Roquan Smith: Derrick Henry Is Jacked

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See ebaymotors.com. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles, I'm thrilled for the players. People say, oh, he makes too much. I don't care how much money they make. I don't.

Players matter more to me. Today's guests. Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith. Cardinals running back James Connor.

From Disney's Inside Out 2. Actor and comedian Lewis Black. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

844204 Rich. Number to dial over the next three hours right here on the Roku channel. Sirius XM, Odyssey, this Terrestrial Radio affiliate, and more. We say hello to our podcast listeners who listen whenever they darn well please it's their right. We say hello to anybody out there who's watching us or viewing us on this program.

And good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you, sir? Hey, man. How are you? Jason Feller is sitting in for Mike Del Tufa once again. Hey, what's up, Rich?

TJ Jefferson, the candle's lit over there. Good to have everybody in our neighborhood here today. How you guys doing? We are doing well. We are doing well. Although, we're all kind of shaking here today.

Yeah, for sure. And certainly also in my household because Susie was close to this guy covering the Shaq and Kobe Lakers when she first moved out here to Los Angeles many moons ago. And he's been a frequent guest of this program when Susie sits in this chair. Jerry West, the all-time great passing away at the age of 86 this morning here in Los Angeles, which is in full morning. Over the loss of one of their all-time greats, and not just one of their all-time greats, basketball's all-time greats. And on the day of game three of the NBA Finals, the only man to win MVP of the NBA Finals, despite losing the Finals, is going to have a moment. For him, and rightfully so, because a lot of the kids out there who love this sport, play this sport, a lot of folks of a younger generation, I think will learn, if they already didn't, that Jerry West is the logo of the NBA and why he is the logo. And the photograph we have up on the screen here, if you won't mind leaving it up on the screen for a second, I didn't know this is the first photograph that you're going to choose, Mike Hoskins, but it's perfect. It perfectly encapsulates who Jerry West is for so many people.

It is not, for those listening, from his playing days. It is from his executive days. Natalie Cladd is always the man being a perfectionist on the court, and I think also about his appearance as well.

Hair perfectly quaffed, tie perfectly knotted, suit and tie colors, just absolutely perfect, and then he's sitting on chairs that are decked with the logo. His playing style, his dribbling style, perfection, and personifies what it is to be an NBA player and what the NBA wants to put out there as fundamentally sound as you possibly can have. Jerry West dribbling around Bill Bradley and Walt Clyde Frazier, the photograph on the screen right here. It's so silly, but when I was a kid, DJ Rich, I used to think Jerry West was a lefty, because the logo is him using his left hand and going left, and I just always thought. And then, you know, as I got older and I saw clips, I'm like, wait, he was right handed?

That was just so confusing to me, but it's just kind of ironic. The most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament in West Virginia coming out of college, becoming the second overall pick of the Minneapolis Lakers in 1960, and then was the star of the team when the Lakers first arrived in Los Angeles, California. And his resume is the stuff of legends.

That's insane, man. A three-time Hall of Fame selection. He just got in recently, right, for his executive duties, or was it the coaching? An NBA champion a couple times, as you could see, an NBA champion 1971 to 1972, pardon me, that's just one season, but an NBA Finals MVP, not of the year that he won, of the year that he lost. Think about that. Lost the Finals won.

That will never happen. Again, 14-time NBA All-Star, every season he played in the NBA, he was an All-Star, 10-time All-NBA First Team, an Olympic gold medalist, most career points in the history of the NBA Finals, and, of course, the two-time NBA Executive of the year, which we'll get to in a second. But think about this. Again, he's the logo of the NBA, star player of the team. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when the team moved to Los Angeles. That's a great cover. From Cabin Creek to Hollywood and Vine, said Sports Illustrated on the cover of the first week of February 1965, 35 cents was the cost of this publication, as Jerry West brought the Lakers west. Wow. Jerry brought them west. Think about this.

I've never seen that cover before. Me neither. And what he did here, obviously, as a player, and then coaching, and then being an executive for the Lakers from 1979 to 2000, and this just in, if you need any help on this one, that's the Showtime Lakers. And then he was Executive of the Year for the 94-95 Lakers season. Okay? You'd think, was that anything to do with Kobe and Shaq or anything?

Not at all. It was before that. And as a matter of fact, that was the first year he won Executive of the Year in the NBA. As a matter of fact, it was one week in July of 1996, he swapped Vlade Divac for the drafting rights of Kobe Bryant. And then one week later, he signed Shaq as a free agent. Did you like those moves?

