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Degree Cool Rush is back, and it smells like victory for all of us. The Rich Eisen Show. You don't know what the roster will look like next year.
Today's gasps. Colts General Manager Chris Ballard. Three-time Pro Bowl Quarterback Alex Smith. Rams General Manager Les Snead.
Actor Patricia Clarkson. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Alright everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show, live on the Roku Sports Channel, live on this radio affiliate. Smart enough to have us on the Infinity Sports Network and Sirius XM Channel 375. Everybody listening and streaming in on Odyssey, we say hello to you.
844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We've got another two NFL General Manager guest show day. Yesterday, it was Harry Roseman of the Eagles, and it was Jason Light of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today, it is Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts, who says he will come on anytime we ask, and he's a man of his word. Because last year, he said if six quarterbacks go and the first 15 picks the draft, that means we get the guy that we want. So if that happens, you know, if you can make that happen, we made it happen. He said he'll come on the show anytime.
That's exactly what's happening today. Man of his word? And you know, I manifested Tyler Warren dropping to him at 14, so he knew that.
He may not know it, I'll tell him when he joins us in 20 minutes time. And then Les Snead will join us of the Rams. And just like yesterday that Harry Roseman led into Tia Carrere, today Les Snead leads into Patricia Clarkson.
Who else is doing all this? You know, we'll talk the Untouchables, we'll talk Jumanji, just to name two. She was Mila's mom and friends with benefits.
Miracle, friends with benefits. We've got actually, that's one of the subject matters in our celebrity sure falls later on. You might not know about this.
I probably don't. If it's true. That's later on. And Alex Smith joins us in the middle of the program. Hey. And you, 844204richnumber. Good to see you, Chris. How are you? Chris.
Rich, the jbex0 says, I'm a little surprised the Browns didn't make Rich's top 10 with the steal. Oh my God. Why are you? And I got in Chidor. Okay.
I love it. Good to see you over there, Mike. Thanks for that information, Chris. If you're bad, as you did, Rich. No problem. In 10 seconds, I'm never going to get that.
No problem. Good morning, Rich. If your battery's good, then I have new ones. Well, there's 700 comments if you want me to read some more. What's up, TJ?
How are you? The problem, Rich, with this Howie Roseman interview yesterday is I think Howie and I ended up liking each other. That's okay. And now I don't know how to feel about it anymore, you know. I'm so glad you guys.
Please keep sleeping on the chargers. You know, when I say hello to you. Oh, sorry. If you couldn't be additive, that would be appreciated. I talked Howie Roseman.
844204richnumber2Tom. Oh, they say. Guys, listen. Listen, when we in the media opine on things. I'm not saying we're always, to use the Mona Lisa Vito phrase, dead on balls accurate. We're sometimes not accurate, admittedly. Okay. Sometimes we're not accurate. But today, we kind of are.
Now listen, no brainer, when a team's like saying, hey, do you want Luka Doncic in a trade? And the answer is going to be, uh huh. We're listening. Go on. Whatever you want to say. Go on.
We're waiting. Whatever you want. Whatever you want. What do you got in mind? The answer is going to be yes.
And certainly, even if it's just like, we'll take Anthony Davis from you. Sure. You know, it's a no brainer of no brains. It's exactly what you're supposed to do. But when it happened, many of us, including all of us here, were like, okay, number one, number one is the phone. Um, what is the Mavericks malfunction? That was the general gist.
What is your malfunction? What are we doing here? Um, because, you know, Anthony Davis is great. And all the famer. Yeah, but he kind of has some issues staying healthy.
Charles Barkley famously nicknamed him street cloth. It's a tough one, but it's kind of accurate. So, uh, there's that. And then sure enough, um, Anthony Davis acquired, while still hurt, comes back, dominates in his first game with the Mavericks for two and a half quarters and then gets hurt. Yeah.
So, that happened. And then the question was for the Lakers, who's going to rim protect? Hmm.
What's going to happen with the perimeter defense? And if somebody, let's just say, um, give me, give me a, for example, Anthony Edwards. Okay. Uh, what if he blows by Luca, if Luca's on him, um, you know, what happens, who's going to protect?
I'll tell you what happens. Well, or let's just say you're, you're, you're forced to go with a small lineup. Okay. You're forced to go with a small lineup and, uh, who's gonna, who's going to rebound?
Who's going to keep the opposing player off the border for, say, just for somebody, for example, Rudy Gobert. Okay. Yeah.
He's big. Good example. Sure enough, smash cut to last night in the downtown Hoops Dojo here in Los Angeles, California. Um, and the Los Angeles Lakers are eliminated for the first time in franchise history as a three seed or better in the first round that's never happened in the franchise's vast, lush, highly successful Tiffany of the NBA franchise never happened. And it happened last night.
