From Thirty for Thirty Podcasts. Brian Patter, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gun down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with Tabaki.
This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest. We had to kill our monsters.
Murderer. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck!
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Now, on with the show. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rich Eisen Show. Here they are! The Rich Eisen Show. What are the Dolphins up to?
I mean, I think everyone knew Tyreek Hill would be the least. A bigger question for Tyreek is just like, when does he play again? Today's guests. Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Luke Keekly, ESPN NFL Draft Analyst, Mel Kuyper Jr., Academy Award winner, Billy Bob Thornton, director Andre Gaines. And now, Rich Eisen.
Well, hey, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Isen Show live on Family of Networks, ESPN Cable, Disney Plus, where we stream every day between 12 and 3 Eastern every single day. Same thing on the ESPN app. We say hello to the ESPN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 80 audiences, 844-204-Rich. Whether you're watching us or listening to us, please give us a call and give us a call early because our third hour, quite frankly, is jammed. That's when we're going to be on ESPN too later on today.
Andre Gaines, the director of the awesome 30 for 30 documentary on my dear friend Stuart Scott, is going to be joining us in studio in hour number three. And before that, to talk about the loss of his mentor. Robert Duvall, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 95, friend of the program, Billy Bob Thornton, is going to be joining us to talk about. Robert Duvall, and then in the first couple of hours, right here on ESPN, and the rest of our audiences listening to us and watching is Luke Keekly Hall of Famer coming up in just about 20 minutes' time. And then Mel Kuyper Jr.
He's got mock drafts, he's got big boards, he's got hair, he's got opinions. He's going to be joining us with all of those later on in this program. What's up, Chris Brockman? Good to see you. What's up, Rich, man?
Trying to stay dry here in LA. Look who's back. Is that Mike Del Tufo, DJ Mikey, D isn't D's nuts? Yeah, I've done five basketball games in four days. Nobody asked.
Let me tell you, nobody asked. A lot of fun. Basketball's getting really good. I saw him get makeup. College basketball is great.
It's interesting that you're here then. That means if you did college basketball last night, you ejected yourself to show up here. Yes. Did I get that right? I got ejected.
Okay. Hello, TJ Jefferson. The candle has been lit in your world for the last 24 hours. That is for sure. Wayne never lied, Richardson.
How long did John Cena sit down for no contest wrestling with you and O'Shea Jackson Jr. yesterday to be released today?
Well, you know, if John said I would give you 40 minutes, we would have been happy. If he said I would have given you 70 minutes, we would have been ecstatic. The man sat over there and gave us two and a half hours. Jesus. What a generous man he is.
I got to admit, man, you know, I've met a lot of people, especially here, but it was pretty surreal because I remember the dude when he was doing car commercials, local car commercials here in L.A. Yeah. I was in the building when he won his work-first world title. I was in the building when he won his 17th and just sitting there staring, like, yo, this is John Cena in the Rich Eisen Show studio. Love it.
Love it. And we're going to be playing a clip from the show later on in the next hour that's coming up right here. If you missed it, don't worry. We'll get you caught up at least on a couple more stories. John Cena on No Contest Wrestling, that's going to be appearing on the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel as well as where it's there right already.
Fantastic.
So it's already there. But check us out over the next few hours. Why don't you? Again, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial on the program. And we see the phone lines are already lit, which is awesome.
Hey. Hey, I don't know about you, but... It seems The sports world is getting Crazier. Am I wrong? I don't know if it's part and parcel of the world in which we live, where.
Everything happens, and then you see it in the palm of your hand right away. You feel like everybody's seeing it. Or you see opinions in the world, maybe politically or whatever, in the palm of your hands, you think, wow, people think that I kind of feel out of place. And you feel crazy. And I I'm just wondering if You know The world is getting crazier there, too.
There's just a couple of... Canadian forefingers, for instance, over in Italy. Write that down. Right? A couple of Canadian forefingers.
Okay. I'm going to have for dinner tonight.
Well, let's hope not. We had a few of those at the bar last time. What are you, Hannibal Lecter? Oh, I see it before.
Okay, God. I see what you're saying. Very, very good. I'm not really, but okay, very good. And listen, we do call college basketball next month March madness.
