REShow: Mike Pereira - Hour 2

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You know what was another surprise to me? Lamar Jackson not showing up to the game last night. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. It's not like Derek Carr, like get him out, because we're done with him. I would think that Lamar being there would be additive. The Rich Eisen Show.

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844-204-rich number to dial. Michael Irvin just appeared in hour number one. Rick Stroud, who covers the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times.

He will be joining us at the top of hour number three. In the middle of this hour, I'll give a couple of cents on what I think Brady's going to go through with his process to figure out what he's going to do next and where. Last night, there was another roughing the passer penalty in this game. This one was on Dak Prescott. Every single time there's a roughing the passer penalty, I'm literally holding my breath.

Knowing I'm going to be sorely disappointed by the replay nine out of 10 times. And I felt the same way last night. I know it went up to, you know, John Perry is just like, yeah, it's up around the neck, head, neck area. And he did, you know, he did throw him down to the ground.

But, you know, and then he braced himself after he put the full body weight on them. Come on. So many times we're penalizing guys for playing football, and I'm saying take any flag thrown on roughing the passer and fold it into what's called video assist replay assist or what it definitely is. Sky judge. And joining us to talk about this and so many other issues involving officiating is one of my favorites. I'm not just saying that because he's on hold hearing me introduce him, but it's true.

Former head of NFL refs now, Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira here on the Rich Island Show. How are you, Michael? I am terrific. Sorry, I couldn't be with you in person. You're busy. If I'm not in person, it's better. It's still good this way.

I'm very happy that you are here, sir. So let's just jump right into it here and talk about what we're hearing called video assist or on occasion. I hear replay assist from broadcasters and and what we're seeing is real time correction of on field rulings and on field calls by refs. We're spot balls or whether something's a catch or not.

Lying the game, things like that. We're seeing real time corrections, saving coaches challenges. It is it's terrific.

It's wonderful to watch. Can you walk me through what is happening in replay assist? Who's doing it? Because it looks like somebody's scrubbing the game back as soon as a game is played. They were scrubbing the playback as soon as the play is made and making a call. Mike, how does this work? You know, technology has allowed this to happen, believe it or not, more so than in the past with this what is called the Hawkeye system.

Yes. So the Hawkeye system gives the replay official and the people in New York at minimum 16 different camera shots to look at live. And so if you're dealing with a line to game situation and there's a ruling on the field that is either short or is made the first down, they can immediately go to the camera that would show it best and immediately make a decision as to whether the call is right or whether there's video evidence to say it is not. And then move the ball appropriately back to the spot in almost real time. I'm not quite real time, but certainly a lot better than a three minute replay stoppage and certainly a lot better than having a coach challenge a play, possibly lose a time out if it's not changed. It's kind of a it's kind of a step rich and we might as well get into it right away.

Call it what you might. But you and I for years now have talked about having a sky judge, having a person who can make some real time corrections. And we're there. I mean, we're not all the way there, but we are there. I mean, if you look at our game, which I was at in Minnesota with the game against the Giants, so many quick corrections that were made and really good, solid corrections. Look, things happen so fast on the field when it comes to spots. I mean, you have people sometimes in between you and can't get a good look. They're getting close to mastering that.

They're not there yet, but they're getting close to mastering what we have what we have been asking for. And I said to the league, they call it video assist. What is that? What is video assist? That's when the replay official, he's the same guy, the replay official in real time can make a quick assist and move the ball to where it needs to be moved.

That type of thing. He can assist in those types of play. And then you go expedited review. What is an expedited review? That's basically when the replay official and New York can see that, for example, if a play is ruled to catch and it's incomplete and they have video evidence right off the bat with one of their 16 shots that shows that the pass is incomplete, not a catch.

They can do an expedited review and change it without an official going to the monitor, without a coach having to use a challenge. I love it. It's really kind of sped up the game.

It's great. Which I think we all like. Exactly. But I think we all like it. And we like accuracy and we like accuracy and it's done fast and it hasn't stopped the game and no one complains about it and it saves time.

