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The Rich Eisen Show. I find it very offensive if I'm thinking about having the job. I need to be doing my job. This is The Rich Eisen Show with guest host, Colleen Wolf. Today's guests.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronda Barber, NFL Daily Podcast Host Greg Rosenthal. ESPN NFL analyst Nina Kimes and now Colleen Wolf. Welcome, welcome, everybody. Good morning, good afternoon, depending on where you're watching from. I'm Colleen Wolf here on The Rich Eisen Show on this glorious Monday as we finish up week seven of the NFL season.
You can watch us on Disney Plus, ESPN app. You can listen to us on ESPN Radio. This is all presented by Progressive Insurance. Also, I've been waiting my entire career to say this. You can give us a call at 844-204-RICH.
This is very exciting as I sit here in the studio and I look at Chris Brockman and Mike Del Tufo. Hi, Collie. Good point. And TJ Jefferson. Hello, Colleen.
There's one thing we like to do around here at this time of night. It's not about Dallas, is it? Oh, geez. How about Jeff Cowboy? That's the new one?
Is that from the yes, he got the new one. Ring of honor ceremony? Jesus. Wow.
So, whenever we lose, we also get the Stevens. Yeah. It's even. It's even. Okay.
All right.
Well, congratulations on your big win. That was kind of fun and Dak Prescott. It's great. That's a disrespectful sound. We're all so happy for you.
Why did non-playoff teams get a cool intro? You know, I don't know. That's a great point. I guess if you're second overall in your conference, you should probably get a cool intro. We did.
Listen, Victory Monday for all of us. Hey, look at that. That's that full. We love that. That's one of Del Tufo's teams won this Rams.
Oh my gosh. Yeah. How about Devontae Adams and Matthew Stafford just like throwing it back? A vintage performance for Devontae Adams. That was his.
Third three-touchdown career game. And Matthew Stafford, he had five passing touchdowns. And that was the fifth time he's had a five-touchdown career game. Like, very fun. Love that symmetry, but there's so much to talk about.
Like, I feel like my head is going to explode because yesterday, I mean, for you guys, you were in London, like, I don't know, a few hours ago. I felt like we were just there. I got home yesterday, about 25 minutes ago. Yeah. What even is time?
Time doesn't even really exist. Time is a flat circle. It is. It is. That's a social construct.
I don't really conform to it. But it's like that morning window of games was quite underwhelming. There were, you know, there were some fun things that happened, but it was really the late window that was so insane. And first of all, I think that may have been the craziest game I've ever seen in my life, at least the craziest fourth quarter I've ever seen in my life between the Broncos and the Giants. I was very excited and then very upset because I alone wolfed the Giants.
And watching that game was such an emotional roller coaster for me because I. I don't really root for the Giants. That's not something that I do. I'm usually on the complete opposite side of things. And then I found myself thinking, oh my God, I love Jackson Dart and Cam Scatabu.
They're just so fun. They have this like great energy. I feel like they should be playing with Jeremy Shockey vibes. Like this is a very throwback type of energy for this team. And just seeing what they did in that fourth quarter, the collapse by them and the Broncos, we're going to get into that.
We're going to get into a lot of different things. But I think a few different takeaways just for me. How the Chiefs remain dominant, and that's a scary thing because they got through the rough patch at the beginning of the season here. And now they have their guys back: Xavier Worthy, Rashi Rice, and they dominated with a 31 to nothing win over the Raiders. Then you have so many teams that had really, really good winning streaks coming into this game and that they extended them in week seven.
Broncos, Patriots, Bears, they each won their fourth straight game. And then the Niners, wow, how about Christian McCaffrey in the game? George Kittle, where was he? I mean, I know that he said he was coming back in week seven. Did he mean week eight?
I know TJ, he's scheduled to do no contest wrestling later. Did he sleep through the game in anticipation of? Doing your pod with Elon Hurts. He really loves to run blocks, guys. The opinions shared by Chris Brockman are his alone and have nothing to do with it.
The opinions shared by Chris Brockman are those of everyone who started George Kittle in fantasy yesterday, hoping for double-digit points. Yeah, that's fair.
Sorry for your loss. I'm just excited that I might get a win finally in our fantasy league. It'll be terrible. We were worried about it. I am the New York Jets.
