Jared Verse: Matthew Stafford Is Like Captain America

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Well, it's easy to with free shipping and free returns in store order, pick up and more shop today in stores online at Nordstrom.com or download the Nordstrom app. This is the rich eyes and show Live from the rich eyes and show studio in Los Angeles. Hey, speaking of things that people might be sick and tired of talking about. The rich eyes and show. Mel Kuiper is furious. He's not the next pope is the first member of our media world saying that he doesn't get it because he's wearing his dollar sign here in the facility earlier on the show. NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero coming up Rams linebacker Jared verse comedian David Spade.

And now it's a rich eyes. Ah, yes. Our number two of our Friday program is on the air. Jared verse is going to join us.

Guys, I'm going to tell I'm telling you this. I spent 10 minutes with him. He had all of us at hello in the preproduction meeting Rams versus the Arizona Cardinals. He's his he's defensive rookie of the year for a reason. Yeah, man.

And you're you're just going to love him. Well, he went to Florida State, so. Oh, that's right. One of your many teams. What? That's accurate. So disrespectful. No, what's this? You know, it's a disrespectful word, you know, that that a lot of people say and and and I find offensive.

Here's one of them. You know, there's the word solid, solid. You hate solid, solid, solid. I think solid is a denigrating word and a lot of people use it for some form of praise. Yeah, right.

Because there are much better adjectives than solid. Not everyone's a wordsmith on your level, Richard. You know what I mean?

Not everybody. I'll accept that, that I'm that you think I'm better than most. Well, I mean, I don't.

But if you think that of me, I think I appreciate that Larry is far stronger than most honestly, that's true. You know what, T.J., you say something that you feel is profound is game changing. OK, let's just say you have an idea and you say it and you're proud of it.

And you want to do a wrestling podcast. That was, you know what? You know what, T.J., that's a solid idea. That I think that's you just you and O'Shea just did a terrific part, an excellent part, and I call it solid. I thought that was solid. Now, from anyone else, you now hear the difference between solid and terrific and excellent and. Well, coming from you, I wouldn't take it as a compliment from if Brockman said that was solid.

I know that he wouldn't mean it. There are better adjectives to describe something that is superlative. OK, you're using these words.

A lot of people don't understand. Right. I mean, I do. All right. Superlative.

Yes. You know, people don't know what superlative means. That's listen. The word super is in it.

You can get you can gather it's better than solid. You're so stupid. Here's another word. If you use the word little little.

Yeah. You know what? Hey, little fella. Hey, no, you know, hey, you know, look at all your look at all the look at all your little teams that you know.

Yeah, that's pretty disrespectful. I got to grab this kendo stick, a little kendo stick. You know what I mean?

Oh, you're a cute little kendo stick. You know what? Our our smitch made this up years ago. Right. With all your teams and your banners. Yeah.

Disrespect the game. Hey, man, look at all of your little banners back there. I got a lot of love to give. No, they are they are technically they are a little bit smaller in size than, say, a larger flag. But look at your little look at your look at your little. When you say it like that, it's very little is denigrating.

Yeah, that's a shame. That's very disrespectful. That's quite the wide variety. They're little solid words that just you throw it in a certain spot. You can choose better words. OK, what matters what I'm saying, T.J., I forget. Oh, you talk about, oh, yeah, he's from Florida State.

Oh, yeah. And I just said, oh, yeah, that's one of your teams. And you thought I was making fun of you. You were.

I was not. Yeah, you root for a lot of teams, man. You're you got an East Coast team.

Yeah, I lived out there. So don't go. East Coast teams are Georgetown, Penn State, Pittsburgh Penguins. You talk about I mean, the number of times you chew our ear off about Pittsburgh Penguin hockey.

I've I've lost track. Then you got you got Philadelphia. They got their Sixers. You got Duke, you got Georgetown, which, you know, Bamani Jones looked at you like you had three heads, you know, and then you got the Metropolitans and then you got your Dallas Cowboys. So you got the middle of the country, got the southern part of the country down. And then you got your Clippers, you got your West Coast.

I don't think the colleges should count. OK, it's you with your little fan bases here. Or you know what? I think it's solid that you feel that way about sports teams. That's you know, you're a solid you're a solid sports fan, man. I'll take that. I won't take offense. You understand what I'm saying?

Are you picking up what I'm putting down? You know, he's a solid player, Jared verse. I would not say that to Jared's face. Well, he won't. But he's solid. I'm going to tell him you said that.

Hoskins, play that bet. See what I mean? So don't tell me people whenever you meet me. Agent to the stars, Jerry Stilbowitz, when we first started working, he could, Jerry, you refer to things as solid. I don't know how I let him know. Listen, listen, listen.

We vibe on so many different ways. Oh, he does. He likes solid. Oh, God.

He uses it a lot. Not with me anymore. I'm going to tell you the solid job during the draft. Jerry, you're a solid agent. Yeah. Tell him he's solid. Rich says you're doing a solid job for Chris.

We were at that bar in Green Bay watching the draft and someone remarked that Rich was doing a solid job hosting. Is that right? No. OK. It's too loud.

Look at this little coverage up against ESPN. Let's see if Jerry writes back. I mean, he's very busy.

He doesn't have time for nonsense. OK. You are not serious people. Correct.

I mean, that that is true right there. We are not. We are serious people.

Are we though? Sometimes. OK. What's more like a kendo stick? What's more likely Friday? Everybody hit it. What? What's more likely? Never say never, but never.

God, I love that drop. Again, that was Tom and being asked about being the USC coach, right? Oh, yeah, that's right. Never. But before they hired Lincoln, Riley Jobs open, he was linked here. People are saying he's interested in the job.

