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Now, on with the show. Live from San Francisco, home of Super Bowl XXI. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests, Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmett Smith.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Falk. Enemy award-winning actor Keegan Michael Key. And now, it's Rich Eyes. Hour two of our final day here in San Francisco is on the air, and that show open. For those who are listening on radio, just saw Keegan Michael Key's face.
He's going to be finishing up with us in hour number three on ESPN 2 when we hit that linear cable channel. Right now, we're on Disney Plus in the ESPN app, and ESPN Radio and SiriusXM Channel 80. And joining me here is one of my favorite humans I've been fortunate to come across and work with, and have him meet my family and call him Uncle Marshall. And he happens to also be. The head football coach at Southern University.
Yeah. My Hall of Fame friend, Marshall. Yeah. Sub coach. What's up, coach?
Coach. How are you, coach? There you go. What's going on, man? There you go.
What does that mean? I mean, the coach, you know, it's like, it's taken some getting used to, you know? It's like.
So what coach do we have in there? A little bit of marts? Do we have a little marts in there? Are you looking for meal? Are you tearing up?
You tear up a little bit? You tearing up more? I'm going to use the cry. You got to touch the village? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. Okay. Definitely, Mike. We will rally around.
Always in my head.
Okay. Yeah. Right. Yeah, man. I mean, I've been coached by so many amazing guys, man.
If you're asked about the playoffs, I already know. You got a little bit of a shit. If they ask, Marsha, are you going to be in the playoffs? I'm like, playoffs? We have CS, like, for real.
I'm going to use that. Uh-huh. You got it. I mean, Ted Marsha Broda, he was the best that used to. I remember the first time he said to me, say, Marsha, you know.
Sometimes you just don't know. which you don't know. I was like, that's right. That's right. What about your position coach from college?
What about him? What about Lil Sean Payton? Yeah. What about that? Sean was more fiery.
Right now, he's a little bit more relaxed. But the fiery Sean, you know, when Bo Knicks will do something wrong or when Drew would do something wrong, how he used to look? Yeah. You got that a lot? Yeah.
Yeah, I get at you. I get at you. Huh.
So I'm borrowing something from all of them. Yes. And Prime, borrow something from Prime? You're officially, you know, I think you are officially now. The first branch of the Deion Sanders coaching tree.
Might be. Might be. No, no, no, the guy who left at Jackson.
Okay, got you. All right.
So you're one of the prime branches, your first branches. That's the prime. Look at me. There you go, that's it. Look at me.
You're good, Richie. By the way, you know always I help you set up your instant replay process, right? There you go. If you need replay help or anything like that to set things up, I'm there to help. What else?
If you, again, you want to bring any Judaism to the equation, you got me. You know, I'm your go-to. I'm your go-to. What are you? My.
I'm your member of your tribe. That's what I'm. I'm a member of your tribe. We'll stick with that. We'll stick with that.
I'm here for you. What do you think of Roger Craig going in? You're the perfect guy to ask. Oh my God, Rich. I'm going to tell you, man, I felt kind of responsible in a sense.
I was like, did I not do enough to highlight what he did to get him in sooner? Mm-hmm. Because. He was one of the guys that I looked at, how he played, Berman Thomas. And I was like, how am I going to have an impact on the game?
And when Ted Marshabroda convinced me to see myself as a football player getting touches instead of carries. That's when my game evolved, and I became kind of who I was. When we got the other in St. Louis, all of it kind of came together. But that was the part that made it all work: that I didn't care if we were throwing the ball because the touches is what mattered.
I didn't care about carries. I knew I was never going to rush for 2,000 yards.
So the impact was. What's different? And Roger Craig was the only one that did a thousand thousand. I was like, I gotta do it. That's what I need to be doing.
And now he's finally in with you. He's in, man. Do you think McCaffrey gets in one day? Yes. No doubt.
Don't you think? No doubt. That's all he has to do is just continue to play the game, Rich. Right. That's him.
Like, he. And what he did this year without all the guys. With a lot of guys banged up multiple quarter but Several quarterbacks. He was the consistent component. If you said before the season, okay, that the X number of 49ers are going to go on the injured list.
No, I you. Right. Let's start with that. All of that. If you said that, if that here's the number, you'd be like, oh, McCaffrey's going to be one of them, obviously.
