A Spot For Aaron Rodgers With The Steelers Is Still There

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Welcome. Oh, Tony Hammers won deep right field. I knew he had a home run because I heard it from the other room. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Somebody else hits a home run.

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If he doesn't play another game. Earlier on the show, Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, Packers quarterback Jordan Love, former MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Coming up, Alabama linebacker Geod Campbell. And now it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air here on the Roku Sports Channel, as well as this Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio affiliate on the Infinity Sports Network, Sirius XM, Odyssey and more. If you missed our first two hours, we've been all over the map. Former commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig was on the program in support of the documentary just a bit outside the story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers, a fantastic document that is available right now on the Roku channel for free. We also had on the show, Jordan Love zooming in from Green Bay, Wisconsin, where we're going to be next week for the draft.

Speaking of, we had Kyle McCord on in our number one. He's a draftee hailing from the state of New Jersey, as is our next guest joining us now here on the Rich Eisen Show, another guy, Jersey Strong, by way of the IMG Academy and University of Alabama, Jihad Campbell here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, sir. How are you? Thank you. What's up, Rich?

How you doing, man? I like I like the interest you got going on there. Listen, this is what I do for a living. You know, I know, you know what I do for a living.

I take other programs with all due respect to them and figuratively put them on their ass. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I do. Yeah. So I might so I might so I might need to call that.

I might need to call the numbers I've seen, you know, but I don't know about that. I'm not going to go. Oh, yeah. When when Ray Lewis went on ESPN's Sunday morning football show against mine, I told Ray that I come out of the smoke at 9 a.m. Eastern on NFL Network every single Sunday. And as you can see, I'm living to tell the tale.

You didn't have enough. Oh, no, I just I handle my business. It's essentially what I respect. I respect what pre snap. What goes through your mind when you know you've got to get the quarterback?

Walk me through it. I mean, really, you know, so first, you know, I'm looking at I'm looking at the down the distance, you know, what down is it? You know, I'm just waiting for the call. And I think my biggest thing is indicated, you know, just different tales that I can see in different formations, like if it's a two by two set and it's 10 personnel, then I know more than likely it's going to be a run. If it's 12 personnel, you know, two tight ends in the game. I know.

And the whole line, like they look really heavy with their hands is sitting down. I know that, you know, I'm I'm getting ready to, you know, anticipate any type of run action coming toward the duo inside zone and outside zone counter, you name it. So those are different things I look at. So, I mean, that might be the intellectual side of your brain, Jahan.

Is there a part of your brain that says see ball, get ball? Like that's it in the story? I mean, you know, I mean, it's on tape.

It's on tape. I mean, it does. You know, just sometimes, you know, you got to, you know, just be a football player and, you know, not even think especially as a linebacker and just, I mean, you know, once you see the the ball burn off the cue, you got to go get to the ball. Sure.

That's the same thing for for LB. Right. So how did you get to that position? Did you always play that side of the ball or no?

So no, no, no, no. So I was playing edge in high school, right? And, you know, just coming to Alabama, I had a beat with Saban. Mind you, I just knew Sam and Jack linebacker. And Saban was like, yeah, man, you know, keep playing well, linebacker. I'm like, yeah, mind you, I don't even know what the position is. So he said, you know what that is?

I said, no. He said, OK, well, that's our middle linebacker position. You know, we'll be using you in the box. And, you know, obviously sometimes, you know, in the apex or, you know, on the edge. And I was like, OK, definitely. So, you know, that point right there is where I like, all right, let's do it. Let's lock it in. And, you know, we're going to go for a ride. You know, we're going to accept this challenge and we're just going to keep on pushing with it.

So so Saban was the one who looked at you and said, this is more than just an edge rusher. That's what you're saying. Definitely. Definitely.

Yeah. What's it like being coached by him in that regard? I mean, he if he sees something in you, it's it's a little it's it's a little challenging.

I don't know. You could be coached by, I don't know, Rich. Well, you know, no, I understand, you know, it's definitely it's definitely good. You know, just being able to coach. And I mean, the years that I was with him, which was my freshman and sophomore year, you see him exactly right there.

And just, I mean, he he literally straight to people out. I mean, you know, the first year the first year I was there was definitely a lot of that. But then, you know, it grew into us having a better relationship and, you know, just having a better understanding of what football was and, you know, just how to play linebacker and what my role was for the team. So I definitely appreciate him, you know, for just letting me be the player of who I, you know, became to be so. So then this is a perfect segue to the question I ask every Alabama player.

And when I say every Alabama player, I've asked this of Tua. I've asked this, what's the best segment story? No, no. What's the most pissed off you've ever made him? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was up here. He got up here. It was like out on the screen.