He just stepped up there. Never say never, but never. Never say never, but never. Now I'm convinced it was Y.L. from Pittsburgh who started that rumor. OK. And Y.L. does not like Tom. Hey, everybody, you good, bro? Hey, how you feel? Jay Felly t shirt. Yada yada yada. Rich, open another button. You know what I mean? Just take it off.

I look, I I like the way I look. Hey, what's the more likely NFC? Hoskins told you to get on with it, but she never died out. That's pretty aggressive, Mike. You know, Jared versus in the green room. So more likely NFC East wide receiver duo to go for more yards and touchdowns next year. C.D. George Pickens. Terry McLaurin, Deebo Sami. You don't include A.J.

Brown and Devante Smith with newly teams that have newly acquired wide receivers. OK, come on. That's easy. You know how you know where I'm going on.

Well, maybe say, oh, we say, oh, Deebo McLaurin and Deebo. Oh, we also we're including running it in to run. Yeah.

OK, yards and touchdowns, total touchdowns, yards, touchdowns. Come on. Even you know the answer to this. Yeah, I know the answer to this. What is it?

What do you think? Come on. C.D. and Pickens just take 13 touchdowns in at least 10. That's 23 right there are the star glasses off. I look they're permanently tattooed.

I mean, you like Jerry Jones. If you want you, I can come over and clean them for you. I can be the clean. I can be the cleaning of the glasses cleaning guy for C.D. Lamb, you know, is going to get your glasses. I'll clean them for you.

I got my own little thing. Come on now. McLaurin and Deebo with Jayden Daniels, your two. Come on. I want you to let me cancel there to help give it a little extra time. I'm going to write this one down, Chris. Let's go revisit this. Let's go.

Jerry has responded. All right. What's more likely, the Browns quarterback for the next five plus years is on the roster right now, or they're going to draft another one next year. Although draft another one next year, that's more likely. Yeah, for the next five years.

Yeah, they're starting for the next five years, right? All right. OK. I mean, he's not Benjamin Button.

It's not like he's getting younger. OK. All right. What about the other three? And the likelihood that one of the rookies is going to be a next starter for five years or Kenny Pickens? Did you see the the already the video that Brown sent out a photograph of both Flacco and Pickett holding a football and Flacco's hands cover the entire football and Kenny Pickett's hands look like, you know, that's a hamburger helper. Look at Kenny with his little hands, solid hands, because that, as you know, is the other one is outwardly disrespectful.

Solid little hands. I'm going to go draft another one in next year's draft. Mary Kay is saying that the Browns are making Chador and Dylan Gabriel available to the media tomorrow. That's great. Doing it on a Saturday where we're not going to be on the air smart next level. Well, I mean, we know we're talking about Monday.

Yeah. More likely rookie quarterback to throw for more touchdowns this season. Cam Ward or everyone else combined. I'll go Cam Ward. Who's everyone else that's going to start?

It doesn't matter. I mean, we're going to get games. Shuck is going to start. Yes, Jackson Dart's going to play at some point.

Will Howard might play at some point. I will take Kim Ward. Chador might start week one. OK, I'll tell you there's four guys right there.

I'll take Kim Ward. Those four guys can't get twenty five touchdowns. Do we even know that Cam Ward's starting? I thought this was Will Levis's job to lose. No, we didn't hear that yesterday either from Mike Burgonzi. Interesting. They're not going to put pressure on the kid by saying you're anointed.

For some reason, that's the way they want to handle it. Cam Ward. I think throw more touchdowns, too, you say, too, right? Yeah, throw more touchdowns. OK. Throw in total touchdowns, then I'm definitely right. What else? You think he's going to run for a lot? Maybe.

Maybe. OK, all right. Let's mix things up now. 60 win East team down 0-2 to force at least a game six Cavs or Celtics. I'll go Celtics. I'll go Celtics. You think Cavs or toast? I think the Celtics are a lot more healthy and that's even with Porzingis just mysteriously going in and out of stuff. Yeah, man. Wow. I will say that. And plus, the Knicks and Celtics, they have something going on in a way that the Cavs and Pacers don't.

That's true. Nah, my head's on a swivel. My head's on a swivel.

Yeah, really, really weird. The point where I looked up if indeed there would be a game six of Madison Square Garden on the Saturday after our taping in Atlanta. Oh, no way.

Is this if there is not? As a matter of fact, it's that Friday night. So hopefully Steve Harvey and we hopefully we can.

We could go from the floor with DP fast enough to make take. Yeah, man, more likely that we're talking smack, more likely to have not reached out to Dan yet. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. I did.

I did send it. Well, we'll talk about it later. Yeah. Why would you? Oh, we're only known for 30 years.

That's fine. This is more likely to be the higher number. Highest scoring NBA playoff performance. That's currently 48 by Spida Mitchell. Or Aaron Judge home runs this year. Oh, Aaron Judge home runs this season. You think anyone gets like a fifty five piece or anything in the playoffs? I don't think so.

And even if they do, Aaron Judge is going to have to top it. Whatever, whatever, whatever it is. Oh, you put Brunson on the photo, too.

I appreciate that. Yeah, I'm kissing the three three. What else? MLB, more likely Major League Baseball division to finish with more total wins. The NFC, the NOS, the NOS or the AL Central. Oh, please.

And no less, man. I understand what you're talking. You're trying to get me the Tigers look pretty damn good.

AL Central has four teams with 20 wins. I got it. I got it.

Sorry. Three teams with 20 wins. I got it. I got it. Padres, Giants, Dodgers. So and the Diamondbacks have 20 wins. OK, pretty fun so far.

It is true. Pretty fun. Pretty fun.

