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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human pay around the corner and around the globe. Apple Pay is accepted at millions of places worldwide. Wherever you see the contactless symbol in stores or the Apple Pay button online and in apps. Whether you're checking out on iPhone or Apple Watch, just double click pay and be on your way. Add your debit or credit card to wallet and you're good to go. Pay the Apple way Terms Apply. Hey, it's Jason Smith.
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tools to invest your way. Trade stocks and ETFs with real time data, explore cash management or build towards the future with IRAs and retirement accounts all on one platform.
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list insights and alerts when earnings drop. Download the Webull app today or visit webull.com and take control of your investments. Webull Financial LLC member SIPC FINRA Investing involves risk. For more information, visit webull.com disclosures we all want the best without having to pay the most. That's where Verizon comes in. Get this now you can take your AT and T or T mobile bill into any Verizon store. They'll look at what you're paying and give you a better deal. Period. You get the amazing coverage you want while keeping more cash in your pocket. Visit your local Verizon store to start saving today. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms and conditions apply. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network. 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. Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Welcome in hour two. It is a Thursday this interesting so yesterday Aaron Rodgers spoke for the first time McAfee show since, like, the season ended. And I defended Aaron Rodgers all year. I said a lot. A lot of people were punishing him like, pff, because he wasn't throwing the ball down the field. And I'm like, they have one receiver. So yesterday, he's still unclear if he's coming back to Pittsburgh, but I will say, if you had an NFL quarterback draft today with everybody in the league, and it was based on the next three to four years, yeah, Aaron's not top 20. If you had a quarterback draft for next year, only Aaron Rodgers would make my top 10. And you think that's crazy, but the Steelers were a broken, dysfunctional offense. They went from 23rd in sacks to ninth. They went from 10th and giveaways to fourth. Red zone was almost dead last in the league to top 11 yards. After the catch, they were first. They averaged more yards per play than Liam Cohen, Trevor Lawrence and the Jags, and they averaged more points than the Philadelphia Stacked Eagles. So I, you know, to me, I thought Aaron had a great year. It was a completely broken ecosystem. Offensively. They didn't turn it over. They didn't have penalties. They were good in the red zone. They were good after the catch. They. That's Aaron. What else changed? It was Aaron. So I, I think, again, if you're talking one year, I think he's a top 10 quarterback. Matt Hasselbeck on Aaron potentially coming back.
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C
I think he wants to play football, but. But with a caveat only somewhere that plays in his offense with his verbiage. Someone that age. I lived it. You don't want to try to learn a new language.
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A
You.
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C
You don't. You like, if it's. If it's in Pittsburgh with Mike McCarthy or someone that runs that same offense, yes. If not, then no. He doesn't want to get in the huddle and have to think about red left, swap tight, close the right, sprint right, G U corner, half back, flat on one, ready, break. Like, he doesn't want to do that. He doesn't want to wear a wristband. He wants to own the offense. And so it's got to be in that kind of a system for him to come back in my mind.
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A
Yeah, I, you know, for 17 games, I would take Aaron over all but about eight guys in the league, and most of those guys I would take because they're a little younger and a little more athletic. But go look at what the Steelers were, and just by adding Aaron, look what they became like a functional offense. Now they have Mike McCarthy. So I have, like, an adult offensive coach. Dak Cooper, Rush, Aaron. I honestly think with Baltimore right now and Cincinnati's ridiculousness, I'm not so sure I wouldn't have Aaron and Pittsburgh winning the division with McCarthy. I really, I mean, say what you want. This head coach, they've already got the staff laid out. You know, McCarthy has always been good at elevating. They have to go get a number two wide receiver, but I, I, I think he's coming back. Uh, and with that, here's breaking news sh just reported Jason Tatum. Just 10 months after surgery for a ruptured Achilles. Jason Tatum will play. He's making his debut. Is that tomorrow? Against the Dallas Mavericks. Joining us live, Jason Tempf, host of Hoops tonight at the Volume. Had him on a couple of weeks ago. Got great feedback. All right, so, you know, I always say this. When it comes to young athletes in their prime, they always heal faster. They always show up three months before. Okay, so the Knicks have been playing well. We worry about their defense. The Pistons are good, but, you know, their half guard offense, there's a ceiling on it. Tatum to the Celtics. Are they the best team now in the East? Potentially.
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You know, there's this thing with culture. This season for Boston has been a testament to their culture and just how strong it is. But then what happens is you run into really good basketball teams and culture can only take you so far. You need really good players.
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A
Right.
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B
And last night, the Celtics ran into a Charlotte Hornets team that is 16 and three in their last 19 games on fire. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Conversation for another day. But that is an incredible basketball team they're building out there in Charlotte. But the Celtics got their butt kicked. And there were a couple of specific reasons why, but one of the big reasons why is that their centers really, really struggled to guard and pick and roll, and they were just getting absolutely fried by everybody from the Hornets. And the big difference between last year's center rotation and this year's center rotation is one, you don't have Al Horford, a guy who has more scheme versatility, he can switch. But two, guess who guarded centers for the most part last year. Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum's ability to guard centers gave the Celtics the ability to switch most ball screens. And it was one of the primary driving forces behind them winning the title. Most famously breaking that Dallas offense by putting Tatum on centers and switching all of those ball screens. And so again, it's all fun and games. This has been a very impressive season for Boston, but they need Jason Tatum. He unlocks their Defensive versatility. Jalen Brown on offense, he's had a very good season, but he's shown some susceptibility to certain types of looks. He specifically struggled against deep drop, which is something that Charlotte did a bunch to them last night. Jayson Tatum gives you another guy who can kind of alleviate that burden on Jaylen Brown. And specifically Jayson Tatum is a much better passer and it's something that, as we talked about, it'll be a little clunky at first, implementing him into this offense, but ultimately will make them more versatile on both ends of the floor and make them a much better team against the best competition around the league.
