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This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere.
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Now. On with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. FCD Live from the Rich Eisen Show studios in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Touchdown to the fun taste with 46 short today's gas.
Podcast host and journalist Pablo Torre. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. And your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. This is as close to Antarctica as I've ever been on a live stream in my entire life.
So glad we can be all hanging in here. On Disney Plus, the ESPN app and ESPN radio presented by Progressive Insurance. All hanging out together. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the show. Kurt Warner is in our green room here in San Paulo, Brazil.
The two of us are going to be calling the Chiefs and the Chargers in just one night. On YouTube. That's an around the globe, no pressure broadcast. Wherever you are on planet Earth, you'll be able to check that game out. Kurt and I will be calling the action.
Stacy Dales will be on the sideline along with Destroying as well. I do believe TJ Mr. Beast did a video with Roger Goodell. Oh, really? Am I mistaken about that since you're the Mr.
Beast expert of the Rich Eisen Show? I don't know much about Mr. Beast. I got to be honest with you. I'm just throwing that in your direction.
But yes, I can confirm Mr. Beast did that on his YouTube channel. And again, Bill Burr is lighting up ours right now.
So if you miss anything of this program, there's two So many different ways for you to catch up with us. You can go to our page on Disney Plus and the ESPN app, click on our logo, and boom, you get to our page, and that day's show pops up. There's our podcast version of this show through the ESPN Podcast Network, wherever you get your pods. All three hours of this program are available that way. And then there's our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show.
Kurt Warner is going to be joining us in the middle of this hour, not hour number three, because he got here nice and early. Believe it or not, San Paulo traffic was actually close. Cooperating, and then he's going to hang with us at the top of hour number three as well.
So we'll have a nice hour with my buddy Kurt, but joining us right now because he found something out. Is the host of Pablo Torre Finds Out. Ladies and gentlemen, Pablo Torrey back on the program. Good to see you, Pablo. How are you, sir?
You know, I miss the even more luxurious studio that I got to visit.
So it's good to virtually be back with you.
Well, I'm not in that studio. I'm in Brazil, of all places.
So look at this technology in the 21st century being able to hook us all up. Yeah, I'm doing Chiefs' Chargers. I'm a terrible journalist, turns out. Are you finding something out on live Disney Plus and ESPN radio, Pablo? I'm informing you of something.
Yes.
So. There you have it. Run with that. I don't know what Cuban's gonna say about that, but we'll get to this in a moment. Pablo.
What did you find out? Can you lay out for everybody what you just found out about? Kawhi clippers and bomber at all, please. Yeah, it's an unprecedented scandal when it comes to the cardinal sin. Of the NBA, and those are Adam Silver's words: the cardinal sin part, which is salary cap circumvention.
The NBA, for the record, is investigating. The Clippers deny so much of what I'm about to tell you, so just keep that in mind as I legally and journalistically try to be as fair as possible to everybody involved. But what I found and what I reported is that there was a secret $28 million deal that Kawhi Leonard signed, an endorsement deal, which nobody heard about, which is, I think, relevant because it's an endorsement deal. Typically, with endorsements, you want people to know that the person is endorsing something. This is a deal that nobody knew about with a company called Aspiration.
And Kawhi Leonard, for the record here, did absolutely nothing. And the reason that matters is because Aspiration happens to be a company that Steve Bommer, the richest owner in all of sports, all of the world, when it comes to sports, the sixth or seventh richest person on the planet. He had put $50 million of his own personal money into this company. And this company, also, you may vaguely recall, as one of the. Key sponsors, a founding sponsorship partner of the Intuit Dome and the Los Angeles Clippers.
This company Aspiration was going to be the jersey patch. They were on the backs of the court side seats. They had signage everywhere. This company could not be more enmeshed with the Clippers. What I am saying via seven sources who used to work at Aspiration, the company, as well as over 3,000 pages of documents, is that this is a deal that was brokered to explicitly circumvent the salary cap for the Los Angeles Clippers and Steve Bomber.
Now, is there anything that you found that has those words, though? Like, this is specifically for that, or are you gleaning through all the information that you have? Unearthed or sought out. Because again, it's a great question. That this is all happening.
That Where's the connective tissue to this was a circumvention of the salary cap and thus the cardinal sin that would leave the NBA in quite the predicament of what to do? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a great question. And the NBA is, of course, looking into this now in their investigation, which they announced.
