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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Is Drake May under pressure for the Super Bowl? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Yeah, he's been terrible in the playoffs.
Okay. May back the throw again. And it's intercepted in the end zone. Today's guests. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. Prime Video TNF Analyst Andrew Whitworth. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody, how's everybody doing today? Here on this hump day, the week before our trip to San Francisco to cover Super Bowl 60 for you, right here on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, SiriusXM, Channel 80, 844-204, Rich is the number to dial here on the program.
And good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you, sir? Hey, Rich. Good to see you, Jason Feller. What's going on?
TJ Jefferson candles lit over there. Yeah. Good to see you. Phone lines are lit. Phone lines are lit.
844-204. Rich is the number of dollars. I already see. Um Phone lines lighting. Jordan in Chapel Hill is calling in to the program right now.
Wow. Listen, let's just jump right into it. There's no sense in. I think any of this is. There's no sense in beating around the bush.
Um I've got to tell you. That Throughout this Hall of Fame voting process, In which I am hoping to hear next Thursday night. When I'm part of the NFL Honors Show, and it's one of my biggest honors being part of the announcement of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class. And I take this seriously. You guys know that, right?
Yeah. Obviously. Uh NFL Network back in the day, we we were the first to televise. The announcement of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class nationally. We were the first to televise the press conference.
We then turned it into our own show where I was hosting that press conference. It pissed off all the reporters and voters when we would drag it out, like Jim Gray, waiting to get an answer from LeBron James, you know, and then we turned it into its own show. Outside of a press conference, which pissed off a lot of the voters that there were no questions to be asked. It was me asking the questions. We turned it into that, and then all of a sudden, the NFL Honors is like: we're taking it and we're putting it.
Into our show, and I'm still thrilled to be part of it. I take this very, very seriously.
So Um I always thought Bob Kraft deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It has been long delayed, and I thought. That again, this delay should be over next Thursday. When the announcement is made of the Canton class, I always thought. Bob Kraft, Robert Kraft was getting Penalized.
By the voters because of the gates. And I don't mean Antonio, I mean the spy. And the deflate, those gates. The spy gate and deflate gate. And I thought it was unfair that he was going to be the one bearing the brunt.
Because I said it multiple times here. You guys may recall it. You may all out there listening to my voice on ESPN radio. Or SiriusXM Channel 80, or watching me on these new platforms for our show starting last September. You may be new.
So I'll just repeat for you. I've always said Robert Kraft is being unfairly penalized in a way that neither Bill Belichick nor Tom Brady will when they get. Eligible. for Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement. And lo and behold, last night, Comes the report.
From our friends of the program and outstanding reporters in their own rights. And when Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta get together. You know.
Something's about to drop. Yeah, exactly. And they together dropped the bomb last night. that Bill Belichick Will not be part of this Canton class. He will not be a first ballot.
Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach. And to that, I say. Yeah. Get out of here. You've got to be kidding me.
on all of that. That even when Spygate was happening and how outrageous. It was and brazen. It was Deflate gate. was absurd from jump.
Absurd from jump. That even if you thought it wasn't absurd from jump. Going through it all, and that sucked going through it. I mean, honestly, the conversations we were having on this show when it was happening. Going through pages and pages of reports.
Yeah. About it. I never once thought At the end of the day, Bill Belichick wasn't still A Hall of Fame head coach. And a first ballot one at that. It's crazy.
that this guy is not going to go In the Pro Football Hall of Fame, The first second. he can. And I am not even going to What's the word for it? I won't even. Dignify.
any of this by going through His resume. We all know it. to the point where Michael Irvin. Once said on NFL network and then repeated it over and over and over again. To the point where I said, you now need to go to the press conference that Bel Belichick is holding and ask him.
If he wants this, oh, right, yeah, to rename the Lombardi trophy the Belichick Trophy. Exactly. That's how many times this guy. has won it. And to make it worse.
'Cause it makes it worse. For one of the voters. In Bill Pollion I'm main checking him now. For him To say to Sports Illustrated That it's a categorical lie. If anybody said that he said in the voting room a couple of weeks ago.
That the cheating scandals should disqualify him from being a first ballot Hall of Famer. I'm paraphrasing apparently what was ascribed to him in that room based on the reporting from Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta. For him to say that he not only didn't say that. And that he told Sports Illustrated I voted for Belichick. Only to have Don Van Natta contact him later on.