And so a couple of things are based on what you said. So the day and age of the TV truck didn't give us the shot so we couldn't see it in time or over is what you're saying. That they're actually getting the feed from the truck and they're able to scrub back whatever camera they darn well please in real time in the stadium and back in New York City. That's what's happening for every play? And it's the same way with me in the booth. So, for example, in Minnesota on the ball, the two plays involving the line to gain, I was able to save Kevin Burkhart right away. It's short. And that's because I had the camera shot that showed that it was a half a yard short. Amazing.

It's great. So even us in the booth now, we are a little bit more, kind of have the knowledge that we need to kind of project what's happening. And I've said to the league, there's a gray area, there really is, between what is a video assist and what is an expedited review. And I did say to them, I'm going to start calling to the sky judge. And they go, no, no, no, no, you don't want to really call it that because we really can only do the things that replay would allow us to do. We can't review roughing the passer. And I said, I know that, but you can't do that. But still, it's input from someone else off the field that gets that look, gets that quick look on a screen that allows them to make the decision.

So it is a sky judge. But they don't want to hear that. Well, I mean, because you know. I want to get Rich Eisen like this.

Eisen and Pereira invented that term. Come on. Here's the deal. No, here's the deal, Mike.

Mike Pereira here on the Rich Eisen Show. You and I both know that the NFL is like a tanker ship. It takes forever to turn around, but eventually it will turn around. And it needs baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. And and you saying that, yes, this is huge in the fact that it's an individual that we do not see in a zebra shirt on the field making a call.

Yes, that is huge. Now, the question is, as you said, that they're not all the way there and making a full sky judge. And the reason why is that if they do what I'm asking to be done, which is a flag thrown on the field for roughing the passer, it's immediately reviewed or any bang bang play that's 15 yards.

Boom. That causes an official for their altruistic reasons because they are the first line of defense in the player safety protocols that, yes, that was we understand you're trying to protect players. But after further review, that's kind of playing football.

That's a legal hit. And that's what I want. Sky judge replay assist, video assist, expedited review, whatever you want to call it.

I wanted to do that. The question is, is can we do that without others saying, well, then let's use sky judge to call flags that the humans don't throw. That's the issue that I think the NFL will never get past.

Mike, your thoughts? Look, here's here's the issue. You want them to do what we're doing in the USFL now is which is reviewing all personal files that are called.

We're not in the area to where USFL replay center calls the files, but they review all the personal files. I don't. Yeah, I mean, let's do it. I'm not totally sold on it. And I talked to John Mara, the CEO and co-owner of the Giants game.

He's one of the guys in Minnesota. Yeah. He said to me, he said, you know, there's been discussion about reviewing roughing the passer.

What do you think? And I said, well, my concern is this. Those plays that you and I consider not a foul. And you can include both of those, not the one in argument. The game at the call in Minnesota against the Giants on that last drive. That was just not a good call. Exactly. We got to get those out. When you go to those out, get those out. But let me finish.

Yes, sir. So when you go to play, like, for example, the call last night, we don't think it's a foul. I don't think it's a foul. But the league does. So if you review it and with these driving the quarterbacks into the ground, the few that have created the fewer. It's going to go to review and they're going to stay with the call. So what is it going to accomplish? I mean, I worry about that.

Look, here's some facts. And I think really the league has done a pretty good job. We're screaming about roughing the passer penalties.

But this that startles me. I mean, in 2021, there were one hundred and fifty three roughing the passer penalties called one hundred and fifty three in two thousand twenty two. One year later.

Ninety three. Yeah. I don't know. And I know I hear all this stuff about me trying to say fumbling through the end zone should be changed. And the answer you give me, Mike, you know, you've given me that like it rarely happens. It's happening less and less and less.

All it's got to do is happen once in the Super Bowl and the whole country's watching it. I'm telling you, it's all it's got to happen is once I understand it doesn't happen as much. I get it.

I hear all the numbers. It's down. It's down.

It's down. It doesn't happen as much. So we're going to change the rules for something that hardly happens anymore.

All it's got to do is happen once. That's all in the and in the spot where one hundred million plus people in this country are watching. And they're going to be like, what is the NFL doing? And that's my that's my concern. So I guess just to put a bow on it, because John Mara is one of the competition committee poobahs for sure. Next time, Mike, give him my number when he says, what do you think?