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A
All right. I watched every second of the Knicks hammering the Spurs. They had every. They missed a couple of late three pointers. They could have beaten OKC last night. So you know, and you know this, Jason, regular season's different when you can play a team four or five times in a row and hunt their defensive weakness. Maybe the Knicks aren't built for that. Maybe. But I will say we worried about Tibbs. Oh, here's Mike Brown. They're bench scoring. They're. I mean it. I said this year day you could be a casual fan. Brunson and Cat and OG and Josh Hart and Mikhail Bridges, they got a nice rotation. I mean, do you buy this current streak?
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B
You know what's funny? I told you this a couple of weeks ago. I believe in this team more than I do recent versions of the Knicks because they're better at some specific things. Mike Brown in particular. One of the biggest things he's emphasized is early dribble penetration. The Knicks generate the second most spot up opportunities in the entire NBA this season. Last year they were middle of the pack. So spot ups in the half court, that's just a guy standing open on the perimeter. That's where you get a lot of your best offense. In the half court, they are running better offense, they're playing better defense. But my concern was the rest of the league had gotten better. What's actually gotten me to buy into the Knicks, Colin, is their matchups against some of these better teams in the league. They match up really well with the San Antonio Spurs. Yep. In the San Antonio spurs match up really well with the Thunder. And so it's really easy for me to sit here and be like, oh, do I think the Knicks can beat the Thunder in a series? No, I don't. I, I don't think Brunson can go blow for blow with Shea. I don't think they have close the Defensive versatility. There's all sorts of issues that would go south for New York in that type of matchup, but they can absolutely beat all these teams in the East. There's not a team out there in the east that looks unbeatable or that can present the types of challenges that Oklahoma City can present if they can somehow get out of the conference. San Antonio has had Oklahoma City's number all season. And San Antonio, to me, like, there's a lot of things with them, some numbers and some specifics with them that are causing me to recalibrate how I view them compared to other young teams. But if the spurs come out of the west and the Knicks come out of the east, the Knicks have had their number this year. Their bigger wings have been able to guard San Antonio's guards. They've been physical with Wemby, Brunson's outplayed Deer and Fox. They look really good in that matchup. And so as I was looking at that Knicks game against the spurs last week, I was like, man, if things break right, this Knicks team absolutely could win the title this year.
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A
All right, so Everybody Bangs on SGA. And my take is he doesn't have LeBron size and verticality. You know, he doesn't have MJ's length. So you do what you do. It's like most of the great route runners in NFL history at receiver are not huge and are not burners. JSN is a great route runner because he has to be a great route runner. And I look at SGA and I'm like, he's six, six and a buck 94. He's got to manipulate. I don't think the refs. He's currying favor with the refs. I think it's difficult. And I do think he's thin and you can bump him off his spot and they're going to blow the whistle. Also, Jordan had 12 free throws a game one year. Crickets. KD's done 10 plus, crickets three times. Kobe, 10 plus. But their games are way more fun to watch, so nobody complains. Is part of this is that his game's no fun to watch.
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B
So this is complicated because I do think that the foul grifting thing is a problem. Like, I'm sorry, but when we're watching a big national TV game and Shay, like drives into Cat and just throws up some BS shot that he would never take unless he was trying to draw a foul, I do think that's a bad television problem product. I just think that's a League wide issue. And I can't really get on Shea about it when Luca does the same thing and Jalen Brunson does the same thing. And man, even Jokic has been flopping so much as of late. Like it's just a league wide problem. So I don't really see the point in targeting Shea specifically because he's not the only guy that's doing it. Now, the stuff about him being a tv kind of like a draw for fans, to me it comes down to that exact concept you're talking about. Footwork is fascinating to a football, like to a huge football fan, right? Or a guy who played or something along those lines. For a guy like me, a basketball nut job, like, I have an incredible appreciation for Shea's footwork, his like bizarre slinky athleticism, his shot making ability in the mid range, like those are things that I like, but for the masses, for the casual fans. He doesn't get the crazy dunks like LeBron. He doesn't go on these insane shooting displays like Steph Curry. His offense as a team isn't like the incredible passing fueled, fluid team offense you see from like Jokic or the insane physical feats of Wemby. So I think honestly with Shea, he just struggles to resonate with the masses because most of his appeal is to more of the refined basketball side rather than the obvious basketball side.
