THE HERD – Hour 3 –  Messi Is The Best Player I’ve Ever Seen

Summary

Podcast Summary: THE HERD – Hour 3 – Messi Is The Best Player I’ve Ever Seen

Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Date: June 18, 2026
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guests: Bob Bradley (soccer coach), Lane Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles)

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Episode Overview

This hour of "The Herd" pivots around the evolving style and trajectory of U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (USMNT), the impact of stars like Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun, and a deep dive into Lionel Messi’s historical greatness. Colin sits down with legendary coach Bob Bradley for a comprehensive soccer analysis, and later chats with NFL star Lane Johnson about football culture in Philadelphia and his career outlook. The hour winds through sports culture, player development, technical tactics, and notable personalities across soccer and football.

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Key Segment: USMNT’s Evolving Identity and Tactical Growth

[03:35–15:14]

Aggressive Play and A New Era

• Colin notes the USMNT's recent performance as “different,” praising offensive aggressiveness versus historical “counterattacking” conservatism.

  • “What we all watched Friday...it looked different...more aggressive.” (Colin Cowherd, 03:35)

• Bob Bradley frames the team’s new approach:

  • “The first half was domination. We came out and from the start...Pulisic puts defenders on their heels...Tillman starts to find really good positions on the field...Balogun’s so good...Paraguay couldn’t catch us.” (Bob Bradley, 04:57–06:04)

• Bradley credits athleticism and player maturity as key drivers:

  • “Physically against Germany, we were able to really make it hard on them...this team is very good.” (Bob Bradley, 07:04)

Player Breakdown and Tactical Nuance

• Colin praises the USMNT core: most top players are entering peak ages (26–31), essential for bridging the historical gap with global powers.
• Bradley calls out several core players—Freeman, Richards, Robinson, McKennie, Tillman, Balogun, Pulisic, Dest—as “really, really good athletes.”

Coaching Elite Talent: The Freedom/Structure Balance

• Colin asks about the challenge of coaching creative stars:
  • “What is the line, Bob, for a coach to let a great player...be the artist and play within structure?” (Colin Cowherd, 07:58)
• Bradley responds, emphasizing tailored roles and intelligent structure:
  • “What I really liked from the first half was the understanding between Anthony Robinson and Pulisic...when Pulisic has the freedom...that's when we see his best football.” (Bob Bradley, 08:38 & 08:56)
  • “To be a good team, you gotta make sure your best players are at the top of their game.” (Bob Bradley, 09:43)

Defensive Vulnerabilities

• Colin and Bob discuss defensive lapses as a lingering concern.
• “Sometimes the connections in our back four aren’t always perfect. Occasionally defenders tune out...” (Bob Bradley, 10:24)

Overseas Development vs. National Team Chemistry

• Colin raises US stars leaving MLS, the challenge of building cohesion as their global relevance grows.
• Bradley: “If that player's not playing regularly on a club team...his ability to come into the national team and really play at a high level goes down.” (Bob Bradley, 12:38–13:17)

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Key Segment: The Messi & World Cup Discussion

[15:01–17:56]

Messi’s Superiority and Historic Status

• Colin prompts: “Messi’s three goals are remarkable. He’s such a technical star.”

• Bob Bradley delivers the money quote:

  • “Messi's on another planet. He is the most incredible player I’ve ever seen.” (Bob Bradley, 15:26–15:38)

• He draws an NBA/Soccer comparison:

  • “Messi’s like Steph Curry. The shot from certain positions for everybody in the NBA is gonna be one level. But for Steph, he’s gonna make it eight out of 10. And Messi’s the same.” (Bob Bradley, 15:38)

• Bob highlights France and England as other World Cup standouts, especially lauding Mbappé, Dembele, and England's adaptability.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On USMNT’s evolution:

  • “We are a counterattacking team because the coaches are telling you their trust in our personnel.” (Colin Cowherd, 03:41)

• On Messi’s greatness:

  • “Messi's on another planet. He is the most incredible player I’ve ever seen.” (Bob Bradley, 15:38)

• On Pulisic’s role:

  • “When Pulisic has the freedom to play both inside and outside, that's when we see his best football.” (Bob Bradley, 08:56)

• On American soccer’s future:

  • “As we grow as a country, it's almost something...we have to come to terms with. It's an irritant...they may not always be available for chemistry building...” (Colin Cowherd, 11:46)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:35 | Start of USMNT discussion with Bob Bradley | | 04:57 | Bradley breaks down USMNT's tactical growth | | 07:04 | Athleticism against Germany, comparing US and top teams | | 08:38 | Coaching creative stars: Freedom vs. Structure | | 10:24 | Addressing USMNT’s defensive concerns | | 12:38 | Balancing overseas growth with national team chemistry | | 13:19 | Pulisic as playmaker, Balogun as finisher | | 15:01 | World Cup analysis – focus on Messi, France, England | | 15:38 | “Messi's on another planet” | | 17:18 | End of Bob Bradley interview | | 33:13 | Lane Johnson interview begins (NFL segment) | | 35:25 | Lane Johnson on Philadelphia football culture | | 36:58 | Offensive coordinator & Eagles’ offensive tweaks | | 38:11 | AJ Brown trade reaction | | 41:04 | Lane Johnson closing thoughts |

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NFL Segment: Lane Johnson on Eagles, Football Culture, and Career

[33:13–41:04]

Competing, Leadership, and Philadelphia’s Football Obsession

• Lane Johnson discusses his choice to return for another season (“I love competing...my team has always been an extended part of my family.” [Lane Johnson, 33:56])
• He describes Philly as “a perfect football city...It's a religion. It's in their bones. It's in their DNA.” (Lane Johnson, 34:46)
• Relationship with Coach Nick Sirianni: Praises accountability, communication, and team culture.

Eagles’ Offensive Changes and Team Dynamics

• With new OC Sean Manion, Lane expects more “outside zone, play action, everything looks the same, very hard to diagnose. It gets players thinking.” (Lane Johnson, 37:11)
• AJ Brown trade: “Both parties are happy...For a receiver...so much of what you do depends on another person.” (Lane Johnson, 38:11)

Training and Mindset

• Johnson’s offseason training with other NFL stars and athletes.
• On criticism of his play style: “People act like I’m the first person to do it. I only played two years of college offensive line. Everything I’ve done, I’ve watched the other guys.” (Lane Johnson, 40:27)

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Brief NBA & NFL News Round-up

[22:48–30:07]

• Knicks’ championship parade: “Most popular team in New York...53 years in the making.” (Colin Cowherd, 24:11)
• Denver Broncos: Jalen Waddle's new role brings "speed, speed, speed." (Colin Cowherd, 25:29)
• Jaylen Brown trade rumors: Brown doesn’t want to play for Milwaukee (Colin Cowherd, 28:27)

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Final Thoughts & Tone

The tone is sharp, thoughtful, and enthusiastic, blending technical soccer analysis (Bradley) with broad cultural insights (Colin).
Colin’s likening of Messi to Steph Curry, and his praise of USMNT’s emergence into a more mature, athletic, and aggressive side, reflects “The Herd’s” distinctive mix of data, anecdote, and big-picture trendspotting.

Summary Quote:
“Messi’s on another planet. He is the most incredible player I’ve ever seen.” (Bob Bradley, 15:38)

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This episode is a must-listen for fans curious about the USMNT’s changing face, Messi’s historical stature, and the minds behind NFL trenches—all delivered in Colin’s signature, unpretentious style.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio at noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@fox sports radio.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.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

[Colin Cowherd]

This segment is brought to you by

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Halion, Official Partner of U.S. soccer and

[Colin Cowherd]

the maker of Sensodyne, Tums, Voltaren, Advil and Centrum, the brands behind your everyday

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wellness wins because every goal starts with an assist on and off the field.

[Colin Cowherd]

Learn [e-mail] iheart all right, let's be more optimistic now. What we all watch Friday, whether you're a casual or you're Bob Bradley. It looked different and I've always said I've always been sort of conservative, that we're a counterattacking country. Set pieces, corner kicks, excellent goalkeeping. Our weakness now is the back end and our strength is often open play, fluidity and one on one, it felt and looked different. Well, Bob Bradley is one of the elder statesmen of this sport from mls, three time coach, first Premier League coach from America. He's coached the United States men's national team. It's our pleasure to bring him on. Bob, I'm going to defer to you on everything, obviously, but I, I want to start with this that I always watched us and for years we always blame the coach and I would say it can be Bruce arena, it can be Bob Bradley, Jurgen Klinsman. We are a counterattacking team because the coaches are telling you their trust in our personnel. They're being less aggressive, like Australia will be, by the way, tomorrow, less aggressive offensively. But when I watch this team in Pulisic and Baligan and McKinney, Bob, it looked different to me. It looked more aggressive. What did it look like to you?