Yeah, it was that I remember his one point. I think he was playing like cover seven. I was supposed to be playing cut.

And I cut like it's heading the wrong way. He threw the straw hat down. He got pissed off.

And mind you, like he didn't say jihad. He said, Campbell, he said, come on, 30. You know, that was back then when I was when I was wearing number 30 jersey. So it's a lot of saving story for sure. So that was the most angry you've ever made him.

A hat throwing red faced mess is what you're saying on that point. Yeah, I mean, it was it was it was a couple of times, but that one for sure. And I was like, I'm not going to pick this up. Definitely. Well, I mean, again, he's he's Nick Saban. You don't want to disappoint him.

And you also don't want to be on the business end of that sort of thing. Were you ever on the business end of a Deez Nuts joke? Jihad with him. I went there. You know, it's not no pause, pause. Like that. Hey, listen, I've been around. So I've heard a lot about Nick, but that's pretty good.

So, you know, a lot of different jokes. Yeah. Oh, I certainly do.

All right. Let's talk about your current draft journey. Who have you visited with in person, John? I mean, definitely, you know, a lot of teams at this point, you know, just I think the biggest thing about this process right here is really, you know, just connecting with everybody and really, you know, just seeing familiar faces and, you know, creating that bond and that relationship with these coaches. So how many visits that that was a great answer. But, you know, I need names. Who have you visited?

Where have you personally gone? All 32, all 32. You've talked to all 32, all 32 teams. There's not a single one that hasn't been on your Zoom screen or who'd you go? Rich, Rich, Rich. I wish I could have brought you all 32.

Okay. I would have loved to have been there. I love, I'll be a fly on the wall.

I'd be the fly on that wall. Who did you go to in person, an in-person visit? Where'd you go? It was a couple of them.

It was a decent model. Why don't you want to tell me, why don't you want to tell me? Why don't you want to tell me, you know, we just gonna find out, you know, what team like, you know, next Thursday. Okay. Yeah. We're too close to the finish line right now, man.

So what do you, what do you think, like that might piss somebody else off that you went and visited somebody? I mean, you're a top talent, man. This makes, this makes sense that everyone wants you. Okay. Boy, I feel, I feel like I can't, you are fast, you know, you are fast.

You're, you're, you're, you're, you're tough to track down. Sideline to sideline. You're going sideline to sideline on me right now. Okay. Um, so you're going to be in Green Bay, correct? You will be there for the draft?

Okay. Who's going to be with you? Who are you going to bring? Um, so yeah, so I'm gonna bring mom, dad, uh, grandparents, my two uncles and, uh, my two brothers.

Okay. So it's, it's family and you're going to go there. And what do you think that moment is going to be like when you hear your name?

It's going to be exciting, you know, just, I mean, really seeing everything just come to life, you know, everything that I, that I worked for and that I prayed for, um, and you know, just all my accomplishments just coming to life and, you know, truly believing in myself and, you know, my whole support system, you know, my whole foundation, that's going to be with me, you know, that believe in and trust in me, you know, while I'm in journey. So, so when did you start dreaming about playing in the NFL? When did that happen? When I was in a room, I want to say, I want to say like, like four years old, definitely a young bull. That's what I knew, you know, just running around. I was, I was actually like four years old trying to play with like six year old, seven year old.

So that's what I knew. Oh, so you were, you were taking down kids, your senior many times is what you were saying when you were there in New Jersey. Okay. So who was your guy growing up? Who are you a fan of growing up then? Yeah.

Who were you saying? I want to be like this guy who was actually crazy. It's actually crazy because I was a receiver, right? So I was looking at like Megatron, like Julio Jones, you know, which is a former B-side five brotherhood player, uh, from Bama now. And I mean, that was really it like at the time, like it was receivers that I love to watch because I, you know, I'll play offense.

Okay. So does that mean, does that mean you can high point to football here? Is that what you're saying?

No, I know that. But I mean, you know, sometimes guys get moved to defense because they have the, the, the term I've heard hands, like feet. These hands, these hands is like glitz and glamour over here, but you know, I got my, I got moved, I got moved to defense, you know, a little, a little aggressive on the offensive side. What? A lot of OPI?

A lot of OPI from you? Is that what you're saying? What do you, what do you mean? Like somebody's trying to, trying to get you within five yards and you just run them over. Is that what you're talking about?

No, I don't, I don't know. I just started getting too aggressive. And I moved to defense. And I mean, ever since then I've loved, you know, I was, I was, I was playing a whole bunch of stuff on defense, like safety. I was playing four I, three 10, all defensive line work, edge rush work.

