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Visit chevy.com to learn more. Well, that's correct. I can confirm it. Here I am. Hour number two of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. I'm just giving everybody a heads up. It's going to be really weird. But later on in hour number three, after Les Snead of the Rams appears on Zoom and Patricia Clarkson is going to appear in studio at the very end of the show. It's going to be really strange, but Maxie Cleaver is going to finish the show for us. And it's going to be weird. You'll be like, wait a minute, what's he doing here? I didn't even know he was active.
Sorry. Is it too soon? And you know who's going to give the best, most important take at the end of the show? Who's that? Gabe Vinson's going to call it. Gabe Vinson's going to call it. And give the most important take to end the show. Gabe Vinson.
Is this being disrespectful? I don't mean to- Gabe Vinson with the last word. I cannot believe what happened last night. Yeah, you can. Oh, you absolutely can. That's a shame. It is a shame, by the way. Listen, I don't- I wanted to actually just laugh for three hours. That was going to be my take on the whole thing. I wanted to go into game six at the very least.
I wanted to see this series extended. One game. I don't know. Cooper has been accusing me. He calls the Lakers, dad, your favorite team is on right now. And he, I don't know what's going on. Is it his mother's influence? Is it your influence? He is very happy when the Lakers are, it could be like his buddy, his buddy's at school. He's happy to see them unhappy. I don't know.
If my 14 year old was smoking a cigar, he'd have his hands behind his head and his feet up. I'm all for that. I don't know, man. Cause Lakers fans are the worst. No, they're not. Come on. Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Excuse me.
They're up there. You as a Celtic fan, I will accept it from you. You as a Celtic fan, I will accept it. Why? You as a Clipper fan, I will accept it. You got nothing to say.
I have no idea. We've talked about this before. You not have to have a team. It's not about you not having a team.
That's the point. Like suddenly you could just turn around. Let's just say the Lakers figure out, even though they don't have a first round draft choice, they figure it out. They get the perimeter defenders and the rim protectors that they need. Lebron comes back at age 41 and plays like it did at age 40.
And they're going to actually, you know, get him in the spot. They won't, they won't have him playing center like he's Magic Johnson, you know, and, and, and they figure it out and they win it all. You can't come in here and say you're a Laker fan all of a sudden. I will never be a Lakers fan. You would have said 10 years ago, you would have never said I'll be a Dodger fan.
Like Boston, like there's teams that will never stop it. Christian in Toronto, you were here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's take your call. What's up, Christian? How's it going guys? Everyone having a good week? Oh yeah. Having a great week. I just got to say, I just wanted to bring back one thing from yesterday's way too early power rankings.
Yes. Hearing Rich put the commanders at two as a fan, it's very surreal. I got to say, we'll never hear that team in that range, at least in my lifetime.
So I just got to say the drafting of Trey Amos is probably one of the more underrated picks of the draft. Okay. Look at you going deep here. You're going deep. You're going deep right now. Yep.
I have to go deeper. It's a big year. Okay.
Big year for them. How old are you, Christian? How old are you?
I'm 24. Okay. All right. I hear you. It's been a long day.
Last year, they were doing things last year for the first time since you were in diapers. I agree. I hear you. Yep. All right. So you're going, you're going the Ole Miss cornerback.
You're going deep here. All right. So you liked my power rankings. You liked my way too early. Okay.
Okay. I want to hear that the rest of the year. He loved it.
He didn't just like my way too early power rankings. He loved it. I will accept it. Thank you. Good to hear.
I was smiling driving the car. Keep it up, Rich. Thank you. Keep it up. Before I leave, one thing. Rockman, keep the pick of the Lakers yesterday.
I'll just keep making sure I fade, whatever you'd say. Thank you. Oh my God. Christian in Toronto. My God. I know that the Canadians are nice, but this is just over the top.
He even likes your opinionating and keep it going. I mean, I was obviously being facetious. I was not rooting for the Lakers in any way. Christian in Toronto, everybody, ladies and gentlemen. Well done.
Awesome. The number of people, it's called way too early power rankings for a reason. We just, we lopped off away from the way, way too early power rankings I did the Wednesday after the Super Bowl. I just want to know when you came up with those, like how much did it really hurt not having Harbaugh on there? Oh, it just shows you, of course it hurt because I love the O'Marian Hampton pick.
I love adding Najee Harris, you know? I mean, it must have hurt. It must have hurt. Well, I mean, I'm just, I'm just, you know, it doesn't matter how early it is. I just still call it as I see it. Okay. Which, which of these is more likely to not be in the top 10 when the season begins?
You're, you're, you're, you're giving up an actual what's more likely for tomorrow on this right now? Just front loading. Okay. What is it? What's the answer? I don't know. I'm asking you.
What, bucks or charges? I don't know. Bucks, chargers.
What's more likely about what? Are we going to drop the Lions? Are we, are we out of love with Dan Campbell already? We're out of love. We're out of love.
My thought process on it was they lost both coordinates. What happened to the Eagles after they made the Super Bowl and lost both coordinators? They did win 10 of their first 11, I understand, but then it all went south and they changed their coordinators.
Yada, yada, yada. They're defending Super Bowl champs. I think we did figure out though, you do love J.J. McCarthy more than you love Jim Harbaugh though, right? Whatever. Now you're just being. If that only, if only that finger of blame you had right there, T.J. had a middle finger on it.
