REShow: Hour 3 (10-6-2022)

This episode is brought to you by TBS. It's October, and that means the MLB postseason is back on TBS. You can watch the biggest and brightest in the American League take the field and battle it out for a spot in the World Series. There will be crazy hits and clutch performances, jaw-dropping action from the Division Series on October 11th, and, of course, you have to watch the crowning of the next American League champion. Catch the best of the MLB postseason all month long on TBS.

Plus, your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show on our eighth anniversary.

We turn eight today. In hour number one, we had Steve Smith Sr., and what a great conversation we had. He was sitting right here in studio. If you missed him talking about his playing days and some great stories about him.

Fired himself up to play, and some of the things that happened to him on the field, and some of the things he created to do whatever he needed to do, and how he's now smiling more. He also talked about who he thinks the best team in the league is right now, the prospects of the AFC being won by the Dolphins, and so much more about tonight's game as well that he's helping lead into with NFL Network's coverage of the game day on Thursday. He was here in hour number one. If you missed it, stay tuned right here on Channel 210 on the Roku Channel. We re-air right away, and our first hour will be right up first. And there's our YouTube page as well. YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show is a little bit of a backstop for us. Mike McCarthy just said the Cowboys are nobody's underdog.

Run till that. Good stuff right there. Fun conversation. A fun conversation we just had. We'd love to have chats with you in this hour if you're up for it.

844-204-rich being the number to dial. We've got a lot of football to talk to with the Colts playing the Broncos tonight. Chris Brockman and DJ Mikey D, Del Tufo sitting in his spot. TJ Jefferson, the candle's been lit for a while, and so we're all here.

The gang is all here. Aaron Rodgers is in London. Green Bay Packers are 3-1 in London. It's the first time they've ever been to London. Kind of crazy. Yeah, I know. It's the 32nd London game. You wonder what's really kind of crazy. London's never seen a matchup of two winning teams at the same time. That is nuts.

Ever. Really? That's correct.

Wow. That ends this time. Oh, we were sending them a lot of Jaguars games. Well, as you know, Bailey Zappi almost made that not happen. Ah, he was so close.

Right? Bailey Zappi almost got Rodgers. Because the offense is not firing in all cylinders.

And I, however, see a team that's 3-1 as the offense is getting ready to ramp up. These kids are fast. Romeo Dobbs is fast. Christian Watson is fast. You've got some fast kids, man.

And they're going to get up to speed and I think they're going to be real tough to stop. Rodgers is pulling out all the stops. I've never heard him talk this way.

And this way being in the preseason, flat out calling them out. Saying some guys aren't in the spots that they're not in and if they're not going to be there, they're not playing. Essentially is what he's been saying. I mean, he's just saying these kids have to grow up. And I don't blame him. I don't blame him for talking this way. I know he's received some criticism and he'll tell you. He'll receive criticism about anything that he does. Including the shot, by the way, that he has on, that he's set up for him on McAfee show whenever he's on. Do you notice he sets it up so he shows off all the books behind him, too? You know, honestly, there's a lot of headroom there. But anyway, so Rodgers gets criticized for anything that he'll say pretty much.

So he's received some pop and I don't blame him. I mean, his window's closing, man. And Devante Adams is not walking through that door. Randall Cobb is walking through that door. But in old school, Jordy Nelson's not walking through that door. In old school, Donald Driver's not walking through that door.

I could go on and on and on and on. So what's he doing now to bring this up? He is bringing up his closing window of opportunity as a possible piece of motivation for these kids to grow up. Hey, kids, you want to play with me? You want to keep playing with me? You want me to keep playing so you can have me here?

Grow up is essentially what he said in front of his locker yesterday in London. I think there's going to be a lot of benefits to be reaped from those guys. So I'm sure long after I'm gone, those guys are going to have an opportunity to be here and play and play in the second contracts. But it's about development, really, for them. It's about their mental approach. Especially, like I said yesterday, year one or two can be a big jump.

Two to three can be an even bigger jump. Look, my decision when it comes down to it will be obviously the physical part, the mental part, seeing where the team is at. Look at the defense. A lot of guys are signing for multiple years now. That seems to be intact for a while. They've got a good core on the offensive line, some young guys, obviously two great backs who are still in a contract. There's some moving pieces, but that will factor in for sure. But seeing the development of those guys can't help but be a part of the decision. I love it!

Pull out every stop! The development of those guys would be part of the decision. I'm going to come back so I can get my brains beaten in because these guys aren't in the right spot or they haven't developed or they haven't focused or they haven't taken it seriously enough. I'm not saying they're not, but that could be something that's going on behind the scenes. I don't know.

You only see the tip. You never see the full iceberg in our world. He'll be back next year because if he doesn't, it'll cost him $60 million.

