THE HERD – Hour 1 – Knicks Run It Back, Team USA’s Dominance in World Cup

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 1 – June 18, 2026 Knicks Run It Back, Team USA’s Dominance in World Cup

Episode Overview

In this episode, Colin Cowherd breaks down the New York Knicks' decision on whether to "run it back" after their long-awaited championship, analyzing the risks and realities facing the franchise. He transitions to basketball’s upcoming NBA draft, with a deep dive into the polarizing prospect Darren Peterson. The show then shifts focus to the World Cup, reviewing Team USA’s strong opening round performance, and spotlights Harry Kane and England’s prospects. The second half is rapid-fire on a mix of topics: Cristiano Ronaldo and aging superstars, Joe Burrow’s Bengals optimism, Justin Herbert’s development, the Steelers’ quarterback dilemma, and the perennial importance of obsession and fight in professional sports. The hour rounds off with insights on the murky build around Luka Doncic in LA and how teams manage franchise-altering good fortune.

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Knicks Title and "Running It Back" (03:18–10:00)

• Parade After 53-Year Drought: Colin kicks off by noting the Knicks' championship parade and the joy surrounding it, while cautioning fans not to get swept up in nostalgia and ignore fiscal realities.
• Owner James Dolan's Stance:
  • Dolan doesn't want to exceed the NBA's dreaded "second apron," a punitive tax bracket for team salary.
  • Quote from Dolan: “If we could bring back the whole team right exactly as it is, I think we, you know, why wouldn’t you, right?… But I, I can’t write a check that goes into the second eight.” (04:25-04:35)
• Colin’s Analysis:
  • Mitchell Robinson, noted as “the worst playoff free throw shooter ever,” is likely gone.
  • Landry Shamet’s playoff hot streak isn’t sustainable; don’t expect a repeat.
  • Tweaking the roster, not nostalgia, is key—citing recent history (Celtics, Thunder) where bringing everyone back didn’t result in repeat finals appearances.
  • The Knicks benefited from circumstances: favorable matchups (San Antonio’s youth), knocked up opponents, and hot shooting streaks.
  • Even Las Vegas isn’t betting on a repeat: “Vegas has your fourth best odds to win the title. They’re telling you that a lot of this was circumstantial.” (09:10)
• Memorable Moment: Colin’s subtle jab—“Landry Shamut shot 67% on threes at one stretch during the playoffs. I’m going to go with that’s not going to happen again.” (05:30)

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NBA Draft & The Darren Peterson Dilemma (10:00–14:28)

• Draft Strength: This year's crop is framed as the best in a decade, but no consensus stars.
• Spotlight on Darren Peterson (Kansas):
  • Missed many games; Kansas performed better statistically in his absence.
  • Anonymous scout/coaching quotes:
    • Eastern Conference scout: “He’s got a higher floor...but can he be core or just a Klay Thompson?...He has the ability to be Clay level.“ (10:58)
    • Another scout (worrisome): “What bothers me…It’s some diva here. I think you’re getting kind of a glimpse of who he’s going to be...if he’s not healed, he’s just not playing well...” (11:35)
    • College coach: “There wasn’t a lot of fight in him… the opposite of Jalen Brunson.” (12:05)
  • Colin compares Peterson to Andrew Wiggins—athletic, talented, but lacking that "fight" necessary for a franchise cornerstone.
  • “Their star is a fighter. Kobe was a fighter. MJ was a fighter. Bird was a fighter. Magic...Duncan. That’s who you build around, not just a guy who drops 24 points, folks.” (13:00)
• Red Flags: No assists, high turnovers, plays in a “silo,” mentality questions—“This isn’t nitpicking. This is real stuff.” (13:30)
• Notable Moment: “What you don’t want is leaks all over the house. All faucets leak. All players have holes. That part I’m okay with. But I think this stuff now...we’re starting to get a pattern.” (13:55)

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World Cup Reactions: Team USA Shines, England’s Prospects (19:09–23:12)

• Global Outlook So Far:
  • Colin highlights that the US, England, Argentina, and Germany look the best so far: “I think we can play with them. I think we can play with Germany. I’ve never felt that.” (21:49)
  • Team USA's strengths:
    • 22 successful 1v1s vs. Paraguay—best for 12 years.
    • 53 touches in attacking box, 2nd only to Germany.
    • A strong, dynamic attacker in Folarin Balogun complements playmaking Pulisic.
• England’s Young Squad:
  • Harry Kane’s brace vs. Croatia; England starts slow, relies on their star.
  • 18 of 26 English squad members making their World Cup debut.
  • “Croatia...this is not their best unit...they’re kind of got a lot of guys out of their prime…” (23:23)
• Harry Kane on US Soccer: “The World cup is only going to help it get bigger…If they can get football right, then for sure it will be one of the biggest sports in this country.” (22:11)
• Colin’s Take: He’s bullish but wary—“I think we can play with them…here’s Harry Kane on the current state of soccer in America.” (21:49)

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World Cup & Sports News Roundup (23:15–27:11)

• Ronaldo’s Struggles:
  • Portugal tied Congo; Ronaldo, at 41, looks “washed”.
  • Thierry Henry breaks down a key play: “The team needs to score, not you…Make a run, create space so I can tap it in. It didn’t happen.” (24:24)
  • Analyst proposes: “I would have him come off the bench as a super sub energy guy for the last 20 minutes.” (25:18)
  • Colin’s insight: “Ronaldo was more of a physical specimen. That doesn’t age as well. Messi’s all about technical skill, ball on foot, beating you in one-on-one situations... That ages better.” (25:45)
• Meta-Sports Take: Discussions about aging talent and managing transitions in superstars’ careers.

