Dan Morgan: We Were Proud To See Bryce Young Finish Last Season Strong

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We just keep pushing. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. How the hell does somebody take a look at Tyrese Talibert and say that guy's overrated? Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero. Coming up, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, basketball hall of famer Shaquille O'Neal.

Plus, latest news and more. And now it's Rich Eisen. Okay, everybody. Hour number two, the Rich Eisen Show is on the air to What's More Likely Friday. We'll do that in this hour. I've got a chat with Shaquille O'Neal coming up in hour number three. We talked about getting one of the NBA finals to kick off this program.

Lots to talk about, obviously, on that front. And we will do it with Shaq in about an hour and 20 minutes from now and about 40 minutes from now. We're going to have, I guess, because he's driving in the drive of shame from Taylor Lewand after a dreadful first pitch in front of Cardinals fans. My goodness gracious.

He'll have to account for that. I haven't seen the video yet. You'll show it to me live. You've seen it, right?

I've seen it and it is as advertised. Okay, very good. It's 50 cent like, right? So he's like 25 cent. Very much so. It's going to live forever. Like fame.

Like fame. Outstanding. Joining us right now here on the Rich Eisen Show, first time as the GM and head of football operations of the Carolina Panthers.

Dan Morgan here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, Dan. How are you? Good. How you doing, Rich? I'm good, man. I want to hit the way back machine with you first. All right.

Okay, let's do this. So you were, is it true you were the first freshman linebacker to start at Miami since Ray Lewis did it? Is that true story, Dan?

Yeah, it is. True story. Now, was Ray like reaching out to you when you were like a freshman kid coming out of the state of Florida like you were playing at Miami? Did he reach out to you or you had to play first before you ever heard? Yeah, no, I think I had to play play first a little bit before, you know, Ray kind of talked to me and got to know me a little bit. But yeah, I mean, the tradition of Miami linebackers, you know, to be able to play as a freshman, it was it was pretty sweet.

And, you know, to follow up a guy like Ray Lewis and, you know, Nate Webster, Michael Barrow, it was it was pretty cool. So it feels like ages ago, though. I know. I'm sure. But I just dig this sort of stuff, man, because you played for Butch Davis. You won the Sugar Bowl right back in the day. And I'm just looking.

I'm looking. Guys, the quarterback, Ken Dorsey, the pass catchers, Andre Johnson, Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, Jeremy Shockey with Clinton Portis in the back. Right.

That was what you want to know. The crazy part about it is Andre Johnson. He was on our scout team. So so our scout team was Andre Johnson. Willis McGahee was the running back. And then we had Bryant McKinney and Vernon Carey on our offensive line on the scout team. So, yeah, we were we were pretty stacked, to say the least. Yeah. I'm looking at the stats here.

Actually, you're right. Andre Johnson had three catches for fifty seven yards that year. Yeah. Yeah. He was on the he was on the kickoff team.

Crazy is that as crazy as that is. I know, by the way, I'm carrying the water for Irv. I know Michael Irvin Rizzi talk about Miami first, you know, so I want to talk about you back in the day. Why did you get into this side of the business, Dan? Like walk me through that process for you.

It's a good question. So when I got done playing, I basically I took a couple of years off. And, you know, I got a call from Trent Kirchner, who's the player personnel director out with the Seahawks. And he said, hey, I always thought that you'd be a good, you know, good scout.

When I was with you in Carolina, you were a player. And, you know, he's like, would you have any interest in coming out and doing an internship out there? And I was like, you know, I really haven't thought about it. You know, it's not something that I ever thought that I would do. And my wife was like, hey, why not go out and, you know, just see if you like it.

The worst case scenario, you don't do it and you can come back home and, you know, really do whatever you want. Yeah. So to say the least, you know, I went out, took a flight out to Seattle, did an internship during the summertime. And I absolutely just loved being around the guys back around football, putting a roster together, you know, just being around the guys again. So, you know, to John Schneider, he hired me the next season and, you know, I really haven't looked back since.

Yeah. And then, you know, obviously you go from the Seattle organization to the Bills organization and then hired to do what you're doing right now at one of the tops of the flow chart for the team that drafted you, man. I mean, do you ever take a minute? Again, I know you said that things, when I just mentioned your college days, you say it feels like a million years ago.

Would you ever take a minute to go? This is pretty wild. The team that drafted me, a first rounder played a Super Bowl, first ever Super Bowl, you know, for this franchise. You know, I think like initially when I came back in this building, I was, you know, definitely to be back in this building and around people that, you know, were still here when I was a player. So, yeah, it was pretty cool coming back in here and, you know, it was kind of surreal when I first stepped back in here, but that's kind of worn off and, you know, just kind of in a new career, really excited about our team and the direction that we're headed and exciting times here.

Everybody's really excited about the direction that we're headed. All right. And let's talk about that. Dan Morgan here on the Rich Eisen Show. You know, this first time we've, I think, been able to have a conversation like this on this program.

So excuse me for hitting the wayback machine again. Why Dave Canales? And honestly, the first big move for you, you were just there fresh in your role and you made this move that honestly nobody in my end of the business saw coming.