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A
Okay, so I have said this before, is that, you know, with the Nil, if one of these powers like Notre Dame or Georgia or Texas, a player transfers out, it's mostly because Texas or Notre Dame or Georgia don't hold them in high regard. You're not taking the best Georgia football player from Georgia. If he's great, they're going to keep him in house. And I feel the same way about guys that get traded. Harden's a great player, right? Been traded several times. Why? Because eventually the truth comes out. Your game is your game. Anthony Davis, now let's be honest, after they win the COVID title, shows up out of shape the next year. The honeymoon was over the minute he showed up to camp. Out of shape to LeBron, who's obsessed with being in shape. So I love Luca, but the truth was he'd been hurt in back to back years. I've always said there's a Carmelo component here where he's not in great shape. He doesn't really contribute defensively. Are you surprised, however, in the last two weeks that it's the first time ever there's been a lot of criticism with Luca? Some of its roster construction. This is not, it's too much duplication. But have you been surprised by the criticism?
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B
No, I think a lot of it is fair. You got to remember, when we're talking about guys at this echelon of the league, we're not comparing you to the seventh or eighth best player in the league. We're comparing you to Nicola Jokic to shake elders Alexander. We're talking about a special caliber of player here and so you can get a little bit more nitpicky. The main thing I've noticed with Luca is that his floor is just a lot lower than those guys. I firmly believe that when Luka's got his step back three going, he's like the best player in the world because he brings the crazy efficiency math problem that Steph presents with like the size imposition of Jokic, but also with the mid range proficiency of Shea. He brings it all to the table and it shows in the numbers because when he scores, they're super effective. But when he fails to knock those shots down, he just struggles to impact the game in other ways. Here are a couple of crazy stats for you, Colin. The lakers are just 4 and 7 this year. When Luka scores 25 or fewer points, they are 27 and 11. When he scores over 25, they are 19 and 6. When he makes at least four threes, they're 12 and 12. When he makes fewer than four threes, so so much comes down to him knocking down that step back three. And one of the things with with Luka is it used to be when he didn't have his jump shot going, he could get to the rim and that would drive all of these other parts of his game. Colin. His ability to get to the rim is consistently declining year over year. 2023 with Dallas, 6.1 rim attempts per game. 2024 with Dallas, 5, 2025, 4.4. 2026 with the Lakers, 3.5. So we have a consistent year over year decline in his ability to get to the rim. And so as a result of that, he's not able to bring another element to his game. When his jump shot's not falling, he's not a very good defensive player. He's hard to protect on defense too. Like teams have coverages to protect guards that can't defend. But Luka is so slow that they basically have to switch with him, which makes him an easy target. And so really it's not so much about what Luka's capable of, it's about what he looks like when things aren't going his way with that jump shot. His floor is lower and it just makes him more complicated to build around.
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Are you surprised that LeBron and Luca on the floor together don't work? Because LeBron generally works with everybody.
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So I think it's complicated. I think first of all they are starting to play better. The the big three have started to find some footing on offense over the course of the last couple of weeks. I think the biggest reason why it hasn't worked is LeBron is just having a brutal jump shooting season. This is something I've learned a lot from the NBA over the last few years. If you want to partner multiple stars together, there needs to be a jump shooting element. Guys need to be able to shoot because that's the only thing that allows them to stay involved and to have utility when they don't have the basketball. And what's so weird is LeBron had been an awesome catch and shoot player the last couple years in the mid 40% from three the previous two seasons. But LeBron's been having a bad jump shooting season. So as a result he hasn't had as much off ball utility. The LeBron groups that have been best has been when he's by himself. They've been some of the Lakers best groups are when he's by himself because he's on the ball and he's primarily operating in transition and the offense is flowing around him. And so his catch and shoot jump shots not as important. But ultimately with this team, you've got two guys in Luka and LeBron in particular that are not great catch and shoot players and that makes them really difficult to play alongside each other.
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It's called Hoops Tonight. It's a podcast at the Volume. As always, buddy. Great seeing you. Appreciate it.
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B
Good to see you. Colin.
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Jason. Tim does a remarkable job at the Volume for several years. Love bringing him on the show. John Middelkoff as well. Yeah, I mean LeBron's jump shot has always been to me, J. Mack, it's always been hit and miss. He has stretches and I. But the thing with LeBron in his prime is when the jump shot wasn't landing, he just beat guys off the dribble and score at the rim.
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B
Yeah.
