The Herd with Colin CowherdColin reacts to the Steelers trading wide receiver George Pickens to the Cowboys and why quarterback Dak Prescott is the right type of leader to make this work. He calls out Anthony Edwards for his poor showing in game 1 of the Timberwolves series vs the Warriors and why he still has a long way to go if he wants to be the face of the NBA. 3-time Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman stops by to talk about the drama surrounding Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson plus getting inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver on Fox Sports Radio.
Oh we got things moving and shaken and vibing slides today. We're in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you maybe watching or listening. The Cowboys and the Steelers make a move. This has been a rumored the Steelers part of it for since Aaron Rodgers started flirting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Damac so Cowboys in desperate need of another playmaker. Still doesn't solve their running back room or their left tackle situation of the coaching issue, but it's something.
Yeah, it feels like their win total is gonna go up what three four wins as a result of this trade.
Maybe one There'll be more entertaining, all right. So George Pickens, a volatile but wildly talented wide receiver from Pittsburgh. The Steelers said, give us a third round pick, you can have him. This part of it, I didn't like Dk Metcalf and George Pickens, both high maintenance receivers on the same team. I didn't like that at all. So I'm glad they moved off him. They got a decent pick. Expectations, though, are the key to this trade. It can only work because of Dak Prescott. Dak Prescott's temperament and maturity. He's dealt with Jerry's ego and Ezekiel Elliott's nonsense. Dak will make it work. If it can work. I mean, listen, it's like going plan for Jerry Jones. For a young quarterback is like going you know, it's a little animal house. It's a little crazy. It's not like any frat. And Dak has done a great job. There's been multiple controversies. He had to deal with des Bryantce you know, Tantrum's early Ceedee Lamb wants the ball. He's had, you know, passive aggressive shots taken at him again, Zeke. They've moved, They've rebuilt the offensive line. Dak may not be the best quarterback in the league, but this is a receiver with a big catching radius who is great on contested catches. I don't think Dak throws the prettiest or more accurate football, but I think in tangibles, I think e Hugh, I think Dak's great. I think he's one of the guys that goes to the podium every week and just he's like in Vegas they call it the cooler. You'd put a guy with bad luck near a hot table, the cooler. Dak is the cooler. Anytime there's a circus going on in Dak, you know, he brings the temperature down. But Mike Tomlin, who's always been a player's coach, he bailed on him. He couldn't control him. And Randy Moss works in New England not just because of Tom Brady. He worked because of Bill Belichick. And the reason A. J. Brown, who could be a bit temperamental, works in Philadelphia because they have a great owner and a GM and a great culture. The Cowboys don't have a great culture.
This is a.
Volatile, immature wide receiver who's going to want the ball and is not going to love Ceedee Lamb getting twelve targets and he gets four on certain Sundays. He's not gonna like that. And this is not a strong culture or a strong coaching staff. So I think the opportunity and chance for Mayhem is through the roof Dallas right now is the land of the misfit Boys. It's it's not a well run franchise. In my opinion. I picked him yesterday for fourth place. I do think this is an elite playmaker. There are not a lot of body types. He is incredibly strong for how thin he is. He's rangey, he can catch in a crowd.
You know.
Dak isn't as precise as like a lot of quarterbacks, So you need somebody with that can move, that can compensate, that can correct course if Dak's a little off, and he can do all that stuff. But between CD and Jerry and the left tackle issue and no run game and the temperament of Pickens, Dak Prescott's patience once again will be tested. If this thing works, and it'll be fun to watch. But if it works, it works only because of dak his EQ, which is again tangibles. He's not top ten in tangibles. He may be top two or three in the league, all right, So and we'll get that. We'll get to that. More on that in a second. George Pickens, talented wide receiver, third round pick goes to Pittsburgh. So if you did not catch the first half of the Warriors t Wolves game, your eyes are thanking you. You did your eyes of favor. It was one of the ugly games I've seen. Aunt was a no show. Minnesota is at home in the first half, rested younger, great coaching staff, probably the best pure athlete in the game in Ant who was a no show. They had no energy. They were zero for fifteen in the first half, shooting threes, with nine turnovers. It was abysmal. It was awful. It was inexcusable. And Steph Curry got hurt in the second quarter and they still maintained for most of the game a double digit lead. At one point in the second half, the Warriors te Wolves had cut it down to ten, and then they went four minutes without a basket. They were just not ready to play. And I mean, Draymond Green almost hit as many three pointers is the entire Minnesota roster. That's how bad it was. And it was a blown opportunity. And I was watching the game and I was thinking and maybe this is old school, but I was thinking about this, like part of being a great player, you know, Michael Jordan's flu game, Lebron playing hurt. Part of being a great player is not when you're rested. It's when you just don't have any energy. But for aunt to be rested at full strength have a size advantage. Steph is hurt. Just forget your game. You just have a light bulb has to go off. This is a moment. We gotta win this game. And the Warriors stole home court advantage. I mean, it's everything was in Minnesota's favor old team with less rest on the road. Steph gets hurt. But I mean give POD's credit and Draymond credit. Great d Buddy healed. Now it's kind of taken the place of Steph Curry last night. That was great. Jimmy Butler remains so good, you know, And do what I loved about Jimmy Butler, it's not about a three point shot. When they need a bucket. The league gets down to ten or eleven, boy, they go right to Jimmy Butler. He is a bucket every time they need it. But I think this was not about how well the Warriors played At one point late in the game, I almost tweeted this, I'm like, are the Warriors playing well? I know they have no step and they're leading by twelve on the road. I don't even think they played well. I think Buddy Healed has played well and Draymond and Pods are playing really great defense. Young guys can scroll gole defensively. But they got a guy, a former lacrosse star on the floor doing hook shots. I'm not even sure if the Warriors played well. What I know is Ant didn't and the Warriors did.