It was already a stud joke. I got there. I mean, this is, thank God, I was dreading coming in here being 0-7, but we're going to get on the board this week and I feel good about it. I know everyone really cares about my fantasy team. It's been a tough year.
I drafted when I was on a flight with terrible Wi-Fi. That is true. I know, but that didn't affect you taking Joe Burrow and A.J. Brown and guys who just forgot they were playing football. Also, as an Eagles fan, I offered you during the draft Jalen Hurts for Joe Burrow.
And you know what she did, guys? She laughed at me.
Well, I'm. Just slapped at me. Had I known, TJ, had I known. Wow.
But I didn't.
So here we are now, 0-6. I'm much better. I've got two wins, so I kind of stink too.
Well, the Colts, they are the opposite of that. They did not stink. Look so good. Best team in the league. Who saw this coming with Daniel Jones?
That's another headline coming out of this week. And. Uh I think too just the fact that Coming into, I guess going into week eight, though, the NFC race is so tight. And the Rams are emerging as a really strong contender. The Bucs, the Lions, the Packers, we're actually, we have a real true doubleheader tonight on Monday night football, which I love.
I'm not really a huge fan of when there are two Monday night games being played at the same time. I think a primetime game, it deserves to be an island game. It deserves its own time slot. It's when everyone can kind of watch. And I just feel like big things happen in primetime games.
So you sort of need that spotlight.
So first up, we'll have the Bucs and the Lions. That's 7 Eastern. Hopefully, Mike Evans plays in that one. And maybe Mike Evans. He's likely.
He's likely to play. And then we have a mecha Buka. That's a real chance, according to the team, for him to play as well.
Okay. But I just want to see Baker Mayfield and Jarek Goff go. Toe to toe, because last year, that playoff game two years ago, I just feel like. This these two teams they have something magical when they come together.
So I am excited about that one. Also, Texan Seahawks, that's 10 Eastern.
So I'm really sorry for everyone on the East Coast who has to work tomorrow. That if you are a fan of one of those teams. Ugh. It's going to be a long, long, long Tuesday for you. Huge Seattle sports night, game seven.
Oh my god, I know CS. How about the Jays? Mariners, let's go. We're going to have Mina Kimes on. I cannot wait to talk to her.
She is a massive, massive Mariners fan. I'm so happy that there's going to be a Game 7 for her sake, too. But that's tough because she's in Detroit for the Bucs Lions games. Wow.
And there's a Game Seven tonight.
So that is a tough one. But let's get into what was the wildest fourth quarter I've seen in quite some time. The Broncos. 33 point fourth quarter. They, this, they looked hapless through those first three quarters.
And then all of a sudden it was like, oh, you know, well, they work better under a deadline. Like, it's, it's like procrastination at its finest. It's like the white guys. Yeah. I, I, I kind of respect that.
I'm like, you know what? Just conserve your energy for the fourth quarter. Why even bother playing those first three if you know that you're going to be able to have this comeback? I totally get this. Uh, one of my crowning achievements senior year of college had a whole semester to write a 30, a 30-page term paper about a political conspiracy.
And I did the whole thing the night before it was due. I did nothing for the entire semester. And then. Oh shoot, that paper's due tomorrow. Yeah.
That sounds funny. All night in the computer lab. 30 pages. Bam. B, let's go.
Oh, my God. Mr. Clutch. They call me Jerry West. And I feel like Bo Nicks is kind of cultivating this personality and this reputation where.
For three quarters, he's just kind of, you know, lollygags around like it's an extra in Bull Durham. And then all of a sudden, it's go time in the fourth quarter. And it's fun if, you know, if you have no vested interest in the team, it's cool when they win. Right. But man, It must be so stressful being a Broncos fan.
Right now, playing these types of games. But There's something going on. Kids got Moxie and a little magic going on there. And we'll see. It's a fourth straight win, and they're leading the division.
Is that going to hold on as we see Kansas City come on like they have come on now, especially yesterday with Rashid Reisback? But we'll get to the Chargers too in a minute. They lost. I know. That's well, I think it was the uniforms.