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So that's why LeBron's always loved playing with like a guy like a Kevin Love or a Chris Bosh, a big who can move outside and take the big with him. So if LeBron's jumper's not hitting, he can drive and score at the rim. I mean, Roy Hibbert gave him trouble for years, you know, in Miami when they would play Indiana. Because LeBron doesn't want, he doesn't want the bigs around the rim. So Bosch and Kevin Love were two of his favorite big Anthony Davis, by the way. LeBron didn't want him hanging around the rim. He wanted him out. The problem was AD didn't want to be outside shooting threes. He liked to be closer to the rim and score. And so, Yeah, I mean, LeBron's jumper's always been hot and cold for men over 40. It matters. It's not just about effort. You're still disciplined. You didn't become lazy. Your biology changes, and that's where mDrive delivers. At 40, effort and outcomes start to drift apart. The same habits don't deliver the same return. So men tend to just push harder. More caffeine, more restriction, more energy drinks, more willpower. That's not the issue. Support is M Drive, Boost and Burn, specifically built for men over 40. Steady energy and metabolism support without extremes. M Drive, Boost and Burn now the number one men's health supplement at Sprouts and Sprouts is one of the strictest specialty retailers in the country. Also get it on Amazon. Over 40. Don't ignore your body, what it's telling you. Go to mdrive4men.com the code is heard 21st cent off your first order. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on Fox Sports Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
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C
That's right, you can now watch the
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Odd Couple Live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube. Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe. All right, two truths and 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 Build 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. Innovation is what gets your business to the big leagues and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition break free from skyrocketing storage costs, unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. Innovation From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware, Wasabi has taken the lead in big league data storage. Remember, Wasabi is up to 80% less than the other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi is another championship story. Check them out free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network support for the show comes from public so it kind of feels like there's two types of investing platforms. You got the old school brokerages that look like they were designed in like 1995. Then you have those other platforms, the ones that feel less like investing and more like a casino. Public is neither. It's the investing platform for people who actually take this stuff seriously. You know, people who are serious about building their wealth. Because on public you can build a portfolio of stocks and options and bonds and crypto without all the bugs or the confetti. Retirement accounts. Yep, High yield cash. Of course. They even have direct indexing. Honestly, this is what investing platform should look like. Modern design, simple to use, and customer support that actually cares. Go to public.comcowherd and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.comcalhurt ad paid for by Public
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See complete disclosures@public.com disclosures Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life. Drive daily with confidence Everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches. With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. I love my electric vehicle. It's easy. No more gas stations. The way forward is electric. Learn more atelectric for all.org. Boys, you see this. The Dodgers are just bringing their front office over to the Lakers. Michael Spetner has now been Chief strategy and Growth Officer for the Lakers. He was with the Dodgers for years. They brought over Farhan Zeiti, Andrew Friedman in advisory roles. Then it was Lon Rosenberg. And this is what we've said the Cowboys need to do. Lakers and the Cowboys new set of eyes. So I mean, what's amazing, I was talking with the guys this morning on this. I'm amazed the Lakers have been this successful because operationally I don't think they've been well run. They've hit on Hail Mary's. I mean, let's be honest, they were, they were not the best roster. But LeBron chose them because he wanted to do business in the biggest economy in the country, Louisiana. And so it was a Hail Mary and it worked. And Anthony Davis could have gone to better teams, but he went to the Lakers because of the brand. And Luka was a miracle trade. So the one thing that is very unique, like baseball has a lot of big brands. I'll give you an example. The Yankees are a huge brand. The Braves in the south are a huge brand. The Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants, the Red Sox, I mean, the Cubs were a huge brand. And they, and they hadn't won a World Series in 108 years. There is no equivalent in the NBA. The Knicks and the Celtics are kind of big brands, but the Celtics made the Finals a couple years ago. Didn't get numbers, it didn't rate. So the Lakers have been able to succeed. Being operationally below average, they make a lot of mistakes. But the hail married a LeBron. Magic Johnson stepped in, sold him. It worked. It was a Hail Mary. But the last three years of Kobe, they were awful. The next two years after Kobe, they were awful. It's remarkable. I mean, they've only got. I was thinking about this with LeBron, AD and Luca in their primes, at least LeBron was old prime. The Lakers have gotten one first round win one time since 2020. And they've done it because of brand. Baseball's got a lot of Big brands. The NBA doesn't. The Celtics, last time they were in the finals, didn't get a number. The Lakers is the brand. And so I mean, to me, if you can add the operational excellence of the Dodgers with the branding of the Lakers, I mean, I, I mean Rob Pelinka even recently talked about what Dodger execs add.
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B
When Mark bought the team, Jeannie and I did a really deep dive with him on sort of the areas he wants to grow and move into and get aggressive. And again, looking at the Dodgers and how they built it out has been a great sort of example in North Star. And so we're still going through that process of how we'll look in the off season and what additions we'll make, but there will be some positive changes and we built, will build things out.
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A
I mean, they're doing it with some smoke and mirrors and Hail Marys, but give them credit. I mean, that's that when you have the brand. J. Mack with the news.
- [26:56]
B
No, no, no, no.
- [26:57]
A
Turn on the news.
- [26:59]
C
This is the Herdline news. We probably don't do enough horn tooting on this show, Colin. But I, I tried to sell you on Cliff Kingsbury sliding into McVeigh spot a couple days ago.
- [27:09]
A
You did?
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C
Well, wouldn't you know it, here's Daniel Jeremiah talking about the relationship between so McVeigh obviously and Stafford have a great relationship. Yeah, Daniel Jeremiah said something. Listen very closely here, Mr. Cowherd.
- [27:23]
A
Here we go.
- [27:24]
B
Stafford is the MVP of the league. But I don't think this is a
- [27:28]
A
five year one way Runway they have there.
- [27:29]
B
They're this close to winning a Super bowl and there's. Everybody expects that whenever Stafford moves on,
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A
there's a decent chance that Sean McVay moves off.
- [27:37]
B
So this is their time right now.
- [27:40]
A
I can't wrap my brain around Sean
- [27:41]
B
McVay stamping that and saying, yeah, let's get a quarterback for the future. Oh, by the way, he's not going to be anywhere close to as talented
- [27:48]
A
as Stafford and I might not even
- [27:49]
B
be here to coach him.
- [27:52]
A
Yep, yep, yep.
- [27:53]
C
You could cross Ty Simpson off your wish list for the Rams. That's not happening. I love that insight from would you agree or no?