I mean, they worked. There he is with Coach Dela Harris welcoming the kid, Kobe, to Los Angeles. A lot of people didn't like that move when it happened. Rich, they liked Vlade, didn't want him to trade for this high school. But if there's anybody that knew who Kobe Bryant was and what he could do, it was Jerry West. And he saw the kid and he brought the kid into his house. The kid would eat dinner there when he first moved to Los Angeles. And then Shaquille O'Neal is the guy he brought to LA saying, okay, you don't want to be in Orlando anymore.

Why don't you come here and let's win titles together? He's the one who said to Phil Jackson, 1999, let's sign you up. The rest, as we all know, is history. And sure enough, he had the team and he left the team in 2000. And there's a story about that. Wound up in Memphis and within a year there won his second Executive of the Year award as he put together a team that put the Grizzlies in the playoffs for the first time ever. A 50 win season that served as their only 50 win season in the first 17 years of the franchise's existence. You know who the coach was who decided to hire and was the coach of the year of 2004?

A guy named Hubie Brown. That was Jerry's vision there. He joined the Warriors organization as a consultant in 2011. While he was there, Steph Curry blossomed. They hired Steve Kerr as coach and they won their first title in 40 years there. In 2017, Doc Rivers convinced the Clippers to say, let's bring him in here. And that was, to be very honest with you, odd seeing one of the all-time great Lakers sitting in his usual seat in, at the time, Staples.

Just nervously watching the team win or lose for the Clippers. And as a matter of fact, today it was the Clippers who announced his passing at the age of 86. I hope I'm doing it some justice here, but I mean the vast seven decades of contributions. Because you have to, all-time great player, all-time great executive, consultant, you have to refer to him as a contributor. Because his contributions to the sport, second to none. This is truly a resume like saying, I was the first man on the moon. Bart Starr, I was the first MVP of the Super Bowl.

As a matter of fact, I did it twice in a row to start. I mean, honestly, for somebody to say, be able to say all of what he accomplished and the thing about him, as anybody who knows him would tell you, he doesn't talk about that. He doesn't talk about his accomplishments. As a matter of fact, it was revealed by one of his sons that the basketball that he used to score his 20,000th point in the NBA that he received, Jerry West would give to his kids to play ball with in their backyard. That's amazing.

That the trophies that he had, he would frequently just throw them out. That wasn't him. And I just do remember, from my perspective, when Suzy and I were dating long distance, I was in ESPN and she was out here covering the Lakers. And she called me up and she goes, you'll never guess who I met today. And I'm like, who?

And she goes, Jerry West. And I think the words that she used was sweet, elegant. That's what she used.

And he was so welcoming to her. And I'll be honest, you know, I was jealous. You were jealous, right?

Yeah, man. I'm not going to lie. I don't know if I ever shared that with Suze, but I was jealous.

I was jealous. Anytime she sits in this chair, you know, the first person she would call to see who would come stop by as a guest was Jerry West. And he would say yes. If he was in town, he would say, absolutely, I'm there. And he's appeared on this program in person, in studio with Suze multiple times. And just to kind of put together for you that can kind of show you who he is or a little bit of his essence and his ability to just talk about the sport spanning decades. Here he is with Suze, his final appearance here in 2023, talking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the time he gave Kareem notes on how to be better. I told Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one time, I said, Kareem, if you'd really work hard. And after the end of the season, I said to him, if you really worked hard, you might accomplish things that you can't even believe.

After the season, I apologized to him. He made it look so easy because he didn't waste steps. And you see some players, you watch some really great players, unless they're running, their effort is just moving their body suddenly to the right places. And within the scheme of a defensive scheme that the coach might put out there for them, they just played the game easier.

They have fewer wasted steps in a game and they accomplish more. Well, then I have to ask you, how did he take that criticism when you said that to him? Well, again, he and I are close.

He's one of the players that, I don't know, I always liked him. And he's different. He's really studious. He's incredibly bright. And he and I like to read.

And it came because of reading. He would, you know, I'd hear him talk about certain things. But I met him when he was in high school. And I think what happened, I went over, I read about him in the paper. And when I was playing, we practiced at the gym and I went over and had a conversation with him. And that's, little did I know he was going to get to where he was going to get. And I had an opportunity to coach him. He was a consummate professional, consummate. And I admired everything he did. And particularly after being around him, he was one of those players that just didn't weigh steps.

And it was just an economical way for him to save energy. You'd think he and Kareem would share, just, you know, well, I'm an all-time great, you're an all-time great. So I can take the criticism from reading.