[Bob Bradley]

The first half was domination. We came out and from the start, first ball comes to Christian Pulisic and now he's able to dribble. He puts defenders on their heels. He can dribble inside, he can dribble outside. The way Paraguay played, Weston's mobility caused them all sorts of trouble Little by little, Tillman starts to find really good positions on the field. He adds some creativity and some calmness. And while all that's going on, Baligan's waiting because he's so good. When moments come of time in his run, knowing how he wants to finish, and when Paraguay has this idea, like all teams, that at the beginning of the game, they're going to step up and press us. And every time they stepped up and pressed, it wasn't just Christian. We went by them one time, two times, three times, and at that point, the press is gone. And so they couldn't catch us. They couldn't get close to us. So watching the first half was incredible.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, playing on American soil, I think does matter. I think with a younger team. Our last World cup team, Bob, was really young. I watched them play Netherlands, and I'm like, boy, we're over our sports skis here. These are men, they're older. I do believe of our top 12 to 13 players, most of them are either going into their prime or they're into their prime. And I don't care if it's the NFL or the NBA. That's always mattered, that you've got these great athletes between 26 and 31. When. When I watched us play Germany, I thought, you know, after that first goal, kind of an ugly, you know, weak communication. I thought our possession, Bob, I thought we matched up okay with Germany. And I've never felt that. Am I taking too much from a friendly against Germany? Because Germany looked great in their first World cup match, but I didn't see a massive gap. I thought Germany was better, but not substantially. Is that reasonable?

[Bob Bradley]

It's very reasonable. And one of the things that I think you saw is that physically against Germany, we were able to really make it hard on them. And when you look at our team athletically, this team is very good. So let's go through some players. I'll take seven right off the. From the beginning. Freeman, Richards, Anthony Robinson, the whole Midfield. Tyler Weston, McKinney, Tillman, Baligan. All really, really good athletes. And then I'll go to Pulisic and Dest, and they're both very quick and very light on their feet and able to do things on the ball. So those are great starting points. And that means that when we play against big teams, we can also make it hard on them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Years ago, I was talking to Bruce arena, and he said, you know, I loved Clint Dempsey, but he wasn't always easy to coach. And I would imagine Messi is not always easy to Coach, what is the line, Bob, as a coach, when you have an elite talent, Pulisic is a very good international playmaker. Baligan's obviously going to be from this point forward a top striker, certainly for us and hopefully globally. What is the line, Bob, for a coach to let a great player give him freedom to be the artist and play within structure. What is the line there? Because I do feel like you need to give Pulisic some freedom to create.

[Bob Bradley]

It's both. But I agree with the part of making sure that your best players are in position to do the things that make them special. What I really liked from the first half was the understanding between Anthony Robinson and Pulisic.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Bob Bradley]

When Pulisic has the freedom to play both inside and outside, that's when we see his best football. Then he can get some balls to feet outside and his ability to dribble. And when he dribbles inside on the field, that causes problems for the other team. In other moments, he moves inside and Anthony Robinson is out wide making the other team deal with him. And that creates a little bit more space. So what I think Pochettino has done really well is profiling players, understanding how to get guys in positions with people around them to do their best things. Another good example would be his decision to use Weston McKinney a little higher up the field. Weston is really mobile and he also is very, very good as being part of the press. And so I really liked that. And I've already mentioned Tyler and Tillman for the parts that they brought. So for sure, your best players, to be a good team, you got to make sure that your best players are at the top of their game.

[Colin Cowherd]

How concerned are you? Chris Richards now is healthy, so that's a good sign. How concerned are you? And I think England's got a little bit of this concern with the back end is that you don't want to be in shootouts constantly. Are you concerned a little bit that on the back end we can be susceptible?

[Bob Bradley]

Yes. I think that both Senegal and Germany highlighted some defensive situations. Sometimes the connections in our back four aren't always perfect. Occasionally defenders tune out or are ball watching. And none of those things were tested against Paraguay. Paraguay, when we pushed them deep, they never had any threat to get behind us.

[Stugots]

Right.