Well, it's not just that too. Take a look. Just look up any story about when Rogers retires. Massive cap hit. At any point in time, when he does decide to step away during this contract or even if he plays it all out, there is a large piece of credit that will be due. So, you could sit here and say, yeah, he's leaving a lot of money on the table and yeah, he would be leaving the team a huge cap bomb that would go off. He doesn't want to play anymore. He doesn't want to play.

And if he does wind up short this year because the cupboard is empty or not as good as it used to be and he's taken hits? Well, that'll be the end of that. We should have had a better conversation with Devante Adams before he left. I just found it fascinating to me that in the summer, it's just like, hey, you're not there. You're not playing. You're not in the spots you're supposed to be.

You're not playing. And now it's just like, hey, I might not be here if these guys don't develop. I mean, I obviously am putting those words into what I just said. My words, that's the implication, but that will be a factor. It's just kind of a throwaway at the end. Their development obviously will be a factor.

Physical, mental, a lot of things about to do with me and my readiness and my preparedness and how I'm feeling. Looks like Romeo Dobbs, though. That's why I'm saying I had them six in my power rankings. By the way, I got a very nice tweet. I don't know if we have that, Hoskins.

Very nice tweet. I want to throw up on the screen right here. About your power rankings? Oh, yeah. Oh, no, you didn't.

Oh, yeah, I did. Do you have a burner account? I don't have a burner account. I do not have a burner account. I do have a burner account.

I saw it and I sent it to the guys at home. I'm calling it up, as I believe Hoskins is. A gentleman named Mike Allen said, just listen to Rich Eisen's NFL power rankings. Good for you, Rich, for not listening to all the pressure. Just because a team wins one game doesn't mean they have to move up. Your power rankings are what I always wished everyone else's were. In case anybody is wondering, Mike is a news anchor at Fox 24 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

That don't make them ring. He's a Syracuse alum before you start carping on him. Oh, nice.

Now he gained the feeling. Okay, so you know he's probably, if he's a Syracuse alum, he's probably a Newhouse guy. Well educated. Okay, which they don't just turn out people willy-nilly at the Newhouse school.

That's true, they don't. All right. And I like Mike a lot. I've never seen what he does.

I think he's probably one of the most trusted newsmen in the business. Let's see. But, yeah, man. Good guy.

Our power rankings are diverse here, but only one is like mine and it's mine. He doesn't know what he's talking about. It's weird. I was on Venmo this morning just cleaning up some bills and I saw you had a payment to Mike Allen.

No, no, no. I have not friended you on Venmo, sir. I friend nobody on Venmo.

You can't see Jack. Friends people on Venmo. By the way, that is one of the... I'm going to show you what I'm spending money on and who I'm giving it to.

It's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen is the fact that I put mine on private. I don't need to know that someone I met one time in a club 15 years ago paid someone 20 bucks for a pizza. I don't understand that. And by the way, it's not like I don't like you. I'm just not going to accept your friend.

No. I mean, I'm friendly with you. You may know me, I may know you, but you're not friendly enough to me.

To me with you to know who I'm giving money to and why and when. What the hell is that all about? I find that very weird, man.

Private. Okay, so we're like that. We are like that.

Everywhere like that. But when it comes to power rankings, we're not. Well, it depends. You're in one spot and me and my new buddy from Fayetteville, Mike Allen, we're in another spot. Well, Mike Allen, I don't know how a wreck to believe is. You were ready to go on Mike Allen until I told you he's a Syracuse alum. Then you backed off, didn't you? You backed off, didn't you? That's how you get Brockman.

You tell him he goes to Syracuse. Yeah. I had the Packers fourth this week. I had the Packers fourth this week. Okay, and I'm sixth.

I had the Packers fourth. Because I've seen the offense and you see, like you could see Dobbs is. Oh yeah, Dobbs is good. He's cutting around the edges and when he hits the center spot. Dobbs is nice.

Look out. He's big too, isn't he? Yeah.

He reminds me of just like kind of a bigger, beefier Randall Cobb. He wears 87? Yeah. That was Geordie's number.

I know, you're used to seeing 12 to 87. Yeah. And then Lazard, 12 to 13, man. Lazard just sounds like a guy, again, who we're trying to get Trump's taxes from, right? Lazard's? We're just going to Lazard's trying to get him?

Sorry. Tom Brady has chimed in. Oh, is he all right?

I'm so worried. Tom Brady has chimed in on the parity in the National Football League. Because as you know, he's two and two, so are the Falcons. Just take a look. You just take a look across the standings. Just one division over. That's a big thing.

All the standings are one division below, depending on whether you're a vertical or horizontal reader of standings. The NFC West, everybody's two and two. Big game.