Uniforms, yeah. But Bonix, the fact that there were three touchdowns scored in like a span of three minutes, and then Bonix had to drive the length of the field still for a game-winning field goal. Let's hear from Bonix after the game. I was thinking about how I was going to answer questions if we got shut out. You know, not where you want to be, and you know.
You know, at some point I knew we've done it before in the fourth quarter. We're going to. You know, at some point we're going to go down and score.
Now, it may be too late, and we may not score enough, but at some point, we're going to do it. We did it, you know, got a good drive there at the end of the third, scored quickly in the fourth, and it's almost like once we scored and got the two-point conversion, you know, we knew how to play all of a sudden.
So, um, it was just I don't have many answers, but you know, we just kept fighting. A Oh, a a draft a draft sick kind of difference from What we heard from Jackson Dart after the game. I love that part. I know. And honestly, for Bonix, I feel bad for him today because if you heard what Sean Payton said after the game, he was like, it's going to be a tough Monday for everyone here because, yes, we won the game, but there's a lot to clean up.
So I just feel like that's scary. That's a scary. It's like a young Anthony Michael Hall there, huh? A little bit. I was literally sitting there like, what are the top five things I think Bo Nicks did if I didn't know he was a quarter?
Yeah, weird science situation. Like selling middle of the mall jewelry. I was going to say a salesman for sure. Yeah, like the middle of the mall, though. Not like the anchors of the mall, like the middle of the mall jewelry.
Yeah, he's in one of those cheap piercing pagoda. There you go.
Something like that. Your insurance salesman. He looks like bad. For sure. Sponsored by Progressive.
He likes to, no, I'm not going to say that one. He likes to talk to you about his Lord and Savior. You know, just that he looks like anything but a I don't know. Am I wrong on this? Traveling Bible salesman.
Oh my God. We're going to get in trouble today. DJ. But the thing is, dude is quickly becoming a guy who I kind of seek out on Sunday to watch him play. I started at the end of last year.
I remember telling you, I'm like, something about this Bo Nick. That's what I mean. I like him and I'm watching that game out of the corner of my eye yesterday, and I was like, oh, the game's over. And then I saw the comeback. I was like, wait a minute, is this.
The third quarter? Am I missing something? It's like, no, it is the fourth. When did you know watching this that the Broncos were going to win? When Jackson Dart threw that interception to Astronaut, that was the turning point.
10-point game at that point. Leaking water on the Giants victory, dramatic road win here. And then it's like, oh, gosh, why did you do that? I could see in his head, if I just lob it over him, like the tight end is right there. And I think we're going to get a first down and maybe more.
Oh, God, you threw it right to him. Why did you do that? I know. And then it's just, you know, he's off to the races. And you feel like, because there was still, what, I don't know, how many times was it?
Six minutes or so in the game at that point? It felt like years. Like there were, I lived so many lives just during that fourth quarter. But then when Jackson Dart like reached over and like dove in and broke the plane there, that when he scored after that, I'm like, okay, well, yeah.
Okay, we got it. We're back. All right.
All right.
It's going to work. It's going to work. It's going to work. Miss extra point. Hey, that's going to come back to hurt you.
Oh, that poor guy. Yeah. That's that. Jude McAdamie. He.
Must feel not gonna work here anymore. I think that was the moment I knew. But with extra points, then you kind of went, oh, okay. The writing was already on the wall at that point. Yeah, well, things are going Denver's way.
They had 99 problems in that extra point wasn't one. It just felt like the Giants were not going to be denied, though. No matter how many times they messed up, they just kept storming back and answering. And even in a game where there were two different tip drills, I mean, you had touchdowns right after the other off of tips. Like, this game was so chaotic.
It was so boring for three quarters. And then imagine the people that left. That right The Broncos actually winning this game. They came to the game. They did the parking thing.
They're, you know, in the seats. It's so boring. They paid for all of this. And then they leave for the most insane finish. Seems like half the Giants team left before the game was over.
Yeah. Well, it's tough. That's a tough reality check for Jackson Dart, who he really, I just hope this doesn't take his light away because he had this energy about him and. Looking at his face after the game and hearing what he had to say just really, it hurt me a little bit in a weird spot. I think for right now it's just it's really frustrating, man.
I'm trying to put it all together. We had chances to win the game, didn't do it. Um It's frustrating. I I never felt like we were gonna lose the game. Um So, you know, I looked at the clock when they scored.