And on the record, him tell Don. that he no longer can recall. If he voted for Belichick or not, he did remember that somebody did mention in the room. That these scandals should be on the table. Considering him for enshrinement Right away.
And that He didn't remember if he could vote for him. Just smacks of passing the buck. Especially since we all remember what happened back in the day when Belichick's teams were beating up on the Colts and beating Peyton Manning and beating up on their receivers, and Tyla wasn't. You know, suddenly gets called for holding, and who was in charge of the competition committee back in the day, and maybe putting a thumb on the scale about the rules and how it's called, and all of that stuff. Which, by the way, does not even raise to the level of the cheating scandals that were talked about.
Okay, and I understand there may be everybody out there saying, yeah, but what about Spygate? What about DeflateGate? And I will just say this about Spygate. It was brazen, it was wild, and at the end of the day, The famous moment Where Bob Kraft, once upon a time, asked Bill Belichick, according to many reports, Give me a percentage of how much this helped us. You know, the spygate stuff.
And he said about 1 to 2%. And Kraft apparently called Belichick a schmuck. Because the risk certainly wasn't worth the reward. And then Jimmy Johnson himself. I mean, just take a look at if you think I'm out of pocket.
Look at the Pro Football Hall of Famers and Hall of Famers future and present from all the other sports that we're tweeting out. How crazy it was. Jimmy Johnson's the first one up here, calling it just wrong, number two winning all time. He even went into the. Um You know, resume a bit, calling a lot of small, jealous voters.
I would like to know the names of the You know. Exploitative deleted, who did not vote for him. They are too cowardly to identify themselves. There's a list of 50, and there had to be at least 11 who said no. And if they're using the excuse of spygate, that's ridiculous.
That Jimmy Johnson, many teams, including ourselves, tried it. Howard Mudd at Kansas City, who later coached for Bill Pollion and Tony Dungy, who's another voter. Gave us the idea. He was the best. We didn't get anything and stopped, but many teams gave it a try.
Says Jimmy Johnson, put up all the other tweets too. Dion chimed in. And you know, call him the best coach to ever coach the game. How quickly we forget the impact he made on all of us. Wow, says Hall of Famer.
Patrick Mahomes, future Hall of Famer, don't even understand that could be possible, called it insane. JJ Watts Can't be reading this right. He's going in the Hall of Fame. He's going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. There's not a single world whatsoever in which Belichick should not be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Says a future first ballot hall framer. Troy Aikman called it a disappointing day. for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Again, I mentioned Bill Poleon by name. Because of the reporting surrounding it.
But He and whomever else said no, there's 11 of 11 It was a groupthink moment. And even worse, There was a group of nine that forwards Belichick as a Finalist And then Because he's denied Shanahan didn't get a shot. And Holmgren didn't get a shot, and Coughlin didn't get a shot, and those guys are now gonna have to wait another two years because next year. If is his penalty over? Is Belichick's penalty over?
Amen. Just for my own. personal two cents.
Okay? In the times that have been around him, and it's tough again. I don't know if some of the votes against him because he was rude, gruff in press conferences, and some of the Other voters were this, that, the other thing. I sure hope it's not his current state of personal affairs. Because that's stupid.
Times 10. Also, you're not supposed to consider that. Correct. But being around this guy. He is football.
Incarnate. Incarnate. He is a walking encyclopedia. He is a walking lover of the game and the sport. Historian.
The historian is a perfect word for it, TJ. I saw it on the NFL 100 set. I saw one by one by one of every single member of that team that was kind enough to bestow us with their presence for that show. Every one of them kissed this man's ring and had not a single problem. Doing it.
Not a single one. From the old school to the current school None of it. Nobody sat there and went like, oh man, he's part of this team and the NFL 100 team, because. I don't know, the spy gate and the flake gate and the gate this and the gate that. At the end of the day.
Bill Belichick is a first ballot hall of famer. Except in the mind's eye of 11 of the fifty voters. And I don't know who's going to step forward and go, this is why I did it, because we're all talking about it. And when he's not on that stage next Thursday, it's going to be weird. And embarrassing.
But not for the people who are getting in. Yeah. Okay. The people who are getting in get in in their own rights. It's not like he would have taken one of their spots.
