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A beat. The first snap of 11 on 11 competition for the Cleveland Browns. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The first true 11-on-11 KD rep goes to... Let me guess, let me guess, let me guess.
It's Pickett. Dylan Gabriel. What the hell? Earlier on the show. NBC Sports Boston Patriots Insider Tom Curran.
Comedian and host Jim Jeffries. Coming up. Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young. And now. It's Rich Eisen.
That's right. I can confirm it. And here I am. That's a weird way to start an hour, but I like doing it every now and then. Just to remind everybody: 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the Roku.
Channel Roku Sports Channel, Infinity Sports Network, Sirius XM, Odyssey, and more fun. First two hours, Tom Kern of NBC Sports Boston giving us an inside look of what's going on with the Patriots and their first year with Mike Vrabel as the HC and Josh McDaniels back as the OC. There, hour number two, the comedian Jim Jeffries and host of The Snake on Fox joined us in hour number two and joining us to kick off hour number three. He's one of my favorites. Not just saying that because he might be listening to us.
Introduce him. He's a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a guy I've known forever in a day. Steve Young, back here on the Rich Osen Show. How are you, Steve? Rich, great.
Your opening, I got to be honest with you, bogged me. Like you're in a full suit with dress shoes on the beach. It just reminded me: are you the kind of guy that puts the flippers on in the car? Yeah, because you're supposed to put them on in the water. Yeah, you know, I don't know what I'm doing, Steve.
I'm just trying to come across as somewhat, you know, confident. You know what I mean? That's the way that's what I've lived my life, Steve. You know, I loved it. Thank you, sir.
Good to see you, Steve. How you been? You're good? Really good. Really good.
Outstanding.
So, your two cents on Aaron Rodgers joining the Pittsburgh Steelers and what you think it's going to look like best you can.
Well, it's a thing, right? I think the first thing you got to say is, let's put it in context: Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady all learned the game in a more sophisticated era before the world changes in the mid-2010s. And because of that, they all wanted to play as long as they could because they knew that they were taking advantage of a system that was like so much easier, I'll just say. And Peyton still is upset that his arm quit working because he wanted to play forever. Tom did play forever, and Drew's arm quit, and that's why he had to get out.
But Aaron, so people say, why do you keep playing?
Well, first of all, This is what you're great at. Tomorrow, if he retired, he'd wake up and go.
Okay, the thing I'm greatest at, I'm not anymore. And what am I even good at the rest of my life?
So please understand that the dream dies very hard. He is still very capable. He's not as mobile as he once was, but his arm is still in really good shape. And so he, and he has the processing power from a more sophisticated area that he brings forward. And that you can say, well, the Jets, what happened there?
Like 28 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. Like he's going to. He's gonna play well. And if you give him protection, give him some weapons.
Now, the thing I most worry about, Rich, is that. The Steeler offense, Arthur's offense is not. It's like the most sophisticated offenses today are the innovators, right? It's Kyle Janin, Sean McVay, Sean Payton, and Andy Reid, who started it eight years ago and had a tactical advantage for all those years as people tried to catch up.
Now, three-quarters of the league is now. Doing what all those guys did.
So they're going to have to reinvent themselves. But then they have the Steelers, you have other teams that are. doing it differently. And I think Aaron's gonna. It's not a perfect match, I'll say.
It's not a perfect match for who he wants to be and what the Steelers are doing, and even philosophically.
So, they're going to have to figure out how to. Fit together. And you saw what happened with the jets didn't fit very well. And I'm worried that they might not. fit perfect.
Well, with Pittsburgh.
Well, then let me ask a couple of follow-up questions here. Firstly, Steve, what you just said. Um Arthur Smith doesn't suffer many fools, nor does Aaron Rodgers, but they're both smart guys, right? Yeah. would be a perfect blend for what both want to do.
under the the shell of what's currently being done. I I it it You want, I mean, one of the superpowers that Aaron has is processing, right? He can, he's again, he's been at it a long, long time. Right. And so, what you want to, if you're if your processing power is better than average, You want the ball out.
So you need people that can Get into space. There's some extra space now in the game. Go get people who are talented, who can get in there, find the space in the defense, which there's going to be some in today's game, and get the ball out. And and and That's it.
So like fast hitting. him, you know, and that's what he did in Green Bay for years. And so, if we're going to be a run, run third and eight, you know, let's sit in there and wait for someone to break open. You know, that I don't believe that's what they're going to do. But to me, you know, having him be.
You know, at least 50-50 on first down and even second down, and getting the ball out quickly. People who can get open, do they have the talent to do that? DK, you know, has a size. Can he find that space? Can he find other people that can be deployed in unique ways?
Not just like the eye formation is dead. Right, you know, the Titans keep trying to line up in the eye formation, and you have success at it, but you can't go the distance. And so, finding unique ways to go deploy people quickly into the open spaces that are in the uh that the defense always leaves you. And then get it out. And if they can do that.
Yeah, they can be very successful. And then pulling back on that string that you first laid out there in your opening. My opening answer. No, no, your opening answer, Steve. Where, you know.