I say, dang, we got a lot of time left. Um And uh geez. I had uh I had no doubt that we were gonna go down there and score. The shock. The shock.
Yeah, that looks like someone completely shell-shocked at what just happened. Yeah. The Giants had so much cool. They were in the Statue of Liberty play. Did you guys see that?
Like, it was, I hadn't seen that since the Boise State game. They ran that play, and then the Wills just. Ultimately, fell off. The vibes. That is a vibe shift for sure.
So, the final two minutes, we saw three different lead changes, and then ultimately, the Broncos were able to get that one together.
So, now they and the Chargers and the Chiefs are all trying to figure out where they are in this division. Of course, the Chiefs are coming on stronger.
So, we're going to get into a little bit about what's going on with the Chargers chargering again. And, of course, naturally, that'll lead to the Colts being so dominant and so good so far this season with Jonathan Taylor. My goodness. But we have a very special someone that's going to join us on the other side. Pro Football Hall of Famer, Ronde Barber, head of the Bucks and the Lions game that's coming up next.
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Offer ends January 1st, 2026. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. This is ESPN Radio Progressive Insurance is the presenter for us here on the Rich Eisen Show. And we have joining us now a Friend of mine. Who ruined my childhood first of all?
We'll get to that. But he's a pro football Hall of Famer. His team is playing tonight on Monday Night Football, Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Lions. It is Ronde Barber. Ronda Ronde.
Hello, Colleen. And just to be clear... I am a pro football Hall of Famer because I ruined your childhood. Yeah. Shut down the vet.
Okay, so you should be thanking me somehow. I don't know. Maybe I get a gold jacket here, but LaBronde, we get a chance to work together at the Super Bowl. We get to work at these international games. Ronde and I were together in Ireland for the Dublin game, which was so much fun.
But I think maybe my greatest memory working together with Ronde was when the Eagles won the Super Bowl and he said, Fly, Eagles, fly. And this was a moment of weakness, I think, for him, but I'm not really sure. How does it stick with you now, Ronde? Yeah. Unfortunately, our producer and my co-host that day were enormous Eagles fans.
And, you know, I just got caught up in the moment. Temporary loss of judgment. And I knew that I would make y'all both extremely happy by anointing the newly. Dominant Eagles Super Bowl champions with the fly Eagles fly.
So, yeah, there is audio out there of me saying that. Hopefully, it's been burned. He tried to get it destroyed. I don't know why. He is the most team player man out there.
And so, Ronde, looking ahead to tonight and this Bucs team, who Baker Mayfield and the offense, this team in general, has dealt with these injuries. They've been figuring out ways to score touchdowns and get the offense moving in games without Mike Evans, without Chris Godwin. Tonight, Mike Evans is likely to play, but Ameka Abuka, he is more of a game time decision, although it sounds like they're pretty optimistic about him playing. We've seen guys like Tez Johnson emerge, who it's the purest thing to me that he thought the MVP chance were for him instead of Baker Mayfield after he scored his first touchdown in the NFL. And I just love the fact that he also leaned into it and was like, yeah, how about this, guys?
I thought those were for me. It makes me feel like one day, maybe they will be for you, Tez.
So how does this team, what do you think going into tonight? How does this offense get going? And what are your expectations for Baker Mayfield against this banged up Lions defense? Right. I'm going to put those comments by Tez as just a useful exuberance after scoring your first touchdown ever.
So, I mean, I would be excited too. I remember my first touchdown, I didn't get MVP tants, but I was, I had that same feeling like the world is on fire and I'm leading the charge.
So this team is fun to watch, Colleen, as you know. And it's largely because of Baker, but also because of the job that Josh Grazard is doing on offense. Not adjusting the offense because your star players are out. I mean, Mike's been out since. what the jet uh no the jets game i think um and It's allowed some young guys who we didn't expect to play or have to play early.
come in and shine. Like you mentioned Tez Johnson. You could easily have said Cam Johnson, who was a superstar a year ago in training camp and then got hurt. We never heard from him again.
Now all of a sudden he's getting a chance to play and he's showcasing the ability that we thought he had. a year ago.