Why him, Dan? So we worked together in Seattle and our offices were actually a couple of doors down from each other. So Dave and I knew each other really well. We had a really good relationship.

He was doing a great job down there in Tampa. You know, just a really bright mind, a guy that brings a lot of energy and a lot of passion for what he does. And I do the same. And I thought it'd be a really good, you know, connection with myself, you know, with Mr. Tepper, with Brand Tillis. We have a really good team that we're all really excited about. It's just great communication, collaborative effort. And yeah, we're just, we're excited about our group. And again, just about the direction that we're headed.

And I'm sure you didn't have a conversation when you hired him. Hey, here's what we're going to do. We're going to bench Bryce Young in the first month of the season. You know what I mean? Like, you never know what's going to happen. And clearly when it happened, everybody thought, well, that's the end of the road for him in Carolina.

And we could not have been clearly more wrong. What do you feel Bryce learned from that sabbatical, which is a word I used with him when I chatted with him before the Munich game when I saw him and he kind of digged that word. What do you think he learned from that, Dan? You know, I think for him to be able, first of all, I think Coach Canales did a great job of just like making a hard decision. It was a hard decision to bench Bryce after the second game of the year. And for him to do that and being a first time head coach, not a lot of guys would do that in that type of situation. So for him to feel that, that that was going to be the best thing for Bryce, I thought that was a great move by him.

And what was best for the organization? And, you know, Bryce, you know, he took it running and he was out there. It gave him, it gave him a chance to sit back, watch Andy Dalton out there in the huddle, run the huddle and just take a step back and just, you know, take a deep breath, relax a little bit and just kind of gather his thoughts because we knew he was going to come back at some point and we knew he was going to play good.

So Bryce is a competitor. He's one of the hardest workers that I've ever been around. I knew that this wasn't going to keep him down for long. He's, he's resilient. He loves the game.

He's just passionate, passionate about everything that he does. So to see him come back and end the season that the way he did, it was awesome to see. And it was actually really just a proud moment for myself and, you know, just the organization to know that we have our franchise quarterback. Yeah.

I mean, and, and he played very well in that Munich game against the Giants. And one thing that Dave Canales said to the group, the broadcast meeting before the game, Dan, is he said, I know we're going to be, it's going to be confirmed that we're in the right direction. We're heading in the right direction and that we're arriving in the right direction. When I see the players' personalities show up on the field. My first thought was that's a very Pete Carroll thing to say, number one.

Number two, then in the game, Bryce Young got a first down with his legs and he hopped up and he gave one of those first down moves, which I hadn't really seen him sort of get into. And I'm wondering if you saw the same thing, you know, with Thelen coming back and you guys damn near, you know, coming up with a massive win at the end of the season, unfortunately, you know, couldn't against playoff teams, Dan, you know what I mean? Like, I'm wondering if you saw that and you think it's going to that's spilling into 2025.

Yeah. Just watching them back at Alabama, it reminded me of the brace that I watched in Alabama. You know, he had the swag, he had the presence, you know, everything about him exuded, you know, a winner and his teammates believed in him. He believed in himself and we ended the season in a great way and we expect to, you know, to come into the 25 season. Of course, we got to put the work in, but our expectations, you know, are high for ourselves. But again, we got to put the work in and I know we will.

Yeah, near misses against the two Super Bowl combatants. So what is your level of expectation for 2025, Dan Morgan? Yeah, I think expectations this year are the same that they're going to be every year. You know, we want to win the NFC South. We want to get a home playoff game and you know, we want to compete for championships. We want to build a consistent winner around here that the fans can be proud of and you know, it's too much losing around here in the past and me being a former Carolina Panther. We got to get back to winning and again, we got to put the work in and I know we will and it's starting right now and in OTAs. We just finished OTAs and then on the mini camp next week and we'll just keep building from there.

All right, let me keep turning pages back though, even though you're turning them forward. The draft, let's talk about the draft Dan Morgan. How close were you to trading your pick?

How much was your phone going off the hook when that was happening, Dan? It was, you know, we were definitely exploring the options and again, we're always going to do what's best for the organization and you know, we felt like if we could get a boatload of picks, a bunch of future picks that could really set us up for the future, that that's something that we wanted to explore. But at the same time, there was a lot of conviction in the building for TMAC and you know, we didn't want to lose our guy at the end of the day. So, you know, that decision came down to, hey, it wasn't enough draft capital for a guy that we really liked and we see a big future for. You're referring to Ted McMillan out of Arizona, the first receiver you took off the board there. Why him over everyone else, Dan Morgan?

Yeah. You know, I think when you watch his tape, obviously the size, the catch radius, how smooth he is, some of the best hands that I've ever been around. You know, just to see him, the competitor that he is, how smart he is. There's just so much to like about him. So we felt like, you know, adding him to our receiver room along with Xavier Leggett, you know, Adam Thielen, Jalen Coker and a bunch of the young guys that we have. We're really excited about that group.

Yeah. I'm glad we didn't chat before the draft. I would have told you about the red flag of both of us being in zone one on the same flight to Green Bay. I beat him to the door, Dan.