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NFL Segment: Burrow’s Bengals Optimism (27:11–30:45)

• Joe Burrow Comparison: Claims his Bengals team “feels like” his legendary 2019 LSU squad.
  • “I want everybody talking about the Bengals…I feel like there’s so much greatness that we’re going to achieve this year.” (27:42)
• Colin’s Analysis:
  • Offensive line remains a liability: “He’s never even had a top 15 offensive line... this league has never been complicated. Get your quarterback, protect him, and then go draft or acquire guys that can attack the opposing quarterback.” (28:22)
• Co-host’s Skepticism: “This feels out of character for Burrow...maybe he had a lobotomy this offseason.” (29:47)
• Colin’s Psychological Read: “Sometimes you have to convince yourself of stuff in life to get yourself through the day.” (30:15)

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Chargers’ Justin Herbert & Steelers’ QB Dilemma (30:45–34:16)

• Justin Herbert’s Development: Mike McDaniel on Herbert—“Trying to take him to the next level…help the efficiency of the offense.” (31:21)
• Colin: Simple tweaks for elite players, not overhauls—Herbert's under-coached since Shane Steichen's departure. (31:57)
• Pittsburgh Steelers & Brandon Sorsby:
  • Context: Sorsby, talented QB with gambling addiction issues, now eligible for supplemental draft.
  • Steelers reporter Mike DeFebo: “It seems they’re still in that process of gathering more information…” (33:40)
  • Colin’s Realism: “With people that have addictions, you don’t really know how it’s gonna end. So you have to just be willing to go for it or not go for it.” (34:16)
  • Makes the case the Steelers are “uncomfortable with discomfort;” historically play it safe.

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The Myth of “Parental Control,” Outliers, and the Obsession Factor (42:43–46:17)

• Colin’s Big Take: Parental influence is overestimated; drive and obsession matter more.
  • “As parents, you don’t matter as much as you think… Is that after the genetic makeup you hand your kids, they become what they want to become.” (42:43)
• Underdog/Outlier Success Stories: Jokic, SGA, Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, Josh Allen, Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. “Just don’t feed the trolls. Don’t listen to the noise, keep your head down.” (46:17)
• Jay Wright’s Brunson Story: “Called him for our tee time, 7:30, goes, ‘I can’t do it. I got workout at 7:30.’” (45:54)
  • The “obsessed” player is the foundation of team success.

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Lakers’ Luka Doncic Conundrum (46:17–52:42)

• Building Around Luka:
  • Star acquisition is only half the battle; proper roster construction is key.
  • “What you need is athleticism, defense… get me shooters. This is the classic disconnect… won the lottery, but what do you do with it?”
  • The trio of LeBron, Austin Reaves, Luka: overlapping skills, injury issues, not enough defense or shooting.
  • “Two years later, it’s all murky. I don’t know what to do with it.” (49:42)
• Co-host’s Take: Roster was built for LeBron/AD; too soon for Luka-centric overhaul. (50:36)
• NBA Realities: It’s hard to make major trades; incremental adjustments are the norm.

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Notable Quotes & Moments With Timestamps

• James Dolan on the Knicks’ Cap Dilemma: “I can't write a check that goes into the second eight.” (04:35)
• On Darren Peterson’s ‘Fight’: “He’s not relentless. Drive, obsessiveness. Fight. Well, did you guys watch the playoffs? Have you seen how the NBA playoffs are officiated? It’s a rock fight. It is all about physicality.” (12:29)
• On Discomfort and Growth: “Let's be honest about what propels all of us in life to growth. Real growth. Discomfort.” (34:16)
• Jay Wright on Jalen Brunson: “His… every day is his work on his footwork, his technique. He still does it every day in the offseason.” (45:54)
• On Lakers’ Uncertainty: “They don’t know what to do with a Powerball ticket.” (49:42)
• Harry Kane on US Soccer: “The World cup is only going to help it get bigger…For sure, it will be one of the biggest sports in this country.” (22:11)

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Key Timestamps for Segments

• 03:18 Knicks Parade, offseason outlook, and “second apron” tax dilemma
• 10:00 NBA Draft/Anonymous Scouting Reports on Darren Peterson
• 19:09 World Cup: England, Team USA opening matches, Balogun/Pulisic analysis
• 22:11 Harry Kane on soccer’s growth in America
• 23:15 Co-host/Analyst roundtable: Croatia, Ronaldo’s decline, Henry’s breakdown, France/Portugal/Spain
• 27:11 Joe Burrow’s Bengals/LSU comparison, O-line woes
• 30:45 Justin Herbert’s tweaks and potential; Steelers and gambling QB Brandon Sorsby
• 42:43 Colin’s take on parental influence, “obsession” in outliers
• 45:54 Jay Wright’s story about Jalen Brunson’s obsession
• 46:17 Building around Luka Doncic—and Lakers’ crossroads

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Conclusion

This episode masterfully weaves through basketball, soccer, and football, using current events to probe deeper themes: organizational decision-making, the psychology of winning, the evolving nature of superstars, and the relentless drive required for greatness. Colin’s blend of skepticism, long-memory analogies, and quotable lines carries the episode, making it a thought-provoking listen for sports fans of all stripes.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

[Colin Cowherd]

Here we go on a Thursday. Former United States men's National League manager Bob Bradley stopping by today. Harry Kane in England. Oh, they look good. The Knicks having a parade and scouts are starting to weigh in on the NBA draft, the best draft in years and they are the commentary and I'll get to it in a couple of minutes. Very interesting on one of the stars who could go number one. Let's start with this 53 year drought. Nick's throwing a parade as we speak. Everybody's invited. It's a lot of fun, but to dampen it a little yesterday, the owner, James Dolan is not for bringing the band back together next year. I agree with Dolan and he doesn't want to get caught up in what they call the second apron. Here's Dolan yesterday. If we could bring back the whole team right exactly as it is, I

[Guest or Co-host (short interjections)]

think we, you know, why wouldn't you, right?