Give him my phone number and say, call Rich Eisen. Will you please do that? I'm serious. Yeah, I think the only thing that is encouraging about this is that there you have, you know, the one of the members, long reigning members of the competition committee is asking about. Yes. So so, you know, it's going to get to the table.

I don't think it's going to get further than that. But at least they're talking about a new set. You said it earlier.

It takes so long to change things. And this this video assist is just growing right in front of our eyes. For example, I mean, things that I didn't even know when they call ineligible downfield on a pass play. Tough, tough play to cover without the umpire in the defensive side of the ball. They now have made that to where the video assistant can jump in and pick up the flag. If, in fact, that ineligible player is not more than two yards down. So we're picking up flags. So you're picking up flags for a legal man downfield, but we're not going to pick up a flag for rough in the pass. That's new to me. Well, really.

But but here's their here's their theory, because that's purely objective. You could see a line. You either get to the two yard line or you don't. It's not, you know, it's not is the contact.

Was he driving him into the ground? It's let's be patient, Rich. We're making progress and we like the progress that we're making.

And yeah, if it happens in the Super Bowl, you're right. Maybe it's it drives them to make a change. But I think we have to be somewhat happy with the direction that we're going. I think it still needs a bit of refinement. But, you know, I like to look at numbers and I will go back and say, I like the fact that there's a huge drop in roughing the passer penalty. There's a huge drop, 100 less defensive pass interference calls, a lot less offensive pass interference calls. I think the game is being played more without penalties, even though some that are called create all these of the high profile controversy.

But, you know, our wish our wish is there. And I think they have the ability to look at the spring leagues, too, whether it's the XFL or the USFL. One of them, Rich Eisen's rule in the USFL this year, if you fumble forward into the end zone out of bounds, you get the ball back at the spot of the fumble. So they're going to see how that looks and how it plays out in the spring league.

And you might see another Eisen rule that gets put in. I love it. I love it.

That puts the us in USFL. I love it. I love it. I know you don't like it, Brockman, but in the last minutes I have with you here, Mike, I want to talk to you about Joey Bosa of the Chargers and what happened on Saturday night. He and Sean Smith, he said something to Sean Smith, the head ref, who then kind of followed Bosa and just gave the international body language of what did you say to me? And then a flag comes out and then later on Bosa's through his helmet down on the ground on something completely separate. And I want to get your reaction, Mike, to what he had to say in the locker room yesterday. This was Joey Bosa when talking about the officiating. I need to be more accountable for my actions, obviously, but it's a heated game and I'm hurting out there.

I'm playing on half a leg. I'm getting dragged to the ground, whatever could hurt me along with screwing our team. And yeah, maybe some of them weren't as blatant as I thought, but I don't know. I think there just needs to be more accountability on. I mean, if I say something to them, I get a $40,000 fine.

But if they blow a call that ruins an entire team's season, they're probably back in the locker room after the game, like I got that. Oh, yeah. Got him.

15 yards. What a loser. I guarantee it. That's what they're talking like in the back. Whatever, a power trip. I'm sick of those people.

You have the floor, Mike. What do you think when you hear that? Well, I mean, look, I get the frustration and it's the same thing that's said by anybody else, that there's been better out there, that they don't like people. They listen, you know, I mean, officials don't really they honestly don't like to throw flags.

But I know Sean Smith. I mean, something was said that was bad. And for him to react the way that he did and actually go after him and maybe the maybe to say, what did you say to kind of give him a way out? I don't know. But then for him to throw the flag on that, it was obviously personal.

And, you know, that's a line that you don't cross. And I'm tired about the people not being held accountable, officials not being held accountable. Look at the look at the turnover in the last, you know, four years.

It's amazing. I mean, I'm at this game in Minnesota, and I didn't even know six of the seven officials that were on the field. Makes no difference if they've been in the league for 15 years or not. If they're not doing the job and they're not able to keep up, they're getting replaced.

And so I get his frustration. And, you know, the officials make a mistake. They're not held accountable. He gets fined forty thousand dollars. I mean, they're graded on everything they do. And if they don't make the grade based on their 17 assignments during the course of the year, then they don't get playoffs.

So they get money taken out from them also, the opportunity to make more money. So I get the frustration, but I also think that, you know, there was no official that would walk off the field and say something like that in the public about Bosa. I mean, if he did, he would be fired, not fined, fired if he said something like that about a player. So should it be OK for the player to say something like that about the officials? No.