So, the context here, before I get to the specifics, because I think it's a useful context, is that in 2019, the NBA investigates this. The Cardinal Sin quote is from Adam Silver about how the Clippers got Kawhi Leonard in the first place. This was all teams, all sorts of teams, the Lakers, the Raptors, making complaints to the league. There was a big meeting about this in which the NBA looked into it. They found nothing, no punishment, but there was this recognition around the league that something to them seemed off.
And so, that's why Adam Silver warned everybody: don't do this, Cardinal Sin. That's that quote. The specifics here, though, as a journalist, I start with the sources.
So, in terms of these sources, the key aspect of Aspiration the Company is that this company has since collapsed in disgrace and bankruptcy. One of the co-founders, a guy named Joe Sandberg, who Steve Bomber is on emails with personally doing business development for Aspiration, the company, that guy has pled guilty now to two counts of wire fraud to the federal government. The DOJ is investigating, the SEC is investigating. None of this is what you asked. What you asked about is: is there a smoking gun in which Steve Ballmer says, do this so I can pay Kawhi Leonard.
Of course, Steve Ballmer did not write that down on paper. But in terms of the story of aspiration, the reason these seven sources are meaningful, and I want to explain this as a journalist, is because the reason that Joe Sandberg. Has pled guilty now to two counts of wire fraud. The reason why the DOJ, the SEC, the CFTC, the FBI have been looking into this giant scandal is because internally there were employees who signed up to work at Aspiration, which was a climate change company, a good guy company. They were planting trees to zero carbon footprints.
And those people started noticing things that were entirely. Wrong when it came to malfeasance and corruption inside the company. That's why Joe Samberg just pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
So the people I'm talking to are the people. who identified this problem. And To me. could not be more credible about this issue.
So when they say to me, We asked around and truly So many people inside the company knew more than just the seven, is what I was told, but I only have the seven, so I only quote the seven. They say it was communicated to us. The reason why Kawhi Leonard did zero things, the reason why nobody knew about the endorsement deal, despite all of this interconnectedness, the reason why he got $28 million, which is multiples bigger. Than a normal sponsorship deal from a guy and Steve Balmer, excuse me, from a company and aspiration which has just gotten $50 million from Steve Ballmer, was because explicitly we need to circumvent the salary cap for our most influential investor. And so there's lots more evidence that provides the context.
But to me, Rich, there's an IQ test here. And the MBA, of course, is not a real justice system. It's a It's an entity that has to make decisions about what kind of IQ test do we expect. our fans, our owners, and all of our media to pass.
Now, Pablo Torre here on the Rich Eisen Show, just again, I'm playing the devil's advocate here, please.
Okay, so You know, $28 million, that is a sizable amount of money, obviously. But Why wouldn't they just pay him? that money on a contract? Like why create this Sort of back channel. Was it cap-related, apron-related?
Like, what, like, have you done any dot connecting there? Because, again, For for And again, you're putting it out there, man. That is for sure. And I imagine there will be some clipper legal pushback in your direction here that all of these dots that you have. and that there you say that there are some people Who told you Um you know from from the company that used to exist that There is there there on this that Connecting the dots to say this was a specific circumvention of the salary cap for 28 million.
It's not like 200 million. Right, like that, that seems to be a number that you'd want to circumvent the cap for. but 28 million in cash.
sounds like chump change when you're talking about Supermax contracts. Pablo, you know? Oh, I think the NBA context is very important here. And you're raising good questions that I think a general audience would have interest in as well. And so, thank you for asking them.
I think the key distinction here is that when you talk to people around the league, the reason why I say this is the biggest scandal and unprecedented is because when you look at endorsement deals in general, right, that's superstar players signed with NBA team sponsors, even, right? This is again. The company aspiration when it's supposed to be on the jersey patch, right? It's signators everywhere. This is an arrangement that happens in other forms around the league.
But in terms of the contracts that players market value typically sign, It's never as big as $28 million. And so that's actually off the graph. When it comes to the standard market rate. And so then the question is: well, why did they want to pay it?
Well, it's because Kawhi Leonard. According to my reporting, according to the investigation, by the way, that was raised in 2019 that got that Adam Silver quote in the first place, what I'm picking up the thread of is in 2021, when it came to the extension, Kawhi Leonard wanted. Another max contract. Boardman gets paid, right? The guy wants to get paid.
