Hey, Rich Eisen here. I hear from a lot of business owners like you about the work it takes to pursue your passions, so I know how important it is to have the tools that can help keep you moving forward. And with access to world-class business and travel benefits, the American Express Business Platinum Card helps you take your business to the next level. It offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business. Plus, you'll have complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge, so you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum Card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved. Terms apply.
Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. In the NFL, there is no margin for error. As you know, one mistake can change the outcome of an entire game. That's the same thing about your life and making sure you get the proper sleep, so you get done in your day exactly what you want because you're focused and you have everything in order. And the people who can help you do that are our friends at Sleep Number. Their mission is to provide the players of the NFL and you with data and insights to optimize your sleep for the ultimate competitive edge.
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See your store or sleepnumber.com for details. I said, you don't know me. This is the Rich Eisen Show. And he said, you don't know me.
And then I said, exactly. Oh my goodness. The Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Glenn told Rogers there was no chance of him coming back to the Jets. I just flew across country. You could have told me this on the phone. So I said, oh my goodness. Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, Steelers Radio Network host Jerry Dulac. Coming up, director of The Accountant 2, Gavin O'Connor. And now it's Rich Eisen. Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show on the air, the director Gavin O'Connor of The Accountant 2. He was also the director of The Accountant and Miracle is in our green room. I just went in the back there, just had a nice quick chit chat with him. And I gave him a heads up.
There's going to be a lot of miracle questions coming. It's a great movie. I mean, it's one of my favorites.
And I'll tell this to him when he comes out here. The mere fact that it is about the it was voted the number one sports moment of the 20 American sports moment of the 20th century, right? The fact that this movie is about that. And I'm on the edge of my seat about will they beat the Russians? Every time. Every time. Testament to its greatness. So he'll be joining us shortly.
844-204 Rich is the number to dial. First two hours of the program, very heavy on the draft. Why not? We're going to Green Bay next week. Tom Pelissero, our number one about what could be in store next week for the quarterback front. And obviously the Steelers might be quarterback needed because Aaron Rodgers is not yet committing. And we talked to Jerry Dulac, who has been covering the Steelers forever and a day. And he said the only way that they take a quarterback with the 21st overall pick is if the defensive lineman that they hoped for or they're interested in isn't there, then they'll start moving down their draft board. And even before that, they might go running back or wide receiver before taking a quarterback.
So Rodgers's decision-making isn't really affecting their thought process one way or another, it appears. Meanwhile, TJ Jefferson is wearing boas now because you're going to Vegas for WrestleMania this weekend. Oh yeah, brother freak. Oh, my goodness gracious.
Talking to you Rich Eisen. Yeah, the guy with the big guns, brother. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. It's a really good macho man.
It is. TJ, Randy Savage over there. I'm justifiably in the position that rather not be in brother. I got to be honest with you because you know, you are at this is why you co-host no contest wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr., which you're recording the latest episode Monday. I think it was the draft in Cleveland. There was a Randy Macho man, Randy Savage impersonator. He's a famous Browns fan on the stage, right? He got on the stage. Honestly, all of us looked at each other and had to, me, DJ and even Charles Davis, who knows everything about anything that you consider pop culture important or potentially thoroughly unimportant to know off the top of your head and your fingertips. We had to Google if he was dead or not.
We thought that might've really been him on the stage. Well, now, you know, you have to do is text me now. I do. Yeah.
Oh my God. Look at it. Okay. Yeah. All right.
844-204, which is the number to dial on the program. Russell in New Jersey has been hanging on for quite some time. What's up, Russell? Hi, Rich. How are you? I'm fine.
You? I'm fine. Thanks. Believe it or not, I live in New Jersey, born and raised, but I'm a diehard Tennessee Titans fan. Okay. All right. I thought you were just saying, believe it or not, I wouldn't believe that you were born in New Jersey, but I'm glad you finished the sentence. So you're a Titans fan residing in New Jersey. Okay.
That's correct. And I'm concerned about the draft. First overall pick is a big one.
Don't want to be there, but we're there anyway. And I know everyone's saying they should go cam ward, but we're talking about a prospect who looks like a great guy, but people are saying he wouldn't have gone top five last year. Might not go top three next year. And there's two or three generational talents in Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, throw Ashton gente in there. Why do you think they're willing to settle?
Well, I think what you're hitting on Russell, an interesting word that you, you settled on the word settle, because that is the way I think everyone who it doesn't believe in cam wards generational ability views. He's being pushed up to the top of the draft board just because he's a quarterback and wouldn't ordinarily be at the top of the draft board if he was in a different draft and so on and so forth, and that the Titans are settling for him. And all I would say is this, the, the front office and the coaching staff aren't just doing it just because they're tired and sick and tired of what they saw from Will Levis. They have to believe that cam ward is this good. They're not just doing it based on the fact that, well, we're, we're not first overall too much more often and we're at the top of the draft board. So we're just going to take the quarterback just cause they have to have grinded the tape and have talked to the kid in a, in a way that, uh, we haven't. And all I would just say is in, in that you have to trust Russell, to be honest with you for a fact.