My feet were faster. Can't let him do that. You know what I mean?

Like I shouldn't be, you know, zone wanting him like that, Dan. Yeah. Just let him know. Okay. I'll let him know. I'll let him know. Yeah.

It's not, it doesn't look good for him. Jimmy Horn Jr. is another kid that I spoke to before the draft. Did you chat with Prime about him, Dan Morgan?

You know what? Some of our, some of our scouts did. I didn't personally. Right. But just, you know, myself being around him, you know, in the pre-draft process, just getting to know, getting to know Jimmy as a person, just kind of what he's been through, where he grew up and just the adversity that he's been through. You know, I really wanted him, you know, we wanted him as an organization just to add another player with speed and dynamic traits. And again, he's, he's a great kid as well. All right.

Before I let you go, Dan, just a couple of memory lane moments as well. First things first. How would you have stopped the tush push back in the day? You're, you're standing out there in the middle of the Carolina. I mean, what do you got for me? I think it's, you know, we had Chris Jenkins, he was our biggest defense alignment, so he would have had to, you know, he, he would have had to be a beast, but I mean, that's, it's hard to stop.

You know, it's one of those things that they perfected and, you know, it's definitely hard to stop. Okay. And where, where do you stand on that issue about that? You know, I think obviously I think you guys know where our vote was, but you know, I really don't want to get into like, you know, why we voted, you know, against it.

It was just something that we felt was, you know, best for us and our organization. Okay. So then let's move on to my last question.

Your favorite Steve Smith story. Let's go. Let's go, Dan.

Let's roll. Come on now. I work with the man. I've been around him for a very long time and I, I gotta get from you. I'll give you, I'll give you a funny one. So, you know, you know, Steve, obviously he's a prankster.

Okay. So we're in the locker room one day and he dumps a bucket of ice over the bathroom stall on to Brandon short, the former Penn state linebacker. Brandon did not like that. And he busted out of the stall and I thought he was absolutely going to kill Steve. So yeah, it was a pretty funny moment to where, you know, there's one, you don't see Steve kind of like, Oh man, maybe I, maybe I made the wrong decision right there. You don't see him do that very often. But when Brandon came out of that stall, he busted out of there. Steve was like, ah, I probably shouldn't have done that. He showed off his hall of fame burst is what you're saying.

He definitely did. Hey man, listen, I just remember that Superbowl. That was our first for NFL network. That was the first we, we were 11 weeks old in Houston, you know, you guys versus new England. And I just remember the second and fourth quarters of those games were just off the charts.

Not great, obviously for a defender. But I just remember, you know, Delome winging it. I remember Musen Muhammad making the catches obviously with Steve Smith. He got the current head coach of UCLA football doing his thing right now. You know, I still, I still can't watch that tape.

You can't to this day. No, no, definitely. But luckily it went to Seattle and, you know, as the pro director out there, I got myself a Superbowl rings. Definitely. You know, that, that helps a little bit, but you know, as a player to, to lose a game on the last second field goal, I still can't watch it.

I bet certainly, you know, but it's not like any slouch beat you get, Dan. Right. I mean, and I don't know if that's any consolation in that regard or, and also the fact that you're now in position to bring that Lombardi and put it in that on those shelves behind you, you know, replace that mug over your right shoulder with a nice shiny object. What do you think? Yeah. And that's the goal. That's the goal. And that's what we're all working towards. And, you know, we feel like we got the right head coach, the right quarterback, and just the right team in place. And we're going to keep building this thing and, you know, be aggressive in building it too.

So yeah, I think a bright time's ahead here in Carolina. Dan Morgan, thank you for the time. Great to catch up with you. Let's do this again before the season, if you're so inclined. Appreciate it.

Sounds good. Thanks for having me. That's the GM and president of football operations at Carolina Panthers, Dan Morgan.

I love going down the way back machine. Guys, just look up the college roster. Oh, we have. Oh, I've been staring at this whole time and it's stupid.

Frank Gore was like four string, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, but, uh, Clinton, the one running and Frank Gore on the backfield with Jared Payton. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. All right. Uh, let's take a break. 8 4 4 2 0 4.

Rich number to dial. We come back. It's what's more likely everybody. What's more likely Friday. Taylor.

LaJuan will hopefully hit our strike zone coming up. This episode is brought to you by progressive insurance, fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to progressive and save hundreds because progressive offers discounts for pain in full owning a home and more. Plus you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it.

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Navy Federal is insured by NCUA. Akbar, your first pitch in Philadelphia is such the stuff of legend. Yes. That it's received a documentary treatment from the ultimate in sports documentaries. Oh, what? Yeah. Oh, it has it. Check it out.

Wow. What if I told you throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game isn't as easy as it looks. That many have spent the rest of their lives regretting their trip to the mound. What if I told you a former professional football player who used his speed, strength and agility was about to have his hard earned athletic reputation shattered in only a few seconds by a tiny little baseball. I was so fired up when I heard Akbar was throwing out the first pitch. I mean, I had visions of the big man going out there throwing a frozen rope and the crowd chanting.