There's just a spot for the coach. There's going to be a spot empty. And I hope Bob Kraft is on that stage. Because he deserves it. But that's no guarantee now.
Well, who knows? And are they going to make Tom and Gronk wait? Because they were part of it, too. What do you mean? We said the same thing about it.
There's not a chance. We need to show them a lesson. How about a lesson? How about this? If Tom Brady is not a first ballot Hall of Famer because of all of this.
I don't know. Maybe we should just close up shop. And I don't ever want to say that because I love the people of Canton. They are probably mortified right now that this process is being discussed in this manner. right now with such disgust Because all they want is for people to show in their awesome city and have the red carpet rolled out by thousands of awesome people in Stark County, Ohio.
And please come. And they don't want this thing to be like. Will? Did I vote for him? I don't remember.
Oh, the vote was two weeks ago. Yeah, I may have voted for him. It's not like you're voting for city council when you're voting, right? You just go down, you don't really know what the city is. How do you not remember if you voted for Bill Belichick or not?
It just makes the whole process feel. completely off center. And it tarnishes the other voters. It tarnishes the hall. Honestly, the hall should probably step in.
Take this upon themselves. They can't because the hall needs to be totally remote. I know it's their museum, but they cannot be part of it. What they need to, what they do, what they do, which is roll out the red carpet for these folks. Who gets in, and for everybody else who's kind enough to keep coming back, and for everybody who's kind enough to show up because it's special to them.
And they're awesome at it. And nothing should be directed in their direction at all about this. Zero. Please, folks. Understand, the Hall of Fame has nothing to do with it, nor does the NFL.
Also. It's the 50 voters who have this right.
Well, not not for long. I don't know. You're proving you're unserious. You're not equipped for the job. And again, I understand there's a lot of you out there.
There should be some sort of. Penalty. for what they were accused or caught of doing. And personally, I think it's time served. I I Again, the the last Jimmy Johnson Um tweet about Others doing it.
This was in response. He retweeted a couple of radio hosts saying. that they were proud of the voters. for being the ones at the gate protecting the Hall of Fame from a cheater getting a first ballot status. And his response was this.
That it's been done before, and even by somebody who was later hired by. Two of the voters, one of whom stood was reported to be the one Rousing The rabble. And Um and then denied it. and then said he couldn't remember if he did it.
Okay. And it's a Phil Coward video. The whole thing just stinks, man. It just stinks. And, but I guess due to the same, if the same voters are voting when Brady's in, is he not first ballot?
We were winners. Tom Brady has chimed in on all this. That would be so absurd. Hmm. That would be off the charts absurd.
Okay. Off the charts. Because They won all of these. Games and they won all of these Super Bowls and they did it all. And Belichick, ask anybody who's coached.
By him. How good he is and how unqualified Anybody who says he's not a first ballot hall of famer appears to be. We'll take a break. What do you think? 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the program.
We have not one, but two. Hall of Famers, including the one coming up next. Jerry Rice is an hour two, Kurt Warner is an hour one. He's just in a couple minutes' time right here on the Rich Isaac Show. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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I mean, what are your thoughts on the fact that Bill Belichick is not going to be joining you and your colleagues in the bus gallery first? Second, he can. Yeah, I mean, I think we all feel it's it's crazy with what he's accomplished. I mean, you know, when you just look at it at what they've done and you look at, you know, we always talk about Tom Brady being the greatest of all time from a playing standpoint. I mean, you can't argue that Bill Belichick's the greatest of all time in terms of coaches and what he's accomplished in the NFL.
And so. To me, it's one of those no-brainers. You know, as soon as he becomes eligible. He should be a Hall of Famer. And so I think we're all kind of dumbfounded by how this went down and why this went down and what were the reasons behind.
Him not getting in, and are those reasons valid? You know, I mean. We talk about the voting process now. Oh, did people pass up on him because they thought everybody else would vote for him and he would get in? Are people mad because player coaches only have to wait one year?
And so maybe Bill Belichick comes back to the NFL.
So we don't want to make him a Hall of Famer and then have him come back to coach. Is that the thing? Is it the scandals that he was a part of?