And I appreciate the call. Yeah, no, that makes you feel a little better. I'd say though, Brian Callahan has not yet shown that he can develop talent. We somehow, I mean, honestly, Will Levis just may not be the guy.
Uh, you know what I mean? And, or, or he could be some other day in the same, in the same mode. And thanks for the call in the same mode as a Baker or Sam Darnold or Jared Goff. And you know, somebody's got to get more time in and then another opportunity and then finds, uh, finds the groove. And Geno Smith, as we all know, I don't wait a long time.
Um, but it does appear that Will Levis is now going to be on that career path for the moment because they're going to take cam ward. And again, guy went to incarnate word, Washington state, and then the U and then at the U just lit it completely up and shows an ability to throw off platform and has an ability to come back and just flip a switch like cam ward time that we didn't see from many other quarterbacks this year. How many times we were like, well, Miami, they're going to be out of the national championship race in the next five minutes. Oh no, they won. That happened over and over again.
Routinely. So and, and again, the Titans know Brian Callahan knows the new general manager there knows they get this thing wrong. It's the bricks.
It's the bricks. And I felt like Russell Rich. I said this yesterday. If you know you have someone who can't miss, like everyone's saying hunter is what Jesus take them.
Go for it. Again, you know how I feel about it, that you're not just drafting one, you're drafting two players, which is why I would trade draft choices to go up to go get him. Because if you're like, well, we're trading our first and our second round draft picks for him.
Well, guess what? You're getting the top corner. You're getting the top wide receiver. And if you had the top wide receiver and top corner on your draft board is your first and second round choices and you walk away from the draft, you're like, we got our top quarterback, top wide receiver and our top quarterback. Well, you could get both in one pick. Yeah. So you know how I feel about it, but I'm not the one grinding tape and making the evaluation. And in terms of cam ward, you know, as I mentioned on this show multiple times on our first take on Thursday as part of the crossover with NFL network.
And I'll keep mentioning this because I like to flex, um, you know, back in the day, somebody took three different stops in their college football career. It's red flag. What is going on? They must've gotten injured. They must've over one at their welcome.
That's just the way of the world now. And a lot of these kids are coming in. You heard Kyle McCord basically say, I, I have been, uh, in the white hot spotlight of a, you know, an intense fan base, you know, some who might be at the draft might even call it, uh, what a delusional and, uh, pardon me, lunatic fringe, my bad. And so he was, he was, he was right in the center of all that and then had to go to somewhere else to Syracuse and then through the most yards in college football last year and became a hero and beating cam ward in the final game, ending cam ward's Miami career, essentially, or at least playing all four quarters career in Miami.
Right. And, and so there are question marks for cam ward, but he he's been a tons of stops. He's had a different coordinators. He's had different situations.
And in his last one, he crushed it to the point where he is the number one overall pick and so many people's opinions, uh, one more mock draft to hit before we hit the weekend before draft week, our friend, Chad reader at nfl.com. Um, again, this is what we do at NFL network. We're not well-rounded people. You do one thing and you do it. Well, why not? We're not well-rounded people.
I mean, Chad did a seven round mock draft. What else are you going to do? You know, watch back white Lotus again. He could, maybe he was doing it. He could, I don't know. I don't know. You could be doing all this stuff.
He did seven rounds. I just started mob land really. So, um, let's, uh, let's hit it. Go ahead.
All right. Mock you like a hurricane. Once again, here's the latest mock draft eight next week. We've got, uh, Mike Mayock and, um, and Todd McShea on Monday show and yours. I do my come at me.
I do the top 10. Yeah. I don't know how tough that one's going to be this year, but, um, we're, we're going to fit it. As you know, we've been, uh, squeezing out a mock draft out of Mike Mayock over multiple appearances, the mock draft you want to do. I imagine, um, McShea is going to do one more before draft week. Probably.
Yeah. Well, here's Chad reader. He's got cam warden, Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter. But how about number fourth Chris? Whoa. If it's cam ward, Hunter and Carter, he would say the Patriots take Ashton Gente as well.
You should pal. Now he's got your door. Sanders. Once Gente goes to the Patriots and Mason Graham goes to the Jaguars, he's got your door going to the Raiders. Not mad at that.
He's got you. Okay. Um, now that would be, I think, uh, the Sanders family would be very happy with that. You know, putting them in the care of Tom Brady and Pete Carroll in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nope.
No pressure to start him right away. Quick flight from Boulder to Vegas. You could stop off and say hi to the kid on the way to shooting your Tubi show here in Los Angeles. That's right. Kill two birds. You know what I mean?
So, um, what you go red, red for, for Deanna, you go red rocks, then Roxy Diaz. Oh yeah. Brother freak out.
Freak out. Yeah. I'm on bamboo to the jets. That makes sense. Jalen Walker to the Panthers. That makes sense. Jackson dart, the top 10 pick three quarter.