So it's just fun to watch them all kind of You know, accept the role of filling in for our superstars. I mean, we got three receivers, you know, including Chris Godwin. You mentioned, you know, Mecca and Mike, but Chris Godwin's been out most of the year. He's only played two games this year, and it's forced some other guys to step up and play, and they have. Certainly all that credit goes to Baker because Baker's...
playing like the MVP. I mean, there's just so many examples. of why he's the best player in football right now. I do give credit to the way that Josh Grizzard has evolved. This is first year calling plays, man.
Like he was a pass game coordinator last year with Liam Cohen. Before that, he was basically an intern in Miami that had a couple of, you know, a couple opportunities to stay in the league. And then we hire him. And he's, you see, his process evolve over the course of the year. And he's getting really good at it, man.
It's fun to watch.
So I don't anticipate. this Lions defense that's beat up tonight. To be able to just stop this Bucs offense because they got some injuries as well.
Okay, well, let's flip it around to the other side to. The Bucks defense, Todd Bowles does such a great job. And it's funny because I feel like this team has really taken the personality of Baker Mayfield, but Baker Mayfield's personality is so different from Todd Bowles. And you can see the two of them, both of their influence throughout this entire team.
So this defense has to deal with players like Amon Rossi Brown. How does the defense slow down a player of his caliber? And how did your defense do that against top receivers when you were playing? Yeah, well, we very rarely changed what we did on defense. Todd Bowles' defense, completely different.
He's got so many variations and iterations to his coverage schemes and what he asked his players to do. Look, there's some really good players on this Bucs defense. You know, Zion McCollum was hurt last week. He's hopefully coming back. I think, I don't know what his status is, but I think he's coming back.
We drafted a kid's name as Jacob Parrish out of Kansas State. He has done an awesome job at nickel, and he's been starting outside with some of the injuries as well. That'll be the main matchup. As I'm watching this game, I'm going to say to myself, how is Jacob Parrish varying against Amon Ross St. Brown, either outside or in the slot?
Because obviously he is their go-to guy, but in terms of throwing the football. But if I was preparing for this Lions offense, there's one guy I'm looking at. It's Jameer Gibbs. There's one guy that could just wreck your day, and it's him. Not only because he can catch the ball out of the backfield, it's just his explosiveness.
And I look at the matchup there and you're saying, who's dealing with him? Is it Tyke Smith? Is it Antoine Winfield? Is it Levante David or Servasier Dennis, the two linebackers? And the advantage physically with all four of those guys is with Jameer Gibbs.
So he's the guy that you have to really take care of. Jared Goff is having another great year. I think he's, what, third in touchdown passes right now? It's beginning because he has all those weapons. You know, you always like to think games like this turn into shootouts and the team with the last possession wins.
I would not be shocked if that's how this one ends up today. Ronde, good to see you, man. Thanks for joining us. Why does Jared Goff not get enough love nationally? Yeah, because he failed once in the terms of his head coach in Los Angeles.
You know, when you're a high draft pick and you go to same reason Baker does it or hasn't gotten it. You get drafted high, you fail at the team that drafted you, and the narrative just sticks with you that you can't play, which is completely ridiculous because Jerry Goff took them to the Super Bowl and lost, right? But then he comes to Detroit and he turns into the dude that you thought he was, right, when they drafted him. Um with the great surrounding supporting cast, a great great team surrounding him and buying into him. Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, people that know know. You know what I mean? I watch enough football. I know how good he is. I would never say he wasn't good.
Um, does he excite you all the time? No, I mean, he's you know, he's not Baker Mayfield, he's not like. Josh Allen, he's not lighting up the field with these extraordinary type of plays. But the consistency and the level of confidence that he's playing with these past couple years, dude, I mean, he is what he is. He's one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
Yeah, it's so interesting this game and this quarterback matchup because you're right, the temperament of both guys couldn't be more opposite. Right. That Baker is different. Colleen just mentioned, you know, between, you know, what the difference between Baker and Todd Bowles. Their temperaments are actually pretty similar.
Todd's a tough dude, man. Like that quiet, calm demeanor that you get, that you see in the press conferences where he's just kind of looks like he's completely uninterested is like there's an undercurrent of like rage there that never comes out unless unless you're on the wrong side of it. But when you see it, you're like, oh, that's it.