But it seems, you know, madness hit a little bit last night. Again, Involving UCLA's basketball team and their intense head coach Mick Cronin. who um didn't have a very good stay in the mitten as we refer to. the great State of Michigan. Um and uh two losses in a row.
Last night in East Lansing, Michigan, against a Michigan State team coming off a loss on a road to Wisconsin. which is playing some excellent college basketball underneath a little bit of a radar here. Um racking up wins against my School, the only team to beat Michigan so far this year, and they beat Illinois, and then they beat Michigan State, which comes back home. And boy, did they beat up UCLA last night. 82 to 59 was the final score, but that's neither here nor there in terms of what grabs the headlines.
What grabbed a headline is something I've never seen before. Which we've seen hard fouls, right? We've seen hard fouls. We've seen hard fouls when there shouldn't be a hard foul, like in a 25-point game as it was last night. when um Stephen Jamerson a former Michigan state student.
So he has a a A history there in East Lansing. goes and hammers Carson Cooper who is a clear path to the basket and It was a hard foul. It was um Uh a flagrant fowl. but not an objectionable foul. And as Carson Cooper hops up from the floor, Jamerson goes back to his bench where he's met by his coach, Mick Cronin.
Who is as his want emoting. He is um Now pointing to the locker room while grabbing his Players jersey. And I think he was pointing to someone on his bench saying, get him out of here. And you could see Jamerson was kind of confused as to what the coach wanted, and then he realized. I'm being sent off the floor, not by.
somebody in stripes, but somebody In plaid. And I've never seen this before. And he sent his own player back to the locker room, essentially ejected his own player. Wow. Which is in fact wild.
I've never seen that before. Uh to put somebody to put myself sitting here in a calm Wednesday morning. Los Angeles studio. As opposed to a Los Angeles-based head coach in the cauldron. of the Michigan State Gym.
Last night in the midst of this stretch of games To place myself in those shoes to say he needs to maybe have a calmer demeanor. It's a stretch, not gonna lie. But UCLA's head coach over the last couple of years In 2021, as you know, took UCLA to the final four. took care of my school in the process. Um and Uh has had He's been a Pac-12 coach of the year.
He's been coaches of the year at various levels. Um But over the last couple of years, there seems to be uh And unraveling is the only way to put it. And this last night Again, sending his own player off. He explained it this way afterwards. True toughness is in how you compete and how you go to work every day.
Steve's a good kid, he made a bad decision. Um but If you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game. For a block out for a rebound.
So I was thoroughly disappointed. Guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game's a 25-point game. You don't do that. That is true.
You don't do that. But I I normally would think you'd you'd leave the ejecting up to the Officials. Again, I've never seen that. You know, has also never seen it? One of the winningest coaches in the history of college basketball.
That's what Tom Izzo had to say afterwards. I felt for Mick, his team's a lot better than that. And uh I guess he upgraded that to a flagrant too, huh? Wow. That's the first time I saw a coach do it, but that.
That sounds like Mick, so he'll get that straightened out. Oh, God. I love his own mix. Having it. Am I wrong for watching this over and over?
We've all watched a lot of basketball and thinking this foul doesn't seem like it was that bad.
Well, again, he's contesting it. And he's playing tough, hard basketball. But it's a 25-point game and just let the guy go get the hoop. Unless you're trying to do that. I think also says it right.
If you want to be tough, Do the basic stuff.
So playing. But again, this is the the the issue I have here is I don't think it's that bad. I see it too. I see it too that it didn't look like he was intending to harm. I mean, I slowed it down and watched it over and over.
I know. And the guy he Should have gone after was the dude who actually hit the guy going up the way up a little bit harder than the dude that got tossed. But again, it's tough for me to sit here and surf and I have watched Big Ten basketball quite a bit this year. But it's tough for me to surf in. and basically say, you know what the coach should have done?
Sat him at the end of the bench, let the refs handle the situation, and And then, in a quiet moment, pull them aside and go, That's not what we do here. He could have basically sat him down for the teachable moment. Right, teachable moment, as opposed to sending him off. I mean, if this kid was already charged up about being back at Michigan State. Right.