[Colin Cowherd]

But I don't know if we're going

[Guest or Interviewee (e.g., Harry Kane)]

to be able to.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're willing to stretch, right? I'll write as big of a check as possible, but I, I can't write a check that goes into the second eight.

[Guest or Co-host (short interjections)]

Got it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. What does that mean? Mitchell Robinson center, the worst playoff free throw shooter ever. We looked it up. We couldn't find anybody worse, including Shaq, probably not coming back. And Landry Shamit, G Leaguer 2 years ago who got insanely hot in these playoffs. He's not coming back either, folks. The Celtics and the Thunder over the last couple years, won a title, brought everybody back and didn't reach the finals again. The reality is you want to constantly tweak. Landry Shamut shot 67% on threes at one stretch during the playoffs. I'm going to go with that's not going to happen again. And my guess is Oklahoma City is going to be better, San Antonio is going to be older and better and the Celtics are going to make a big swing and have a package to get Giannis, they'll be noticeably better. And the Knicks have got to be honest, there are no great teams now. They were situationally excellent, but they got some breaks. First of all, they played San Antonio, youngest finals team since the 70s. They had beaten him twice in the regular season. They were 0 and 2 against Oklahoma City. If Oklahoma City wins Game 7, they face the Thunder. We talked about that before the Finals. They, the spurs were a much better matchup. Other thing is they stayed healthy. Even their older players, Knicks stayed healthy. Not everybody did. Here's another thing. Jason Tatum couldn't play late in the series against the Sixers. So Philly wins and the Knicks got kind of a beat up, tired, older bigs series against Philadelphia and walk through them. So New York got crazy hot just like Denver did a couple of years ago. Just like that Warrior team that was a three seed where Andrew Wiggins finally, finally you could depend on him. And it's situationally excellent. You get about a 6, 7 week stretch where everything works out. You go back to look at the one time Luca got to the finals in Dallas. All sorts of players were falling apart, got a little break. So there were some breaks for the Knicks. And they have two of the top 31 draft picks in the strongest draft in a decade. So they can move up, they can move those picks. They can, they've got options. But Vegas is telling you they're not going to repeat. Vegas is telling you they think Giannis is going to the Celtics and OKC in San Antonio. Remember OKC was beat up in the playoffs, J Dub got hurt, they had injuries, AJ Mitchell was banged up. Everything kind of worked. You trailed multiple times, double figures against San Antonio and it all kind of worked in your favor. So have a parade. It is awesome. But this is not going to happen again. Vegas has your fourth best odds to win the title. They're telling you that a lot of this was circumstantial, which it was for Denver and that three seeded Warrior team that won and the Celtics team that won. And that's okay. All right, this is interesting. NBA draft, less than a week. It is a very good draft and the most discussed player is Darren Peterson. So he played at Kansas and Peterson missed a lot of games. The Jayhawks were actually better when he didn't play. And there's been multiple interviews where you're not quite sure. So three, two scouts in the NBA and a college coach have now to the athletic given you anonymous quotes. So I just want to read these to you and give you my interpretation of what they're saying about. About Darren Peterson, first guy, Eastern Conference scout says he's got a higher floor over to Bonsa. He's going to be really good. Can he be a core player, a staff, or just a Klay Thompson? I think he has the ability to be Clay level. Okay. Clay was the third best player on the best warriors team that had KD staff, Draymond and Clay. Okay, here's a. Here's another scout. This one's worrisome. What bothers me, it's some diva here. I think you're getting kind of a glimpse of who he's going to be more like Paul George or Kawhi, where if he's not healed, he's just not playing well. We saw that at Kansas. That's troubling. Here's a coach and I heard this same thing about Markel Fultz. This one really worries me. Yeah, I love his demeanor. He seems locked in. But when we jumped on them, I felt like he had a little bit of, yeah, I don't want any of this. There wasn't a lot of fight in him. By the way, the opposite of, you know, Jalen Brunson. So what did we just watch and what are two of those people saying? They're saying the same thing. He's not relentless. Drive, obsessiveness. Fight. Well, did you guys watch the playoffs? Have you seen how the NBA playoffs are officiated? It's a rock fight. It is all about physicality. So I'm getting a real Andrew Wiggins vibe here. I think he's better than Andrew Wiggins, but he's. He's long, he's athletic, he's vertical, he's dynamic, he's twitchy. But the mentality with Wiggins always bothered me, and now I think he's a better prospect than Andrew Wiggins from Kansas, who went number one. But my question is, don't you. If you look at dynasties, if you look at great players, their star is a fighter. Kobe was a fighter. MJ was a fighter. Bird was a fighter. Magic was a fighter. Duncan. Those are really, really foundational core players that you can build around. Not just a guy that drops 24 points, folks. 47 guys in the NBA last year scored over 20 points. I've been. I've been told for years, Zach Levine. Oh, Hopps. So what? There's 47 guys in the NBA can give you 23 a night. I don't care. A lot of guys. Points disappear. Andrew Wiggins. I watched him a four times live when he broke into the league. And I'm like, he can score 28. I remember two baskets, they just vanish into the ether. So, and the other thing I've always worried about, Peterson. He plays in a silo. There's no assists. His last game at Kansas in the tournament in college, zero assists. His last four games in college, three assists, seven turnovers. Folks, that's who he is. But he doesn't elevate others. Put the pom poms down, watch the numbers, look at the data. Listen to people who do this for a living. He doesn't elevate others. Look at the numbers with the team, with him and without him. This is in college, the team was much better offensively when he didn't play. I mean, you know, I mean, look at the point per game differential. Look at the field goal percentage when he's not on the floor. It's better, not concerning at all. I mean, at all. So, I mean, with Peterson, Kansas, with Bill Self, arguably the best coach in college basketball, they were 15 and 9. Missed a lot of games, plays in the silo, doesn't have a lot of fighting him, according to a scout. So I this stuff, we saw a story yesterday, you know, anytime before a draft, I start hearing stuff about, you know, fight and mentality. Does he love the game? That was the Ben Simmons stuff. I'm not doubting he's talented. That is, I am not doubting that. But when I'm watching and listening to scouts and coaches and they're kind of saying the same thing, well, these are people that are in the industry. I've got to trust them. So just stuff to think about. As the draft is, you know, less than a week away now, you could say to yourself, well, they're nitpicking. No, nitpicking was you didn't like the fingernail polish on Caleb Williams. That's nitpicking. Or Andrew Luck. People said, well, you know, I don't know if he has a great arm. He's got a good enough arm. That this isn't nitpicking. This is. I don't see this with. Without him. Plays in a silo, I don't get assists, doesn't have a ton of fight. Like, this is all stuff that it legitimate stuff. The faucet drip, drip, drip. You got more than a few. What you don't want leaks all over the house. I don't mind. All faucets leak. All players have holes. That part I'm okay with. But I think this stuff now starting. We're starting to get a pattern. And those anonymous quotes, I know you don't like them. Fans want a name on it. But you're not, you know, you're not going to get that. A lot of the times your best quotes in my career doing this 35 plus years are when people don't have to put a name on it. Not everybody wants to call somebody out. Not everybody. You know, you could get fired by your team. You don't want to be known as a guy leaking stuff. But sources matter and sources are often very accurate. Okay, so yesterday, Harry Kane in England, I will say now, everybody has played at least one game in the World Cup. What do you think now about the United States men's national team? You've seen Argentina, you've seen England, you've seen Spain, you've seen Germany.