Here's Barkley, you a great player, and first of all, you bought all this smoke. You say you wanted to smoke. You say you wanted to smoke. I want the Warriors and you got him and you had one point in halftime and his energy level was down. So that to me is what Cozin is about. I mean, Shaq's been in this situation. I've been in this situation. When you're the man, you get all the credit, but you get all the blame, big time, big time for the guys we want step back.
I'll tell you that it's hard playing without that mass.
What do you learn from this game? One that you're gonna bring into Thursday of the team.
Their Steph is our best player in the game. Is much easier when we got it.
Yeah, I mean, I will say this, whereas the t Wolves didn't seize the moment. I mean, the minute Steph is out, you're at home, you're younger, well rested, You're thinking, Okay, we have to win this game. And yet the Warriors were the ones that played with urgency. Without Steph, they would have had excuses. But I thought in the fourth quarter late their defense. Listen, the Warriors Steve Kerb maybe not as an offensive guy, certainly was as a player, but their defense with Golden State discombobulated Houston in Game seven, and it felt like it deserves a lot of credit here. But I just didn't like the lack of energy. I'm watching ant thinking, bro, this you got out played by Buddy Heald who wore the wrong shorts to the game, Like, you got to do better than that. This is one of your games. You got to step up and make it. And by the way, guys get sick. Like I was talking to somebody last night about this eighty two game regular season. You could not play the NBA could not officiate the regular season like they officiate the playoffs. That game was physical. These games are crazy. Guys are on the floor, there's elbows flying. I understand that there are you know, you get to a fifth or a sixth game in a series. But when the Warriors are out performing the young Houston Rockets in Game seven and a well rested t Wolves team has a significantly less energy than an old Warriors team with fewer days rest, that's on hand. You're the most dynamic athlete here. You have to step up and say STEP's gone. This is this is a w There are no excuses here. So I thought it was a bad look for Minnesota. And the playoffs remain. They are so good. I'll get to the Indiana win. But j Mac is so many things. I mean, like the Knicks beating the Celtics in Game one last night, I'm watching Cabs Pacers Caves had like a seven point lead. You know, it's like a minute left. Some of the stuff that happens in these pressurized situations, where a Tatum can disappear, an ant can disappear. And this is where I'm very old school. Magic didn't always give you his best game. He once got the nickname Tragic Johnson. But Magic's energy was great, Michael and Bird's energy was great. Guys, you're flying on these jets. You don't get back to backs. The All Star break is longer, nutrition's better. You can play poorly, but you can't lack energy in these playoff games.
And what we saw was Steph Curry. I saw a stat.
He ran one point nine miles in Game seven against Houston, the.
Most he's ever run in a game.
And again, this isn't straight line running, this is cutting, defending. And interestingly, forty eight hours later, he pulls his hamstring in Colin.
I know, you know injuries, string, speed, rest.
I don't think he's coming back this series. That's my early guess. I'd be shocked if he's back at all.
Well, he won't play Game two.
Hell no, no, no shot. I mean, hanfrings are weeks, not days. And you know without Steph Curry Colin, I know, Minnesota look terrible. There's no way they're losing this series to Jimmy Butler.