He's a capitalist, and God bless Kawhi Leonard for being economically minded, right? That's not illegal. What is illicit, though, by NBA rules, of course, is the question of: can you pay someone the max contract, and then on top of that, pay them through this side deal with the influence of the owner of the team. And so $28 million may seem like chump change in the world of Steve Bommer in the abstract. In the NBA, this has landed like a comet.
Because this is If my reporting is correct, which again... I stand by fully and completely. It is explosive. We just haven't seen this level of ambition for it before. And so, the other key detail here, in terms of just like how much money is at stake, why are they doing this?
What's floating around here? I think the other thing that people need to understand about aspiration is that Kawhi Leonard. was not the only endorsement contract they signed. They had Robert Downey Jr. Leonardo Caprio, Drake, Orlando Bloom, Cindy Crawford, Cindy Crawford's daughter.
Doc Rivers, go down the list. A bunch. of famous people. Kawhi Leonard's contract was for a sum. That was more than four times every other one of those contracts I mentioned combined.
And the key clause in the contract was it could be terminated. if he no longer played for the Clippers. And also, contractually, He had no obligation to do anything if it did not conform with his beliefs, small B beliefs, which is the thing that lots of people who analyze contracts as. Have pointed out. He basically had outs to do nothing.
And in fact, the company itself aspiration. Nor the Clippers. ever announced that he had signed anything. as an endorsement deal.
So the question I have at the end of this IQ test is why would this be the case when Steve Bommer is also investing $50 million into the company? These are the questions that the NBA has to investigate now. Pablo Torrey finds out, podcast host Pablo Torrey here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's get to what Cuban was tweeting at you. You know, Mark Cuban, who obviously knows about ownership and knows about caps and knows about things like that.
His tweet was sensualist saying he wishes this was the circumvention of the cap. Because as a former competitor, of the Clippers in Dallas. He says that Steve isn't that dumb if he tried to feed L uh Kawhi money knowing what was at stake for him personally and his team. Do you think he would let the company go bankrupt, knowing all the creditors would be visible to the world? He's basically saying that he got scammed by aspiration.
and that scammers do scammy things. and that the $300 million sponsorship deal with the Clippers in 2021 was a huge deal. The better the team does, the more value the sponsorship has.
So why not give stolen money to help keep their best player if that actually makes perfect sense if they stole money from investors and want the Clippers to succeed? And what's your response? Come on the show, let's talk about it. First of all, is he gonna? And two, what's your response in the interim?
To what he was tweeting at you, basically saying that there is a reasonable explanation from the management suite as to what was going on. with Cuba, with Bomber, this company and Kauai. Yeah, I'm so glad Mark tweeted that because what happened next was I invited him on the show, and Mark Eve is the kind of guy who, despite being, by the way, currently not the majority owner, but 27% owner of the Mavericks, is the rare type of owner who says, I have lots of thoughts about this, even though. I'm sort of coming at this late and from the outside, right? And I love that because I do want unvarnished perspective from other people in the management suite.
Now, notably, I have heard from other people in the management suite, in the executive class of the NBA and in sports in general after the story. None of them want to talk about this on Twitter, let alone with me on my show. But they have, I will say, thoughts that largely diverge from Mark Cuban's perspective. But the question of did Mark Cuban come on my show is where I get to now promote the fact that tomorrow's episode of Publitori Finds Out is my conversation with Mark Cuban. That was extensive and argumentative and facts.
You've already had and honestly irritating because how rich, this is something that I genuinely love to cover on my show. What's it actually like in a billionaire's brain? You know, like these are the people who run the world, they run sports. We live in an era in which these owners, as you know, have never been richer. And Steve Bomber is the richest one in the world.
And so Mark Cuban, being a guy who has had to deal with Steve in meetings, of course, is a fellow owner in the league, has, of course, familiarity with all the players involved. When he says something, it matters simply from his perspective.
So I don't want to speak for Mark in the episode because. I need a Promote the episode and send my daughter to kindergarten, Rich. But what I will say is that we vehemently disagree about some things, agree about some key, I think, through lines. And I think the key fulcrum of disagreement. Is this, and I'll say this in a way that's meaningful, but also a tease.
When does one of the smartest people, the smartest businessmen, the guy hailed as the greatest investor of the last 20 years in Steve Bommer, right? The richest man in sports. When does he get to be smart? And when does he get to be stupid? When do we hold him to account for being very brilliant at business.
