We Are Seeing One Of The Greatest Clutch Performances In NBA Playoff History

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Visit amazon.com slash prime to learn more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Ah, yes. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Just settling into my chair, getting set for this three-hour program, putting my coffee mug here without a, oh, here's a coaster. I'm just going to walk my way through this open. Hey, I'm just waiting to the last second. It's, you know, I mean, this is what we call on brand for what we're seeing in sports, whether it's Aaron Rodgers showing up for the Steelers or the Indiana Pacers taking care of Oklahoma City in game number one.

We're talking about all of it. Tom Pelissero is first up. Shaquille O'Neal is last up. Dan Morgan is the general manager of the Carolina Panthers. He's in the middle of this program, along with another Friday staple, What's More Likely.

I've got a top five list of the top five coaches I would like to see on the Knicks bench in the fall or by the draft if I'm, if I'm, if I'm a choosing beggar right now. So it's a fun Friday show. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the program. Whether you're taking in this program on the Roku channel or the Infinity Sports Network, Terrestrially, or Sirius XM Channel 375. If you're streaming us on Odyssey, if you're checking out these videos piecemeal on our YouTube page, greatly appreciate it. If you're following any of our social media feeds at Rich Eisen Show, we greatly appreciate it.

A story that Joshua Jackson told on this program about George Clooney on the set of Oceans 11 yesterday. We just went over a million views on our Instagram page at Rich Eisen Show. We greatly appreciate everybody who takes in our program.

Whether it's, you know, in short, scrolling methods or live, we greatly appreciate it. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman. How are you? Hey Rich, I'm great. Is he a superstar now? How about, how about now?

Jason Feller, who is on the top five most underrated audio executives. Good to see you over there. How are you? Happy birthday, Mama Felly. Hey, Mama Felly. Fantastic. Yes.

Mama T.J. this week and Mama Felly. Isn't that right? Yeah. Candles are lit everywhere. Wow, I love it. Candles are lit. Candles are lit everywhere. Mitzel Plix, pick up sticks, putting on the Ritz, Pacers and six. Let's go. That's it.

That's it. Let's go. I eat tricks. I like how you picked it up right where I was going.

I love those. May I take control back of this? Sorry. It's Friday.

It's fine. It's the Rich Eisen Show. We start this program on April 29th, 2025. This is when we began to realize what was up in the National Basketball Association.

This is when we began to realize, you know, one would think began to realize or dawning on us a little inkling because it's taken a while to sink in, to be quite honest with everybody out there. April 29th was the night the Indiana Pacers were trying to close out the Milwaukee Bucks who were doing their best to extend their first round series against the Pacers, despite having watched Damian Lillard blow out his Achilles. And without him, man, were they balling out to try and extend their series to a game six back home in Milwaukee. And they led in overtime, 118-111 with 34 point seconds left in overtime. But with 1.4 seconds left, Tyrese Halliburton decided to get his own rebound, dribble out to the three point line, and instead of settling for the two pointer, he dribbles out the three point line and jars a three to win 119-118. This is after getting a rebound of his own miss, right? Remember on free throw line? On free throw, yeah. Which is tough to pull off.

It is. And instead of, again, going for the tie, he says, screw it, I'll go for the win. And then he stands up in front of the insane fans on the scorers table, 119-118, eliminates the Milwaukee Bucks. We know as he's facing the fans, his dad was facing Giannis.

Oh, that's right. And all holy heck broke loose. That's Kobe-style picture right there. In the NBA. All right, so smash cut to now taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Taller order, one would say, since the Cavaliers had a 64 win season.

True, true. And the Cavs tasted defeat at home in game one of this series. But, you know, clearly they were going to even the series against the Pacers, right?

At least that's what we all thought, especially when they led 119-112 with four point seconds to go on May the 6th. And that was when Tyrese Halliburton made a shot with 1.1 seconds to go that won the game. And church bells were ringing in Cleveland. And those bells were tolling everywhere as Tyrese Hallabalton was born.

As coined by, I believe, Cedric the Entertainer the next day on this program with Anthony Anderson sitting next to him. The NBA weren't happy, their ears were ringing, their phones were ringing, these church bells were ringing, and Tyrese Hallabalton was born. And sure enough, yada, yada, yada, the Pacers get through the Cavaliers and a lot of people were talking about how the Cavs were all banged up. And that's why they're now in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks who they eliminated last year. And that elimination was part of the conversation due to the fact that the Knicks were all banged up. And then them getting swept out in the Eastern Conference Final by Boston only underscored all of that. Game one, Knicks take a massive lead.

Let me get this correct. 121 to 112, nine-point lead with 51.1 seconds to go. And that's when Aaron Kneesmith made every three under the sun. And then Tyrese Halliburton had the ball with no time left. Down two made what appeared to be a three-point shot.