- [28:04]
A
I think they're going to sign Stafford to a two year deal and this year they're going for it. Trent McDuffie move. They've got to get a tackle, they've got to get a safety, preferably in another wide receiver, but they don't have a lot of needs. That's why I think they have one first round pick left. I think Makai Lemon at USC solves their punt woes, punt returns. He's got great hands. And gives them a third target because Puka and Devonte Adams get dinged up so that their Lemon would make their offense and a right tackle. I mean literally, it was number one in the league last year. It would be flawless. I do think what was interesting, Jason, they gave up not only a first this year, they gave up a third next year. So the Rams next year have a first round pick and a second round pick but they now don't have a third or a fourth. And you know they're going to be good, right? You and I both know the Rams will be good. So how do they go from the 28, 29 30th pick to go get the future quarterback? You can't because they now by. That's why it's surprising McDuffie. I'm not surprised they gave up a first or a fifth and a sixth. I'm surprised they gave up a third next year because now they don't have a third or a fourth next year and they've got just a second. Well, you're gonna have to give up more than a second to go from the 29th 30th pick to number six.
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C
Yes.
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A
So you'll have to move off players potentially and they have the depth. They could probably do it. But that was interesting to me is that I get this year going all in. But I thought they, I thought honestly if they moved off Garoppolo, they would take picks and they would just say put them in next year's class. Which is very attractive, the team. So I don't think, I don't think McVay's retiring.
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C
Well, I mean, listen, if they go to the super bowl next year, that will be three super bowl trips for him in what, like seven or eight years. Remember the one with Goff, then they won one with Stafford and then they go to another one next year. That's a pretty great run. And he's almost walked away. Remember all this chatter. Is he going to go to a streaming service? Is he going to go to, you know, do some studio work? There's been a lot of that. This guy runs hot, Colin. He's all in. And then he's. He was as close to stepping away. Come on, you give me another Super Bowl. I think he's out and I think Kingsbury would be a great fit there.
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A
But these people, people that work at lug nut factories or long haul Truckers, they retire because that's a beat down football coach making $15 million a year. Loving what you do in your kind of cognitive prime. Retired or what?
- [30:42]
C
Well step away. Take some time off.
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A
So by the way doesn't have a
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C
kid with the wife.
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A
Well yeah. You can only hang out so much. I mean honestly, what when you have an owner like Stan Kroenke, a good gm, you have a stacked roster, you walk away if you're coach of the jets or you that I get.
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C
But then you don't have any success or money. So what's the point? He McVeigh will have both success and a lot of money.
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A
You know what? You only get half of it in la.
- [31:15]
C
So complaining about the taxes you could. He could go outside 11 months a year. Haven't you seen his spread? They had the. They had the draft set up at his house. It looked like a museum. It was so ridiculous.
- [31:26]
A
Don't buy McVeigh's. What are these guys retiring to? They don't play bridge.
- [31:32]
C
Hey, I gave you this two days ago and now it comes out Colin. It's almost like one of us is kind of plugged in on the Rams. Anyways, let's move on. Let's move on to the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones. Here's our obligatory weekly reference of the Cowboys. They've made a lot of salary cap restructuring moves. Dak Prescott CD Lam Tyler Smith creating cap space. Obviously Jerry Jones interested in moving up. Well here's Dak about the possibility of adding veterans to the roster.
- [32:02]
B
Heck yeah.
- [32:03]
A
Most definitely.
- [32:03]
B
Especially what does it said no projects
- [32:05]
A
you or what are what is it we need guys now to play. Yeah.
- [32:08]
C
No red shirts or whatever.
- [32:10]
A
Yeah. I mean we got a coach in the second year we know we've had we had some ups and downs and shine some good moments last year and this is. This is the year that you make a big jump and getting big time players who can help immediately as a key part of that. All right.
- [32:27]
C
Yes. Captures my sense of everybody's going to
- [32:30]
A
be looking up at the New York Giants anyway so it won't matter.
- [32:33]
C
I will say I'm liking this Giants love for you because as a Jets fan I dislike the Giants. So now I could just go back and forth and fortunately for me there's a lot of ammo for the Giants. Things are not as copacetic as you seem to think they are with Mr. Harbaugh there. But we'll see. By the way you see the video of Jackson Dart. He's flying with the. With the Unwashed masses and coaches, unlike you, he's just flying around and meeting kids and kissing babies. They love Jackson Dart. They love Harbaugh. We'll see about your Giants final story. Colin. Another NFC east team, Philadelphia Eagles. A.J. brown. We knew. We now have a report that indicates Philly is chasing a quote, Quinn and Williams type deal for AJ Brown. I will remind you what the jets got for Quinn and Williams. They got a second round pick in this year's draft, a first next year in what's expected to be a great draft, and a defensive tackle in Mozzie Smith. I don't know if he's a starter rotational guy, but a one, a two and a player. Do you think AJ Brown gets anything near that?
- [33:34]
A
No.
- [33:36]
C
I would have said no two hours ago. And then the D.J.
- [33:39]
A
moore deal, I could say a one and a player and he's not going to be a Pro bowl player. I'll give you a one and like a number three corner. Absolutely. I'm not giving you a one, a two and a star defensive tackle. Now, he's expensive and he can be. There's maintenance.
- [33:55]
C
Maintenance. That's a nice way to put it. But that's weird because DJ Moore, again, I don't want to diminish what he's done. Like you said, he's always available. He's great. He's not much of a locker room issue guy. AJ AJ Brown is considerably higher on any list of best receivers in the league than DJ Moore. Correct?