Tullo, do we got that somewhere? I'd be pointing it in that direction. So dumb. How many people commented on the YouTube video?
I think it's like 720. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I wasn't trying to spark, it wasn't, it wasn't even a sake of argument.
I wasn't trying to spark an argument. It's 730 right now. Oh my God. I can read some of the best ones. Oh my God. Um, before we welcome an Alex Smith in the next segment, let's give some flowers. Okay.
Roses. When you lose to the Lakers, okay, you're totally forgotten. The only way that you're more forgotten by losing to the Lakers in a situation like last night is to beat the Lakers because you're just as forgotten. Did I say a word about the Minnesota Timberwolves?
No 17 minutes. If you lose to the Dallas Cowboys, let's just say once upon a time, the Dallas Cowboys make it to the super bowl, right? Wow. Let's just say that happens.
Good for 10. Okay. Right.
Right. If you listen to it, let's say, let's say the Cowboys make the super bowl, right? And you, and you lose too. I mean, the only way that you would not be talked about is if you beat them. My favorite meme I saw with the Eagles fans, uh, when they went to the white house is, you know, how they, uh, the Cowboys haven't made it to the white house in 30 years. That was a good line. Um, long story short, you get my drift here.
Sure. We in the media talk about the losses of the teams, like the Lakers and the Cowboys more than the teams that beat them. That's our fault. Minnesota Timberwolves are at it again, guys. They're at it again. And a lot of people thought they wouldn't be at it again when they traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks who are still at it against the Pistons. The Karl-Anthony Town Knicks are the three seed and the Lakers are the three seed and the six seed against the Knicks is still at it. Hosting a game tonight, a force of game seven in Madison square garden over the weekend, which would be lit. If that happens, nerve wrackingly lit the Timberwolves are the six seed to do something to the Lakers. That's never been done before.
One and Dunning a Lakers team that's seated three or better in the first round of the playoffs. And Anthony Edwards is doing it again. Guys, he's doing it again. He is talking the talk and walk in the walk. And he's also talking the talk while walking the walk.
And we'll show that in a second. But he is all that and the biscuit and even last night go bear did his job significantly. Well, my God, the inside the NBA guys were just Raz and Shaq for the Lakers loss and Colin go bear like what Wilt go bear. So I'm saying Rudy Chamberlain, right? Right.
That's that's the stuff they were saying. And he was counting it. And Julius Randall go bear had twenty seven and twenty four.
So I'm saying he realized he was seven. And again, don't let's not go there or saying, why wouldn't the Lakers just turn to anybody who's tall on their bench or behind the bench? Kareem, how many minutes can you give us?
Like 30 seconds. OK, Alex London was on the bench. So let's not go there. Let's give the the Timberwolves their flowers because Julius Randall was doing his thing in the fourth quarter. Dante DiVincenzo is more than just showing up as the guy who's no longer with the Knicks on the phone commercials right now. You know, the left out Nova Nick.
Right. How about Mike Conley? How about him making the three? That was a backbreaking three. They were horrible from three point last night until he made one and then that kind of broke the Lakers back. That forced them to turn to Gabe Davis, Gabe Vincent to get him out of the mix. The wolves were seven for forty seven from three and who has been money all year from three point.
I think he led the league and three pointers made this year over eleven. But hey, Chris Finch and that coaching staff decided to, you know, put their nose to their grindstone and they figured out exactly where the weaknesses were for the Lakers and just kept hammering it. The minute that Luca couldn't even move, they were they just they didn't they didn't stop going to him. They did the smart thing with the exception of like the first two minutes of the second half when they were just shooting threes like crazy. And then they they got back to the business at hand.
But. And Edwards is got that red ass in him. Where he'll just take it in. Well, he likes it. Well, I mean, as we said, he's his character in the Hustle movie.
He wants to be the villain. He wants to be the one to to end your season, which is, again, I know last year there were all these comparisons to Jordan. That's like Jordan. That's like Kobe. That's like, you know.
Just go ahead and say Lakers in five and good luck to you because I was. I think that was only echoing what he was saying. That was inside. I was inside.
Yeah. Then he went outside. I mean, he went outside.
He literally did a victory lap around around crypto. Where the thing is around, they got to walk across the street to get to the hotel, which is weird. So they just walk from the arena.
It was a nice night to the hotel. And then, you know, what I mean, he's a people person. He wanted to meet people fans.
So fans line up and they just, you know, there's a procession. I don't know if anybody's actually listened to any of that, but the biggest news to come out of that Ant-Man's favorite movie, Matilda, might have wanted one of those street sausage things. Oh, yeah, they're good.
They're right there. They can wrap hot dogs. You know, it smells good.
Anoxicating. I know. I don't know.
It just smells better in New York because it's a mixture of the pretzels, too. Yeah. And the warm and the warm nuts. Yeah. Yeah.
And the hot garbage. You're not referring to D's are you? Let's see. Nothing gets DJ Jefferson better than that. You know, Anthony Edwards was saying the same. At least he's consistent.
Yes. This is what he has said to the press afterwards. It means a lot. I mean, we beat the best player in the world. You know, what makes it feel even better is that they said Lakers in five and the Wolves won in five.