It's interesting you're saying. Rogers Learned the game and excelled at the game at a time where the game was more intricate, complicated. The rules have not been. No, I know. You have less space.
Yeah. And it's funny because Rogers, when asked at his press conference yesterday, why are you still doing it? He talked about how it's good for the soul. And that may very well be true. Because he's not going to sit there and go, why the hell would I retire?
This is easy pickings as long as you protect me and give me weapons. You know what I mean? Like, he's not going to say that.
Well, no, but Tom never said it and Peyton wouldn't have said it. Like, you don't tell people what's going on. But what do you mean by that? Give me an example. You were just beginning to give examples of how things are, I guess, easier pickings.
Remember, the big, the big rule change that happened was that they no longer could defendricks no longer lead with their head.
Well, think about it. If you had to close a gap. between you and another person and you couldn't. Dive at them, you now had to bring your legs, which slows slows everything down. And now you're tack, now what's at risk?
Not your head, but your shoulders, your you know, your joints, your elbows, and everything else. That's what defenders have to do today. And that's why the game suddenly got much more expansive. It was as if it became the Canadian League. The game, the field got bigger.
It didn't change, but because defenders couldn't patrol nearly as much speed, it made more college-like space. That's why the college and the pro offenses today are very similar because of the rule changes that are for safety. And so the guys that learned in an era where there was people, you know, you patrol the middle of the field, you throw it in the middle of the field at your risk of death. You know, and now, I mean, Tom Brady said it well to me. He was finishing his career, and we were talking about one day.
He said, Steve. The flats are always open. The middle of the field is unpatrolled, and no one can hit me.
Now, that's an overstatement. That's not, they're not trying to like. conflate the the conversation, but just That that For people who learned in a more sophisticated era. It just makes it that much. more profitable.
And that's why those guys, and Aaron's the last one, right? There's no one, I mean, Matthew Stafford. Matthew and Aaron are the last ones. And I would say a little bit, Russell Wilson, a little bit, but Matthew and Aaron are the last ones that have learned in a more sophisticated era and are taking advantage of it.
Well, who are the 20-somethings that you think have the skill set to excel? If they can get the neck up stuff. Going to rich, the game is my game, right? It's guys that can because there's more space. The prototype is a quarterback that can deliver the ball from the pocket and is very, very efficient.
We get that. But who also has to have the legs to go get the free first downs, the free touchdowns that are out there and that are wide open and you got to take. And that's why at the Super Bowl every year, you're seeing being led by the prototypes of Mahomes and the Josh Allen's hasn't been the Super Bowl, but the Laura Jackson hasn't been the Super Bowl. But you're right there competing for it right in the AFC. That's why it's only one guy.
Joe Burrow can run around and do it. And in the NFC, you're seeing Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love can get around and do it. And that's why I said for Brock Birdie. Look, if you can be an amazing processor. But to go all the way, you need to be able to break the huddle and have the defense worry about you as the 11th person come out of the huddle.
to threaten the line of scrimmage. That's when things really get humming in the NFL today. And so he did that more last year out of need. But I think we should, to me, you need to plan for it. You need to have the RPOs and the carry the football and make defenses know that we're going to fill that space up as well.
Steve Young here, Pro Football Hall of Fame, are chopping it up with him here on this Wednesday of mandatory minicamp week for most in the NFL.
So let's talk about Brock Purdy a little bit because he is now signed. This thing didn't go into the summer. This thing didn't go into training camp. This thing went right into his bank in a way that he's happy and that the Niners are able to move on. They paid Kittle.
They paid the people they needed to, Fred Warner, all of that stuff. What's your expectation level now, Steve? I'm very happy with how they handled the offseason. I had a clear plan. It was a plan that was retooling.
It wasn't a complete restructure, but it was retooling and making every move was tactical and smart and fast and then signing everybody and getting everybody on board. I just thought they handled the offseason perfectly. And now, you know, they're in that space where they're no longer going to come out of the locker room with the best roster in football, which they have done for five or six years. And with the best locker room, they got along, that bought for each other, they had their back. That's why they were in Super Bowls.
uh in the last few years um now they didn't win them i get it But they're there because of that group of people. That's different now. And so I'm getting back to Brock in a second, but what they did in the offseason was really smart. And now, what has to happen is your veterans need to stay healthy. Trent Williams, number one.
Like, if Trent Williams goes down. That offensive line is not. Offensive, that's not an offensive line that's top five in the league. But with Trent, you can survive it.
Now the veterans stay healthy and now you got all your rookies that need to pop. And that's what's happened. The Rams got it with Puka. They got different people to pop, and now all of a sudden they're back in the mix, and that needs to happen.
So, for specifically for Brock, he's a guy that his superpower, like Aaron Rodgers, but not learning in his more sophisticated era, is processing.
So, Brock, when he's thriving, you saw it a couple years ago. Incredible talent that can get open quickly, and I can process through it and get to that guy like nothing. All of a sudden, last year, those guys got hurt, they weren't open right away, and now I need to extend the play. And now things start to go haywire because I don't have, like he always tells you, I'm not the biggest, I'm not the fastest, I'm not the strongest.