I mean, we're in the top 10 now, man. I don't know. Seems like a lot fair to the kid, but Jackson darts saying I'm not going to green Bay. Yeah. He might be getting some Intel.
I don't know. I hope for his sake, he's a top 10 pick. That would be amazing. By the way, he's sick. Any quarterback that lands in new Orleans right now with Kellen Moore coming in, that's a, that's a nice spot. You know, first year coach just fresh there attached at the hip to a guy that clearly has an offensive brain that has super bowl written all over it. So let's get to 12. All right. Johnson goes to the 49ers at 11, Matthew golden to the Cowboys.
All right. Now he's got, he's got a, some trades here that the, the Colts move up. I guess they just trade out one spot to make sure nobody snags Tyler Warren while he's sitting there. And then the, the dolphins moved down a spot to take Jadae Brown, a Baron, pardon me, of Texas.
Our friend, John Campbell, who is delightful, goes to Atlanta. That just reeks like a, a, a, a Kelvin Pang and banks is now going to protect Kyler Murray, Michael Williams of the edge out of Georgia tech McMillan winds up in Seattle, a Buka. So if the Packers trade and, and move up to take a Buka, that should be a nice moment at the, at the draft. Right. First, first round wide to the Broncos. Oh yeah.
That's that's money. So now if three run, if, if, cause again, if, if, if the quarterbacks, three of them are gone and Omarion Hampton's gone and Gente's gone, what are the Steelers do with 21? Chad reader says Derek Harmon. So this tracks with what we heard from Jerry Dulac saying, if there's a defensive tackle on the board, they're going to take them. And that's the guy Colston Loveland gets a reunion with Jim. I think Harbaugh would take that. Shamar Stewart is an edge rusher going to Tampa. That was a part of the pick swap that Chad says that green Bay would take 19 and then Tampa would move down and take Shamar Stewart. How about the mill bills move enough to take Mike green, the edge out of Marshall. Josh Simmons from the Ohio state goes to Houston, which is, we all know sent tonsil to DC, right? Walter Nolan and almost defensive tackle to replace the, the the guy, the millions mill Williams who went to, to, to new England.
So the Eagles would move up from 32. Ariante Ursary of Minnesota would be the tackle that the chiefs would trade up to go take Tyler Booker out of Alabama is a Rocco. The BC edge goes to Washington, Nick even warrior and Molokai Starks. So everyone's wondering who's going to be the first safety off the board.
Chad says it's even warrior and then Starks. And then the Rams move down. They make, they're the ones who make the trade with the Eagles and take Luther burden out of Missouri to wrap up the first round. So it will be three quarterbacks taken to the first round, but all in the top 10. All right, let's finish mocking this like a hurricane. Let's give Chad the, let's give Chad the, the, the kudos here going all to seven rounds. Jalen Milro would be the choice of the Browns to kick off the second night.
Wow. That'd be cool. It wouldn't be shock. It wouldn't be McCord. It wouldn't be Howard.
It wouldn't be yours. It would be Milro. Trevion Anderson going to the Cowboys. That's like Zeke 2.0, right? You get Bolden and Trevion.
That's huge. This would be the next quarterback off the board going to Seattle. So it'd be Donald and yours in that quarterback room.
The other, if you don't mind me saying, oh, the Ohio state running back, Quinn, Sean, Judkins to the Texans, Tyler Shuck to the giants. That would be a nice, I think giants fans would like that. Kyle McCord to the jets.
You would like that. Cam Scataboo for the Giants would be awesome. That dude's going to be a player.
Scataboo in New York, right? Will Howard to the Steelers. That would be the Steelers choice to come out of this draft with him. And again, Jerry Dulac says they're going to come out of the draft with somebody. Fourth round of Will Howard. Dylan Gabriel would be with Tua. Let's keep comparing them.
Let's just keep comparing them. And then our friend, thank you for including Ahmed Hassanein, who we met out of Boise State going to the 49. By the way, him and his energy with Salah. Oh, would be dynamite.
He's a kid. You root for dynamite, right? No doubt. And bringing that to the Niners and that's Chad reader. Okay. Mocking it like a hurricane.
Like I'm like Chad readers mock. Well, you do, you, you got to like golden by the way, golden and Henderson. Henderson.
Wow. Would be the one to that we've been waiting for from the Cowboys in terms of splash picks. You know, we're not going some offensive lineman you haven't been hearing about. I'm not taking somebody from a, you know, a smaller school defense. That'd be huge. I mean, and by the way, those have worked out for sure.
You know, overshone coming from Austin that worked out. So let's take a Matthew golden. Who's terrific.
Yeah. Golden and seedy lamb for Dak. I like it. Let's do it. Or instead of taking golden and Henderson, use those, take some other draft capital from next year and take Travis Hunter.
Now we're talking Monaco and I approve all of those. Please let us take Ashton gente, please. I think that would be the move for you.
Especially, you know, Raiders Colson Miller wants out trade for that. No, I get it. I get it. Those ways to go about it. You know what I mean?