Even though the ball hit the back, iron popped straight up in the air and came down like it was Santa in a chimney, touching nothing but net. And then Tyrese had the Reggie Miller choke sign all at the ready. So we found out he had too large a shoe on, forced overtime, but the Pacers took game one there, took game two as well. Halliburton had a game for the ages as well on a 35, 30-point-plus performance, 15 rebounds, 15 assists, 12 rebounds, zero turnovers. Rick Carlisle said they're going to start creating a new statistic for Tyrese, but still now it's the NBA Finals against the 68 win Oklahoma City Thunder. And they're all wearing the same shirts.

You love that. And they took a massive lead, Oklahoma City. They were up by 12 at halftime. That ballooned to 15 with nine minutes and 42 seconds to go. It was a nine-point Thunder lead with two minutes and 36 seconds to go.

Right where they want them. 25 Pacer turnovers. Shea, hard G, soft G, SGA, MVP with 38 points. But still somehow Tyrese Halliburton had the ball in his hands. And with hardly any time left, made the shot again.

Did you think it was going in? Of course. Are you kidding? Yeah.

You didn't? I just can't believe they didn't, you know, he's unguardable. He's truly one of the greats.

We are seeing one of the greatest performances, clutch performances in playoff history. I don't think I'm overstating it. I know it's recency bias.

You ask me, well, you know, this is better than what, Rich? I can't give you an example. I just laid it all out for you. And this is for a team that's not supposed to be doing what they're doing, even though they had the second best record in the NBA since the calendar turned from 24 to 25. They had 47 regular season wins to finish up the season.

Going from under 500, as SVP pointed out in the postgame last night with Halliburton in a very fun exchange between the two where SVPs gave him a mea culpa. I was late to the party, he said. Everybody's been late to the party. Everybody's been late to the party. Even the Pacers have been late to the party. But when it comes down to performing late, name me a more clutch player that we've seen in recent times. I just laid it all out for you. He's done it now in every single round of the playoffs.

This is Mr. Clutch after the game. I think as a group, like I've said many times, you know, after you have a run like last year, and you get swept in the Eastern Conference Finals, and all the conversation is about is how you don't belong there and how you lucked out to get there, and that it was a fluke, guys are going to be pissed off. We're going to spend the summer pissed off. And then you come into the year with all the talk around how it was a fluke.

You have an unsuccessful first couple months, and now that's easy for everybody to clown you and talk about you in a negative way. And I think as a group, we take everything personal. Like as a group, it's not just me, it's everybody.

I feel like that's the DNA of this group. And that's not just me, our coaching staff does a great job of making us aware of what's being said. Us as players, we talk about it on the locker room, we talk about it on the plane. We're a young team, so we probably spend more time on social media than we should.

But I just think we do a great job of taking things personal. And that gives this group more confidence. Biggest comeback in an NBA Finals game in 14 years, almost on the 14-year anniversary of the night Dallas came from 15 down to beat Miami, you could see the graphs that you always check out online of the percentage of a team having a win probability.

And it went from almost 98% for Oklahoma City to 100% for Indiana. And that's on to the Pacers social media account for dropping a nice dumb and dumber reference right there. Because we all feel kind of dumb and dumber when it comes to the Pacers.

I mean, in the same thing that Halliburton just said, hey, we're way too online as a team and we hear everything, guess what? We're now going to hear between games one and two what a fluke that was. We were in here and then after the Knicks lost, right? Hey, we'd be playing, I even said it here, it would be game seven tonight if they only closed out the Pacers, but nobody's closing out the Pacers because the Pacers refuse to be closed out because they refuse to just read what time it is on the clock over and over again.

And it's not just Halliburton. I mean, the comeback down 15 started when Nembhard had an and-one and then he made a Stones three to make it a one possession game. 108-105. Oklahoma City scores. He makes two free throws to make it a one possession game again. In between, Obie freaking Toppin hit two threes. Miles Turner hit two threes. Of course, Kneesmith made a three. Siakam, after the two Nembhard free throws, he has a make. Shea has a miss. Halliburton has the final make. And it's the only lead of the night for the Pacers.

Oklahoma City with 38 from their MVP in front of everybody wearing the same damn shirt, except for John Houseman there. I don't know what that guy's dressed. You could look to the right of Caruso's head. Oh, yeah. One of those guys dressed like, you know, who is that person? I don't know. I didn't see Jimmy Goldstein.

Was he there? I don't know. He's a librarian. What the hell? It's what? The House parliamentarian?

Making sure there's some reconciliation happening here? I don't know. Maybe he got cold, Rich. Oklahoma City led in this game for 47 minutes, 59.7 seconds. And still couldn't win it home.

Because they also have a great coach, too. And they've been through it, and they're not afraid. Not afraid. I know you're being cool here in Luke right now and all that, but at any point did you say, damn, that was a hell of a comeback.

No, no, no. Listen, you know, we've been through too much of this, you know, over the years. And, you know, we've just got to be very much present in the moment and understand what this is all about. This is all about keeping poise and at the same time having a high level of aggression. And those two forces fly in the face of each other a bit. And, look, this arena is madness.