[Bob Bradley]

And nobody that had the kind of speed that could could put us on our heels. And I think that if we start to turn towards Australia, it's going to be a very different game. Australia is going to defend very, very low. The spaces are going to be more Difficult to create and they've got some speed so that when we are high up the field, they're going to test us a little bit. They're going to play some balls behind our defense. Mohamed Tory is their main striker and Ira Kunda, who is very, very quick and actually did pretty well when he came on as a sub when we played them in a friendly. Those are still dangerous guys. That will be a little bit different than what we saw against Paraguay.

[Colin Cowherd]

When Pulisic and Mauricio Pochettino got the

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managing job for the US There was

[Colin Cowherd]

a little turbulence with Pulisic. I defended Pulisic. I said, guys, it's a new time. We have many players overseas. That's where they make their money. We have to be fair here. And there was some turbulence and they moved through it. And the chemistry is good now going forward. The real money is not in the mls. The real money's overseas. As we grow as a country, it's almost something. It's an irritant, Bob, that we have to come to terms with. It's our guys flourish and grow and become more globally relevant. They may not always be available for chemistry building and friendlies going forward. How do you juggle the growth of our sport with the value and importance of the United States men's national team?

[Bob Bradley]

To be honest, let's start with just what every national team manager deals with, and that's trying to figure out how to manage clubs. Because you're exactly right that if that player's not playing regularly on a club team.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Bob Bradley]

Then his ability to come into the national team and really play at a high level goes down. So you've got to understand that making sure a player is in his best form, helping him in terms of everything that's going on with his club, those are things that are eventually going to help the national team.

[Lane Johnson]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Pulisic. I always felt Pulisic, to use a basketball term, is more Magic Jonathan than Michael Jordan. He can score, but he's really naturally a playmaker. And Baligan is the perfect finisher for him. Are you surprised? I mean, I'd heard about Baligan. I know that he played at the youth level for England, us I know Nigeria was interested. Were you surprised at his dominance? I mean, he's a. He's a very. He's a great finisher. Were you surprised by what you saw against Paraguay this good, this quickly?

[Bob Bradley]

No, I watched Flow a lot this year. He had a fantastic year with Monaco. He's very good in the box. He makes real runs. He's a good finisher. So I was asked prior to the World cup who the breakout star might be. And I said, I really think it's going to be Baligan because let's face it, in football, if you score, you become a star. And that is still his specialty. With Christian, he's a great attacking player and that means that he can create and he can also find good opportunities to get in the box. I mentioned the way we used him. He had a lot of time on the ball where he was able to move, create. He set up Baligan really well with his run down the flank and his left footed ball across. But I do think that we're going to see some moments in this World cup where plays develop and Christian is coming late into the box. That's very much what you see when he plays at AC Milan and in those situations he. He's also a good finisher and he can get goals.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, who's the best team you've seen so far? Everybody's played a. Was there any time? I mean, Messi's three goals are remarkable. He's such a technical star. Was there anybody you watched and went, either keep your eye on them or, you know, I thought, I mean England yesterday sputtered a little, great finishing, but maybe it was nerves. Who's jumped out to you so far?

[Bob Bradley]

Let's start with Messi. You said he's a star. There's a lot of stars in this World Cup. Messi's on another planet. He is the most incredible player I've ever seen.

[Colin Cowherd]

Wow.

[Bob Bradley]

And when he gets around the box, he makes it look so easy. There's a. For the data, the data types, there's something called xg and what that means is you take a shot from a certain part of the field and they determine the chances of scoring. Messi's like Steph Curry. The shot from certain positions for Everybody in the NBA is going to be one level. But for Steph, he's going to make it eight out of 10. Yeah. And Messi's the same. Now if I get to teams, I thought the second half France was very good. Mbappe is still incredible and they have, in addition to Mbappe, they're attacking talent with Dembele and Douay and Barakola and Sherke, they have amazing attacking and talent. And then what I saw in the first 15 minutes of the second half from England yesterday was really good. Yeah, Tuchel is an excellent coach. I like his idea. He's trying to have them play like the best Premier League team, which takes advantage of the fact that they're also very athletic.

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

Yep.

[Bob Bradley]

The use of Harry Kane, another great finisher. And then when Harry Kane moves to get certain balls to become the playmaker. The wide players yesterday it was Gordon and Madriga, but then they can bring in Rashford and Saka. Those players on the run are very dangerous. So I thought England was really, really good in the second half.