You've got, you've got the, capital and right, right, right, right, right. To make moves before the draft. It just doesn't sound to me like a very, that sounds outside of the box. I don't know. We don't know what Vrabel is going to do. Wildcard. Well, I mean, what Vrabel is probably going to do is build that line. That's what Jim did. Boring. I mean, it may be boring, but it's winning football.
You can build it with a pre draft trade and then take the best player. Let's bring out the director of the accountant too. He's been kindly patiently waiting for us to finish mocking like a hurricane. Gavin O'Connor. Also the director of warrior for you MMA fans out there.
Gavin O'Connor next on the rich eyes and show. Let's talk O'Reilly auto parts people. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road. Oh, Oh, Oh, O'Reilly auto parts offers friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs.
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Hey, rich Eisen here. I hear from a lot of business owners like you about the work it takes to pursue your passions. So I know how important it is to have the tools that can help keep you moving forward. And with access to world-class business and travel benefits, the American express business platinum card helps you take your business to the next level. It offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business.
Plus you'll have complimentary access to more than 1400 airport lounges worldwide, including the centurion lounge. So you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex business platinum card gives business owners like you, the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved terms apply.
Learn more at American express.com slash Amex business. By the way, Gavin O'Connor is here. Our radio audience has returned here. Uh, the accountant too is in theaters next week on Friday, April 25th from a prime video. Gavin O'Connor, the director of the original accountant to now the accountant to here we had, uh, Matt Damon on last year when we were talking about air and I asked him like, is there any like sequel that you'd want to do? And he mentioned how the accountant too is coming and now he did.
That was last year. And so now here we are. And, um, and so you've been, you've been cultivating this caper for quite some time is what you're saying?
Well, it's not about cultivating it. We had a script in 20, I guess around 2019, 2020. So three or four years after the original, yeah, it was just, there was a sort of a revolving door and musical chairs over at Warner brothers. So we get, we get traction and a new executives come in and we have to start again. Then we had COVID, then we had a strike and then there was another strike and then, and then Ben started his own studio artists equity with Matt. Right. And I'm not sure, I think, I think Matt has to do 50% of the films at artists equity and then he's allowed to work outside.
But for Ben it's a hundred percent. So then it had to become a co-production with the studio and Ben's and Ben's studio. Oh God. And that became, so we ended up leaving Warner brothers.
They graciously let us go cause they didn't want to do a co-production and we were at Amazon. Now here you are. And here we are. And here we are. And it's in theaters nationally and globally next week, which is, which is pretty cool.
Cause people can pick it up listening or watching right now. You're from New York city or New York city area, right? You're from Long Island, as we said on Staten Island, Long Island. Are you, are you're allowed to work with Matt and Ben from New York?
Like multiple and multiple times and that's allowed. They didn't know I was from New York yet when the relationship started. Well, they didn't talk to you. Cause you may be out of Long Island, but the Long Island certainly isn't out of you brother. I'm hanging in there. I know.
Definitely. It's kind of the Staten Island's out of me until you cut me off in traffic. Then you'll hear it. You get that aggressive. It comes out.
Well, I mean, as you know, it helps to have a New York driving history around here in Los Angeles. It's it does. And when people just like, Oh, that's number one. And the number two, they're politely lining up to leave the four Oh five and you're just like, you take advantage of that nonsense.
You can just, it's a lot of exploiting. Oh please. It's fantastic. So do you ever talk sports with these guys pretty much Gavin or not? Really?
Just stay away from that subject matter. Okay. Okay. Cause I know that they're all Boston guys. This that the other thing I do remember when we were, when we were shooting, we just, we were prepping accountant one, we were shooting in Atlanta and uh, I remember I was, I was with Ben, we were doing, working on some scenes and, and it was a Saturday and the super bowl was the next day.
Patriots Rams probably in Atlanta. Exactly. Okay. No, no, no, no, no. This was in 20, we were shooting 2015, 2015. So this might've been, that's Seahawks. That's the Seahawks one, right? Yeah. That's Patriots Seahawks, Patriots Seahawks in, in Arizona.
Malcolm Butler. See, this is the time where you just have the Patriots where you couldn't figure out what Superbowl was. Exactly. Pretty much.
What happened was, um, uh, Ben was telling me that Matt on his way back to LA was going to be stopping in Vegas for him to put a bet down. This is a very large, you had apps for that sort of thing. That's what was happening. This was in 2015. Yeah. It was a nice large number too. I'm sure they did.
If it was Patriots to win, unless it was the Eagles one case he can't tell. He's a fellow mass hole over there. That guy.
Oh yeah, that's right. So, um, all right. So Gavin O'Connor here on the rich eyes and show, what do you want people to know about this sequel about the accountant to for fans of the original?
What would you want people to know about it? I re I really intentionally refresh the tank. Yeah. I'd never made a sequel before. And the early conversations just starts like just keep taking the DNA from the first one and kind of just, and I was like, I'm, I want to just entertain myself to start with. Like, I don't want to just repeat what I did.