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That's next.

[Colin Cowherd]

Live in Chicago, it's the Herd.

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Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartradio app

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All right, you know what deserves more attention? The assists. Everybody talks about the goal. A big moment that gets replayed on the highlight reels.

[Colin Cowherd]

But too often we overlook all the

[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

contributions and collabs that happen along the way. That's true in soccer and honestly true in life. Halion is shining a light on the assists. As official partner of U.S. soccer, they got a whole lineup of brands ready to deliver for you. So here they are. Sensodyne Dentist Recommended Defense of your sensitive teeth Centrum Fueling your day with science backed nutrients Advil of course Powerful Inflammation Fighting pain relief Voltaren Arthritis Gel helps penetrate deep, keeps the joints moving and Tums ready to counterattack with fast heartburn relief.

[Colin Cowherd]

These are brands that are ready to

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

All right, everybody at the World cup has a match in the books. We've seen them all. The one personally I was waiting for was England. And, you know, if England won. And I think they have a shot too, because they have a star in Harry Kane, who the last couple of, you know, big tournaments, the Euro championships, he's been the leading scorer in Europe. He's a really, really special player. And you're finding like a Baligan for us or. Or a Messi or you're finding Norway's top player. The reality is you got to have a lead. You got to have a lead dog. So England, one of the favorites. Yesterday came in. Harry Kane had two goals. They have questions like America in the back end. Croatia is a real team. A little old, but a real team. England struggled early. It was tied at the break and 18 of their 26 World cup team members. This is a World cup debut, so we've got more experience in the World cup than England does. They've got some unproven players. I think it's fair to say after one match for everybody, the United States, England, Argentina, Germany have looked like the best teams. Yes. Go back to the friendly against Germany a couple of weeks ago. I thought we looked really good. There's also a couple of pieces of data that are very favorable for the United states. We had 22 successful one versus ones. That was the most team, most by any World cup team in 12 years. We were excellent one on one. We had 53 touches in the attacking box against Paraguay, currently second most behind Germany. I think we match up with Germany. Our defense only allowed nine shots. Here's the other thing. We watched Portugal. We don't look very good. Spain draw France one, but didn't feel great. So our optimism again, if you look at data stylistically, we've seen everybody play once. I think it's warranted Also, Fowler and Baligan has been essential to this. He is the classic striker that we've all been waiting for. And though Pulisic is great, he is a playmaker. I've said he's more magic than Jordan. He can score, but he's really an elite, creative playmaker in free space. So now he's got a setup guy in Baligan and. And we've never really had that kind of striker. So Pulisic, the Playmaker. We've got our striker. I watched England yesterday, a little apprehensive early. Harry Kane finishes things, but I remember this is an England team that has made it to the European finals in back to back tournaments with Harry Kane being the leader. So I'm watching them yesterday and my take is I think we can play with them. I think we can play with Germany. I've never felt that. I'm not saying we can beat him, but I watched the Germany friendly and I thought gave up an early crappy goal, but we're okay. Here's Harry Kane on the current state of soccer in America.

[Guest or Interviewee (e.g., Harry Kane)]

It's obviously grown for sure. The World cup is only going to help it get bigger and better and straightforward. America to have another sport which, you know, the, the children especially can look into, into playing. And yeah, for me personally, you know, I'm a big fan of, of American sports. I know how, how well they do their, their sporting system. So, yeah, if they can get football right, then for sure it'll be one of the biggest sports in this country.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I don't think I'm being hyperbolic here. Germany probably looks better than anybody. I thought England was a bit tentative like us. Little issue on the back end. I'll take England. I thought we looked fantastic. Messi, Argentina. But you watched Ronaldo yesterday. Spain, France. J. Mac with the optimistic news. No, no, no, turn on the news.