Didn't exactly work out that way, though. I mean, how hard can it be? Rich Eisen threw a strike. You guys are not even a putter.

Not even an athlete. Did you see the Philly fanatics reaction? That was awesome. For me, ESPN films critically acclaimed documentary series 30 for 30.

It's Akbar's first pitch presented by LensCrafters Prescription Eyewear, Friday at 8 p.m. That's my new favorite movie of all time. Oh, my goodness. OK, first off, I'm a huge fan of 30 for 30. And I would like to think of myself as a person that deserves one. But I don't. Oh, my God. What if I told you? I told you that was a bad way to participate. I thought it was real. Oh, my goodness. He thought it was real.

Matt Eisman, man, and Akbar's first pitch. Maybe we need to get too low on the case to. But again, I haven't seen it.

OK, I can't wait. Matthew in California. Let's take your phone call. What's up, Matthew?

Hello? Yes, Matthew. You are on the Rich Eisen show, Matthew.

I did the win loss game package. OK, Matthew, hold on a second. Wait a minute. Matthew, you don't you don't sound very excited right now. It sounds like you're ordering something over the phone.

It sounds like someone's making him do it. Yeah. Are you are you OK?

No, you can't blink. Oh, that's true. OK, Matthew, are you OK? Yeah. Yeah.

Very believable. Yeah. Yeah. OK, Matthew. Yeah. OK, Matthew, you ready?

Yeah. OK, man, a few words. Is Matthew T.J. Plus is now enjoying it. No, no, no, no.

Matthew in California. All I got to say is when lost is you'll be perfect for this. All right. Home for the Lions. What happens when? All right. Then you're home for the commanders on a Thursday night. What's up when? All right.

At the Cleveland Browns week three when three and oh, going into Dallas week four. What happens when? Oh, OK, man.

By the way, he said that different inflection like what? What else is going to happen? Obviously, we're going to win.

All right. The bye week hits at four and oh, coming off, taking on Joe Burrow in Lambeau Field, late windows, CBS week six. What happens when five and oh at the Cardinals when six and oh at the Steelers with Aaron Rogers, a quarterback.

Oh, when you're taking down Rogers, right? One of the whole NBC world. All right. Seven and all home for the Panthers when eight no home for the Eagles on a Monday night.

Why? Oh, yeah. I was rooting for eight and one at the G-Men. When we're back, we're back to nine and one home for the Vikings when 10 and one starting off the Madden weekend Thanksgiving celebration at Detroit. But to home for the Bears when we're back, bouncing back, 11 and two at the Broncos when 12 and two at the Bears on a Saturday. When, oh, so are we at 13 and two correct or home for the Ravens on a Saturday when 14 and two at the Vikings? My man. Well, the rest are starting his loss.

That's a good point. 14. We finished up stronger. He says the Packers don't finish strong, but you finish strong with a full sentence. Matthew in California. Well done. Thank you, Matthew.

Man, 14 through that. That's all. That's a one. That's a win. That's a winning the NFC regular. Super Bowl.

That's where they're heading. Although they do have the tie break against Philadelphia would be bad, bad. 14 and three wins the NFC regular. 14 wins is good enough to win the conference.

Dallas is going to win. Let's see. Probably.

Have you done it yet? No. Okay. I will. Yes, you will. We'll do it. We'll make sure of it. Yeah. Um, choice. Really?

My boss makes them seriously. Somebody apparently has already done the Jets win loss. That you do it. Someone called it. It's it's a Friday.

You know what that means? It's what's more likely. Hit it. Hit it.

What's more likely? Never say never, but never. Okay. Let's do it. Happy Friday. How you doing? What up? Chris.

Great to see you. It's cracking our long national nightmares over Aaron Rodgers has agreed to go to Pittsburgh. So who's more likely Steelers quarterback to win more games this year.

Their old one, Justin Fields, or their new one, Aaron Rodgers. Oh, come on. Well, the jets have a better record than the Steelers by the end of the season is what you're just asking me right now. So you're saying to me, is that what you're saying to me?

Rich eyes. And you're such a professional. You read through those lines.

I'll just say it's more likely the Steelers have a better record. Why? Because it's the jets and I'm defeatist right now. I'm still, I'm not there yet. I understand. I'm not there yet. I mean, you watched Rogers play for the jets last year. I did.

And we'll see if Justin Fields is the guy he's going to get the shot and that's get the shot shot shot. So yeah, man. Yeah, man. I'm just, uh, I just, I, I can't, I can't go there. I'm not going to, I, I just can't even complete a sentence. That's how, you know, you'll get there. That's how unconfident I am about it.

Justin Fields won almost as many games in six games last year as Rogers won the whole year. Right? Can we, can we get a pass rusher like TJ watt going? What do you think? I don't know. I don't know.

We'll see coach him up. I know. All right. You see, you're saying who's going to have more wins than the season.

The, uh, AA Ron in Pittsburgh, the AA Ron in New York. Yeah. Got it.

What else? Chris, speaking of shots, quarterback getting their last shot, more likely to start more games in 2025 Russell Wilson or Daniel Jones. Why is Daniel Jones getting his last shot? Excuse me.