So I think that makes it feel ten times better. That's like my only answer. They said. And and the Wolves won in five. And thanks for that update.
The Wolves. Here's here's Anthony Edwards with a sports update. And then he went outside.
Can I see that one more time? Walking around outside, walking around. He's doing the traffic and the weather together with sports. There is a nice night. Just doing a victory lap.
Not a lot of traffic. And you know, he's talking mad. Nice walk to the to the what? The the Ritz or is he going to the JW JW? Yeah.
Going to the JW. But seek this out for they all listen to all the smack talk. He did not stop talking for the whole like two minute video that's out there. He just wants a piece.
No, you don't. He don't want peace. He wants a war.
He wants smoke and all of it. And the Warriors just tapped out with five minutes to go in the third quarter where this thing was over in the first quarter. I know. And Steve Kurtwell was yeah, it was a 16 point deficit after one is bigger. And yeah, they almost had the Miami Heat feed from then for the previous night was on to the second quarter. That's all we were saying. It's halftime.
Yeah, that thing was over. And Kurt pulled the starters five minutes to go. And the only thing that was interesting was a guy who rarely plays for the Warriors, who looks just like Will Forte, went right at Shungun and got ejected. Will Forte. He looks just like Will Forte, the guy who got ejected. He was bawling out. I'm like, since when is MacGruber on on on on the Warriors?
MacGruber. He got ejected for a headbutt in Shungun. Baby Jokic. Nobody puts baby Jokic in the corner.
Baby Jokic. The biggest thing last night from that game was that weird picture of Steph's thumb. Yeah, I know. I don't know what that was.
Oh, and then, you know, everyone's like you're following through to make sure they hit they hit his hand after he shot because it's legal to hit the shooter's hand after the shot. That's another thing. Man, the NBA is just filled with dramas and complaints and all of that stuff. You know, it's like one big opera. Wasn't that?
That was TNT slogan for a while, right? We know drama. We know drama. We love drama. I know. So who's the Rizzoli and I also?
That's what I'm saying. Of the NBA. Who's the closet old school TNT show, huh? At any rate, the Timberwolves are really frigging good. They're going to get the winner of the Rockets and the Warriors. And then OKC's just home chillin. Oh, I don't know.
We'll see who OKC plays. What's going to happen tonight, Tej? You going? Oh, you got to go.
You got to go into it. You know how much tickets are going to be tonight. Got to go tonight.
What's wrong with you? Come on. You got that no contest money.
No contest. Have we have we have we checked in on a welfare check on O'Shea Jackson? Oh, yeah. We've done that.
It's time. I'm at the end of the show to see if he's OK. So he he called me a copy of the L.A. Times for him to hold up to make sure that he's OK. We will face Tej. You were saying, oh, no, he called me last night. And the first thing I said, yo, man, I'm really sorry about your team. He goes, oh, T.J., that's not what I'm calling about. And I'm like, oh, OK.
But at day one, that would have been exactly about. He was like, so he's OK. Does he need a hug? I'm O'Shea Jackson. Oh, my team has a break show. Oh, my gosh. This is just bury me in purple with the flood. That's right.
Oh, I'm in I'm in a new movie, Den of Rip Protecting. Oh, yeah. We cut that up in the shower ending the show. He didn't want to talk about it. Oh, that's odd because he likes to say he likes talking.
I like I started he went right into some wrestling thing. So he didn't want to have anything to do with the Lakers. I'm just saying, OK, let's check his Twitter feed.
Oh, please. What's going on over there? Oh, he's he's definitely arguing with somebody about him. Do we let him know we're calling him?
Oh, do we just face time and just face time? OK. He might not accept. Oh, he did say he's no way. Last night, I would like to thank my brother, Bert Kreischer, for this bottle of porosos.
Much needed. He was drinking the clear stuff last night. To the face. To the face. To the face.
To the face. Let's take a break. Oh, I'm O'Shea Jackson. Keep it classy.
Alex Smith's come out. OK, that's a classy man. It's classy. This message is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. May is Military Appreciation Month, and we're celebrating the military community that goes above and beyond every day with Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal was created for the military community and is dedicated to ensuring that its members feel celebrated and honored every single day. For over 90 years, Navy Federal's mission has been to support and uplift the military community.
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That's OReillyAuto.com slash Eisen. Alex Smith going to join us from the radio audio returns in a couple of minutes. TJ, you didn't tell me you watched the game with O'Shea last night. I didn't. You did?
Because I've got a photograph of it. You were zooming together. Yo, let me tell you something. Oh, wait a minute. No, wait a minute. That was him learning. Luca was going to be a Laker and he was stunned and he was dreaming of more than one playoff win. The crazy thing about that is we were filming our podcast at like 1130 at night in Indiana.
And then next morning I just go broke so late. I just go clip this. I didn't think anything of it. I was like, just he goes, can I tweet this out? I'm like, yeah, go ahead. Blue.
But you're missing the point here is that the Royal of the Royal rumble you were discussing was the Royal purple and gold. Yeah. Letting them down, let them down. And you know, I really want the Lakers to win. I don't know why they're your favorite team. Cooper accuses them of being my favorite team. That is true. I like watching Luca and LeBron play together.
LeBron takes the court. This is right. Jeannie Buss is a friend of the show.
She's been there multiple times. There are neighbors down the street down the street. Like any of my neighbors.