So Todd likes a team that's tough, has a tough mentality, could deal with anything. Adversity is like. part of the you know part of the growth Process. And that's what Baker has brought, you know.
So they're actually very similar, Colleen. He's got that fire under the surface just bubbling. But Baker's just as unmasked, always. Yes, exactly. It's right there.
It's on his sleeve. All the time. Todd Bowles sometimes has that Caldwellian stare. Yes, exactly. And he's like sort of soft-spoken.
So you, but you know that he is like, he's a killer. Like, in terms of his defense, he is going to go out there and he is going to try and wreck a game plan. Right. But just a man of few words. That's all it is.
No, it doesn't take many words, honestly. TJ? What's up, Ronde? How are you doing? What's up, man?
How are you doing, bro? A guy that I'm a big fan of, and I know all of us here are fans of is Mike Evans. Yeah. As consistently great as any receiver that there's ever been, year after year after year after year. What do you think?
Kind of contribute that consistency that he has to because he's had some great quarterbacks and then he's had some not so great quarterbacks, and yet year after year, you, I mean, you know, unless injury hit like this year, you knew what you were going to get out of Mike each and every year, and it just never falters. Right. Well he had Jameis, he had Mike Lennon in, I think at the very beginning. You know, he's had, you know Tom Brady, then he now's got Baker. He was pretty good.
Yeah, he was pretty good. Mike, and love Mike to death. He's probably the best offensive player we've ever had. Team history, and I don't think I'm seeing that lightly. In fact, the 50 greatest bucks, he finished above me at number four.
So, um, who's counting? I mean, who's counting? I'm not paying attention to the team. Um, he's bigger, just being around this team for all of his years, obviously. He's bigger, faster, and uh, more competitive than you think.
And I think it like. People that don't really know Mike, and he's, you know, you get, sometimes you get lost down here in Tampa. You know, it's such a, it's not a, it's a middle-sized market. you know, other than our Super Bowl year. Prior to his Super Bowl year, people just didn't really pay attention to what he was doing.
But we've seen it. I mean, he's a different type of receiver. Cause he's big. You don't think he can run. I can't tell you how many times I see takeoffs go by corners.
They're just like, oh, damn, this dude can run. You know, he can really run. Um but I think what what really separates him is his you know his like willingness to play through anything. You know, he's had this chronic hamstring deal. Like it it's every year.
Like usually we're in a training camp and you're like, ah, there goes Mike's hamstring. You know he's going to miss a couple of days or a couple of weeks. He always comes back from it. He's the type of guy that loves to power through a Of his adversity, his own adversity. And I think we just forget sometimes how immensely talented you have to be to do that.
And he just is. He's fun to watch, and he's a great ambassador in our community.
So everybody loves him. And, you know, he'll be fine. If he plays tonight, it'll be. Be really good for this team, especially if Abeka doesn't play. Um Emeka's injury, by the way, last week.
I was watching it. On the film, I never saw it grab.
So I never saw him reach for the back of his hamstring.
So the fact that he might play probably means that it just got tight at some point, and they decide out of the abundance of caution that, you know. This sensation shouldn't keep going. We should try to make sure he's available since we don't have any other receivers active.
So hopefully they both get a chance to play. But, you know, Amecca and Mike Evans in the same lineup, that's tough, tough to deal with for any defense, especially one that's missing for. Secondary players, I think, right through tonight. When I think of Mike Evans, I just will never forget the victory lap that he basically took last year when he finally tied the record with Jerry Rice, 11th straight season with 1,000 yards receiving. And he was, he was so excited, but he was also just, he was just so fired up.
And that was just such a cool moment. And I feel, I'll never forget the look on his face.
So I just, he's so consistent. He has been for so long, to TJ's point. And no matter who the quarterback is, Mike Evans has always been the one to show up. And now you got a Buka too. Like, what?
Come on. He's been so dominant this year. But in general, when the Bucs play the Lions. Do you get a little nostalgic? because of your past performance against them.
And that game, what was it? Uh 2008-ish, around then. Yes. I uh I um There was, what year was it? I think it was 2008.
I think you're right. I mean, obviously, I played in the Central. The NFC Central before it became the North.
So I came into the league playing against the Lions, Vikings, Packers.
So I've got a lot of history. I played against Barry Sanders twice a year. That was fun. That was awesome. Sure.