This is it for Daniel. I don't think so. I don't think so.

I don't think so. Why can't he be like the next Geno Smith? That's a bad example because you know, but, but Daniel Jones is still young. I mean, also look at that neck on the screen there, dude, I don't, I disagree with him getting his last shot in Indianapolis. Is he's what?

27, 28. Come on now. Now Ross is getting his last shot. One would think, although I thought Denver was his last shot and then after they caught him and Pittsburgh put him in the pole position and now New York has put him in a pole position.

Hmm. Um, so I'll, I'll say Daniel Jones starts more than Jones is on his third team in two years. Don't include Minnesota. Minnesota just gave him a locker and a uniform. Come on.

He was there. I know, but this is really his second chance to start here. He wasn't starting last year. I'll go Daniel Jones.

Okay. The whole year and Daniel Jones. I think Daniel Jones is going to perform well. He's going to be the week one starter.

The fact that Anthony Richardson isn't going to be physically able to go until sometime in training camp, as we heard on June 5th from the head coach means Daniel Jones is starting week one and I think he will perform well enough to keep starting. I love what you give me a choice. I choose one. You don't like my answer. No, I'm just, I want to hear you.

You would've chosen Ross. I want to hear you talk it out. That's all. That's my final answer. Regis. I think Russ is getting benches here. Okay.

Uh, I'm in Russia. Daniel Jones is going to get more starts. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Okay. You're right.

Thank you. Ding points. Uh, Ellen Ross, St. Brown guys has said that for the lions, super bowl or bust. Is it more likely the lions make the super bowl or someone else wins the NFC North? I think it's someone, someone else wins the NFC North. Yeah.

I think that's more likely. I'll tell you, man. Tell you what, man. Tell you what, man.

Um, this is going to be Dan Campbell's, uh, coaching challenge this year. We can't have a hot seat. No, stop it. Okay. Get out of here, man. I'm saying two new coordinators, uh, rag now is retired.

Yup. There's a lot to see. Uh, there's a lot to say about needing to see something and um, and this is the toughest division in football and the toughest the NFC North has ever been agreed. So that's not a great recipe for repeating. It is a great recipe for chip on the shoulder. And I'm going to be the type of head coach who can exploit that as Dan Campbell appears to be. But I will say it's more likely that another team wins the NFC North. How does that sound like?

And you know, I'm high on the Honolulu blue and I can't wait to see what Hutch looks like coming back. What else guys more likely the quarterback that most needs to win a playoff game this year, Trevor Lawrence or Kyler Murray. When you say most needs to win means, um, I can't figure out what you're saying. Um, cause you know what, where I always go, what my default is on this, your default is you don't want to be talked about. You don't want to have the topic bars. You don't want to have first take. You don't want to have shows like this one. You don't want to be in that mosh pit due to your ineffectual play or disappointing finish. Yes.

All of the above. That's what you're saying about needs to prove to shut people up from talking. I always go to you need to prove it because you could be out of a job where you're at. And in that respect, I'll go, these guys aren't going to be out of a job. I think so.

They'll be out of a job in the spot that they're at. Uh, I, I don't know what Kyler Murray's contract is, but you know, uh, I'll go Kyler Murray. I'll go Kyler. He's been at it longer. He's made one playoff game.

They got waxed out of Los Angeles on that day. Trevor at least had a terrible first half, but made it to Kansas city anyway, the next week. So I'll go Kyler not without knowing his contract or, you know, they fully believe in him, but I'm just wondering if we'll be like, you know what, let's see if there's other greener grass.

If he has a highly disappointing season where they don't even make the playoffs again. What else? Did you see the, uh, Derek Henry talking to DP this week where he, uh, made a little bet kind of where if, uh, Derek Henry wanted to be in an Adam Sandler movie and Dan was like, give me 2000 yards. And Derek Henry goes, gotcha. Okay.

Running back more likely to sniff 2000 yards, Derek Henry or Saquon two guys who have done it. How about that? Um, I'll just go say Quan.

I'll just go say Quan. He's a younger offense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll do, I'll, I'll go with that. I, although I don't believe all the, he's going to get fewer touches this year type stuff. Didn't didn't Ross Tucker say that this kind of alluded? Yeah.

I just don't believe, I don't believe it now, rich, not to interject, but before you fully give your answer, does, does this help to know that Adam Sandler sent a video and he told Derek Henry, if he does get the 2000 yards, he is putting them in the movie. That's great. That's extra. It's extra, you know, Saquon had, you know, more than 400 touches with the catches in the playoffs.

So almost 500. Right. Okay. All right. No.

And it's, it's, I'm, I'm glad that there is incentive for him and that he loves Adam Sandler and Dan's been in 20 of his movies and has the ability to pull that sort of thing. And, you know, um, though I didn't, I didn't see Dan in Los Angeles on Saturday at the, uh, Netflix event where they, where they announced happy Gilmore twos trailer. We haven't discussed this. I don't see Dan, you know, smiling next to shooter and Gavin. No, I don't. Yeah. I see you.

I mean, I see, I haven't heard anything about it. I see smiling faces. You know what he could have saw Chris us in the audience. Had he told us that he was going to be doing this plus one, it took Xan. I like going to talk my son, red carpet.