And he plays all of them and wins comeback player of the year. And he was here in that chair yesterday, and I asked him what it would mean for him because he's such a team guy, obviously. But that's an individual achievement that you have to soak in for yourself: that you are a comeback player of the year doing what he did this year for that team. Yeah, now he was the heartbeat. He was the constant.
And um I just like his availability, Rich. Like, the kid plays hard every time he's out on the field. Right. And what about What does he do that reminds you of you a little bit? Everything.
Like, literally, hold on, wait. The same way I reached out to Emmett, the same way I reached out to Thurman, like he'll reach out. He's not. Like, he'll call me and say, Yeah, he'll call and ask, hey, what'd you do with this? How'd you handle this?
On and off the field, how did you take care of your body? How'd you get through after long seasons? Like, how'd you bounce back from? And I I I think his, you know, being around the game, obviously because of um because of uh his lineage and and his upbringing around the game. But He's not afraid to ask the questions, man.
Like I just I love how he carries himself too. Yeah, me too, and he does remind me of you in so many different ways, the way he showed up at the Combine and ran the route trees better than the receivers. He knows everything about everything on the field. That's what we do, Rich. Right.
And I think I saw him the other day. I think he dropped Mike on a live interview with Bob Costas and walked off the set, too. That's what we do, Rich. Love Bob, man. My guy.
We've made up since. You came on NFL Network. Just I think two or three months after doing that, and it was the first time I was interviewing you. And I was thinking to myself, oh, I better be on my game here with this guy. Yeah.
Because I don't want anybody walking off on me. Amen. You know, like, I just can't. I remember that. And Bob remembered it in the space that he was, he was being a journalist.
Yeah. He was trying to get some information. And I couldn't throw my guys under the bus, man. I just couldn't do it. Because I knew that they were playing as hard as they could.
We just weren't as good. And I just, you could end people's career. Like somebody like me saying something about some offensive lineman that's blocking or not blocking, I could end someone's career by doing that. I can't do that. No, you're Marshall Fogg.
You're Marshall Fox. I care, Rich. Yes, you do. What do you think of Super Bowl 60? Break it down.
Good game, man. What do you got? Good game. Good game. You think so?
Yeah. It'll be a good game. Yeah, this good game. And here's the thing: in all three phases of the game, both teams are like well-coached. When you think about this this might be the first time that you're like which returner is going to get off like they both have returners that's capable of breaking the game open Like, I've never seen, and they're specialists.
Like, the kickers are good. You're not worried about it. Boat punters pin you down. Like, they are so well coached that. Um We just get to watch the game, and right now we choose to pontificate on who's going to win as if we know.
But we know not who is going to show up and who's not.
Well, take a look at the Rams and the Seahawks NFC Championships. Either of the snaps inside the five-yard line for the Rams goes their way, we might be seeing a different painted end zone. But that's how those games, all three games versus the Seahawks, were that kind of game. Right. Like, that's how they end it.
And when you have two guys like McVay and McDonnell, and they're going at it, It comes down to the players making the plays. And Seattle, in two of those games, they made the plays, Rich. Like, they were better. Not just on paper, but they were better on the field as well. Like, they made plays.
And I guess, you know, the last time these two teams faced one another in the Super Bowl, it maybe, well, it maybe knocked your Super Bowl down one peg about a play on the one-yard line. Yeah, I mean, deciding things, you know what I mean? Like that one yard, one inch makes the difference.
So it's what you're saying, spoken like a guy who. Who watched the Super Bowl be right there at the one-yard line for you? I think Rich, I think it's always more epic when there's a defensive stop than an iconic touchdown. Yes. There's just something about those games when the last play or a major play, it's a big defensive play.
Like that person, if you think about Malcolm Butler and what he did, it's so iconic. And then Mike Jones and what he did is so iconic. Those two names, like those are big names in this game. But Out at the Before that, you didn't, they weren't big names, but those names and those plays drove those games. They last forever, obviously.
They do. Did you have a good perspective of that play from the sideline? Watching? No, you know, were you not watching? Where were you?
I was scared to watch, Rich. I was like, I was like on the opposite 30, like. With my head down, I didn't even want to look. I didn't even want to look, man, because people don't understand the grid. Yeah, they don't understand the greatness of Steve McNair.