[Colin Cowherd]

You can catch Bob on World cup now on the Fox Sports YouTube channel. He's outstanding. Understands the technical aspects of soccer like nobody else. Bob, real pleasure for me and thank you for making me and our audience smarter. Thanks, Bob.

[Bob Bradley]

Thank you.

[Colin Cowherd]

All sorts of good stuff. Yeah, that's it. That's. I use sometimes American sports stars as comps and we talked about a couple days ago, Messi is curry. Like he just does stuff nobody else can do or would attempt. His technical skill is just incredible. I guess Pele was in that space and guys like that can age really, really well. Ronaldo's a big, strong athlete. So much of him was strength, size. I don't know if that ages as well, but Messi is just can't take

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your eyes off him.

[Colin Cowherd]

In Chicago, it's the Herd.

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

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[Stugots]

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 Stigots and 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.

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It's one of my favorites.

[Stugots]

A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugats Co. And Stugots Co. Live. So listen to Stugats Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugots 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.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Stugots]

Foreign.

[Colin Cowherd]

Strauss, Bob Bradley. Lane Johnson, two time super bowl champ of the Eagles. Before the end of the show, J. Mack with the news.

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No, no, no, no.

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Turn on the news.

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This is the Herd line news.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

All right, we go from LA to Chicago to New York for the Knicks parade today. Colin, it is a joyous day in New York. The Knicks enjoying their championship parade. Totally bonkers scene. I'm sure you've seen the video circulating. Jalen Brunson took the mic at City hall and, boy, he dropped that mic pretty impressively. Colin, take a listen.

[Jalen Brunson (clip)]

Most importantly, thank you to the fans. Not gonna lie, though, y' all are some pretty hard critics. But we appreciate it, at least I do. There's a lot of people that have a lot of negative stuff to say. There's a lot of people who have a lot of opinions, but when you prove them wrong, you really have to. You don't have to say to them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Swearing always works at the podium. Good for him.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Yeah, Brunson had some good stuff. There's a Tyler Kolek video that's hilarious. He's, like, running around celebrating and the cops come up to him thinking he's a fan because he's, you know, like a 6:2 white guy celebrating in regular street clothes. The Knicks reserve from Marquette. Hilarious. I seen some Mamdani videos. I know that's your guy.

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[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

You love a good socialist. Just kidding. That's a joke. He's celebrating with Karl Anthony Towns. Colin, this is 53 years in the making, man.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean, I think they're the most popular team in New York because for obvious reasons, the Mets and Yankees, Giants, Jet split it. Nobody cares about the Nets, although great broadcasters, great broadcasting team for the Nets, but by and large, this is New York's most galvanizing, popular team. Good for them.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Yeah. Were you ever, like a pull your kid out of school to take them to a parade? Was that. Are you that kind of guy?

[Colin Cowherd]

I would. I did pull my kid out of school, like, on a Friday. If we were going to what I thought was a semi educational, like, you know, if you're going to the zoo, for instance, or you're going to go, we're going on a trip where we're going to do some stuff they've never done before. Not really a parade guy.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Not a championship parade. Understandable. But the Knicks fans, long suffering. Colin. All right, let's go from Jalen Brunson to another Jalen. That's Jalen Waddle, who's now suiting up for the Denver Broncos. He's adding a speed element to this team that they didn't really have. They had Cortland Sutton, but Waddle's just got that different speed. So he's been lining up opposite Patrick Surtan, the all pro cornerback. Here's what Sir Tan had to say about going against Waddle in practice. Oh, we don't have the sound.

[Colin Cowherd]