So we're going to hold him out for. What is this a one-year can't be a first-ballot guy? Is this he'll never get in because of those things? I'm fascinated, like everybody else, to know what were the factors that made so many people choose not to put this guy in that everybody that's watched the game and part of the game knows belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Well, I mean. I think we all know why, Kurt, right? I mean, we don't know for sure because nobody's given voice, and it wasn't just a small. smattering, it was a l 11 people, 11 people at least. Was the was the ones who decided it can't be, you know, he could come back.
His name hasn't been mentioned a couple of times. Through now coaching carousels. He's approaching his mid-70s. It can't be that. It is definitely the scandals.
and then people in the room who felt that they were wronged by it. Or they are the guardians at the gates of the Hall of Fame as if the Hall of Fame has never let a uh uh s somebody with a scandal or two Into the hall. It's ridiculous. But I do have to ask you. You know, 'cause there are many Rams fans that from back in the in the day when you lost.
The first Super Bowl to Brady that thought that Belichick might have seen something in a practice of yours that was private. Do you, you know, so I should ask you, you're already shaking your head about it. Like, do you think these scandals, the cheating stuff, should be held to account right now on Bill?
Well, I mean. Okay. To your point about other guys being in, that yeah, I mean, I feel like if anybody cheats the game or goes around the rules or does anything to gain an advantage. Over everyone else, that yeah, that should be taken into account. I mean, that to me is what's great about competition: it's about going out there on an even playing field and seeing who can win in that situation.
So, I do believe that if you you have cheated in some form or fashion, that it should be taken into account. At all times. But what does that mean? And as you said, how do we weigh that with all the different things that we've seen? You know, what's too much?
You know, if we wanted to come out with a rule and say, hey, if you break a rule in terms of going above and beyond to get a competitive advantage, you can't ever be in the Hall of Fame. I could live with that. Like, I could live with that.
So, everybody would know from this point forward. You get caught using performance enhancing drugs or a cheating scandal that that's off the table for you. I could live with that. And now maybe that stuff disappears and that's the choice that people make. I think what's hard now is how do you determine all of that, you know, and what's enough to keep somebody out of the Hall of Fame?
You know, what's the level of it? Because I mean, even with this, you know, with the spy gate, I've heard so many different things on so many different sides. I have no idea what really happened there. I have no idea the extent or how little was really done there and what it affected. I don't know.
And so I don't have the facts to be able to determine. You know what really went on, how much it did really help them. Did that have a huge impact on the success? All that stuff. And so, without having any of that knowledge and knowing what you just said about the Hall of Fame and different people that are in the Hall of Fame, I think the bottom line is.
He has accomplished. Enough to be considered a first ballot Hall of Famer and should be in the Hall of Fame. And it doesn't make sense to me that he wasn't voted in yet. His accomplishments are so vast and absurd that you even laugh having feel the need to account to them. Right.
Right. To actually use them. Uh to to Somehow, some way support a case for him being a first ballot all favorite. That's how insane they are. You know, you're exactly right.
I mean, you book it. You know, I think again, Tom Brady coming up in a few years. Like, you know, all you got to do is say the name, and it's like, yeah, he's in. Unless they ascribe the same standard. No, you're right.
Unless they, yeah, unless this is that, that's why. But I mean, the same thing with Bill Belichick. I mean, I think we all just thought, oh, you just say the name. He's a lock. Let's move on to the next guy type of thing.
And so, yeah, it's crazy, I think, to all of us that are involved in the game that it went down this way. Kurt Warner here on The Rich Eisen Show. And next Thursday at. NFL Honors Robert Kraft could be and should be on that stage as well. Not obviously just for what happened in the past, but.
The Patriots appear to be set up again, Kurt, right? I mean, you take a look at this team. And where do you stand on the subject matter of easy regular season, no Mahomes, no Lamar, no Josh? No starting quarterback in the AFC championship game for their opponent. Bunch of snow comes, and their accomplishments of making Super Bowl 60 are less than.
Where do you stand on that subject matter? I mean, I understand it. Like, you have to take all that into consideration. You understand why people would say that, but. At the end of the day, Who cares?
Like, I don't care. Like, it doesn't matter to me how you get there. And 10 years from now, we're not going to remember how somebody got there. You're there. And now the biggest thing is, can you win it?
If you win it at this point, nobody cares how easy your regular season was. Nobody cares what the process was to get there in the playoffs. This is the moment. This is what it's all about. And so, you know, I think there's some valid points to that.