[Boost Mobile Advertisement Voice]

This is the herd line news.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Well, I think you got to consider the opponent. Germany looked great against Curacao, but England played Croatia, which is supposed to be like your two team there.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, Croatia, I think, rankings kind of in our space, I think. And Croatia is a little older, we're a little more youthful, they're a little older. So they're kind of got a lot of guys out of their prime, which I always say when you get to these World Cups or Super Bowls, you want everybody in it or moving into it. You don't want to be old. You have injuries. So Croatia, this is not their best unit.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Yeah, they were great in 18 and 20, 22. They're fading now. Speaking of fading, Colin, let's start with Cristiano Ronaldo. Yeah, I don't, I don't know how to delicately put this, Colin, but he had an awful, awful game. Portugal against Congo, they end up tying embarrassing fashion, one to one. They took an early lead and kind of took their foot off the gas and Ronaldo was invisible. Now everybody on the Internet saying he's washed. He, he is 41 years old, the oldest field player In World cup history, that led Thierry Henry, the great announcer here at Fox and the great France legend to say this about Ronaldo.

[Thierry Henry]

You've been in that situation. Alexey, you would have had to follow him and then he would have been a tap in for Bueno Fernandes. But because he wants to score, he goes into the path of the back pass. You see both players and it's easier for you to defend. And that's my thing. The team needs to score, not you. You saw the reaction of Bueno Fernandes behind going like, let it roll. Make a run, create space so I can tap it in. It didn't happen.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

That's a tremendous breakdown from Henry. Essentially. Ronaldo watched Messi score three goals the night before. And you know the debate, it's like Mahomes, is he the goat or is it Tom Brady? You know that debate? This is Ronaldo, Messi in soccer for the last six years. And Ronaldo's clearly fallen behind. There's nothing wrong with that. This is Jordan lebron and unfortunately Ronaldo, he didn't play well. Colin, I, I'm, I don't want to get too hot takey here, but I, I did say this and I, I, I think it applies. I would have him come off the bench as a super sub energy guy for the last 20 minutes in their next game. 20 or 30 minutes.

[Colin Cowherd]

But you know, and you know, at this level of soccer, LeBron's and Ronaldo's don't want to come off the bench.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Well, LeBron, it was like an all NBA player. Cristiano Ronaldo had one of the worst games he's ever had in the World Cup. Colin, he had 25 touches. That's the second fewest in his World cup career. He's not where Messi is. Does he want what's best for the team or what's best for him?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I also think technically Messi's better and I think Messi's maybe technically the best player ever. So like we talk about this all the time. Does Messi's game age better? I think it does. Ronaldo was more of a physical specimen. Tall, fast, strong, lean that doesn't age as well. Messi's all about ball on foot, beating you in one on one situations. He rests brilliantly. It's angles. Messi's game ages better. We said this for years. When you're, when just sheer athleticism, you know, like, like Westbrook, sheer athleticism, just jaw dropping, that doesn't age as well as technical skill does. You can maintain that arc longer. And I just. I think that's a reality of Ronaldo was always. I mean, you've seen him before. His body, his size, his strength. No body fat. That stuff doesn't age particularly well.

[Thierry Henry]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

If you're a coach, do you think you could sell him? Hey, bro.

[Colin Cowherd]

No.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

What's best for the team. Listen, you're going to be much better just playing the final 30 minutes. You come in, you're the hero.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's still being paid at the highest levels.

[Thierry Henry]

He's.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's not going to work.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

I mean, at some point, the staff and I know it's going to be tough. Should pull him aside and be like, dude, we. We couldn't Gener. We had one shot on goal against Congo.

[Boost Mobile Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's just one match. Let's just let it go.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

That's fair. We don't want to overreact. Nobody's saying he's garbage.

[Colin Cowherd]

Just group stage. Let give me a couple more group stage matches and we can make a call.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Okay? I like that. Preaching patience. Yes. Someone who's not preaching patience, that's Joe Burrow. Let's move. Move to the NFL and the Bengals quarterback Colin Joe Burrow, who did not make the playoffs last year or the year before, is now talking about how geeked he is for the season and says this Bengals team reminds him of the 2019 LSU team, which, you know, was one of the greatest teams in college football history.

[Guest or Co-host (short interjections)]

I want everybody talking about the Bengals. I want everybody talking about what I'm saying in my press conferences. Is he, you know, you go back and watch what I said before 2019 season at LSU. You know, I feel very similarly about this team. You know, I'm so excited to get started and get moving, and I wish we would ramp this ride into training camp so we can continue to improve. Because I feel like, you know, there's so much greatness that we're going to be able to achieve this year. I'm just excited to get going.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

I'll let you take this one. This is a crazy take, but go ahead, Go ahead.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I always go back to one thing with Joe Burrow. Go look at his offensive line ranks rookie year to now. He's never even had a top 15 offensive line. You don't need to give me the Eagles. You know, you don't need to give me the Rams or the Lions a couple of years ago. But I always feel like Joe burrows under more duress than need be. Like, it's a little like Justin Herbert, where you're like, Herbert always feels like at some point in every NFL season, there's months he's running for his life. And so, I mean, to me, this league has never been complicated. Get your quarterback, protect him and then go draft or acquire guys that can attack the opposing quarterback. It's a three step process. They've got, they've been able to get him weapons. That matters. But wide receivers are everywhere in football and to me they have missed out two injuries already. As he moves into his prime, this offensive line does not look like it'll be ranked as an elite offensive line again. So I think it all starts there. When you get a season, now that 17 games you're in a cold weather environment, you're not going to do it downfield. You can't just win downfield battles with receivers. You're going to win in the trenches. They've never built in great trenches.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Yeah, I mean they made some good defensive moves this offseason.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