So, then, like, my game is really about. Processing and you getting open quickly and getting a little protection and moving and getting the ball out.
So, if that happens and we get that kind of speed and attack on defenses that the time is right, it's in and out. Then he's going to be dangerous. But if it goes like last year, people are hurt. That's not happening. Protection starts to break down.
I got to start running around. Ball starts to fly. All of a sudden, there's interceptions. You know, that's a tougher spot. And so there's a lot of The the guardrails are wider for the 49ers this year, like it's like it's different.
But yet. There's still a path forward. Go attack the Super Bowl.
So let's talk Tua a little bit, Steve. I don't know if you heard his comments yesterday. Um, after Chris Greer, the general manager of the Dolphins, said that Tua quote unquote needs to be available. Taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us. That Tua said, doing that the message has been received, quote unquote, doing everything I can to stay available for the guys.
Like I said before in the past, nothing changes with that. It's knowing when it's time to give up on a play. End quote. Do you have any advice for Tua on that front? Steve.
Emmett Smith said it the best. Know when the journey's over. There's a real talent, sophistication, maturity. Uh you can attack, you can still make plays, just you're going to have to do it you're going to have to end it earlier And that's just how he's gotten in trouble when you try to be heroic. Josh Allen has stayed healthy while trying to be heroic, and you just gotta be.
Smarter than, you know, as you get, as you age, trying to figure it out. But if you're not gonna attack the line of scrimmage, if you're not gonna give that threat, You will not be in the Super Bowl. And so he has to figure out a way to present that threat without putting himself at greater risk. How do you do that? I mean, just Rich, Rich, come on.
It's football. You put the helmet on, you got to go out and play.
So, no matter what happens, you're at risk.
So, that's just a fact.
Now, how can you reduce? The risks. to not, you know, uh spike. And that's that's what I'm saying. That's where the maturity is.
You can like How do you do it? You can and you can't, right? It's the game. And that's why people love football, is because it's got uh you know you nobody nobody cares about what they're getting paid the moment of impact Right. They're just, you know, it's a game that.
Draws out the truth. And in many ways, Tua is going to have to, he's in a really tight spot. That's a That's fundamental truth. He's in a super tough. Spot to be able to play the game the way it needs to be played and also make sure.
I don't you know, I remain available. It's a hard spot for him.
Well, I mean, you know, obviously there's hard spots like health wise in terms of what you're referring to, Atua. Also hard spots contractually. Do you have any advice for Kirk Cousins? who is uh 37. Um and uh seemingly uh gonna be a backup.
Unless the quarterback in front of him gets hurt, or another quarterback gets hurt. in training camp. Otherwise, he's going to have an earbud week one for the Atlanta Falcons, Steve. Uh Look, this will sound weird with my history, but I never wanted to. like the backup.
I didn't I just I'd rather do something else. Like I didn't I know.
Well, Steve, we were a backup for four. Yeah, I recognize it was not my choice. That was not the deal that was made, but that's a whole other story. But Like At the end of your career, you have to just make a fundamental decision. Um You know, do you do you want to retire?
When do you retire? When is it okay? When does it matter to you? How do you want to think about it? I wanted to retire at 49.
It was important to me. And that's how I did it. Um you know for Kurt Does he, you know, some guys don't like, look, I'm a professional quarterback. That's what I am. And I don't have a starting job today, but I'm going to hang in there and be a part of the mix.
And that's the way I'm cool with that. That's, I'm okay with that as well. Like, it's just how it just matters how you see yourself and how you want to finish it out. And uh I suspect that Kirk Doesn't like it's hard. Rich, you have no.
I mean, anyone who has a dream, I mean, even high schoolers, college kids that play sports they love, they have a passion for. When it ends, it's a death. And I think that you have to treat it like a death, and you have to mourn it, and you have to, and the guys that play it their whole lives, and especially with Kirk, it's his whole life. When it starts to get threatened to be end, You, you, you, you, it's not a panic, but it's like I would do anything not to have it end. Like, this is what I'm great at.
Right. I'm not going to be great at anything else. I'm going to be, I might be good at something else, but I will never be as great as I am in the rest of my life than what I'm great at right now. And so it's just a, please give the grace to people to try to figure out how to. How to end it.
It's tough.
Well, I mean, for him, he would have to speak up and say, I want out and, you know, treat it like an NBA player, right? Who's I demand a trade, or I don't know if that would work or not. Did you ever? The landscape is tight right now, Rich. I know that.
I know. And it's now kind of set. You know how the NFL is, like, pretty much its training camp. Everybody's already in training, waiting for training camp right now. And that's the way it's got to be for him.
Did you ever. Say anything publicly to the media that I'm I'm stuck here. Send me out of here. Did that ever happen? I was always super careful about it because I also recognized that I was very lucky to be there.
And why, because it was Bill Walsh and it was. There are not many, yeah. There are not many great. places To thrive in that time at quarterback. I mean, there were a few, and that was the one.