And I think if it's forty thousand dollars, I almost wish it would be a hundred thousand. Well, the last my only follow up to that is, you know, when you say, you know, Sean Smith and Bosa said something and then kept walking, Mike. And then the flag comes out after Smith follows him. You know, I understand he could have said a magic word or it could have been something untenable. And Smith gave him an opportunity to to follow up. But if Bosa is walking away, shouldn't the ref walk away, too?

Mike? It just depends, Rich. I mean, we weren't there. We don't even know what was said. And if it was bad enough that it may have stunned him a little bit with what he said.

I'm not sure. And we're not going to know. The only people they're going to know are the league office people when Sean Smith has to write his report about what was said and why he reacted the way he did. But, you know, I always said, you know, you tolerate you tolerate complaining. You tolerate vulgar language and you tolerate that even if it's directed at you. But if it becomes personal, I mean, I always floor people and I say, what's the dirtiest word that a coach or a player can use at an official? The dirtiest three letter word that could be used at an official. And I told our officials that if they use this word, you are OK. I give you the OK to throw the flag. That three letter word is Y O U. If you use that word and make it personal and personal, then I would say throw the flag.

And obviously there was something very personal that was said. Well, I was going to say thank you, but I don't want to I don't want the flag, you know. Well, no, it's OK if it follows the word, just to precede the word. That's the problem.

Well, what if it starts with an F and then the Y O U? I mean, no, it's not you when you're out on that one. OK, very good. Mike, you're the best. Thank you.

Greatly appreciate it. You got to take care of yourself. That's Mike Pereira. One of my favorites.

I've been chopping it up with him for a damn near 20 years. Oh, I like it. If they're calling it from downfield. And I understand that you see if if they're picking up a flag on the field, he's right.

He's right. That is a gateway to picking up flags for other. Penalties that aren't.

About a line to cross, right? If the line is an actual line on the field, two yards down from the line of scrimmage, somebody can be seen on screen being further than that or less than that. And the flag is thrown. Confirmed that is a legal man downfield. He was two yards down. We just saw.

No, he was only a yard downfield. Pick up the flag. Get it. Understand that that's why it's folded in because it's an actual line. I want the line to be figurative. I want the line to be something that is interpretive. Interpretive when it comes to roughing the passer one thousand percent.

Do it. My gosh. And I guess I just found out from Pereira, he's just like, hey, it's progress. John Mara, who's one of the competition committee overlords, essentially.

I mean, his dad's nicknames on the football. OK, so if he's asking about it, he's curious. Yeah, I talk about it. And it goes from curious to serious to official. That's the way it goes. Is he telling me I'm not cut out for competition committee work? Because I'm going to go in there and knock too many heads around. You just tell me to. I have a role.

I have a role that I need to slow. So he just told me like the rock coming a little too hot. He told you, no, you're coming too hot. It's a political room. You got to rub, rub elbows, not knock heads.

Kiss some babies. Understood. All right. Eight four four two or four rich number to dial your phone calls. And we will hit the subject of Tom Brady before Rick Stroud joins us in our number three. That's how we're rolling here on this Tuesday show. Monster Dotcom can help you tackle the job hunt and make your next career move in football and in life. There's the regular season and then there's the playoffs. Monster Dotcom knows that scoring your next job.

That's a playoff moment to bring your a game. You need Monster Dotcom looking to change positions and join a new team. Monster can help Monster Dotcom has millions of job openings and great coaching and career advice for a strong performance when it counts. Plus, when you upload your resume to Monster Dotcom, you can be recruited by employers before they even post their jobs. Monster Dotcom specializes in building the right teams for employers and knows how to match you with those job fits. When you score the position, Monster Dotcom salary calculator ensures you're paid what you're worth.

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With supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger is the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Jeff in Detroit is here on the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, Jeffrey? Hey, what's going on?

Encore is everything. I'm loving you guys off mode. I swear.

TJ's people are representing with the Cowboys. So happy for him. But I need Chris to do me a favor. I really do. I need Chris to look at the camera and gives me a what the hell face. He makes one of the best what the hell is going on faces. He's doing it right now. Either that or he's passing gas. I don't know what it is.