Come on, man. You like your neighbors. He wants to be the guy who does that guy.
I think right. You're that guy. I'm a neighbor. Here's the thing.
And I said this before. I already have a number of friends that I can, I need and can handle. You know, just because we, we live next door to each other doesn't mean we need to be friends. That's odd because the way you act every day here, it makes it seem like you're friendless. You act repellent.
You're like, you're like friend repellent. I will apologize for yesterday. I didn't get a lot of sleep and I wasn't kind of a mood, but you were in kind of a mood radio network sitting at the rich eyes and show desk furnished by grain supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call click ranger.com or just stop by. Well, when our booking team said this man was available and was going to be up for coming on the show, that was a snap. Yes. Right. You can confirm this and not just because he's listening in on zoom right now, but about to be introduced a snap. Yes. Yes. Courtesy of Vertex pharmaceuticals.
Three-time pro bowler, Alex Smith. You're on the program. Good to see you, man. How are you? Good to see you. I'm doing great.
Rich. Great to see you. First time we met on the set of NFL total access. Remember that prior to the draft.
Absolutely. You were just a young kid from the Utah football program with a dream. That's what you were on that set. I remember. I won't forget it because you would obviously just come over to NFL network and it was like, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever get a chance to meet you, get interviewed by you like NFL network. Like I, again, I was playing football in the mountain West, uh, in Utah and it was all of it was so unexpected.
And those are, it was like one of those moments, rich. I just, I'll never forget it. What was your draft moment? Who called you? What was that call like?
When did it happen? The whole bit for you when you got that call first overall pick. Yeah. Like I still remember it. You know, you're I, again, talk about unexpected.
You're sitting in the green room at that round table, right? It was like an outer body experience. That phone that's sitting in the middle of the table.
Like you're like, how did this phone even get here? Um, yeah. And then, you know, you get the phone call and it's, you know, for me, it was Scott McLuhan and Mike Nolan and Mike McCarthy was the offensive coordinator at the Niners at the time. And yeah, that they were going to take me number one overall. And, um, again, walking out on stage, it was, it was all like a dream. Uh, literally it was an event as a football kid that I grew up watching the draft and you just, again, never imagined, uh, that it would ever be you, uh, doing it. Just the, the odds, right?
We all know the odds of being able to play professionally and let alone be in the number one overall pick. And so, um, again, 20 years ago, rich, that was 20 years ago. I'm 40. That was half, half a lifetime ago for me.
So 20 years ago, commissioned to Tagliabue was the commissioner. I know. Yep. Yeah. Damn. So what would your advice, what hasn't changed is the pressure that comes with being the first overall pick. What would your advice to Cam Ward be? Alex? Yeah.
You know, it's funny. I, um, the expectations haven't changed, but what has is certainly the college landscape. And, uh, I don't, you know, I don't think Cam needs a ton of advice. Like, I think I look at the difference between his experience and mine again, for me being 20 years old, coming from the mountain West, uh, to, to the NFL, to the San Francisco 49ers. Back then when I signed my contract, I was one of the highest paid players in the league.
There was so much weight that came with all of those expectations, right? Like you look at Cam's journey, it's just so different and all these college quarterbacks, right? There's a college marketplace now.
So these guys stay in college longer. Cam has played at three schools, right? He's done this before.
He's moved to a new place and had high expectations and delivered, and then done it again. He's basically been a professional athlete, um, at the collegiate level. Uh, again, I just think he's far more prepared. He's, he's had a bigger college career. Like I think he's more comfortable with who he is and his game.
Um, and again, he just doesn't, it's this nice level up for these quarterbacks. Now it was no different than Jayden Daniels a year ago, Bo Nix, these guys that have had huge college careers. They've basically become professional athletes already. They have moved and played in different environments. Uh, you know, again, for me, just to pose that to, you know, coming from salt Lake and again, the mountain West at that point as a 20 year old kid, uh, to the NFL, it just was such a bigger jump. And it, and it took me, you know, a few years, right?
Like several years to find my way. And again, these guys I think are better for it. And that's why we're seeing such great rookie football, especially out of the QBs, right? Like, I don't think it's a coincidence that CJ shroud and Jayden Daniels and all these guys that are playing so well, so fast. Uh, and I think Cam Ward will keep that up. Yeah. I mean, we were talking to Tyler Shuck, Alex of a couple of weeks ago and yeah, he's, he's almost as old as me.
You know how many exact, you know, no, I know. Uh, he's 25, but he said what, what he's telling teams is I'm the most pro ready guy because, um, not just of his age, but he's come back from injury. Um, he's changed schools sometimes not of his own doing. Um, he's had different coordinators, different coaches, different playbooks. And then, you know, three weeks before I was interviewing Jalen hurts for the super bowl, Alex, and, and I mentioned to him how he's going to have another, probably most likely another offensive coordinator this year. And sure enough, that's true because the guy who drafted Tyler Shuck is, is, is there in new Orleans and hurts was like, yeah, tell me about it.
You know what I mean? And that's the super bowl MVP quarterback. That's the, that's the world of, of quarterbacking now it seems like.
Yeah. Tyler is a great example. Like you said it for one, he's played at different programs, he's moved around and played under different offenses. So I think he's more prepared again, to learn a new offense quickly. Like those are all great things to have under his belt. The other thing is this is a kid that's faced adversity already.