I mean, this is, you know, this is, I don't know, from a road perspective, this was, the decibels were insane. And so, you know, there's a lot going on. You know, grateful to have the chance to hang in and give ourselves a chance at the end. But now we've got to, you know, keep our eye on the ball. I love this guy, man. The Pacers are just surging at the right time with the right coach, the right clutch leader, the right mix.

Obviously, Oklahoma City has some really terrific players. They're not done. I love it.

What a great way for the Finals to grab this country by the lapels and say, who the hell cares about what markets, television markets are here? That was a fun game. Big finish. We're all talking about it.

And now, Shea Gilges Alexander is in the role of what the Knicks were in and what the Cavs were in, you know, grasping for cliches to just shake off a major gut punch. Yeah, I thought I got a pretty good look. Felt good. Didn't go in.

And then they got a look and they went in. I don't know. Basketball ups and downs.

It is what it is. The series isn't first to one. It's first to four. So we have four more games to get.

They have three. And that's just where we are. We've got to understand that. And we've got to get to four before they get to three if we want to win the NBA championship. And it's that simple.

It's not rocket science. We lost game one. We have to be better. Man, could you count all the cliches? Ups and downs. It is what it is.

It's not rocket science. There's another one. We've got to be better.

That's a good one. Also, it's first to four, not first to three. I feel you, Shay, man. I feel you. And if you're Nick fame right now, it's like, could you have waited to fire Tibbs until we found out the Pacers do it to everybody?

It doesn't matter your rotations. It doesn't matter if you're wearing the same shirts or if you show up dressed like shadow me and spike doesn't matter. At some point, the Halliburton church bells are going to ring. I know Oklahoma City has a week and a half to figure this thing out, to just wipe everything I just said straight off. But man, what a way for the finals to start.

Fun, fun stuff. Teams that win game one. Guys win the series 71% of the time in the finals. Pacers fans have got to be out of their minds. Congrats to them for a game one win.

Can't wait to see the next game on Sunday. Obviously, we'll talk about it with Shaquille O'Neal in our number three of this program. Oh, I've got a news update on our guest list. Oh, here it comes.

The 50 cent of football is going to zoom into this program. No, he's not. Yes. No, he's not. Yes, he is. Is it Shaquille O'Neal? No.

Oh, no. It's Ryan Carey. Ryan Carey football.

Yeah. The mayor of Cincinnati, ironically. The mayor of Cincinnati. Ironically enough. Who's the one who hit the photographer in the nuts in Fenway Park?

We're talking about some of the worst first pitches of all time. Sean has one. You sent it to me. I have to tell you, I have not looked at it. Oh, my God. You haven't. You haven't. You haven't seen it yet.

I'm not. I'm going to have a live reaction. Oh, my gosh.

On this program coming up. But Taylor just agreed. He's texted me during. I looked at during one of the sound bites. My phone buzzed.

He's going to zoom in. Wow. So there's that. That's fantastic.

That would move if I were you. That takes testicular fortitude after what we saw. It's good on Taylor after if you guys have seen the video spit. Speaking of which, it's just a theme today because Tyrese Halla-Baulton did it again. Let's take a break. I cannot believe we will talk to Tom Pelissero about Aaron Rodgers being son.

That's how big game one was. We didn't even talk about that. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today.

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Learn more at NavyFederal.org. Back here on the program, we didn't even talk about Aaron Rodgers finally being signed with Pittsburgh. And I think that maybe that's because, no, I mean, we're going to. And by the way, I'll tell you, I'll tell everybody that, you know, the way my mindset goes, I saw the halftime score and I thought to myself, oh, OK, well, that's the way it's going to go in the NBA finals game one. And we'll we'll just go straight in. We'll just hit on that tomorrow briefly and, you know, get into it with Shaquille in hour three. And then we'll just we'll just go Rodgers-Palooza. And then the way it finishes, it's like, OK, well, let's scrap that plan.

But if you had June 5th or June 6th, technically on the Steelers press release. There you have it. It's their own personal D-Day. Oh, my God. I'm glad I'm glad your father is a military man so you could at least have that standing. Yeah. OK. My grandfather, uncle, you know, my whole family's military. But yeah, as you know, those folks actually went on a beach.

This is him taking himself off the beach. Yeah. Eighty one years ago today, by the way.

And we still celebrate them. But that said, aside from all of that, Chris and an impossible mission, the hell ridiculous odds are in their face. Well, if this was Mission Impossible, we would now we would they would huddle up and talk about just how impossible it is. Yeah.

Lay out all of what Aaron Rodgers is going to have to do with Pittsburgh. And then it would be. Wait a minute.

That's impossible. Well, I mean, we have no other choice, which is, again. Maybe we should have Smich come up with a mission impossible. Thirty eight sequels. There you go.

And by the way, I'd watch every single one. Well, it's what it's the it's the reckoning. At least you think so, since you find out Steelers twenty eighth on your power less ranking list. Yeah. Which is you saw you saw that I did. It got aggregated. I didn't watch your segment. Wow.