It's like Oprah giving out cars. You get a win. You get a win. You're two and two. You're two and two. You're two and two, right? Brady was asked about the parity in the NFL. This is a man on year two-three saying this.

Tom, in all your years, there's even more parity now. There's a lot of teams that are two and two. I think there's a lot of bad football from what I watch. I watch a lot of bad football. Yeah, poor quality of football. That's what I see.

Wow. That's a guy getting ready for the booth right there. Yeah, he's ready.

TB12 sees a lot of bad football. He's ready. Get him in the booth, man. They're 14 two and two teams.

14. Get him in the booth. He's primed up. Brady looks thin. Can we get him a cheeseburger or something? Yeah, he does look really thin. Tom Brady sees a lot of bad football.

Okay. Tune in Sunday. They're big favorites against Atlanta. By the way, Tom, that will not be a line in your promo copy for Fox if you do wind up in the booth. Even though it's a lot of Fox-owned spot talking about his personal life a lot.

I wonder how that's landed in his world. But he's seen a lot of bad football, and that's the sort of stuff you want out of your analyst. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Just come out and say it. Absolutely.

Come out and say it. You know what? And when he says it, you can't be like, really?

What do you know? Exactly. Really? Exactly. You've got an ax to grind because the so-and-so, like the only one that you could say that about is Eli, right? Because everybody else, he's got.

Yeah. They're the ones grinding the ax against him. He's untouchable in this position. No, Rich, no one's untouchable. Untouchable. Oh, no, yeah.

Because you're still going to have mouth-breathers who are going to be lost, and they're going to question Tom Brady. Whatever. He's not reading his mentions. I'm just saying that they're out there. I know. I just still can't believe, like, holding was out of control.

Tom tweets, enough with all the holdings. I know. And then they were gone. There were. The emphasis on holding suddenly got de-emphasized. There wasn't another holding call to risk the year after that. It was a couple of years ago, four weeks into the year. And it was enough. He was about watching a Thursday night game saying, this is ridiculous, gotten out of hand.

Then all of a sudden, we need to re-emphasize our look at the emphasis. He's got a little power. It was gone. Don Brady.

It was great. All right, Tom Brady. That's it. That's the sort of stuff. That's it.

Anybody who's sitting there, what sort of analyst is he going to be like? That's it right there. Oh, he's going to tell you, right? Okay. Like it is.

Okay. That's what I want out of my analyst. Yeah, he's going to tell you.

That's why I think Aikman has gotten so great in the last few years. Yes. He's going to tell you, right? He doesn't. Nor does Romo. Romo's more of like telling you the X's and O's of it.

Yeah. And that's my one thing about Romo. You know I was on Romo.

You were. The minute CBS hired him, I told you on the spot he's going to be amazing. I would just counsel him to get out of there. I don't know, Jim, when it's a bad call.

Just call. Just say that it's bad. Just tell him. I don't know, Jim. It's just like, yeah, you know. You're saying that means you know, so. That's the way you say it. I know. But he can, you know. Just say it. Just get rid of the I'm too nice a guy to say.

Tony's like, look, man, this got me this far. I'm going to stick with it. I know. True.

Thanks for the advice. I'm sorry. I can't hear you over the cha-chings. What?

A million dollars a game. What? Yeah. Can't hear you over those cha-chings. I don't know, Jim.

And Caliendo's like, no, what are you telling him to stop doing that? Right. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob. SquarePants.

Fantastic. SquarePants. Summerall. Summerall. SpongeBob. SquarePants. Fantastic. God. We need Caliendo. How do we not have Caliendo on our, we have Caliendo on my birthdays and special days. Should we FaceTime him?

Nah, it's all right. We got too much stuff. He's so good. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow.

That's what our kids used to say. Find the latest and greatest audio entertainment on Audible. It's got everything you want to hear, including the Rich Eisen Show along with podcasts. You'll also find audio books and exclusive originals.

Again, we're on there. We're talking comedy, sports stories, deep dives with athletes and entertainers, business and anything else you're into. With Audible, you get access to thousands of included titles with more added every week. Listen on the road at the gym or anywhere you want to fuel up your imagination.

Join and get 30 days free at the home of storytelling, audible.com. As I'm reading this, I'm thinking, you know, we do this. We talk comedy, sports stories, deep dives with athletes, entertainers.

We do this and anything else you're into. And I'm like, well, when do we do business? And it's got in my head saying we haven't even talked in our eighth anniversary of one of my top five favorite moments on this show when Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank was here and we've twisted Del Tufo's arm to pitch him on his idea for an app and you refuse to do it. You wouldn't do it.

We're like, Mike, you've got to do it. And you're like, I don't want to get it. I don't want to get killed.