Sorry.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

It's. He adds a whole different dynamic to the offense. Speed, speed, speed.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, if you look at what he's done, he drafted Mims, he drafted the kid out of Oregon. They're doing a little what the Bears did with Caleb Williams, which is. We're gonna, we're gonna. You might as well pay for Waddle now because you're going to have to pay for Bo Nix in a couple of years. So let's figure out if our guy can take advantage of it. This is what a lot of these teams don't do. So the bottom line is you're like, okay, we're not paying Bo Nicks. Now's the time to go pay for a number one wide receiver. You're not, you know, once Mahomes makes the big money, you got to let Tyreek Hill go. And if you look at, I mean, they've won without Tyreek Hill, but the receiving core for the Chiefs has been a mess for three, four years. So I think it's the right time to make it. I also think these NFL scouts look. And GMs now look at the draft being weakened by the nil. So I, I applaud the move.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Let me ask you, though, some of those numbers that we flashed on the screen for Waddle, are they kind of inflated playing in a Mike McDaniel offense on a Miami team with no defense? And they're chasing like, okay, so Waddle, since 2021, is in an elite class. 5,000 receiving yards, 13 yards of catch. You know, that's like A.J. brown, Tyreek Hill, he's not. We don't think of him in that group, though, do we? Just because he's got big numbers.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I. I mean, you say, well, he benefits from a good coach. Well, Bo Nicks benefits from Sean Payton. I mean, I think every. All offensive players benefit from good coaching, so. No, I think Jalen Waddle's a one.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Do you?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I don't think he's. I don't think he's as good as Justin Jefferson, but I think he's certainly as good as devonte Smith. He's better than Tyreek Hill. I mean, he's. I mean, he's a durable guy that. With elite speed. And again, Cortland Sutton on the other side, Mims, they have all sorts of playmakers here. You're not going to double Jalen Waddle with this offense. It's too creative and there's too many weapons.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

It's tough to get a read on Denver because that AFC Championship game was so bad with the backup quarterback. But against Buffalo, they were able to. I mean, they scored 34 points, I believe, without Jalen Waddle. So I. I just. I don't know what he does. And if we could flash the schedule real quick, remember, this is a brutal start to the season for the Denver Broncos, so you can add all the speed you want. Colin, those first six games, if they come out of their.500, that's a huge win. But more likely it's going to be a 2 and 4 uphill climb. Looking at the Chargers and looking at

[Colin Cowherd]

the Chiefs, I think they'll be fine.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Positive Mr. Positivity. All right, final story. Colin, we're going with the triple. Jalen, Brunson, Waddle, and now Brown. How about this from Mark Spears at espn. Jaylen Brown doesn't want to play for the Bucks, period. That kind of kills any Giannis trade to the. To the Celtics. Unless you can reroute Brown to a third team. Portland, Lakers, Rockets, whoever. And Giannis goes to the Celtics. But you said. Don't blame him. I thought you said Milwaukee with the Dells was just a beautiful area of the country.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, I mean, if you go from Boston, which is vying for a title every year, to being kind of on an island in Milwaukee. Yeah, I get it. I mean, Jalen's made his money. He's got a legacy. You know, he wants to play for a winner. He wants to win games. Pro basketball, 82 games. When you're losing, beating your head against

[Commercial Announcer]

the wall is no fun.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, I understand players early in their careers, they can change generationally their money, and that's kind of a concern. But when you get to the point where Jalen's got guaranteed, you know, 100 million 200, $300 million. He wants to win games and Boston's good and Milwaukee wouldn't be. So. I get it.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

And do you think Milwaukee could convince Brown? Hey, you see what Jalen Brunson did? You feel like doing that?

[Colin Cowherd]

Do they hit on some draft picks? What do they get from the Celtics? If that's the team. That's why I say it just depends. Portland's got the best offer I've seen. Miami's got almost no offer, but that's where Giannis wants to play.

[Stugots]

Yeah.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

So somebody's going to come out of nowhere. Colin, I. I'm. You think the Thunder is dead? Thunder? Giannis, yes.

[Colin Cowherd]

They like Hartenstein and they're not going to sell Holmgren despite getting worked by Wemby. They're not going to move.

[Botox Advertiser]

They're not.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's not. That would be impulsive.

[Commercial Announcer]

That's not what they do.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Somebody texted me a good NBA comp for Jaylen Brown. AJ DeBonsa.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Good athlete. Not. Not great yet catch and shoot. Very athletic.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

NBA Finals mvp. That would be amazing. If that's Damaso's career.

[Colin Cowherd]

Jaylen Brown's a 23.2 way guy. That's what Damaso will be. 23, 24 two way player. Not a dominant takeover the league guy, but can be the best player on a franchise. That's fair. J. Mac with the news well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

the Herd LIE news.

[Colin Cowherd]

Blaine Johnson, Eagles Next, be sure to

[Fox Sports Radio Announcer]

catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

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[Colin Cowherd]

At helionassist.com, service opens doors and at the American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn more at amu.apus.edu Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military

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[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he got married in the off season. He's been one of the tough guys in the NFL. Now he's got to take out the garbage like the rest of us. Lane Johnson, who's going to be a first ballot hall of Famer, is joining us here in the herd. First of all, you married Kelsey in Nashville. Let's show a picture. These offensive linemen. She is beautiful and look at that. Holy mo. You know Lane, now that you're 36 and married? Are you going to. You could retire. You could hang out on the farm. But you said, I want to sign an extension. I want to come back. I want to play in the NFL. You didn't have to. You're obviously still great. Why did you decide to come back?