Like we all say leave it out on the field. Buddy left it all out on the field, man. That drive was epic. If you look at, like the tackles he broke, the sacks he avoided. And we're just sitting there.
We're the greatest show on turf, and we're like. We want to be out there instead of our defense, but You know, teams win games.
So you didn't see the play? No. No, I looked up and Everybody was running on the field, so I ran on the field too. Yeah. I mean, that only means you.
Well, they couldn't win. Right. You know, like, unless Jeff Fisher, which we do, Jeff. Do you think he would have gone for two? That's the question.
I was like, that's the only, like, he would be the guy to go for two. I have the best. basis of an answer for that question. And unbelievably the year before, way back when I had hair and I was on ESPN for the first time, Marshall. Uh I was with Leonard Marshall.
and Jeff Fisher. at the boardwalk, uh the ESPN uh uh zone uh in Disney World, okay, making an appearance. They actually paid me money to say hello to people. You know what I mean? Listen, it was stupid and I I I had a blast.
And we were watching the Super Bowl. between Green Bay and Denver playout. You know, one where they let Denver score at the end so they would have a chance to maybe come back. And as the Packers are driving down the field, I looked at Jeff Fisher and I'm like, would you go for two if you're Mike Holmbren and they score? And he looked at me and he like I had two heads.
Like, he knows absolutely not. You kick the extra point, you go to overtime.
So, I'm at a Super Bowl party watching your Super Bowl in New York City the next year, just hanging out.
Somebody goes, Do you think Jeff Fisher would go for two? I'm like, I think I have the answer to that question. But, Now he was in that spot, you have no idea what he would do, right? And certainly the way that. They were moving the ball.
McNair was unstoppable. Yes. He was unreal, that's super bowl. And with Steve, like, if I had Steve, like, there's, and, and, and here's the thing. We were the better team.
Mm-hmm. I mean People didn't feel like they belonged there, anyways. You know what I'm saying? With the Music City Miracle and stuff like that. They just didn't feel like they should have been there.
And if you give us. Over time, we're going to win. We're going to win. Like, there's no doubt about that. But that's a tough choice, man.
That's a tough choice. I wouldn't have to. I don't know, man. I don't know. They turn the raisins real fast, making that decision.
Oh, yeah. Turn the raisins real fast.
So let's go here then. Let's go here, because I know you like chopping it up when I throw things at you, Marshall Falk. Were you the better team against the Patriots in the Super Bowl? 100%. 100%, yeah.
What happened that day? I always say this. Touchdown favorites. I always, I'm going to say this again, Rich. We went into New England on a Sunday night.
and smacked them. Hard place to win. Hard place to win. So, what happened on that Super Sunday? Um.
The better team don't always win. That's the beauty of our game.
Okay. That's the beauty of our game.
What did you think of Belichick now being in the bus gallery with you first shot? Not Yeah, he's not in it. I mean, eventually he'll get there. You know? Yeah.
Eventually, he'll get there. I don't even know why people are up in arms. You know what I'm saying? Like, this many people weren't pissed that T.O. didn't get in first time.
I mean, there's a lot of people who didn't get in first ballot. Yeah, but let's be honest. I mean, Belichick's numbers are. Why are we being honest? We are being honest.
Why are we being honest? I don't want you to be honest. This is not an honest conversation. This is an honest conversation. Is it?
Of course, but. What's being dishonest about talking about this man's status? Why are we choosing honesty?
Okay. Mm-hmm. What are you saying? Like, obviously, we know why he didn't get in. But we're saying we're being honest.
It's not real. Because people thought he cheated and he doesn't deserve first ballot Hall of Fame. Look, man, it's rich. Exactly. Like, let's not pretend like, oh my God, he like this.
It's not like Don Schuler didn't get in. Right? Like this is obviously we know what happened. Bills were paid. You know what I'm saying?
Like, like draft picks were taken. That's not the same. That's right. So, why keep him out of the hall after all? I don't know, Rich.
Right. We gotta find out. Like, that's what we gotta find. We gotta ask the guys who we always turn to. But actually, they don't get on TV and talk about it.
It's the writers, right? Mm-hmm. And guess what? Guess who? They made the decision.
And guess when they sit up there, it could have been Dungie, could have been Bill Poley, and two people from your past. Let's blame them too. Right, right, listen, right. Right, let's blame them too. Let's not blame all the media sitting up there asking the questions and he's being contrite.