I will say a former lacrosse player, I know it's crazy. I'll say this. What made the Patriots great was the culture. Many times they the weather's inclement. I mean, remember when Brady slashed his hand before a big playoff game and he had like eight stitches. He ripped it on a helmet. Culture in these big moments can really help win games. Buddy healed has been Steph the last two games. Pods is playing like elite defense. You can't make a shot, but his defense defense has been great. They got a lacrosse player in there. What culture provides is everybody in a strong culture in New England knew what there assignment was. Nobody's guessing Houston's half court offense. Nobody knows what it is outside of Shengon. The thing about the Warriors is it's like, guys, we got a crisis here. STEP's out. Everybody knew their role. Pods knew his, Buddy knew his. Jimmy Butler's the bucket guy. Draymond's like, oh, I have to shoot more threes now, Like Draymond's like, okay, now I've got to crank up some threes, like everybody instantly when Steph left, they went into their role and their slot. And that is the value of experience and culture. And so many of these football games are decided in a red zone. Fourth down. That's a great point.
I would go to the other side of it as well. In Minnesota.
Interesting, Julius Randall suddenly can't make a three pointer, couldn't miss against the Lakers. I mean, Jade McDaniel, these guys couldn't do anything last night. Meanwhile, they torched the Lakers, And don't tell me that's defense. The Lakers got unlucky in that series. At what point do we say, hey, man, boy, come on, how unlucky did they get? Go bear twenty seven and twenty four?
What do you do last night?
Maybe because the defensive Cavon Looney, Yeah, Raymond Green Looney was good last night.
Solid. Come on.
Losing in five games has never been due to bad luck.
It's a tough one.
Lakers fans were ticked watching that last time because.
Julius red Will turned into a pumpkin. He basically did.
Yeah, Julius, as Tim Legler will tell you, the NBA's whole contested shot thing. He had the idea what a contested shot is. I would say Golden State contests a lot more shots than the Lakers do.
That that's fair.
Yeah, I mean, now, the Celtics had something like thirty two uncontested threes against the Knicks, and they missed like seventy percent, but they also shot six.
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App All Right. Jay Mack asked a question during the break. He said, do you think Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers potentially do you think Aaron Rodgers had anything to do with George Pickens being moved? So Aaron Rodgers is not a Steeler. There is speculation out there he is waiting for the schedule to drop. Aaron did not like and by the way, Peyton Manning hated primetime games. A lot of these quarterbacks as they get older, they get into rhythms. Kirk Cousins hated primetime games.
Aaron.
People are speculating he's waiting for the schedule next Wednesday to drop. And if they don't have a ton of primetime games, and I don't think they will, then Aaron's like, I'll go to Pittsburgh. If he does it early, the NFL could manipulate the schedule. Aaron doesn't want primetime games. He wants that one o'clock window. A lot of these guys do I totally get it and defend thereon there. A lot of guys get tired of getting monkey or I mean Mahomes last year, you know, never played a normal schedule. So I will say this, I do believe Dan Rooney, the owner of the Rooney family, had said, we think Aaron's going to be a Steeler. Aaron already showed his allegiance. Hey, listen, I like the DK Metcalf guy. He's been in the league.
He's great.
So Aaron shown his hand. He he of the two receivers they had, He's like, I'm gonna go work out with this one. Aaron is always liked effort guys at wide receiver, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, I mean, James Jones. You don't have to be a Burner, Randall Cobb. He likes dependable guys he can trust. You can't trust George Pickens. Metcalf may be high maintenance, but he plays hard. Pickens bails on routes. Now this is also a Steeler issue. The Steelers have lost a lot. They lost Dan Moore, their left tackle, Najie Harris, Pickens, Van Jefferson, Mike Williams, both their quarterbacks, so they're the only team in the league that has lost their leading passer, leading rusher, and leading receiver from last year. But Aaron obviously is a better quarterback than the two they had, so I think they could be fine. They tend to maybe it's it's Mike Tomlin Dyvicky can handle it. They tend to draft a lot of dramatic players. They draft and developed. They roll the dice on Le'Veon Bell, Chase, Claypool, ab you know Pickens Pickins had red flags when he was coming out of college, Deontay John Johnson. Now they bail on him, to their credit. You know, if they think they're a pain in the butt, they'll move off them. But they have moved off a lot of highly dramatic players, and it feels like it's an exercise in futility. You keep doing the same thing over and over. You won't red flag guys that most of the league does, and you end up, you