[Lane Johnson]

I just. I love competing. I love being around men that are, you know, willing to push themselves to the limit. And, you know, it's just a camaraderie thing. You know, I grew up without any brothers or sisters, so, you know, my team has always been an extended part of my family. And, yeah, man, I really love competing. I love being around my teammates, and I love the city of Philadelphia and what it provides.

[Colin Cowherd]

So another year, you are the longest tenured Eagle player. And I've told people this before, there's nothing like Philly. The talk radio's loud, the reporting, the fans. I mean, Oklahoma is crazy as well. But if. If I'd never. If you were telling a young guy that's coming to Philadelphia, okay, you got to get ready. Philadelphia is different. How would you describe it?

[Lane Johnson]

It's a perfect football city. It's a place they like to even take it a step further than maybe Texas. It's a religion. It's in their bones. It's in their DNA. And really, I mean, they just. They want max effort out of their players. And, you know, I think for me, it's allowed, you know, the pressure of the city's allowed me to become a better player and the standards that they have. So, you know, all in all, I'm very thankful to be a part of a city that cares about football as much. And it's just an amplifier, you know, the energy we put out in the field when we're winning, it's all good. And when we're not performing well, you'll hear about it. So it's what it is.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. You're probably the greatest right tackle I've ever seen. I mean, I can say that. Here's a stat, folks, that's unbelievable. When Lane Johnson plays, the Eagles win over 71% of their games. When he doesn't, they're 9 and 17. They stink. So I know Nick Sirianni loved you coming back. What is your relationship like with Nick? Because I would think Nick likes offensive linemen. Nick's kind of a tough guy. How do you relate with him now?

[Lane Johnson]

I love Nick. We, you know, hit it off in the very beginning. He's very passionate. He's very motivated to get stuff done. And what I like about him most is just how he conducts meetings every day, our schedule, and just the accountability part. So one thing that jumped out to me immediately was whenever he came in, how. Whenever we watched practice, whoever it was, whoever made a mistake, their number was on the board. So it didn't matter what position you are, who you are, everybody's held accountable. And so I thought that that was really cool and allowed us to, I guess, raise our standards. And I think about him as he's misunderstood. I think some of the emotional antics on the sidelines can be misconstrued for who he is and what he is. But to us and everybody in the Eagles, and we love him. He's such a great communicator and just, you know, whatever the team he's assembled. Over the past five years, we've been competitive. We've been competing, you know, for Super Bowls. And, you know, I know last year wasn't what we wanted, but, you know, here we are revamping again.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Sean Manion's the new offensive coordinator. He's young. He's got a lot of new ideas. What will it look like for me? What will the tweaks look like? What will feel a little different?

[Lane Johnson]

Yeah. So Sean was a part of the QBAC tree, so it's very similar to maybe what they do in San Francisco. They love to run outside zone, making sure defenders cover every gap on the field. And, you know, along with that, we'll run play action off of that. Everything looks the same. The motions look the same. And so I think it really puts people in a predicament, especially linebackers, middle of the field, they'll be asked to cover a lot of grounds. And everything is very hard to differentiate between what plays so hard to diagnose. So it gets players thinking, and it gets players covering every part of the field. So you wear them down, you know, with their conditioning, ran sideline to sideline. And then I think we have. We're hiding stuff. It will just complement everything we're doing.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen, I said this two years ago. A.J. brown's great. The Eagles are great. I think it's time to part ways. It's okay. Not everything lasts forever. When you heard of the trade, what was your. What was your takeaway?

[Lane Johnson]

I mean, I think. I think both parties are happy. You know, I can understand, you know, for a receiver, so much of what you do is, you know, it's. It's dependent on another person. So for him, you know, I think he'll be in a great situation in New England. I know he's been a fan of him for, you know, a long time. So, you know, AJ's heart is very tough on himself. He's a guy that if he's not leading the league in receptions or close to it, you know, the competitor he is, he gets frustrated. So, you know, I think that's kind of what it was last year. And then when things aren't going well, we're not winning, and you get, you know, back into your corner every day and, you know, in your locker and they're asking you, are you the same player? What's wrong with you stirring the pot? So, you know, I think for him and everybody involved, it'll be less frustration and hopefully motivation from both parties to do better than what we did last year.