I don't want to get killed. And then you got eviscerated. He even used the words.

I'm going to eviscerate you. It was a good app. Nor did we mention Keegan Michael Key, who's one of our favorite guys. His guest spots here, Stone Street and him.

I don't know if we ever laugh as much as with those guys. When you couldn't hear the audio. I know on the day where you referred to yourself as the Bill Walsh of audio because you have so many other audio people in the business like you're you have so many people on your tree tree.

Right. Of audio folks that you've you've mentored. You called yourself the Bill Walsh of audio.

Then he comes out here and it's start bench cut in which you have to play him. Arnold Schwarzenegger sound bites from term from from Predator because he was here for the sequel to Predator and he couldn't hear him because you didn't play him right. Well, that's one of the that's one of our our best moments, too. Oh, gosh. I think so to come. We're going to we're going to. We're going to. However, it all pales in comparison to the moment that we're going to have at the end of the show to celebrate our eighth anniversary.

I guarantee you that. But when we come back. Oh, yeah, we got I've been promising this and we've been just B.S.ing too much. We have our quarter season awards. You're like, we got to get to it. It's like, what are you talking about? It's way too early for me.

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You need Indeed. And you know what? It's so great that we're celebrating this show here on the campus that we've been on for eight years. And the best way to celebrate it for those watching on Roku, you see it and those listening to it, is to have something placed in the five foot square in this huge ass area that it's seen in the one piece of window right behind me the entire time. I mean, I don't understand it. I don't get it. Like there's a huge square out there. There's only one spot. There's only one spot that this cleaner could possibly what is this? What is that? A vacuum cleaner or something like that cleans the tile. Oh, yeah. So how many what is it?

What would you say? There's like, oh, gosh, how many square foot of tile that needs to be cleaned? So let's just leave it in the one spot that can be seen as thousands.

They like hanging behind. By the way, it's like literally every day. So I'm convinced now that they're going to troll me right now. Is that what it is?

It has to be. They have no idea. There's eight miles of tile that that thing that those guys would go every day. But just leave it right there in the one spot that they could be seen. They text for their family. I'm going to be on TV. Honestly, I'm Roku right now.

They just log on to the Roku channel. And I say that as someone who would do that. Yeah. If I wasn't sitting here, if I was out there, I would do that. A hundred percent.

They're like texting their family. Watch. Oh, I don't know about that, Mike. No, I'm serious. All right. Moving on before I get really pissed. Let me go move it. No, stop. You got to stay right there. You got to give us your quarter season. Oh, that's true. He's important.

I need NFL films music, Mike. Look, I know that we always say we're marathoning. We're not sprinting. And there's still three quarters of this marathon left ish.

Right. I mean, when it used to be 16 games, very simple. Four games.

It's the quarter post. Eight games are halfway through. Right now, it's 17 games. So what are right around in the middle of the first quarter tonight? We're in the middle, right, right, right at the start of the second quarter tonight.

It'll be the quarter post point of the season for both the Broncos and Colts. Like now you've reached it. I mean, you know, I'm confused. I'm terrible, terrible at fractions. Always have been, you know, never get. Honestly, my kids say, Dad, can you help me with your homework? I said, fractions.

Go ask your mother. But that said, for simplicity purposes, it is the quarter part post of the season. We're one quarter through as far as I'm concerned. So why not give out awards? We do this every year, mostly. Usually.

I think it's fun. And then we put it in the freezer and we'll take it out at the end of the year and see if it lasted. Right.

If it lasted. Usually it doesn't. We'll defrost. That's what we do, right?

That's what we Jews and you Italians do is we freeze, we defrost and then have. Yes. Okay. Here we go.

Hey, well, first of all, you can't leave black folk out of that. If your mom told you that thawed a chicken out in the morning and you didn't and she came home and that chicken was still frozen. Oh, man.

So there's freezing and there's halving and there's defrosting? Yeah. My apologies. I didn't mean to leave you out.

Well, you know what I'm saying? We're unitors here. That's what we do. We unite people. We just want to take out.

That's what I was about to say. All right. Here we go. The MVP coach, defensive player of the year and comeback player of the year through one quarter of the season. I have my awards and then you guys are going to give yours. The MVP through one quarter of the season is to me unanimous. It's Jalen Hurts and I had the Bills winning it all and I still do. And I have Josh Allen winning MVP this year.

I don't know. I like Jalen Hurts. Nick Sirianni is my coach of the year right now.

Everything looks terrific there. I was thinking of Mike McDaniel. Micah Parsons is my defensive player of the year through the first quarter of the season. He does not lead the league in sacks or tackles for loss. Nick Bosa leads the league in sacks and who leads the league in tackles for losses? Max Crosby, who also has a nice amount of sacks, too. But I'm just seeing Micah Parsons.