know, getting a couple of good years. But you have to bail on him. So the Steelers got a third round pick. I think Aaron I believe that he's waiting, and this is the speculation. You don't want primetime games. So now he's got and he would never admit it, he's got a number one receiver, he'll have a great defense. He's obviously there's some sort of discussion going on between Aaron and the Steelers. I don't know if there's an agreement, but I think the sad part for the Steelers is they have become a franchise that's more interesting than they are very good. That's what they become. I think I think Aaron makes them very interesting. I said this yesterday. They're going to be a third place team in the division. They're too gifted, too good of a coach, too good of a culture, too good of a defense to be fourth place. But they're not in Baltimore's league right now. They're just not. They're not good enough at quarterback. They're not in Cincinnati's leaguecause they're not good enough a quarterback or a wide receiver. So, but I did Aaron have influence over this? Listen, Aaron has showed his hand multiple times on influence. He wanted McCarthy out out, he wanted Randall, Cobblizard and Hackett got it. So it's not like Aaron hasn't shown his hand before. Aaron generally isn't a point where he's got three hundred million dollar net worth. He's like, hey, tell me what you can do, tell me what you can't do. I think, honestly, Aaron's pretty predictable at this point that I think he'll go to Pittsburgh. But it's got to be right. He's got to get the things right. The TV scalel one great weapon that may be a bit high maintenance, but he's already shown his hand and his allegiance. Yeah, my guess say is he's gonna be a Steeler and it's gonna be sometime late next week. He'll announce it. That would be my guess. Aaron doesn't communicate with a lot of people. He's got a new relationship reportedly, that would be my guest. But I do think Aaron has shown his hand multiple times. Is he's gonna want certain things. By the way, when Tom Brady went to Tampa, get me Gronk, get me Lenny Fernett, and there's something. But by year, you know, year two or three, move Aarians upstairs, like the veteran quarterbacks Teyton Manning. There's things I want.
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Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
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That's Covino and Rich. I will say this. So I was told, according to an NBA player poll, that Tyrese Halliburton's the most overrated player in the league. That's what the NBA player's poll said. I'm gonna flip that. I think he's the most underrated player. Rick Carlisle last night, a veteran head coach who I know, did not use a timeout.
Loose ball ball.
He's like, bro, I trust you, you can go to that at the end of the game. They had a timeout to use, they wouldn't use it. That tells you they trust there got Indie all season. By the way, I don't know if you know this. All season long, the Pacers second best record in one possession games. That's not because of your forwards. That's not because of your bench. That is your point guard, that is your facilitator. That to Halliburton's stat. So game seven, they're up, Calves are up by seven with fifty seven seconds left. Even by Cleveland standards, this was humiliating. But here was Halliburton's game winner from last night. Listen to this. I want you to listen to this on Pacers Radio.
Second one is short and it's rebounded by Halliburton.
The Pacers have a timeout, will they use it? Four seconds to go? Halliburton four three.
Up top in the end of by one one in one.
Ten seconds to go. You have got to be kidding me. He was ten of eleven this year to tie a game or take the lead in the last two minutes, ten of eleven. I saw a clip this morning on the internet and I went to the staff and I said, that had to be a highlight package. That can't be real. It is. He was the most trustable guy to tire or take a lead under two minutes in the league. And you're telling me he's the most overrated player. And what really makes this stand out is that because Darius Garland is not available to point guard for the Cavs, they're leaning on Tydrome, who's a sixth man. He's not a number two score on your team, So they've got guys trying to out of their depth, trying to be top scorers for Cleveland. So between Garland's absence and Halliburton's excellence laid in games, it's becoming so obvious why this machine in Indiana works. The Pacers work because of Holy Halle who hit another game winner last night And here was Halliburton on the game winner.
It's a special feeling, man, It's it's a lot of fun. I mean, like any basketball fan or anybody who's involved in basketball at all, everybody in their life has imagined being a kid, being in the driveway, being the living room, time winding down in their head, chewing it, missing, putting more time on the clock, you know, all those things like this is a kid's game. Man, I get paid a lot of money to play a kids game. So I'm just having fun out there. And yeah, just having fun with what I'm doing, and I am really winning is fun.