But Colin, I, I'm just. This feels like out of character for Burrow to like start the hype about a Bengals team. Remember the end of last season, the talk was boy, Burrow looks unhappy. Boy Burrow could one out and now all of a sudden he's like, these guys remind me of the 2019 LSU team. Something's going on with Burrow. I don't. Maybe he had a lobotomy this offseason that we're unaware of. But this does not sound like Joe Burrow. I mean, Colin, to go from I'm unhappy, things gotta change.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think maybe Joe Burrow's trying to fire himself up because he's bitterly disappointed. I think he's, I think a lot of it is self belief. But you know, I, I'm kind of over trying to defend Joe Burrow. Like at some point you got to call people out and he's been unhappy behind the scenes. This to me is, I don't know, it's just, I think he's being a real positive guy because this is what gets you through the day. Sometimes you have to convince yourself of stuff in life to get yourself through the day.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

I like that you've seen the movie where there's like the cat sitting on a chair in a house and the house is on fire and he's like, this is fine, everything's fine. I wonder if, you know, this could be the last run for the Bengals with Burrow if they don't live up to this expectation. Now he's saying 2019 LSU team and they're like a seven win team. May not be good. Colin, final story. Let's go to the Chargers. You love them. You gave them out yesterday. Over nine and a half. You're a big fan. Well, Justin Herbert's a focal point of the offense because everyone wants to work on his footwork. Take a listen to Mike McDaniel.

[Mike McDaniel]

The biggest thing is it wasn't like I was trying to fix something that was like, well, this is broke. You're looking at a player that is very, very talented, that's been top tier in achievement his whole career and trying to take him to the next level where he can own certain things and really get the ball to his teammates as fast as possible and help. Help the efficiency of the offense.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, tweaks at this point. Tweaks. And that's exactly what he needs.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

So they're a footwork. Justin Herbert's footwork away from a playoff win.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean I, I just think when you get great players, they don't need overhauls, nothing's broken. But he has been under coached, I would say at the coordinator spot. Since Shane Steichen left, it's never quite felt as good. So he's finally got his coordinator. I mean, again, Vegas is telling you they're good.

[Mike McDaniel]

Oh yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean they're, I will say they, they really attack the offensive line in the draft. That and even if you go to their last couple of picks in the draft, they just went and got more offensive linemen. They're like, let's bring more bodies in. It's pretty obvious they're good enough at wide receiver and tight end. They're good enough. No, I think again, the optimism is warranted.

[Guest or Co-host (short interjections)]

Totally agree.

[Colin Cowherd]

J. Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for

[Boost Mobile Advertisement Voice]

stopping by the herd lie news.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Mike DeFebo covers the Pittsburgh Steelers. We bring him on regularly and one of the things he said about the Steelers and Brandon Sorsby, for the uninitiated here, Brandon Sorsby's the college kid, played at Cincinnati, got addicted to gambling, went to Texas Tech. They didn't know about it. Now they do. The player got an injunction and finally the Big 12 rises up and says, get out of here.

[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

Go to supplemental football.

[Colin Cowherd]

He did. He's going to go to the supplemental draft. I told you yesterday I talked to multiple executives in the NFL. They all said first, second round talent, no question. So here's Mike defebo on a team that could use a quarterback for the future, that has first round talent. They don't have anybody in the building like that now here's Mike defebu who covers the Steelers.

[Mike DeFebo]

It sounds like right now the Steelers are currently doing their homework. And so this is a bit of correction of what I had said previously, but it sounds like that would at this point not automatically be a disqualifier for the Steelers. They would at least be interested to learn more and do their homework to figure out how bad was this infraction and, and then figure out how good is Soaresb and are they willing to take that risk. And at this point, it seems they're still in that process of gathering more information and trying to figure out what exactly and how, how far exactly they'd be willing to go.

[Colin Cowherd]

Here's the truth. With people that have addictions, you don't really know how it's gonna end. So you have to just be willing to go for it or not go for it. Right. Like you don't know how this is gonna end. It could end tragically or heroically. So the bottom line is, are the Pittsburgh Steelers comfortable with discomfort? My take is no. They've done, I mean if you watch them over the last several years, they have always done the comfortable thing. Let's go, let's go get Mike McCarthy. He's a Pittsburgh guy. Let's keep a Cam Hayward, a TJ Watt. They're popular, they're expensive, they're very good, but they're very popular. And, and we're going to, we're going to keep that money. On the defensive side, let's draft Kenny Pickett, he's the local kid. They didn't want to disrupt Big Ben as he aged. So they had no real major league plan at quarterback. So they've been very good at staying comfortable. By the way, their GM leaves an all time guy. They just move somebody in house to a different office. So they are the cl and right now they've got Aaron Rogers, Drew Aller, Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. Okay, that in a division with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, in a conference with Josh Allen, Herbert Mahomes, Bo Nicks with a great offensive coach, Trevor Lawrence with a great offensive coach. Right. Lamar Jackson with, you know, an excellent roster. So it really comes down to would the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have no real plan. Will Howard's not your plan, not in the afc. What's your plan at quarterback? I don't think they have the stomach for it. And I mean, let's be honest about what propels all of us in life to growth. Real growth. Discomfort. Right. So you to me, nobody knows the outcome of Brandon Sorsby nobody's going to know. With addiction, you have no idea. I grew up with it as a kid with my father. You just don't know. You can go to rehab, you can solve it maybe and then it reappears. You don't know. So I, but I, here's the other thing. So let's say next year there's a bunch of quarterbacks everybody's talking about. So one of the reasons, if I was the Steelers, I would go for it. One of the reasons is they don't need Sorsby to play immediately. They've got Aaron Rodgers, they don't need him to play. They can sit him in the room for a year, let's see if he's an adult, let's see if he's coachable, let's see how the addiction either worsens or heals. So they don't need him to play, they don't need the additional pressure. He can walk in, sit, be in the film room. They don't even need him to play backup. Make him your third guy. That's a huge advantage. The other thing is the Steelers never draft in the top nine or 10. So if you look at the teams next year that are going to draft a quarterback, even some teams that could be good are going to draft a quarterback like Minnesota, Indianapolis, not to mention Jets, Arizona, maybe a Cleveland. So there's some bad teams that are going to draft a quarterback, but there's some good teams like Minnesota probably going to draft a quarterback. So if there's four good ones that come out and four to six teams that are going to draft it, Aaron's Rogers is good enough. He elevates your floor. You're not going to be a three win team with Aaron Rodgers. You're going to be somewhere between 8 and 10. So how much draft capital do you want to give up next year when seven teams need a quarterback, which is about the annual number, even if it's a big quarterback year, what's the most quarterback? Four. I mean four first round quarterbacks is a big number. We thought we were going to have five this year. Fernando Mendoza was the guy. Right. So it's slim pickings out there at quarterbacks. Thirty years ago, scientist Gary Kehoe drank a cup of tea with a strange mushroom floating on top. And what he felt was not a big rush, he was experimenting. He just got this energy and it lasted. And that sent Gary on a decade long search to understand men over 40 start feeling different. What is it? Your energy dips, slower recovery weight, harder to keep off and then 30 years ago, he decides to build mDrive. It's a company that supports healthy testosterone, steady energy metabolism and recovery without extremes. Just a daily supplement for men who hit 40 and their bodies change. I've taken it for years with my coffee, mDrive. You can get it at Amazon or sprouts made with clinically tested ingredients trusted by over a million men. If you just want more energy for work, family, gym, life, don't ignore the change. Go to mdrive4men.com the code is herd h e r d 20% off. Order one.

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[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

Alright, you know what deserves more attention? The assists.

[Colin Cowherd]

Everybody talks about the goal.

[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

A big moment that gets replayed on the highlight reels. But too often we overlook all the contributions and collabs that happen along the way. That's true in soccer and honestly true in life. Halion is shining a light on the assists. As official partner of U.S. soccer, they

[Colin Cowherd]

got a whole lineup of brands ready

[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

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[Colin Cowherd]

counterattack with fast heartburn relief. These are brands that are ready to

[Wasabi / Halion Advertisement Voice]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Network tomorrow the US continues their world cup quest with the Americans in Seattle to take on Australia in their second match of the group stage. It all starts right after the herd tomorrow at 3 Eastern on Fox.

[Colin Cowherd]

What I'm about to say may infuriate you, but as parents, you don't matter as much as you think. How do I know that any of you out there have three, four, five or six kids? Why are they all different? Some kids come from horrible backgrounds and flourish. Some kids are trust fund kids. They end up being losers. Is that after the genetic makeup you hand your kids, they become what they want to become. People will come up to me, what? What's the advice I could give my daughter or son and I'm always like, oh, tell him to work hard. The truth is I roll my eyes. None of it matters. Tell them don't. If your son or daughter wants to do what I do, they will. It's a lot of years and I keep your head down. Don't listen to the noise. We want to matter as parents. We really do. We matter less than we think. That's why you can have multiple kids Some are lazy, some are driven, some are aspirational. Some end up going off into the woods and being a hippie. It just the way it works. I'm sorry. And I was thinking about this, about how many divergent paths there are when I, when I watch the Knicks win, think about the great NBA players, many of them. Jokic, second round SGA Clippers gave him away. Brunson, second round Giannis, 15th pick. Steph Curry, grew up by Duke in Carolina, had to go to Davidson, go to the NFL. Josh Allen, junior college, no offers. Then to Wyoming. Yeah, yeah, Wyoming. The, the Alabama of the, the time zone, Mountain time zone, like Wyoming. And then Mahomes gets drafted after Mitch Trubisky, Lamar Jackson, doubters everywhere. We just had a Super bowl where Sam Darnold won a trophy in an NBA championship where Jalen Brunson did. I mean, that's the year so far Jalen Brunson and Sam Darnold hoisted our magnificent trophies. Ryan Rosillo on maybe Brunson's just one of these obsessed outliers.

[Guest or Co-host (short interjections)]

He's been this good. But as we know, the knock is you just don't want a small guard. I mean, it's brought up all the time. Like, I don't think this proves that every NBA GM is going to be like, you know, we need to do this summer. We're going to get smaller point guard. Okay, he is this special, but because he's so small, you're like, this can't possibly happen. I think sometimes we lose sight of how obsessed the best players are at getting better. And that's why I kind of love the story for him. Like, you think about some of these players kind of like, this is the kind of guy we should all be rooting for to win a championship.

[Colin Cowherd]

And I think a lot of people are. So his college coach is Jay Wright, one of the classiest guys ever. And he was telling a story on a Mike Francis, a podcast about how obsessed Jalen Brunson is. They set up a round of golf. It was going to be like Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson is going to be a round of golf at this great course. And here is Jay Wright and he

[Jay Wright]

asked me, can we play Pine Valley? I set him up last summer to play at Pine Valley. So I called him tonight for our tee time. Seven thirty goes. I can't do it. I got workout at seven thirty. His. It's the, it's the key to everything he does every day is his work on his footwork, his technique. He still does it every day in the off season.