I watch a lot of football. I don't know how many people in the league. I think Miles Garrett and Micah Parsons are the only people I've seen in the league who's made a tackle that they stand above Twitch just by standing there.

They get false starts just by standing across from somebody. So I'm going with Micah Parsons because their team is 3-1 and I think part of the reason why they're 3-1 is the defense. And my comeback player of the year is Saquon Barkley, who, if he keeps doing what he's doing right now, could wind up in some MVP votes if the Giants keep winning. And if the Giants come up with an 11-12 win season and threaten to win this division, scoff all you want, but you are what you are.

And if the Giants keep replicating through quarters of the season what they did this year, that's a 12-win season. So Saquon, if he keeps doing what he's doing and the Giants keep doing what they're doing, Saquon might wind up with some MVP votes when it's all said and done. What is Saquon coming back from?

Injuries. He played 13 games last year. He's still the comeback player of the year.

Okay. He's still, I don't know, I guess, how about this then? My comeback player of the year is kind of similar.

I'm going to go, if that doesn't require. Because I almost did Saquon and then I looked it up and I was like, he actually played a full year. I know he played a full year, but he wasn't healthy man last year. Oh, and he wasn't good either. I mean, he only had less than 600 yards. If you dispute it, then I'll go Geno Smith.

Geno Smith is coming back from obscurity. Well, that's fine. I'm sorry.

Stay tuned for that. I apologize. Well, you shouldn't have pushed me. I know.

He's close to the edge. I will leave my commentary out for you to see what you want to say. Oh, good. But one last thing about coach of the year. I was thinking of Mike McDaniel, as I mentioned. And I don't know, because I just love the way that he's handled his business. I love what he's done with the offense. I love how he's made to a more confident player. I like what he has done. Man, do I like the way that he games things out. I would love to know the exact number of plays that they have.

It looks like 500. Okay. But the way that things have been played out with Tua, and it may not be his fault at all. He may have been told, guy can go, coach. If the coach has told guy can go, he's going. But I don't know if everything that's happened with the Dolphins and Tua is going to cost. At some point at the end of the year, somebody's saying, how can I vote for coach of the year when that happened with Tua? That's a good point. And it may not be fair, but I think that that is something that might strike against him.

This is what I thought of. That's not why I chose Sirianni. I chose Sirianni because they're 4-0, man.

And they're playing the best football through the first four weeks, or at least the most unblemished football. Those are my choices for this fake award. Chris?

Yeah, I'm with you, Rich. I think MVP is unanimous. I almost went with Josh Allen, but the 4-0 is kind of a huge deal, and it's because of Jalen Hurts. Defensive play of the year, I went with Jordan Poyer. He leads the NFL with four interceptions. He's second in pass defended. He has six of those. And I just think the way that builds defense, especially in their comeback wins, has been kind of awesome. And so I'm going to give him some props here.

I did go with Mike McDaniel for coach of the year. I think it's a culture change. Talk about the offense. The Dolphins are an exciting team now. When was the last time you said that? You want to watch them on red zone.

You want to seek out their games. And I think it's largely due to him. And then I went with Geno Smith for comeback play of the year, and he's coming back from not playing. The dude hasn't played in four seasons, and he's been awesome. He's better than two-thirds of the league right now, and nobody saw that coming except for probably him.

And props to him because it's awesome. Good stuff right there, man. Again, it may be unfair to say. I don't know if it's going to cost McDaniel by the end of the year, but a lot of football between now and then.

And if the Dolphins win the division and beat the Bills, then I think he will be coach unless Sirianni is still undefeated. What do you got over there, T.J. Jefferson? What's your list? Well, you know, my list is pretty obvious.

You know, when we talk about quarter season awards, I'm looking at a team that many thought their season was over after three-quarters of the first game, and then they came back. So just go ahead and show. Just show it. Just show it. OK, so T.J. Jefferson.

Show the people what you got. You know who I got there. You know my quarter-post award. Cooper Rush, MVP. Daddy Mark McCarthy coach of the year. Micah Parsons as the D.P.O.I. And Jason Peters coming back. Now, I'm just joking.

Jason Peters is your comeback player of the year? That's just a joke. A photograph of you with Jerry Jones. Wow. Oh, it's you running the okie doke.

That's not your real one. That's not it. Sean Mitchell made that because we had a group text yesterday. No, you saw that. Yeah. So then I tweeted you back a GIF of Stephen A. Smith in a roll on his eyes.

Sean went ahead and made that card. I texted that back to you guys. No, Rich, believe it or not, we are we are in sync on on our awards. As you can see, I have Jalen Hurts as the most valuable player and Nick Sirianni. So you can't tell me my cowboy bias is there. It really hurt for me to put those two in here. But I mean, look what the Eagles are doing. And Brockman, I said it after the draft. I hated the Eagles draft because they got really good.