[Colin Cowherd]

By the way, you've got an exclusive training event in Oklahoma at your gym. Rooks performance, Creed Humphrey, Tristan Wurfs, Dion Dawkins. Holy. You better bring the weights. They can lift a little bit here. What do you. Good God. Some of the strongest guys in the league. What are you guys doing?

[Lane Johnson]

Yeah, so, you know, I'm just, I'm anxious to see how these guys train, obviously see how they perform, but everybody has different ways of attacking their training, how they play. So really, just for me, learning, learning new things. And then we also, we have different guys from different sports. So we'll have Mitch Hooper, World's Strongest man, two time World's Strongest Man. We'll have Josh Bridges, former Navy Seal, CrossFit champion, Sean Brady in the UFC. But I'm most excited about chef Robert Irvine cooking. We'll have a lot of meat delivered from hall of Fame beef, Joe Thomas. So, yeah, man. So basically just a way to train, meet new people and learn a thing or two. So I'm really excited about it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he's entering his 14th season, a six time Pro Bowler. He'll be a first ballot hall of Famer. One of the great offensive tackles, certainly right tackle. I've never seen any, but you know, you're good when people complain about you and they always say, picks up his right foot early. Oh, he and I was like, when you complain about, when you hear that, what do you think?

[Lane Johnson]

I mean, people act like I'm the first person to ever do it. I mean, everything I've learned, it's through watching other guys. Jason Peters, Trent Williams, Walter Jones, Anthony Munoz. If you're laid off the ball, you're going to give up a sack. I mean, if you give up too many of them, you won't be working much longer. So, you know, I only played two years of college offensive line. So everything I've done, I've watched the other guys. So those are, those are the guys that I watched them film.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, Walter Jones, pretty good one. Hey, Lane. Great senior. Congratulations on your marriage to Kelsey in Nashville recently. Congrats. You're one of the good guys in the league and I appreciate it.

[Lane Johnson]

Thank you. I'm about to get back to taking out the trash and home duty, so thanks for having me.

[Colin Cowherd]

Of course. Beautiful wife, just got married and. Yeah, it's interesting. I played two years of college. I have to figure this game out. He's always learning. That's a good message for all the young people out there. Just keep grinding, just keep learning. And we had fun today. Lane Johnson, Bob Bradley, Ethan Strauss, we all got a little smarter Bob Bradley. I'll put Bob on the podcast today. Just his technical excellence. And I just like saying Harry Kane for the, for the Brits. I'm sorry, I mean they're just. He just sounds like a British striker. Harry Kane. He was good. He was something else.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Excellent. We got Mexico tonight, USA tomorrow. I mean, this is six weeks of greatness. Six weeks of beautiful, the beautiful game as they call it. Cullen.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Australia. We will control time of possession.

[Jalen Brunson (clip)]

Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

The difference with Australia is they have people that can counterattack and beat us downfield. So we'll be, we'll, we'll dominate the time of possession. We'll probably get more corner kicks, but Australia can make you pay on the other end because of a couple of their athletes. So it, it's, it's not going to quite look like the first one. We'll see how it works out.

[Colin's Co-host (possibly Colin's colleague or producer)]

Yeah. The staff was telling me they're worried Monday. Colin was wrong. Could be overflowing if Pochettino gets another win. Somebody was beating him up pretty badly a few months back.

[Colin Cowherd]

Colin, Switzerland, Bosnia Herzegovina Coming up next

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Service Opens doors and at the American Military University, it can open doors for the whole family. If you have a loved one who served in the military, you may qualify for reduced tuition. AMU offers flexible online programs designed to fit your schedule so you can keep moving forward wherever life takes you. Learn [e-mail] Military open doors to the future for you and your family with the help of American Military University hi, it's Colin Coward. If you're looking for the best blend of durability and affordability in decking, trust Summit Decking from Deckorators Summit features Deckorators patented Surestone technology so the boards won't splinter, sag, chalk, or crack over time, and the colors three great options that really capture the rich textures of natural wood. Honestly, it's the best decking you didn't know you could afford. Order a sample before peak build season. Order a sample today. Visit decorators.com herd to get your free sample. That's decorators with a K. Again, decorators.com

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[Colin Cowherd]

Guaranteed human.