And then I kinda, I kinda like playing back or like a couple of plays here and there. So are you, let me understand this. Are you saying Travis Hunter, isn't the only guy who can play both sides of the ball in this year's draft? I don't know, man.

Travis my dog, but I don't know. Yeah. So what do you mean? Hey, hey, hey, hey, Rich, I just need the opportunity. That's it.

I'm giving you the opportunity here. So, you know, that's what I'm saying. You know, I mean, if you, if that's the way you were, you know, introduced to the sport of football. So, you know, Travis, he's your dog, and you said that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just through the football world, you know, and that's being at the all American game, really, you know, that's what I really seen. Like that kid was definitely, he was going to blow up for sure. I mean, you know, everybody know, obviously that kid is definitely something special. So we have many draft experts on this program before I send you on with the rest of your day.

Jihad, Mike Mayock, who I go way back in the day with, he's got a higher grade on you than Abdul. Carter is what he says. So what do you think of when you hear something like that? I just put the work in, I don't know. I don't even worry about all that stuff. I just put the work in, you know, stay down, talk, come up, man. I mean, that's the motto.

So, okay. So when there's a team on the clock next Thursday night, next Thursday night, and your name is on the draft board, what do you want them to know about who they would get if they hand in your name on their card? Definitely for sure. I mean, obviously of course, a relentless football player, definitely, but you know, just outside of football and like the person that I am, that's going to be in that organization in that facility is a very genuine, connecting person. You know, I love to, you know, pour out great energy. I love to be around great vibes, you know, and I also like to be in the community as well.

So I love the impact of it. So that's what they're getting if they draft Jahad Campbell. Definitely.

All right. Before I let you go, you want to pound the table for Jalen Milro, who's going to be there? Pound the table for Jalen Milro, who's going to be available.

What do you think? You like, yeah, something. What do you think of him as a possible pro quarterback, Jahad? You know, I mean, Jalen is a guy that's, that's definitely great. Um, you know, he's a great quarterback and I definitely love him, you know, just playing against him in practice and, you know, just really understanding, you know, what he sees and, you know, how he do things.

And I mean, obviously I know his speed is one thing, um, but you know, his ball accuracy, you know, how far he can throw the ball like that's, that's sky high for sure. Um, he's a great leader. Um, he's a great impactor to his community. Um, you know, to our, you know, to our program, you know, when we was at Bama, um, Jalen, I mean, he's an all around guy, you know, a lot of people don't really know, don't really, I guess, know about him really, but he's a funny he's a character type of view for sure.

I love being around him. Very good. Yeah. I asked him what the, I forgot what his answer was the most pissed off he ever made saving, but, um, everybody has just understand that nobody's who, I don't think we've ever had one Alabama player go, no, I never did.

You know, everybody's done it. So it's, it's, Especially, well, yeah, I, I definitely did cause you know, just being on defense and really, um, you know, just play out the play and you know, just different games and different situations. Like it was definitely cruel for sure. Like nothing, nothing was easy.

Nothing was obviously, you know, satisfied or anything complacent around the building. So, you know, you always, it was like you're doing there, like you came into building with your butthole tight sometimes. I bet.

Yeah. It's a pleasure chatting with you, Jihad. Uh, congrats on everything to this point. Congrats to your family on, uh, on being a week away from the dream being realized. And, um, I look forward to where you wind up and, um, and come back on anytime.

Certainly if you're here in Los Angeles, I'd love to meet you in person. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Okay. I'll definitely come out. I mean, for sure.

There's many reasons to come on out here. Maybe, you know, if, if the chargers somehow get, get you, I mean, right across the street, they were across the street Rams are on, uh, you know, as the crow flies, not too far. So all good. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. And just remember I come out of the smoke. All right. Remember that you come out of the smoke. I come out of the smoke.

I might not look like that guy. Oh, I've got a bite, sir. I'm just being, no, no, I'm just being on my best behavior for you. That's all. All right. Um, thank you, Jihad. Greatly appreciate it. Um, and D these were good times.

Weren't they? Yeah. All right.

Take care of your heart. That's your hot Campbell, everybody. I don't really do a D's nuts joke with the prospects, but you looked like you would enjoy that. He did. He's still, I'm like, I get along with, uh, I get along with Jersey.

I got a long boat to Jersey with the pause, pause. Oh, right. Yeah. He might be one of the guys, uh, who lifts the commissioner. Yeah.

Very, he looks like a commissioner lifting type character. I wish we could have snuck that, that in there, you know? No, I don't, I don't want to put that in any, anybody's mind gate.