You hated it because it was awesome. Yeah, it was good for them. Like the real world said, good for us.

Bad for you. That's what it was. Shout out to the Eagles are doing it. I do believe Micah right now, the defensive player of the year, just because I love what Dallas's defense is doing.

And, you know, he's he's the guy there. And Saquon Chris, you're right. He did play. But the last two seasons, Saquon Barkley rushed for six hundred twenty seven yards and two touchdowns. He was injury marred. A lot of people wondered if his career was over before it really got a chance to get going. Now, Saquon is playing like the guy we was, you know, we saw in Penn State in his first season.

I agree with you. But your point is, I knew he played last year. I would never have chosen 13 games.

I did not look it up. Look, I was going to do Saquon, too, and I was like, let me just check the game log. I knew and I was shocked at how much he actually wasn't healthy. He wasn't healthy. I mean, he played two games a year before. Then he played 13.

So I said six hundred yards. He has it already. I think our picks then will not stand the test of time, because usually that does go to somebody who didn't even play the year before. Yeah, for sure.

But I like that pick. Has anyone ever won it coming back from obscurity? Being the backup?

Yeah, I don't know. Like the guy who came into the league as a second round draft choice. Remember, he was very upset. He was not in the green room. He stayed in a hotel room across the street, I think, for the second day in New York City. And I think he was across from Radio City. I remember if memory serves, he was not happy about being left on the board and showed up on night two. We had a shot of him on NFL Network.

My memory serves of him walking into Radio City Music Hall, also, you know, amongst all the crazies outside. Wasn't he crazy suited up for night one? And then he had like a sweater over day two.

Day two, yeah. So, yes, that's what happened. And then, of course, when you're drafted into New York after the Sanchai's was done, and so you're supposed to then at least take everybody to the AFC championship game. And, you know, twice that was the ceiling. And Rex was there. Rex was, man, I remember one time that a timeout wasn't called because Rex was too busy talking to the defense once. That's what that's the Geno Smith jets.

And we all know what happened with IK and Polly, his teammate broke his jaw. Ryan Fitzpatrick got the gig. And people forget, man, Geno was a baller at West Virginia. He was.

Big time numbers, man. Heisman candidate. Like, he was awesome.

So, yeah, he he he's coming back from all of that. He's coming back from being a jet, basically just not for Rex. But he basically hasn't played in four years.

It's been forever since he's played meaningful games. Yeah, I have no issue with that pick, Geno. Who else would there be, right? I mean, who else is performing? Who was seriously hurt last year and is coming back?

I think it could be Geno. And we had Geno Smith on before week one. We had him on before he stepped on the field against Russ on Monday Night Football.

And don't forget, he got the gig in during the summer. Some thought is because Drew Locke got COVID just when the two of them were going to start and share time in a preseason game. And then Pete came out and said, it's just Drew can't catch up. It's Geno's job. And we're all like, really? And that's why I was like, look, they're on the clock for number one pick. And so Geno Smith, we've got the soundbite.

This is a fascinating soundbite of how he approached that Monday night opener and the opportunity that he was afforded with Russ going to Denver and Pete choosing him. Life's so big. You know what I mean?

We think about, you know, you're talking about football here. And I've been lucky enough to play this game for a majority of my life. But I also have great perspective. You know, life is so much bigger than just one opportunity in one season. You know, it's my tenth season. And I've had other opportunities also. So, you know, coaches have always believed in me and I've always believed in myself.

And, you know, this is just my tenth year. I see myself playing for a long time because it's not about myself. I'm never going to make it about myself. This isn't a redemption story or something like that.

I've been living good for a long time. And, you know, for me, like I said, it's just about going out there and executing, doing my job, doing what's supposed to be done, taking care of the football, leaving us the point. On the 7th of September, this is not a redemption story. October 6th, he's 2-2. Like everybody else in that division. And better stats than 20 other starters. Including Russell Wilson.

Absolutely. Let's look at Seattle's schedule real quick if we can. They're at New Orleans this week.

Why can't they win that game? Home for Arizona. That's the last Arizona game without DeAndre Hopkins.

Good time to get Arizona. They come down here to take on the Chargers before they're home against the Giants at Arizona. And then a big time game in Munich against Tampa before a bye week. Why can't they be going into that Munich game above.500 or in the mix in the division?

Rashad Penny running the way that he's running. Exactly. From what we've seen out of them in the first four weeks, there's no reason to think they can't be. Right. They're in the mix.

Pete Carroll, man. I told you. I told you. Am I ready?

Am I ready to collect on that? Where I'm like, I told you. I told you they're always better than you think.