But regardless, you have to win the games. You have to do what you have to do. I mean, everybody else had the same opportunity. Denver had just as good an opportunity to beat them on Sunday, didn't get it done. And you could say that along the way.
And so when it comes time to play the games, you play the games. You play who's on your schedule and you play as well as you can. You know, it's the same thing with Drake May not being the MVP because their schedule was too easy. I mean, whatever. All these guys are NFL players.
Anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday, and you still have to go out and play. It's not as if everybody's just running wide open out there and other teams stumbling and bumbling around. That to me is ridiculous. Is that, yeah, there's going to be times where somebody has an easier road to get there. I mean, I look back at our Super Bowl with the Cardinals, and we were 9-7 on the season.
Like, we played in a terrible division. You know, that may be the only reason we got into the playoffs, but we got into the playoffs and we beat good teams and we had a chance to win the Super Bowl. And that to me is what it's all about. You take care of what's in front of you. That's all that matters at the end of the day, no matter what anybody says.
You don't give them back. You don't apologize for it. You appreciate the moment and you go try to win it. Kurt Warner here on the Rich Eisen Show. And again, for those listening right now, Kurt, you're in your office or.
Some part of your beautiful home with your awesome wife and your beautiful family in the Sports Illustrated cover. Who is this guy when you were coming out of the mist? On that magic carpet ride in 1999 for the Rams. We know who Sam Darnold is, right? A lot of us are familiar, a lot of fans are familiar with him.
I would love to give you the floor on what he's done. And what Accomplishments he has made, and he is a Super Bowl quarterback. And what do you think of that? Kurt. Yeah, I love the story, Rich.
And I'm actually going to get a chance to sit down with him tomorrow, interview him for our show on Super Bowl Sunday.
So I'm looking forward to that and kind of talking a little bit about the journey. But I love kind of the contrast of what we have in the Super Bowl. You know, we've got a young second-year quarterback in the Super Bowl, a guy that's come into the league and taken the league by storm and had an MVP type season in year two, and he's gotten all the way to the Super Bowl. And we see this, you know, here and there. And we feel like everybody should be like that when they come in.
And then you have Sam Darnold that came in, and we can point to whatever factors we want to point to early in his career. But it took him longer. It took him longer to figure it out. And it's one of the things that I learned in my journey is that it's so easy to just, you know, and even for people that weren't involved in it, to look back and go, how did everybody miss Kurt Warner? Like, how did everybody pass on him?
All these guys don't know what they're doing. I think the same thing happened. Happens with Sam is like, oh my gosh, the Jets should have kept him and he should have been their franchise guy, and they screwed it up. I think there's some times that we as individuals have to recognize. We're not the person or the player that we will eventually become.
And we need some growing up, we need some maturing, we need to get better. at our craft. And sometimes it takes Certain people a little bit longer to get there. And eventually they do. And eventually they come into their own and they show people what they're capable of, but it takes.
A little bit longer. I don't know exactly what the circumstances were with Sam and which part of that it was, but I know in my journey that I can't just sit there and just point the finger at everybody else.
Well, they didn't recognize it. They didn't know. They didn't see me. They didn't give me. I take some ownership of where I was in the process and what I needed to do to become the player that I would eventually become.
And I think that's a great part of the story, too, if there's some truth to that with Sam that, hey, I came out as a young guy and yeah, I was good, but I wasn't where I am now. And I made some mistakes and I needed to learn some things that I didn't have. And fortunately, I've gotten that second opportunity or third opportunity. I've got a chance to be someplace where they believe in me and I'm at a place where I feel I can be successful. And boom, I now get to the Super Bowl.
And so I love both sides of it because both sides can be true. You can be ready and have success early, or it might take you some time, but you can still have the same level of success or reach that same mountaintop. And I think we have that contrast with these two guys. I love what Sam has done. I love his perseverance.
And, you know, when people said he couldn't, you know, on so many different steps, he just kept plugging and kept learning and growing and taking what he could. And then has taken advantage of the opportunities that he's gotten. And here we are: a chance to, you know. I guess cement part of his legacy as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback after everything that he's been through, I think it could help reshape how people look. I'll say young quarterbacks, but how people look at quarterbacks moving forward: that some might come in and hit the ground running, and that's awesome.