I think I look back at myself at that point, like I hadn't, or like I had not faced adversity. I hadn't faced expectations and Tyler has and has gone through that process and I think he's better for it. Um, so I absolutely, I totally agree, um, that I think he's, he's more prepared for this moment. Um, again, because of those things he's gone through and I know he's, you know, again, he, this guy that has dealt with a lot of diversity in his college career, incredibly talented.
I think it's going to serve him well that he, that he has worked through it, um, and come out the other side. That said, Alex Smith, what is your assessment of a number of years a quarterback should be given to reach, um, potential years? And I've asked this of Goff, I've asked this of Baker Mayfield, and obviously you had success at San Francisco before you left and then clearly after you left. So what's your assessment of the, the patience that should be required of fans and coaches of the quarterbacks that just got drafted? Yeah, I mean, I think, uh, more, I think we all need more patients with these, these young guys. Um, I think unfortunately there's this, there's this thought process in the NFL that you're kind of a finished product and, and very few places or regimes or organizations allow, uh, you know, draft picks, not just quarterbacks, but time to develop and grow. Uh, and it's certainly, I think one of the amazing attributes of Andy Reed, like I think he does a better job with development.
He is more patient with guys. He allows them to make mistakes. I can't tell you how many places I've been where like big, they coach out of fear, right? Like you, you become terrified to make mistakes, right? Like you feel like you can't.
And let me tell you how you, if you go out there and play guarded like that, your chances of having success and ever reaching your potential. And so I think the good places do it. Uh, but the problem is those are, those are, they're few and far between. Um, and, and uh, you know, I'm not, we're part of the problem, rich as a media member now, like I've been adding to this, uh, the pressure that's on these, these, these young guys and the fan bases and to be good right now. Um, you know, and, and unfortunately guys like, you know, Jayden Daniels, who, who arguably had maybe the greatest rookie season in American sports history, right? Like, uh, it's, you know, obviously I think that affects all of us. Like, why can't our guy be like that?
And again, this is coming from, you know, me, I arguably had maybe the worst rookie season ever. Um, so it's a nature of it. I think it's something you have to like take head on though, right? Like you can't pretend like it's not there. Uh, it is a reality and you know, I think you have to embrace it and lean into it, uh, to be able to try to work through it.
So how many years do you got a number? Yeah. I mean, I, I think, you know, certainly I think, uh, I would hope that a, uh, a rookie contract, especially as a first round pick was a long enough time, but again, we see it not happen, right? Like look at Baker Mayfield.
I mean, he leads Cleveland to the playoffs. It has all this promise and somehow they don't take advantage and let him go. Uh, and I love seeing what he's doing as he's bounced to multiple teams, right?
Sam Darnold, uh, same thing. This guy is so talented, but, uh, they make a mistake and move on from him in my opinion. Um, so, uh, I would like to think that, listen, given four or five years, that's enough time, uh, to see what a guy's made of and, uh, if he can make it at this level or not. Well, obviously, you know, you're, you're rightfully praising Andy Reed for his abilities to be patient. Clearly it helps to have had the experiences he had at Philadelphia to do that in Kansas city. And also he had someone like you, Alex, you know, who, um, was expertly guiding the ship and, um, allowed Mahomes to sit. Um, and, and the only time he got in, in his rookie years, wet his beak a little bit in the final week, because you had already helped the team make the playoffs by that point in time. Did you know how good Mahomes was? You got a good story when you were there that you knew that, okay, he is the guy potentially, I think a couple of things. One, there was never, you know, it's hard when you're a backup quarterback and you're only, you're on the scout team.
Uh, you don't get a lot of reps to shine again, as quarterbacks in practice, we wear this bright yellow Jersey. You're kind of untouchable. Um, there was no like a thing early on that he did that like, you know, made you think, Oh, he's got it. I think there were a couple of things. One, uh, his work ethic though, this guy beat me into the office almost every morning. Um, he was not afraid of work. He did the little things. Uh, I think how, how hard he worked in the classroom. I think it's something that gets overlooked is I think this is, I think he's the best quarterback in the NFL at the line of scrimmage. When you talk about making protection adjustments, getting to the right play, but the problem is he's so good improving that that's all we, I think that it gets the attention. Um, I think as the season went on though, there were throws that he made, um, throughout, you know, you'd see on the practice field and you start to see how fast he was processing. And it's certainly that last game you referenced, um, you know, to go out there in an NFL game and play the way he did. I think we, everybody that was there that day knew that he was ready. Um, you know, and certainly for me, he knew the writing was on the wall. Uh, and, uh, yeah, like, uh, it was a process though. And again, I think the ability to have some freedom to develop and not play right away certainly could have, of course.
But, uh, I think again in Kansas city that they're, they're reaping the rewards, uh, of that kind of patience. Oh, I gotta tell you, man, we were at the super bowl in Minneapolis. It was the Eagles versus the Patriots on the day you got traded. We had Travis Kelsey on the show and he was broken up. You should know he was totally broken up cause you were his guy and he was your guy. And he said, he can't think of a, you know, a time where, uh, you know, it's not Kelsey and Alex Smith, you know, and, and obviously looking back now, um, it's, it's clearly something that, uh, we, we know he and, and my homes are locked at the hip, but he, he was busted up cause you got traded Alex.