When does he get to plausibly know nothing? This is a through line a bit in sports as well as in life these days, the convenience of ignorance. from people who should know better. And the question becomes, for the NBA at least. As well as the federal government, by the way, from a larger, broader concern now that we're bringing in real life, what did you know?
When did you know it? What should you have done? And what did you do? And we get into that in depth, which I appreciate with Mark. We tweeted about how much he enjoyed it.
Just as a matter of like spoiler alert, we're not going to come out of this suing each other yet. But it is something that gets contentious in a very productive way, I thought.
So just to I guess bring this to um uh um full circle. Had Kawhi hired somebody out of college to just shoot a video of him playing. planting a tree. Would this have been different? I know it sounds flippant, Pablo, but you know, I mean, would this be different that he actually did something?
And all it would cost literally would be a few hundred dollars to hire somebody to create a reel, pop it on Instagram, pop it on TikTok, a YouTube short, Facebook, and then all of a sudden he's done something. Would that would it be different? Probably. I think it would have been a different story because this is a story ultimately about extreme people doing extreme things. I mean, the first part complimentary.
These are extreme characters, the greatest athletes, the richest people. I mean, the latter in a more subjective way. Extreme things, meaning how could you be so. Let's call it anti-strategic to not consider that all you had to do was anything. Like, it's not even that he had to do anything, right?
Because the contract he signed, again, he fulfilled the terms of the contract, which said he didn't have to do anything. Really what I'm saying is, if they had just announced it, Would this have been less suspicious? Because the way I found it, and this is where I think Mark and I, again, a bit of the foreshadowing here, the diverging that happened was around the fact of Steve would never do this because this is so stupid. And I guess what I'm saying here without trying to be too you know, uh, navel gazey. Is that if not for the reporting, the seven sources who were courageous enough to talk to me about a very sensitive federal investigation, as well as the documentation I acquired, more than 3,000 pages, as well as all of that surrounding research, if not for all of those things coming together, because of a bankruptcy filing, which I alluded to before, in which there was a clue about the company Kawhi Leonard had started, KL2 Aspire LLC, whose designated representative was Uncle Dennis Robertson.
If not for that little line item in a bankruptcy filing that no one else noticed. This would not have been a problem. None of this would have happened. No one would be talking about it. No one would be wondering about a weird tree planting company and Steve Baummer and Kawhi Leonard.
And this company no one remembers, despite the fact that they were very instrumental in the origin story of the Intuit Dome. They would have gotten away with it. And now I'm going to quote Scooby-Doo, if not for those meddling kits. And unfortunately, I am the meddling kid. I will own up to that.
And so if Kawhi had done anything... to make it seem that much more plausible so that when I googled What has Kawhi Leonard done to endorse the company that he's owed millions of dollars to for an endorsement deal, which again, of course, I acquired the document for? It would have been probably a different outcome from the perspective of me noticing something. was really, really smelly. about what was going on here.
Pablo, thanks for the time. Always appreciate you coming on this program. And I will be, I know what I'll be downloading for my flight back from Brazil. I know what I got. I'll be listening.
Rich, thank you. Do some capoeira for me out there while you're.
Well I guess that's a good idea. Si say that say that one more time.
Some papoera, you know, you some of the some some some some like dance karate. That's pretty. I mean, what you're finding out is karate. Does anybody know dance karate here? I'm getting a lot of Brazilian blank stares back at me.
There was a movie called, I don't even strong. Pablo knows what it is back in the day. Yes, thank you. Very good. Thank you.
Well, that'll be one thing that you definitely won't be finding out is me doing exactly what you were suggesting. I look forward to listening to your conversation with Mark Cube and Pablo. Thanks for the time, brother. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.
Anytime. That's poplatory right there on the Rich Eisen Show. Quite probable. A story and a development in the National Basketball Association. Before we take a break, just want to tell you about the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid, an incredible SUV.
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The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Back here in Brazil, ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance. They offer auto home and commercial auto insurance. Visit progressive.com. Life is amazing, folks, because, you know, once upon a time, I watched this guy play football, and then I actually watched him play in person at the Super Bowl in Tampa, where his Cardinals were crushing it, and they went up on the Steelers.
Unfortunately, didn't win it. But never in a million years did I think, A, I would get to know the guy. B, I'd get to know and love the guy. C, I'd get to know and love his family. I would work with the guy all the time and start collecting countries on the planet in which I'd be calling football games.