To send him off in front of all the Michigan State fans who are. Goin' nuts. Screaming, giving them even a bigger moment for them to cheer. At the kid. Um Kind of flies in the face of what I think is the right thing to do.
But again, I am sitting here telling a coach of the year up the 405 at Westwood how to coach. It's his own style as as you even heard Izzo goes, but that's Mick. and it'll straighten it out. But this is the thing that And in addition. to this moment.
In addition to this moment, This exchange with the reporter afterwards because, again, that Michigan State student section that you thought was no big deal, that Dusty Mae was sitting in front of on their bench before the game to show these kids, you're calling me out for seeing me peek my hat out of the tunnel, and I'm sitting on your bench. All right, I'll just sit back and that's no big deal, the thing that you said yesterday, no big deal. Uh-huh. No big deal.
Well, they were chanting it at. They were chanting the name of Xavier Booker, a former five-star recruit who signed with Michigan State before transferring to UCLA in April. after two years with with Izzo. They were chanting his name. And they were going crazy as you know about Jameson leaving.
The crowd was into it. Yeah. And so uh a reporter asked uh croning about it and this is not his fondest moment to be straight up. What was your thoughts on the student section of Shanning Booker's name? I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section.
I just met the overall the way that you were. Hey uh Kudos for the worst question I've ever been asked. Did you like the preparation of the other? Do you really think I care about the other? No, I don't think you care about the other two.
Are you raising your voice at me? No, I'm sorry. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. Come on, dude.
No, he's not. Come on, yes, you are. Everybody's standing here listening to you. Everybody, this is on camera, they can hear you. I answered the question.
I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section. Hi, Coach UCLA. I don't care about Michigan State students. Who cares? He did answer the question, but then he's the one that...
Broadsided the reporter by saying it's the worst question I've ever been asked. And when the reporter retorts, he retorts back and then treats the reporter like he's a. A kid in the front row of a third grade class about raising a voice. Yeah, come on, Nick. I mean, get out of here.
But again, a tough weekend for him and and Uh I I And by the way, in terms of being a professional, I do give it up to him. He's one of the only guys who actually shows up dressed like I'm used to watching basketball head coaches get dressed, three piece suits. Every other coach shows up like it's a scrimmage these days. Um At any rate, uh not not to go all in on it, it was just a really rough night. for UCLA and also UCLA on the weekend.
Uh where They lost to Michigan over the weekend 86-56. But That's part and parcel of what my alma mater is doing. Last night, Michigan went into Purdue. And just absolutely broadsided the seventh best team, seventh-ranked team in the nation. By leading at halftime by 16, which wasn't even their largest lead of the first half.
And then they. They held on against a game Purdue Boilermaker squad in front of their. frothed up crowd. um and wound up winning This basketball game to all to go to 25-1 for the first time in the history of Michigan basketball. They've never.
started a season like this. And then You take a look at what they've done. I don't know if you've got that post from last night, Mike Hoskins. Pop it up. Michigan currently leads the Big Ten with 15 wins.
In second place, Michigan with 13 wins by double digits. They have more double-digit wins in conference than Illinois has wins as the de facto second-place team. That is what Michigan is currently doing. to its conference, And head coach Matt Painter, who's been around this league for quite a while in Purdue, knows that his four losses. Takes them out of the mix.
Michigan's only chance to be caught in the regular season. Conference is to share the title right now as they we're. We're barely halfway through the month of February. These dudes ain't lose in four games. We got four losses.
They ain't lose in four games.
So that's just that. That's reality. When you've been in a league for over 25 years, that's reality. When you face up to people like that, you can be preseason number one in the country. That means nothing.
But when you're in the middle of February, you're number one in the country, it means a whole lot because you earned that one. They earn that they they earn what they what they've gotten.
So we we just got to keep earning ours too. And I tip my cap to coach there for saying that. Um yeah, and Michigan will potentially see Purdue again in the Big Ten tournament coming up.
Next up for Michigan is Duke. Oh man. on ESPN this weekend. Oh, right here on this network, I will be glued. I will be ready to roll and I will be out of my skull watching that game.