And I remember the famous. The great Steve Covey grabbed me one day in one of my depths of despair and depression and victimization. And I told him how horrible it was that I'm not playing on. And he made the case that this is the greatest opportunity that I've ever seen somebody have a platform that had Eddie DeBartle and Bill Walsh and Jerry Rice. And you can ask Joe Montana mentoring questions.
You're the luckiest man alive. And it really changed my attitude about it.
So you have to learn how to. you know, how does mature your way through some of the diet Dilemmas that you get yourself into, but the best way to give yourself a chance is to not make it a public. situation. And so I guess one last question on this old lang Zine, Steve. Did you ever have to sell yourself to Jerry Rice when you got the gig?
Did you ever have to basically take him aside, go, listen, I know Joe's gone, but I'm here. We're good. Did you ever have to have a moment like that with him? We had to, you know, the left-handed spin was a problem for a little while, and we kind of worked that out. And then over time, Um, look, it was a transition like no, no other, right?
I mean, it was just, and there were moments when I kind of look, Jerry, we've been together for. 25 games or 50 games, and I just gave him some data, I gave him some data. You know, and I said, look, you, we are, we are killing it, bro. And I think that I didn't know that he cared or didn't care, but I just thought it was important for, you know, for him to recognize that. You know, things are, we're, you're thriving, man.
What do you mean you had to give him some data? What did you, what do you mean? What do you mean? Killing it. What's that?
What do you mean you had to give him some data? Like, how many, how many touchdowns do you have in 50 games? How many, how many receptions? How many yards? Like, it's not hard data.
It's not complicated. It's just like, man. You're thriving, you know? And, you know, no comparisons at all. We don't want to, that's not what it's about, but just like, just so you see, it's we're killing it.
And I think he appreciated that. Yeah, I'm sure he did. But I just love it, man. I mean, you know him. That's why he's second to none in terms of burning.
Flame and competition, and all of that. I was just wondering if you had to kind of take them aside and go, listen, we're going to be good. Don't worry about this.
Well, no, but you couldn't sell it. We had to be it. Yeah. Right. That was not something you can go, hey.
Trust me. It's going to be, it's going to be great. It was more show me. Show me it's going to be great. And that's that was the You know, and that was true for that was true for everything, right?
Because Joe was the, I mean, he was the king. He was unbelievable. I watched him do things, Rich. That I just still today am like. How?
How? Like, do you have eyes behind your head? Do you, how do you, you know, like, there's just things that he did that were. Amazing. Steve, I appreciate the time, man.
And, you know, and I will appreciate seeing a friendly face when I. I show up to the American Century Championship in July, Steve. It's my first time there in 21 years. I will be there. Oh, you're going to be great.
Oh, I appreciate the confidence. I hope I have stats that I can show people. You know, just remember your name is up there in lights, though. I'm aware. I know.
Usually, I'm not. Usually, it's not a best ball, bro. I can't just say, Can we do a shamble right in the middle of it? It just says Eisen, and then there's a raw number just kept trailing. You know, you're supposed to be helpful.
Wait a minute. It just tracks you. The only hope you have is to turn to the lady or the guy or the girl that's the woman or a man that's holding a sign. Yeah. And just say, hey, could you just stop?
Just let it be. Just freeze it. Freeze. Freeze it. Freeze.
Freeze it. Here's 50. Here's 100. Just freeze it. Keep it fair.
Keep it fair. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you in July, Steve. Thanks for the time. It's great to catch up, great to see you, buddy.
The one and only Steve Young Pro Football Hall of Famer always makes us smarter. We will take a break right here on the Rich Eisen Show and be back with your phone calls: 844-204-Rich. Number to Dial. And yes, Micah Parsons talking about his contract, and there's a holdout of a rookie in Cincinnati already. Mm-hmm.
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Loan subject to approval and eligibility requirements. Learn more at NavyFederal.org. Over your left shoulder, I couldn't help but notice there's Montana. You know, over your right shoulder, there's Dwight Clark reaching out for a pass from Montana. Have you spoken to Montana?
You got any relationship with him? At all? Bron? Yeah, a little bit. I spoke to him actually at the Super Bowl event.
It was the first time I saw him. The last time he was in, I think Santa Clara, he was here for the Chiefs game last year. I wasn't playing at the time, so I didn't really have an opportunity to talk to him. But when I have talked to him, he's been nothing but great. He's supported.
know this team and how I've played and stuff. And so just to be able to hear him. Um, you know, sort of show some gratitude and stuff. For me, it's like, dude, that is a legend. That's the guy.
That's the guy. You know, when you look at the 49er logo, that's what you think of it.
So, what an honor. And what about Young? What about Steve Young? You got some. Yeah, he's been around too.
Spoke to him the Sunday night game, actually. He was on the field for a little bit. And how you know he's very just really nice about everything. He's like how you handled everything and And your decision making and your processing because I want to sit down and talk to you more about it.