And in that game, I have it here. Uh, Rudy Gobert had 1,005 rebounds and 1200 offensive rebounds, which is a record to have more offensive rebounds than total rebounds. That's never happened before.
It broke Moses Malone's record. I think you're picking up what I'm putting down. All of our questions about what's going to happen.
Yeah, like spot on, spot on. And once again, a playoff series ends with Luca looking like he's got a 40 year old body and the 40 year old in LeBron James not having enough on his own with a hurt Luca and no rim protection and a small grouping out there to prevent anything. And lo and behold, yada, yada, yada. At the end of the day, the Luca for Anthony Davis trade winds up with a grand total of one combined NBA playoff win for the two teams involved in the season in which the trade was made and the amount of time we spent here and other shows spent here and the amount of print, the amount of digital stories, all of it that we've spent about it grand total one playoff win in the year in which it happened.
And that's kind of crucial, certainly for the Lakers because LeBron hit the big four in this season. And the conversation is, as you know, grab, grab that. I should have told you this before the show. Grab, grab the the red hand to your right, please, because this is what what gets busted out when it's the Cowboys in football, the Yankees in baseball and the Lakers in the NBA, the dreaded finger of blame. Who is to blame? And everybody's getting blamed today. Everybody's getting blamed today. It's either Luca's desire to get his body in shape or it is LeBron's responsibilities that he doesn't shoulder himself.
Is it him? He's just he's just Mr. Superstar isn't enough to just shoulder it all anymore. It's potentially Rob Polinka, the general manager, and the way that the roster was constructed, especially since the rim protecting was taken care of. By acquiring Mark Williams from Charlotte only to send him back. So even I imagine whichever doctor said, no, we're not going to accept this trade on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers.
There's a finger of blame pointed in that doctor's direction. Talk to you, Dr. Mark Williams, tweeting out a smiley face last night. Because as we all know, after the trade was reversed, Mark Williams only went back to the dreadful Charlotte Hornets and damn near double doubled every night.
Very healthily, I might add. Yo, his Instagram story was the dude who goes to the funeral just to make sure his hater was dead. Mark Williams having a grand old time. JJ Reddick getting the finger of blame because he did not substitute a single time in the game for loss in the second half. He was asked if he consults his assistants about that sort of stuff before the game. And he said that that was a terrible assumption and got up and left the press conference prior to the game five. And then in game five, didn't play Jackson Hayes a single lick. Zero minutes for Jackson Hayes as Rudy Gobert was dominating underneath and Julius Randall was having his way and the lane was wide open. Phinney Smith was the one who was trying to guard Gobert. He fouls out and then the first picture you had up, Mr. Hoskins and Monaco of Anthony Edwards, when I mentioned Edwards, the guy guarding Anthony Edwards, does anybody know who number 14 on the Lakers is?
His name is Maxie Kleber. He came in the trade. He hasn't played since January. He was cleared from being out 40 plus games due to injury.
And when Phinney Smith went out, they turned to him. Reddit turns to a guy who hasn't played since January. You know who hasn't played in the NBA since January? Everyone in this room.
Me. DJ. Mike Del Tufo.
Del Tufo. You haven't played in the NBA since January. How do you know? Alright, good point. Finger of blame.
We're running out of, we got to go to a second hand. For the number of people receiving the dreaded finger of blame today for the Lakers. I mean, I don't know what Jackson Hayes did for them to tell him before the game. As he said, after the game, they told him, we're going to, we're going to try something else today for a DNP CD. I mean, basically I would think the way it was going, you know, Redick would turn around to Polinka, who was sitting there and in his awesome, cool dad leather jacket, you know, Hey, Rob, turn around and is there anybody in the stands in crypto who's tall enough? Let's sign, let's sign that person with 10 day, a 10 minute contract.
That's when you'd think you'd have to, but they didn't do it. Listen, I'm not there. I'm not in the practices.
I'm not in a film room. And without a doubt, and I know perk was making fun of how JJ Redick acts like he's the smartest guy in basketball. He's definitely smarter than me when it comes to basketball.
And this is what he had to say about Jackson Hayes afterwards. Given the struggles scoring the ball, particularly early in the series. Um, you know, the, there's a trade off, there's always a trade off. Uh, you can say, Oh, play, play, play a center. We couldn't score.
So there's a trade off to everything. That's the truth, man. They couldn't shoot threes in the fourth quarter. Um, Austin Reeves needed to be that third guy in even with Luca and LeBron teaming up, he didn't shoot it.
And it's kind of crazy though. I mean, they, they traded for Mark Williams. They could have used him last night.