Yeah. No, I, I, I played five years with Travis, right? Like I, he came in as a young buck and I was kind of the old guy and, and, uh, obviously we're, we're still really close, but like, you know, to see what him and Patrick have done, I mean, I think these guys are business owners now. I think they just opened a steak house, but, uh, their relationship is so cool to see from afar.
I have to get to come back to training camps. I know both of them so well, um, to see these guys are like stepbrothers off the field and, uh, they are so incredibly close. They give each other such direct feedback all the time. Uh, and then it's, it's obviously I think historic what they've done on the field. Um, so incredibly cool. Obviously Kelsey's just an amazing human being, uh, as is Patrick. And so I think, uh, you know, for you to share that, I didn't know that, but like, he's such an amazing guy. Like he pours his heart and soul into everything. And, and, uh, again, that's cool to know, but obviously I think for me, it's special to see what those two have done.
And, and again, their relationship and then the human beings that they are on top of obviously just being pretty good at football. Still tight with Kelsey as in tickets to Taylor Swift concerts for you and the family type. I haven't hit him up on that, nor do I ever expect to, you know, he's got it. He's got enough people. I'm sure bringing that up to him, I don't know. It's, it's, it's, um, um, I don't know.
We found out, I think, uh, the only person we've actually located, who's done that sort of thing was Greg Olson and Kittle let that one out of the bag when he was on this program. So, okay. So we cross you off that list. You're not going to do that.
You could just go, you could just get it yourself. It's basically what you're saying, Alex, right? Yeah.
I, I, listen, I, again, those are, these are special relationships and to go ask for a handout, uh, from his, you know, his girlfriend, I just, uh, it's not, it's not my thing. That's right. Alex Smith, you are above board, man. Um, let's, let's talk about Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the pain game plan campaign. What is this that you're, you're doing with them, Alex?
Yeah. You know, this is, this is the first time, Rich, that I've really opened up on certainly the pain side of my, my recovery and my injury. Um, and it's something that, you know, we don't talk about in this country.
We don't, it's certainly taboo. There's a stigma around a lot of the medications, uh, that were available at the time for me. Um, again, it was such an afterthought, um, of my injury and recovery. And the crazy thing is, listen, pain is not unique to football players, right? It wasn't unique to me and a guy that broke his leg. Like pain is something that we all deal with.
It is universal. It is so personal. Uh, and it, and when you're in it, it overwhelms everything, you know, how you engage with the world. Uh, are you, I, for me, my ability to be a husband and a dad is so much more difficult when you're dealing with pain. And unfortunately, if I could go back and give myself some advice and like, it doesn't have to be that way, right? Like, don't be afraid to ask the questions, have the conversation to steer your own ship, you know, and for me to, to try and tell my story, to encourage people, to empower people that are dealing with pain when it comes along to go do this, right? Like ask the questions, have the conversations beforehand, develop a game plan, a personalized game plan with your doctors, with your care team, for anybody out there dealing with pain right now, or as a loved one, go to paingameplan.com. There are a bunch of resources out there, you know, to ask your doctor about other options, not opiate options. There are, I wish they were available when I was, you know, dealing with my injury.
And so, um, again, it just doesn't have to be like this, but you know, it shouldn't be, this is something that is so human. Um, and again, the narrative around pain management needs to change 17 surgeries. Is it true your wife carried around rescue meds for a while? Yeah. We got discharged.
Yeah. Rich, when we got discharged from the hospital, we got bags of medication, obviously a bunch of, a bunch of opiates. And we had heard the horror stories, you know, and, and one of the medications that we got prescribed was this rescue medication. And you're given a pamphlet, a pamphlet of directions that's this thick, um, it's unreadable and you're scared to death, you know, like that you're going to mess something up or make a mistake.
And yeah, she carried it around with her, uh, everywhere we went and she kept everything under lock and key. And again, like we just went through this the hard way and you stumble through things. And again, it is so taboo in this country and thankfully things are changing and hopefully, you know, that, you know, this, this campaign, like with Vertex, that to help people like change the narrative and ask, ask your doctor questions about other options, right? There are, there are more things out there, steer the conversation. Yeah, I know. And I'm, I'm to heck with it. I know you're going to go, um, high bar and this is kind of a low bar question here, but I mean, sir, your comeback player of the year, Alex, when you look at somebody who's come back player of the year, because they were, they were sitting at home or they're, they, they haven't gotten a starter's job, you know, does that, does that go at any point and go, you know, listen, I mean, I think it's all relative, right? Like we all like, you don't have to be in the NFL. Like we all deal with expectations. We all deal with like our own doubt and fears and we've all, we all deal like with adversity and, and, um, you know, mine, like I didn't do mine alone. I didn't get through my, my injury alone. So like, I know I got, I know I got that award, but like there were so many people, uh, that were a part of that.
And, and that's really kind of, again, what this is about. Like, you don't have to, I felt alone for a long time, but like, thankfully I had an amazing team and family and so no, I don't belittle those people, Rich. No, I don't. I don't ask you to.
We're sitting here and we're like, really? I mean, you know, come on that you're coming back from what, you know? All right.
At any rate, I'm sorry to put you in that position. Uh, before I let you go, do you look at what's going on with the Washington franchise? And it's unrecognizable to you right now.