So we to add to Germany and the United Kingdom. We're about to add Brazil. My man, Bert Warner. How are you, man? Exciting.
Good times. Isn't it? What a way to kick off the season, right? Unbelievable. Here we are in Brazil getting ready for that game.
Tomorrow night. My guys, they're back in Los Angeles. What's up, fellas?
So they're back in all the guys in the studio. What's going on, man? Let's go. My guys in the studio, they're all there. Chris and TJ.
It looked like it, man. Yeah, it sounded like it. Bummer. Bummer. I may have to do something like the Wheel of Fortune here soon.
They might have a celebrity edition.
So I'm hoping I can pull something, TJ. You've been on a game show, haven't you? Yeah, I've done Wheel of Fortune. We've done. What else have I done?
Did you do Family Feud? Jeopardy, we did Family. Did you do Family Feud? Family Feud, yeah. The Warner family?
Exactly.
Okay. Yeah, we pulled it out. Did you win big money? You pulled Fast Money? You won Fast Money?
Fast Money, yeah. Me and my daughter, Jesse. We pulled it out.
So I fared all right in the games. Who did Fast Money? You and your daughter? Me and my daughter, Jesse. Was Brenda didn't want to do it?
Well, no, Brenda's. Yeah. She's not much for games. We actually thought Cade was going to be, it was going to be me and Cade, but he flopped during the whole. You know, show that we're like, okay, we're going to push him out.
We're going to get Jesse in there. And we were able to pull it out. But it worked out well. There were a couple questions about being a mom and kids, and she nailed them.
So it was cool.
Okay, that's good. Yeah, we played Celebrity Family Feud against Dan Patrick, and we did not make it to Fastbuddy. Oh, you did not make it to Fast Money? No, because we're blaming Del Tufo on that. Oh, wow.
Mike's taking it. Oh, yeah. That's not so much. That's hey the one thing I will say for everybody out there though It is a lot harder when you're in person and the camera's on you than when you sit at home and you're like, idiot, what are you saying that for? It's a lot harder when that pressure's on you.
I will give you that. It's not the same deal. I got to say, I got to play in the Super Bowl. Actually, it was easier. I got the number one answer.
It was totally fine. Oh, wow. Well, it was probably just a gimmicky number one answer. I got eight choices. Come on.
I guess. Yeah, that is the thing. It's not about the number one answer. Those are easy. It's when you end up being like fourth on the list, and you're like.
I don't got any other answers. Everybody took them all.
Now you've got to figure it out.
So we've got our game tomorrow night to kick off the ASC portion of the campaign. Tonight's the big one in Philadelphia, the Eagles in Dallas. I give you the floor on breaking this one down, Kurt. What do you got for me? Pre-view it.
For tonight's game? Yes, sir. Tonight's game.
Well, I mean, I think everybody goes into the season feeling like the Eagles are in a great position to repeat. They got all their main pieces back. Youth on defense, the playmakers on offense.
So I think you go into it. I'm excited just to see, you know, are they coming off that Super Bowl? Are they going to look just as good as they did in the Super Bowl because they were so dominant? But I think they're going to be right in the mix again. And maybe more of the questions are on the other side.
What exactly are we getting? What is this offense going to look like with their new coach? Can they run the football? Are they going to have to throw it all over the yard? No, Micah Parsons.
What are they on defense? I thought I read today, Drayvion Diggs is on a pitch count. You know, I mean, it just. A lot of things going on in Dallas that I'm not really sure what to expect from them this year. I don't look at them being a contender this year.
Maybe they show me something different tonight, but. But I think the Eagles are going to be right there in the mix.
Well, you're the perfect person to ask this. I mean, Jalen Hurts, humble guy and a guy who, you know. Had doubts all the time coming into the league. I'm describing a little bit of your journey as well. How did you enter the season after winning the Super Bowl and being the Super Bowl MVP and answering those questions in an emphatic way?
And now he's got that. Obviously, you didn't blow out the Titans, but you still won. And so how did that work for you the following year that could be somewhat informative as to what the Eagles are going to be experiencing? You know, I love when we were interviewing Patrick Mahomes and we were just kind of asking about the situation in Kansas City. And he said, you know, I don't really have to say a whole lot around our guys because what I've realized is if you want to be great, you want to be great.
And we get guys that want to be great. And so when you talk about winning a Super Bowl, I think a lot of people have this perspective that, oh, once you do that, you've accomplished everything and now you can rest on your laurels or you can, you know, kick back. The great want to be great. And so you win a Super Bowl and then it's about winning another one. If you win another one, then it's about winning the third one.