Well, you just put these nuts. No, dude, dude, dude, dude. The commissioner may have some lower lumbar situations that don't need to be, um, um, disrupted.

Hey man, look, when you're happy and excited, you know, that man might be a San Francisco 49 or dude, him next to Fred Warner. Yeah, no. What? I don't know.

I don't think he lasts that long. Oh really? Oh yes. Really? I think that's a top 10 draft choice.

We just hung up on the zoom. Carolina Panther, New York jet. Oh, who does mail account where it may, where it may has him landing in new Orleans, right? Yeah. Yeah. But that was before the Mayock draft. That was before the Derek car news. He said, no, that's not true. Well, he said it last week, but we kicked off the Monday conversation.

Chris, I understand. Asking him, does that change anything? And he said, no, as a matter of fact, what last we left off the Mayock draft, that's going to be completed, uh, on Monday show in advance of us leaving for green Bay. Um, he is not, uh, he doesn't have Chador Sanders, uh, in a landing spot yet.

Come on popping it up there. The Mayock draft. He's, he's got Jahad Campbell at nine. So he's got Jalen Walker.

Oh my bad. He's got Jalen. Walker's the one he's got a higher grade on than Abdul Carter. Yeah.

It really likes Jalen Walker. Right. But there's, um, there's Jahad.

Who, by the way, thank God I should have asked, told him he worked out. Oh, that's a combo. Yeah. Thank you for that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Oh, let's take a break. Aaron Rogers has spoken and a spoiler alert. If you're a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers front office, uh, I'd have Jackson dart on speed dial 8 4 4 2 0 4. Rich is the number to dial. No service fees. Plus whether you have credit or not, you can build your credit score with the new ability to report on time bill payments and with personalized financial insights on my making sense, the ability to view all your accounts in one place, custom notifications, and 24 seven fraud protection. You can get a full picture of your finances.

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And when selecting a vehicle, learn more at Hyundai, usa.com. Call five, six, two, three, one, four, four, six, Oh, three for details. Mike Del Tufo over there.

When Justin Hartley of this is us was here on Friday. He planks weights on his back. Okay. There he is putting plank after plan. That was a 45 pounds. He waves on more weight.

See, come on, let's get some more, right? Del Tufo sees this and he goes, I could, I could do that is what he said. He said, he said he would do one 45.

Now we took that. When you say when he can do one 45, how much weight do you think that means? Just on one 45, right? No, one plate.

That means 45 pounds. How long do you say you can do that? A minute. Come on. All right, here we go. Mike, right spot in your mind, buddy. Come on.

Look at her. All we see is the finish line. Always coaching my burp. That's coaching my feet. Victory is simple, baby.

Our minds controlling our body. We got this baby. We got, we going to show the world. What do we got? Show the world, baby. We got two blocks out.

We got two blocks gone. All she just see that finish line. Look at the glory. Look at your chest touching the tape. Get your chest on that tape. Look at your baby. 20 seconds to go. Look, come in here in 20 seconds, baby. You finish this, man. We can do this. Oh my God. I do that every day.

People at the gym. I can't tell. I do it.

I may be Mariichi's best line in all of his appearances in the 10 plus years history of this show. I can't tell. It was so quick. He was so quick with it. Yeah. I do that every day.

People can't tell. Oh my God. Fantastic. Back on the Rich Eyes and Show Radio Network, sitting at the Rich Eyes and Show Desk, furnished by Grange with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. So while we have been, um, on the air, our friend Pat McAfee on his show got Aaron Rodgers zooming in. And, uh, as we know, everybody in Pittsburgh and certainly, uh, in the national media in advance of next week's draft in his old place of business are, um, eager to find out what's he thinking and why is it taking so long? From our perspective, it's taking long.

Indeed. Cause we're, we're about, um, a week away from the Steelers needing to know if that first round draft choice should be used on a, on a quarterback, unless it doesn't matter, right? That Rodgers is 41 and they need to get that next young Turk in regardless. And we spoke to Jordan Love in hour two of this show goes to show you, you can get the young Turk in and two years later, kind of works out. So, um, and if you can get MVP seasons out of Aaron Rodgers, at ages 41 and 42 in the process, uh, and maybe, um, when your division and threatened to go even deeper and have a better result than what he had in his final years in Green Bay, then guess what?

Uh, that's, that's something you got to do. And the Steelers let the quarterback room that they had last year walk in and resigned Mason Rudolph. And it sure looks like the, the spot for Aaron Rodgers is still there. So why isn't he making a move? What is up with that? Well, reading this, there's two ways to go with this conversation, the what now and what happened we'll do the, what now, cause he went into, what happened with the jets.