And I know it's a regular season contest and It's a measuring stick and all of that. But it's never a measuring stick when it's Michigan versus Duke. This is Like, I still want to beat Christian Leitner. You know what I mean? Like, you know, speaking of 30 for 30s, we got the director of the Stu Scott Doc coming up in hour three.
I still want to beat Christian Leitner. Even though this, you know, there were no Michigan players, I imagine, even boring. Yeah, you know, right? Definitely. I think Dusty predates Dusty May being.
Uh Somebody who is working on Bob Knight's staff as a grad assistant. You know what I mean? Why is this game in DC? It's just a. It's been scheduled as a.
A neutral site game all year. Yep.
So, what a bonus for all the Duke and Michigan fans sitting there in the mid-Atlantic. Mikey, you work in this game? No. It's the SPA. That's right.
One verse three. Dude, Houston, Arizona. That's a 2-4 match. Great week. That's the appetizer before that game.
Brother, great week in college basketball. Great stuff. And I'm just again, Mike, I know that you worked those faders for the network up on Pico. I'm glad you ejected yourself. To be with us today.
I have UCLA on Saturday. Let's see if they never know. That's why I asked because I knew it was ESPN, but Mike answered so quick: like, yeah, but I do a lot of Big Ten. He takes credit for everything. Like, I feel like he really showed up in the bad bunny halftime.
I had The Ohio State last night, Rich's favorite team. Wait, yeah, they're insignificant. By the way, insignificant when it comes to Big Ten basketball right now. And Michigan State, Michigan State is as relevant as any team in the Big Ten.
So is Purdue.
So is Illinois. I'm just happy where my team is right now, especially in relation to Ohio State. And 100%, every Buckeye fan out there is watching this thinking we could have had Dusty May as their head coach. You don't. And then on top of it, On top of it.
Any Buckeye fan I know is like, well, football's the main sport. Got it.
Okay, enjoy your spring in Columbus, Ohio. Right. Okay, and the only letters that might be Okay, that you, I know you like to X out the M. Fine, the letters might be N, I, and T. Ha ha ha.
Oh, I'm just loving this. I'd love this lady. Speaking with my chest here on ESPN, Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, and SiriusXM. What a great platform. Petty platform.
And I thank my friends in Disney and up in Bristol, Connecticut, for giving it to me. Luke Keekly is next. One of my favorite humans I've gotten to meet in the National Football League. He is a Hall of Famer, and he is coming up. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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With Intuit TurboTax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real-time updates on your phone so you always know exactly where things stand. Suddenly, you're not refreshing your inbox. You're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message because your TurboTax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop.
So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only an iOS mobile app, only available with TurboTax full-service experts. As many of you know, supporting pediatric cancer research is something I care deeply about. That's why I'm proud to share what Hyundai is doing through Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
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Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. Luke Keeley, Hall of Famer, here on the Rich Eisen Show, talking about how he learned being in the Hall of Fame. I'll be honest with you, too, Luke. You know, just to stray from your enshrinement for a second, how many snaps can Pepper still give you, do you think? I mean, I look at him, and he looks like he could still play football.
I mean, yeah, you want to come in and be one of those Those rush ends on third down where you overload one side and just let them work on the backside on the tackle and let them go in. He's unbelievable. There's some guys, as you will find out, because I've been around, you know, covering the hall for a long time. There are some guys who just look awesome in their gold jackets now as if they were wearing it as a rookie, right? Uh Mel Blunt is one of them.
Mel Blunt if you've ever met him, but you hopefully you will, certainly coming up this summer. You look at him and I'm like, he could still give me snaps, you know, and then he wears his cowboy hat, so he looks like he's he's he's taller than he really is. But has it hit you that you're now part of this group? Look, slowly, I think the further away I get from you know, Pep showing up at the door and me being out there in San Francisco. For the Super Bowl, the further away you get from it, the more it kind of settles in and it's.
Is pretty cool. It's, you know, it's that's what I've told everybody. We had a dinner, or I'm sorry, a luncheon on Friday after NFL Honors on Thursday.
So Thursday was honors. Friday, we had a luncheon. And before the luncheon, you go in this big room, and there's 35, 40 guys. All in jackets. And that to me was cool.