Xan has unleashed in Los Angeles, California. Of course he has that young man. Handsome hunky young man. Am I taller than you now? Oh my God. When did that happen?

Last month. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So that was my plus one. Good X. Sorry guys. Yeah. But you could still let us know what you're up to. Maybe some call.

What's more likely to say my son or you guys. All right. I'm just, you know, I mean, I don't know if I can get Derek.

Henry in a movie like that so fast, but I mean, I, I do have access is what I'm saying. Is this still part of this? Yeah.

A couple, a couple more. Why'd they call it to do it? It's the noise. That's like to do together. Wow. Well, that's why you asked me, don't ask Dan. What I'm saying is you now must refer to me as mr. To do. Okay.

Now that I know what makes it. I don't mean to make a big to doom out of it. You got one more. I don't go one more. I don't guys. Paul Skeans is a dominating scheme, but it's not resulting in wins.

He's got a two era that upsets Cooper. So same. Oh, well we don't have them. I do. It's just him is just loving Paul Skeans. Gosh.

Yes. More likely to be the higher total. Paul Skeans wins this year or Del two folk career. Emmys. How many does he have? He's got eight or nine, including the one that his wife broke by ex-wife. He didn't win one this year. Right?

No, that one was repaired. I'll take Paul Skeans. I'll take great. What a great photograph.

This is like the Grom ask. I know I told, I told Coop, God bless. I'm raising him. Right? Not just, you just saw his hand moments ago. I said to Coop, I'm like, you know what he needs to do, right? And he says, get traded to the Yankees. I'm like, yeah, please God. Oh please. It's going to happen. Get ready.

Pinstripes Paul Skeans. It's going to happen. I'll take that bet. Father son pick a couple more guys. Is it more likely Tyrese Halliburton has another game winner in this series or Scottie Scheffler wins another major this year. Oh God. You us open next week. Great question.

I'll go Halliburton. Well, he's got more chances. He does technically.

He's got, he's got six more shots potentially three. Three of them are if necessary. Right.

And Scottie's only got two more left. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I'll go with, I'll go with Halliburton.

I'll go with Halliburton. All right. Very good. Are we done? You got, Oh, you got one more. One more. I did never saw coming guys. Today is the anniversary of D day. More the more likely impossible endeavor to succeed.

Yes. The Pacers winning the NBA title or you getting a point on Carlos Alcaraz. Oh, Oh, you see, you've seen that he's, he's lost some points to some Jimmy I'll go out of respect to everyone involved. I will say Pacers when the NBA time, even though I do not believe it. How dare you? How dare you make me lie to our viewing and listening audience.

I always say I shoot everyone straight and I just didn't. Alcaraz currently in the match right now. Up two sets to one. Now he's vulnerable. Oh, he won the guy. That guy's tired. No, he's rolling to another pro. Yeah. Uh, I understand Skinner and Jokovic. He's vulnerable.

He's vulnerable. All right. Let's take a break. When we come back, I will see Taylor. The one's first pitch for the first time.

And then he is going to zoom in from a car in St. Louis where hopefully the car's driving straighter than his pitch out of town. Wow. When you're on the go and it's time to refresh your energy, grab an ice cold Celsius where zero sugar seven essential vitamins and proven ingredients meet peer refreshment. Unlike traditional energy drinks, each sip of Celsius is a perfect balance of flavor and function.

So whether you're hitting the gym, the office, or your next adventure, grab a Celsius at your local retailer or visit Celsius.com to learn more. This episode is brought to you by Amazon prime from streaming to shopping prime helps you get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel from time to time with services like prime video, Amazon music, and fast free delivery prime makes it easy to get more out of whatever you're into or getting into visit amazon.com slash prime to learn more back here on the rich eyes and show. Okay. So the unsuspecting people of Missouri, um, convening in, uh, St. Louis yesterday to watch the, uh, I guess show me series, right?

Royals at Cardinals. I had no idea what was about to be the only words for it apparently are perpetrated upon them. The, I have not seen this. You told me this is 50 cent esque.

This is Mariah Carey esque. This is as bad as it gets. It's not great. That's what you're saying.

Carl Lewis. Well, I mean, if he's, if this is a national Anthem, right? He's thinking the bad, he's done both. Okay. Yeah. Um, Taylor, the one first pitch, I have not seen it yet. I'm about to react to it before our radio audience returns.

All right. Hit it. Here we go. Taylor low on winding up. Oh, he's going lefty from the top of the bump. That's impressive. Oh man.

Compton comes right on top. This is what kind of the icing on the cake here for the sign. Yeah. Yeah. Oh man. He's shaking off.

He rises and fires. Hold on a minute. Oh my gosh.

Oh my God. Oh, let me say it one more time. Let's rewind it. Here we go.

This just Taylor's pitch. Okay. Here we go. The windup I'm working blue. It's so bad.

I'm working blue. My apologies to the local audience. Oh, look out. Oh, don't look out.

It's hardly, it hardly moved. Oh, it's unfortunate. YouTube famous. Yeah.