Wow. Clicking on that back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. Happy for this man, because when Rogers signed, I thought of this man and my other colleagues at the NFL Network and around the NFL media landscape that they don't have to talk about when Aaron Rodgers is going to sign anymore because he's a Pittsburgh Steeler. Tom Pelissero to see it. Tom. What's up, Rich? What's up to my boys in studio?

Hey, Tom, let's go, baby. I will tell you. I will tell you this, Rich. There's not a lot of you can ever rest right in this in the news breaking game.

You always got to be on point. But I had I had a sense I had heard rumblings that this might be the timing one Aaron Rodgers. I had my alarm set for for five a.m. today to make sure I didn't miss anything. OK, well, you know, not only the news breaking, but the Steelers putting out the press release last night, agreed to terms. Those alarms went off, Rich.

I slept till 715. Well, it's been a while. Nice.

The main a list topic that we've talked about ad nauseum for several months on this show and elsewhere finally resolved. So this is simply a 41 year old man who's like, yeah, I don't need to do that. He knew that April stuff that May stuff or he had other stuff going on. He knew that April and May was still just going to be his. And when it comes time to be there mandatory, everybody getting together kind of for the first time in serious mandatory fashion, he's going to be there.

That basically the way to read this. Tom, there's a combination of factors. Aaron Rodgers has talked about it. There were some things that he had going on personally with people that were close to him.

That was real. There was also a part of Aaron Rodgers that has long not believed that any of this stuff in the spring matters. You go back and I may have said this before, but the 2020 collective bargaining talks, Aaron Rodgers, who was a player rep at the time, made his big pitch that we shouldn't have to do anything till August 1st. There should not be anything the entire spring.

He obviously got outvoted on that. OTAs and minicamps still exist, but it does sound like sometime in the past week or two, Aaron Rodgers at least had made up in his mind for sure that he was going to come in and play for the Steelers. The timing makes sense here in terms of the mandatory minicamping next week. It's an opportunity for Rodgers to get around his teammates on and off the field.

Some guys that he doesn't know, some guys who might have just been reading perpetual social media posts and tweets and speculation and been like, what is the deal with this guy? You can put that stuff to bed and not have another five, six weeks of this leading up to the time in Latrobe. The deal is agreed to.

It's done. It's going to be a one-year deal for Aaron Rodgers. He said in the past that he would play for about $10 million.

My anticipation is it's going to be a little bit above that. There's going to be some incentives, obviously, but this is not going to be a $30, $40, $50 million deal like the ones that Aaron Rodgers has signed in the past. He's coming in here with something to prove. That work begins once he gets in the building, which depending on what his schedule is the next few days will be Monday when all players are reporting and taking their physicals and whatnot here. As for the Steelers, Mike Tomlin exercised patience throughout the process. He was committed to this idea that 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers has an opportunity to do what Tomlin surely hoped Russell Wilson was bringing them last year, which was a veteran presence and a guy that on a team that's supposed to run the football, make some big plays in the passing game and play really good defense, will give them the opportunity to compete in a rugged AFC North division. So Rodgers missed out on a lot of opportunities, obviously, through OTAs, the voluntary portion. He didn't take those reps. From everything I've been told, this was a really good time for Will Howard, the Ohio State quarterback, coming off of a national title. Even though Mason Rudolph was taking the number one reps, it sounds like Howard was really good through those practices here.

He'll continue to get, I would anticipate, a bunch of reps in the minicamp next week. They know what Mason Rudolph is. They obviously believe they know what Aaron Rodgers is going to be at this stage in his career. And potentially, you might have, whatever the succession plan takes effect, 2026 or beyond, maybe with a sixth-round pick, you might have found a guy at Will Howard who somewhere down the line could end up being the guy who takes the reins from Aaron Rodgers. All right, Tom Pelissero. So now that leaves us with what?

A big void, huh? Are you asking me, Rich, what I'm going to fill the insiders with every weeknight at 7 p.m. on NFL Network for the foreseeable future? No, because I know it's going to be filled with guys who are waiting for a contract extension and are toying with the idea of not being there when they have to be to make a point. Obviously, Trey Hendrickson leads that list. It appears Terry McLaurin may be on that list. This man's lion from Penn State over there, TJ Jeffersons. Micah Parsons says, I'm showing. It's really on Jerry. I want to win. He seems like to be a happy-go-lucky hold-inner. Did I kind of nail it or what? Did I miss anything?

Tom? That is certainly a big part of the list. It's not just whether guys will show up, but to your point, are you guys actually going to participate in practice? And every year we have a dozen or so players who don't end up doing that.

It is Trey Hendrickson. At this point, I'm not anticipating that anything gets done there. Prior to minicamp, Micah Parsons has already said himself that he's going to show up regardless. Is he actually going to do anything on the field? I don't know, but he and his agent are not big on giving up money for no reason, so I anticipate Micah is at least going to be in the building here. You've got other big deals potentially getting done, guys like Aiden Hutchinson.