He did the, what now, um, a quote from, uh, our friend rap sheets, Twitter account, Rogers says, quote, I'll set it all straight. This is one of the first things he said to Pat from the jump, meaning right now in this conversation, I'm in a different phase of my life. I'm 41 years old. I'm in a serious relationship. I have personal commitments I've made and people in my inner circle battling difficult stuff to make a commitment to a team is a big thing. End quote. Well, that's sure enough doesn't sound like a guy who's thinking about playing football.

And I'll, I'll, I'll tell you what, um, this is what his answer was in specific being asked about what he's told the Steelers, who you have to think, uh, glued to ESPN in their, uh, home offices as Pat made this appearance, even though I'm sure Pat has told them all this, they're keen to hear it fresh from the proverbial horse's mouth one week before the draft. Listen, this entire time, I haven't felt like I owed anybody, some sort of decision at any point. This is my life. Uh, like I said, things are different now. My life is different. My personal life is different. I have stuff in the inner circle that, uh, you know, I'm, I'm intimately close to, uh, that it's really important to me. Um, and I've been upfront with them about that and said, listen, if you need to move on, if you need to do something by all means, by all means, like nothing but love and respect, uh, if that's a decision that needs to be made.

Um, but, uh, there's been no deadline. And, uh, and yeah, I've talked to, uh, I've talked to, uh, Mike T many times. Mike T being Mike Tomlin. He mentioned that he went to Pittsburgh just to take a look at it, obviously. And he wanted to take a personal look at it and he loves Tomlin and He was saying how he snuck in rich, he rented a Malibu to be low key, you know, kind of drove in the facility. Only like three people from the Steelers even knew he was going to be there. So it wasn't like he was trying to do it for publicity. Tried to be low key.

Yeah. I mentioned that he's talked to a bunch of teams and that said, he was, you know, he's dealing with non-football issues as he alluded to, but said none of this is about money. He noted he'd played for $10 million. He doesn't care. Whatever he said.

Here's that sound body I just mentioned. You know, I'm in a different phase of my life. I'm 41 years old. Uh, I'm in a serious relationship. Uh, I have off the field, uh, off the field stuff going on that requires my attention. Um, I have personal commitments I made not knowing what my future was going to look like after last year, um, that, that are important to me. And, and I have, you know, a couple of people in my inner inner circle who are really battling some, some difficulties. Um, who are really battling some difficult stuff. Um, so I have a lot of things that are, that are taking my attention and have beginning in really January, away from, away from football.

Um, and, uh, that's been where I've been focusing most of my attention on, you know, to make a commitment to a team, uh, is a big thing, whether you're a first year player or a 20, 20 year vet. Now, listen, I'm sure the there's many, uh, naysayers. Um, I'm sure Rogers refer to them as haters that will view this as just posturing and stances to get what he wants out of the Steelers. I don't, I don't, I don't see that personally. Uh, I mean, what, what I see is it sounds like, I mean, you could also see it on the screen. He, he looks great.

And I don't know if it was the light from the Pacific ocean, from what looked like he could be sitting on the, on the deck of his Malibu home. Right. Um, that you're 41 and you're looking at that ocean from that point of view, and you've got all this stuff going on in your life and you're in a serious relationship and you used to talk about what's going on in his inner circle and you're looking at that ocean. I, I don't know if you wouldn't just sit here and go, okay, so I'm leaving this ocean to go all the way across the country, to make sure that, um, uh, you know, Miles Garrett doesn't put me on my ass twice in a season. You know what I mean?

Like, this is, uh, considerable. It sounds like a guy who is in fact ready to lose what does appear or risk not having any more the opportunity to play for a playoff franchise, you know, with Superbowl aspirations and fellow future hall of famers on the other side of the ball to go and win a championship in a town that adores their team. And he's willing to risk not having that opportunity available anymore.

And that could actually be an opportunity with a door closed one week from tonight. If on the 21st overall pick, the Steelers choose Jackson Dart and go, we love them and we're going to go with them. And Mason Rudolph's our backup vet and we hope you, Aaron, um, can figure out whatever's going on in your, in your life that needs your attention. And he's basically saying go for it.

If you're not, if you need an answer now, um, make your choice. And then he'll be in a position of being around and having that in case of emergency break glass situation. If somebody gets hurt in the, um, summer and in the meantime, they'll go to the American century championship and he'll just be our Rogers and look at that ocean that I think he was looking at while he was talking to Pat. And, um, as somebody who's been living here for 22 years, that's a pretty nice view. Right? It's tough to leave. Let me tell you something.