Would you guess that? Reading, they bonded through reading. A man of just such... Yeah, Kareem was an intellect, Jerry. Well, I'm just saying that Jerry West was just of such a remarkable human on so many levels. I wish I could hopefully do him a little bit better justice maybe than what I'm doing. But to unpack who he is, and I hope I've done enough, Susie's going to join us later at the top of our two just to tell some of her stories as well.

And you can chime in as well if you met him or want to call and talk. That's what we're here for as we go through the rest of our day today here on the Rich Eisen Show. A lot of football, as always. Roquan Smith's going to be first up from the Baltimore Ravens. We'll talk with him.

James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals, scheduled to appear. Lewis Black is coming back here on the program as Inside Out is coming back to a theater near you. So that's how we're rolling on today's edition of the Rich Eisen Show.

He'll be here in studio an hour, number three. So we'll remember Jerry West throughout today's program. Again, he appeared here multiple times with Susan the Chair, including one time with Marshall Thock to his right as well. And Les Snead was here that day, too. Les Snead was here that day, too, yeah. As well, that's the way Suze rolls when she sits in here.

Yeah, I think that was 2019. Also, Rich, you talked about how Suzy and Jerry were tight. He was sick when he came in that day, and Suzy knew that, so she made him soup. And he was so happy, and I got a picture of him holding this soup with her.

Is that right? She made him a big Tupperware, obviously something that Brockman would have returned. Nice, look at him go there. You don't know that Jerry returned it. That's a good point. That's a good point. But yeah, you could tell he was very fond of her. I called Suzy this morning and told her the news, and she's broken up.

Yeah, I texted some of the pictures, and she... Anybody who met him and knew him, and just, again, just a certain style and elegance and perfection on the court, off of it. You know, battle depression, tortured soul, talking about his father was abusive, and how... Yeah, rough upbringing, say the least. And how he dealt with demons while trying to win championships for teammates, cities, front offices, but just always giving of his time and of himself.

And I say to him and his family, and the Lakers family, Clippers family, everybody else who Jerry West touched in his remarkable 86 years on this earth, rest in peace. Are you struggling to close deals? Business to business selling is tougher than ever, and that's why I want to tell you about LinkedIn Sales Navigator. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales intelligence platform that helps professionals effectively prospect and engage high-value customers, drive higher revenue, and increase sales performance.

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Just go to LinkedIn.com slash direct and get started. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at eBayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

See eBayMotors.com. I've always felt that cap space is fool's gold because sooner or later you're going to have to spend it. And if you're under the threshold where the league requires you to spend the extra amount of dollars, you have to spend it on someone. And some teams will pay someone an exorbitant amount of money for two years.

This certainly should not be in the category of these truly great players. And there's always one or two prizes out there every year. And people are, oh, yeah, we're going to go get these guys.

We're going to go get these guys. It is really difficult. And it's difficult to maintain teams today because of free agency. And I think kids today have a choice. When we played, when you played, you had no choice. And football players have little or no choice today anyway. They probably got the worst collective bargaining agreement deal that I've ever seen in my life for a sport that that's risky and that dangerous.

And basketball has been blessed with some great leaders who have grown the fortunes for players today because of the increasing popularity of this league, not just in this country but worldwide. And I'm thrilled for the players. People say, oh, he makes too much. I don't care how much money they make.

I don't. I'm grateful for them because for everyone who's overpaid, we've had a lot that are underpaid. So I would probably be a great advocate for stronger unions for the players today. The franchises talk about how much money they make. But at the end of the day, there's enormous write-offs for these very rich owners. And they're more concerned. The new owners know about numbers. Sometimes numbers matter more to them.

Players matter more to me. That's Jerry West in 2019 with Suzy and Marshall Faulk. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the program. Again, we're remembering Jerry West throughout today's program.

At age 86, he passed away this morning. Suzy's going to join us at the top of hour two for recollections of meeting him and knowing him and bringing some of her unique perspective to this. And then you as well, as I mentioned, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Terzo in Iowa, our friend is here. Let's go to the phone lines. How are you, Terzo?

What's going on, brother? Well, Rich, I was having a good morning. Had a case that kind of went really well. Was planning on being in court all morning, but everybody was happy.

So I walk out of the courthouse, getting back to the office, turn on the radio, hear Dan Patrick say that Jerry West passed. And I wasn't planning on calling into you guys today, but never got to meet him. But every time that I heard him on your show, it always felt like I had learned something. You know, whether it was about myself or how to be better to other people and his understanding of the mental health aspect and how important it is to everybody was one of the greatest things that I took from him. I got to speak to Susie after he was on the show one time, and that was a great memory of mine that I'll hold on to. It's just a sad loss for a great man.