I'm trying to figure out what's the San Diego with the L.A. charges. Excuse me. You lose. You get a twenty seven zero twenty seven zero.

Yes. And then you lose 31 to 30. But you fired an offensive coordinator.

What the hell? I mean, and then you think about what does that do for the fan base in L.A. If people already want rooting for you, you need to make a splash and Sean Payton would definitely do that for you.

But hey, sometimes you can't get out your own way. Well, I mean, in terms of in terms of the fan base here in Los Angeles, Jeff, for the Charger fans, I think they are so outraged. They're calling into sports talk radio to complain about LeBron.

That's how outraged they are. I mean, and that's part of an all honesty, like, you know, the Chargers do fill up that stadium and so do the Rams and so do the visiting opponents fan bases. So, you know, we'll see how we'll see how it works out. We'll see how it works out. But to me, it's it's it's how do you support the investment you are going to place in Justin Herbert? Now, Herbert could go ahead and say, I love Staley.

He might love Staley. And if that's it, then you you keep him happy, too, by keeping the coach, who, by the way, is calling defensive plays. And and they were they they they pitched this. They picked it off of four times and Trevor Lawrence, it just they didn't do what the Cowboys did last night, which is score a second half touchdown to put the fire out. They didn't do it. That's all they need to do at once, essentially.

And they probably would have put the fire out. Last but not least, I'm trying to figure out if you're Tom Brady, you've won more Super Bowls than anybody. You can do anything you want to do. And right now, it just appears to me that, you know, that last game that I just want to remember Tom Brady is being one of the greatest out of twenty three years. You've been to the Super Bowl 10 times. I mean, it'll never be anybody that'll come behind. That's correct.

And then on top of it, you've got three hundred and seventy five million dollars waiting for you. Oh, my goodness. I don't know what he's going to do.

We'll find that one out. Thanks for the call, Jeff. Greatly appreciate it. Monster.com can help you tackle the job hunt and make your next career move. Because as we've just seen, if you make a career move based on the playoffs, that's when it really hits the road. And so to bring your A game, you need monster dot com because scoring your next job, that's a playoffs moment. If you're looking to change positions and join a new team, Monster can help. Monster.com has millions of job openings and great coaching and career advice for a strong performance when it counts. Plus, when you upload your resume to Monster.com, you can be recruited by employers before they even post their jobs. Monster.com specializes in building the right teams for employers and knows how to match you with those job fits.

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Monster.com. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the program. Just want to follow up a little bit with what Mike Pereira and I just talked about. And then we'll take a break and I'll talk about Tom Brady, just like Jeff in Detroit brought up there. I'm telling everybody, again, we're seeing, as he said... Were you surprised when he said that there are fewer defensive pass interference penalties and fewer offensive pass interference penalties?

And he's, you know... Seems like we're seeing a lot missed. A lot of missed calls.

That's where I wound up landing. Because I thought when I heard that, oh, that's a good thing. Yeah, there's fewer penalties. It's great when there's fewer penalties. And then when he hung up the phone, I'm like, well, that's not great when we're seeing... Chris Godwin held in the end zone last night on a two-point play. And that would have made it 24-8.

And then things could get rolling. You know, if the Buccaneers had stopped that, Prescott and the Cowboys. Well, it would have made it 31-8 eventually. Unlikely, but still a big two-point play for the situation. We're seeing a lot of those. But it was clear as day on the replay.

I mean, he's held and impeded. And even Godwin and Brady looked around like, what was that? What was that all about? But I'm just wondering if balls are getting misfired and things aren't going well and the officials just kind of like... Yeah, we're not here to help.

We're not helping you out with that one. But then how did the Seahawks get into the playoffs then? That was one of the things I was going to ask Mike about, but I got too deep in the Sky Judge thing. Which, by the way, how fascinating is that? I'm into it.

As well, that there are 16 cameras that these games feed into, these trucks feed into the NFL and the booth upstairs. And they're able to, it's clear that they're easily able to say, all right, I'm going to look at that camera. I'm going to scrub it back. Boom. I'm going to touch that screen. I'm going to scrub it back and I'm going to get in like Craig Walstead's head and say, incomplete. And that's happening within 10, 15 seconds.