When February rolls around, rich, I miss it, but I don't really want to go back. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, we, we keep talking about the, uh, fugitive phrase of solving the mystery. And this is a pretty big piece that, um, if, if Rogers is really telling the Steelers, I can't give you an answer now and you have to go about your business and I'll let you know when the answer is, is, is I'll play for you. And if you're still, you know, have a spot, I'll be there cause I can make this commitment now to you.

Um, then the Steelers might just go ahead and take Jackson star Dyer or, or Chador and just say, that's it. Wow. He also had a lot of good, some good stuff to say about working out with DK. Um, I just got the feeling, man. I really do just from the little bit that I was able to listen to that.

I think I went, I think he's going to be a Steeler. Well, I mean, you can't say, I got the other, I got the other impression. The impression I got is that, you know, and again, I'm just reading quotes and hearing sound bites. Cause you know, I was, uh, yeah, you were posting this joke during the conversation.

Chris and I were doing double duty. That, that, that, um, you know, if, if there's anything that he's leaning towards, he's leaning towards, he has to be leaning towards retiring because he's willing to let the best remaining opportunity of a team willing to hand the entire reigns over to him with a coaching staff that he respects with weapons he's worked out with. He's willing to risk that door closing on him. Cause I'd imagine the Steelers aren't saying, take as much time as you want. Doesn't matter if we draft anybody, it's the job's yours.

I don't think you can say that with certainty, right? What if they draft Chidor or Jackson Dart or Tyler Schuck or our first hour guest in Kyle McCord and they love him from jump and they're like, oh, he's in the building and this is what he's like. And this is what he looks like. And this is the opportunity we can have with him. Why are we going to tell him the job's not yours for at least two years?

What if they use draft capital to go get the kid that they wanted? You know what I mean? Like if you're Rogers, you're running that risk and if he's willing to risk it, then he's really not ready. And, um, personally, I'd love to see him play. Cause I think the Steelers in the AFC North playing the NFC North and the AFC East that's good eats.

I mean, you're talking about wanting to watch a future first ballot hall of fame or try one last time here with the Steelers and Mike Tomlin and DK Metcalf and George Pickens and TJ Watt. We assume that will all get handled. I mean, come on now. That's just me.

I'm not the one with that view in Malibu with everything else going on at age 41 that he's, you know, thinking about. So how does this affect the draft? Well, we'll find out, won't we? One week from tonight, won't we? Or one week from tomorrow night, or they don't choose a quarterback.

And really the runway is Rogers to come to a decision. That would be, I don't know, pretty big risk, pretty big gamble to not, what, to go into the season with Mason Rudolph and then you get another, another vet. That's possible.

I don't know. Or you trade for cousins. That's when you call up Atlanta. That's entirely possible. That's entirely possible.

Wouldn't that be wild? That Arthur Smith tries to win a Superbowl with Atlanta's quarterback. So, and then there's the the way things ended.

Oh my goodness. When Aaron Rogers had a conversation with the new Aaron in New Jersey, the new HC of the NYJ, Aaron Glenn, and the Jets, you know, send out a statement that they're moving on. And that was in advance of the new league year. And it, you know, there was some people saying, well, they're just doing Rogers a favor because tweeting that out or putting out that statement means he's allowed to start talking to teams now and all that sort of business. And, and, you know, he flew out to see the Jets. Therefore there was a conversation that didn't, you know, go well, I guess. Well, the conversation didn't go well. As a matter of fact, that's Rogers terminology that he used.

I'm looking at the feet of Rich Cimini who covers the team for ESPN, quote unquote, that wasn't a good conversation. He told Pat about the Jets. And then he went into it. It does appear that Glenn told Rogers, there was no chance of him coming back to the Jets within seconds of them sitting down with each other. And as Rogers said, he was shocked, quote, I figured when I flew across the country on my own dime, quote unquote, that there would be a chat. He told Pat, that Glenn left the room abruptly, came back with the new general manager and they told him he was going in a different direction. And he intimated to Pat that this was something he thought that could have been delivered to him over the phone.

Oh my God. He was told, quote unquote, 20 seconds into the meeting. It seems like that's a phone call.

Or pay for the flight. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't a, I'm sure it was first class scene. Yeah.

I mean, that's a, that's a, that's a chunk of change, but that quote unquote, there wasn't an ample amount of respect in that meeting. Hmm. Wow.

Not okay. As Samini wrote, not surprised. He says based on what he learned about the jets over two years. Oh, M G. Rich. He said that he had told his pilots, he goes, listen, guys, go get yourself something to eat, get comfortable, maybe get a drink.