Eight points last two minutes. And here's another thing. And we're seeing this all through the playoffs. He went back and stayed in college for a second year and became a lottery pick. All you guys rush into the GLI. Another NBA playoff performer you know, has been really good in the player McHale Bridges defense. McHale Bridges hasn't missed a game since like the seventh grade. I mean, I'm not joking when I say this. This idea of the NBA has marginalized college basketball over the last decade. I like Adam Silver, I think they've done a lousy job on this whole Go to the G League. The coaching's not as good, the culture's not as good. It's all about getting buckets. Jalen Green has no offensive game. Jonathan kaminga talented what is he? It's guys like Hallie that go back to college. The loud coach, play among a collective in a basketball collegiate culture. Make yourself a lottery pick. I do not think into coincidence. Look at the Warriors, Draymond Green and Steph Curry and guys that spent a lot Jimmy Butler, guys who spent years and years defining their games and maturing in college. Who's the one Warrior that does doesn't work? Kaminga right to the G League, and it's nothing against the G League. College basketball. The NBA can't figure this out. College basketball is your ally, it's your friend. NFL's always understood that about college football. You advertise in market and coach the hell out of the players, than hand them to us, will microwave them. They're ready to play. So the college basketball in March there's no pressurized situation in the G League like March. You get better coaching in college basketball, you know, and then you go and have this tournament in March, which is like the NBA playoffs, sudden death, and you're these duke kids in Kansas kids and Yukon kids. I mean, Dan Hurley's barket at him. Dan Hurley's a better coach than anybody in the G League and Dan Curley. The practices are hard, the practices are better, and then you get March. In college basketball, you don't get any of that in the G League. So these kids playing these wild environments on a college camp. G League, there's parents and friends at the game. There's nobody at the game. College basketball can look like an NBA playoff game, where you get these situations where it's like it's the biggest shot of your life. College basketball and college football are your friend for a pro league. NBA can't figure it out once again. Haliburton stayed in college an extra year. He's got a defined offensive game. It's a little herky jerkey, his mechanics are no is pretty, but it's I'll die on this hill that the G League gets in the way of your development and college basketball. I don't know Bill Self, Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, Mark Few or G League Gary who doesn't want to be there in front of plan, in front of thirty eight people. You tell me what matters going on the road in the Big ten or the Big twelve, or the acc playing in Duke Cameron that intense pressure or G League? What do you think develops a young player dying on that hill all day long?
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Now. Jmac over here is like, I you know, it's a little dicey. I'm like, hey, we're journalists. You gotta get on this stuff. Eh yeah, all right, so listen. I defended Jordan. I even defend her real estate empire which she's building. She's a go getter. She's you know, her mom and dad had a business that went bankrupt. Hey, I'm you know the fear. She's like, Hey, I'm gonna go get her. I get it, like, I'm gonna defend her. I defend She's a tough pr She's telling people don't ask that question and doesn't bother me at all. It is there are people around Bill that are a little concerned. In Patriot Nation, if you were on a text team, it's just say, you don't have to give me names. Would it be concerned? Would it be okay? Because it's like a thing?
Now, yeah, it is a thing. And uh, the number one thing we used to talk about all the time in New England was distractions. Let's not make distractions. The games already as hard as it is to prepare for to play, to coach and and you know, regardless of what her role is, Jordan, Uh, yeah, I thought he got an unfair public opinion on the whole thing, because that happens all the time any time we're doing behind the scenes this that you got someone who represents you, they're gonna jump in. But now that it's it's gained and it's snowballed to the what it's become right now where we're talking about it three weeks later, it's becoming a distraction. So that's what I'm sure, that's what we all think right now. This is becoming a distraction. We gotta we gotta gotta gotta practice what we preach here Yeah, Barry White said.
They're both ben fitting from this, her professionally, him somewhat professionally. So I don't like to be too judgy on this stuff.
I don't either, but you know, once again, I mean, we're talking about this three weeks later, it's on ABC, It's on this, it's on that. I mean, it's getting to a point where we gotta we gotta start worrying about you know, the ACC. We gotta start worrying about Dabo Sweeney. We shouldn't be talking about our girlfriend. And that's what that's how coach would say to us. So you know, that's that's the truth. You know, when it comes down to running a football organization and playing football, let's make the main thing the main thing.
So you were with New England at a very interesting time when they acquired Randy Moss. You were there for the last year and a few games.
Yeah.
So, And I think Randy's better than George Pickens. But I think both are spectacular talents that can be at times a bit moody and can be, by the way, con frontational. That's not terrible. But receivers tend to be outspoken. They're they're the NBA dudes of football, they break the huddle first, they're out on an island. They're often the best athlete. So when a player like Randy there was that sideline blow up against like Miami, what does it do to it? Because Mike Tomlin just said, yeah, I'm done.
Yeah, he he kept ab.
For several years. When there is a combative player and you got a little bit of Randy, Bill moved off it fast, right, Like did that happen overnight?
Yeah? I mean, you know, there was that there was a confrontation with you know, on the sideline in Miami. He was traded next week and that was my first moment in the NFL where you're like, damn, everyone's expendable, right, Randy Moss just got cut, you know. And Randy wasn't a problem like that. But what it was is we were in the the gap of the dynasty, the old dynasty in trying to develop the new team, and so there was a lot of young foundational players there that Bill probably didn't want that to be a scene thing that hey this is all right. So you know he heed Randy Moss and everyone in the locker room, you know, straightened up right away.
Okay, I was gonna say so when Randy left, you lose the talent, but you did feel immediately a sort of the temperature came down.