Yeah. More likely to win a championship. These are the two massive favorites, Thunder or Dodgers. Oh, I'll go Dodgers. I'll go Dodgers. Thunder, big, big, big.

Thunder is almost even odds right now. I hear you and I know what they just did to the Nuggets. They still have to do it. They still got to do it.

And, you know, we'll see what happens when they see the Knicks. You know, last one, last one. And I went right through that.

I mean, you just went straight through that, which I don't think is solid at all. So in all seriousness, we have yet even. Sasaki hasn't really done much yet, right? Nothing. Correct.

One of the biggest disappointments I know about. They're banged up. They'll get healthier. And Otani is going to pitch one day when I don't know. But summer, Otani is going to pitch. Get ready for Otani.

He's going to pitch. Get ready. You know, the Knicks, the Knicks NBA title odds are 11 to one. And the Celtics are three to one.

Great. It's just so disrespectful. Explain that to me, because Vegas is disrespectful. They're following the money.

I understand that. Just look at the New York, New York casino and remind yourself who's up to oh, last, last one. Let's let's let's talk a little pope for a second. Chicago team to honor the new pope with a playoff win. Bears or Cubs? Even though he's a White Sox fan. Yeah, they're not they're not making a photograph of Pope Leo, the 14th at the 05 World Series, the 05 World Series. Yeah, obviously they're not making the Cubs will make the play.

I'm going to say this to you, sir. I understand where you're going with this. Yeah, Cubs win a series of the Bears win a playoff game. Right.

But that's October and January. We have an opportunity to see this very Monday, if the Bulls win the lottery. Oh, good one.

Corporate flag. Hoskins, can you put that up? There it is.

1.7%. That would be incredible. Is what the Bulls have right now.

Yeah, that's as the odds to win the draft lottery. If the Bulls win for Cooper Flag, you know there will be conversations of divine intervention of some sort. No doubt.

You know what I mean? Because that's what it would take for them to win this pretty much a papal, you know, thumb on the scale. Seems as the Vatican have a freezer for ping pong balls.

I imagine they might. That's where this is going to rubber meet in the road. It's Monday draft lottery.

If the Bulls go from 1.7% chances of winning to Cooper Flag showing up in Chicago, you know what the conversation is going to be. That's awesome. Love it. So that's my opinion on that. I'll go off the board. I like it right there. All right. That's what's more likely. Let's hear you go. That will be the noise if they announce the Bulls have the first overall pick in the draft. But good one, J. Felly.

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See store or sleep number dot com for details. All right, so as soon as this man came out on the floor, it felt like we've known each other for years. I told you you'd love this guy. We met just for like 10, 15 minutes before the Rams Cardinals game because we have it on NFL Network.

The defensive rookie there, Jared versus here on the Johnson show. Yes, you should clap for yourself. I got a little round of applause, a little round of applause. So you're wearing a Dodger hat right now.

So you're you're flat out Los Angeles now, right? I love it. I love it.

I love it. I love it out here. It's great out here. It's nice that when you get rid of the the traffic and the taxes, it's the best place in the world, the best place, unfortunately. Well, I mean, we're here for the weather, Jared. I know you spent a couple of years in Florida, so you're used to at that point in time, no taxes. There are those taxes.

Yeah, I know that is that is a beautiful. I mean, in the weather, the weather has been nice around here for sure. And you're living in Southern California.

I can't get much nicer. I think it's probably about five times since I've been here for about a year now. When I can say and I spent many, I'm from the East Coast. I'm from New York City. And and I, I spent time in Connecticut. I was on ESPN years ago before you were born. I can't believe I'm saying these words, but it's true. It's true, right?

It's true. I mean, I left in 2003. So actually, you were two years old when I left, right? So I was born in 2000. You were born in 2000. You were three years old.

Long story short, basically. When I when I when I came out here to work in NFL Network, all I did was just work indoors and I'm like, damn it, it's so nice outside. It's all I'm doing, spending doors. And I finally realized every single time I went outside, it was the same.

Kind of like calm down, like, OK, there'll be time to get outside. Oh, no, it's always nice out here. You can't really find any bad days. So no traffic in in in Florida State? No, there's no traffic.

The only job you got was maybe game days. It's a little bit extra to get home. It was nothing crazy, though. OK, but here it's I drove 30 miles the day. It took me about an hour and a half to get home.

I was I couldn't even believe it. OK, well, it's what you've got to get to the point where you just have someone drive you around and you're on your way doing that. I get carsick.

I can't do that. We're learning about Jared. We're slowly but surely here on The Rich Hudson Show, the defensive rookie of the year from the Los Angeles Rams.

Jared versus here in studio. Great to see you, sir. It's great to see you, man. And and so I'd love to talk about your journey because you were born in Ohio, but grew up in Pennsylvania, correct? Yes, I was in Ohio for 13 years, moved to North Carolina. I moved to Pennsylvania a little bit after that.

All right. And so how did you because obviously we know of you from Florida State. That's where we saw your work before coming to the National Football League. But you were in Albany for a couple of years, right? Yeah, I was in Albany from 2019 to about 2021.

It's about three years. So you're playing you're playing in Albany, New York, your college football at the University of Albany. Yeah, they were my only offer at the high school.

That's it? My only offer. I had like a bunch of colleges came up to me giving me like, oh, yeah, we like you this, that, but nobody offered me. Albany was the only one to offer me. And then I was a wide receiver tight end in high school. So they offered me, they were like, do you want to be a defensive end? Or do you want to be a tight end?

Like, it's your choice. I was like, the end, like tight end, you got too many restrictions. Let me go hurt somebody.