Let's go. Yes. Right. Isn't that amazing? And isn't I it's so good, right?
Like it, it, it isn't recognizable rich, like it doesn't. Um, and you know, when I was there, that fan base was so frustrated and deservedly from decades of dysfunction. Uh, it is such a prideful fan base and organization that has great history and given their year last year, like, and, and I think, man, doesn't leadership make a difference. And you think about the leadership at the ownership spot with Josh Harris, Dan Quinn, I think is one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Uh, Adam Peters, uh, who I know from his days in San Francisco is like, so prepared for this, look at the job he's done. And then that guy right there, Jayden Daniels, like at the top, like their future is so bright, uh, to, to hear the announcement of the stadium.
I mean, uh, rich, like it was, it was the worst game day experience in football, like going out to Landover and that stadium was kind of falling apart and like you would drive on my way home, I would drive right by RFK and wonder why we weren't there, you know, and you would hear the glory days of the hogs and all those memories there and the waiting list for tickets. And, uh, to think that those days may be coming back is, is so cool. And I'm so happy for that fan base and, and everybody involved in that organization.
Yeah. The fight for old DC, man. And, and it really is, um, amazing second overall on the clock one year ago, who knows what Jane Daniels is going to be smashed cut to now. And they're, they're like a model franchise.
It's crazy, but well-deserved as you point out for the fans. Uh, Hey man, it's so great to catch up with you. We should do this more often. You know, I really appreciate you saying that. Cause I'm going to take you up on that. And I've known you now for 20 years. You know what I mean? I had hair, you, you, you're, you're like Paul Rudd.
You haven't aged, um, you know, and I had no hair here. I like it. I know.
And now look at you. Um, and so thanks again for, for, for the two cents here and uh, everybody, what's the, uh, the spot everyone should go to. What's the name of the website pain game plan.com. Go check it out again.
Uh, anybody, if you got loved ones, you're dealing with pain. There's a lot of great resources on there. Alex, thanks for the time.
We'll chat soon. Best of your fam. That's Alex Smith. Very rarely do I have anybody on the show that could come from my best dad ever title, but you know what I do, I do it for the show.
There may be an I in rich and Eisen, but not in show there's an iron rich, but not Ackerman. Here's a sports update 24 chefs, 24 culinary showdowns for 24 hours straight chef will out cook, outpace, outlast the competition. No chef escapes the clock. All new 24 and 24 last chef standing Sunday night at eight C at first on food network stream next day on max eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from Evglis after an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about four and 10 people taking Evglis achieved, it's relief and clear or almost clear skin.
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Ask your doctor about Evglis and visit Evglis dot lily.com or call 1-800-Lily-Rx or 1-800-545-5979. What are your feelings now that Alex Smith has been unofficially traded away to use your phraseology here? It's awkward. It's awkward.
I honestly don't know how to really accept it. I mean, through my entire career, you can't say Travis Kelsey without Alex Smith. I mean, he's been my quarterback. He's been the guy that's arguably the I owe a lot of my success to him, you know, so it's it's going to be awkward going into a huddle. Like I said with with anybody but Alex, but I know Pat is ready for the opportunity.
Sure. He's he's taking a lot of a lot of mental reps and a lot of notes from Alex and how this thing should be ran. Alex ran into it to an absolute T this this past season.
And you know, obviously everyone's excited to see what he can do. Well, how did you learn about it yesterday? The trade Twitter? Twitter? Yeah, my girlfriend called me and told me what's going on with Alex.
And sure enough, I went on Twitter and every everything told me that he was being traded to Washington. Now, you know, we don't usually get into the personal life here on the show. But is this the young lady from catching Kelsey?
No, this is not. So it was catching to put that show in the archives. Oh, really?
It was a fun show, but it really wasn't that fun afterwards. And yeah, so it was on catching Kelsey and release. Yes. Catch it. Fumble Kelsey.
Yes. It's not a catch. Not a catch. It was one of those grounds. Is it a catch?
Jesse James? The relationship did not survive the ground. No, it didn't.
It didn't. But now we have a catch. We have a catch. Might have a touchdown. Might have a touchdown. So that was a celebration dance then of some sort. There will be if, for the review, the catch is under review.
We'll see where it goes. The red challenge flag still in the pocket. Yeah. For Travis Kelsey. And look, Mahomes, we had Chris Harris of the Broncos on game day morning in the playoffs. And he said when he was looking at film of Mahomes and he played a couple of series against him. Yeah. He says this kid's got some serious ability. The Broncos said that. Yeah.
Have you seen anything of that note? Without a doubt. I mean, what he does in practice is it's fun to watch him in practice because kind of he's on the scout team kind of just being a backyard quarterback, throwing it all every way imaginable. You can think of sidearm underhand, putting the ball anywhere on the field. So it was definitely fun watching him in that regard.
And like I said, it's going to be exciting to see where you can go with it because it's the expectation is definitely high. Yada, yada, yada. They're going to the hall of fame together.
First ballot, whenever they, whenever they go, I love watching. He's got a new girlfriend, by the way. And, and the catching Kelsey is definitely buried.
Definitely. That was the first time he was on this program years before that. What a funny, he's funny him and his brother together.