I want to see that the fairy dust can last. You know? How do you say poop cart in German?

I need to learn that. Do they have a cart in Germany in case somebody needs to go to the frat? Get something on the sideline so they don't have to.

Let's get a portable unit out there. So let's put it this way. Hold on a minute. And then we'll take a break.

And then we'll finish up in a way that I'm particularly proud of on our eighth anniversary day. Oh, by the way, I believe I have. Do I have a read here, Hoskins? Yeah, here it is. Yeah. Our awards are just brought to you by the NFL app.

And you can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on westwoodwonsports.com via Westwood One Station Streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports sponsored by AutoZone. TJ, you are the judge, OK? Oh, right. And you are a judge as well.

Oh, I love it. OK. But you are not here all the time. I used to be my nickname back in the day after Antoni Gibert. You're not here all the time.

Rich. There's stuff that goes on around here sometimes that you might not be here for. And I don't think you were here for this last Friday, but you were here for some of it. I said back in the summer, one of the things I was going to talk myself into, I was talking myself into is that the Seahawks are going to be better than people think, right? I said that in August going into the season.

OK. This guy last week talked about Bailey Zappi on this show when no one else was talking about Bailey Zappi. And he's taking, quote unquote, credit for predicting Bailey Zappi. Probably takes credit for a lot of things. What did you predict about Bailey Zappi?

What did you predict? That's the whole point. And I don't know what you're claiming. Who's got a better claim is the ultimate question that you need to judge on. We're not comparing the two. They're not comparable. How am I not comparable? Because I actually made a statement that I made a prediction that Seattle is going to be better than people think. And so far, right now, they are.

I think that's true. And what was your prediction? I came on here and said, I want to see Bailey Zappi start.

The kid can play. Let's see what he's got. And here's what he got. He should have beat the Packers. Is that a prediction?

No, that's not a prediction. He said, I'm sick of Hoyer. I don't want to see Hoyer. I'd rather see Bailey Zappi show me what he's got. And then Zappi, remarkably, gets in the game, not because of Hoyer's inabilities.

Right, of course. Obviously, I don't want Hoyer to be injured. It's because Hoyer got hurt.

Right. And remarkably, is it Kenny Pickett who was the first for, can you throw a touchdown pass this year, even though he got in the game? I believe it was. Is it Malik Willis who actually got in the game on Monday night in week two? The first rookie of 2022 to throw a touchdown pass this year was named Bailey Zappi.

Let's not forget, he did have a little extra couple of TikToks on the play clock. It's you there, it's a prayer. I can't see well.

I don't understand how the clock is. I talked all week about Bailey Zappi. Here's the deal. Like, I wouldn't necessarily say, Chris, you made a prediction. You made a call to arms. You were like, let's get, I don't want to see, I already know what this guy can do.

It's not great. You pounded the table. Let's just give this kid a chance. So I don't know that that's a prediction necessarily, but you did call for Zappi to come into the game.

And now he's probably going to start this week. But you didn't predict like, so there's a difference, but you didn't call for it. It's different. By the way, we know Bailey Zappi can handle the pressure. We do. We do. We do.

We do. How do you know? Look at the scene in front of his locker yesterday. I would love to see what a snapshot was in front of Bailey Zappi's locker before game two. Probably wasn't even active. There was nobody. He could have gotten dressed.

He could have probably played three card Monte in front of his, and not a single soul was going to stop to see. I saw a great tweet too, Bailey Zappi looks like a guy who would play Mac Jones in a Netflix movie. I like it.

I sent a picture of the Hoskins earlier this week. If you put a picture of the two of them together, it's like, is it Bailey Jones or Mac Zappi? Mac Zappi is great. I don't know. They're the same person. They look like brothers, twins. So how is Zappi handling the pressure? Here we go. Big question. Bailey, you come into the locker room and you look over to your locker and you see this big crowd cheering around with your first reaction.

I was small. I like talking to you. Just like Western Kentucky? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is that Bailey Zappi? No. Huh? He's from Victoria, Texas. Yeah. Damn straight he is. You know who else is from Victoria, Texas? Stone Cold Steve Austin.

How about that? He's got a little Texas rattlesnake in him. He was born after Tom Brady got drafted.

Well, at this point, everybody was. Exactly. So take a snapshot. Take a snapshot of what his locker looks like right now and what it's going to look like when Mac Jones gets back or him smiling saying, I can't wait to talk to more of you media now. Never kidding.

Or a month from now if Mac Jones is still not back. Oh, gosh. NFL is wild, man. Beautiful.

NFL is wild. When we come back, our greatest achievement in the history of this program. Thanks. Okay.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, but we do, and I think it's a unanimous selection. That's coming up next to wrap up our eighth anniversary edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Audible has everything you love listening to and more.