So just to know that he has our back too. That's awesome, man. It's like a dream too, but... What an honor for both of those guys to love what we're doing. In the few minutes I have left with you, how do you respond to those who say you're just a product of the system there, the coach?
and the guys around you, and all you're doing is basically rolling the balls out and not making mistakes. How do you respond to that, Rock? Oh man, I would just say, you know. I don't really care in a sense. I just want to win.
I want to help this team win. People can say what they want. That's cool. I just want to help this team win and reach our goals. And then we'll see at the end of all this if that's true or not.
That's for boy. Whatever Rich Eisen says is true. That's correct. Wow. That's my boy.
I believe his college roommate's going for a two games to one lead in Indiana tonight, correct? True, true, true, true, true. How about that? Micah Parsons is not holding in. He's not holding out.
He's just dead. Yeah. Sir. He is there. You know?
I'm saying. And he is just a cool nitly lion cat getting ready to be paid. He knows it's coming. He does know it's coming. And he knows the longer it goes, oh, the better it is for him.
Doesn't he sound like a guy who understands that when he was asked about his contract on Tuesday hit it? I'm pretty hopeful. I'm still, you know, hanging tight. Like, I understand it's up to him. He gives the green light and everything, so hopefully something's done, you know, by next month.
How do you avoid getting anxious as this thing starts to drag on a little bit? I just keep putting working. You know, at the end of the day, man, like. You know, I still love football. I think it's still about football.
I understand the business side always kind of creeps in every couple years in the football world, but I just keep it about football.
Some people like to take their time more than others, you know what I mean? Can't rush the process. He wants the deal to go as cleanly as possible. I want the deal to go as clean as possible.
So it's just about getting it done as cleanly and quickly as possible. And if TJ Watt happens to reset the market, well, Jerry Jones is taking his time, that's just fine with me. Yeah, it's okay. I mean, you could have had me sign last year and then Miles Garrett just broke the market.
Now I get a chance to sign after Miles Garrett broke the market. Is it my fault? That's Jerry Jones' problem. That's a JJ problem, not a Micah Parsons problem. That's a JP, not an MP.
That's correct. That's a Jones problem, not a Micah problem. I totally get it. You know what I mean? Settle down just a little bit.
This is the truth. Just go about your business. He loves playing football. Just go and play football and podcast and play video games. That's what he's doing.
And just wait till Jerry decides now's the time. And if TJ Watt just happens to reset the market in the meantime, well, that'll just be another phone call. You know what else Mike understands? Yeah, a bigger chunk out of the podcast. He understands that.
But here's what he understands. What does he understand? What is it? Yesterday's price, you see, ain't today's price. And today's price ain't tomorrow's price.
Tell me about Friday's price. Oh, buddy. It's going to be three times as much as it was on Wednesday. Yeah. It's a lot of ways to do business.
That's right. I will just not understand it. Maybe it's just like you've got $110 billion. What does it matter? I don't know.
Yeah, exactly. But it doesn't matter if you have $110 billion in the NFL because it's just certain everybody's playing with the same amount of cash. Are they, though? Yeah, they are. Aren't they?
I think so. I know. That's the world. There's a management council that keeps track of it, sir. I believe that sometimes you get that brown paper bag money maybe showing up in your locker at the crab.
That is not happening. I don't know that. I think college football in the 80s. Believe it or not, I don't think that's what I'm saying. I do not believe.
I believe if Jerry Jones does have $110 billion, there are some owners with 12 League billion. Yeah, that is truly. I'm keeping on making up numbers. Chris, I was raised on Happy Friday from the program. From the big friend of the program.
You know what I mean? You have got to be smoking something over there this morning. Seriously? Last night, maybe. Again, I will never understand it.
I just don't understand it.
Sooner is better than later. It really is always better. Can I tell you why it's better? Because it takes the pressure off your coaching staff. It takes the pressure off the team instead of being asked a question.
You're also showing to your player it's a midnight league. We don't do deals until midnight in this league. But you know what? For you, I'll do it at 11 o'clock. I'll do it for you at 10 o'clock.
I'll do it for you at 9 o'clock. You know, you could do the whole Dr. Seuss thing. I'll do it. I'll sign you with a box.
I'll sign you with a locks. Definitely not locks. That might be, you know, for Mr. Kraft. I can say these things.
So can they? You know what I mean? I'll give you your contact on a train with a plane. Honestly. Come on, man.
That's the way you do it. Trust me, I always appreciate it whenever my contract gets picked up a year early or they come a year early to negotiate. That means we don't want to lose you. We appreciate that. And you can tell your family that there's a certain amount of railroad track in front of you.
Rich, do you think that Jerry kind of loves the fact that he can say this person, the highest-paid person, is a cowboy? Because that's the only thing. What does it matter? What does it matter? There's no standards for that.
Absolutely true, but there is no, Chris, there's no other reason why he keeps doing this, right? Other than to say. The highest paid player is a cowboy. I don't know. I don't think he does like that.