It's about figuring out. Out how to be great each and every year out there or each and every situation. And I think Jalen Hurts exemplifies that. You know, whether you talk about Alabama when he goes and wins a national championship, and then he gets benefits, then he goes to Oklahoma and he's in the mix for the Heisman. And then he comes to the Eagles and he goes to a Super Bowl, but they lose.
And then he comes back and he dominates in a Super Bowl, could have been a two-time Super Bowl MVP with the way that he's. I mean, this is a guy that wants to be great. And that's what he focuses on, not what they already accomplished or what they did last year, but just being great. And, you know, so. I expect nothing more than him to continue to work to become better at his craft and try to lead this team in the Eagles to a place that we've seen the last couple decades with the Chiefs or with the Patriots is being dominant for a long time and being the ultimate winner.
And he's shown that he can do that in a lot of ways. Is it easier to do that because you've done it? Because you just did it. That whatever I know we always talk pressure in in our business that that it's removed. The last time there was a banner raise in Philadelphia, it was asked of Nick Siriani this week: you know, you were being booed by halftime, and so things can change.
And his response, We're not going to be out there for either, was there a banner raise? What banner raise? Right, kind of crazy. Which was, um, but I get it, you know, that's last year, that's not this year. We don't need to, you know, we did our ring ceremony, we did our stuff, we got to put that in the past, and now it's something new.
But is it easier to be that leader at the quarterback position when you've answered questions and you do have a trophy in the case and an MVP trophy to boot? Like, I mean, I think, yeah. I mean, anytime you accomplish something like that, you always have that in your back pocket. But I don't think it makes it easier to do it again. I don't think it makes it easier for this team to be great just because they were great last year.
I think the Chiefs, you know, would be the first ones to tell you, yeah, we've been to a lot of Super Bowls, but we've also lost a couple Super Bowls. We also got blown out in a Super Bowl because we realized it's not as easy as sometimes it looks. And, you know, the Eagles played really well, and then they dominate the Super Bowl, you know, by halftime that that thing's over. But that guarantees absolutely nothing for this year. And so I think you win one.
You put pressure on yourself to win another one. You put pressure on your team to, oh, okay, we're gonna come off the Super Bowl and we're gonna go back and do it again.
So I don't think it makes this season any easier. But I do believe you always have that in your back pocket.
So if this season doesn't go well, it was like, well, we I do have a Super Bowl ring. Yeah, I'm a Super Bowl MVP, so that's always going to be there. But that doesn't make this year any easier and probably more difficult because you realize how much it takes to get there. And I would even say, like, when we won it in 99, I won't say it was easy. It's never easy to win a Super Bowl, but.
With that magical season, it just kind of came together and And, you know, from a football standpoint, you could say, man, it seemed kind of easy. And then you realize when you come back the next year, okay, you know, that's not how it normally is. It's really hard to get there and win. And so you appreciate those moments, but you don't carry anything really from that season and think that it's going to carry over into the next. Kurt Warner, Super Bowl MVP, my compadre on NFL Game Day Morning, and my boothmate for YouTube's first ever global stream of a football game.
And it's a doozy Chiefs in Chargers right here in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the Rich Eisen Show. First ever multi-hemisphere edition of this show in our history. All right.
So. The team that it pres presents the biggest challenge in the NFC to the Eagles. is which Mm, biggest challenge. I actually really like the Rams, and we talked a little bit about it on our kickoff show. I've got the questions about Matthew Stafford's back.
Age given an issue, didn't practice a whole lot, but I think that's a really talented team. We saw what they did to the Eagles when they went in there in the playoffs and gave them everything they could handle and a chance to win it.
So I really like the Rams. I'm intrigued by the Packers now. Um A lot of talent across the board. You know, this was a top 10 offense and defense last year. You had a difference maker like Micah Parsons.
I'm really intrigued. They're a young team, so I want to see them play a little bit. But I'm really intrigued by them as well. And I would, you know, look at those two teams as kind of the two teams that are out there. What about the Lions?
I mean, is it because of the coordinators? And there's nothing about the Lions. Like, if the Lions went and won 15 games again, I would not be surprised because I do believe they have that kind of talent. Right. Hutch is back.
But there's just unknown. I just. It sounds easy again when he's like, oh, we've got all the players back. Yes, new coordinators, but not really that big a deal, you know, because we've got the same players back. I think it can be a huge deal.