Just laugh out loud. Funny gosh on that pod, but it's just great to see that broken up about him saying that you can't say Kelsey without Smith, but you can't say Kelsey without my homes and my homes without Kelsey. I mean, Brady and Edelman, Brady and Gronk, you know, that changed real quick. It sure did. So my gosh, I just love seeing that video back. It's also very funny.
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That's AURAframes.com promo code of rich and support us by mentioning us at checkout terms and conditions apply eight four four two oh four rich number to dial right here on the program. J D J J Redick has spoken. So we'll get that for you. I texted O'Shea Jackson jr and during the two commercial breaks ago, tell him to bolo bolo for a last segment. Our three FaceTime from the rich eyes and well just had one. Just have him zoom in.
Wouldn't that be easy zoom? I mean that means he's got a phone. Yeah, I'll text him because I know he doesn't. He doesn't look at his email.
Barely barely. Has he ever emailed you? He doesn't email me. Here's the best way to get a hold of him. In all honesty, tweet him. Don't call him. Yeah, don't tell him right now.
You know, I'm off X. Will you do it? Tweet him.
Well, you do it. What do you want me to say? He sees. Oh, hey, we're gonna, you know, Richard's gonna I don't know. Yeah, just be like, I'm not gonna tweet him if you want him. It's his preferred form of communication.
Hello, friend. I'm gonna say disappointed isn't the way. I mean, this is his statement. Oh, she's statement. You assume post lost for end of show off season. Gotta bring it up.
Bring in a big man. Clippers get eliminated tonight. Are you gonna Are you gonna issue a statement? No, I'm just gonna be disappointed. I think you win tonight.
I do not. The fact of the matter is we they got the joker and the Clippers don't and that's and we're not playing well, like James Harden. Sometimes it's weird how he will just disappear in the biggest moments. Like Norm Powell was supposed to be a difference maker.
He played no defense. We got two games left. Come on, T. Come on. Come on.
Clipper T. J. We need you to show up and we need you to get into that those that section of into it where all the fans are. Yeah. Bring that with you. I mean, when the fun guy is on, well, it's all by the way, as you know, it into it to him. They all let the let you in now by facial recognition. Put that up in front of your face.
Maybe a few minutes. That's right. You know, the way Kawhi is here. Yeah, Kawhi is here.
Hour three less need of your Los Angeles Rams and Patricia Clarkson in studio. All right. At O'Shea Jackson Jr. Hello, friend. Rich is going to send you a zoom link for end of show today. Miss you.
Hope you're well all things considered. You sent it from you. No, from the show. Oh, he's sending it from you. He'll know it's you. He'll know it based on that. Hello, friend. What do you mean?
All things considered. I don't think that he knows you have. I don't think that's charged in any way. He knows that was passing right there was passing right there. He knows Chris does not come in peace.
No, we don't have any. He knows. He knows I come.
I come with the spirit of trying to stir it up. We don't have any beef. Last year when the when the C's won, he said, you know, obviously not happy for them, but happy for me. Because you guys definitely have beef. Lakers. Celtics were always have beef, bro. But him and I personally don't have any. Well, it's because you don't have beef with him because you they're not a threat to you.
No, they're not a threat to you. The best tweet I saw last night was that the Lakers should give back Minnesota their titles, the five that they claim. Huh? Because the Colts left all of their records, right?
Mm hmm. Or no, that they the Ravens left all the Browns records in Cleveland, right? The Colts took their records from Baltimore, right?
Correct. Did they or they did not? I think they did. They did.
I'm taking my records because I think it's because I relocate. But the Lakers claim the Minneapolis Lakers championships when, you know, there's no way it's their franchise. What are you talking about? Is it?
Is it? It is their franchise. It's they were there. Now they're here, right? They were there. Now they're here. You're there. And I'm here.
So how are you? So the Los Angeles Lakers have 12. What? You still claim to be like, you know, this the leading scorer in your main high school, right? But you don't live there anymore. So you still say that record is yours. Yeah. What do you mean?
I mean, quite a while. I went, I didn't transfer high schools and then I moved. You moved. You physically upended yourself.
That's what the Lakers did. So will you again, you always, whenever I cape from Michigan, you leave me, you, you leave me like you don't look at me. Sometimes you don't make eye contact. And you're like, I'm on my own, right? You're just, you're just, well, you at least join me then when he's Ohio state honks, come on and claim Joe burrow. That is absurd. I am with you on that. But that point is their point is Joe still claims them. Joe will work out in Columbus because he still is, is down with them. Yeah. I think it's absurd for like Britt Albert to come on here and be like, Joe burrows, one of us. So you will stand with me in that regard. We have solidarity. That is, that is preposterous.
Thank you. Has O'Shea responded yet? Oh, no, I didn't. I didn't hit post.
You guys posted it in Jerome. Our three coming up less needs, gentle manager of the Rams and the actress Patricia Clarkson in studio, former MLB all-star Sean Casey, AKA the mayor keeps hitting it out of the park. Take my 30 years of experience, take the wisdom and knowledge I've learned from the failures. When I got sent down my rookie year, all the injuries I had to overcome your mind is the most important tool you have in life. Be relentless.
Keep charging. It matters. How do you talk to yourself? How you look at the world that matters. We talk about that.
I don't know. I'm fired up. Baseball's back and it's going to be incredible. I love it. The mayor's office with Sean Casey from believe follow and listen on your favorite platform.