But we also thought, you know, it'd be cool if Bill Belichick broke the wins record with the Cowboys. That didn't happen. That didn't happen. Well, I mean, isn't it Robert Kraft always uses the fashion statement or the textile statement of measure twice, cut once? That's handy, manny.
Right? And and um, it's just that Jerry measures more than twice. And we're when are you gonna cut? Yeah, you know, like that's still measuring. All right, but Micah is just he's he's he's cool.
And then, you know, one of the people I don't think is going to reset the market, although I'm sure Micah would love it. That would be Trey Hendrickson. I mean, 17 and a half sacks sitting at the crib saying, pay me. Wow. Again, I have the numbers right here.
He turns 31 in December. He's making $16 million on his last year of his deal. I mean Please. This is a defensive player of the year guy who wants to be paid and he's staying away. And, you know, when the.
Bengals drafted Shamar Stewart out of Texas AM, a defensive end. You know, there might have been a conversation or two on the draft set of I okay, is that Talon Trey Hendrickson, guess what? You know, we're getting somebody who can rush the passer, although. You know, his production was called into question, but again, he's going to go hunt. And You know, he's a Bengal.
But Sometimes the Bengals will do things that You don't see common? You know They do things their own way. Mike Brown is his own guy. Mike Brown has been around the league for a very long time. Mike Brown is a guy who abstained.
Uh um On making replay permanent. You know what I mean? Like, I remember sitting there, I'm like, who didn't vote for this?
Well, Al Davis abstained. I don't know if Mike Brown voted against it. I don't recall. All I know is he didn't say yes that day. But, you know, we always have our fun.
with the Velcro wallet noise, that's when you know a Bengal is going to be Yeah.
Well You know, Shamar's, apparently the it's not a money thing. On the left is Shamar Stewart when he got drafted. On the right is Shamar Stewart sitting out. A mandatory minicam. And these days are supposed to be over because the rookie contracts are pretty much cookie-cutter.
Right. But Let me get this right. I'm trying to quote the Cincinnati Inquirer. Um here Kelsey Conway uh writing for the Cincinnati require uh Inquirer inquired. A source told the Inquirer the Bengals are trying to set a new precedent with rookie contracts that allows the team to void future guarantees.
He, meaning Shamar Stewart, won't practice with the Bengals until his contract. situation gets resolved. And so here's a rookie. Ready to go hunt for you. Certainly, if Trey Hendrickson's not showing up.
Uh Saying What gives? Hit it. I've been doing this for most of my whole life, and then all of a sudden it's gone. or something very simple to fix. It is kind of disappointing.
Answers as to why they're choosing this year and you to set a new precedent. If I really wanted to say y'all. I can't say what I really want to say, but is their contract. They can do what they want with it. Wow.
Usually you take the rookie and you use his youth and exuberance to go hunt. But they're making a point. I don't know what the point is. And I don't know where it comes from. I don't know if it is the ownership suite or whatever.
All he wants, apparently, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, is the same contract language. The last two Bengals' first-round picks, both of which were selections after number 17, which is what Stewart was in this year's draft. Amarius Mims. 18th overall and Miles Murphy 28th overall. I mean this is the this is the sound by if you play that one Mike Hoskins This is the one that slaps, if you will.
Rookie Minca will be over at the end of the week. I feel like I assume it should be done. Between now and then. I hope they get back on the field tomorrow. That's what I'm planning to do.
But as in how far I'll take it, I mean... It just depends. Like, in my case, I'm 100% right. I'm not asking for nothing y'all never done before. But in y'all's case, y'all just want to win an argument instead of winning more games, in my opinion.
Mm. Wow. You all want to win. Arguments More than winning. That's what he just said, right?
I mean, it's a rookie. He's never played a down in the NFL. In effect, hold on a minute. If I'm if you if you're real quiet The laughing you hear is Marshall Falk sitting there wherever he is, probably in Boulder, Colorado. Yeah.
The guy who sent Big Daddy Wilkinson to Cincinnati pre-draft said, don't even think of drafting me. But these bengals are supposed to be different than that, right? I mean, and they are, don't you think? Like, they're the ones who did pay T, find out how to pay T and did find out what to do with Jamar Chase and have got Joe Burrow. But they got a defense that ranks almost dead last in every category of importance of last year.
And you look at all these metrics, all the. Analytics metrics, and they need Shamar Stewart, and they need Trey Hendrickson. They need to go. Hunt Lamar Jackson. They gotta go hunt Aaron Rodgers.
And they gotta go hunt Dylan Gabriel. In all seriousness What's going on? What's I don't know, man. But I guess, and there are, I have the other list. I don't know if this is what's holding up.
Travis Hunter is not signed in Jacksonville yet, but he's working out. I mean, he was talking to the media in like a full-blown sweat. Um Johnny Baron And Denver, Maxwell Harrison for the Bills, Jahan Campbell of Philadelphia, all first rounders who are yet not signed.
So But this one is the only one just talking about it. They all want to win more arguments than win games. We're not even... We're not even halfway through June. And the Bengals' first round selection is saying that.