I would fully anticipate Aiden Hutchinson is there with the Lions next week. You've got some quarterback deals that potentially could get done here. We know Eric DaCosta said recently they've had initial conversations with Lamar Jackson. That quarterback market has taken off so much. Lamar is barely even in the top 10 at this point, depending on how you slice the numbers in terms of average per year. He's got three years left on his contract. We know that Lamar historically has never been a rush to do anything, but he's doing $43.5 million this year. If there's an opportunity to bump him up to where those top quarterbacks are while also extending that contract from the Ravens perspective, there might be a win-win that can be found in there. And then probably the biggest one, and one that was directly impacted, Rich, by the Aaron Rodgers news is what happens here with Kirk Cousins. And is the answer, after all the speculation, all the reports, all the logic you can apply to the situation, is the answer really going to be nothing happens and he is a $27.5 million backup in 2025? At this point, there's not a clear place for Kirk Cousins to go. The Falcons have made abundantly clear that they're not releasing them. If they were going to do that, they would have done that back in March.

It didn't happen. He now not only has the $27.5 million fully guaranteed this year, he's got another $10 million guaranteed in 2026, albeit subject to offsets. And so any team even trading for him has taken on $37.5 million for a player who is battling a lot. Kirk Cousins was pretty banged up last season, but ultimately got benched in favor of Michael Penix Jr. That is a storyline, Rich, that probably now is not going to be resolved, I wouldn't think, prior to training camp. But the moment that somebody hits their thumb on a helmet, the moment that somebody pulls up lame with a hamstring, the moment anything happens to any quarterback, the first question is going to be, is this the team that trades for Kirk Cousins? And the caution that I would lend to that is, the deeper into it that we get, the further into training camp and the preseason, the more that Kirk Cousins, a guy who is due this money regardless of whether he's playing or not, and has family in Atlanta and is raising his kids in Atlanta, might be pretty reluctant to go, alright, this guy got hurt in the second preseason game, I'm going to pack up and move to City X, move my family, and go in and try to learn a playbook and learn my teammates quickly here. I don't know that he's going to do that, and he's got a no-trade clause. So, again, we'll be talking about Kirk Cousins a lot once injuries inevitably hit that position, but we really now are into territory with Aaron Rodgers agreeing with the Steelers where Kirk Cousins might be the Falcons' backup unless and until an opportunity arises through injury or otherwise for him to actually step in the lineup and play football for the Falcons again. See, here's, okay, so much that you just said about Cousins. Let's have the real conversation here too, Tom.

Number one, forget the economics of it. They're not releasing him because, if they just released him, right? Just say, you know, we're going to do right by, we don't, we don't, we'll go into the season without you even though we're already budgeted for it. Because, if they release him, the spot that might take him on the spot is New Orleans, and a very, very, very warm place has got to freeze over.

I'm just sitting, you know, right now thinking about that. Maybe Minnesota would take a shot, you know, just to have him back there with J.J. getting the gig, although that might, you know, create some... Hard dynamic. It's a hard dynamic, but from what you just said there, that Cousins might not be willing to go someplace if things, you know, remain status quo too deep. Sounds like a warning shot from his camp to tell the Falcons, be careful, man, because if you want this money off the books, if you've been, you know, playing chicken with us this entire time, we might roost, you know? We'll think about it this way, if we're just talking logically here, if you're Kirk Cousins, his first year in Minnesota, you remember, was bumpy the whole season. They missed the playoffs coming off an NFC Championship appearance, it took time, he obviously got better thereafter, they went to the playoffs, they had a playoff win, you go to his first year in Atlanta.

Clearly, a really bumpy ride. There's something to be said for any quarterback. I mean, even Aaron Rodgers stepping into Pittsburgh here. There's growing pains that you're going to have to go through, and as much as Aaron Rodgers may not believe there's any value in the spring, if you're Kirk Cousins and being told, all right, let's say a team that he does, and I don't want to say a specific team and jinx some fan base here, but let's say some team that runs a completely different offense, loses their quarterback, and go, all right, we're going to bring in Kirk Cousins now, does Kirk actually want to go? If this is, maybe late July is even different than end of August, September, October, does he want to go in and do that?

That would be an honest conversation. I haven't talked to Kirk about it. I don't know that he would necessarily veto trades at a certain point. Can he do that?

Let me just jump in. He has the right to veto a trade, Tom? He has a no trade clause.