And they let me in there. So you didn't play edge in high school at all. Wow. So how good were you? Good tight end. You're good receiver. I got my thousand receiving yards. I was killing them.

Okay. I got my little thousand. So who had the idea who light bulb was originally to say, let's, let's get you rushing the pass. So my dad, my dad kept telling me like, you need to be a DM. That's what your body builds for.

That's how, like, that's where you can best use your skills. And my first, it was my senior year. The first game I played both ways. That's why I didn't tighten that. So I basically didn't leave the field at all tight in the end.

And I went crazy. I had like, they had like 10 tackles, like three for loss. I got three QB heads, a sack, but then after that they like took me off defense. Cause they were like, we want you to mainly focus on offense. Cause I was like tired on offense, but I was going crazy on defense.

Right. So they just took me off defense. I stayed on office after that.

So, okay. So then when did you become defense only at that point? Right when I got to college. So my first day when I met with coach Gattuso at Albany, he asked me like, do you want to play offensive defense?

What do you want to do? I said, let me play defense. And he was like, all right, you're a defensive end now.

And I was like, perfect. Well, before we move on then, since you just mentioned about, you know, offense and defense, you got any two cents on Travis Hunter and what he can do in the NFL. Now that you've been in the NFL for a season and knowing what it takes to be a professional at such a high level and it being a different game, maybe in the professional level, do you have any opinion on him being able to play as many snaps on both sides of the balls we saw in Colorado? I'm not going to lie playing both ways. That's something that I genuinely could never do seeing that that's probably impossible. That's probably impossible. And like, I know like the league is a lot different than college college. You can take a snap off here at college. You can take a snap off there. You can't do that in the league, but it's Travis Hunter we talking about.

I ain't gonna lie. He's a dog. The way his body moves, the way he acts, the way he like fundamentally is built is just different than most people. So I think he, if he can do it in college at the high level, he was doing it and he can replicate in the NFL. I don't see no reason not to. Well, I mean, but you also know what it takes to be a professional and Monday through Saturday too, if you're playing on Sunday, obviously meetings and things like that. I mean, don't you think it's just, you're gonna have two coordinators pulling at them, need you in my room, need you in my room, need you here in my playbook, need you here, all that sort of stuff.

It'll definitely be a lot on them. It will be strenuous in every position and every aspect of it, but you are increasing your value when you do it that way. Like if I could, I would be playing offensive defense because I love scoring touchdowns. I love getting sacks, but that's too much on my body. I'm learning one position because I know what the whole defense does. I know what the corners do all the way down to the defensive line. So I'm not about to worry about like anything else. I can't, I don't have time to worry about what route I got to run and where, you know, the quarterback's going to put the ball at.

Damn, if he can do that, then I have more power to him if he can do it, but it's going to be a lot. I'm not going to lie. Now that said, before we move back to you, you are in the two times now that I met you pre, pre-game last season. And now you don't strike me as somebody who needs to be told to advocate for himself. Have you told Sean McVay you'd be available on offense? I've told him a thousand times and I'm going to tell him again, put me on offense. Throw that ball in the air.

Jump ball coach. Let me get this. I've told him about three, four, five times. Hey, I just let me get a little bit on offense.

Let me get a little bit of something. And his response? Oh, he just brushed it off. So what do you mean he brushes it off? Oh, how much I talk, you can't even listen to everything I say.

You're going to drive yourself crazy trying to listen to every word I say. Is it true when you first showed up that you were told in OTAs or training camp that you needed to calm down a little bit? First day out. I was, I was, I'm one of the first day out.

So tell me the story. So we were doing offense, defense, you know, OTAs, you don't got no pads on, none like that. So we're doing offense, defense.

I'm working a couple of my speed moves because I'm about to go power. Is this in the spring last year or the summer? This is like my first day after I got drafted, probably about two weeks after I got drafted, we met up with the team. We started working with the vets and stuff, like started doing the full team workouts. And I was going crazy. I was getting through the offense, getting like getting the staffer, getting to the running backs. I was like stopping the edge, all that stuff. In the way I am, I let everybody know. Like I want the whole field to kind of know. So I'm loud.

I'm screaming, yada, yada, yada. Coach gave me like a warning. Coach was like, hey, like, we don't do that here. And like, that's just how I did it in college.

That's how we did it at Florida State. Like you made a play, you let everybody know. So I kept going. I kept going. And coach just stopped. Like, like they just stopped it. He was like, no, no, no, no, no, stop that. He stops the whole practice and just got God on me. Like, nah, we don't do that here. Like getting on me like that's not what we do here.

These are your teammates. He's not your this, that, the third. And then like, it kind of like snapped at me like he's grown man. Like you can't be talking to him. Like you talk to, you know what I mean? You in college, you're talking to some 20 year old, he's grown man.

These dudes got families, he's got kids. Like you can't be talking to him any sort of way. But he really, he really got on me. And I was like, all right. Like I got to, I got to realize like, this is the league. Like this isn't like, that was honestly my, I didn't really have like a traditional welcome to the NFL moment where it was like, I got beat down by somebody or anything like that. Like that was my welcome to the NFL moment. Like McVay kind of telling me like, hey, this is how it is. Like you can't be doing that.

Like yada, yada, yada. Like he got on me in front of the whole team because like it really made an example, not just like to the team, but to me to say, Hey, we are a family here and we, we treat each other in a certain way, but you were also doing what you, you, you, what you did to get to the national football league. And I understand that. So how were you able to channel that? How were you able to, to take that, you know, moment, realize it's a moment. It's nothing personal that he's trying to make you better. How did he, how did, how did you internalize that?

And then, then externalize it clearly on the field. So afterwards he, me having a meeting and he like, he called me into his office and you know, you, you get called to the head coach's office. That ain't nothing good. It's like getting called in the principal's office.