That's um. That's uh As they might say, not a good look. And one last thing here. We'll do this on the other side of the break. Who took the first snap in 11 on 11 for the Cleveland Bronx today?
Oh, Rich Eisen. I want to know this answer. I have the answer. This message is brought to you by Abercrombie and Fitch. I've been ready for summer for a while, and now it's finally time for summer outfits.
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You can Venmo. The Venmo master card is this. By the Bancorp Bank and A pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated card may be used everywhere MasterCard is except if female purchase restrictions apply. All right, everybody. Um you know it's always the case uh in my household These days I learned from Cooper who's being brought up and who's coming down.
You know, he's so locked in on Major League Baseball. You know, Roman Anthony, right? The what, Caglionone, the guy in the Caglione. Caglione, pardon me. Kansas City.
Kansas City. Yep. He sent me this news about The major call-up by the Washington Nationals. Did you see this? This is the Washington Nationals roll.
Here you go. They're welcoming Bruce the Batdog. No. To uh To the majors. And here's the moment where apparently Bruce found out.
Hey, come on in, big dog. Have a seat. Hope you're doing well, man. Hey, I got some news for you. I think you're gonna like it.
You know, last year you got called up. To AAA, did a really nice job, but we still thought we needed some work down at the lower levels. We put a plan in place. You went down, you did your work, you made some improvements. And the one thing that the front office noticed, man, you were working your tail off every single day.
And you did a nice job coming back to Triple A this year. But I'm excited to tell you. The front office, the GM, the president, the owners, they're excited to invite you to Nats Park. uh for your call up to the major leagues on June the 14th. Congratulations.
Ah, that's not nice. There you go. I always wondered why Major League Baseball teams didn't have a bat dog.
Now they will. Is Bruce staying?
So you gotta know. I have no idea. Kinda digging. You know? Well, dogs are unpredictable.
Look who's here. Susie Schuster. And they belong on your bed. Oh my god. Right back to you.
She went right over. And we're back. Listen. And we're back. What are we doing?
You good over here? You guys, I just ran over here. You good? I just ran over here from the women's boards now. I guess prep room.
All good? Yeah, great. We're ready. Very good. Ready for that.
But Bruce the Bat Dog is coming, guys. I love Bruce the Bat Dog. Isn't that nice? Did I send that to you? There you go.
Right there.
Well, Cooper's the one who sent it to me to begin with because Cooper's locked in on all of them. He's sent it to me. He's locked in all of the call-ups. I want Bruce the Bat Dog to move into my house and sleep on my bed. He doesn't.
It's okay. Chris, it's all right. What if the dog puts teeth marks in your bat? Yeah. You got a problem with that?
The torpedoes? They still have teeth, right? They do. Bats are still made of wood. Are you trying to find the downside of having a bat?
Yes. Like what? I think I need to be the voice of reason. You guys are so much better. Why do you hate happy?
Who are the Nationals playing on Saturday? No, no. I gotta look this up. Yeah, you do. You gotta work this up.
He's the worst. You do. You gotta find out. I don't care who the nationalist is. The Mets.
They're by the Mets together. That's right. Yeah. Okay. We're in the Mets today.
Is Bruce there today? Today, today. No, no, no. Apparently, on Saturday. It's the weekend set.
Whoever is, oh, I thought it would have been against the Mets. Rockies. Rockies. Oh, the Rockies are coming.
So that would be great if Bruce just went right up to Soto and lifted his hind leg. That would have been amazing. I did wonder: do you think that Bruce ever pees on the turf? No question. There's no doubt about it.
I'm sure. And if it's a female dog, if Bruce is female, we don't know. I imagine not. Wow, where are you going? Or they wouldn't be Bruce.
The urine stains the grass. You are the most dog downer of all time. I'm just pointing out facts.
So she shoosters. You are the most dog downer I you know, I used to take Hudson, our dog, to USC. When I was covering the Trojans and Pete Carroll loved it, I'm sure everyone loved it. Yeah, it's great. No, they won the national championship with Hudson there.
True.
Okay. Chris Brockman. Let's do this again, Chris. This is a big moment in yesterday's program. Big moment.
First snap. Cleveland Brooks. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 11 on 11. Correct.
It was Dylan Gabriel yesterday. Don't read anything into it. Don't read anything into it. But today... It's gotta be like we're you know we're moving it around.
Right, we're moving around. Today, I'm saying Shador Sanders took the first snap of 11 on 11. Who took the first snap of 11 on 11 at the bottom? You'd be wrong. Oh.
Was it Pickett this time? Dylan Gabriel, a second day in a row, first snaps 11 on 11.
So he's the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Bronze? Yes, obviously. Here's the video. throws another bullet in a tight window. That's from John Fraschella.
Oh, by the way, Bullet in a Tight Window. Was that a. That was a 70s movie. No, it sounds like a Bon Jovi song, right? Yeah, that's so good.
Bullet in a Tight Window. You know? Yeah, you can hear him sing that game. It sounds like a Bon Jovi song.
Sounds like some meatloaf would have sing. Meatloaf? Yeah. Is that the flip side of Two Out of Three Ain't Bad? That's what I'm thinking.