Yeah, thanks. I appreciate you saying that. And honestly, I think so many of us, you know, clearly somebody who's been a contributor of that nature over the last seven decades to the association, this hits home for so many different generations. For anybody who's out there who may have seen him play, for anybody who's out there who watched him build a legacy for himself and for potentially the most legacy-filled NBA organization west of the Mississippi, for anybody that recalls him helping rebuild that franchise to the greatness of the Showtime Lakers, and then for him to go to different parts of this country and build teams for different fan bases. It really hits home for a ton of people. And he was an amazing mind when it came to basketball, and I just loved hearing his stories about talking about Kobe.

I thought that relationship, that was a special relationship, and it was cool to see those guys spend that much time together. Yeah, I'm with you. Thanks for the call, Terrizo.

Appreciate that. I guess we're still working on the delay that was with Roquan Smith, and we'll get to him in another second here on the program. Rich, you know, when Susie was hosting that day, and she'll usually talk to me.

Her and Chris will text, like, who should we get? And Jerry West's name got brought up. I know Chris and I were like, yo, yeah, that's awesome. And then having him come in, it was just, I never thought in my life I'd get to meet the logo, and I got to sit back there in the green room with him when I used to do those interviews. And he and I talked for about 15 minutes, and he was just like the realest dude, like you said, very elegant, which he was.

But he also was like a guy, like he was sick. And I said, Mr. Jerry, how you doing? And he dropped some F bombs to tell me like how he was getting over pneumonia. But we had agreed. And we had just met you, huh? We had just met, and I was like, this is amazing. And we sat back there, and we just chopped it up. And I was thinking to myself, this is the coolest thing in the world to be able to sit and just talk to him.

Not to West Virginia, but not to West Virginia out of a kid. Roquan Smith here on The Rich Eyes. Are you there, Roquan?

Absolutely. Now I talk, you hear, you talk, I hear. This is wonderful. How are you? Good to see you.

Doing great. Glad to be here. Thank you for having me. I think the last time I saw you was in London, outside of London.

That was the last time I saw you last year when that all happened. All right, so let's just jump into it right now. What is going through your mind here in June? What goes through a mind of a warrior like yourself, Roquan?

Absolutely. Just honestly bonding with my teammates, getting better, getting bigger, faster, stronger. And trying to, you know, dice different things up, knowing that this season is going to be the biggest season yet. And I'm excited about it, but I know there's a process in place, and I'm very respectful of it. Now, we're seeing these photographs of you here. First of all, look at you looking that ball into your hands, Roquan. Look at you right there. Absolutely. That looks like a pick six to me. I need a couple of them this season. But what do you get out of mandatory mini camps and things of that nature?

Because the photographs you can see, there's no pads. You're not out there. But what is gained at this moment in time? I think first and foremost, just having our relationship with my teammates, out with my teammates, making the most of the moments, knowing that this won't last forever. So enjoying each and every moment and preparing myself for the upcoming season, whether that's little things that I'm honing in, whether that's route recognition, whether that's block destruction, and also just getting stronger, fine-tuning my little tools. And I just try to think about it from the perspective of, like I said earlier, knowing it won't last forever. So just try to enjoy each and every moment.

And I know that it'll all pay off for me this fall. So what are your impressions of Derrick Henry from the very jump here? Yeah, Derrick, he's a big guy, but it's different. Playing against him, you see him in pads, but then when you see him up in person, where our lockers are right next to each other, the brother is jacked. Yeah, he don't take a day off in the weight room, so I'm glad I'm going to war with him and not against him, for sure.

Yeah, I mean, here he is with no pads on, and he looks the same. You know what I mean? It's kind of crazy. You know, I mean, that is something to behold. But that said, what does he bring to this equation for you? Honestly, man, it brings a lot to the equation.

Make it more so a two-headed monster. Like, he's accustomed to getting all of the attention back in Tennessee. And now with him, here with Lamar, knowing that all the attention is not going to be on him.

And man, it's going to be exciting. I think he's very excited. You know, Tennessee didn't bring him back, and we're very thankful for that. People think he lost a little bit, but I see this guy every day, and I don't think he lost a bit at all. I don't think he gained much. So I'm excited for him to show the world exactly what he's going to do in our offense, and I think it's going to be popcorn season.

Get your popcorn ready. You know, because he did say exactly what you just said, Roquan, that he's happy to not be the center of attention for a change. He literally said the words that you said that you're sensing from him. So, like, how do you think that manifests itself?