I think great coordinators, and I can really only speak for the offensive side with my perspective, but great coordinators are different in how they piece things together, how they set up each playmaker in positions to do what they do best. I thought that's what Ben Johnson did as well as anybody in the league with all those playmakers. Is he found a way to put them In positions where they were always doing what they did well. I thought that's what Mike Martz did so well with us: okay, Marshall had a unique skill set. Ricky Prohole had a unique skill set.
Azakeem had a unique skill set. How he would piece those guys together and put them in the spots that played to their strengths. I remember thinking the same thing about Kyle Shanahan when Atlanta went to the Super Bowl. Different kinds of playmakers, including Julio, but we're going to put them in the best positions to succeed. Ben Johnson does that as well as anybody.
Do they have that moving forward? And obviously, you know, everyone saw what Goff did with Ben Johnson. We're assuming. That remove that, and Johnny Morton can't or won't be the same, it's going to be different. I don't know, I have an issue with that, but I The Rams did give the Eagles all they could handle last year.
Jared Verse could be a defensive player of the year, and that's just a part of a young stud. You know, aligned defense. It really is all on. Maybe we were joking the other day, not so much, a joke maybe to the Rams, that Matthew Stafford's chiropractor should be an honorary captain. Yeah.
Week one. It's going to be important. And I actually think they would be a fine team with Jimmy. But We all know. Difference makers are that position, that special guys.
So even if he had to play some, if Matthew Stafford was healthy down the stretch, I believe this is a difficult team to beat. Let's take a break right here on the Rich Eisen Show from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Kurt Warner is here. You are there. 844-204, Rich is the number of dial.
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The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. On the Rich Eisen Show Simulcast, Disney Plus, ESPN app everywhere. This ESPN radio affiliate, ESPN presented by Progressive Insurance. We say a little out there listening on Sirius XM Channel 80. Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner here in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The rest of the guys are in the Los Angeles studio in El Segundo, right down the street from where the Chargers train. How do you see tomorrow night's game playing out? What's the key to the Friday night? Chiefs Chargers game. I'm really excited about this one.
Obviously, a great way to start the season. You know, the Chiefs, I think my big storyline with them is we always hear about Super Bowl hangovers and getting blown out the way they did in the Super Bowl, kind of went into this thing going, okay, are they going to take a step back? You know, everybody's asking, is the dynasty over? All of that sort of stuff. What I really enjoyed when we did the interviews is to a man, you know, Coach Reed to Patrick to Travis.
When you asked them about the Super Bowl, the first thing they said was, I didn't play well enough. And they took responsibility and accountability for what they didn't do well enough. They didn't make excuses, they didn't point. Hey, I have to be better. And it really felt like they were motivated.
And they went back in the offseason, and Travis is in great shape, and Patrick's in great shape. And Coach Reed is, you know, trying to uncover the new things that they need to do or figure out the problems that they had last year. And they seem like a really, really motivated team to come back out and say, hey, this thing's not over. We got to live with the results of the Super Bowl, but we are ready to compete once again.
So I want to see how they come out. I think they're going to come out flying. I think they're going to be aggressive. And I'm excited to see this version of the Chiefs. And then on the other side with the Chargers, the theme that I pulled from a lot of our interviews was.
Yeah, we've done a nice job the last couple years and we've been in the playoffs. But what we haven't done is we beat the teams we're supposed to beat. We haven't beat teams like the Chiefs. We haven't beat the playoff teams consistently. And that's the next step for this football team is beating those kinds of teams.
And so here we are, perfect opportunity in Brazil, the whole world watching against the best team that we've seen in the last decade. Here's your chance. Show us that you are ready to compete, not just in the division, but with all the teams in the AFC, and show us that you can win on the big stage. Let's take it one team at a time now and following up with you, Kurt. Because When you said that they all took responsibility for not Winning that Super Bowl and getting blown out in that game, the one who got the most.
specific about a responsibility that they take on I don't know if you caught this from Andy Reid. When he was talking about Xavier Worthy in year two, he said that there's, you know, he's going to be involved in the game plan with some plays. That he said, I should have put in for the Super Bowl more. Like, did you catch that? He should have got it more involved in the Super Bowl.
Did you catch that reference? I did. And I took a note on that. Because Xavier. During the playoffs was it took a huge uptick for them in terms of you know the yak and and using him in the screen game and getting him touches with that explosiveness.