And it's the guys you look around and I love football. I've loved it since I was a little kid. I've watched Football since I can remember, and there's dudes. It's, you know, John Lynch, it's Warren Sapp. I saw Marshall Falk in there.
I talked with Ronde Barber for a while. And then you just look around the room, you don't get a chance to talk to everybody. But then Isaac Bruce was in there. I don't know, Kurt Warner's there and Steve Young. And you look at all these dudes that you grew up watching and you wanted to be like, and they have their jacket on.
And it's so cool to see all these guys in their jackets and then. You kind of got to pinch yourself and say, Wow, like That'll be all when Kant rolls around. I'll be in the same situation as them, which I think is the further away you get from it, the cooler it gets. Is this what you dreamt of growing up in Cincinnati? Look.
I think when I was a little kid, I think I dreamt of running out on Friday night under the lights at my. Local high school, St. Xavier High School, wearing a blue jersey with a white helmet with an X on it. And then, as you get older, you think, man, maybe I can play in college. And And then you get in college and you say, maybe I can play in the NFL.
I don't think this was ever something. Yeah. I thought in a million years would happen. I went up to. Canton with a grade school buddy when I was in grade school and we went through the the Hall of Fame and we looked at the busts and the rings and All the exhibits of the guys that had given their gear to Canton to throw in the Hall of Fame, which I thought was super cool.
you never think that you're ever going to be In that same club as those guys.
So I think, like I kind of mentioned, it's just. It started to slowly settle in, and it's super cool. And then, the neat thing, too, Luke, that I think you're already. gleaning is you get randomly thrown into a group of men. As a canton class, right?
That you're now going to be attached to the other four guys who are in this Hall of Fame class with you. And I'm wondering what it was like when you were backstage at honors. Was that the first time you guys were all together? As a class, you and Breeze and Fitzgerald and Venetieri and Roger Craig. Yes, so we we met up at the hotel and got on a bus and went to Honor.
So that was the first time that we were all together. But I think this is what the thing that I think is great about the class is You know, we all played against each other. You know, I played against Larry a bunch. We played him in the regular season, we played him twice in the playoffs. First bow guy, arguably a top three receiver.
ever and then you know drew i I got spoiled playing against a guy like Drew. Every year, we played him twice in New Orleans, and we played him three times in 2017 in the playoffs. And You get You don't have I never I never It was just Drew Brees and Sean Payton, and he's going to throw for a million yards, and you don't appreciate it as much because you play him so often. Mm-hmm. And then I get done playing, and everyone's like, who's the best guy that you played against quarterback-wise?
And without even thinking, I always say Drew, just. the command you had for that offense His ability to go through progressions, his ability to evolve with Sean, his ability. To just you watch him. I always told him, I was like, Well, I used to watch you in pregame before we had helmets and jerseys and pads on, just going through his pregame stuff. He would go through all of his drops, all of the routes, and he'd take his steps.
And he'd throw the ball and then he'd go through progression two, three, four. And every drop that he had was exactly the same. His head would be down the middle of the field, he'd get to the top of his drop, he'd take his foot work, he'd snap his head where he needed to. He'd throw a perfect ball based on timing, and then he'd go to read two, read three, read four. And his feet and his shoulders and his body position would always match everything.
He's. He's truly he's one of a kind and And then you look at Adam, a guy that I played against when he was in Indy, and a guy that I grew up watching with him in New England, and obviously him with the Colts. One of the best to ever do it, all-time points score in the NFL history. And then Roger Craig and Drew made a really cool comment about Roger. I think it was Drew.
It might have been Larry. I forget who it was. But they said they had a conversation with. with the quarterbacks and in San Francisco, Montana, and Steve Young. And they always talked about, hey, how great Jerry Rice was, and Ronnie Lott, and Dwight Clark, and Montana, and obviously Steve Young.
But they said the sauce that made that offense go was Roger. And he was ahead of his time. And the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and also run the ball as effectively as he did was special.
So I got to play against three of those guys for meaningful parts of my career. And then obviously Roger getting in. If you watch. His knock with the guys that were there. It was, it was Ronnie and Charles Haley.
It was just. is special watching him, how excited he was. And the guys are, I tell you what, the four dudes that are in are great, obviously phenomenal football players. That goes without saying, but great people. We got a chance to be around their families and.