I mean, how does that work, do you think? Yeah, honestly, I just remember going up against him. I've played against him four times, at least in the league. And every year when you go in there, it's like, you stop Darry Henry, then you're going to pretty much beat this team.

But obviously, that task is a lot easier said than done. But that was the game plan. Most games just go in, stop him, and everything else will take care of itself for someone else to beat you. But now you say, stop Darry Henry. Okay, but you got to stop Lamar as well.

So, it's going to definitely be a tough challenge, and I think a lot of defenses got to get ready, and they got to put their big boy pass on because it's coming downhill right at you. In terms of defenses, yours, one of your running mates is now a Pittsburgh Steelers. What was your conversation, text or otherwise, with Patrick Queen after he left for the competition, Roquan? Absolutely, my old running mate. He's a brother of war now.

He's still my brother, but when we're playing each other, it's war just like any other opponent. But I told him I'm very happy for him. The guy busted his tail last year, and I know he grinded day in and day out, changed a lot of things to take him over that next step. And I think he's just really getting started in his career, like where he really could go. But I'm wishing him all the best in Pittsburgh until he plays us, and then that's a different story. I guess it's going to be weird to see him in the black and gold, I'd imagine.

It's going to be a little weird for sure, but I'll meet him at the 50-yard line and say, let's go. How good is Kyle Hamilton? I think Kyle Hamilton is the best safety in the league, most versatile safety in the league, can play safety, nickel, can be down on the line, play backer, whatever you ask of that guy, he's able to do it.

And there's not many people, 6'5", 225, that can run around and do the things that he's able to do, man. It's a blessing for our defense, and he's just like, it's amazing. I can't put it into words, but I'm just so excited for him and his mindset, the way he's changed since his rookie year.

And just knowing he's that guy, and showing it, and then talk his trash as well. What do you mean different from his rookie year? Yeah, I feel different from his rookie year in the perspective, you watch this film from his rookie year to last year, and I've seen it personally from his mindset, the growth he had mentally, as far as he believes in himself, the confidence. Because the confidence, I wouldn't necessarily say was all the way there, his rookie year, but obviously last year he showed that very confident in himself, his abilities and everything that he's able to do out on the field, because he's pretty much able to do anything. And he believes that now, and when you believe that, it just takes you to the next level. And I know personally that was the case for myself as well, and just to see him grow before our eyes is pretty special. So I'm excited for him and the career he's going to have, and especially the year he's going to have this upcoming season. Have you had a moment yet on the field with him, or frequently, I don't know, I'll take a stab at this one, have you had a moment with Kyle Hamilton on the field where you're like, what's he doing there? What the hell was he doing there? Yeah, you definitely have a couple, there's been a couple moments where you'd be like, what is he doing? And then next thing you know, okay, he knew what he was doing.

So like, there's been a couple times where I'd just be like, there's no way and then he can show down on the line of scrimmage and then get all the way to a half, which is like unheard of, you know, and there's not many people that are doing that, if any. So like, he's definitely exceptional in every single thing that he does off the field as well. So he's a great family, a guy, he's a great dude.

And, you know, I just love being around him, got great spirit and come from a great family as well. Roquan Smith, few minutes left here with the two-time First Team All-Pro linebacker of the Baltimore Ravens right here on the Rich Eisen Show. How has that AFC Championship Game loss sat with you in the intervening months? Absolutely. It's definitely tough, you know, thinking about it much after the game and as well as throughout the offseason, you grind so you can put yourself back in that position, but knowing you don't start the year in the AFC Championship Game, you have to grind your way back. And I know each and every person in this locker room is very hungry for that and knowing the type of team that we have and all the potential that we have, but it's about taking that next step and finishing the deal as opposed to coming close.

There's no moral victories in this game. So you have to go out and take every single thing that you want and we're going to do that by any means necessary. And that's why we're preparing the way that we're preparing this offseason as well as going up into fall camp, knowing it's going to be a tough year.

But hey, we wouldn't like it any other way but the tough road. Yeah, I understand that. I just wanted to see how you're using it.

Do you use it or you're just like that was what that was that this is now? Yeah, that definitely was that and this is now but at the end of the day as a human being, you can't you cannot say that all I forgot about this or I'm not worried about this because definitely worried about it and knowing that those guys are going to come back hard as well. And guess what?

That's what it is to clash and hey, it's going to set be what it's going to be and I'm excited and I know everything's going to take care of itself and I can guarantee you will definitely be prepared like no other. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Vaguely. I didn't really watch it closely. Vaguely, like a little bit, you know, happy for the guys that won hats off to them at the end of the year. There's only one champion and, you know, hats off to those guys, Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs.