- [34:14]
A
Yeah.
- [34:15]
C
Not a top ten. And that's not to knock him.
- [34:17]
A
No. DJ Moore is excellent.
- [34:19]
C
He's very, very good.
- [34:20]
A
I would say AJ Brown's a top five receiver. GJ Moore is a one, so. But I like DJ Moore a lot. AJ Brown is different, but you get some stuff with AJ Brown that's okay. He's a very unique body type. Corners don't very. I mean, Christian Gonzalez could line up with him because of his size and strength. The Patriots corner, most corners just don't, they don't match up very well with A.J. brown's, you know, size and girth and length and power.
- [34:48]
C
So D.J. moore is 28, turns 29 next month. A.J. brown, who is one of the best one on one receivers in the league. He's 28, turns 29 in June. So the ages are actually, you know, a few months apart. I, I don't, I'm starting to think AJ Brown's not going to get move. Colin. I think the asking price is going to be too high. How? He drives a hard bargain and you Know what? Hey, clean it up. Figure it out. Sirianni, get your quarterback and your wide receiver to hang out. Get him to go to Dave and Buster's and play some. Play some games and bond. Okay, well, have you been to Dave and Buster's?
- [35:23]
A
Yeah, in fact, I've been to Dave and Buster's in Philadelphia.
- [35:26]
C
Yeah, same.
- [35:27]
A
I know it's right on the. Isn't it on the Delaware?
- [35:30]
C
It's. Yeah, I believe so. Listen, it's no Chuck E. Cheese, by the way, where I had like my
- [35:34]
A
birthday party, went to a Dave and Buster's. I was covering a Tampa Bay Lightning Flyer series. It was great. By the way. It was a wild series. Philadelphia is a nutty hockey town. And I went to the Dave and Busters. I'd never been to a Dave and Busters. I thought it was pretty good.
- [35:48]
C
Was that where you took a girl on a date or you just went there to hang out?
- [35:51]
A
I just. I was covering NHL hockey as a hockey insider and I went and I went for lunch and played video games. And I liked it.
- [35:59]
C
Love it.
- [36:00]
A
There you go. J. Mac with a news.
- [36:03]
B
Well, that's the news.
- [36:04]
C
And thanks for stopping by the herd line news.
- [36:07]
A
You know, J. Mac, I told you when I moved to la, the Dodgers weren't this good. The USC didn't have Lincoln Riley, the Chargers were down in San Diego, and Lakers.
- [36:20]
C
Dumpster fire.
- [36:22]
A
They were a dumpster fire. So I'm kind of good. I'm good luck for your sports team. I moved to Chicago. Bears are out there. If they sign Max Crosby. I moved to Chicago. It's like Bears are like, I can't fix the Bulls. I got season tickets. Forget it. But that. That Bears dj more now the Bears have a second second round pick. That. That is some wheeling and dealing by Ryan Polls.
- [36:45]
C
He. He has done some well. Can you use your superpowers to help the White Sox or are they also a lost cause?
- [36:50]
A
Not my responsibility.
- [36:51]
C
Okay, figured that.
- [36:52]
A
No, I did. And I. I'm. Blackhawks, Cubs, season tickets.
- [36:56]
C
Hey, maybe I'll have to come out to Chicago. We'll go to a Bears game together. September only I'm not coming in there.
- [37:02]
A
Maybe 53 degrees. I don't know if you can handle it. A massive data leak exposed 7 billion email records compiled from many stolen data archives and breaches from previous identity theft. It was a mess. Researchers found about 3 billion of the addresses are vulnerable. And that's where cyber criminals use their info. Send phishing scams. I got one this morning. Spread malware. Lots of places can accidentally expose your personal info. It's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second for risk to your identity. Like loans taken out in your name, LifeLock detects and alerts you to potential threats. You're not going to spot in your own crimes committed by thieves pretending to be you. If you become a victim of identity theft, LifeLock puts a restoration specialist US based to fix it, guaranteed her money back. They use information, send phishing scams, spread malware. That's what cyber criminals do. 40 off year one go to 1-800-lifelocker lifelock.com as always, Dakota's H E R D. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. 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 ATT 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 waste to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile build to 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. Innovation is what gets your business to the big leagues and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition break free from skyrocketing storage costs, unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. Innovation from Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware. Wasabi has taken the lead in big league data storage. Remember, Wasabi is up to 80% less than the other guys and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi is another championship story. Check them out free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage Proud partner of the Voluum podcast network. Support for the show comes from Public. If you look at your investing app, what do you see? An Interface stuck in 1997 or something that looks modern but feels more like a casino than a place to be. Build Wealth Public is different. It's the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build your portfolio for the long haul. Stocks, options, bonds, crypto. It's all there. But what really makes Public different is the technology behind it. Imagine starting your day with an AI summarized market briefing, getting clear summaries of earnings calls the moment they end. Or turning any idea into an investable index just by typing a prompt. This is what investing looks like when the tools finally catch up. Go to public.com and earn a 1% uncapped match when you transfer your portfolio. Public Investing for those who take it seriously Ad paid for by Public Holdings Brokerage Services by Public Investing Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors SEC Registered Advisor Crypto Services by ZeroHash all investing involves risk of loss. See complete disclosures@public.com disclosures Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life. Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches. With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. I love my electric vehicle. It's easy. No more gas stations. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electric for all.org.
- [41:46]
C
you don't want to miss this one. The World Baseball Classic. Aaron Judge, Paul Skeens and Bryce Harper suit up for the Stars and stripes as Team USA takes on Brazil tomorrow at 8 Eastern, only on Fox. Colin, Team USA loves you, so they sent you a gift to get ready for the World Baseball Classic.
- [42:05]
A
Yeah, right there on the back. Yeah, of course. Spelled correctly too. That's a. That's a good left fielder's number.
- [42:12]
C
Okay. Left fielder? You don't have the arm for a left fielder, bro.
- [42:16]
A
Well, I don't need more.
- [42:17]
C
But I thought you were gonna play second. Easy throw to first.
- [42:21]
A
If I'm gonna do infield, I'm third. Please.
- [42:24]
C
You cannot handle the hot corner.
- [42:26]
A
No way.
- [42:27]
C
No way.
- [42:28]
A
So it. I. You know, it's funny. I'm. I'm on the interweb here. Everybody is crushing Buffalo because they gave up a second round pick to get D.J. moore. They got D.J. moore in a fifth round pick. Okay? So to get a number one receiver who by the way, has worked with Joe Brady before, remember, you're not just getting a star receiver, you're getting a star receiver with Josh Allen. Okay, if, if Mitch Trubisky's my quarterback, I'm not giving up a second round pick. But I know that DJ Moore is going to be really productive because I got Josh Allen and an offensive coach. So right now the Buffalo Bills have a first round pick, a third of four, two fives, two sevens. That's fine. Their needs are all defensively. So I mean, again, they, they've got tight ends or running back, a left tackle, a quarterback, O line's fine. Now they've got a sideline receiver, a slot receiver and an emerging player in Keon Coleman, who knows Joe Brady likes him. So they're just getting clobbered. I am much more willing to give up a good draft pick if it is a pick that will work alongside one of my best players. So. Right. Like when the Rams had Aaron Donald, you knew that Von Miller, though past his prime, would be successful because you have to double Aaron Donald. So I'll give up something for Vaughn Miller, even if he's expensive and past his prime, he ended up being on a Super bowl team. Again, if I have a great quarterback, Joe Burrow, or I have a Justin Herbert or I have a Josh Allen, I'm going to give up more to get a receiver or a player that is in his purview or in a complimentary player to his skills. So DJ Moore can beat people deep. Josh Allen. As they move into a stadium that was constructed to allow less wind in the stadium. So it's reasonable to think that Buffalo will, late in the season, have more options to throw the ball down the field. Allen's a great deep ball thrower. DJ can go underneath, drag seam or deep. So if I get DJ Moore and a 5th round pick, what do you think I'm gonna. I'm gonna give up? You know, I don't know. I thought a straight swap, it would be for a four, but if I get DJ And a fifth, you know, I get it. You'd probably prefer a third, but I don't know if they still have a first and a third and they just got a star receiver. It's not. It's also not a great wide receiver draft. There's a kid out of Arizona State, there's Carnell Tate, there's Lemon out of usc. It's not a great wide Receiver draft. So they're just getting clobbered. Everybody's just, they're just hating on the Buffalo Bills. And I, I don't think it was, I mean, Ryan Poles, I'll tell you what, he got a lot out of DJ Moore. He, DJ Moore and Ryan Polls. He, you know, Ryan polls has, has worked that player and then very well for himself. You think Buffalo got smoked, Jason?
- [45:46]
C
I did, yes. So I did a quick search on the Internet. I'm going through some, some data here. So the Buffalo pick that goes to the Bears is pick number 60, the second round pick. Right. I'm looking through Pro Bowlers, All Pros, so I'll just rattle off some of the guys in the last 25 years who have gone in that range. 59, 60, 61.
- [46:05]
A
Right.
- [46:06]
C
Ryan Khalil, first team all pro. Great offensive lineman, Maurice Jones. Drew, who was one of the better running backs of his era. Vince Jackson. Vincent Jackson. Wide receiver, Eddie Lacy, pretty damn good running back. Golden Tate, Allen, Robinson, those are all
- [46:22]
A
Bennett, those are all very good players.
- [46:26]
C
That's what I would say DJ Moore pretty much is. But when you add Moore's contract and age, I think you lean toward the cheaper second round pick. Agree or no?
- [46:38]
A
I mean, DJ Moore is not 34. He's a highly productive guy who I think, remember, Buffalo is desperate for a sideline receiver. Yes, they need one. Well, the Rams have a Dunze, Luther burton, they had D.J. moore, they have two tight ends, they have two excellent running backs. Caleb Williams is highly productive with his feet. So you can say, oh, DJ Moore only had blank yards. He only had like 600 some yards for the Bears.
- [47:05]
C
Yeah.
- [47:05]
A
Is it reasonable to think he will be a bigger portion of the offense for Buffalo, the passing? Absolutely. It's reasonable to think he's going to be kind of the missing piece. They've got a nice slot receiver, they got nice tight ends. They don't have a downfield receiver. He's going to get 12 targets a game.
- [47:24]
C
Yeah.
- [47:25]
A
So again, it's,
- [47:29]
C
you could say we're splitting hairs. They were desperate.
- [47:31]
A
Right.