Okay, wow. He's got some cards. If the Falcons were going to work with Kirk Cousins to facilitate a trade, they would have done this in February and March, so it's not as if a spot opens up, and suddenly Kirk just is going to say, all right, Falcons are going to hold him hostage. When the Eagles got a first-round pick for Sam Bradford because Teddy Bridgewater blew out his knee, that was a function of Howie Roseman and Rick Spielman who knew each other well, being like, all right, realistically, you don't have a quarterback, I'm going to get this, and so we've got to get this thing done quickly, and they moved very quickly, and they acquired Sam Bradford on cut-down day. I mean, those things can happen, but when you have a no trade clause, it does raise the specter of Kirk Cousins saying, you know what? I don't really want to move my family to City X in October and then just hope I can microwave the rhythm and timing and tempo that it takes to succeed in an NFL passing offense. Again, I'm not saying he wouldn't do it. I'm just saying that is certainly realistic and logical from Kirk Cousins' perspective. If I'm going to make the same exact money to be in Atlanta, at least a system I know, maybe something happens to Michael Pennix, and I get to play here versus going into a place you don't know the players, you don't know the coaches, you don't know the system, and try to pick it up midstream without even an offseason, Kirk Cousins' own experience, Rich, would tell you that that might not be an instantaneous yes.

Okay. Last one for you, Tom, because the other stories of this time of year, certainly now that Rodgers is in the fold in Pittsburgh, we just discussed the physically unwilling to participate, and then there's the ones who are physically unable to, and there's two quarterbacks in the AFC South I want to hit you on. Is there any level of concern for C.J.

Stroud in your mind right now, Tom? What I would say is there is always a level of concern when you're talking about a quarterback's throwing shoulder, because shoulders can be unpredictable, because they can change the way that you throw mechanically, because a lot of times they require rest. It's not as simple as a knee scope and you're back in two weeks.

A lot of times there's something more to it. But I would also say we're in early June. If you are dealing with anything with the quarterback's throwing shoulder, you shut them down. And we saw it happen with Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis as well, where they just made the decision, hey, we're just going to back off him right now. Shane Steichen saying he'll be back sometime in training camp is not really what I want to hear if I'm somebody rooting for Anthony Richardson to beat out Daniel Jones for that job. Now, I was separately told yesterday that he'll a thousand percent be ready for training camp, but it doesn't necessarily mean the Colts will cut him loose, right? You're going to want to ramp him up after he misses the end of OTAs in minicamp.

You're not just going to go out and have him throw 600 balls on the first day of practice. So these are reps now that go to Daniel Jones, and he gets more of an opportunity. I know that the coaches in Indianapolis really were excited about the prospect of bringing in Daniel Jones, even though they've got this remarkable ball of clay in Anthony Richardson. It's a ball of clay that spent so much time in the training room over the past couple of years that it's cost him those reps that he sorely needed as a young player who had only started 13 college games and really hadn't played a ton. Back to C.J.

Stroud for a second. I have not heard anything to make me believe that this is going to be something long-term. We've seen various reports saying it's his pec, it's his shoulder.

D'Amico Ryans went full. NHL coach. You know, John Cooper just saying it is general body soreness. Whatever it is, it's enough for them to not have C.J. Stroud on the field at this time doing anything in terms of throwing the football here. But let's see as we get into training camp here what the reps look like. I can remember other times, for instance, with Dak Prescott. You remember when there was all kinds of questions and panic about Dak Prescott having limited reps to get another MRI, and it was like, no, I kept being told he's going to be fine. We're just being cautious because he pushes himself too hard, and sure enough, Dak was good to go.

That was a couple of years ago. It was good to go at the start of the season. It could well be the same thing with C.J.

Stroud. Anthony Richardson, it's a little more clouded just based upon what Shane Steichen said, but it does sound like Richardson will be ready to do some things early on in training camp here. Is that enough to make up the gap of coaches now, Rich, who are all going to go on vacation for the next five, six weeks thinking about how their offense looked with Daniel Jones running it and not the guy they drafted number four overall? All right, Tom Pelissero, we're going to do this from now on before we say goodbye because you have your thing with these guys. I have not texted Tom today, so just so you know.

From here on out, our conversations are going to end, Tom, with me asking you. The line of rookie starting quarterbacks in week one of the NFL 2025 season is two and a half. You need to tell me when we're going over, because right now I'm assuming it's Cam Ward.

I'm assuming it's Tyler Shuck. I'm going to ask you, are we still under or we're over? Because you're under right now, two and a half. Well, as Brockman knows well, I can't give gambling advice. It's not gambling. It's not gambling. I'm just using gambling terms to set this up. You and I both have the same restrictions. You and I both have the same overlords, okay? There we go.

I just wanted that graphic put out to make it clear. Definitely not. Definitely not.

We got your back or in this case your chest, okay? Under right now, because I would say a couple of things. Yes, Cam Ward, even though he's not been named the starter, barring an injury or something completely unforeseen, I anticipate him being the starter for the Titans. Tyler Shuck certainly seems to be in line to have a good opportunity to be the starter in New Orleans, but Spencer Rattler has some really big fans. I'm just telling you, not just from the people in the building now, but last year's coaches from other people in the league who have watched him. I'm really interested to see when it's Shuck versus Rattler, what happens, assuming that that is the line, along with Jake Hayner, who right now is sideline.