Yeah. So I walked in and I'm like, what's up coach? He's like, Hey, like, I want you to know, I love, I love you. I love the way you play. That's why we've drafted you. I love this about you.

I love that about you. But then we do things a certain way here. Like, you know, I hear from other friends and my other teammates from college and stuff, like how their teams do it.

That's not how they do it. It's a lot of like, it's a business. We're just here to work.

This is at the third. He's like, we're a family here, like these are your brothers. These are people that care for you and you care for them.

So we don't want to berate anyone. Hey, if you make a play, hey, yell at me. If you have to yell at the sideline, yell at your coaches, do whatever you have to.

Don't, don't, don't break. And I was like, all right, coach. And then when you go out there and you working harder, cause you work harder when you work with somebody else, if you work for you, it's whatever.

When you working like for the guy next to you, you become a whole nother monster. And when you said that I started elevating my game. So it wasn't even just like an aspect of like helping the team out.

It helped me get to a whole nother level. Was Brayden Fisco like, I've seen this before. Oh yeah. Not for Fisco. That was just a Tuesday afternoon.

Right. Cause obviously he came with you from Florida State. What was that moment for you? Like the draft moment. I remember the video of the two of you having a moment.

Cause what you had just arrived at the Rams draft house as they were selecting Fisk. Correct? So I didn't even, so we getting a, we just landed. They take us to the hotel. Me and my parents take us to the hotel and they're like, y'all got some time change up.

Right. When we pulled to the hotel, they're like, oh, you guys got to hurry up. I'm like, Hey, like what's happening? I'm like, all right, whatever.

So I go upstairs, put my bags down, come back down. We drive and they like, can you run through the stoplight? They're like, when do the stop sign?

Like, what the hell? Damn moving violations. Welcome to the Los Angeles. It's about to be bad.

So we pulled to the house. I'm, you know, you know, I'm thinking I'm about to shake hands with everybody. I'm like getting out the car.

I'm not even watching the draft. So I don't even know what's happening. So they're like, oh yeah. Like, you know, get out the car, get out the car, get out the car. I'm running up the steps.

I follow up the steps and stuff. I'm like picking myself up. I'm like, what's happening?

I see McVeigh. This is like my first time seeing him in person. I'm like, I have my hands out like to shake his hair. He's like, Jazz, speak to your new teammate.

He hands me the phone. I'm like, he's like, Brayden Fisk. I'm like, Fisk? I'm like, Fisk, that's you?

Are you serious? He's like, what's up with it? You know, it's a very emotional moment because we talked about it all the time because at the end of the season, we just started hitting our stride to where we could look at each other and know what we wanted to do. Like, hey, I'm going to take this or you take this.

I'm going to cover you. And like, we didn't even have to say words. And to be able to pick where we left off at, like, because we talked about like being on the same team and everything like that. We're like, that's what happened. The league won't let that happen. Right. And the league let it happen.

And I'm like, oh, this is bad for everybody. Like, you couldn't tell me without Fisk, we're not winning the Super Bowl. If you keep Fisk in that Eagles game, we're winning that game. And then from there on, it's a walk.

I mean, and that's, you know, and we'll get to the expectations of the coming season before we get to that, though. When did you first meet Aaron Donald? When did you first get to cross paths with him? So I actually got to talk to him back in at Albany by my coach Craig Gattuso.

No kidding. Yeah, he was his coach at Pitt. So we got, during COVID, we got on a, what's it called, Zoom, Zoom call with him. And I got to ask him, pick his brain about a couple of things here and there. But then I actually met him, like got to meet him in person at Nobu after I got drafted. My financial advisor took me to Nobu and Aaron Donald happened to be there.

And like, my financial advisor sat down with him. He's like, hey, like, I'm letting you know Aaron Donald's here. And I'm like, you know what I mean?

That's Aaron Donald, that's the greatest defense player of all time. Like I'm starting to geek like a little girl and stuff and I'm like, I'm going to be cool. I'm going to be cool. I'm not going to approach him while he eating. He ends up getting, what's it called, going to the, like, he's standing up, talking and stuff like that. He sees me. He's like, hey, come here, come here, come here.

I'm like, I bet I'll come here. And so I walk around, there's like a big pole in the way. So you can't see, like, he can't see me. I don't like take it deep. So around the corner, he's got to talk to him, got to pick his brain, got to really get into it with him and figure out everything. He's giving me advice. He's like, man, just enjoy the path and everything like that.

But it was, that was my first time actually meeting them. Well, I got to be honest with you, you know, Jared, that the way you play and the way that you ball out, the way that your teammates are balling out on that line right now, you know, you have, you have a path in front of you here and the way that you've started out. I understand the way that he wound up, but you got a path here in Los Angeles to say, all right, there's a new guard here and I'm it.

And I know that, you know, that's not the way they talk for the Los Angeles Rams franchise. I'm just talking to you about it. I'm wondering if that's the way that you kind of think about things here.

I've never thought about things like I'm filling a role or anything like that. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. My goal is always just to be the best me because if I'm the best me, everything else is going to come with it. If I'm the best me, we're going to win Super Bowls. If I'm the best me, I'm going to win this award. If I'm the best me, I'm going to win that award. I'm going to get this accolade, that accolade, all that. But it just starts off with being the best me.

You can't focus on anything else till you're just the best version of yourself. Jared, verse here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's your expectation level for you this coming season after what we just saw from you?

So I actually, I got to ask this question while I was at Albany. They asked me like, how do you feel right now? You know, what do you expect from yourself this next season?