Might be here for awhile. And it wasn't even close to being there. Wow. Why would they make him fly all the way across the country to tell him to his face, you're not welcome here anymore.

And if you're putting everything together, right. That the owner wanted to bench him after four games last year. Right. Why, why wouldn't you just say, it's clearly just Aaron, stay on the West coast.

We're, we're done here. Why would you make him come all the way across the country to do that sort of thing? That was his question.

I don't know. To prove a point, what do we to make sure he doesn't really think that there's any chance, like we just want to save you the trouble, Aaron, certainly since we see, you know, you're, you're, you're, uh, you're out there on the ocean, you got your, your Snuggie, whatever he's got around him, you know, what's the point of that? No, listen, I, I, as you know, as you know, I, I thought moving on from Rogers is the best thing for a new regime to just basically say it is a new slate.

Everything that happened the last two years clearly didn't work out. And we're not going to come in here and try and run it back one more time. We're just not, we're not, because he's got a new way of doing things and they went ahead and they got a young guy, young Turk in, in Justin Fields.

I don't mind that at all either. I think that that is a smart move. You're paying him 20 million per that is half the freight of the low end of what the, you pay a quarterback in his mid thirties. Now just take a look at Geno's contract and you're, you're saying to your young locker room, we're going to have a contemporary of yours.

Just give it a whirl. As a matter of fact, Garrett, you kind of know the kid we're bringing in because you balled out together at college and hey, Sauce, there's Justin Fields. It makes total sense. That's a smart maneuver. I just, the way Rogers tells it, it's just a head scratch. Like just tell the guy, like, you know, where it's not working out here anymore.

No, he is clearly not happy. The way things ended with the jets, which is again, another reason why you sit here and you go, why wouldn't you try one last, like let's, let's get one last palate cleanser. You go into Pittsburgh, you know, they'll tell you if things aren't working out to stay home, right? You know, if things work out, you're, you got a new place where you'll never have to pay for a meal again.

You know, it might erase what happened. You know, you get to play against the Jets. You know, you get to play against the entire division that you played against your entire career.

You get one last Auld Lang Syne run through the NFC North. You know, you're going to be front and center on national television. And you know it's your last best shot if you want to keep playing, which deep down, I think he, he, he, he still wants to do, if I may have the temerity, even think about what he's thinking. But then you hear I'm 41, I've got a serious relationship. Stuff's going on. S is real for a lot of people I care about and I'm not ready to commit right now.

And if they need to go, then go with someone else. Man, that's the update on Aaron Rogers. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts people. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road. O O O O'Reilly Auto Parts offers friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. They've got thousands of parts and accessories in stock, either in store or online.

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Visit chevy.com to learn more. The latest episode, newest episode, episode five of Women's Sports Now is out right here on Roku. Here are the ladies, Susie Schuster, Sarah Tiana, Renee Montgomery, and Colleen Wolf, chopping it up about the WNBA draft. As the WNBA draft was on Monday and it averaged 1.25 million viewers. The second most watch of all WNBA drafts, which is really exciting. We knew that this was going to happen, but Colleen peaking at 1.46 and a lot of people came in to see who was that top pick. We knew who it was going to be.

Well, it was not a surprise at all. Paige Beckers goes number one overall to Dallas. I loved after she got drafted when she was like, actually I like Tex-Mex better than barbecue because she was asked in like the pregame show for ESPN, just a rapid fire succession of questions. And it was, you know, which one barbecue or Tex-Mex. She's like, I wasn't really familiar with Tex-Mex, the term she will be now that she's going to Dallas. But, um, I just, it was such a fun night to watch. I mean, it's crazy because this is kind of like, I, I'm one of those people that I believe you can speak into existence. And so she has a clip where she talked about, man, my hope was to win a national title, get drafted.

Number one, things are going well for you, little Husky. I love to see it. But the thing for her is that sometimes when you're a rookie, you land on a team that is the worst and you have to prepare your mind to be on the worst team ever because that's how they got the number one pick. That's actually not going to be the case with Paige. She's going to a team that already has some dogs on there.

Enrique and Gumbel Wale, speaking of NCAA, she's going to be historic when it comes to NCAA with those shots that she hit to propel her team. But Paige is going to a city that one, they just lost a star in Luka Doncic and they're looking for something to grab onto. She's going to a city that is huge and booming. And then by the way, they have new management, new everything, new drafting. So I mean, for her, it's like, it's not a bad life, Paige.