What's it going to look like? How are they going to divide the reps between those guys? Because Rattler played some, and he showed flashes. He also had some bad moments, but I would not totally write off Spencer Rattler yet. And then in terms of everybody else, Mike McDonald flat out said it's not going to be Jalen Milro in Seattle.

They paid Sam Darnold. That's not a surprise. In Cleveland, everybody's talking about Shidoor Sanders.

That's right. The third round is Dylan Gabriel. We got to see how they're lining up.

I know that there's already a lot of people talking and posting stuff, the passing stats and whatever here. We are so early in the process. Having said that, it doesn't sound like Shidoor Sanders has done anything to hurt himself so far in Cleveland. It's just it would be a really unusual situation for a rookie fifth-round pick to win a job, especially when, by virtue of their actions, you know the Browns didn't even think he was the better of the two between him and Dylan Gabriel.

So that would be the other one to potentially watch as we move through this thing. Jackson Dart, of course, is another one with the Giants. It seems like they want to be really cautious in terms of making sure they're bringing him along the right way. We also all know, I mean, I'm not breaking news here by saying there is a level of pressure and expectation around the Giants right now. If they feel like the guy that gives them the best chance to win when they get to the end of the preseason, Rich, is Jackson Dart, I don't think that they would hesitate to put him out there. Right now, the plan remains. Russell Wilson, we'll see how long that lasts.

All due respect to Jackson Dart and, you know, Jalen Milro. This is really a cutesy way for me to ask you, is Chador starting for the Browns? So that this is going to be a shorthand end of our conversations from here on out. OK, over, under, you're not giving gambling advice.

And we wouldn't ask for it. Definitely, definitely not giving gambling advice, but I would take it under. Tom, thank you very much.

Tom Pelissero, check out the insiders or the rest of the insiders on NFL Network and NFL Plus. It's not NFL Minus, understand? Tommy P. With a Venmo debit card, you can Venmo more than just your friends. You can use your balance in so many ways. You can Venmo everything. Need gas? You can Venmo this. How about snacks? You can Venmo that. Your favorite band's merch? You can Venmo this.

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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. Let's get into the fact that this is Atlanta. Love it.

Okay. This city is so beautiful, man. This city is so dear to my heart because I chose it. You know, it's different when I came out in the draft because I had gone to a all American function here in Atlanta. And when I got to this city and went to the airport, I was like, dang, we did a little thing at the hospital.

I was like, dang, start going around the city to dine and to do the different things that we had. I was like, oh, my God. I had truly never seen African-American people in such roles and positions and titles that I had never seen in my life. And it blew my mind.

You know, city officials, doctors, lawyers, political figures. It blew my mind. So I said, that's where I want to go because I knew the dude I was. I was not apologetic.

It was a brash. I was going to be me. And I felt like Atlanta would at least understand me. And I said, I'm not going to you. Don't draft me. I'm going to play baseball. If you do, I'm not going there. I'm not going there.

And sure enough, Atlanta was number five. I was so happy. I didn't know what to do.

And I also love the story that you've told. And if you wouldn't mind telling the audience here as well at the combine, when you would be pulled into rooms and you didn't know which room you were being pulled into by which. Yeah.

Yeah. I was I was you know, to come back in. Back in that day, everybody was reaching for ages in the hotel. Everybody was everybody. It was scheduled.

It was scheduled structure. You could be in a hotel. You can't be on the premises. Then it was everything as well.

So I'm backing away from crowds and people trying to grab me. And I backed into this room and the Giants was there and it was the Giants room. And they had people sitting down taking these tests. What do they call these things? Oh, yeah.

Like the psychology. Yes. I mean, the thing was that thick, man. And I sat down and they gave me this thing. And what is this? They say it's this test. You know, we need you to take it.

I said, oh, what picker do you have? It's like the 10th. I'd be gone for that.

I'd be gone. And then let's just get into it here. I mean, Belichick said he watched you run the 40th. And that you ran it and then ran into the tunnel. And is it true? That's not true. OK. You did not run into a waiting car and being taken.

No, because I had more interviews and all of that. No, that story just grows and grows. It's like a fish story. It is. It is.

That's not true. I did everything that I was asked to do. Now, I didn't lift.

I didn't do none of that. Because Jerry Rice to this day had laid across my arms and had me bench pressing. You know, I don't know where that comes from. I love that you say that when you're watching the defensive back scope. I hate that.

One of the weight reps of 225. Why? Who cares? One up. When have you ever said, man, well, if that guy would have got one more rep, he would have been there on that play. Never.

Of the three-cone drill. This has nothing to do with nothing. So I didn't do any of that stuff. Right. Yeah.

Well, it all worked out. Yeah. All of Deion Sanders' appearances on this program through the 10-plus year history, and there have been tons of them, including him being a guest host in this chair interviewing Morgan Freeman, for crying out loud. Yes, sir. That's all available on my YouTube channel.

The show's YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. All right. So, Taylor Lewand, one hour from now, we'll be zooming in from the back of a car. I don't know if Compton's going to be with him.