But yeah, there was a point in my career, I presume you're talking about the point in my career, Colleen, where it was almost towards the end. And then I had a and there was a thought that I was going to get replaced in Tampa by some by some younger corners. And I hadn't really done anything that year. I was set to get bitched that day prior to this game in Detroit. No way.
Yeah, ultimately, Monty decided not to do it. You know, let Ronde go out there and play. He's been doing this forever for us. Ended up with two interceptions and a touchdown. And like, I played four more years after that.
And the thought of me not ever, not me, me being on the field was gone. That is, okay. Wow.
Talk about like playing under pressure and with a deadline. We were talking earlier about the Broncos just saving themselves for the fourth quarter. This is your version of that. Oh, you want to bench me? Hold on a second.
Wade, I got a little something for you. That is awesome. Oh, my God. I love that. Yeah, that's part of my Hall of Fame story, Colleen.
Yeah, yeah. I was dealing with adversity. Yeah. What was it like going up against Barry Sanders? Oh, not good.
Not good. Right. I have a huge, they have these old posters that they, you know, they, that they had around the building back at the old, at over one buck. And it's me and Barry Sanders kind of in the hole. I'm like kind of going up to tackle them.
And uh, I know for a fact, it looks like I probably would have got him onto the ground, but I know for a fact that he ran right by me. But it's a really cool, it's like kind of like that. Like, I'm like almost touching him, and it's like, oh, did you tackle Barry right here? No, I didn't even get close to him. You know, it's like just the air, just the air behind him.
Uh, fortunately for me, I only played against him one year because he, uh, because in 97 when I got drafted, I didn't play much, but in 98, I played both times. We played Detroit and He retired the next year.
So I didn't have to deal with them much, but the few times that I did was. Was not always great. A real treat. Yes. Yeah.
That's what you call a treat.
Well, it really has been a real treat watching Baker Mayfield do the things that he's done with this team and really kind of turn the narrative around about himself in the league. Because I think about how people thought about him when he was with the Browns and he was not living up to his expectations because of the situation that he was in. And then when he and Sam Darnold were with the Panthers and he signs this one-year deal with Tampa Bay and then absolutely goes out and just destroys it and does it in a perfect way, in a great way. Like he kills it out there. And I agree.
I just, I think that he's become such a likable character in the NFL. And that was not where his reputation was in the beginning of his career. And I think this is a league where it's really hard to change. Mm-hmm. Narrative of when you come into this league, it's usually that first impression at to our point talking about Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold and Jared Goff.
Like you are judged on how you first come into this league, and then it's really difficult to come back from that. But Baker Mayfield has done it. And I just think that that is such a testament to his work ethic and just the fact that he's always playing with this chip on his shoulder, Ronde. I got a great story for you about this.
So same thing about Baker. I had the same opinion. And partly it was true, right? Baker was in number one pick of the draft. Like, you can't discount the fact that the league just.
Made him the number one pick in the draft with Cleveland when he gratified Cleveland. But I had the same opinion of Baker, and he was probably immature, right? He, you know, probably did some things wrong or, you know, that he would rather do over. But he's matured since he's got to Tampa, right? He's got, he's married now.
Him and Emily have kids, and he is this guy that really has great balance in his life now. But I I remember. The year Jason signed him. Jason Light signed him. I was going out to Tahoe to play in the American Century, right?
And Jason called me. He's like, hey, you might see Baker out there. Tell him how, you know. try to get to know him a little bit, say hello, right? As fate would have it.
We get paired together one day, okay? And I'm out there with my buddy Nick. He's my caddy that all the time caddy here in Tampa. I'd take him out there and he goes, Oh my God, are we playing with Baker Mayfield? And I'm like, Yeah, he goes, He goes, I can't stand Baker Mayfield.
You know, I'm like, uh-Nick, you're going to find out today. We're going to be with them for five hours, dude. Oh, my God. By the end of that round, I'm going to make a long story really short. By the end of that round, Nick goes.
I love Baker Mead. Yeah, you just get around them, and it kind of coincides with another story I have. That first week that he was in Tampa, I remember I went to a lightning game, and we were actually going to the same suite to Steve Griggs, the president's suite. And Baker's walking down the hall, he's got. Tristan Wurfs, I think Luke Gedeke was with them.
