worked for the Giants.
Jim
Or he worked for the Giants. Give me some. That's a good one.
Colin Cowherd
Who didn't think Saquon Barkley was the best running back in the league last year? How's anybody voting?
Jim
It could have been somebody from Baltimore.
Colin Cowherd
Come on, man. He just ran for 2,000 yards.
Jim
Come on, man.
Colin Cowherd
Like, who says that? Like, who would vote for anybody other than Saquon Barkley last year that. That was unanimous. You could argue he should have been the MVP of the league.
Jim
He was the mvp, and somebody.
Colin Cowherd
Somebody had the ball.
Jim
If he breaks that. If he breaks the record, he's the MVP of the league. So he should have got it for the simple fact that they held him out and he did not break the record. Done.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. That seems.
Jim
That's your MVP of the league.
Colin Cowherd
Seems pretty unanimous. I don't understand.
Jim
Well, it's got the vote, but.
Colin Cowherd
Okay.
Jim
Hey.
Colin Cowherd
All right.
Jim
Shouts out the king Henry.
Ryan Music
Yeah, I will stay in the NFL. And the washing commanders, their star wide receiver, Terry McLaurin, holding out. Expected to be holding out come training camp. But they are trying to negotiate. They're trying to negotiate a new deal. And the latest from Jeremy Fowler, Terry McLaurin, quote, not happy with where things are regarding an extension. And they have a couple of weeks here to make progress before risk, before risking a holdout that drags on into training camp camp. Adam Schefter also adding to the Terry McLaren situation. There's no update, and that's what the problem is. There is quite a gap between where both sides are and want right now, and they have not made any progress. So things not looking positive for Washington and Terry McLaren as they look to build on last year's surprising NFC championship run with Jaden Daniels in his rookie season.
Colin Cowherd
It.
Jim
Here comes T.J. wolf.
Colin Cowherd
What. It's getting a little.
Jim
C.J. watt.
Colin Cowherd
It's getting a little dicey there. I look, I acknowledge, generally speaking, these deals get done, you know, usually, you know, at, at the wire right before the year, whatever, but in real time, I love this stuff. I think it's fascinating just to see the back and forth and how it plays out in the media, the different reports and all the other things that are going on, the T.J. watt stuff. But Terry McLaurin, look, he's, he's a guy I can imagine they desperately want back just based on the fact that he's been really one of the foundational pieces with that team, with all the controversy and all the stuff that's gone on over the past several years. He's always been a really good player, but he's a wide receiver. He's getting up there in years. And I could understand their. Them not wanting to maybe empty the Vault for Terry McLaurin, but it would be a tough loss for them as an organization because he's one of the team leaders there.
Jim
They got Noah Brown, they got Michael Gallup, they got, they added Debo Samuel, and some people think he's overweight, but I think he's still Debo Samuel until he proves he's not.
Colin Cowherd
Wait, what they said.
Jim
They said that there's a new Chunky. There's a new Chunky Debo Samuel. I ain't going into all that. That's what I've heard. But I'm just saying this might be, this might be the, the continued setting of the table for TJ Watt to end up in, in Washington and Terry ended up in, in Pittsburgh. Just saying. They said the Chunky Debo Samuel has, has shown up to, you know, he can't wear them tight little shorts he'd been wearing pregame into the locker room at the current weight that he's at. They said he got to drop about 5 to 10 pounds. That's what I heard. Tio has something something to say about your Daddy said it one more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.
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Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3: Rookie QB Coverage & NIL Money
Release Date: July 7, 2025
Introduction
In this engaging episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the hosts delve deep into two pivotal topics shaping the landscape of American football: the fierce competition surrounding rookie quarterbacks in the NFL and the evolving dynamics of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money in college sports. Hosted by Colin Cowherd, with contributions from Jim and LeVar Arrington, the discussion offers insightful analysis, backed by current events and expert opinions.
Section 1: Rookie Quarterback Coverage
Timestamp: 04:16 - 20:31
The episode kicks off with a detailed examination of the quarterback competition within the Tennessee Titans' roster. The conversation primarily centers around Cam Ward, the Titans' number one overall draft pick, and his rivalry with Will Levis, the team's existing quarterback.
Key Points:
Cam Ward's Entry and Expectations:
Will Levis vs. Cam Ward:
Coaching Implications:
Team Dynamics and Support Systems:
Notable Quotes:
Section 2: NIL Money and Its Impact on College Football
Timestamp: 25:51 - 41:45
Transitioning from the NFL landscape, the hosts pivot to discuss the burgeoning influence of NIL money in college sports, particularly focusing on a high-profile case involving Felix Ojo, a five-star offensive lineman committing to Texas Tech with a $5 million guaranteed contract.
Key Points:
Felix Ojo’s Commitment to Texas Tech:
Implications for NCAA and Recruitment:
Future of NIL Contracts:
Legal and Structural Challenges:
Potential Long-Term Effects:
Notable Quotes:
Insights and Conclusions
Throughout the episode, the hosts offer their perspectives on the evolving nature of both professional and collegiate football. They underscore the significant pressure on rookie quarterbacks to perform and adapt swiftly, given their high draft status and the expectations that accompany it. Simultaneously, the introduction of large NIL contracts in college sports presents both opportunities and unprecedented challenges, potentially altering recruitment strategies and the financial dynamics within college athletics.
Final Thoughts:
Conclusion
This episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd provides a thorough exploration of the intense quarterback competition within the NFL and the transformative impact of NIL money in college football. By intertwining current events with in-depth analysis, the hosts offer listeners a comprehensive understanding of these critical developments in the world of sports.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps: