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That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple. Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co getdailycash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now, let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox sports radio. You guys can laugh at me all you want. This is the Herd. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. With Colin Cowherd. I'm setting the tone. This show on radio. This is the herd broadcasting live from Los Angeles. The Herd with Colin Cowherd starts now. Here we go on a Monday. Don't tell me it was boring. It's the greatest football game I've ever seen. To the very last snap. I don't know about the rest of you, but I had a dream last night. Sam Darnold making a speech in Canton, Ohio. It was so lifelike. So much more lifelike than it was 24 hours earlier. Welcome in. We're in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be. Listen. Listening. Thank you for making us part of your day. Yeah, I'm feeling good today. It's a good one for me. I get one occasionally. The scary part about Seattle is 6th most cap space in the league next year. Their coach is 38, moving into his coaching prime. Sam Darnold. Two more years of a team friendly deal and they may have seven or eight players who are ascending. Young guys only getting better. And go ahead, say it wasn't about Sam Darnold. Go ahead and say that. But it was in the post season against the superior NFC and eventually Vrabel's defense. No turnovers for Sam. Smart enough, mature enough and coachable enough to know what was needed. And against New England, he knew what was needed. A couple of big throws make the right decision. Since 1994, quarterbacks have won a Super bowl with no turnovers. Maybe you've heard of them. Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Drew Brees and Sam Darnold, they all had great coaches and they all had stacked rosters. They knew what the assignment was. That's all this playoff run was about for Sam Darnold against the Rams. He needed to be a game changer. Darnold had to make big throws because Matt Stafford three different times ate the Seahawks secondary eight. And Darnold needed big throws. He was a game changer when the game called for it. But with Kenneth Walker running, finding space regularly, Sam only had to make a couple of big ones. Here's one of them on the screen. He had to be a manager. He had to be understanding of what was needed. I'll give you an example. Tom Brady's first Super bowl win and Tom Brady's last Super Bowl Win. I'm not sure if you know this, he threw for fewer yards than Darnold did last night. That's what makes Tom great. All quarterbacks. I'd like to repeat this slowly. All quarterbacks are game managers. But it's part of the maturity that Sam lacked when he was 20 and 21 and 22 in New York. He developed it. He's a good listener. Gratitude and humility. Great parenting. Probably adds a lot. 22 year old Sam screws that game up last night because the New England Patriots were jumping routes. Mike Vrabel knew, looking at the film, he had the second best roster. And Mike Vrabel knew the way to beat Seattle was make it fast and frenetic and make the old Sam Darnold appear. He didn't. In fact, he didn't in the entire playoff run. I'll like to repeat against the superior NFC in New England, Seattle. The Seahawks are the first team ever to win a Super bowl with no turnovers against the Rams defense, the Patriots defense. See the Patriots defense against CJ Stroud. What they did to him. You see what they did to New England's O line or excuse me, the Chargers O line and Justin Herbert. That New England defense is rough, really well coached. And yes, the Seahawks roster, like the Eagles who won the super bowl last year, is stacked. That's usually the way it works. Go ahead, say it's not Sam. But no turnovers. Playing the Rams. Playing Robert Salas. Playing Mike Vrabels. I mean Drake made is really talented. Look at his postseason. What do you have? Seven fumbles. Darnold didn't have a turnover. IQ, maturity, listening. 186 offensive snaps against the Rams. He had to be a game changer against the Patriots and everybody in Seattle's locker room knew it. The assignment was different. Stay ahead of the change as much as you possibly can and don't make the big mistake. Here's Mike McDonald, a great young coach. The defensive version of Sean McVay on defending Darnold. It's become a regular habit in the Pacific Northwest. Sam doesn't care about the obstacle. Like you. Like everyone's made a narrative. This guy of like everyone is they. They have tried to put a story and a label on who he is as a person, who he is a quarterback. He does not care. All he's done since he's walked in the door has just been a tremendous player on our football team and a tremendous leader who is the same guy every day. And that's who he is. And that's How? We need to talk about him moving forward. Let's talk Drake May in New England, I preached last week Stafford should be the MVP over Drake May. And I said the reason is every time Sna Stafford walks to the line, every time Matt Stafford walks to the line, he understands the why. Drake May is still trying to figure out, as I said last week, the what? What am I seeing? What is this? He didn't have the answers against Seattle. Stafford against Seattle tore him apart three times. Drake May overwhelmed Chris Collinsworth appropriately said at halftime, may is not ready for this moment. Mike Vrabel at halftime seemed resigned to the fact his young quarterback was over his skis. He was nervous and he was rattled. And that's why I said, stop vomiting statistics and spewing analytics. Quarterback is about the why. Can you walk to the line like a Brady and a Manning and a Mahomes and a Stafford and you have the answers to the test. I mean, I'm watching Stafford against this Seahawks defense and he looks like Lewis Hamilton. Drake May yesterday looked like a student driver. He was completely overwhelmed. And New England's good. They're going to get better. It was almost understandable. But. But Stafford and May are just different quarterbacks and different human beings. Let's be honest. If Bonix was healthy, New England's probably not here. So, yes, Seattle had more talent. We did our top 10 rankings of the players last week. The top four players were all Seattle, including Darnold. But this was more than just. Well, I mean, Stafford's got Puka Nakua. New England's tight ends and receivers are way above average. And yes, Will Campbell is not ready for this moment. He's probably going to get moved inside. He was the best tackle in a weak draft class. He's probably a really good guard. And the future is great for May. The coaching around him is outstanding. But at one point in the third quarter, Drake May eight. Eight drives, eight punts, seven completions. That's not about Puka Nakua. That's about not being able to see the why and struggling with the what this postseason. And he faced good defenses. Drake May completed 58% of his throws, was sacked 21 times, pass a rating of 82. Matt Stafford tore the Seahawks up three times. Seattle is a very good defense. It is a defense you can have success against, but not yesterday. Not this kid. Not in this moment. Here's Drake May after this hurt. No, no doubt. You know, it definitely hurts. It's been a long ride. They play better than us tonight. They deserve to win. That Game and you know, speaking, you know, for the whole team and you know, myself just, you know, what a journey it's been for us. I love this team, love those guys in the locker room and we'll leave it all out on the field and I know a lot of guys do that tonight and just came up short, didn't play our best. And that's what happens. Listen, Drake May reportedly had a shot before the game. So he was not 100%. And again, will Campbell, left tackle. He got overwhelmed. And we all knew you knew it. I mean, there's a reason. Overwhelmingly, the bets were all on Seattle side tip of the cap to J. Mac, who had said during the week multiple times he didn't know if New England could score. And if you look at the box score, crinkle it up and throw it away. It's garbage times. Numbers for New England, they were not competitive. At one point it's what, 19, nothing. Then 19 7. Drake made some garbage time stats, but a lot of these sacks and a lot of these fumbles, that's what happens when you're young. You don't know where they're coming from. You're not prepared for them. So it was beyond that. He was rattled. He was nervous. He wasn't 100%. New England's going to be fine. I mean, Josh Allen's in their division. Jets are still a circus. My guess is they're going to be a wild card or a division winning team for the next 10 years. They're going to be back here there. Didn't we say all week long we kept saying, didn't it feel weird that New England still feels like they're a draft away? Well, in the afc, Mahomes didn't make it. Burrow didn't make it. We didn't really know. Right. Like you're like they feel like they're a draft away. When you saw them against Seattle, it was official. They're a draft away. So J. Mac, congratulations. You had Seattle in a route and I had Kenneth Walker MVP on Friday. Remember Kenneth Walker? Pretty damn good game. Yeah. Headlines was very good. I don't know, you seem bullish on the Patriots being fine. I just. This postseason Drake May had was so bad. I just wonder if they got bigger issues. I mean, remember, Burrow's gonna come back. Mahomes is gonna come back. Lamar Chargers are gonna be really good. Lamar is gonna come back. The Jaguar's probably not going anywhere. AFC's loaded. I. I saw some troubling signs from Drake May throughout all this postseason. Yeah. How many fumbles did he have? Seven interceptions galore. 58% completions. That's fair. I. I can't. And by for the record, we know he's getting great coaching because when you play a terrible schedule, it's tough to judge. You know, they're playing six rookie quarterbacks. They go 6, 0. Yeah. New England faced 11 teams that fired your coach. So when you played real teams in the playoffs, Drake, they look like a mediocre quarterback. Be a good college basketball. Watch you pick up the tab is what I was talking about. Colin, right? Colin wrong. 50 minutes away. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app Stigots Here. I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugatson company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls. I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stugouts Co. And Stugots Co. Live. So listen to Steugaton Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, subscribe, rate and review Stugats Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games. Born and raised in Torrance, California, Chloe Kim returns to the half pipe to make history. After dominating the last two Olympics, she drops into the Milano Cortina pipe, aiming for an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal. With her signature massive air and technical double quirks, she remains the undisputed queen of the sport. Kim is ready to prove once again that the road to the podium goes through her. For more Winter Games gold. Search olympics on the iHeartRadio app. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT and T or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile. Build your local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics Best Overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prom. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures Stigatz here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugac company Live which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls. I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stugouts and company and stuff and company Live. So listen to Stegotson company Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugatson Co. And God bless Football Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What is one thing about love you've had to unlearn? That it's earned, that it needs to be forever it to count. February is the month of love. Whether you're in a relationship, casually dating, or proudly single, it's a great time to reflect on yourself and what you want. I'm Hope Woodard, host of the Voice Over Podcast, and each week this month we're looking at love from every angle. I don't know how to tell my partner, like, what I want in bed. The thing about romantic fiction, I would say more than any other genre of culture, is that it's always put women first. My marriage stopped making sense. The connection started to feel off. The behavior started to feel different. This February, get in touch with yourself by listening to Boy Sober. That's B o y S o B E R. I'm like, I would love to not hate the man I'm sleeping with. I don't know what that's about. Listen to Boy Sober on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, my big takeaway yesterday is the NFC West. Seattle, Los Angeles and the Niners are playing a different level of football than everybody else. They're like the sec, Bama and Georgia six or seven years ago. And then there's other good teams. That's what they look like. Houston's good, New England's good, Denver's good. There's Seattle, the Rams in San Francisco. Kyle Shanahan and I, I appreciated him. He basically said, preg. NBC did a really nice job to Rico Collinsworth. I did. You know, the game for a lot of people, I thought it was the best game in the history of football. A lot of people thought it was boring. I thought they did a great job. And Shanahan in the pregame show kind of told you Seattle only needs part of their team to win. There's not much secrets to being in a talented, very sound team. I mean, I think there's two super bowl defenses this year, and it was Seattle and it's Houston. And when I say that, it means they're capable of winning totally on their own if the other side of the ball, special teams and offense don't mess it up. And when you attack these guys, all right, if you want to do it and unlock them, you better be able to run the ball. If you can't Run the ball. They're going to keep their two safeties very deep. They're going to give up. No explosives. I've looked for two years and, and he knows there's one team in the NFL and they did it twice this year that has really shut Kyle Shanahan's offense down in, in, in all the years he's been in San Francisco, Seattle, and they did it twice against the 49ers. And Kyle Shanahan knew that defense and boy, did he call it. I'll say this. Seattle and the rams were a combined 11, 0 against the AFC. Yeah. With an average double digit margin. I mean, so I, I, you know, I don't know what to tell you. They're playing a different game. The story of the AFC playoffs was about who didn't get in. Burrow, Lamar, Jackson, Mahomes. The story of the NFC playoffs. Man, these rosters are loaded. Man, the coaching is unbelievable. So the AFC has more star quarterbacks, but the NFC has got the better rosters. Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles. I mean, Seattle doesn't have a hole. Even their special teams are stacked. So. And then that's why I say with Sam Darnold, you know, Tom Brady's first and last Super Bowls, he had fewer yards passing than Darnold did yesterday. And Shanahan talked about that. Yeah, Sam's a stud. And you know, us having him for a year, I think we get a little too much credit for what we did. We didn't do anything for him. We just gave him a platform to where we could take the pressure off him for a year. And I think him watching that, Sam's always let it rip. But when you let it rip all the time and you're always trying to win the game, a lot of times you keep both teams in the game. And I think that's really what's changed with him. He picks and chooses better. He's got a really good team. And when you have a really good team, you don't always have to try to win it. When you have a really good team. Aikman Brees, Steve Young, Sam Darnold winning a Super bowl with no turnovers. When you got a great coach and you got a great team, the assignment changes. Okay. Before the game, they were talking. Drake May needs to play great to win. Darnold needed to not make the big mistake to win. I just thought Shanahan was so good on the pregame. He told you at one point he said, listen, if Seattle doesn't turn it Over. This could be a route. You don't get analysts saying that before games very often to just put it out there. This could get ugly. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herd line news. All right. You talk dominant, Colin. Kenneth Walker was dominant last night. An unbelievable effort. 135 yards on the ground. How would you like to be a cornerback? Trying to t. Dude, he's so thick and strong like that guy is tough. Look at him just bolt down the sideline. Monster game. First running back in the super bowl since Terrell Davis to be named game mvp. Interestingly, Kenneth Walker said to be a free agent after the season. I saw a stat. Colin last 650ish carries for him, zero fumbles. Well, he's not a blocker. No. And he's a very mediocre pass receiver. So he is. Not that he's a one trick pony because his running style is a variation of many things, but because Seattle is drafted so well and they don't pay any of their utter running backs, I imagine they'll keep it. I think. I, I don't know if it's a great running back draft, but he, he's. Seattle's an offense that eventually will have a series of running backs because he's not great on a third and long. He's not the back you want on the field usually. Agreed. But coming off a Super bowl mvp, does he say, you know, I want test the market running backs. We don't have a long shelf life. I'm 25ish. I want to get as big a contract and you know, some Arizona Cardinals, whoever offers him big money and he jumps at that. Could that happen? So I remember years ago Larry Brown played, I think for the Cowboys. He had a big super bowl and he was kind of, if I recall, he wasn't a great lockdown guy, was kind of a tweener. But he had a big super bowl and I think the Raiders or somebody came in and paid him a fortune. You see this all the time where NBA teams overdraft somebody because they had a good March Madness tournament. So I think Walker's a really good player. He's been dinged up somewhat in his career. He got healthy here and again, not, not a guy I want blocking for Darnold. And I think Seattle does need to address the offensive line even more on the interior part of it. But if he tests the waters and leaves, running backs are. Well, you need two now. And they had Sherbonnet and Walker all season, which Was a good combo. They have Holani. Holani, yeah. It's more of a three. I would. If I'm out there and I'm a, you know, a contender, I'm at least throwing some kind of offer sheet Walker's way, just to see what he says. Well, if I had a young quarterback and I. Cause I think this is a real thing. If you have a young quarterback, you can spend that extra money on a third corner or a running back. That gives your quarterback some time to breathe. So look around. Yeah, I could see, like, Sean Payton going, okay, I got Harvey and Walker as a one, two punch. Harvey's a better receiver. Walker's the better power runner. With Bo Nix, I could see Denver going after him. And then you could get Walker over in the afc. We'll see what the draft is like for running backs. Maybe Seattle says, hey, we're not paying him $12 million a year, whatever the numbers. Seattle also has three guys in the secondary who are free agents, so we'll see. It should be an interesting off season, but congrats to Kenneth Walker, who had the game of his career on 27 carries. All right, let's move on to George Pickens. We talked about this Friday. He's going to be a free agent. And the Cowboys, it sounds like a franchise tag is coming. According to multiple reporters, it sounds like they're going to be franchise tagging him. Jerry Jones spoke about keeping Pickens at Dallas during NFL honors last week. I'm talking to George all the time by virtue of my excitement for him. And he's better than as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. So I'm looking forward to getting things worked out. Ask yourself this when you watch New England, because we can beat up on New England all day, but New England's defense is good. They don't have the depth of front of Seattle, but they got good frontline players. Excellent. Christian Gonzalez is unbelievable. When you watch New England's defense and Seattle's defense, how many Cowboys outside of Quinn and Williams could play. Forget start. Could play for those two defenses. I'm not talking starting over. Shown maybe. I think Overshone would absolutely play. I think Quinn and Williams would play. Just think about. What about your guy Kenny. Kenny Clark, who they traded for again, he would be rogue. He's not as good as Leonard Williams. So I mean that. Just watch those two defect because we can. We can bury them all we want in the first half. I mean, New England's defense was on the field because it was punt, punt, punt, three and out, three and out, three and out. You just wore down that New England. If, if New England would have had one 12 play drive in the first half and their defense got a break, their defense would have remained. I think, if you notice in the second half, New England's defense, did you notice this? The tackling wasn't very good. They were just a beat slower. Why? Because they were on the field. Yeah. I need to ask you about Pickens. Like, let's say the Cowboys are like, we're going to let you go. What's the market like for this guy? Just remember how he ended a lot of pouting and how it ended in Pittsburgh. Are you wanting to get in bed with a guy like Pickens? I think Pickens is a very productive player. I think, I think Dallas gave away like a third round pick and maybe a fifth. So they don't want to give them away for nothing. So they've convinced themselves, they convinced themselves when they made the deal he was going to be a cowboy for a while. Okay. And I do think if you're going to pay, players pay on the offensive side. Keep your defense young and hungry. Wait a minute. We just see two super bowl teams now. Eagles defense, Seahawks defense, dominate. So I don't. I almost wonder, are we seeing a new, a new changing of the guard here in the NFL? Now you, hey, don't come to the playoffs unless you got a defense. Well, yeah, I mean, highest paid wide receivers. We're putting a list up for our TV audience. Find me the playoff wins. There you go. We just watched two great defensive lines. We just watched two great secondaries play. I didn't see a lot of. I mean, JSN was shut down. Catches on like 10 targets and they still dominated. Yeah. And that. And JSN and Stefan Diggs didn't do anything. So how valuable in the playoffs is the star receiver? It's about line play. Yeah. And that Pickens tag, they're estimating it to be 28.8 million, which would slot him about 11th with T. Higgins. And I don't think Pickens is going to be happy with that given that he performed like at a top five level for much of the season. All right, final story. Let's go to the Eagles because A.J. brown went on the Micah Parsons podcast and was talking about the change from Eagles OC Kevin Petullo to the new guy Sean Manion. Here's AJ Brown on change in Philly. I'm always excited. You know, sometimes change is not a bad thing. I have the utmost respect for kp. He, to me, did a tremendous job and he has a great heart. But I'm excited for the season. I'm excited for what's to come. He has a great heart. Boy. Offensive coordinator. He's got a great heart. What is that telling you, Kyle? That's not a resounding vote of confidence on the guy that they got fired. Listen, some jobs look like they're great jobs. They always joke that being an NBA head coach is the worst great job in sports. You have no real power. You know, if the player turns on you, you're done. But you do make a bunch of money and you are in sports. I think Philadelphia coordinator can be difficult because there's a ton of pressure and you get about. You get till Thanksgiving to prove your worth. Yeah, this will be an interesting1, this A.J. brown saga. We just saw super bowl week, right? So the receiver on Seattle Bobo broke his hand in the NFC Championship game. We heard nothing about that until the day of the Super Bowl. And then we had Drake May getting shot up. I'm just saying reporters are good. Obviously. Colin, there's a lot of stuff we don't know. And I would suspect that A.J. brown's name is going to be on the training block all summer, and I think he's probably going to get shipped. I don't see him lasting in Philadelphia. I thought they should have got rid of him two years ago. I don't know what the market's like, hey, good player. But listen, do you want that in your locker room? He's going after the quarterback half the season. Not great. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd line. Just a reminder, and I don't want to be too obnoxious today, but in the 2018 draft, when Darnold and Baker came out, I said I preferred Darnold over Baker. He was bigger. He's got. He's more athletic, and I liked his maturity. Sam's Darnold Sam Darnold's personality in, in my opinion, is about belief in himself. Baker Mayfield's personality, and he wears it on his sleeve, is driven by perceived slights, and that is powerful. Playing angry, playing piss, chip in the shoulder, that's Baker. Perceived slights, Darnold, his personality is belief in himself. It's grounded in that Baker's the opposite. Baker is still taking shots at Stefanski a couple of weeks ago. Sam Darnold's beyond that. Baker needs to prove people wrong, whereas Darnold only needs to prove himself right. And that's the difference. After winning the super bowl last night, Darnold could have taken shots at the jets for almost screwing up his career, or Carolina for being chaotic, or the Vikings letting him go or the Niners not letting him go into a camp and compete with Brock Purdy. He could have taken a shot at Cleveland for choosing Baker over him. And Sam Darnold instead goes on stage and says this. I told my dad I was, you know, and my mom. But, you know, just, I was. I was. I'm here because of their belief in me. Some people called me, called me crazy throughout my career for believing in myself so much and having so much confidence. But, you know, it was because of my parents, because of the way that they believed in me throughout my entire career. And it allowed me to go out there and play free and have a ton of confidence. Humble in victory, gracious in defeat. This was precisely why I like Darnold over Baker. Baker is trying to prove people wrong, perceived slights, and that does work and it is powerful. But in the end, it's about proving yourself right and believing in yourself. There is a joy and a humility to the way Sam Darnold plays. I still like Baker. I think it's highly entertaining. All the chips on the shoulders. Baker has balance in his life. He has a chip on both shoulders, and that is the kind of jet fuel that has driven many great athletes. There is nothing wrong with it. Darnold just different. And that's why I liked him. It wasn't just that he was bigger, just that he was a better athlete. In college, Darnold was not well coached, often had to play hero ball and carry the team and even in losses. And he had a few Humble in victory, gracious in defeat. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. All right, two truths in a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars. And I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T Mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile bill to your local Verizon store. Today get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best Overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. 2nd Half 2025 All Rights Reserve must provide recent Consumer Mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S P500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. 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The connection started to feel off. The behavior started to feel different. This February, get in touch with yourself by listening to Voiceover. That's b o y s o b e r. I'm like, I would love to not hate the man I'm sleeping with. I don't know what that's about. Listen to voiceover on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Segregation in the day, integration at night. When segregation was the law, one mysterious black club owner had his own rules. We didn't worry about what went on outside. It was like stepping in another world. Inside Charlie's Place, black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it. You saw the kkk. Yeah. They was dressed up in their uniform. The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him. From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch and visit Myrtle beach comes Charlie's Place, a story that was nearly lost to time. Until now. Listen to Charlie's place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Saturday, the ACC and Big Ten collide in primetime for the inaugural Nashville Hoops Showdown as number 18 Virginia takes on Bruce Thornton and Ohio State. It all begins Saturday, 8 Eastern on Fox. Okay, so Clint Kubiak and everybody in the world knew it. He's going to be named the head coach of the Raiders, you know, probably in an hour. He was Seattle's offensive coordinator. Do I worry? I mean, C.J. stroud, Jalen hurts have been quarterbacks that feel a little dependent on who's their offensive coordinator. Do I worry about that with Sam Darnold losing his. No, for three reasons. Smart people in life, on average make better choices than less smart people. Number one, Mike McDonald, the head coach, 38 years old. He's the McVeigh of defense. Last year, they won 10 games and he fired his OC so that tells me the head coach has incredibly high standards. Standards are what killed Pete Carroll's career in Seattle and Las Vegas. He had people on the staff that weren't good enough to be on the staff. Mike McDonald fired an offensive coordinator when they were winning 10 games. So he's got really high stand. Good is not good enough. Number two, John Snyder's the gm. Snyder doesn't miss on anything. He hires the right coaches, drafting trades, free agency. So the two smart guys at the top, really high standards and a hit rate that's very high. Number three is Sam Darnold is only 28 years old and because of his futility in New York and his struggles, he's very grateful. I think he'll always take reasonably team friendly deals. When you've been crapped on in life, when you had a tough start in your life, you are so grateful to be surrounded by excellent people. Sam's not about the money. Sam is about staying on the field and surrounded by really good people and that matters A lot of these, you know Darnold now you could say, well he's got the, he's got the legacy. He's got. Darnold got had such a bad first four years. I think he is so grateful to be surrounded by maybe the best defensive coach in football, top five coach and the best GM arguably. So I don't think he's going to go and bang on the Brinks truck. And so for those three reasons, GM and a coach that don't settle in, a quarterback that is not just going to look for money, I think that guarantees, I think Seattle is going to be excellent. They have cap space and if you. And it's really amazing that people kept saying Geno Smith is good. Geno Smith never graduated to the next level of football. J. Mac and I were talking about this during the break and the next level of football is often not losing games. Jimmy Johnson always talks about this. You lose way more games than you win. Troy Aikman knew I got a really good football team. I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit Michael Irvin twice on big plays. Alvin Harper once. That's, that's what I need to do. So Darnold's not a guy, he's not a money guy. I've met his family. Oceanside kid. That's not what drives him. He, he doesn't need validation off another, you know, material item. That's not who he is. Here's Darnold on his role going forward with this Seattle offense. I've taken it day by day, you know, throughout my entire career and it's gotten me to this point. My job is to take care of the football and I knew that coming into the game and, you know, I did that and, you know, I took the open guy when they were there and, you know, if I had to take sacks, if I had to throw the ball away, I was able to do it. But I just played that kind of game and I feel like, you know, we ended up coming on, being on top because of it. By the way, he's from San Clemente, not Oceanside. My bad. It's kind of south on the coast in California. You know, the other thing is one of the things Mike Vrabel sell is at New England. It's, it's. It's. This team isn't about one guy. It's a unit. He's the guy at the end of games in the tunnel thanking everybody. And it's easy to beat up on Drake May, who I just don't think wasn't healthy, wasn't there, I didn't like, and I think Josh McDaniels is good. I didn't understand not attacking Hunter Henry. If you look at the Rams success against Seattle, the Rams have excellent tight ends and they use them against the Seahawks very effectively. I thought the game plan was going to center around three step drops, a lot of tight ends, some bubble screens, short passing game. Do not get Drake May, five step drops. Will Campbell, left tackle, who was overwhelmed the entire AFC playoffs. I did not love the game plan. Listen, in the first quarter, neither quarterback could do much. I mean, they. It wasn't until the second quarter where you felt like Seattle was starting to put a few things together. So I did not love New England's offensive game plan. And again, when you can't block on the left tackle spot, it blows up a lot of stuff. But here is Mike Vrabel on the L. May, we can sit here and try to put it on one guy. You'll be disappointed because that'll never happen. You know, it starts with us as coaching staff and making sure that, you know, we're doing our part. And then obviously we have to be able to execute. We got to be able to protect. When we do protect, you know, we have to be able to progress through and throw the ball, the guys open and, you know, and help the quarterback. And then he's got to be better. Like that's just how it goes. So you know that that's never going to change. Should be noted. John Elway got crushed in Super Bowls and then he got better help and then John Elway was winning Super Bowls. We went through a stretch and I don't remember the exact years where Super Bowls were awful, like they were worse than yesterday. Like Super Bowls were blowouts for years. And then we've gotten into a space until yesterday where they. We've had some really good ones. Now. Last couple years have been ugly, but it goes back and forth on this. Last year Kansas City was beat up and this year we kept saying about New England and I thought it would be low scoring and close. I didn't think either team was going to get into the high 20s. I thought it had a chance to be 17, you know, 16, 24, 20 was my call Seattle. But I think all of us sort of acknowledged it, even New England fans, if they're honest. This team still felt like a draft away. I said it all year. They were my double the win total team in the NFL before the season. I picked one team that doubles their win total. It was New England. I thought they'd be in the 9, 10 win spot. I think they were getting to the super bowl. And so I thought it was pretty obvious. By middle of the second quarter, you start listening to the commentary. You can tell if you listen to the announcers. Mike Vrabel at half, Kyle Shanahan before the game, Collinsworth during the game. You know, these guys are sitting in a stadium or on the sidelines. Vrabel at halftime, it was, it was almost discouraged. Like he knew there was a reality setting in. The other thing that's interesting about yesterday, let me ask you a question. Do you believe 30 starts for a quarterback? 30 that you can make a fairly definitive judgment on a quarterback after 30 starts? That's two years. Well, if you want and say yes, that 30 starts, you can, you can have a strong opinion. Sam Darnold's 25 and five with two teams. Passer rating 98 and a half, 250 yards a game and two touchdowns throwing for every interception. And by the way, if you take the Rams out, just the Rams, those numbers are spectacular. Those are a minus. They're a plus if you just take the Rams out. And again Seattle and the Rams just hammered AFC teams this year. It so, you know, I think you start looking at the NFL, Jalen hurts. You guys have all for the last couple of years have been trying to tell me Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts are top 10 quarterbacks. So is Sam Darnold now a top 10 quarterback? He's bigger than both. He's got a bigger arm than both. I would say he's as athletic as Jalen. Hurts much better in the pocket. Bigger athlete, throws over the middle of the field better. So all you wanted Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy in the top 10. C.J. stroud is regressed. I mean, I love Justin Herbert. He never had a playoff run like this. So what do you do with Darnold? Well, the general manager. Okay, we're going to have excuses. I mean, at some point you take the snap and you make stuff happen pre snap, post snap. So my take is, what do you do with Sam Darnold? Now I. I feel like there's four or five guys. Burrow, Mahomes, Allen. There's a handful. I mean, and then you. You start getting into this next group of. Caleb Williams, Jordan. Love, Donald. Ask yourself this right now. Look, in the nfc, forget the afc. Go to the nfc. Stafford and golf are not mobile. That matters. What quarterback in the NFC tomorrow if you're building a franchise. Darnold's only 28 tomorrow in the NFC, what quarterback do you take over Sam Darnold? Nobody's taken Brock Purdy. Injuries smaller gets. No, but not a GM in the league's taken Brock Purdy. Not a single GM Shanahan will tell you. Public. Brock gets banged up. Brock is smaller. Brock's not this athletic. Brock's not this big. I mean, Brock a playoff run with no turnovers, hoisting a trophy. Nobody's taking Jalen hurts over Sam Darnold. Nobody. Darnold is loved in the locker room. I have a source that tells me, and this is now like public. Jaylen Herz is not he. He doesn't galvanize a locker room. So ask yourself in the nfc, who would you take? I'm not talking Burrow, Mahomes, Al. I'm not talking that side. As JMac said, The AFC at the top quarterbacks, unbelievable. It's like seven of the top eight quarterbacks. But Stafford's old Golf doesn't move. Jordan loves inconsistent. Jalen hurts and Purdy. Not a GM in the league has taken them over Darnold. So who's the guy? Well, we know GM's whiff on quarterbacks a lot. Yes. So I don't know that I'd agree with that part, but I'm sorry, I can't rock with you on this. Yes, I agree. Darnold's had a great run, 25 and 5. He is 28, older than Jaden Daniels, who I know got hurt last year. Jaden Daniels can't stay healthy. I agree. But a. If we did this a year ago, he had just been in the NFC championship and people were crowding him like top seven quarterback in the league. So yeah, he did get injured. We have new information. I think. I think Caleb had an awesome season. I think Caleb Williams is Jordan Love for sure. Very inconsistent. I would personally go hers and py. I know you disagree in a several GMs probably agree. Every GM disagrees. It's interesting. We'll see what he does without Kubiak next year. We'll see. How do you do it without Kevin o'? Connell? He did good with Kubia. Justin Jefferson. Kevin o'. Connell. Seattle's got a defensive coach? I don't know. I just watched yesterday's game. Yeah, JSN did nothing and they were fine. Yeah, we'll see. Oh, boy. He's just so excited. You could hear the cackle in his voice. Dude, I whatever you guys dream about, it was just Darnold at a podium wearing a gold jacket. He was in Canton, Ohio. It was very emotional. I don't know what he was talking about, but it was very clear. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.