Yeah, but you know that's this is also apples and oranges. You know, we had Tom Brady who had three Super Bowls. We got Bills.
We don't know who their quarterback is.
We don't know who the quarterback is. Uh, you know you had other play You had a young Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez who were there at that point. Like the team was changing already, so it wouldn't It wasn't like we just got jumped ship because he popped off. They they clearly had a plan to go to that twelve personnel group and that's what we ended up doing for the next few years. So I don't know how this Pickens is gonna deal is gonna is gonna turn out, because ultimately, I mean, DA's had weapons. What makes Dak good is when he has a run game.
That's the truth.
And they didn't get a they didn't get a big time running back. I know they got a running back in the fifth and they got to they got the Williams kid out of Denver from last year. But that's a quarterback's best friend is a run game. They have Ferguson, who's hell of a tight end. They got CD who's gonna benefit hugely from Pickens if Pickens is.
Count to play ballage on him. Now, yeah, and I think Dak's.
Gonna be able to handle all that. But you know, I think they need to address the running back room. Some one of those guys got to come out of nowhere and play. Well. I'll never I'll never judge a draft pick lineman from the Cowboys. They know how to do that, so I'm sure that pick will be all right. But the running back thing is what ultimately concerns me most about them.
So you when Travis Hunter gets picked, we talked about how's he going to be in an offensive in a defensive meeting. Actually when you came out, did you do that at New England?
Yeah? I did that my third year. We were down at Star, so I started playing the Star, and you know, we got to put this in context. Though Star is the nickel, I was the nickel. Let's put this in context. I wasn't the best receiver on my team at that point of my career. I wasn't even sniffing the best corner on that team. So when I was going in, I was guarding the fifth to sixth best player, and the I was getting guarded by the fourth the fifth best guy. On defense. This is completely different. So, and I had two years of offense already in my system. I knew the offense. So on Thursdays, I would leave all the defensive meetings, I would have a defense. I would be in defense Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then on certain third down periods or third down days, which is usually Thursday, I'd hop into the offensive group and go over my installation for my four wide group, my package for that third down package. But everything else, I had to get accustomed to corner because I never played it before. Now Travis is gonna do this, he still has to develop into great one of these sides, you know, and that takes time, that takes film, that takes reps at both, and that takes coaching at both. So it's gonna be very tough. But I do think he could have packages, you know, so he goes and plays corner the whole time. Maybe you have him on a red zone package. You have six to eight plays that you know he's comfortable with. You know the quarterback's comfortable with throwing it to him. And that's another thing. You know, is the quarterback going to be comfortable throwing to a guy if he's in the defensive meetings all day, he's not asking questions when you're installing the plays, how are they gonna do that? They're gonna put in more time. There's collective bargaining agreement. You can't do that anymore, So like, what are we gonna do here? The time is the hardest part about this, and it's the preparation for playing both sides, and then you know you're not playing Colorado State defensive guys in the best guy in his conference in the NCAA when he played every single play, So you know it's gonna beat you up a little. So it's gonna be a tough situation to go through. If there's a guy that can do it, it's Travis Hunter. But I think that they're gonna have to pick one side, I don't know what side that is, and then give them packages on the other.
So I think the most improved team I predicted last year it would be Washington. I got lucky on that this year. I think it's New England. I think you know, I think they bought about five starters and they drafted about three. What did you see? I mean, usually there's a plan, you know, Vrabel, when you watched the draft Tree agency, what was the plan you saw?
Well, clearly offense. First three picks, Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick, that's that's a huge, huge piece for them. They needed offensive line. They showed that they needed offensive line. They went out and drafted guy with the fourth pick that they liked. They didn't wait and try to do something cute trade back through this do that. They got the guy they wanted, and then they get Hendrickson in the second round Ohio State. I think him paired up with Josh McDaniels is going to be so big for the development of Drake May. What all our Super Bowl teams, we had Shane Green who had thirteen catches out of the backfield, who was great with protections. We had James White who had fifteen catches in the Super Bowl, was great with protections. All I keep on hearing about this Hendrickson kid kids, great with protections, great with the ball in his hands. Him, Josh McDaniels. That's gonna be great for Drake May And then the third round receiver of the Williams.
Kid him play, dude, he have him.
But I've asked all my guys, he's great. I keep on asking all my GM guys. I'm like, Yo, what's this kid about? And They're like, dude, he's good.
He will start.
So, you know, I was very excited with what they did in the draft and in the offseason, adding you know, tackle with Moses on the you know, veteran tackle to kind of help in the center. They got a center in the fourth you know, with Williams on the defensive side. They handled a bunch of that. In free agency. It seems like they're spending their money, they're adding the right positions. Now they got to go out and prepare and execute it and do it.