So it's very different tonally. I very intentionally brought Braxton. So I wanted to make really explore the relationship with the two brothers and them trying to fix each other. And, uh, and I knew I can mine some really good comedy out of those two guys. So it's a lot funnier, this one. And, and, and lastly, I'd say I w because of, you know, Ben and I had made a movie, uh, after account to, uh, called the way back and we opened on a Friday and theaters closed on the Monday because of COVID and we were just dead.
And so that was a heartbreaker. So I, I just wanted to make a, my, my version of a popcorn film where to get people and it's what's going on or we got to get people back in the theater. Right. So I really wanted to give people a really fun, entertaining movie experience. And I think you do get that.
And it's again, globally next week and theaters, a prime video, uh, brings you the accountant to the director Gavin O'Connor here, uh, on the rich eyes and show. Yeah. You just mentioned about the way back. We, we talked about that with Ben, obviously a basketball coach and a great story behind all of that warrior. You wrote warrior. Now you're an MMA guy.
You have to be right to write a film like warrior and direct that. Did you learn anything about the MMA world that you want to share? Well, you know, I really wasn't, it wasn't about, it wasn't about the, I could have made the brothers boxers, but there are so many boxing movies.
I just didn't want to do that. And I just was like, and I love MMA. So, um, but it could, it didn't have to be that there was just so many things going on in our world then, and uh, in, in, in contemporary America. And I wanted to, I wanted to explore, um, you know, the working class reeling from sort of this one, two punch of the recession and war. So I really want to just explore that. I wanted to explore fathers and sons. It's very personal that Nick was my dad and a lot of ways in the movie, my brother and I both went with separate parents and divorce, very dysfunctional and toxic home. So I was just, I think just sort of excavating my, my own, my own stories as a child and my problem, my own traumas. And I, and I just put it all out into the, into that, into that movie. And that's really what was going on.
And in the end it was, I was going for what I call an intervention. And then he has to, you know, Tommy's character had to be reborn, reborn. And that's kind of what I was going for. And Nick you're referring to is Nolte. Yeah. Uh, you got a good Nick Nolte story from the set or from, you're laughing.
I know. Uh, you got a good one for me that, uh, that would be suitable for the audience. Uh, well suitable.
Nice. You know what he would do, which was so funny. I love Nick. I wrote the part for Nick, you know, at that time I was living up North Malibu and he was my neighbor. We became really good friends. Your neighbor?
Yeah. He was my neighbor. Did you ever like knock on his door for, for something? No, he would knock on my door more often than I would. I thought, man, come by and say hello. Come on.
My daughter, my daughter, he would, my daughter would paint his toenails. Like we just did really odd stuff on man. He's, he's, he's, he's the best, but you know what he used to do when we were shooting on warrior?
Okay. Just as I started to roll, he'd get his guitar and he'd start playing like, wow. And I'm like, Nick, how many movies have you made? Don't you know when you're rolling? Like obviously we're going to be hearing.
He's like, I'm sorry, Gavin. I just got happy fingers here. I couldn't help myself. So, um, but everything else would be, that's my G rated story.
There's really nothing else I can do. The G rated story is he would play guitar just before it takes. And then as a neighbor, he would come over and have his daughter would paint his tone.
Yes, he should. And his specific color yellow. Oh, very good. Yellow.
Always yellow. Who knew that is so cool. Your next door neighbor is Nick. Not literally next door, but we were neighbors and right down the street. Yeah.
Close enough that he can walk and knock on my back. Gavin, was there a reason you set the movie in Pittsburgh? That's where I'm from and I'd love the movie. Oh, you're from Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh. So I wrote, I initially wrote the movie for long beach, California. Uh, but there wasn't an attack. We didn't have the taxes. So they gave me a, and I was doing a lines here.
They said, you could pick anywhere that it's a tax incentive. And I started scouting. And when I got to Pittsburgh, it was just working class poetry, uh, visually. Did you say Lionsgate? Yeah. Isn't that Thomas toll?
Isn't that am I, am I right? Or like, isn't totally, uh, part owner of the Steelers. I think he is. Is he part of owner of lights? He's one of the owners. I don't know why I would connect the two. I might be wrong. I don't know.
I don't know what Thomas told us, but I'm not sure. So you threw it in Pittsburgh. Okay. I've put it in Pittsburgh just because visually, I mean, it was a very blue collar working class movie.
So when I got there, I'm like, this is the dust. Yeah. All right. I I've, um, I've really used every fiber of my being to not talk to you about miracle since the first second you walked out here because it's one of my favorite sports movies of all time. And the compliment that I can do my best to pay you is it's about the most popular and the most well-known sports story of the 20th century. I believe it was voted as such over and over again when this was being discussed at the turn of the century. And I'm on the edge of my seat and I know how it's going to work out, right?
It is unbelievable. When did that first cross your desk to be the director of this film, Gavin? So I had made my first film called tumbleweeds. It was a tiny little independent movie that I, I financed myself.