They had a great season, fought through some adversity. So, you know, happy for those guys. But at the end of the day, obviously would like to be in those shoes. But those shoes are not given. You have to go out and take every single thing you want and those guys earned it. So hats off to those guys. So you just walked past the television or you were you were you invited to a party, a Super Bowl party or like screw that?

I mean, like I'm trying to I'm trying to get the your sense of how you you processed everything. No, absolutely. Plenty of Super Bowl parties being invited to different events and things of that nature. But really, I was hanging out with some friends and obviously everybody in the world is pretty much watching the Super Bowl.

So it's on the TV. I'll glance up, watch a play or two, but more so with just a conversation with friends, because it still sucked a little bit at that time and didn't want to bring my mood down anymore. But, you know, hats off to those guys. And, you know, this year we got to take every step possible to make sure we put ourselves in that position. But it's just it's going to start with the first game. And then one last minute in the in the past, if you don't mind, Roquan Smith, have you noticed what's going on in your old stomping grounds in Chicago and and what's happening there and who they drafted and what they built since?

Yeah, absolutely. I'm a follower of things that goes on across the league and still have my place in Chicago. So a lot of respect for that city. It's a great city to be in and whatnot. And yeah, watching those guys still have a couple of guys on the team and knowing they got Williams with the number one overall pick, which is awesome. Then the receiver from Washington, I think Rome or whatever. Yeah, I got a lot of great talent.

I know the guy posed one to build through the draft and things of that nature. So I'm happy for those guys, those young guys coming into the league. I'm wishing them all the best. They got some good presence on the defensive side of the ball, some good players.

But, you know, everything sounds good on paper, just like any any place. So it's about what you do out there on the field. And that's a tough division with Green Bay, Detroit and Chicago trying to come up through the ranks, as well as Minnesota still have some pieces. So it'll be exciting to see how it plays out. I'm wishing those players the best and hope, hope all works out in the favor that they would like. What do you think of when you saw the schedule talking about this upcoming season and that you're opening up in Kansas City?

What do you think of that? Get your popcorn ready. Thursday Night Football, the entire world rocking. I know I'm going to be on 10. I know my guys are going to be on 10. It's going to be exciting.

Arrowhead never played there. So look forward to crossing that stadium off the list as well as going in and putting on the show in front of the world. And we'll be prepared like no other. And definitely I'll be ready. But that'll be the start of the season.

But we're knowing that's a long season. And whoever is out there, like I always tell my guys, roll the ball out there. Whether it's Pavement, Chapel Lane, or wherever the case may be, we'll be ready.

Backyard, throw them up, bust them up. So we'll definitely be ready. However, whenever, and verse whoever. And again, I know you're sitting in whatever office you're sitting in in the Ravens facility here in the middle of June. But if you could just channel yourself to being in that tunnel. You've never been in Arrowhead. You know that place is going to be cooking. You know it's going to be after a banner raise that you wanted to do in your own building. What is going to be going through number zero's mind seconds before taking that field on that Thursday night, Roquan?

Absolutely. It's going to be very exciting. I've heard from a couple guys that say like, man, this is probably one of the loudest stadiums in the league.

But hey, I've played in front of hundreds of thousands before. I'm excited for it. And I like to more so say if there's a father, mother who out there, I heard it from Harps, taking his or her kid to the game. I want them to say after that game, a little kid say to his mom or dad, when I grow up, I want to play the game the way number zero plays the game.

That's the mark that I'm trying to leave out there. I love it. There's no other questions. I have no other questions for this guest.

That is a great way to end it, Roquan Smith. Seriously, you're one of my favorites to talk with. And you're exactly the way you are on the air here as you were in that meeting room in London prior to the game. And you should know, you should know that the other teammates of yours that I speak with off camera or in that room, spoke about exactly what you just spoke about playing the game like you and the leadership role that you clearly take seriously.

It's sinking in. You should know that. Absolutely. Thank you so much for that. You bet. Be well.

Let's chat again soon. Roquan Smith, thanks for the time here. Greatly appreciate it. Thank you guys. You bet.

That is a leader of the Baltimore Ravens defense and in the meeting rooms writ large, there is none other than Roquan Smith here on the program. I love that. That's cool. You can take somebody to play like number zero.

Yeah, that's pretty cool. Tell your kids, watch zero out there. That's how you play the game. I love that.

And then he couldn't really watch the Super Bowl. Let me ask you this question. Yes. You're having a party, a Super Bowl party.

You know Roquan and his family. You know them. Okay. Okay. You're having a party.

Mm hmm. You know Roquan. Do you even invite him? No, absolutely. For a Super Bowl party? No way.