All this stuff. I can't say anything. I can't say I expect to get this at the third. I can say I expect more sacks.

I had low sacks last year. I can say that, but I can't say too much else. But besides, like, I feel good. I feel healthy. I feel dangerous. Like, I feel more prepared and more dangerous than I've ever been. I feel like I'm ready.

How so? I've learned a lot more moves. I've learned a lot more techniques. I've learned a lot more, you know, this at the third. But, you know, having that first season under my belt, learning, oh, this is how tackles attack me.

Now they realize, oh, I'm a power guy. So now I got to be able to work off that. Or I could just hit him with more speed, because at the end of the day, I'm faster than you. You're not going to really get too much kick step that's going to be able to stop me. So I've learned a lot more technique, a lot more figure out this. Or I could tell what he's about to do just by the angle of his foot.

Or, oh, he's about to jump set me because his stance is a little bit wider than what it was before. Right. So you're wiser as a football player. And you think being wiser will make you quicker?

It will. That 10 out of 10 times. Once you know what the person in front of you is going to do, you can react to it however you want. How much do you think of that Eagles game? Every day, every day, every day. It crossed my mind probably about three times a day.

What are you thinking about? I mean, you had a big score in that game, obviously, number one personally. But what do you think about that day? I think about how, hey, if I did this, if I did that, we could have, you know, I'd say Kwon's big run to the opposite side of the field. If I didn't hesitate and ran off the bat, I could have caught him. Or if, you know, his run to my field, if I didn't overlap one gap more, if I just stayed in my, like, instead of trying to overlap, if I just stayed in my gap, he wouldn't have had that second run. Or if, you know, Jalen Hurts big run, if I, you know, if this is at the third, like I could, you know, that's my job. Like I did my job, but like I could have been better and I could have stopped there. And if I like, it just be upsetting me every day. Cause I'm like, cause you could have won that game.

Cause you know what you did. You're saying? Yeah. Cause I know like we could have won that game. Cause my big thing is like, if you're a great player, you're able to make an impact beyond just your position. Being a good player, you just do your job.

Being a great player, you do, you can handle everything. Were you nervous Stafford wasn't coming back for some point? Yeah. A little bit. I ain't gonna lie. I was a little nervous. And the one day I woke up and I see the news and I started smiling. I'm at bed.

I see the news. I'm like, said cheese. And I was, I was happy when he come back. So what's he, what's he like? What's he like as a teammate?

What's he like as a leader? Take me inside. If you don't mind. Are you saying, are you seeing Marvels?

Sure. Yeah. He's like captain America. Like he's like, he's like, he's like really like pose all the time. He's really like collectively. Even during like big moments, but he knows how to hype people up like right before the game. Obviously like staff is like the person we look to, he comes in and he'll do the speech for everybody. And so it's never too long where it's like, oh, but like, what's this guy talking about? But it's always enough to when you hear every word and you get hyped up, you get ready for it. Cause like when somebody that composed kind of comes in yelling, you get ready for it.

Like if I come in yelling, you're just like, oh, so it's a Wednesday at noon. If Stafford comes in yelling, you like, oh yeah, like let's get banging. So he comes in, it's like, he, he, um, he brings the energy to the team, but also like and this isn't even talking about what he can do athletically. Like obviously I think he's probably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL history. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks now, but just cause I've seen what he does like I've seen him make those. I'm like, I couldn't make that uncovered by, you know, throwing it to my little sister, like, but he's making these throws like in game.

So he's, he's one of the best of my eyes. Well, I mean, when, what, so he speaks to the team before a big game or before every game for every game. So right after we do the stretch, right after we do offense versus defense, do the little punt, you know, and then everybody catches the ball. He's the one that speaks to us. So back in the locker room or before you go, like what was still on the field, like before we walk into the locker room.

So anytime anybody's at a Rams game, go into a Rams game or the camera see, um, before you go after the stretch and all that sort of stuff. Yeah. And, and you're all in a huddle. It's cause he's, he's delivering something.

Yeah. He's telling us what we need to do. He's basically just giving us a little last little minute speech. Cause we already did all the prep.

You can't do anything else in that moment besides a hype, everybody up and get everybody on the same page. Hey man. I mean that, that's so fortunate for you. It really is. Cause so many guys get drafted in the league and you know, the quarterback situation is unstable or they're churning through them or it's somebody that's not of the stature of Matthew Stafford or it is somebody of his stature, but that guy doesn't really want to talk to the team. You know, I mean like you're, you're really lucky in that regard.

Oh no, I, I thank God every day. Cause it's not even like, like who he is as an athlete is amazing. Like it's one of the best people like on the, like on the field, he's one of the best players I've ever been around. And if you personally witnessed McVeigh's remarkable, um, memory, have you personally witnessed that sort of stuff? He does it all the time.

Like what? Well, so the one he's like, um, we start, we added in a new call the other day and he's like, all right, Joe, this is just like the, uh, the play you had against Seattle, uh, play number 79 on the left hash. I'm like, what the hell are you talking about? What are you talking about? He's like, you know what I'm talking about?

I'm a liar. I'm like, yeah, I had to go back and watch the film and I'm like, play 79. I'm like, but this is the exact call we had in. I'm like, how does he remember this stuff? And like, he does that all the time. Like he'll remember the exact play call, the exact hash, the exact, like what side of the field you on, who was throwing the ball, who you were up against. Like he remembers everything. Does that freak you out or does that calm you?

Like, you know, he, he knows what he's talking about. It creeps me out. That shit weird.

That shit weird as hell. How do you remember everything? It's like, he like, I can't even call it like a photographic memory. It's like beyond that, like photograph memory. You just remember kind of like this, that, the third, but he remembers everything. Right.