Okay. Dylan Gabriel, two days in a row. Great coverage. Yeah. That's what we do here on the Rich Island Show.
Excellent coverage.
So that's two days in a row. Did Shador take the last snaps again? Do we know who took the last snaps again? What's happening there? We have asked Kevin Stefanski to come on this program, and I do believe we've got a shot to get him later on this week.
That's what I'm hearing.
Well, when it was with the starters, Kenny Pickett was with the first group.
Okay. Shadora with the second group, Gabriel with the third group. But I thought you said Gabriel took the first snaps, though. He did take the first snaps, so maybe they started with the third group. Oh.
Huh.
So it doesn't matter when the snaps are, John. It matters what groups you're with. Yeah, maybe that matters. We need more information. No, we don't.
We got to take what's given to us and run with it. And what it is, is Dylan Gabriel is starting all 17 for the Browns. That's the story I'm picking up. You want to tweet that out with the fire emoji, Chris? Is that what you want to do?
Take Chris. Don't look too deeply in it. Don't turn into a journalist. Good to know. Excellent coverage of the Cleveland Browns court situation.
This is spot on and in-depth. By the way, very in-depth. I'm getting information from a guy who's like, I'm just saying. He's like reading it off the internet. I believe everyone's sex and the internet.
I mean, really, this is journalism. And then he concludes: I think we need more information. Giannis just tweeted out: anyone miss Woge? Does anyone else miss Woge? Wow.
Jeez. That's awesome.
Okay. Well, I did see this morning when I was getting coffee, they were talking about it being a very quiet trade season. And that Giannis might be staying in Milwaukee.
Well, he said that from the get-go. I think he might stay in Milwaukee, but I don't think this is going to be quiet at all. I thought that was bizarre. Josh Ams is in Indy and was on Pat today and said the Celtics are focused on trading Drew, Porzingis, and Sam Hauser. It's going to be wild.
I think it's going to explode. We talked about this last week. Yeah. I mean, do we really think he's staying put? I do.
Yannis? He said as much, didn't he? He said that he wants to go to the finals again with Milwaukee. We had Jeff Teague on yesterday's show. He goes, If you want Giannis, just sign his brother.
Sign his brother at Tanassus. That's what he said. He referred to him as TA. I think you never know until the contract sits in front of you, and then suddenly you're like, well, maybe that rental I had in Milwaukee, maybe I can get out of there. Women's Sports Now is going to show up on your Roku portal tonight at midnight.
Nice. And there's the gang. Thank you. We have a great show. What do you got?
We have Bianca Bustamante, who is a 20-year-old Filipino driver. She just came out of F1 Academy, which is an incredible show. You can see it here on Roku. It's on Netflix. And she is this incredibly stunning driver who.
Talks about how she got her start, which basically She came from a pretty lower-income family, and this is one of the most expensive sports in the year. It costs millions of dollars to drive. And she talks about why she became so successful. We also have two-time soccer World Cup champ, Kelly O'Hara. Awesome.
So she's going to talk women's sports. She's on. There's she's a podcast called Sports Are Fun, and Colleen does ask her point blank: why are sports fun?
Okay. Great question.
Okay, very good. And you are wearing the sweatshirt of the Windsor School in Boston, Massachusetts, because just yesterday. You delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of 2025. And I could not be more proud of you. You nailed it.
You're great. Jay Felly sent a really nice picture of you watching.
Well, I appreciate another guy of solid watching me watch you. And you did score me some husband points. I appreciate that. You really did. I couldn't have been more proud of you.
And let's show a clip of you at work. You, the class of 2025, are living in the zenith of the women's sports movement. Women's sports is finally getting sports R Oh my god, do you see what I did there? I thought Mrs. Skeel's here.
Women's sports are finally getting the attention that they deserve. Female athletes are being celebrated as they should be. Asia Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Paige Beckers, and Caitlin Clark, let's go, have all signed shoe deals that may not mirror the men's. But they are banking. Texas Tech star hurler Nigerie Kennedy just became the first softball player to pass the million-dollar mark.
And just a few days ago, Coco Goff became the world's highest paid female athlete on the planet. Thanks to Billie Jean King and Venus Williams, Goff received the same amount as the men's winner, Carlos Alcarez.
So much has changed since I entered the sports world in 1994. I remember being furious that they assigned me, the Lakers reporter, to a Sparks game.
Now all I do is talk about the WNBA. And you can hear all about it on Women's Sports Now, exclusively on Roku. All right, wait a minute. And I don't say I'm not a company person, by the way. I gave a pitch from a speech and I realized the woman who failed me in grammar was sitting to my right.
I started the speech talking about her. And then I hadn't proofed a grammar mistake. That was awesome.
Well done. That'll wrap it up for this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Women's Sports Now will be available for you to see tonight at midnight, as it is every single Thursday, right here on Roku. If you're a lineman in charge of keeping the lights on, Granger understands that you go to great lengths and sometimes heights. to ensure the power is always flowing.
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