Instead, he's sitting at home having a grand time with his thumb and is hitting the send button on every possible platform. He could clown the Lakers on and, and, and, and the guy that they wound up trading for him, but getting back Dalton connect, he, he was, he do his DNP CD also. So you get the guy back and then it's time to actually try and score the basketball.
They didn't, they didn't trust him for some reason either. I mean, they tighten the rotation Gabe Vincent took the most must make three of the Lakers season last night with less than a minute to go down six points, two threes. He took the three, not Luca, not LeBron, not Reeves, not connect. Cause he was nailed. He was connected to the bench.
Not even much more. So again, who, who is making most of the threes, right? So let's ask LeBron our friend, Dave McMenamin of the worldwide leader or pardon me, uh, serving fans everywhere of ESPN. Uh, who's better half by the way, is appearing on women's sports. Now today, Malika Andrews is the guest of women's sports. Now on Roku, check that out.
She was here yesterday and you could check out that episode. Now, Dave McMenamin crushed it question of the post game press conference, getting the soundbite everybody's talking about today from LeBron. Right when AD got injured, you guys started playing a lot of centerless basketball and that required a lot from you and Doe and Rui and then Vandal once he got back, um, just from a physical like taxing standpoint, how, how tough was that for the last three and a half months to play that style?
And do you feel like that caught up at all in this series? Uh, no comment. I'll never say that because, uh, my guy AD said what he needed and, uh, then he was gone the following week. So I got no comment.
Um, I put that uniform on every night. I gave everything I had and, um, and that's, that's all that matters. All right, we need a LeBron interpreter here. Um, Windhorst isn't here to help us. No comment. Did he say that Anthony Davis was traded for speaking his mind and thus he would put himself on that chopping block if he speaks his mind because he no commented and then commented and is he saying they shouldn't have traded for Luca or is he saying they shouldn't have nuked the Mark Williams trade because they did have somebody and then decided to be overly cautious when it came to bringing him in? Yes to all of it.
Yeah. How can you say you don't trade for Luca Doncic? How do, I mean, that's, no matter what you say about his body and it breaks down and the ultimate takeaway from last night is, boy, boy, he's really got to hit that gym in the, in the summer. He's got to show up. He's got to show up in October with, with a rocked up, no more dad bod for a 25 year old, you know, which does give credence to why the Mavericks didn't want to sign them to the max.
You know, you can't sit here and say, shouldn't have done the Luca trade. I mean, if that is what he's implying. No, I thought maybe he was implying that he just didn't want to answer the question. That's a pretty embarrassing answer for him, honestly. Like, come on, man. You're the face of the franchise. Everyone thinks you're pulling all the strings behind the scenes and for you to just go, no comment, man. I'm just a regular guy out here.
I put my uniform on like everybody else. He's a worker bee. Like that is really embarrassing. Well, I mean, again, I don't know what he's implying. Is he implying, cause Anthony Davis is referring to before the trade said, Hey, at the trade deadline, we need to get a center in here like a, like a bonafide center. So not everything's on him. And he could, I imagine be free to play Anthony Davis basketball from the three point line all the way to the rim. And he was right.
Okay. That's what they needed. But he's then implying saying, Hey, he said that. And then he got traded the next week. Meaning what he got traded for speaking his mind because you're out of your mind. If, if you think Rob Polinka shouldn't receive a call from Nico Harrison underneath the radar of anybody saying, don't tell anybody, but we're, we're moving.
We're thinking of moving Luca. And the only person I'm calling is you. And the only person I want back is Anthony Davis. And you don't say sold.
Like, can we send you at least a term sheet before we hang up? Like that's all done on the contingent that they're going to handle the front court. Now that's what he's implying that we had Mark Williams and we sent them back and all he did was dominate and look at what we've had to deal with for the last three months. Then it seems like that that finger of blame is being pointed from number 23, right at the general manager, right at the roster builder. The question is this. Do you think if they didn't make this trade at all and still had Anthony Davis, would they have won more than a single playoff game?
You have to say yes. Certainly you'd have to say that if they had that roster, Dalton connect would have, would have gotten off the bench. That dude had a stretch where he was lights out in the middle of the season. If you're thinking about scoring. He just forgot how to shoot. If you're thinking about scoring.
I understand. Like if his perimeter defense is no good. Anthony would have been better than Lucas, right?
Well, Luca, you got to play. And if Anthony Davis is there, then Rudy is not turning into Wilt Chamberlain. Exactly. Well, then they would have beaten him another way. Maybe, but he only had 15. So you figure if you're going to hold the best player on the team, I think they would have just beaten him another way.
Because guess what? The Wolves were trying to give away that game last night. They couldn't hit a broad side of a barn from the perimeter. I mean, even Julius Randall was in serious foul trouble in the first half. You know, McDaniel played, he fouled out. Yeah, one of those guys fouled out. You know, Nas Reed was turning down threes. Like it was all there for the Lakers to take it last night.
Sure was. And the game of four. But you can't say they, they, you can't say they shouldn't have traded for Luca.
That that is just absolutely given how off the charts. Absolutely playing the result. Given the result. No, they shouldn't have.
Okay. But the result being they also had Alex Linn, the seven footer on the bench. He didn't get up. They had Markieff Morris at least maybe put a body.
I understand you're saying you're trading offense, but you can't let this 7-4 guy just go in there who's not known as an offensive juggernaut. You got to put a body on this. Crazy. You had seven footers on the bench doing nothing. Crazy. Lakers, one and done. Who would have guessed?
Unbelievable. Finger of blame everywhere right here in Los Angeles today. Seeing more fingers of blame than Lakers car flags. That's for sure. We'll take a break.
Chris Ballard, the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts has just zoomed in. We will chat with Chris when we come back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Radio audience is rejoining shortly. But we're just going to get to them right now.
Because certainly since it's just TV only for the next two minutes. I'm going to do what's right. Awesome. And Chris Ballard. Chris Ballard.
He's Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts. Good to see it. Chris, how are you sir? Good to see you. Good to see you too.
Appreciate you having me on. Did you go high and tight? Chris speaking of hand. I cut it off. I cut it off. When? I was catching up. I don't know. I did it after this season. Oh, okay. Yeah.
Right after the season. Do you know when I grow a beard, there is not one brown or black hair on it, zero. I mean, no, I got, I got some right here.
It's kind of funny though, Chris, I'll be honest with you. You know, when I, when I worked on ESPN, back in the day, late nineties, they did not like, they sounded like the Yankees. They did not like their on-air guys to have facial hair. And one day I came back from break and I, you know, I didn't shave, but I needed to draw. I needed the makeup artist to draw my mustache to connect to my beard.
And it was highly embarrassing, highly, highly embarrassing. Do you think they still have the same standards? I don't, I don't think so. All I know is Keith, I've never seen Keith Olbermann when he was there. I've never seen a guy grow a beard overnight out of spite, quite like he could.
That was back in the day, man. I don't know Keith, but I admire him. I admire him greatly. He has no, he has no problem challenging authority on anything.
That is correct. Chris Battle, the Indianapolis Colts general manager here on the Rich Eisen Show, our radio audience is rejoined. So what is your assessment of your draft just a few days later, Chris?
Cause I always hate my draft and fantasy as soon as I draft them. I'm wondering what it's like in real life, Chris. You know? I always, look, I mean, you're always excited when you get the players that, I mean, you have a group of, as you line this thing up, I mean, we've worked so many hours getting the board lined up the way we see it for us as the Colts. And then, you know, when you get the guys that you've, you know, done a lot of work on and, and they're excited to get it, but I always stay sober, Rich. Like they gotta come, now they gotta come prove it. I mean, that's the one thing I love about our league. And I'll tell all our rookies when they come in, you know, next week for minicamp that, like whether you're the first round pick or you're an undrafted free agent, the great thing about the NFL is you, if you perform, you're gonna play.
And you know, history and time has proven that out. So now's the, you know, the excitement of the draft is over. They've had their moment and it's awesome. They've all deserved it. They've all been drafted right now. Okay, now the honeymoon's over.
Let's go to work and prove it. Well, I gotta be honest with you, man. Throughout the entire mock draft season, Chris, seeing Tyler Warren go to you at 14, every single time I saw it, I said, good luck. There's no way that kid drops 14 spots.
Then he does. You have to be out of your skull happy about that one, I would imagine. Yeah, we were excited to get him. And you know, you never know, like you never know how it's gonna play out.
Cause you don't like what's out there versus reality is two different things. And so we kind of looked at it and as we got, it was kind of like last year when you, you know, when you brilliantly, you know, said that all the quarterbacks were gonna go. I manifested this, Chris, you have no idea.
I manifested this for you. This is two years in a row, it's two years in a row. It's called a streak.
I mean, it's called a streak is what it is. So no, but we're very excited to get Tyler. We did a lot of work on him and, you know, we think he adds an element of, you know, toughness to our offense and then plus a big target that our offensive staff can use in multiple ways.
I mean, that's, I think that's one of the real values of him. He's a, yes. Is he a traditional wide tight end? Yes, because he can block, but he can line out wide. He can line up in the slot, he can line up at quarterback. You can line him up in the backfield at fullback. Like there's a lot of creative ways that you can use him that, you know, I think all of us are excited about. Yeah. I mean, obviously his tape speaks, but you got a good story of him when you met with him that you sense you got that sense of, you know, his dad making him wear 44, or at least suggesting you wear 44.
Cause that's what John Riggins wore. I mean, that's the story that we heard quite a bit throughout the draft evaluation part of the calendar. You got a good Tyler Warren meet story, Chris? This is what, it's a little like Quentin Nelson.
There've been a few words, which I can't lie to you. I kind of, I kind of like, and there's not a lot of fluff with him when you talk to him. It's okay, what's my role?
What am I, you know, what do you want me to do? I'll do whatever's best for the team, which I think with any, when you get a player like that, that is really team oriented, it's a bonus, you know, aspect, especially in today's age where it's become a lot about me and we're losing, you know, a sense of team and look in this sport, you can't, like, I don't care how good you are individually. Like you can't win without everybody else on the team, you know, performing at whatever their role is at a level that is at a winning level. So that was refreshing when we spent time with Tyler. Chris Ballard, Indianapolis Colts General Manager here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Then you took, this has got steel written all over it. Cause again, me and a Michigan guy, I certainly circled JT to a Molalau whenever he played for Ohio State against us. What do you like about him?
You got him 45th overall. Yeah, that was, we really, you know, we really liked JT and like, I didn't know if there was a, like there was a three game run there, you know, Tennessee, Texas, and Notre Dame, where I don't think you could find a defensive player that had a better stretch of three games and at the big moments against great competition. So we think he's got really big, I think there's still more in him.
He's still young, he's still 22 years old. And we think there's still more in him. And I don't think you can ever have enough defensive ends and guys that can rush the passer, but his ability to play on all three downs, he's able to give you, you know, both inside and outside rush. And he's a speed to power player, which I think is, those guys always, you know, translate well to our league. Yeah, six and a half sacks in the four games of the college football playoffs. That's when you want somebody to come through, you know, and just because I'm, you know, this type of guy, Chris, I just gotta be fair and balanced to myself, my inner self as a Michigan guy.
I do look forward to JT starting week one for you because that would be the first game he plays in the home of the Big Ten Championship ever. So, you know, just gotta- I'll relay. I'm gonna make sure I relay that message.
Please, please, please make sure I'm further away than California than that when you do that. You know, I just gotta point that out. All they did was go win the national championship. Yeah, they did.
That's okay. And as a matter of fact, JT, I'm sure it was somebody Riley Leonard circled on the film when he was getting set to take on Ohio State for the national championship. What do you like in Riley Leonard, Chris, and what's your plan for him?
Well, I mean, look, he'll compete for the three job. We have a Jason Dean who we brought in from Kansas last year that we like. You know, look, we like Riley. We've watched a lot on him over the years. I really liked him at- I thought he really stuck out at Duke. And I think anytime a quarterback, I think if you look at the history, if they elevate a program, which I thought he really helped do at Duke, you know, then transfers to Notre Dame and helps lead them to the national championship. He's got some unique leadership traits. There's definitely some skills to work with. And look, he's been down there working with Phillip Rivers, who, you know, we have a pretty close relationship with. And Phillip was raving about not only the kid, but also he thought there was more in him, you know, as a passer. So it'd be fun for our coaches to get our hands on him and excited to get Riley. So what about the competition at the top of the flow chart?
What can you tell Colts fans about what it's going to look like, Daniel Jones versus Anthony Richardson from your chair, Chris? Look, I think competition is good for anybody. So I, Rich, I have been great.
Like Connie is so, like he's so happy right now. I've not gone off once in the last few months and I've cleaned up my language. And I've not said any cuss words on the air. Like we have, this is, this is, all right.
So you see, you just know the right questions to ask, even though that's a broad one, you're good at it. Look, competition brings out the best in everybody. And like, we're so impatient nowadays.
We have zero patience with players. Like if they're not, especially the quarterback position, if they're not a superstar right away, they're a failure, which I disagree with. I mean, they've got to work through their struggles and they have to fail and they have to get up and they have to get better from it.
And I think we have two guys that are an example of that, that have, you know, had moments of success, but also had some struggles. So to watch those, to watch, you know, both Anthony and Daniel compete against each other is going to be good for both of them. It's, there's nothing wrong with competition. You know, in a world today where quarterbacks in college football jump at the first chance they can if they have to compete, like that's the wrong, that's the wrong message for the long-term growth of them. And so competing's a good thing.
Always love it, Rich, this is the best. Like always love it when we draft a guy and the agent or somebody will call me or come in, if I draft somebody at a position and they'll say, well, hey, what does that mean for my guy that's on the roster? Well, what do you, what do you mean, what does it mean? Like, he's going to compete. Like that's the essence of what we do. So just to stamp and say, you know, competitions are, it's a great thing for everybody.
Well, sorry for the long, sorry for the long answer. And I did not look, composure, no cuss words came out of my mouth. Like we are making freaking progress here. Well, Chris, you also kept my audio executive on his toes. His finger was right there on the dump button. You know what I mean?
Like he was right there. So you're keeping my staff on the toes. It's, you're making us all better is what I'm saying. And plus, but I'm also, listen, I, my wife and I, we tell our kids all the time, if they don't get what they want right away, say in school or what they're trying to do for, you know, a class election or whatever. Hey, sometimes lack of success or competition is the greatest life lesson. I totally get that. You're talking to a guy that was handed a cardboard box from ESPN, you know, 20 some odd years ago, right? But all that said though, is we are in the results oriented business, obviously in the NFL.
And so that's where people maybe get impatient. So my followup to that is, is when do you, how do you see it playing out? You see this being a training camp thing, a, you know, everybody stays healthy, knock on wood, a preseason thing. Chris, is that the way this, this goes? You think? I don't, I don't have a timeline on it. I mean, when one of them, you know, steps forward and we think he's the guy, then that's the direction we'll go.
I mean, I think it will be in training camp, but we'll see how that plays out over time. Chris Ballard here on The Rich Eisen Show. On my buddy, Pat McAfee's show, the commissioner threw out an idea of maybe having only seven minute first round selections with a two minute, you know, once you can use it once, a two minute extension of your time, would you be, would that be cool with you? Chris, would you be into that sort of thing?
Hey, I just sold the tacos, Rich. Just tell me what the rules are and that's what we're going to do. Come on now.
You still have a preference, wouldn't you? Like, whatever. You know, if they tell us two minutes, we'll draft it two minutes. Just give me the ground. As long as everybody's playing by the same rules, then we're good. I don't care.
I mean, whatever. How often do you use the full 10? How often does that happen? Where you're like, I'm glad I had the full 10. We used it.
Excuse me, I just, I can't lie to you. This year, they told us to hold the pick for five minutes and whatever. And I told Mike Bloom, turn it in. I don't care. Just turn the thing in, it was like two minutes on the clock.
Well, I mean, that certainly happens when you covered somebody like Tyler Warren and he drops in your lap. So, you know. In terms of, and like, if you've got a trade going on, but most of the time you have a lot of those details, especially in the first round, worked out. If you're going to do it. And then somehow we get it done with trades in five minutes and later rounds. So I don't, you know, whatever they want to do, we'll do it.
And as long as the rules are the same, we'll be good. And I imagine you feel the same way if you're soon going to have to FaceTime somebody to find out, or tell them they're getting ready to be drafted because of all the craziness that just went down with the prank calling, Chris, right? Well, I get prank called all the time. I just don't talk about it. I mean, somehow people get my number.
I get all kinds of wacky calls. Are you serious? Are you serious? Oh yeah. And I'll talk to them. Like I'll talk to them. What?
Oh yeah. Just for fun. But no. Give me an example. That should not. Seriously, give me an example. If someone's calling you during the draft, your phone rings and it's just.
No, not during the draft, but other times of the year. Here's a, I'm going to give you a great one. So I start getting these text messages from, I don't even know who it is.
About four years ago. And I don't know the number, so I delete it. And then it pops up with another number and says, can't get rid of me. I'll delete it and block. Can't get rid of me.
So finally I'm like, okay, what? And next thing I know we're talking football for like 20 minutes in text messaging. So I get all kinds of crazy, either calls or text messages during the draft that, I mean, come on, grow up. Grow up. Grow up. You sure that wasn't Jonathan Taylor when he's looking for a new contract, Chris? You sure that wasn't him?
Not really. From a burner? From a burner?
From a burner, probably. A robo. It's all the robo calls.
I got it set out. I know, it could have been Jim Irsay from the bus. You never know. I mean. I promise you, I know when he calls. Hey Chris, thanks for the time, man. Appreciate it.
Absolutely. Enjoy it. Thank you as always. It's always a good chat with you. Congrats on your draft. Hope it works out, obviously, as well as you want. And we'll chat again soon. Thanks for the time. All right, thanks Rich.
Appreciate it. That's Chris Farrell, the GM of the Indianapolis Post right here on the Rich Eisen Show. He cut his hair.
I didn't recognize him. I'll tell you what. If Lesnead shows up with tight hair, an hour or three, then I know the world's off its axis.
Major letdown, not gonna lie, if that's the case. Tyler Warren drops to the guy and he's like, I don't care about five minutes, put the damn pick in. Two minutes in. And you know, again, that's for us on television. That is for us on television. Biggest ratings the NFL Draft has seen in years. And a lot of that had to do with Chidor dropping. We've never had a story in the NFL Draft and not to call Chidor's personal difficult ordeal.
I'm sure it was for a kid to watch him drop. And it took, I'm sure those two days felt like two years. But I've never seen a draft in which somebody could be a top five pick in the eyes of some and he winds up a fifth round pick in front of the eyes of the world. And that story, we've never had a night one storyline last all the way to day three. We've never had it.
It's the first time in 22 years. And the story wasn't just football. It was people who never text me about the NFL Draft saying, what is up with Chidor Sanders?
What is up with Deion's kid? Honestly, I got texts from people who never text me about football ever. So, and this is clearly when it's on NFL Network and ESPN and ABC television, it is an important television product for the National Football League, especially when that can all go up in smoke because somebody else is tipping a pick or somebody else is not letting the drama play out for five minutes because they're sending their pick in too darn fast. But the commitment and the fact that it goes 10 minutes, I think the commissioner thinks it's too long, let's shorten it up. And also that shortens the window of picks being tipped. Because it used to be when I started the draft, the commissioner let everyone know who's being drafted. Now the commissioner is on occasion, the last person to let everyone know if they're being drafted if you wanna find out that information in the palm of your hand from somebody else's outfit. When that outfit, I guarantee you, if there's an outfit tipping a pick, they do not have a business deal with the NFL or has no desire to have a business deal with the NFL because that's the way to lose your business deal with the NFL is to tip a pick in the NFL draft. And they take it so seriously, they tell each team, we don't care if the dream player that you've been waiting for is dropped in your lap, you're waiting five minutes to put in that card. We'll take a break right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Andrew Bogusch with a sports update. This episode is brought to you by SelectQuote. Life insurance can have a huge impact on our family's future. With SelectQuote, getting covered with the right policy for you is simple and affordable. SelectQuote's licensed insurance agents will tailor your experience to find a life insurance policy for your needs in as little as 15 minutes. And SelectQuote partners with carriers that provide policies for most of the country's most vulnerable and most vulnerable people in the world. And we're here to help you find the right policy for you. SelectQuote partners with carriers that provide policies for many conditions. SelectQuote, they shop, you save.
Go to selectquote.com slash Spotify pod today to get started. In the middle of the season, you had, I guess, what would be somewhat of a dip, you know, where you weren't nearly on the field as much, not nearly getting as many touches. Was there something in the middle of the season for you to have a step back taken by you or your coaching staff doing that on your behalf?
Was there something like that? Yeah, it was definitely a mindset change as well. Understanding, you know, in college, you know, you're kind of used to being on the field a ton. And coming into this league, you have a lot of elite talent around you. So understanding that you don't necessarily, you don't need to have the ball or plays called around you a hundred percent of the time because you have guys and men who are more than capable of playing at an elite high level. But what matters is when your number is called, will you be ready to play at a high level and make the most out of that opportunity?
So once, you know, I had that mindset change of understanding that no matter when or how my number is called, be able to do my job at a high level. No matter if it's with the ball or without it, do it at a high level so that coaches and teammates are able to say, hey, Jonathan is playing really well, either when he has the ball or when he doesn't. And that's how you're in the trust of your coach's teammates. I'm Jonathan Taylor of the Colts here on the Rochester. This is fascinating to me because I never, you know, having watched you in the Big 10 and watched you, you know, destroy my alma mater, you know, in Michigan. And so I've watched you in games that mean a lot to me personally.
And then I watched you in games because I'm a Big 10 fan. I never thought you, Jonathan Taylor, would need to have some sort of reset or lesson about what to do in the balls in your hand or have some sort of proper mentality when that happens. So what are you referring to when you're saying this about your journey and getting to the point where you're ready for the playoffs at the top of your game right now?
I wonder what you're referring to right there. Yeah, so a lot of times people will really, may get down in the slumps. Let's say, you know, they had a bad game and they're not sure like, man, am I really cut out for this? And I think one of the biggest things is realizing that, hey, adversity is gonna come, you're here for a reason. I mean, and that's one of the biggest things that I got from my teammates is you're fine. I mean, it's just, you're a rookie year. You're here for a reason. You need some time to adjust. I mean, it's been a crazy year, but stick with your process. You know, don't waver or change from the process that you've gone through that got you to where you're at here. You're gonna have a bad game. Inversity is gonna happen. Only thing you can do is to continue to prepare and try to minimize, minimize the amount of negative plays or the mistakes you might have and continue to push through because like all in all, the biggest message that I got from my teammates was, you're here for a reason.
So keep that in the back of your mind. Great stuff on our YouTube channel. If I may say so myself, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show for our entire archive of 10 plus years, eight four four two oh four Rich is the number to dial here on the program. What'd you think of Chris Ballard's two cents? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
It sounded like a guy who was very fortunate that the guy that he wanted dropped to him. Right, actually. So.
I got two cents. And then we'll see how the quarterback situation plays out. That's obviously the biggest question mark with them. If they put a thumb on the scale for the kid that they drafted, it's over. If they don't, Daniel Jones is the starter. It's that simple.
I think. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. If you're on hold, stay on hold. We'll take your call top of the next hour. Alex Smith will join us in the middle of hour number two.
Always great when he joins us. So you just heard Chris Ballard talk about competition's a great thing. And obviously he's gonna say that.
And it is a great thing. And I meant what I said too, that we, you know, tell our kids at home, hey, if this didn't go your way, guess what? Do better the next time or understand not everything's gonna go your way. As I said yesterday, failure in our world or lack of success is one way to put it also. Sometimes it's viewed as a sign of weakness.
That's a problem. You know, but when you draft somebody when they drafted Anthony Richardson, your hope is there doesn't need to be any competition. He's just gonna come straight out of the box or whatever he's gonna start. He's gonna win a lot of football games. He will not have an injury bug about him. And then on top of it, he's not gonna say stuff like, you know what? I came out of the game cause I was tired.
Or get tired or do silly things like that. And whatever he has shown off field and whatever he has shown on field has caused the Indianapolis Colts to say, this individual needs a push. And it's gonna come in a form of a guy who was a first round draft choice.
Number six overall in his spot in New York who wound up getting flat out cut. Didn't want him around anymore. Let Minnesota have him. You take him cause we're done with Daniel Jones. And I heard Daniel Jones had more money on the table in Minnesota than what Chris Ballard offered him.
And he took less money because if he's going to stay in Minnesota, he knows the only opportunities there is if JJ McCarthy isn't either A physically ready or B falters and they're gonna give JJ McCarthy every opportunity to not need competition. So let's go to the spot where there's competition and I'm being told I've got a real shot to start. There's no other way Daniel Jones shows up in Indianapolis without that assurance of there's gonna be a competition. You're gonna have to win it. But if you win it, job's yours. And he's like, I'll bet on myself and I will go to a spot where Shane Steichen is gonna help me RPO my way back into the status that I hoped I could get in New York when I was drafted or get the contract and second shot success of Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Gino Smith. We can go down the list. And just to repeat what I said at the top of this segment, if they put the thumb on the scale for the kid that they drafted high, it's Anthony Richardson's job.
If it's a straight up competition, I think Daniel Jones will win it because he's got more experience and he's got a skill set that so far is based on everything you see and hear more professional than Anthony Richardson's. And if the head coach and the GM are supposedly sitting on a seat that might be a little hot, although that seat didn't appear to be very hot for Chris Ballard. He's in a very good mood, but it is May 1st. Things can change fast. Again, that's just the way I read it from my seat here in Los Angeles that there's gonna be a competition. They'll be there, the OTAs, and we're gonna go to training camp and we'll see one of the stories of training camp nationwide will be focusing on the splitting of reps in Indianapolis. The splitting of reps will be a big story in Cleveland, right?
Where else are we talking about splitting of reps? New Orleans. New Orleans?
I don't think there will be one in Pittsburgh because Rogers will get them. Most likely, we're assuming. I know that, right? Giants, will we talk about splitting of reps for the Giants between the two vets? I think Debo kind of squashed that. Right.
Where else are we talking about splitting of reps? But if Russ is pushing sleds, then maybe, you know. I think they're gonna keep him away from the sleds in New Jersey.
Dark gets in there. Yeah, yeah. So, the only sled I'll be pushing is for one of his kids in November or December. Hmm.
Yeah, not a lot. That's what I'm saying. So, Indianapolis will be a big, fat spotlight on the number of reps being split in training camp. And then we'll, you know, Daniel Jones will get a preseason start. Anthony Richardson will get a preseason start. Then there'll be a third preseason game where neither of them play because it's too close. And then they'll call it close to the vet. I bet you it'll go up to week one. We're not telling, we'll find out May 14th, who's gonna be on the business end of, why would we tell them what we're gonna do?
Why would we tell them what our plans are? How's that for my prediction of how it's gonna play out for Indianapolis? Seems accurate. And then again, just apples to apples. Somebody who's got all this experience with the Giants and the NFC East and playoff experience. Don't forget that one playoff game against Minnesota is what got a long-term contract for Daniel Jones. That and the fact that they couldn't figure out a number with Saquon, which is, as you know, a whole different story. But that's why I think Daniel Jones, apples to apples, is gonna win that job in Indianapolis. But again, first day of May. Hour number two, Alex Smith coming up, and then Lesnita the Rams and the actress, Patricia Clarkson, in studio hour three.
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