What's it called? Right. Isn't there a specific word for the memory that he does in fact have, I think. There is, uh, Mary Lou Henner.

Mary Lou Henner has some people, but apparently it's, it's, uh, a remarkable, um, ability to remember things from years ago too. It's called a highly superior auto by, uh, uh, autobiographical memory. That's it. That's what it is.

HSAM. And you've seen it, but he does it all the time. Like it's not even like a one-time thing that he's done one time. Like he does it all the time.

He doesn't team meetings half the time. Like we'll be talking about like a little play, like, Oh, look at like when we were watching, um, Devante Adams, we watched, we just had a little, uh, video got released of when DA came into the building and whenever we have a new player come in, we always like watch the kind of look a couple of their highlights, talk about them and get just like, you know, kind of get to know them as a player. So watching DA's highlights, he's like, Hey, watch this.

And it was against us catching at against us. He's like, watch this. We're covered three.

You see cues right here. Hey, uh, Cam has to come over top. He has to move down the Hill. You know, we got to move this round.

This play, uh, 29 against us. I'm like, but what are you talking about? Like, but this is just like flex. Like I just say that it's, but he gets the whole thing. I ain't gonna lie. His, his memory is one-on-one unreal.

And before I let you go, uh, what's it like having Devante Adams as a teammate as well? But for the first couple of days, I was like, I was on edge and then they felt like I was meeting Stafford again. Cause like you mean like one of the greats. So you got to kind of like walk on edge. So you were on edge.

I was on edge on that. Like I, I walked by him. I'd be a little, little calm, but like now I'm talking to him now. He's a great guy, but like what you can do on the field is nothing compared to the other type of person. He's like, he a great dude. And he's care. He's like cares about everybody around me. And he'd be getting in with us. Like we were joking on somebody in the locker room the other day.

He jumped in, everybody started dying and laughing. Like he a real cool dude. But then on the field, you see how hard he works.

He's so laser focused. He's, it's such a great hire. Obviously I know Cooper cup and what he meant to this franchise and what he's meant to this city. And we'll see what happens in Seattle. And I wish him nothing but the best, but in terms of, you know, um, being there and him and Puka have an opportunity with Stafford and that running game and the, on the old line to give you guys a lead and let you go hunt. Like there, there's, there's a lot of positive vibes right now. I'm, I'm ready for it. We got the offense. We got all the weapons we need. We added in a couple of pieces here and there, a couple of alignment. We got in the new little, uh, fast back. I'm, I'm excited for, we got, we got, we got a team built. Jared verse, uh, you're welcome here anytime.

I know we're potentially geographically on sound being where, where, uh, where the facility is and you living around that area as well. But, uh, it's a pleasure to watch you ball out. Pleasure to have you here. This is, you know, uh, a Los Angeles based show where we're all about, um, having you back here whenever you want. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Jared verse, the defensive rookie of the year. 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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Don't miss it. What goes through your mind when you hear everybody wants one of you? Everybody's trying to hire a coach that's you.

Yeah. They got to get this guy that's you. They want one of you.

What do you think of it? What goes through my mind is, you know, it's flattering and humbling, Rich, but it's a result of the success we've had as a team. And, you know, it's just like, you know, but you know what, though, it is true, though, like we got great coaches on our staff. We got good players, you know, so much in alignment with Les and his, you know, his group. And, you know, it's a great reflection of our organization and what we've done. And I think, you know, that's the biggest thing. And to see guys that we've worked with over the last couple of years get opportunities with Matt, with Zach Taylor, you know, they're deserving of it because of what they've done on their own merit. And when they go in and compete for jobs, people say, man, we can see this guy leading our organization.

And, you know, I'm looking forward to seeing those guys thrive. Have you told Kingsbury that he has a job because of you too? No, that's the game. Cliff got his deal on his own. Okay. No, I'm sure he did. I know you had, you know, you were knocking on his door too to join your staff.

I know that. So you're well, I know he was a, you passed him according to you told that to Schefter that you totally, what did you do to him? Well, basically, you know, we, he, he obviously has a pre-existing relationship with, with Patrick Mahomes.

He was out here doing some things and Cliff was, was having dinner with him and a group of people. And we have a mutual friend and I tricked him into thinking that, you know, he was tampering and that he was going to lose some picks. It was what you changed. Somebody's, somebody's name in your phone to Roger Goodell. I did, our mutual friend, he, I couldn't let this go on too long. So our mutual friend, a guy named Chaz Gessner, we put, I put his number in my phone as Roger Goodell and had him send me a text that said, you know, Hey, this is tampering. You know, better than this, you guys are both, you know, and, and I showed it to Kingsbury and I said, you know, Mr. Goodell, he never texted me. I said, you better call Steve kind of right now. And his face, he was like, he said, I thought I was going to throw up. He's like, that's wrong. I mean, I couldn't let it go on for more than 30 seconds. It was, it was a good, but a bad joke, man.

I mean, he's like, you ruined dinner, man, but it was, you know what? Just hearing you with Kingsbury, just seeing you with Les Snead and seeing you with Weddle. And I feel like that episode of Seinfeld where I'm hanging out with the, with all the beautiful people and all the great hair right now, all these hair, all these hair guys, I feel like I'm in the, I'm in a, I'm in a different club. Oh yeah. Back in the day. Sean McPhee's been here a couple of times, I think.

Got to get him down here next. It's been a while. It's been a while. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm going to get riled up about it. I think you should. Maybe I should. Well, apparently if you ask him a thousand times about something, he still won't say yes.

Have you heard about that? Jared Burts. Why not? Put him a tight end. Why not? Cause they've got some tight ends of their own and they can scheme them open and they don't need to run the risk of something stupid happening to their all world defensive pass rush. All right. That's fair.