For sure. He just lost to the Chiefs. Is that my man? He's not playing in the Super Bowl. Are we just casually acquainted?

The Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl. Yeah, casually acquainted. You're having a party.

He's not your boy. Casual acquaintance. Do you invite him? Yeah, man.

If I know Roquan, if I know Quan, I want him to come over to the crib and cool out with us. And meet friends who are just going to go, hey. You could have been playing in this game, right? You know there's going to be some friend moron of yours.

Yeah. Hey, man, I really liked you. I had the Ravens on my fantasy team defense this year.

You guys were great. I bet on you guys last week. What happened? No, now that person's without a clue. Yeah. I bet on you last week. What happened?

You've got to really have a screw loose. No, there's one friend who just kind of doesn't know better. Right.

Is just a sweetheart maybe. Just going like, man, I know you probably wanted to play in this game. And, you know, so what was it like playing against Patrick Mahomes and Kelsey, knowing that Kelsey caught like 19 balls? Did you talk to them during the game? Is it cool? Oh my God. Their podcast is funny, man. You ever listen to that? Did we tell her after the game? No, she's great.

I went to her show in Nashville. I told, like for instance, my poker friend Bruce, who like my 50th birthday told Kurt Warner, you know what? You deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

And he'd already been in the Hall of Fame. You know what I mean? You have friends like that. He's a sweetheart. I was sitting next to him across from Kurt. At that moment, you witnessed that, right? Me and the song were sitting next to him across from Kurt. You witnessed that moment, right?

We were just like, you know what? You're great. I'm a big fan. You're awesome. You should be in the Hall of Fame.

You deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and he's already in. He's like, yeah, maybe I'll go check that out. That's what he said, right? Sweet Bruce.

Brucie, baby. When you said that, I'm thinking, no, none of my friends would do that. And as you're saying it, I'm thinking, I got three friends now. You all know people who would do that.

You cannot invite somebody who's just lost in the championship game to the team that's playing in the Super Bowl to a Super Bowl party. I'll say his name. Jay Felley would do it. I'm sorry, Jay. Yeah, I don't think Jay would do it. Really, Jay?

Are you without a clue? I can't be at times. You'd go up to Roquan and go, man, you probably would not want to be playing in that game, right? You'd do it not knowing who he is. I'm like, that's fair. That dude plays for the Ravens. You'd be like, oh.

Oops. You know that would happen. So you can't invite Roquan Smith to a Super Bowl party after he's lost in the AFC championship game and the right to play in the game that he wanted to play in that he's now being invited your house to watch. He'd have to ask you. He'd have to be like, yo, man, you having a party?

Mind if I come through? I'm just I'm just literally right now thinking of the just the guys in my fantasy football league. And I'm thinking which ones, you know, would say everybody out there and they know who it is too, right?

The sound of our voices knows somebody who would violate the code. That's so funny, man. All right. Let's take a break. I love that I chose that story out of many of them and you were like, I had no idea you were there. We were there.

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Shopify dot com slash Westwood one. I believe in 1988 and I'm not sure I think the Lakers won the championship when I was there. The three point line had came into being. I don't think we shot three hundred three point shots all year long but that those teams in the 80s were the best teams I have ever seen.

Even better than the team playing today. They had size, they had, oh my gosh, they had all stars at every position. But you remember, you have to remember one thing, the league was now expanding and so there were less players that couldn't play in the league and now there's more players that play in the league. This game will not stop growing. I just feel that it's, let's say in 88 when we won that, coaches didn't have to adjust to the three point line and that has, in the last number of years, and I don't know what the years those were, but now you see everyone wanting to shoot a three point shot and the other thing I think it does, it kind of opens up an area for smaller players to be able to play in the league because cleverness with the ball, the ability to shoot three point shots, I think it's also let smaller players play and there's a bunch of people out there that don't grow to 6'5 to 6'9 or 6'10.

There's a bunch of kids. So that's a good thing about it. But the coaches have changed, we've got some incredible coaches in this league and hats off to them because they have learned how to use this three point line to their advantage. How many three pointers would you have made with a line? Well if you shoot enough you're going to make some. And I didn't mind shooting the ball.

And that's the extent of him talking about his accomplishments right there, right there. Back on the Rich Eisen Show, 844-204 Rich, number to dial, game time tickets. Make sure that this app is on your mobile device and start buying tickets. Let's just say you are in the metroplex area as we speak and you want to go to the finals this evening. Game time is the exact app you should be getting on your mobile device if you already haven't right now because you can get to see all the costs of the ticket. All in. If you think it might be a little bit pricey, find the best price you possibly can because the game time tickets has their lowest price guaranteed.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. David in Florida, you're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, sir? Hey Rich, how are you?