Like, those are the people that. They used to tell us, hey, take care of the media because at the end of the day, they're going to make big decisions for you down the road. People told you that when you were pointing out. Yeah. The people who cover you are the guys who stand up and say, hey, this guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
So, you take care of the media. That's what we do, Rich. That's why we do this. We come around and we sit down on your shows and stuff like that because we respect what you guys do. Oh, me in particular, though, hopefully.
You respect what I do. Always, Rich.
Okay. Always. But for real, Rich, it's just like how you do. Just just imagine I couldn't imagine my beat writer Standing up, saying I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame if every week. I'm not answering questions.
One word, him.
Next question. Like it it comes back. Like it does. And I don't know if that's the issue, but it's something that we have to worry about as players. People cared about our character and how we treated the media.
Yeah, I even made a little bit of a reference to it earlier in the middle of the media. It mattered to how T.O. treated the media. People said that was the reason why T.O. wasn't first ballot.
He was awful to the media.
Now I don't know if I'm going to call it awful. But Bill was a great guy to interview. And he gave you very little when he. But at the end of the day, should that really even matter, though? That's what I'm saying.
Like, get over yourselves if that's the case, because his numbers are absurd. I feel silly even mentioning his numbers. There's no doubt that that's why I'm saying we're not being honest. I see what you're saying. That's what I'm saying.
Like, they should have just said. No, Bill. What? It is what it is. Like, we're not pretending.
And T.O.'s numbers, they are what they like. T.O. wasn't. A first bell hall fair. Come on, man.
You're the ambassador for the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, an education program that teaches about the effect of drugs. That's it, Rich. Just providing information for kids, people who grow up in families that don't know nothing, and they have a kid that gets into drugs. And then, just in the school system, we provide educator kits. In today's world, and you know, you tell your kids don't use the phone, they use the phone.
You tell your kids don't eat something, they eat something. You can't just say no and don't. They need to be educated. They need to know why. They need to understand what the effects of it is and partake in.
It's not like back in the 70s, just smoking the doobie, you know what I'm saying? Like right now, you go out, you try something, you die. Like fentanyl is real, is out there, and you have to be smart. and you have to be educated and Just We're not in a world to where we can just be like, hey, don't do this. It's like.
Our kids, they're going to try. They're going to explore. But Let's provide them education so they're making smart decisions. The foundation for a drug-free world and the head coach of Southern University of Football.
Sounds pretty good, already. When I saw it, obviously I hit you right away. I'm so excited for you. Right. So, what type of coach are you going to be?
Seriously. Like, what are you? Rich, I'm the type of coach. You're trying to be yourself. That's it.
Like, I can't be something that I'm not. Like, yeah, but authentically, this is me. You know, but again, the reason why people like you or Prime, Eddie George, another one, I'll throw his name in this mix too, where it's tough to transition to coaching is because you guys wake up a certain way. Not everybody wakes up that way. Not everybody wakes up.
With that God-given gift, nobody wakes up with that burning desire and combines them.
So it's tough to reach and pull that out of people who don't wake up that way. Yep, you know, I agree. And here's the best advice I was given.
Okay. And I was already kind of in that mindset, but he kind of phrased it well. I was talking to Tony Dungy about, you know, from playing to coaching right and he said marshall he said listen I've heard you talk about football many a times. say you're going to be a great coach. because you understand the game and you understand why the game is the game.
He said, just make sure that you coach the player to his potential and not yours. Huh.
And I'm Mike.
Okay. Like that that means something. And in an essence, How I see the game doesn't matter. making sure that I understand how the kid sees the game so I have to coach him. to that.
is is what what it is. You know, I've I watch Prime. um work with different players And he listens to their perspective. Like, I was like, okay, what does it look like? And Uh okay.
Like this kid doesn't have half the ability. How do you coach him based on what you know? And that's the problem. It's not based on what you know, it's based on what he knows. Right, and how much patience you have to bridge that gap.
And how do you figure that out, though? By spending time with them. Right, sitting down. You literally have to ask questions because they're not going to tell you what they don't know. Right.
And having that relationship and making sure your door's open so they can come in and they know that they can trust telling you what they don't know because you're going to get them there. Are you going to be that guy on game day that peels the paint off the wall? No. Okay. Nope.
No. Okay. I'm going to look at him. I have a rule. I have a rule.