You know, it's not like, it's not like they need that burst. You know, they did drop the tight end this year too. Another one. Right. So told you guys would like them. Oh, big fan. Already was a big fan.

We already liked them. Yeah, I did. I wore the wrong hat.

See, I didn't want to just. And Jason was like, uh, no, if you don't want me to be, I think you would have said that of, if you wore a hat of any of the other 31 teams, I don't think it's in a specific Raiders situation. I've been wearing the same hat he had on for like two weeks.

And then I don't know why today. Oh, that's right. You were in the same Dodger hat he had on cause you went to make mad Jared. Well done back on the rich eyes and show everybody. So Jared versus left Jay Felley.

Great job. Last segment, Jay Felley's in charge of the dump button to our, uh, rich eyes and show radio affiliates. If, uh, if one snuck past the Jay Felley goalie, we apologize for that. But I mean, he's a young kid and he's just using the English language in a way that caused you. And at one point you said, Jay, you threw your hands up.

Like, you know, like, I can't believe I got to hit that button. I mean, there's a time issue. You can only do it so many times. Oh, cause he did. He did do it close together. So we apologize if anything slipped through.

Obviously that's not our intent. But, uh, yeah, Jay was like, uh, I did all I could. Garrett in Portland, Oregon. Let's take your phone call. What's up, Garrett. Hey, Rich, how's it going today?

What's going on, sir? Hey, so, um, I think, uh, big, big Rams fan, uh, Kurt Warner watched him in 99 when I lived in St. Louis, always loved the team even through the hard years, but this year I'm psyched to see Devante Adams. I think Puka and Devante are going to create the third NFL team to have two 1300 yard receivers in a season and done by the commanders. And it's been done by the Broncos. The Rams will be the third team in history to do it. So is that an overreaction Chris?

32 1300 yard receivers. I don't think so. I think that is an appropriate.

TJ Jefferson. Is that an overreaction? No. When was the last time?

Let's see here. When was the last time the Devante Adams had it? For the commanders. 2013 for the Broncos. Did Devante Adams have that many?

No, that's what I'm looking at. Who the receivers were for some fun. For the commanders, you're saying? Uh, for the Broncos and the commanders. What year was it? You guys, uh, 2013 for the Broncos.

Okay. So the Broncos I'll go with, um, Demarius Thomas. Demarius Thomas. And, uh, Eric Decker. Wes Welker.

Wes Welker. Wow. Okay. And for the commanders, when? Uh, 2014. Man, who would that, was that Alex Smith's year?

No, it wasn't yet. One of them has been a Eagle and a Ram. An Eagle and a Ram. Um, can't be, Alshon Jeffery didn't play for him. Didn't play for the Rams.

I'm trying to figure that one out. 2000 for the Rams. Very short time. Very short time. Less than OBJ.

By the way, uh, what's the answer to it? Tell us. Pierre Garcon and Deshaun Jackson. There you go. Wow. Thank you for the call.

Appreciate it. Garrett. Devante Adams, uh, last had that many yards in 2022.

Um, it's, it's been a while. He had 1,500 yards for his first year with the Raiders. Yeah. And 1,500 yards in his last year with Green Bay and 1,300 yards the year before that. Yeah. That three-year stretch, he was first team All-Pro all three years.

20, 21, 22. I mean, if Puka Nakua is top five wide receiver in the NFL and Devante Adams is now going to be option two? Yep. Okay.

He's the second option. Yeah. And then as you know, they run first and then play action and it's going to be, they've got it.

They, they got the table. Why? He may not get the yards. He might get a lot of touchdowns this year.

David Spade coming up right here on the Rich Eisen Show in hour number three. I've got a top five list for Browns fans to listen to and others. Uh, I just think about it. Think about it. They've improved the offensive line. They improved their defense through the draft. We just assumed Les Snead nailed some picks just as he always does.

Yep. They got a new tight end weapon for Stafford. They added a new running back to that running back room as well. Devante Adams with Puka Nakua. And then they added Puna Ford to the middle of that defense from the Chargers. Chargers, yeah.

Guys, what if they go ahead and figure out how to get Jalen Ramsey back too? So you have them fourth. On my way too soon. That's so high. It's not so high.

Why did I just, what did I just describe? The team that had the best shot at beating the Eagles in the entire playoffs, they couldn't pull it off. The crew, I mean, you have them ahead of the team with the best quarterback in the league and the head of the best team with the MVP.

What do you mean? You have them ahead of the Chiefs and the Bills and the Lions. Yeah. Okay.

I do. They finished strong last year. They got stronger in the draft. They didn't lose anybody of significance.

And if you consider Cooper cup that loss, Devontae Adams is the one standing there in his spot. They play action you, if they can protect Stafford better with a run game or just pass protect better because they're not banged up again. And they have the weapons and the coach to dial it up and the defense chock full of people like the kid that just left this room.

Why shouldn't I have a fourth on the power rankings list? I know you could sit here and state the case of all the other teams that I just mentioned, but they're just a team from Los Angeles and a division that everyone expects is the Niners division. And if the Niners don't win it, that's because it's a down year.

That's the general sense about the NFC West. I'm just telling you whose house it is. Rams house.

Yeah, that's whose house it is. So you wouldn't have them as high. Four just seems high. Okay. I think just KC Buffalo out of respect. Out of respect. Interesting. All right. I don't feel it's disrespectful.

I think it's just calling it as I see it. Certainly since the Chiefs got blown out in the Super Bowl. But they made it that far.

But a team that came closest to beating him just got better too. David Spade, our three. Click ranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.