Just great people, and I think that's what makes it even cooler as well. Yeah, two Walter Payton Men of the Year award winners there in Breeze and Fitz and first Ballot Hall of Famers. And, you know, I know you never played against Roger Craig. You mentioned Marshall Falk earlier in this conversation, Luke Keekly. I mean, Marshall will always tell you that Roger Craig, being the first thousand, guy, was someone who helped pave the way for his ability to play the game the way that he could.
And then a teammate of yours in Christian McCaffrey is like the modern-day version of it, Luke. Yeah, Christian. Christian's unbelievable. Yeah, he had a. I'm so happy for him, the year that he had in San Francisco.
It's not surprising what he does as consistently is consistently as he does. Just his work ethic, his love for the game, his understanding of that Shanahan offense is just Will and desire to be great in his competitive attitude. He's a special player. He's a special person. And For him to have the year that he did is just who he is as a person and as a player.
Yeah, Wins comeback player of the year, the night that you were on the same stage, too, of NFL Honors. And, you know, and you are one of three Carolina Panthers now to be in the Hall of Fame, the guy who showed up in your house in Julius Pepper's and the late Sam Mills being the other one as well. I mean, that's got to, I imagine, mean something to you as well, Luke, right? Yeah, I think, you know, you all talk about Pep first and. When I got to Carolina, they had a whole way of guys that got in the Pro Bowl.
So You know, Ryan Kleel, Greg Olson, Wesley Walls, obviously Cam Smitty, Gross. Missing guys, I'm sure. But Pep was, I remember Pep's picture that they had. It was him. In a white jersey.
in his Visored up. helmet and he was holding a football. In front of himself after he had an interception, a fumble recovery, and he just looks like an absolute stud. And I just remember hearing from all the guys stories of Pep. Hey, when Pep was here, he used to do this.
When Pep was here, he did that. This is what Pep did against Michael Vick. Hey, you should have seen the time that Pep made this interception and ran it back 90 yards for a touchdown.
So. There was this this legend of Pep. For the longest time. And then he came, and I had the opportunity to play with him for his last two years in Carolina. And it was, to me, it was super cool to play with a guy like Pep, a guy that I grew up watching and that I had heard so much about from my early time in Carolina, from guys that had played with him previously.
And then Sam Mills. I mean, There's a motto for the team, it's keeping stitched in the back of our jerseys, is keep pounding. And that was a Sam Mills thing, obviously. The story of Sam with his cancer and his impact on the team and his impact really on the room that I was in, the linebacking room.
So it was Sam, and then he set the stage, and then he coached. Dan Morgan. Taught Dan everything. Obviously, Dan had a phenomenal career, now the GM for the Panthers. And then after Dan, it was Thomas and then Beast.
And then, you know, we had a couple other guys, and then I showed up, and then Shaq Thompson.
Now we've got it's continuing down, but the dude that started the standard for linebacking play and how to play the game of football. With Sam Mills for the Carolina Panthers.
So The two dudes that are in for the Carolina Panthers are phenomenal football players, but again, just great people. And, uh, Yeah, just super fortunate to be. Whoever with those guys, Luke Keekly here on the Rich Eisen Show, Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026 and Shrinee. In the few minutes I have left with you, let's talk about the Panthers now. I know you're in the radio booth forum.
What a year! What a year for the Carolina Panthers. You know, I. When a team finishes under 500 and gets to host a playoff game, they normally get a lot of slings and arrows sent in their direction. But they almost knocked off the Rams for a second time this year.
What has happened there that gives. You or anyone else the impression that this is now, like, we're ascending here, right? Like, where do they go from here? I think the first thing is just stability. The stability that we have with Dave Canalis, obviously the head coach, Dan Morgan, our GM, Brant Tillis, and David Tepper.
I think all those guys. Those four guys have a great feel for what needs to be accomplished. I think they trust each other. They let everybody do their jobs. And the energy and the feel in the building is where it needs to be as far as.
Great place to work, great place to be competitive. People are willing to learn, people are willing to teach. And Canalis right here is just. The ultimate The ultimate example of just consistency. He's able to make difficult decisions.