Others, it might take a little bit of time, but with a little bit of patience and growth and maturity. Can become someone like Sam Darnold that comes into their own and takes those team to a Super Bowl. Yeah, he's 28. You know, it's not like he's over the hill, right? But he was labeled a bust at age 25.
Right. Um, Drake May is fortunate enough to be uh, it's always that nature versus nurture conversation, right? Um, that clearly, you know, the mix wasn't right in year one for everybody involved in New England. And they he gets the mix right in year two: play caller, coach. Um uh uh Free agent help draftees, and boom.
He's so fortunate, and the Patriots are to have a third overall draft choice blossom in year two and clearly be the guy of the future in a way that when Sam Darnold was chosen third overall, both third overall picks while we're chopping this up, Kurt. Isn't that interesting? Of the 2018 draft, that he uh needed to go and now become I've got the stat here. Um third quarterback to start a Super Bowl after playing for at least five other teams. five or four other teams, at least five teams, including his own in the NFL.
The others are Chris Chandler in Super Bowl thirty three and Earl Morrell in Super Bowl three against Joe Namath, against the Jets, which As we all know, who drafted Darnold, it's really cool. It really, it really, really is that you got two different paths for third overall drafted quarterbacks facing each other in this Super Bowl. It really is wild like that, right? It is. And again, I love it because as we lead up to this, the next two weeks, and as we talk about it for however many hours we're on the air, eight hours.
Eight and a half. Don't forget that half, Kurt. Eight and a half. But it allows you to see both sides of the spectrum. And I love that part of it because we so much go down this path, whether it's.
coaches or offensive coordinators or quarterbacks like When they get the job, they should be a finished product. Man, if they don't show us right away that they're great, let's go find somebody new instead of going. Give them some time. You know, it's their first chance in the NFL. You know, I mean, I look at Kevin Petulo, and again, we all say what we want, but the first-time play caller.
And I know it didn't go well. And I know they had talent there, but it's like, nope, you don't get a chance to grow. You got to put this together in one year. You don't get a chance to learn from your mistakes. Boom, you're out.
We're moving on. We see it with head coaches all the time. You get two years. Oh, you haven't turned this thing around. Boom, you're gone.
We're going to the next guy. And Man, sometimes it takes a little bit of time to grow into what we're going to become and what our full potential is. And it's not the same trajectory for everybody. And so I do. I love that storyline, and that we get a chance to talk about the storyline and how it could shape.
You know, differently in the way people, you know, have perspective on this type of situation moving forward. And we'll talk more about Super Bowl 60 next week when we're hanging in San Francisco on this show. And I always appreciate you hanging out, Kurt. In the two minutes I have left, Mike McCarthy is getting a third shot at coaching. And it sure sounded like the door was open for Rogers.
Do you think that's what the Steelers should do? Hook McCarthy up with Rogers while maybe letting somebody else marinate a la love or a la Rogers himself when McCarthy was there in Green Bay? Or should they just. Find the young guy if it's Will Howard or Malik Willis or a draftee and go for it. What do you think?
Yeah, it's a tough one because I think there's pressure. On McCarthy right off the bat, even though starting something new and you get a chance to kind of write your own story. But the one thing Pittsburgh is used to. Winning at least to a particular level and being playoff team.
So, you don't want to come in in your first year after 18 years of not having a losing season and have a losing season right off the bat.
So, I understand that pressure of going, Aaron's probably better than a lot of the guys that we're going to get. Even like I know people are throwing around Malik Willis, who has played well over the last couple years. Is he that guy? And the answer: Do you go get him? But I think Aaron, in the way that he played in the playoff team this year, that he probably gives you the best chance to have that kind of success.
Again, But The longer that you go with Aaron Rodgers, assuming that it's just going to be a year short-term thing. The more you prolong finding and playing and getting to the level with the next guy and committing to the next guy. And so I see both sides of the equation here. I do believe bringing Aaron back just with what I see on the landscape of where the Steelers draft and who they have now with no experience and who's going to be on the free agent market. Yeah, I think Aaron gives them the best chance to have a semblance of success like they did this year, next year.
But I just don't know if that's the route you want to go as you're starting to rebuild this thing and you want to get back to championship level. I don't think this team, unless they make some dramatic moves, is a championship type team next year. And so, like I saw when I went to New York, although I might have been the best player, The Giants decided halfway through the season, we're not that team. We're not a championship team yet. And so we want our quarterback ready when our team is ready.