I pretty much sold everything I own, the rest on credit cards. And I made that and I had a career and went to Sundance and we had a bidding war and I won the filmmakers trophy and all that stuff. So all that happened. And then I had written my next script and then nine 11 happened in the script I had written, dealt with a corrupt police officers in New York city.
So that was not happening after nine 11. And my agent said, you need, what else do you have? I didn't have anything else. I was so naive and like, this is what I was going to do. And I learned the lesson of, I need to be moving different projects forward. And he said, just be open to reading other people's material. And I said, okay. And I got the script from miracle. And um, to be totally honest, I didn't think it was very good. Was it originally about a love story between Herb Brooks and his wife?
That's, that's a rumor I heard. Never was. Okay.
All right. No, no, no. You know, it was, um, it was a historical document that had all this, all the, the, the moments that we all know. Good use of that word, obviously in reference to that movie. Yes, exactly.
So, so, uh, but what it didn't have was the connective tissue between the big moments that were based on, you know, character and emotionality and, and, um, and pulling back the curtain of things we don't know and things like that. So I went in and met with them and I said, look, I'd want to rewrite the script. Uh, and also I want to, if I got the job, I said I would hire, I'm not, because when I was in the room, they said they wanted all the young actors in Hollywood to play.
I'm like, I would never do that. Like I grew up playing sports all my life. I played football in college. Like I know athletics pretty well. And I said, I would never, you got to hire. I said, I can't teach actors to play hockey at the level.
I need them. I'd rather get hockey players and teach them to not act and just behave sure. And now it's so plus that also mirrors the team itself. Like they were not stars.
They were not stars, but they, you know, they, they're not thinking that way. Okay. So for some reason I got the job. I made my first movie was under a million dollars. So now all of a sudden I'm doing a $40 million studio film. I just approached it like it was a little movie. And, um, we started searching for these kids, all the players, the players from Minnesota in real life. I cast kids from Minnesota players from mass kids from mass.
If you were a lefty, you know, Jack O'Callaghan, I'm not, you can't be a righty and play that. So I got, I was made sure I was at the fidelity to all of that. Interesting. And then, um, and, but the Herb Brooks part was casting. Herb was, was very tricky. Okay.
So walk me through that process. Well, the studio wanted Michael Douglas and Michael actually looked kind of like Herb. Sure. So, and I love, I'm a big fan of Michael.
I think he's a wonderful actor, right? So I'm like, Oh yeah, I'm open to that. And I went and met with Michael.
Yeah. I met with Michael at his, uh, at his place and, uh, he, he would not give me a straight answer on whether he would do the skating. And I said to him, I said, look, Herb was, he was a great hockey player and he was also the coach of maybe played in 1960 on the team. He's Olympic hockey player. So I said, you gotta be able to get on the ice and look like you can skate.
And I said, we have about six months before I saw rolling. If you skate every day, I'll get you. And he would say yes, but then he would talk about his knee and he had a body double and it just, we just kept swirling in this. And finally, and then I had to go back a second time to meet with him because the studio so wanted Michael. And then, uh, uh, I remember I, I said to the studio, I said, I'm getting Bill Clinton. He keeps skating around the skating issue.
I'm getting Bill Clinton. In any event I said, can I please meet? Can I please, I just really want to meet Kurt Russell.
That, that name came into your head. Because I, once again, I played sports all my life and I also, I was a cinema junkie all my life and I knew that Kurt was a baseball player. If you have never been in a locker room, you can smell the inauthenticity. And I knew Kurt grew up in locker rooms.
He was an actor, but he was also a baseball player. His son was in Vancouver playing hockey at the time. So they let me fly up to Vancouver. Who picks me up at the airport? Kurt Russell.
And that tells you everything about Kurt. He picked me up. And when I got in the car with him, the first thing he said to me was, I swear to God, he looks at me, he goes, what do you think of the script?
And like, you know, a thousand thoughts are flashing it, but I, I good. And he goes, we're going to be good. Cause he, he wanted, he was, he was, he was marking my card. So, and then when I got to his house, I told him what I was going to do with the script and when I was going to change.
And he had said, he goes, why do you want to do it? I said, you know, when I was a boy, I'm sure like you, we're probably close to the same age. I remember being this close to the television screen, watching that game. And the, I said, I said to Kurt, I said, if I can just replicate the emotions that I had, we're going to be good. And I remember when the game was over people in my neighborhood, pots and pans. I mean, it was chaos out there. People, it was, it was that, it was that event that it was right. So yeah, it was. So the two scenes of course, but I also remember, you know, having to stay away from cause we're from the same area, 10, 10 wins or 880 news because it was on tape. Exactly. Yeah. You know, it was on tape. We had to stay away because we had to go pretend it was live. Right. So, oh yeah, I totally remember my house and my basement in Staten Island watching them to the color TV in the household. I swear to God.
All right. In 1980. So, the two scenes from the film that, you know, obviously always leap out are, are the scene where Herb Brooks makes them skate in the dark, right? Over and over and over again. You had to get that right. But the one is, period, end of story, is the speech to the team. How did you, I guess, research that and stick the landing on, on that scene, Gavin? Well, the speech was actually in the original script that I had gotten. The moment speech. Yeah, the moment speech. And I don't, if I remember correctly, I think a lot of that was actually what he said.
I think so, but I don't know for certain if it was like a hundred percent, but that's what I was told. And I, I had so many conversations with Herb. You did? Oh my God. I had so many conversations with Herb. I had conversations with Herb and like four or five of the players. And I actually discovered it became Rashomon because everybody had their different perspective on the same event, which was liberating.
But I'll tell you something interesting and beautiful about Herb. I discovered that it took him three months, in the script, it took him three months to choose a team. And I said to Herb one day, I said, Herb, why did you spend three months choosing the team? Because I had something else I wanted to do in my head.
I said, why would you spend three months choosing your team? And he gave me all the answers about the politics of the IOC and all these different Olympic organizations. He had to politic his way through. You just did that line.
He had to politic his way through. But he said to me, he said, he said, I had a piece of paper with the 20 kids, day one. And after three months, those are the 20 kids I picked. Come on. So he said to me, and I said, well, Herb, watching you spend three months in a movie is going to be really, really boring. I said, what I'd like to do, and I, cause I really believe this in art is you take this, it has to be the spirit of the truth. I said, I'm going to have you pick the team in a day. And I said, so we're going to remythologize your story.
We're going to pick you in a pick. I said, I could never do it if you wouldn't have done that. And I said, now in my version, you're going to piss everybody off, start ruffling feathers right out of the gate. And I go, that's a great way to start a character.
And he goes, I love it. I would have done it anyway. Yes. And he was totally, and if he didn't support me, I couldn't have done it, but he was totally down with it. And I said, you know, we're remythologizing. You said, it's fine. It's what I would have done. So that's what I did.
Oh, awesome. How many takes for the speech with Kurt Russell? You know what Kurt Russell is, he could have made my life so difficult.
I'm a newbie, never made a studio film. He's a big movie star. He was so generous to me and so supportive.
And I was feeding, I was obsessed. I was feeding him interviews with Kurt, with with Herb Brooks so he can get it right and get it right in the clothes and all that stuff. Kurt nailed it. I mean, he's such a pro.
I mean, probably maybe two or three takes. That's it. Can't get enough of that scene, man.
Yeah. Seriously, cannot get enough of that scene. I will watch it over and over again.
Sometimes it'll just pop in my Instagram algorithm and I, you know, I will, I will stop what I'm doing unless I'm driving, you know, but it is unbelievable. It's so special. That movie is so special and we've had Al Michaels here multiple times because we annually go through every year. It's like he sits here in the studio and we just reminisce on the anniversary or close to it.
We just did it again. It's 45 years now and and he loves just telling stories about everything like that. But he loved doing your movie, you know? Well, he was great to work with and and I had lunch with him about it a year ago because I'm doing this Madden thing. And so I was asking a bunch of questions about John. It's you next, huh? You're doing the Madden one? I'm doing a Madden limited, a limited, a limited series about John Madden. Fantastic.
Okay. Is that the one with Nick Cage? Is Nick Cage doing that? No, so they're doing a movie. Got it. They're doing a movie version. Right. I, you know, we were initially going to do a movie version, but I was like, how do you reduce John Madden's life?
The two hours, I didn't know how to do it. So we're doing a, but we also, I flew up to Pleasanton. I met with his family. So we have his, his son Mike in Virginia and the whole family that are basically aligned with us. And actually Tom Brady's an executive producer with me on it. Oh, fantastic. So yeah. So you're going to make Ben and Matt jealous, man. I know. Careful. I haven't told them about that yet. So I'm sorry.
We have like a, we got a hard out for the radio. So you had about a minute to go. You had, you had lunch with Al? Well, I had lunch with Al, but he, he, he, he remembers some of our miracle story very differently than I remember. Like he was telling me some stories. I'm like, that's not what happened at all. Like you're, you're changing what really happened. He's like, no, that's all. But so, but he was, he was, he was great to work with. Cause I had to redo when I, when I, when I shot all the action, excluding some of the seminal moments, I was re you know, I had to redo some of the stuff and then we had to re rerecord all his dialogue. So yeah, dude, great stuff.
Thank you for coming. Everybody see the accountant to in theaters globally next week, Friday, April 25th, Gavin O'Connor, the director here on the rich eyes and show Even the safest drivers still encounter unsafe conditions. So it's important. They do it in a safe vehicle and Hyundai's offer available class executive advanced safety features to help keep you protected against the many challenges the road throws your way. Basically in a Hyundai, you can drive as safely as possible and enjoy your journey and confidence and style. When you change lanes, signal check for traffic and enjoy the added safety of Hyundai's available blind spot view monitor constantly scan for dangers and take advantage of Hyundai's standard forward collision avoidance assist to help prevent accidents by alerting you of imminent collisions and automatically applying the brakes stay alert at all times and be thankful that Hyundai standard driver attention warning system monitors your attention levels and can bring your focus back on the road.
Safety is all about making the right decisions on the road and when selecting a vehicle. Learn more at Hyundai usa.com call 562-314-4603 for details roll ball Alonzo ball for buzz balls ready to go cocktails take 12 buzz balls just dropped their biggest blue ball script says Biggie's blue balls on so take 13 blue balls just dropped their biggest buzz balls. Let's try a vocal exercise buzz balls Biggies blue balls buzz balls Biggies blue balls big balls just drop get blue balls this season with buzz ball responsible buzz balls available in spirit one and multi 50% alcohol by volume buzz balls LLC Carrollton Texas. When was the first time Mike that you met now? Do you recall that?
In Lake Placid. And then I ended up having the pleasure of working with Alan Ken a few Olympic games. You know after when I was when I was a commentator so we consider him you know part of our team whenever you know our team has a reunion and we haven't had many but we always try to ask Al to come because he's like an extended member of our family. Well I feel like the mascot I'm like the San Diego chicken with you guys I mean you you guys wrote the script I just happen to have you know the the the coda on at the end of the game but you know inside the game itself Mike you know when you think about the fact that people always forget that you guys were able to overcome three deficits it was one nothing it was two one it was three two Soviets you get the the game winning goal as it turned out the tie-breaking goal of the 10-minute mark but the other thing is you well know so much of that game was played in the United States and people forget the Soviets had 39 shots on goal and the United States at 16. Right and I you know it's funny I saw the game the other day Al for the second time since 1980 and it was amazing to watch the last 10 minutes though when we took the lead I think they only had three shots on goal in the last 10 minutes of the game so I was surprised at how well we played once we once we got the lead and then the other thing that people don't remember and I and I and I tell them all the time is we didn't play just one game you know we would we were behind against Sweden we were behind against the Czechs we were behind against Norway we were behind two against West Germany right we were behind against Finland and still found a way to come back and win and right I think that's just a testament to you know we weren't lucky it wasn't a fluke we had some pretty good players oh as it turned no no question about it and there's such resolve and such resiliency and you know when you watch the those last 10 minutes and what I remember about those last 10 minutes two things Mike number one I mean all of a sudden the US team begins to dominate if the Soviets had really dominated for the first like 48-50 minutes of the game and then I remember the Soviets were skating insanely short shifts they were it was almost like they were out of rhythm guys around the ice for 20 seconds then they're off and the other thing that people forget Mike is they didn't pull the goalie right they didn't pull them because I thought to myself and this was long after the game had ended that they probably never practiced it they never lost so they were never down even in the last minute of the game but they never they never pulled the goalie yeah they never pulled the goalie and the other thing when I watched the game was they had three or four icings in the last 10 minutes they never that was very uncharacteristic of the Soviets they never dumped the puck in the zone you know they always regrouped and went and attacked and you know again our speed our conditioning our youth all came to to a head right there in our advantage love it how cool was that conversation I know we went a little bit long we kept going Herb Brooks is just like I love it go ahead and reimagine what I did but what he did was choose the hockey team over a three month period because he had to play the political game and I think in the movie they were having what two or three day tryouts and here's my guys and they're like what the hell are you thinking he had the list you know and but but he the real list he created and then three months later he took the 20 he wanted to begin with they couldn't have star players play the hockey players you just can't no you had to have the hockey be authentic but not just that the the team had to be authentic like you couldn't recognize these guys because when you're watching the Team USA you know they eventually became stars yeah you didn't know who they were at the time at the outset they were college kids exactly yeah back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network 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 clickrainger.com or just stop by our friends at Hyundai want to make sure you understand when you get behind the wheel of a Hyundai Hyundai is always working to ensure the road doesn't get you and by that I mean every Hyundai offers available class exclusive advanced safety features that can alert you to potential dangers around you Hyundai has over 130 IIHS Top Safety Awards since 2006 and the IIHS Top Safety Awards include Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick and awards to Hyundai vehicles from 06 to 2025 so much fun what a great conversation that was with Gavin O'Connor about Miracle how about that that he Michael Douglas didn't want to commit to skating so let's go with another idea Kurt Russell picks him up from the airport what do you think about the script I don't like it I'll be honest with you I don't like it and he's just like we're gonna be great like he gave him a little bit of a Herb Brooks attaboy speech yep that's so cool you know and then meeting with Herb Brooks willingly saying make it up because I got my team love it god that movie's amazing great movie and everybody check out The Accountant 2 again in theaters globally next week starting next week we've got our draft week begins our one show of the week in studio here in Los Angeles California we're gonna start off the week with Mike Mayock and Todd McShea along with Kaleis Campbell and John Beck mr. quarterback coach of so many in our studio have a great Easter weekend everyone if your job at a health care facility includes disinfecting against viruses you know prevention is the best medicine and maintaining healthy spaces starts with a healthy cleaning routine Granger's world-class supply chain helps ensure you have the quality products you need when you need them from disinfectants and cleaning supplies to personal protective equipment so 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