There's a story out true or not. Aaron would never admit to it that Rogers Aaron Rodgers is waiting for the TV schedule to come out. Aaron did not want to do another Sunday night, Monday night, Thursday night, just like the NFL last year had Mahomes plan like everything, but Tuesday.
I can assure them the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be playing every It's.
Kay because Kirk Cousins legendary didn't like that. Manning Peyton didn't like it. How was Brady knowing creature of habit that his schedule? Now it's Sunday night again, How did you guys handle You didn't plan in the one o'clock.
Window much, No, and you loved playing in those one o'clock windows. Everybody ever does because you get up, go game, you get to watch the four o'clocks on the way home. It's just an easier schedule. But you know that was one thing. You know, no one bat at an eye with in New England. You know what time we played when we played Everyone likes the one o'clocks. But I also like the night games. That's when everyone was watching you. That's when the show was all about you. That's when you could go and show the world what you were about. So, you know, it's a double edged sword. But you know, this whole Aaron Rodgers thing. The more I think about it, man, maybe he is really just that much smarter where he's probably gonna land into like some team that gets a hurt quarterback that he really likes you know what I mean. At first, I was so on the fence, like, why wouldn't he sign somewhere? You know, we saw his time in the Jets that he struggled with being on the same chemistry page with his receivers, which has developed through organized team activities, many camps offseason, and you need those practices, So why is he doing it again? And then you know, hey, the draft, they didn't draft a quarterback. Did you get rid of the other guy? Maybe he falls into something else he wants. I don't know. He's very unpredictable. I know you think he's predictable though, right.
No, I think Aaron thinks he's unpredictable. But Aaron wants to control things. He likes control, and he wants you to think that you don't know anything he likes. Goes out of his way to say schefter doesn't know what he's doing, and Diana Russini, he goes he tries too hard. It's like when people say I don't care if people like me, if you're trying too hard to say that you really care that people like him, when you're trying too hard to say I nobody know. I think he's fairly predictable that he wants to. He's gonna want two or three things. He didn't want pickings around. He probably wants Alan Wizard, and you know, he probably wants to make sure he's not on seven, you know games at Sunday night and Thursday night.
For me, it's just you know, if you're a quarterback, I would want as much time on task with the players as you could have, you know, just because it's going to be a I know he's probably Arthur Smith's there oc. Yeah, he's a West Coast guy. He's gonna know the terminology and stuff. But it's more of like learning the body mechanics of your guys, having them learn his cadence, which is an ultimate tool, but very hard to learn. Cadence is not easy like that takes this time to get used to. So regardless of where he goes, I hope he goes quick because it's fun to talk about him.
I was thinking about this. Matt Stafford took twenty million dollars less to stay with the ramt smart obviously.
In New England.
When you guys took less than your market value, did the team? You know, do they say, you know, Juliet, we'll give you a better parking spot. There was there ever any team guilt that you know, mister Kraft knew that you could have gone elsewhere. You had a market, You played for a little, sometimes a lot less. Did you ever get a little they ever give you a pizza on Friday night for the fam or it's just like, hey, bro, you're part of the culture to take cuts.
I think we're just part of the culture. Really, it's just part of the culture. And he couldn't say anything because you know, Tom was taking Tom was taking a cut, so no one could say anything. But you know, with with the Stafford situation, I completely understand taking less money in this part of his career. It's a whole process, especially when you're comfortable somewhere. He's at this age, he's thirty seven, thirty eight, whatever he is. You know, does he want to uproot his family that probably loves it here. Does he want to go and learn a completely new offense? Does he want to learn a completely new roster of names? I mean, there's something comfortable about going to the janitor that you know for the last eight years and having a conversation with George. That's comfort, you know, and that's what I loved about New England When I drove in, I had the same lady waved to me for twelve years and that made me feel at home. You know, so at at this point in his career, I can completely understand he loves his You know, he knows the coach that he's with is a viable coach that can get knows how to dial up plays. Sneed's gonna get him players. They've shown that they can draft players. They're bringing in tools for him. I mean this is a good spot. I mean he's made a lot of money. How much do you need? That's right, how much do you need?
I mean how much do Sour Patch kids cost? I mean it's your you know who cares.
I mean he's he's he made a lot of money.
Oh he's gonna be like four hundred large or something. Hey, what shador Sanders little hockey falls in the draft gets humbled when you're a veteran and you walk into a locker room and there's a kid he's a draft pick. Oh yeah, he's got a little little too. Did guys like to humble them? I mean was that something that was discussed among veterans?