If you break any of the address codes that we're going to have and misrepresentation at his team of any sort or you do something stupid, it's called the stand-by-me rule. I'm not going to yell at you, but I need you to come stand by me. Stand by. Stand by me.
Okay. All right.
You will see the game from my perspective, the rest of the game. As in watching it. Yes. I see.
Okay, so we've got that. You have to take it away. Right. If a player knows he has to play for you guys to win. Right.
Then he has the advantage. Right. And we're not going to be in that space to where we empower a player. to go out there knowing that we need him. That he thinks he can do what he wants to do.
You got a clock management guy, you got all that working. Not everything, you gotta work on it. Not everything.
Okay. Got everything. But I'm putting a call out to Wertz. I know he wanted to hold the cables.
Okay. I might have an opening. Words if you're out there. I might have cable guy. You're all we got.
That's the story about Chris Wurtz, one of the best producers in the business. His coach looked at him one time because everyone got hurt. Was that what was the story? He looked at him and said, hey, Chris Wertz, you're all right. I saw him yesterday.
You're all we got. He saw you, too. Oh, man. Love Wertzie. Oh, man.
I'm so happy for you. Obviously, whatever I can do or be part of or rock some gear or whatever. I'll send you some stuff, Rich.
Okay. I'll get you some sway. Let's go. Let's go. When's the first game, September, or is it late August?
August, yep.
Okay. All right.
Do we have the schedule? Schedules out. Yeah, yeah, schedules out. All right, and so a training camp and everything. Yep.
We got it all coming up. What are you doing? Wearing hats? You're not a visor. You're not a visor.
I'm a hat guy. You're a hat guy. We're going to go hats. What are we going to go track suit? We're going to go hoodie.
We're going to go sweatshirt. Depends on the weather. I'm figuring that part out. Yeah. It's a little sticky down there.
Khakis? You know what I'm saying? You know? Like your first quarterbacks? I will not pull the hardball khaki.
No, no. I'm not going to do that. I will not wear gloves. I will not wear cleats. Mike McDaniel Capri pants.
That doesn't work at Southern University? That's going to go well in California. Like, he's about to be a rock star. Who, Mike McDaniel? Yes.
With Jim, too. What? That's a conversation I would love to just be a fly on the wall with them two, having a high-level football conversation. Right? I think they're going to get along really well because they both love football like that, you know?
And that's what Jim, if you're conversant and you love football, that's all Jim knows. But it's because it's the conversation inside the conversation. that they're having that you sometimes don't know that they're having. Like when Jim's doing the press, you're like... What is he talking about?
Right? And Mike does the same thing. Like, they talk around stuff. Right. Yeah.
Yeah. That's a good them two together, that's awesome.
So Super Bowl 60, before I let you go, what do you got? Who wins it? Who wins? Man, listen, this journey for Darno is, it has to end right. Like, I can't imagine the gods are just gonna put him in the Super Bowl.
You know, the guy win 14, 28 games in two years. I mean, I that that's it. I and and here's the thing, I am I don't know. A young quarterback and and it's and it's Unless Josh McDaniels, I believe Josh can get him ready. And Josh has done a great job from last year to this year to see Drake May.
I didn't see this. I didn't see the kid that, like, he, I did not see. Last year, I was like, man, he's ways away.
Now look at him. And right. And Josh has done a great job at preparing him and getting him ready. And. I think that He's shown a lot of promise, but I'm just going with the story of Sam Darno.
I think these two teams are equally yoked. Um and uh the veteran is of uh of what what Seattle has. I just I like I I I don't like Seattle. I'm just going with the Sam Darnold story. It ends how it ends.
That's it. I'll take it. Marshall Falk, you're the man. Thanks for coming. Appreciate you, Reach.
You got it. Good to have me on, man. Good seeing you guys. It's been a long time. It has been a long time.
You were there when the sign opened up and Del Tufo botched open, you know. I mean, why? Unveiling the sign. You've been there. You've been there.
You've been done that. Uncle Marshall here on the Rich Eisen Show. And Coach Marshall Falk of Southern University Football here on The Rich Eisen Show. We're back with more from downtown San Francisco in a moment. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.
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Call 1-800-GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by. Mm-hmm. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Back on ESPN Radio and SiriusXM Channel 80, Marshall Falk just left. Keegan Michael Key making his way to our set to kick off hour number three.