What's on your mind? I grew up in LA and one day we got tickets to the Lakers game and they happened to be on the floor and two little eight-year-olds were standing up looking at all the people and Jerry West strolled over and asked if we wanted to bet him a knuckle if he could make a shot. And he proceeded to miss about eight shots, so we were up big for two little eight-year-olds. And right when it was time to go back into the locker room, he walked over and asked us if we wanted to go double or nothing, and we said yes, and he drained the shot and walked off.

No way. Yeah, seriously. It was the greatest thing. And we had no idea he was missing on purpose, that's the best part of the story. Like we thought we were winning, and then he just gave us a wink and walked off.

We're like, oh, okay, there goes that. Oh, and of course you'll never forget that at the forum. Oh God, no.

No, not even close. Oh, David, thank you for that recollection. You got it. Appreciate it. Wow.

David and Flora. Mr. West, Mr. West, double or nothing? Sure. Sure, kid. Drains it, winks, walks off.

The ultimate you'll get nothing in like it. Right there. Oh, man, that's great. Adam in West Virginia, the home state of Jerry West, you're on The Rich Hudson Show. What's up, Adam?

Hey, Rich. I just wanted to touch on the greatness of Jerry West. People don't realize, well, a lot of people probably don't that aren't from West Virginia and who haven't read his biography. He overcome so many difficult things, an abusive father.

He slept with a shotgun under his bed. He practiced till his hands wet. He was so competitive that every loss hit him so much harder than I think most people could imagine. And man, I can understand that I can't understate his greatness and to it's almost mythical if you looked at what he did.

So from the state of West Virginia, man, we couldn't ask for anything better to represent our state. Yeah, I'd have to agree with you, right? I mean, just in terms of the way that he represented work ethic and in the ways that he represented taking the losses the way that he did to sharpen the iron, right?

To be the logo of the NBA, to have a mind, a diamond between the temples, to evaluate talent and put it together and create championship teams, to know how chemistry works, to be a learned man, a man of books, as he described his relationship with Kareem, I mean, I could go on and on, you know? I appreciate everyone shouting him out and just remembering the great human being that he was and thank you for giving us the chance to say this on this platform. You bet it. Thanks for calling in. That's Adam in West Virginia. About Jerry West, passed away at the age of 86.

The person I know who knows him the best is the person I know the best and knows me the best. Susie Schuster, who covered the Shaq Kobe Lakers and met Jerry West and befriended him and he befriended her and he's appeared on this program multiple times thanks to her through her invitation. She'll be joining us top of the next hour, James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals, and then we'll have some laughs in hour number three as Lewis Black stops by.

He's one of the voices in Inside Out 2, which is coming to a theater near you at the end of this week. That's the end of hour number one. Still here on Roku for a couple more minutes, 844-204 Rich, number to Dawson. Folks want to play some win-loss games? I'm game for that. Oh, yeah. We got a few teams.

We do have a few teams. Nice. I love it.

I love the way different teams are represented in the win-loss game front. By the way, I saw my mom last night and she performed a scene from The Odd Couple in her building. What? She did. She did. She performed last night. How's she doing? Oh, she's great. And she's 86, the age that Jerry West passed away.

The reason why I bring it up is I knew we started talking about Staten Island and whatever growing up there. So I played her the reel of Anthony in Pennsylvania doing the win-loss game for the Jets so she could hear a guy from Bayonne go, oh, come on, Rich. That's a win. Tough loss. We got to get one in. We'll lose that one. So I played her Anthony in Pennsylvania's win-loss game and she got a big grin year to year because it's just like, that's home.

That's home. Did you guys talk about Sandy Koufax at all? We didn't.

This guy over there. We did not talk about Sandy Koufax, no sir. We did not.

We talked about Neil Simon, Oscar Madison, and Anthony in Pennsylvania. That's what we did. How's she doing the play? She crushed it. Crushed it? Come on. Nice.

She's the tree on the apple. Get out of here. Forget about it.

All right. Sue is joining us next. Hey guys, welcome to the Candy Valentino show. I'm Candy Valentino. I was a founder before I could legally order a drink and for more than two and a half decades, I've built, scaled, acquired, and exited multiple businesses in diverse industries. Now my goal is to help you by sharing the knowledge that I've learned, the mistakes that I've made, and the wisdom that I've developed over my journey, biweekly episodes every Monday and Thursday. The Candy Valentino Show, wherever you listen.