You know, a lot of we had Tim Tebow come into our camp and I remember to play backup quarterback. I remember the first day he came in the media was just like through the roof. You know, this is like OTA's and it's like a Super Bowl meeting. He didn't last very long, didn't last very long, and it was a lot, but he he was humble about it. He was a humble kid about it, and he was in the locker room cool about it. And I'm sure Chador is going to be a different guy when there's a guy who's been playing on that team for ten years making thirty million dollars and say, hey, rook you know, let's be let's be seen not heard. Like that's the kind of stuff.
Now, Miles Garrett has a way of influence.
Hey let's be seen, Let's not be heard, buddy, Let's that's the kind of thing that the older guys used to say to us.
Okay, it was announced this week finally, Julian, you were voted into the Patriots Hall of Fame, which is is incredible And I saw the video with your father. Take me back to the first game you were It was a four year journey to really become Yeah, take me back first to the minute you made the team and the call with your dad.
It was a weird situation because my first preseason game, West didn't play. It was Tom's first game back from the ACL, so they wanted to get him some game reps. He wanted to give game reps, and so West didn't play. I caught a few balls from him and that was a big thing, and I house to punt and I had a kickoff tackle to open the game. So I was making plays. But then the next game I sprained my foot and I was out for the next three weeks. So I was up in the air. I didn't know if I was making the team. And Billy O'Brien's over here playing with me, like you know, Buffalo week one. Hopefully you're there for the like you know, messing with me. But knew I was gonna make the team, so I didn't really have that moment where like, hey, you made the team. We went into week one and in New England there's still parts moving throughout the years, so I never really called my dad and told them, hey, Dad, I made the team. I said, Dad, I'm still around right now, okay, so I'll let you know if I call you the next time, It's probably because I'm coming home.
But there was a moment at some point and you're in Tom's relationship where you could sense he trusted you. That's big for Tom.
Yeah, when was that? I would say probably that Buffalo the Week one Buffalo game in twenty thirteen, where you know, I grunk, I blew out his back. We signed Amondola, he ripped out his his adductor and so and Hernandez was gone by then, so there was no no one else to really throw to, and so he kind of had to and then we bawled out. We won that game, and that's when I felt like the trust was really coming. Now. I put in a whole lot of sweat equity with them years before that in the off season, and there was a trust, but the trust didn't come until he saw it in like a real game, you know, and it had to be seen in practice for you even to get an opportunity in the game. So it wasn't like you just got it. You had to continually earn it. And that's something he always said. He never said, Hey, you don't just trust someone. You got to continue to earn the trust. And that's through the preparation, that's through the practice, that's through the reps. And you know, it was very very cool for me. And it's a blessed experience to get to go into a environment like that because you can become a product of your people.
You had a market, you could have played again. So you remember where you were when you just decided I'm going to shoot that video at the fifty yard line. I'm retiring a Patriot.
Yeah, I was in Austin, Texas. Austin, Texas, and I remember calling my dad and I was like nervous to tell him, like my knee wasn't really responding, and I just got an opinion that they wanted to potentially do like a micro fracture surgery. I'm thirty four years old. Three Super Bowls. I'm like, we're good microfractures, twelve month recovery and that's just to potentially get the cartilage to calm down or something like that. And so I called my dad and it was a you know, it was I need to have his validation that it was okay, And you know, that was it.
What's that mean to be a Hall of Famer?
You know for this organization which could be argued the best organization over the last twenty years. No one will have that kind of success being a kid that grew up around an organization like that in the San Francisco forty nine ers, to be associated with some of the greats that are in the Hall of Fame, the Tom Brady's, Ben Coates, Kevin Falkes, the Vrabels. I mean, it's an absolute honor, you know, and and and it's pretty cool because I can remember the first day, you know, getting there, just looking at my helmet in my blue locker because you had to earn your real locker. You didn't. You didn't get real lockers that you had blue lockers in the middle for the rookies. And I just I would stay there all night. I never had free gator age shakes. I was at Kent State, so I would stay there, use all the facilities, and I would just look at my helmet, like, man, I'm on this team. That's crazy.
What's the singular thing? The singular gift? Your dad gave you the message that you will take forever.
No sniveling. That's what he always says, you know, even if if you come up short on something, if something goes wrong. There's no sniveling. Okay, get to work. You work your way out of stuff. That's you know, you through your preparation, adjust adapts. He's now. He used to say or die. Now he's or and overcome. He's grown up a little but just a hard working guy. That a self made man that you know, the real respect is for people that wake up at like five am and work till five am doing something they don't love, right, but that they have to do for their loved ones. That's like, that's what I've taken from him for forty five years, from what I can remember. You know what I means, buddy, thank you, thank you. It's awesome. Julian Edelman