We've got a what's more likely still to come, my top five under the radar, X Factors. That's coming up for, get you ready for the big game on Sunday.
So last night we already talked about the Hall of Fame class going into the Hall of Fame in 2026 being a little light as far as I'm concerned. And we later on in the honors saw the MVP being announced. And it was Matthew Stafford as the most valuable player over Drake May. And then we found out. just how close the vote was.
After this wonderful speech, with Stafford surrounded by his four daughters and We just showed you on the TV side of things, radio audience, the moment that Stafford got surprised with video from his daughters throughout the season by the Rams about being the most valuable dad. As we found out, as soon as it's all over, it was the closest vote since 2003, which, by the way, wound up with both co-MVPs and Steve McNair and Peyton Manning. And what you see on the screen right here, I'll read it for everybody. Matthew Stafford, 24 first-place votes. Drake made 23 first-place votes.
Insane. And that was a screen grab taken and sent to me. By my 14-year-old son, Cooper. I'm sitting there. In the auditorium, looking down, the phone buzzes, and Cooper is a die-hard Patriot fan.
who had been hectoring me for weeks about my vote, and I didn't tell him my vote. He just assumed my vote. Until I finally told him my vote before I got here.
Now my vote is out. As the AP is letting everybody know who voted for whom, I believe. At least that's what they're saying.
Well, people are disclosing themselves. I am happy to disclose that I did vote for Matthew Stafford.
So my son, who's a die-hard Patriot fan and May fan, texts me not only that screen grab, but he also texts me maybe if you changed your mind. Dot, dot, dot, dot. I then responded to him: don't blame me, blame the three voters. Who didn't vote for either Stafford or May? That's also nuts.
Interestingly enough, Chris, you told me this morning as we checked on the timestamp of text. Yeah, we were at dinner last night during honors.
So we found out about the Hall of Fame and all the other award drops. And then I look down at my phone and I get this from Cooper. Ah, my man. Sent something to you, too. Yeah.
Blame it on your colleague. Yeah, blame it on your colleague. At 7:51, so that was two minutes. I was right next to you. Who would that colleague be?
Well, probably the only one. I mean, you guys don't have votes. No, not yet. Nope, you don't yet. Not yet.
I don't have a vote. Nope. Colleague. At the end of the day, I thought Matthew Stafford had the best season of any quarterback in the National Football League. That is my value, my view of value.
I understand that people always seem to harp on the valuable part of most valuable player. If we took that player away from the team, would their team be performed as well as they would have performed? And by that standard, yeah, Josh Allen got two first-place votes. You take Josh Allen away from the Buffalo Bills, but they have had an incredible season like they had. Nobody had a bad thing.
Well, they have the leading rusher in the NFL this year.
Well, and then you could also sit here and make a case for anybody that the value of Trevor Lawrence, the value of this, the value of that guy. And what Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus put it out there that he was the one who voted for Justin Herbert, who was extremely valuable for the Los Angeles Chargers. Certainly, the way that he performed without any protection up front, his value was apparent every single time he touched the football for that team. I get it. He was not even a finalist.
But at the end of the day, well, he wasn't a finalist because not enough people gave him enough second, third, fourth, and fifth place votes. 49 other voters were like, this guy doesn't. deserve to be in the top five.
Well, I'm not alone number one. I also took a responsibility of being a voter and saying it's clear that it's either Drake May or it's Matthew Stafford. And I put their stats next to each other and I also had my eye test and I also just decided Matthew Stafford at the end of the day had the best season of any quarterback in the NFL and I voted for him. And I understand why Cooper would sit here and say, that, my vote is the difference. And I'm happy to basically also point out there are three others that, for whatever reason decided to not.
put their vote into the hopper of what I thought everybody else who was voting for the Associated Press understood was the mandate of coming up with a choice between Drake May and Matthew Stafford. That should have been the MVP voters' first thought. That it's clearly a national debate that has been burning for a month and a half. And it's time to actually declare. You know?
It's either rock or paper. I don't know. Three people with scissors. I had no idea. The two Allen votes are really head-scratching.
I really don't get those, to be honest. In my mind, it was obvious. It's either Drake May or it is Matthew Stafford with all the. Due respect to every other quarterback who was worthy of just being mentioned in the group with those two guys this year. And you can have an argument who those other three finalists should have been.