And so, yeah, when when he said that, he's like, Yeah, I should have I should have done more of that in the Super Bowl. And then he came right back and said, but He's got a healthy dose of plays for this game. But yeah, I just think they've got to find those explosive plays. That to me is the difference. They are so good, and Patrick's so good at managing and getting first downs and the long drives.
Nobody was better last year. Yeah, most 10-plus drive, 10-plus play drives in the league last year.
So you do think. They are going to, in the same way last year, where they were locked in on matriculating, that this, that the old school wasp. Cut the top of the defense off. Let's go vertical. Hollywood Brown is healthy.
Xavier Worthy's speedy. That's coming back. That was the other theme that I heard. being aggressive. And you know you talked about different nuggets that you pick up.
Andy Reid even mentioned that. He said, I've got to call and design more of those plays, and we've got to make sure they're there. Patrick talked about, I've got to throw more of those. And this year, he's comfortable with those receivers, even if it's Hollywood Brown and Taekwondo Thornton, guys that didn't play a lot last year, but they've been in the building, and he talked about the trust that he has with those guys. And so he wants to go back and really stick to his progressions and give those guys opportunities to win down the field.
Yes, I believe if there was one theme from a scheme standpoint that came out in all my interviews with the coaches and the players, it was that one, is that they're going to try to get more big plays and push the ball down the field more than they have the last couple years because they understand how hard it is to win in this business. Even with the best quarterback on the planet, when you have to make 10-plate drives all the time to score points, you've got to be able to flip field position. You've got to be able to win quickly. That's what they did when their offenses were the best. That's what they want to get back to.
And then when we talk to Herbert, you know, he's approached, seems very locked in, right? And then. With him, I was stunned as I'm researching for this because I'm a professional to see that he's got the most passing yards of anybody in the history of the league through five seasons, but he hasn't thrown for 4,000 in the last two. Of his first 62 games of his career, 58. Featured a game in which he attempted to throw it 30 times or more, only 10 of 17 last year.
Do you think he likes playing like this? Kurt, you know. He didn't give any sense of it. I mean, we were hunting and pecking during the interview, but very interesting. I talked to Greg Roman, who's the offense coordinator, you know, with the Chargers, and I asked him: okay, what.
And what was that like in the first year? In terms of calling plays and knowing you've got this guy that can chuck it all over the yard and is so talented. And then, you know, Jim Harbaugh comes in, and we know how he wants to play, you know, control the line of scrimmage. And he said, what we had to preach to Justin was. We are calling plays to win.
We're not calling plays for yards. We're calling plays to win. And it took Justin some time to understand what exactly that means. You know, what does that mean for me? Because the first few years of my career, I'm chucking it all over and I'm setting records.
And so, so, what do you mean winning? You know, because All quarter of us, all of us think winning means let me throw the put the ball in my hand. 1,000-yard seasons and one 5,000 yards to win. And all quarterbacks think that. But it was starting to understand the theory behind what they're doing and the purpose of every single throw.
And so, you know, we did talk to Jim Harbaugh, and I asked him, Are you tempted to want to spread it out and throw it because you've got this guy at quarterback? And he said, I am tempted, and I'm not opposed to that. Even though we know that's not how he wants to play.
So there's such high regard for Justin Herbert that he can wing it all over if they need to. But their formula is good defense, run the football, and then make your big plays off of that. And I do believe that's how they're going to try to play this game and try to play this season. Knowing that they've got that ace in their back pocket, if they have to spread it around and throw it, they've got a guy that can do that. Yeah, and you know.
Don't turn it over, just three interceptions for Herbert and the lowest in number of turnovers in the AFC last year for the Chargers. And then to give you an idea of like, well, they're going to spread it out and wing it. Their first round choice was O'Marion Hampton. Who they're going to roll downhill, man. And then one of the big moves they made in free agency was: let's get Najee Harris.
So it gives you an idea of. No, we're still going to play the same way. They want to play that way. You know, and if Herbert throws for 4,000 yards on top of it, then so be it, bringing back Keenan Allen as well.
So it'll be interesting to see Keenan Allen back with his lightning bolts tomorrow night.
So Kurt Warner is here. That'll wrap up. Hour number two, right here on ESPN radio. When we come back on our simulcast, this man will still be here and we'll go around the rest of the league, and then your phone calls in hour three from Brazil. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