From St. Louis, Missouri, where apparently a crime took place. So, I haven't seen the video. We'll watch it together a lot.

Can't wait for you to see this. 844-204-Rich. Number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Christian in Toronto is on the program, calling in first in, first out. What's up, Christian? Hey, gentlemen. How's everyone doing? We're well. How's it going, man? Just before I start, please don't hang up on me this time. He's not here. Don't worry.

You got Jay Felling. Hey, you're safe. Don't worry. You're good. No fat fingers.

I look so rude, and I didn't want that to happen again. So, I have a pretty good stat here that Rich might like, and he might appreciate this one. Okay. So, James Wood of the Nationals is leading in every statistical batting category over Juan Soto, and he was in the original trade from San Diego. So, I think that the Washington team has some good young guys, and he's one of them. And it's pretty funny that he's leading over Soto, too.

Okay. Trent Grisham's a good lead-off hitter. I'm enjoying him, too. Mackenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Hassell, who just got called up for Washington.

A lot of studs in that trade. That's great. That's great.

Listen, TJ just wants to point out that the Metropolitans are in first place, so it doesn't matter to him. That's the only numbers I care about right now. Okay, Christian. But I appreciate that. You keep calling back and feeding me information that pleases me.

Yeah, I mean, that's the goal. I like being a regular on the show. Thank you. Thank you. Call back. That's very Canadian of you. Thank you. Cut him off, Jay. I refuse.

I refuse. Thank you. Have a good one, everyone. All right, audio. Happy weekend.

Here you go. Whatever, Christian. Imagine how much better you're going to be when he starts hitting, unless he doesn't start hitting.

Yeah, but what's the chance of that happening? A lot of chatter that the shuffle was back. Oh, it was. Oh, the shuffle's better. He's getting better. He's getting the vibes back. He's getting comfortable. He's going through pitching rotations a second time now.

He's starting. Okay. It's all good. Yeah, the analytics are there. Yeah. All we need is Brett Beatty to be able to throw the ball 20 feet from the middle of third to home.

Look at him. That swing's still there. That lower button's really under stress.

Oh, please. That belt is doing some serious work. I know you ain't trying to body shame men here, are we? I am not body shaming anybody. It seems like you're rich.

Rich is thin these days. So you know what I mean? I'm feeling good. How about you? I'm feeling real good. Dan Morgan's coming up.

He's in shape. Calamity Panthers. Confirmed. Can't confirm. Yeah, seriously.

He can still play. All right. It's all good, man. It's all good. It is all good.

It is. You're in first place. I'm in first place. I'm in first place. I'm looking down, I finally see two more American League East teams, over 500, and they're not named Boston.

They're Toronto and Tampa. Oh, who's in the Yankee Stadium tonight? Yesterday was a great day because the Red Sox didn't play, so they couldn't lose a one-run game. So you had that goal for you, man. You know what, man? They lost 17 one-run games.

How is that possible? You know, baseball has done a lot right. Have you noticed that apparently the ratings are up on every national metric?

You know, Fox, TBS, ESPN, baseball ratings are up. We talk about it. We're proud to talk about it. We talk about it a lot. One thing that baseball just has not gotten right, we got to fix this, it's June 6th. The Yankees and Red Sox cannot play their first game of the season on June 6th. It's just that simple.

Agreed. What are we doing? I don't know.

I don't know. But the Yankees already played three times against the Rockies, which nobody's looking for. Nope. I imagine the Rockies are, you know, front office is happy that the Yankees come into town. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Rockies are one of the hottest teams. Come on. This cannot stand. Yeah. Because then the Yankees are in Boston next week and then they don't see each other until late in the summer.

What's happening? You know, it's not like back in the day when they would play 19 times throughout the course of the year. It's not like that anymore. I kind of dig that. I miss it. Yeah, I do, too.

I miss it. Certainly when it's easy wins sitting right there. Got to take them when you can get them. Right, T.J.?

Of course. You know what I mean? Can't throw them away when there's a runner heading home and he's right in front of you and makes the team lose the game. I know. And the Yankees will put on the field a team of players who will just play any position they want. Doesn't matter what they've been told or what they think they are or an owner flying all the way out to the middle of the country to make sure he's okay and, you know, Ben Reisel just filling a catcher in the ninth inning. You know what I mean? Except he's a player. That's what I'm supposed to do.

T.J. LeMay plays a bunch of positions. Whatever you got to do. Whatever it takes, as they say. And I looked at the words Boston Red Sox. There's no I in that, but there appears to be a couple, though. Looking up, honestly, it's June 6th. I'm looking up.

Whoa, I see. Chris? No? What do you want me to say? We suck. You're only nine and a half. That's what I wanted you to say. Nailed it.

You're only nine and a half. Nailed it. We're terrible. Stuck the landing. It's been an awful start to the spring.

It's terrible. Here's a hint. Get Grimace to throw a pitch out for you. Turn the season right in. There he is.

Graham Jordan is next on the Rich Eisen Show from Carolina. If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.