Like it could be worse. Like even if you compare it to Wimby where he went to a team, they struggle. I really think Dallas is a team that she's going to be able to be her authentic self and not have to do too much, which is the best for athletes. Every single week, new episodes, every single Thursday, the Roku original series with Hello Sunshine, women's sports now chopping up, you know, soccer and other sports.

It's not just about hoops, although right now coming off the NCAA tournament and the WNBA and the WNBA tipping off, it's going to be a little basketball heavy, but only sports show on TV like it, check it out every single Thursday right here on Roku. So there's all of that. Sarah does her, her Miller Lite Spotlight, which is awesome. I mean, she speaks to, she speaks to, it's kind of like faces in the crowd where, you know, the old Sports Illustrated feature where she just talks to some athletes at a, you know, a different level than I guess one would say.

Yeah. She's having a lot of fun talking to all these, all these athletes. It's really cool. It's really cool fun.

Hockey players, gymnasts, all very good. They sound amazing. Well, that's a very Del Tufo thing to say. You know, that's what I thought as I see that you were quiet the whole show and you chose Mike would have said the exact same thing. Absolutely. That's what I was. You're learning from. Yes, Jay.

They sound amazing. They do. Where would women's sports now be without you working the faders? You know, that's what we were saying the other day. Yeah.

Is that better? Much. Thank you. Very good.

Back here in the Rich Eisen show, everybody, I'm just talking about women's sports. Now the latest episode is available on on Roku. Everybody check it out every single Thursday. The latest one is, is out right now. So you're the Pittsburgh Steelers. There's no way that they learned anything new with Rogers, right?

No, definitely not. I think everything that we just heard, they've been aware of. I mean, he said it himself. He's talking to Tomlin all the time.

So I'm sure they're up to date on whatever's going on. You're the Pittsburgh Steelers though. What do you think?

What are you, what are you talking about behind the, behind closed doors? You're drafting a quarterback at 21. Don't you think? Absolutely.

I would be stunned. They don't take a QB, whether it's Dart or if Chidor drops, I'd be there's a QB there that they're not high on. Do you just take a quarterback just to take them? That's a good question. Yeah.

You need bodies in the building. Yeah. But I mean, if you're going to pass up a position, you don't have a two, you don't have a two, but there's a lot of quarterbacks out there. And if you're going to pass up a position that could potentially help you just to grab a quarterback for the sake of having drafted one.

I don't know if that's the best, you know, thing to do either. I'm just trying to see here. You know what I mean? Like you could be passing up a guy who, you know, has potential to be a starter day one for you.

There's nobody sitting at home right now. I don't think. Quarterbacks. You mean? Yeah. Yeah. Ryan Tannehill is kind of the only one, but we don't know. We don't know if he wants to keep playing. Dude. He's he's two years removed.

He didn't play last year. Correct. Yeah. I think cousins is going to be kind of the one he's going to be.

The one that kind of move some stuff around. That's the one like, you know, nobody's jumping at it, right? Unless Cleveland does, but they Cleveland just got flacko and pick it. Yeah. I think they're out of it.

Carson Wentz, I think is a free agent still. Yeah. But that, that you, you, you're not doing that. Not the way, certainly the way he looked in the final game of the year.

I don't know. It was always brutal. True. With all due respect. I should have front-loaded it.

And I put up a poll at Rich Isensho if you want to chime in. Rogers in 2025, retired playing for the Steelers, playing somewhere else. You could go through the draft and not let this situation force your hand, right? Let's just say Dart is sitting on the board or Chador sitting on the board, the 21st overall.

And you really aren't into either one of them. You can let that go, even though you don't have it too, because you have a wide receiver, you just paid 30 million plus a year to go higher. Who I would imagine wants Aaron Rogers chose to be traded to Pittsburgh because he thought Rogers is going to be there. No, I think he accepted the amount of money that the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to give him, sir, you know, to use the, uh, the phrase from, um, Don Draper, if he's like, you know, why, why did I come here? The answer is that's what the money is for. All right. So there's that.

Kate Hudson said that same line in Running Point. But the, the Steelers can absolutely sit back, not take the quarterback in this year's draft, but come out of the draft and say, Rogers, the floor is still yours. And knowing that the Falcons are most likely not going to move on from Kirk Cousins, who is clearly going to keep chafing where he is and would 1 million percent be ready to take the Steelers job if that's what they want to do. That's a, that is an option.

Rich Tachithon has the Steelers picking Jalen Milro in the third. And then they could do that too. You know, then they could do that too.

But this is the world we currently live in one week before the draft. If you work in quality control at a candy factory, you know strict safety regulations come with the job. It's why you partner with Grainger. Grainger helps you find the high quality and compliant products your business needs to inspect, detect, and help correct issues.

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