And at the end of the day, the five finalists who made it were all on my five. Drake May was second. I do not recall off the top of my head who was three, four, and five, but I did put Allen and Trevor Lawrence. And uh I did I did put um Allen, Trevor Lawrence, May, and Stafford. And who was the fifth finalist was?
I had that individual as well. All these five. I think it was Trevor Lawrence. It was the fifth final. Right, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, Drake May, Matthew Stafford.
And Christian McKay. And Christian McCaffrey. Yeah, those were the five. that I had. on the list.
So, at the end of the day, I understand that you have your beliefs about May, I had my beliefs about Matthew Stafford, and I felt I owed it to cast a vote between the two. And I was kind of surprised that anybody Yes, they didn't vote. Yeah, when we were quickly.
Well, they did vote. They just voted for somebody other than May and Stafford because they thought I don't know. I don't want to speak for them. Yeah, I know, I know. I didn't want to just because the whole argument is about who's more valuable.
How could I sit here and say Stafford is more valuable than Drake May? I mean, Drake May's value to his team is unparalleled. There's no question about it. I thought Stafford had the best season of all the quarterbacks, including Drake May. It's funny that it was the closest since 03 because I actually felt more and more that I thought about it that we were going to get a tie.
Like, I thought it was going to be like the 03 season where it was Patriots. I wouldn't have had a problem with it. Steve McNaughton's like, these guys were both so phenomenal. I think for me, look, obviously, I'm a Patriots fan, but if you put Matthew Stafford on the Patriots and Drake May on the Rams, I think Drake May probably has one of the greatest quarterback seasons of all time with the weapons and the offensive line, whereas Matthews. Matthew Stafford probably would have got, maybe gotten hurt because that line is so bad and he's not as mobile as Drake is.
That's how I broke it. But he's on the Rams, you know what I mean? And so at the end of the day, the whole argument of like, remove him, you know, would the Rams have been there with Jimmy Garoppolo? Of course not. Would the Patriots have been there with, who's even the backup there, man?
I guess I should know that prior to the week. Josh Dobbs. Yeah, that's right, the pastronaut with the, of course, they're not in the Super Bowl with the pastronaut. And we love Josh Dobbs. I mean, you could do that about every single quarterback in the NFL who has had a terrific season.
And you could sit here and swap teams. And obviously, Drake, and we keep talking about it over and over again. The minute Matthew Stafford decides to step away, and by the way, I thought that was another neat moment that he used his speech to announce, I'm coming back, I've got another season. And I'm sure the Rams would loved hearing that. I'm sure, I don't know if they were aware of it or not.
They seem so much. But I told you there are probably a bunch of quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah. who are looking down the line of their careers when the contract allows them to potentially force their way out or potentially be a free agent. that deep down muttered a curse word under their breath hearing Matthew Stafford basically say, seats taken, like the bus in Forest Gum.
You know, seats taken. Move on, you know, and that seat will be a coveted seat in the National Football League. Certainly now that you see somebody is an MVP. Out of this system, which it is, and again, Drake May, coached by Sean McVay. That would be great for him, but he did have Josh McDaniels in his ear and he does have all of these weapons at his disposal that he is now finding and he's been terrific.
I just thought Stafford, at the end of the day, soup to nuts. Certainly, you know, you want to sit here and talk about his age and the fact that I thought he wasn't going to play it down and he did what he did for all 18 weeks of the campaign. He deserved to be my most valuable player. And I didn't even think about voting for him or anybody other than him or Drake May. There wasn't even a consideration with, again, this is the king of all segments of us saying you should say with all due respect to start.
I don't mean to be disrespectful. Did you vote for JSN for OPO? No, I voted for Puka Nakua. And I'll be honest about that. But the rest of them, I got them all right.
Or my vote went to the potential winner. Christian McCaffrey for comeback player of the year. Both of the offensive and defensive rookies of the year. About Miles Garrett, obviously. I mean.
I was glad to hear that was unanimous because the voting in this whole thing from the Hall of Fame to everything else is calling a lot of. Process and who's doing it into question. But I'm glad to hear that that was unanimous. All right, we take a break. There is news out of Cleveland as well about who their defensive coordinator is going to be moving forward with Todd Monken as the new HC.