Like we're seeing the replay on the screen and it's already been communicated to the official. That's how fast it's happening. Love it. Terrific. A++.

Love it. But one of the things I was going to talk to Mike about is these penalties that got called in Seattle that wound up putting Seattle in the playoffs, not the Lions. Now, obviously, the Lions needed to eventually pull off that win in Green Bay in order to have made the playoffs. And we're looking back in hindsight as well.

The Lions, we would have made it had we, the result that we eventually got. Not that they would have lost the game knowing that they could get in. It's possible, though, right?

You're playing a game like win or go home as opposed to house money. We're just going to let it all hang out. Yeah, possible. But still.

But still, that's not, it's easy to hear over there. Like, what do you do when these penalties get called and they're not right and then they're blown and it affects, as Joey Bosa said, whether one team doesn't make the playoffs ruins their whole season? And Pereira answered the question. They're replaced.

They're out. When he said that he didn't know who six of the officials were on the field going into a game. That's a shock because this guy is plugged into the officiating community at every level of football. He's telling you what's going on in the USFL.

Kind of surprising right there. Also, it is a little easier to kind of execute SkyJudge when there's only two games a day, three games a day, and they're on, they're staggered. They're not happening at the same time. Right. And also, you know, not every game's got 16 angles either.

I'm sure his does when he's sitting there, you know, on Big Fox, right? Okay. But like the fourth CBS game on a Sunday, week eight, like. But as you could see.

A little harder. But, but as you could see, if you throw money at the problem, it's fixable. So what they should do is have every pylon has a camera looking down the line or down the back. Last night when Michael Gallup was tiptoeing him in the back of the end zone, was he in, was he out? And, you know, ESPN, you could see the truck was like, where's the good angle? And they went eventually like high on the back of the end zone. I mean, it was like his heels out.

Absolutely did. And then when they went, when you looked at the front of it from the front, it was kind of, it looked like he was in. Yeah. But if there's a pylon that you go down that line, down the back line from both sides. So the pylon, whatever, if it's right here, the pylon is a camera here and here. But the back pylon having a camera too. Yes. Yeah. Well, it's a cost you. Or for the corner.

Let's just put it this way. I think Google can cover it. The Google deal will cover it.

The Google deal. I'm serious. Like if the whole country's watching, it does mean so much to all of us. Well, especially now, Rich.

Let's get going. With the gambling, it's just, we got to get these things right. I don't understand what you're talking about. What do you mean? You know exactly what I'm talking about.

I do. Got to get it right. Got to get it right. There's too much money at stake and there's too many partners.

And there's too many livelihoods on the field. That's obviously where I'm resting on it. 844-204-rich number to dial. We'll come back. I'll give you my two cents on what Tom Brady's decision making process is going to be. 844-204-rich number to dial.

Coming up, catch up with season one or start season two on YouTube or wherever you listen. 844-204-rich number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay, folks.

What does Tom Brady do from here? That's the question. It was Madonna.

Yeah, Madonna and Madonna. That's right. But she was willing to phone. She was willing to phone. Wow.

All right. What does Tom Brady do from here? He knew that if he lost last night, that would be the first question. So he knows how to handle this stuff. This is, as we know, not his first rodeo. And he also saw the last 10 days how Aaron Rodgers' actions on the field in Lambeau, leaving the field at Lambeau, stepping to the podium inside the depths of Lambeau, how those were parsed. So here was Brady when asked about his decision-making process, and of course, he kind of shut it all down. What is your process from here when you start to think about what you want to do next? Because obviously it's going to be a huge privilege for us to do that. I'm going to go home and get a good night's sleep as good as I can tonight.

Do you have a table or do you want to figure this stuff out? No, this has been a lot of focus on this game, so yeah. It'll just be one day at a time, truly.

Truly one day at a time. He almost went like his full process, and I'll wake up the next day, I'll grab a blender, I'll get some TB12 protein mix and then cut off the ends of the banana, I'll put the banana in. It's like, no, that's not what we're asking.

Blueberries, electrolytes. That's not what we're asking. Are you going to keep playing or not? Are you going to play here or not? Are you going to go to Fox or not? What are you going to do?