[Colin Cowherd]

Can you give advice to my son or daughter? I can't. If they want it, they'll sit in a broadcasting chair. Jokic, sga. Steph Curry, Jalen Brunson, Josh Allen, you know all these guys. Just don't feed the trolls. Don't listen to the noise, keep your head down. Brunson's just the latest example. It is remarkable this year it's really funny. Sam Darnold and Jalen Brunson hoisted our trophies. Awesome redemption stories. So I thought this was interesting. I have said this off season, the two pieces I would build around with the Los Angeles Lakers are J.J. redick and Luka. The Lakers are trapped. They have to sign Austin Reaves, good player or else he goes and you get nothing for him like Alex Caruso. So they got him undrafted. They gotten a lot of years out of him. He's been a nice player. But here's the disconnect. Somebody asked Luca what he thinks the Lakers need and his quote was, we need shooters. Because I often get double teamed. Interesting. LeBron is not a shooter. LeBron shot 31% on threes last year. Why? You get older, you lose those legs. You don't lose your brain, your willpower, you lose the legs. Austin Reeves, very good at creating shots. Not a great catch and shoot guy. So the formula to build around Luca is not complicated. You need a defense first, rim protector, a big and then three and D guys to cover for him on the defensive end. Athletic 3 and D guys. That is not Austin Reaves. That is no longer LeBron James. It should also be noted LeBron missed 14 games to start the season and Austin Reaves missed 31 games. We do now question and it's fair some of Austin Reeves durability, long term issues. Oh, by the way, third straight season Luca missed games due to injuries. So you've got three players who have mostly duplicate games. None are Elite 3 and D. Luke is the only elite shooter that's often doubled and trapped. None are great defenders, none are rim protectors. What you need is athleticism, defense. And Luke is like, get me shooters. So this is the classic disconnect. It's like when the Lakers got Luca, it was like winning the lottery. But the biggest part of winning the lottery after you get the check is what to do with it. Buying three boats generally not the answer. So that's what the Lakers have. It's just duplication. LeBron, Austin and Luka all need the ball. None are great defenders, all have injury concerns. Now they're all different stylistically, but it's kind of the same guy now. When LeBron was in his prime, he was a much different player than Luca. But LeBron now has similarities with Luca. Not a great defender, not going to play 82 games, and can score pretty much whenever he has to. So it's very murky. And I, I do feel like Laker fans thought Luca was the golden ticket. They won the lottery. But we're now a couple of years removed from that deal. I still don't know what they're doing. They don't know what to do with a Powerball ticket. It's like people that are getting ready to retire. You know, you hit 60, 61, 62, and you're getting ready for retirement and you got your, all your retirement set up. You're like, okay, I got my pension, I got my 401k, or I've got my sep. And you're like, I don't really love golf. And then you get, there's a lot of people out there. I, I've, I've known them, they have anxiety. Like, what? I don't have a ton of hobbies. I worked a lot. I don't love golf. And it's like. But I've got my pension, my retirement, my money and time. I don't know quite what to do with it. That's a real thing. And so I look at the Lakers. You got the golden ticket with Luca. Two years later, it's all murky. I don't know what to do with it. And J. Mac is a, is a near season ticket holder. This flight isn't.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Listen, you're saying a lot of good stuff here. This is fun. I will remind everybody that Elon Musk said, you don't even need to worry about saving. AI is going to save your future. Don't do a 401k. Just kidding. In reality, Colin, this Lakers roster was built for LeBron and AD and it's tough to move rosters around that quickly at the drop of a hat. Luke has been here for five minutes. So I actually think the way things are trending right now, they're not going to go crazy and build the Luka team this summer. I don't think it's going to happen. My guess is they say, LeBron, come on back. We'll do your victory retirement tour. We have a good roster. We could win 50ish games, be top four in the West. But, but we're not going to have the full LUCA roster this year. I don't think it's going to happen, Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I don't think it can. I. We talked about this yesterday. If you look at the top five free agents, I can argue LeBron's like number three.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

He might be two. I mean, are you really paying Peyton Watson of Denver over LeBron?

[Colin Cowherd]

No.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Eason of Houston.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, trades are already very difficult. And in the NBA, they're very difficult. I had somebody tell me this years ago. Being a coach in the NBA is the worst. Great job in America. You make a ton of money. There's a lot of fame. It's fun. You travel it. It's a really hard job. Being a GM in the NBA is hard. You can make incremental adjustments. But you, you, you. It's very, very difficult. I mean, Oklahoma City can make some big swings or maybe a Houston, but most teams, you know, like, like, like I'm, I'm the Milwaukee Bucks and I have Giannis. I think the team that could give you the best package. I looked at it this week. It's Portland.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Yeah, but he don't want to go there.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right. So Portland's got a really interesting package of.

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

Actually, you're right. Well, if Portland just says we'll do the Kawhi thing, Giannis, come on down. We don't care if you're staying three years from now. I don't care. We're going to go for it. Now do you, do you take that risk?

[Colin Cowherd]

Not. Probably not. Probably not. All right. Best six World cup goals so far as we continue our super six hour two. Bob Bradley stopping by today. Ethan Strauss around the corner as well. It's the herd. Every goal starts with an assist.

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[Colin Cowherd]

Centrum.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

doors and at the American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more at amuapus.edu Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University. Hi, it's Colin Coward. If you want your outdoor space to really stand out, Deckorator surestone technology is where you should start. Decking with surestone technology is made through a patented process that uses crushed rock, not wood fiber like other composites, which gives every board incredible strength and durability. And it's engineered with a unique surface design for better traction when things get wet. It's comfortable, it's safe, it's durable. And that just looks great too. Build season is coming fast, so order a sample today. Visit deckorators.com herd herd to get your free sample. That's decorators with a K again, decorators.com

[Co-host or Analyst (possibly a sports analyst)]

herd this is an iHeart podcast.

[Colin Cowherd]

Guaranteed human.