Keegan Michael Key is here in our studio getting ready to kick off hour number three of our final day here in San Francisco. Congrats to the Staffords. What is natural? When you read natural flavors on a label, most people don't realize it's often not real food at all. Those hidden ingredients quietly work against how your body feels and functions over time.
That's why JustInredients uses only real food ingredients, so you know exactly what you're putting in your body. Stop guessing. Start knowing at justingredients.us. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. The Hyundai Hope on Wheels program has been telling you about it for weeks and for months.
If you don't know what it is, guess what? I'm here to help you. There's also HyundaiUSA.com to search up Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more about what I'm about to tell you. Because for over 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research. Together with over 850 dealers nationwide, they've raised more than $277 million, supporting over 25,000 kids in their fight against cancer.
At Hyundai, Hope isn't optional, it comes standard. I've been saying it here all week to all of our guests. Make a prediction. Choose a surprise, choose a name, and if they're right, We'll keep mentioning it. If they're wrong, it never happened.
And in that vein, I've got my top five under-the-radar X-Factors for the big game presented by Hyundai. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Riches, top five. All right, so if I'm right.
Just boom, book it. Call us. Absolutely. React to us and say, boy, Rich, I heard that name on your top five X Factor segment that's under the radar for the big game. This guy is not so much under the radar, but he has been for a while.
I just see Tradeau and Henderson ripping something deep, ripping something off in this game, man. Man, I'm hoping you're right. He's not exactly, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if you can call him an X Factor. But it's been a Ramondre Stevenson, you know, very heavy run game since the playoffs started hitting.
You know what I mean? Like, it seems like Vrabel's kind of tightened that rotation a little bit. But we've seen what Trayvion can do. Right. On the outside.
He sure have. Home runs he can hit. But it has been very Ravandre-esque. And I think I should name him as one. And in that vein here, too, you see him a lot.
For the Seahawks, but just to be fair and balanced, if I'm going with a Buckeye, I got to go with a Wolverine. A.J. Barner is number four on this list for the Seattle Seahawks. He's also the designated tush pusher for the Seattle Seahawks.
So if there's a short yardage play, although I will tell you this, I looked it up because we talked about fourth down attempts and going for fourth downs in this Super Bowl. We did it on overreaction Monday about what's going to be more. I don't know if they've got something like that and what's more likely setting up. There's one team in the playoffs, one team in these NFL playoffs that have gone for it on fourth down zero times. It's the Seattle Seahawks.
Have they had many fourth down opportunities? That's probably the thing. They score so much. But A.J. Barner, just look for his name.
Number three, I went down deep down your Patriots wide receiver list and I look at Pop Douglas. Ooh, okay. You know what I'm saying? We're all talking about Keyshawn Booty and Matt Collins is shirtless or shoeless and he's talking about clinking beer bottles together and we all know about. Steph Diggs.
I'm going Pop Douglas here. I like it. I'm going a little DiMario here. Big fourth-down touchdown against Houston. And then, if I need to name a defender for the Patriots, number two on my list, I'm going with Caleb On Chase on.
That's where I'm going with him. Because I'm not talking about the guys pressuring up the middle. I'm talking about a guy coming off the edge. He had two sacks and a forced fumble against the Chargers and a sack against Houston and had some really nice plays in the snow in Denver.
So he's been ascending. I'm going to go with him under the radar, off the edge. And number one, if I've got to go a defender that's under the radar, even though he's not so much for Seattle, number one, because I'm going with Seattle and I'm going with the Seattle defense, Ernest Jones, since he arrived in Seattle in week eight of last year, seven interceptions, which, by the way, is the most of any linebacker in the NFL.
So keep an eye out for him. And let's give you one more right here. Let's give you one more. I don't even know if I've got screeching horns over there. Or screeching wheels.
Yeah, thank you. We'll get one more here. You know, I've got to go with a guy who basically told his team: if I can't win with you, I'll win one without you. Certainly, if you don't want me here anymore, I've got to go to Marcus Lawrence. Got to go to Marcus Lawrence as one more.
No, for Dallas Cowboys? I mean, this can't be the perfect show to do. All right, I'll give you one more. Oh, another one? I'll give you one more.
Yeah. Well, one more. One more. I did not know. Oh, there you go.
There you go. That's my boy, Cooper, with one more. Jake Bobo, just because I like saying his name. Rich. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