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If it's the NFL, it's on Westwood One. Great show today, went down a lot of memory lane today because it is our eighth anniversary. And we talked about some of the great segments that we've had and memories that we've had and guests that we've had and the eight years of content creation is one way to put it.

But I don't believe there's been anything in the history of this program that could top the content, if you will, creation that you're about to learn of. We all know about it here, but here on the Rich Eisen Show, I would like to introduce Sarah Jackson to those watching on the Roku channel, as well as listening to this on our show. Good to see you, Sarah. Sarah, do you want to introduce yourself to everybody here?

What do you do here on the program? Yes, I've been your makeup artist, your groomer for years here on the Rich Eisen Show. I appreciate you using the word grooming. I appreciate that because that normally connotes that it requires hair and makeup. So you've had the difficult job of dealing with the dome for a very long time.

It's not that bad. We had Denise for many, many years, and then she went full time with NFL Network in her gig. And then you came in here. I did.

And then one day you met sitting in Mike Del Tufo's chair, a gentleman named Jason Freeman, correct? I did. Okay. Yeah.

Just a random guy just hanging out here for a couple of days. Okay. Right. And you and Jason wound up getting married. We got engaged and married. And now.

We have a little baby on the way. How about that? Yes. A little Rich Eisen Show baby. Is that weird to say that? Rich, sorry.

Sorry, Suzy. It's the truth, though. Yeah, it's true.

Right? Yeah, it is. And amazingly too, Chris, you met Sarah Tiana through a member of the staff from years ago named Chris Burns, right? Yeah, Chris Burns worked at the Comedy Store, but he also worked here and he would invite us out to random nights like, hey, you guys should come by, like so-and-so is going to be performing.

So I just happened to go one day and met Sarah, then we started dating a year later. And Cage Brockman was born on our last day on the Audience Channel, on the Audience Network. Correct. Yeah. And your baby is due when?

Next week. Damn. Oof. Yeah.

The 15th. It's funny, I remember when I met Jason, and I remember not wanting to tell you I was engaged and you were like, you're engaged. And I was like, I don't, I didn't want to tell Rich.

Why didn't you want to tell me? I don't know. Now look, we're pregnant. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, just think about it. Just think about it. You know, that, that Jason's here, you're here and you guys met and now you've got this baby. Yeah, of course. You know, did you ever sit around and think, what if Mike Del Tufo treated his job like it was his main job here at the Rich Island show?

Rich. Jason was the floor guy at that point. I was here. He didn't sit in for you? No. Remember, he signed Mike up to talent. Remember, I had the person.

He's filling in for a feller. That's how long it was. Yeah.

I mean, I get it. So part of my audio tree of bringing Jason is, I'm part of this, I feel a little honored. So Tufo's the godfather. The godfather. God Papa Mike. He's your godfather? Oh my gosh.

You are. Don Del Tufo. Don Del Tufo. It makes sense.

Good to have a Rich Godfather. This is the best. I am so happy for those two. I love this.

This is amazing. I'm so excited that Sarah didn't bring us donuts today on her anniversary. What are you talking about, man? That's our thing.

That was a thing. I know it might be a thing, but I mean, she's got a lot going on. It doesn't matter, Rich. She has one assignment and that's when she comes in to bring us something. A very masculine child? Is it a boy? It's a boy.

I'm very masculine. And do we have a name picked out of you? Yeah, Hunter. Hunter. Yes.

Hunter. Love it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Fantastic. We have had Fred Dreyer on the program. Was that the day that you guys met when Hunter was here?

Well, Triple H hasn't been here yet, so. Yeah, Fred Dreyer. Fred Dreyer's been on. Hunter. Hunter Freeman. Hunter William Freeman.

He sounds like the first baseman for the Braves, to be honest with you. Yeah. You know what?

Honestly, I say this, you know, I've said this to you off the air, you know. I know. I get. I know. I get really emotional about it. Yeah.

The fact that the show exists. Yeah. And that you guys met here, that's what this is all about. Yeah. So. Thank you, Rich. Thank you. Are you kidding me? Yeah. And thank everybody out there for taking in this program here on the Roku channel. We start our, what, our ninth year tomorrow, right?

The Ocho. We're back on the Roku channel in a moment. Ross Matthews talks to celebrities, friends, and people with interesting stories to tell.

Who's saying hello, Ross, this week, Chelsea Handler. I'm not home enough to have a third dog. My housekeeper basically is their parent. I am not going to get another dog so that she has to take care of another dog until one of these dogs exits. It's a good move. I have three rescue dogs and only two hands. And when you're one person, that's too hard to do. I recommend two max. Okay. Ross. Available on YouTube or wherever you listen.