And so let's play the young quarterback and let him grow and learn. And so two years down the road, when we built the team, he's also ready.
So I fully understand going how they could go that route as well. And hey, we're going to take our lumps and we may not be a winning season team next year for the first time in a long time, but we're building something big picture to become a Super Bowl champion, which to me is what it's all about and what they're looking for in Pittsburgh. Love you, man. Thanks for the time. I'll see you in San Francisco.
You be well.
Okay. That's Kurt Warner, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. QB Confidential is how you can check on all of his breakdowns of the championship games. His preview of Super Bowl 60. It's must check out.
844204 Rich Number to Dial. Jerry Rice coming up an hour or two. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Back on the Rich Eisen Show. 844-204-RICH.
is the number for everyone to dial. Um let's go to the phone line, shall we? Shall we look at the line? They're lit.
Okay, they are Terzo in Iowa. What's up, Terzo? How are you, brother? All right. You know, Rich, I'm not really a person that caped for the Patriots.
In the slightest. But what is a Hall of Famer if Bill Belichick isn't a first ballot? This is getting to a point. that's just so frustrating is that people are playing gatekeepers for fans. Like this is this is for us.
Not for you, not just for them. But for us And after the Super Bowl, there's going to be 31 disappointed franchises, one extremely disappointed, and there's going to be one that is happy. And that one franchise and all these other franchises, like we have the haul to remember those good times. Not for people to be like, oh, we didn't like this one thing or that thing that you did. We're going to keep you out because of it.
And it just makes me think of baseball and how they've done that with bonds. And everything, and I know those are apples and oranges, but it's for us, man. And this is just a. terrible thing to do to the fans. Terzo, I'm with you.
Thanks for the call, brother. And he's a Niner fan, for those who don't know, he definitely doesn't cake for the Patriots. And again, It's kind of similar to what I would always say here about my Wolverines. And the Connor Stallion stuff. It's just like: did we ever know what?
happened to effect a winner or loss ever. We're just assuming that every single thing that Connor Stallions got 100% was actionable and usable, and it was perfectly actioned upon and used to affect a win. All the time. And that's why Michigan won all of them. And we should not pay attention at all to the 13 draft choices the next year, which led every single team.
The fact that there's now three head coaches from that staff in the NFL, the fact that Aiden Hutchinson has gone on to great things in the NFL as all the other guys. We should just not pay attention to any of that. And in the same regard, the Spygate stuff, they were shooting stuff to be used in future games. They couldn't use it in the game in which they were shooting the stuff. And then and then we how did they use it?
And you even saw Jimmy Johnson say everyone else tried it. Bill Coward's even been quoted as saying from the 2019 Super Bowl Coward. Oh, and don't forget, the football that was used to start the Flake Gate was intercepted by the opposing team. Come on Were they right to do any of this stuff? Of course not.
Is it the reason why there's all those banners in New England? Come on now. And again, like, so what is the punishment? Just one year? That's it?
You cannot be a first ballot Hall of Fame coach. That's it. That's the punishment. Didn't know there was going to be one. Didn't know there should be one.
I mean, they were punished at the time. A record-breaking NFL fine, the forfeiture of draft picks. It's just crazy. Come on. In the same, like you look at his numbers, his all-time what, like 333 and all that sort of stuff.
They look made up. They're so off the charts. It looks like you're making, you know, he won like, what, 300-something games? But yeah, he did. He won like 17 divisions.
He did. And again, you talk to him. You just see all that NFL films footage. And it's all he does. And that's also like, you want to talk about the man?
Like, then, why did he go down the Spygate Road? Why? Great question. Should it keep him out of the Hall of Fame? Absolutely not.
Not for a split second. Not for a nanosecond.
Now it's gonna be at least a year. And again, you know. It's going to cost Shannon had another year's waiting. And Holmgren and other like, It's kind of damning for a lot of these other folks who absolutely deserve to be in. Which is why maybe the process, which is maybe why the process needs to be looked at.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. as a whole. Jerry Rice is the next one we're going to ask this question to.
Andrew Whitworth, hey, if you're out there watching Brother. Hour three will hitch on that. Get ready. Oh, the Cleveland Browns coaching situation as well. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