It's not great. Now you remember I did my first pitch in Dodger stadium. I was there.

Um, and I, I, um, I went to the top of the bump. Um, Kenley Jansen was the backup catcher at the time. He's like, really?

I gotta, I gotta catch this. This guy's cheese. Uh, it, it, it would have hit a right-handed hitter, but I think a lefty would have been fooled by my off speed.

I might've sprayed at it. Yeah. Joining us now to try and explain himself is none other than the man for the boys himself. My buddy Taylor, the one, how are you Taylor Luan? Good to see you.

Yeah. Appreciate you having me on, man. Listen, uh, when you texted me five minutes ago, it said, Hey, we're ready for you. I popped on cause I want to be there for my boy, my Michigan man.

And then I got to sit here for the last 90 seconds and watch you react to that. Talk about Will Compton, how great he was. And he, well, he was great. Yes. Will was incredible. He answered the bell.

Yes. Uh, show me state for a reason that man showed big time. We, uh, we're in St. Louis still for summer smash, man. Listen, I want to take you back when I was 12 years old, man. I used to play for a little team, a little triple eight baseball team called the silver Hawks. All right. It was a little competition, little competition.

Your boy was bad about three 70 back then I was in first baits, first base pitcher and outfields. Okay. Was I, was I decent? Yes.

Was it going to be a career? Absolutely not. I get on the mountain yesterday and there is not an ounce of fear.

There's not an ounce of anxiety. If anything, I'm thinking to myself, time to show them what kind of multi-sport athlete I am. And then that happened. And Tom, Tom Brady's got to see that Steve Hutchinson's got to see that my, my white knight Jake long has to go and see that. And then September 20th, we have the busting bull happening. And this man right here wants to pop in and just throw a laser beam. You've been seeing the headlines, but a lot of people are writing, uh, that this could be a glimpse of September 20th when the Huskers take on the Wolverines. Oh, now listen, by the way, we're back on the rich eyes and show radio network.

So we're I'm down, done working blue. I just saw the Taylor Lewand first pitch for the first time Taylor Lewand kind enough to zoom in from St. Louis, Missouri. There, there is a Will Compton behind him, the boys together here on the rich eyes and show will happy because he, he acquitted himself quite well with the first pitch. Taylor. Um, how, how did you lose control? And by say lose control, I mean turn completely spastic with your first pitch. How did that happen?

Taylor? I'll say this, listen, we had to take full accountability, like everything about it. People like it's very much like the 50 cent video. It is exactly like the 50 cent video. And then I got to watch first take man, a hundred million dollar man laughing. You laugh a little, you laugh a little too hard, but the tape doesn't lie on him either.

I mean his first pitch in Yankee stadium with all due respect, at least it was straight now, which I can go into, Hey, I played football my whole life. I have all these ailments. I tore my UCL on my left thumb when I was blocking Harold Landry on a one-on-one block and camp back in August of 2021. And I never got the surgery because I wanted to play the season. It is what it is. I could go into all of that.

And I don't grip the ball the way I used to grip it. Here's what needs to happen. When I get back to Nashville, I get to back Nashville on Sunday. We have a nice little thing for busting with the boys Monday morning. I'm getting a pitching coach.

I was with the boys sponsors, a little league baseball team. I'm going to be at those baseball teams. I'm going to get a glove. I'm going to put the ball in the glove.

I'm going to tie a belt around it and I'm going to sleep on, on the top of my head so I can break that bad boy in the way I want to break it ends. Now in two months from now, I'm calling out Steven A. Smith. If he wants to go toe to toe and we want to both throw out a first pitch of a game, a one and two pitch and see who does better, more than happy to do it more than willing to do it. But regardless of whether Steven wants to do or not, I am going to have my redemption.

And I don't care if it's a single aid baseball game. I don't care. I'm going to have my redemption one way or another. I have a concern. Steven is going to, um, uh, reject this offer. He only does, he doesn't do second takes Taylor only you're doing, you know what I mean?

His takes are first, you know what I mean? So I don't know if he's going to want to, uh, do that. So who would, which major league baseball team would, would, uh, afford you that second opportunity? Taylor, who's, who's going to let you back on the mound like that? You know, Richard means in these types of situations, man, you got to lean on your mentors. You got to lean on the guys that have the voice, the guys like rich eyes and who's been in the game for so long.

Who's been so, who's been so big in the sports world to be my vocal sounding board to say, Hey, listen, this guy messed up. Is he a loser? Yes. Does he have fake teeth?

Yes. Does his knee work? No, but this man can still absolutely forget a way to throw a football, a baseball. And we need to get that done for him.

It was a very emotional plea, but unfortunately, um, I think, um, you're trying to use your neck to block out Compton. I think what he's doing behind you just sort of undercut the series. Dude, Taylor, Taylor, you said this is worse than the Chandler Jones game. I looked that up. Uh, Chandler Jones had five sacks in week one, 2012. Oh, good. It keeps coming. Um, listen, I gave the two of those sacks for me.

All right. Do you want to talk about how bad that game was? Buddha Baker, Buddha Baker in a two minute drill before the half. I flipped my hips.