Tom, we've got to know. So time to start parsing everything, including the way he left the podium last night. I just want to say thank you guys for everything this year. I really appreciate all your effort, and it's hard for you guys, too. It's hard for us players to make it through, and you guys got a tough job, and I appreciate all that you guys do to cover us and everyone who watches and is a big fan of the sport. We're very grateful for everyone's support, and hopefully I love this organization. It's a great place to be, and thank you, everybody, for welcoming me. All you regulars, and just very grateful for the respect, and I hope I gave the same thing back to you guys. So thank you very much. Appreciate it.

High-class stuff, man. I love that guy. So he said it's a great organization to play for, the Buccaneers, and if he had left it at that, you could even say, well, of course, then maybe he'll want to stay, and then he said, thank you all for welcoming me.

That sounds like a closing line. Or putting it out there, should this be the last time, if you want to keep even a door open for Tampa, and that also belies the fact that he hasn't thought about it. I also noticed, as he came off the field last night, you see, he gave his mom and dad were there, where the rest of his family gave him a kiss. I just love the Brady family.

I ran into his parents on the streets in Atlanta after they beat the Rams, and his dad was wearing one of his Super Bowl rings, and they were just ecstatic. They're just good people. At any rate, here's what it's all going to come down to. It's all going to come down to two things. First, he has to decide if the way that he is playing is something that he finds tenable and is meeting his standard of excellence. Only he knows. Only he knows when he sees the film, how did I not see that? I used to see that for 20-something years. Only he knows, how did that ball skip?

Because I got it there for 20-something years. Only he knows if that's a physical limitation or a mental limitation or a processing limitation. Only he knows. We can all 22 stuff and say, well, he normally would have done this or that. Only he knows in his heart of hearts whether it's meeting his standard or not.

That's it. Only he knows. And also his pride messing with his mind. Where he goes back home, his whole family's there in Santa Clara, and he gets beat by Brock Purdy. Or he gets one and done for the fourth time in his career in the playoffs. By the way, he got one and done. The last time he was one and done was his last game in New England. And so things are happening that don't happen to him.

Losing records, for instance. Is that something that his pride can deal with walking away with this being the end? Where these things are happening that never happened to him? Can his pride handle that years from now and in short term? Or his pride can't handle it if he goes to somewhere else and tries it? These are only questions he can answer.

That's it. And speak to his inner circle, who I imagine based on the way his plans got out last year, will be the tightest of rotations this time around. And he's going to go through that process if he already hasn't.

Or he already knows. And he just doesn't want to share it right now because he wants to deal with it himself. Because in addition, what is the other aspect of this that's part of the equation is what he can't control. He can't control whether somebody is willing to take him on.

Because that is part of this equation. If not Tampa, where I imagine he's kind of done with everything, then who? Who wants to take TB12 on at age 46 and I say that with the ultimate of respect. My god do I say that. Honestly, like I said at the time of the show, will we ever see somebody again who matches his age with the amount of attempts that's asked of him? Because the team knows it's not going to be a physical limitation for him.

Think about that. 66 throws as a 45 year old man and not a single time that I sit there and think, old man's not going to hold up. We need to take it for granted that he's able to do it. And when he says it takes day by day, he's going to have to wake up today. I can't imagine he's not sore. We just take it totally for granted that he looks like this.

And that's part of the process that only he can think about because he can do his best to control it and ward it off based on the way he lives his life and treats his body. But what he can't control is who's going to disrupt their plan at quarterback. Who's going to also not move forward with a page turned for a new quarterback like say Las Vegas. Or the Dolphins. Name another team. What team, I mean are the Niners? We're sitting here watching the Brock Purdy story blossom before our eyes. And the only two magic carpet rides that this storyline has a trajectory that could be remotely close to it or similar to it is Kurt Warner and Brady. Warner undrafted. Brady in the sixth round. Out of the blue wins it all. Nobody saw it coming.

Nobody thought it could be possible. And he's in between undrafted and sixth round right there at the last pick of the seventh round. What the Niners really with Lance recovering. And Purdy blossoming say, yeah, Tom, I think it's time for you to live out your childhood dream. Let's let's run it back with you.

Honestly, like what? You know, the Rams with the Rams. I mean, you keep hearing Stafford's name is mentioned as being elsewhere.