- [47:31]
C
They need a receiver. I think this is a bad look for the Keon Coleman situation. When you got the owner blasting Coleman, who they whiffed on in the draft and now you get a receiver. Coleman feels like the odd man out, but you've got your outside guy and more, your slot guy.
- [47:44]
A
And Shakira, the Buffalo Bill said, listen, we're not going to wait for Keon Coleman to grow up. If he does great, we're not going to wait for him to grow up and, you know, so I think Buffalo did fine and I think Chicago, because of Drew Dolman's retirement, needed a second round pick. Yeah, the Bears moving off D.J. moore. Not that his body language was bad, but I felt he got frustrated last year at times because they were throwing to Colston Loveland and Luther Burden in big spots and they were running the ball effectively. So it did feel like sometimes DJ Moore was lost in his body language. Sudden he'd get frustrated, but I just don't think he was that valuable. Roma Dunz. Luther Burden are ascending players, inexpensive players. Running backs room is great. Tight end room is excellent. I just, I just don't think he's as valuable. And what's valuable is getting another second round pick to get a center.
- [48:39]
C
Now you're on, you're on the ground floor there in Chicago. But the Bears fans I have that are texting me are like listening. Luther Burden is going to be better than DJ Moore. We will forget about more.
- [48:49]
A
Pretty good.
- [48:50]
C
Burden's twitched up. I feel like a playoff game. Was it the packers or Rams? One of those games. Colson just kept getting open. Might have been the Niners game. Late in the seat. It was the Niners game.
- [48:59]
A
Colston Loveland could be a Pro Bowler next year.
- [49:02]
C
Yes.
- [49:02]
A
So that, that's going to be the center. The centerpiece of their offense is going to be Colston Loveland and Caleb Williams.
- [49:08]
C
That's the run game. Ben Johnson sets that up and that sets up everything, opens up everything. I will just say the Bills are all in right now. Right. They're like the Rams. We got to maximize, Josh. We've got a small window. We just fired our coach. The Bears are building something. They got some Runway here. Next four or five years, Bears are going to be an elite team in the nfc.
- [49:27]
A
Yeah, we had Rick Pattino on yesterday and we had Mark Few on today. We've been talking some college basketball as we get ready for March Madness. One of the things I really appreciate, it's one thing if somebody's successful. A lot of people are successful. I'm always impressed by people like Spielberg. You know, 50 years just putting out incredible content. Brady's winning Super Bowls in two and three decades. But, you know, I asked Rick Bettino when he came on the show yesterday, I said, you know, Roy Williams retired. Coach K retired. Jay Williams left. You know, a lot of the, A lot of the coaches just, you know, Dabo Sweeney does not like the nil. The late Bobby Knight despised one and done. And I asked Patino you've been doing this 50 plus years. You got Kentucky 30 years ago to a natty Louisville 20, you know, years and years later. He got Louisville, now he was coach of the year. How are you able to just keep the energy up going forward? I think I can adjust to just about anything. Because you have to adjust today. You, you see it all the time. All the sports change, the coaches that
- [50:37]
C
don't want to change get out.
- [50:39]
A
And I wasn't ready to get out because I took two years off and my golf wasn't very good. Some of the things going to the racetrack, I was losing too much money. So I like to keep the money in my pocket and coach basketball. And he's done great for St. John's they've got seven different players, seven different foreign countries. And as Mark Few talked about, these international players, we're buying them. Our economy is big enough. I mean, the dow is down 1100 today, but our economy is big enough that the nil is sort of jet fueled to the top basketball programs. And now St. John's is one of those programs. It also honestly helps that Syracuse has got into the tank. So that gives St. John's you know, a little bit of Runway here to make up ground. But you know, it was just funny to watch when Brady left. How very successful Bill Belichick aged overnight. And it's just like rigidity punctures even the smartest coaches. Gotta adapt, gotta be flexible. Hour three coming up on a Thursday.
- [51:47]
B
Think Verizon is expensive?
- [51:49]
A
Think again. Anyone can bring their AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal.
- [51:55]
B
So bring us your bill.
- [51:56]
A
Walkin' running, pogo stickin', teleporting. If you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flying on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best network based
- [52:10]
C
on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance.
- [52:11]
A
US second half 2025. All rights reserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. What do you mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get chicken parm delivered. A little escape? No. Delicious bowl of grapes? Yeah. An afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. How about the clear skies. Can't deliver that, but French fries? Yeah, get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. C app for details. Imagine never buying gas again. EVs are as easy to charge as your phone and perfect for everyday life. Drive daily with confidence everywhere you go. Most Americans drive 40 miles a day. Most EVs are equipped with 200 to 400 miles of range. They've got fewer parts, fewer repairs, and fewer headaches. With hundreds of new and used EV models available today, there's an EV to fit every lifestyle and every budget. I love my electric vehicle. It's easy. No more gas stations. The way forward is electric. Learn more@electricforall.org this message is brought to you by Cologuard. If you recorded songs off the radio for a mixtape, it might be time to screen for colon cancer. The Cologuard test is non invasive, requires no special prep or time off, and you start screening right from your home. It's just three simple setup, sample and ship. If you're 45 or older and at average risk, ask your doctor about the
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C
Cologuard test, available by prescription only. Learn more or request a prescription@cologuard.com podcast
- [53:56]
A
this is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.