He puts his hand on my chest, Buddha Baker's a safety and puts my ass in the dirt. That is the worst football game ever played in my life. This, this hurts more right now. I'll be sitting outside a very nice hotel in a wonderful city of St. Louis about to do something amazing.

So much fashion and go to the UFC and Newark right after this. Nice. My heart hurts.

It yearns. And I know this September 20th, Fandral sports books already got that Michigan's minus three and a half. We beat Oklahoma.

We're going to be minus, I don't know, eight and a half, nine and a half. He can have his fun now. He can enjoy it now. He looks great. You can tell he's been working out. We're going to get him September 20th and all will be resetting this world. I was about to say, which hotel is a wax figurine of a little Compton standing outside the front door.

That's pretty weird. Um, so just to sum up, to sum up, uh, Taylor, to sum up, you take full responsibility. Uh, there are, there are some nicks, there are some bumps or some bruises from the, from the playing days, uh, that you have to overcome, but you are going to, um, coach yourself up. You're going to take the proper training and you're going to redeem is what you're saying.

If there's a major league baseball team willing to give you a chance. Right. And then this game of being a, an elite athlete, rich, when you lose a game, you take 24 hours and you sit in it. When you win a game, you take 24 hours, you enjoy it. Once the 24 hours up, you move on, you get back to work. There's a, there's work to be done.

And I got about five and a half more hours at this 24 hours. So I'm going to go up to this room and the four seasons, I'm going to cry a little bit solo and I'm going to wake up the next morning, get rearing to go and ready, ready to train and be better. I fear for you too. I feel for you man, because Compton threw a seed right after you. That, that had to hurt deep down that that's the thing that really has to hurt when you watched him.

Like you would have, you would have, you root for your friend, but you, you, you kind of wish he had dirt at it worse. You know what I mean? You kind of wish right when it comes down to it, I'm not going to stew. I'm a Michigan man. I'm not going to stoop that low.

I'm not going to speak. I will say when I looked over at Wilcox in the video you saw and he throw the dart, I looked him in the eyes and they, I've never seen a smile like that on his face before in my life. Well, it's because Nebraska hasn't beaten Michigan in quite some time. So it'll be, it's been a while. So we'll, we'll, we'll see it for us. Taylor, you're the man. Thanks for, for coming on and, and facing the music explain.

Yeah. Facing the music, facing the music. And I'm glad to see that St. Louis is allowing you to stay in their town for at least a few more hours. Well, that we've passed a lot of people today and a lot of people saw that pitch.

So people of St. Louis, man, appreciate y'all, everybody. There you go. There goes, well, there goes on ladies and gentlemen, he is done. Full accountability, full accountability.

That's all you want. God, his children are going to see that forever. Pretty bad.

Rich, you never saw Carl Lewis's one? I don't know. I'm still stuck on the national anthem. Uh oh. Uh oh.

Power three coming up. Yeah. That's where, that's where I saw it first on first take this morning. And then, then they started looping Steven A's and his is really bad also.

It's not great. It's not great, but that's where I first learned of Taylor's mishaps. He cracks me on the mound. Those guys make me laugh.

They make me laugh. Compton just standing back there. Compton seed. You were right hose. I mean, it was nice and easy right down the middle, right down the middle strike.

You know, it was almost hit a guy. It is so nerve wracking and I am thinking that that's the feeling I'm going to have standing over my first tee shot of the American century championship. Uh, and I've got, I'm, I am going, I I'm telling you this, are you practicing?

I am taking my first serious lesson today. Okay. As soon as I'm done with our post meeting X hour and a half session, I am going to deal with this much more seriously than my 40 yard dash I've ever done over the 21 years of running, 22 years of running.

Well, 21 years. So the other thing too, rich is this is live televised. I'm aware of that. And there's fans like there's human beings. Like I only, when I run my 40, I only hurt myself. Yeah. I'm the only one who could suffer injury.

There's chances of balls spraying into people. Not if I handle my business. Well, we believe in you.

Thank you ish. Do you believe in you? I want to believe, but hearing that you're taking a lesson is a step in the right direction because this is, this is forever for Taylor, the one that's forever, you know, throws his hat down and immediately does. It's just not great for him. And then his buddy gets up there and just looks in. He does the comedy, which always can lead to disaster. If you don't walk the walk or throw the throw and a beautifully done, that's beautifully done. He had to be rooting against them. No question.

I heard him, but no question definitely want to respect to you guys. If we're ever in that situation and I do that, you're like, please start it, please. And actually you should do that on purpose to help cover my tracks.

I'd appreciate it. You know, it's like, it's going to be on film forever though. And you shake yours.

You're like, please shag. I didn't want to say that. I didn't want to say that to Taylor, you know, but his, his family is going to see that forever. It's there forever. You're YouTube famous when you do that sort of stuff on the mountain. So I appreciate him coming here and facing the music Shaquille O'Neal hour three on the Rick Johnson show. If you're a lineman in charge of keeping the lights on Grainger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes Heights to ensure the power is always flowing, which is why you can count on Grainger for professional grade products and next day delivery. So you have everything you need to get the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.