I doubt it. Tennessee. You're hearing Tennessee. Tannehill's moved on. Would Tom really run it back?

With Traelyn Berks. And I say this with all due respect, like, you know, when he goes to Tampa, part of the reason he goes to Tampa is there's Evans and Godwin. Like, you're going to have people like Davante Adams, I'm sure has him at hello. Yeah. Okay. But and the system that McDaniel's runs, we have no idea. I get it right. And they're ready.

And and I bet you the Vegas Raiders, according to Dana White, were ready to do this a couple of years ago. Anyway, that's my point is there's two things to it. One, he only he knows, and that's how his level of play sits with him and how sustainable he thinks his standard of excellence can be met by his abilities. And his ability to continue to live his life and treat his body the way that it does to think that it it can last longer. Only he knows that only he can do the evaluation.

That's it. And then there's the other aspect that he can't control who will do it and partner up with him. And how long of a commitment does he need to give that team for them to say, OK, regardless of how much they would love him and love to have him and all that comes with Brady coming to your town.

And the excitement that it would instill in your fan base on the spot, you still need to think these things out and through. And and then, of course, there's Fox sitting there, if that's what he wants to do. But as you know, I, I will I will believe it when I see him in a booth. I'm not saying that he'll blow it off completely, but I just he's got I mean, he could live the life of whatever he wants. And he's seeing what what Peyton Manning is doing with his production house.

And Tom's got his own. He's got a movie coming out, as we all know, next month, 80 for Brady. That's coming out. I don't know. I don't know, but I'll be keen to see it.

And that's my, you know, analysis of the way it's going to play out and how long it's going to take. I don't know. Carolina, there was the rumors he wanted to be with Sean Payton in Miami. That fell through because of the bright, bright could be there. They have an opening, same division that he knows he can win East Coast, East Coast, closer to New York and his family. Kind of a perfect spot if Carolina was close this year.

OK, I don't know. I'm sure Carolina would do that or be be keen to do that one to two years with Brady. That's not a bad one. That's not a bad one. And this is going to be a revolving around the next several weeks at the Combine. A lot of chatter about this. Rick Stroud will join us. He'll give us his crystal balling of the situation right there from Tampa, Florida. That's next right here on the Rich Eisen Show and your phone calls. 844-204-RICH.

Number to dial. Were you about to chime in? Well, I was going to say, did you happen to read Tom's or hear Tom's response to Chris Collinsworth right before the New Year? No, he had missed a pretty simple pass and Collinsworth was kind of like, I got nothing.

That's like LeBron James missing the layup. So Tom got on his radio show. This is back on the 28th and he he responded, I'm going to get a chance to cover some games here shortly at some point. So maybe I get a chance to fire back at everyone else. That's natural for a commentator to have his opinion, whether you agree with it or not. So if he's thinking that way, great. And I think, by the way, he's going to be dynamite. The Brady who can come because he's got it all. There's not a single situation that he wouldn't be able to analyze from now, including this situation. Before it was like we never had to lose a record. Now we can actually this actually could make him a better analyst. What he went through this year. Good point. He was great on the Manning cast last year.

Absolutely. No, I'm not saying he's not. He can't do it. I'm just like, when is he going to make that? Does he really want to do it? I don't know.

I think because Peyton Manning does it from his basement. It seems like the dollar value is a means to eventually being an owner. Gives him the capital to now buy into a team. Maybe.

I don't know. That's how I read it. I think he could find the partners who want to partner with him to find the capital. He'd have to put up a large number of his own money. I'm sure. I'm sure. But if he's making movies, what I'm just saying is it it he might I don't know. But I love that he's thinking that way. And I would be happy to hear him in a booth because I think he'd be great. Yeah.

Well, that process might just be starting now. For over 40 years, Jim Ross has been the voice of wrestling. Nobody has stories like Jim Ross, and he shares his tales with co-host Conrad Thompson on Grilling J.R.. Best Nick man was the top heel in the Attitude era. It was a fresh character. It was new. It was material that we had not seen or heard to that date. And we could have created a bigger or better heel. Now, we wanted to make more heels and we tried to make more heels. And we did. But nothing compared to Vince. The Grilling J.R. podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.