There was another offensive lineman, Kyle Trask, whom he was competing with for the starting job, was there. It's the first day he's in Tampa. And he is leading this pack. Walking to this suite. It's just, he has this natural charisma and leadership ability about him that everybody buys into.
So you say, you know, how do you change the narrative about yourself? You do it by doing. You don't do it by like talking or like. You know, hoping that it materializes into something you want. You go out and get out in front of it and be a captain.
Represent what the C really means. And in every single way, he's done that here in Tampa. I mean, we talk about this now, getting recognition, but he's been doing this for three years. You know, last year was a career year for him in terms of yards and touchdowns. And obviously, through a lot of interceptions, but he's got one this year.
You know, he's cleaned up the things that he wanted to work on this year. And now it's starting to look like, man, this is the guy that was the number one pick in the draft all those years ago.
So I'm happy for him, man. I love the dude. I was standing on the sideline before the game last week. You know, he's got that headbutt thing. And I kind of gave him a little low five.
And I said, don't you headbutt me, dude. You know, he's just that guy, man. You just love the guy. He's fun to watch. He's such a great competitor.
He really is. He's been great for Tampa. He's cool. He's calm. He's confident.
He has that swagger. And that just is contagious throughout the entire locker room. It's been really fun to watch. It's been awesome talking with you, Ronde. When I asked you if you would come by, I said that, you know, the Eagles, this was before yesterday.
I said the Eagles, you know, they haven't been doing that great.
So you can throw some punches at them if you want, like as part of the, come on, come on the show, hang out.
So I'll just, as I say goodbye, I will hit you with a go birds.
Sorry, we didn't get to that. We ran out of time and they also won. But also, go bucks and thank you for coming by today. Great to see you as always, my friend. Good to see you, Kotlin.
I'll see you again, bud. Ronde Barber, ProfoCol Hall of Famer here on the Rich Eisen Show. A great day to call in, guys, call us. O'Reilly Auto Parts and that jingle. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road.
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Sonos. They look as good as they sound. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance, supporting you every step of the way, progressive.com. Yeah, I hate losing more than I enjoy winning.
So, like, I could never gamble ever. Um, but we were the thrill when you win, though. No, when do you stop? When did you not like the other day? Brockman was giving me odds on something because I don't really gamble a lot either.
He's like, basically, you bet $5,000, you win $100. I'm like, in what world does that make sense? What? How? How was that?
How do you even equate that? No. Free money. Every hundred bucks. There's no such thing.
Like betting on the Patriots. It's free money right now. It actually is. But I get some of the bets, but like that one in particular, I was like, that makes zero sense to me. How about the Patriots?
I knew that Mike Rabel. going to Tennessee. And playing the team that had just fired their head coach who replaced him was going to be a scene. Boy was it. The Patriots, they now are 5-2, which is better than their record all of last season.
They have more wins than last year. They were 4-13. But they've done such a good job with Drake May and just building this. Physical identity with the defense. I mean, the Patriots are looking really good and.
They, I think, have turned things around much quicker than at least I expected for sure. Yeah, I think when you looked at the schedule ahead of time going into this year, you're like, all right, Mike Vrabel, new coach, that's automatically worth a couple of wins just because on how much of a disaster the Gerard Mayo era was, right? And you saw some glimpses from Drake May, but you're like, is he really going to take a year or two leap? Josh McDaniels was able to have a lot of success with Mac Jones.
So maybe that can correlate here with Drake, who has, you know, a higher ceiling than Mac did a few years ago. Then you had a last place schedule.
So, you know, things kind of broke your way. Maybe you can get. You know, eight or nine wins, you know, and that was kind of on the optimistic viewpoint of it. You know, I said 10 and 7 when we did the schedule, but I was kind of being overly homer. And now you're like, all right, how do we win less than 12?
I don't see it. And it just happened a lot quicker than everyone thought, especially even the most. Probably ardent homers like me sometimes and There's a belief now that this team can win a playoff game this year, and I don't think that's correct. Crazy, and now they're going to be buyers at the trade deadline for maybe a weapon or an edge rusher, and you're like, huh. We're back!
We never left, TJ. God. Oh my god. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