He's able to make the decisions that are the best for the team, regardless if they're easy or not. I think that we've gotten better each year that he's been there. And I think that Bryce. Has continued to get better each year. Obviously, finished year three, and he's on an upward trajectory.
I think. his confidence in himself and his confidence in the offense. The last probably five, six weeks of the season, you really saw it. And you see it in his demeanor and his body language. And one thing that I noticed was at Super Bowl this year, you know, everybody does Radio Row and Get asked a million questions.
The answers that Bryce had in Radio Row this year. Felt like a guy that was very confident in where he was, very comfortable, knows who he is. I think he believes that the team has his back, which they obviously do. And he looks like he's ready to take off. And that's been a little bit different than he was in the past, where he's, I think he's been trying to figure it out.
We've had different coaches, we've had different play callers, we've had different guys that got brought in. But now it's Dave Kanaus, it's his offense. He was in year two this year. We're in year three next year with Knaus and Bryce. I think he's very comfortable.
I think he's very confident. And we're slowly building. A team around him to help him play well. Obviously, the r the rookie. McMillan was phenomenal.
Tedorea Macmillan, right here with Bryce. He had a great year, thousand-yard receiver, rookie of the year. And then the one guy that really kind of came on at the end of the year was Jalen Coker, second-year kid out of Holy Cross. He's big, he's physical, he catches the ball outside of his body, and he's competitive as hell. And I love it.
We're slowly getting there. We're a young team that is starting to figure out: hey, we got a chance to be really good. We've got great coaches. We have a great situation. I think this is going to be a big offseason for Dan.
And And Brandt to go get some guys in free agency and nail the draft. And I think if we do that, we put ourselves in a really good position to take a big step this year. In the few minutes I have left with you, what's your opinion of the Seattle defense? You personally eyeballed them. You were in the building.
Yeah. They're fun, man. They're fun. They. They're good up front.
Their guys on the inside are super active. Um Their edge guys are good. The one guy that I love to watch that I think really makes it all work is Eamon Wari, that rookie out of South Carolina.
So much of the NFL has become. Can we play nickel? And hold up in the run game. Then it's like, all right, well, if we're going to play Nick when they spread us out, can that guy that is like that pseudo. Sam Backer, nickel, big safety.
Can he get stretched out and play in the slot as well? And this Uman Wari kid, this rookie, he's big, he's long, he's physical. He can play super disruptively in the run game. He can blitz and then they can split him out and he can play equally as well. And the slot, they're big and long on the outside with Witherspoon and Rick Woolen.
They're. They're good everywhere, man. Ernest Jones had a phenomenal year. Leonard Williams up front. Demarcus Lawrence and Wusu.
I mean, you go down and look at that roster. They're really talented, and then Mike McDonald and how he runs that system. It's simple, it's easy. But when you play against them, it happens so fast. They're so physical.
They have such great length that they're not just playing cover three with normal dudes. They've got pass rushers that make the ball come out. They've got great length in the secondary. They can match up with you however they want because the Uman Warrior guy. They're super talented.
They're fun to watch. And. You know who I'm really happy for, though, is our guy Sam Darnold. for what he's been through in the resiliency that that dude has showed. For him to get to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl, it makes a lot of people really happy.
Look at him. Just that's look at that smile, man. That smile says. I've been through a lot. But it also says, I've always believed in myself.
And look at that. Look how happy that my man is right there. It just makes me. That's what football is about, is dudes. That runs the roller coaster.
They're up, they're down, they're on different teams. People say they can't do it. And then you know what Sam does? He sits behind Brock Purdy and learns in that Shanahan system. And then he goes with O'Connell for a year in Minnesota, has a great year, and then.
And then they lose the game in the playoffs, and everyone says that he stinks for I don't understand why. And then all he does is go to Seattle and sling it around and go win a Super Bowl.
So, I mean, Sam deserves everything that he's gotten. All he's ever done is work hard and grind and believe in himself and say, I'm going to continue to get better. And then we have those pictures that you guys just put up there of him. smiling with the Lombardi trophy in his hand and That's what the game's about, and I'm so happy for them. You deserve it too, man.
You deserve to be in the spot where you played your Super Bowl. I know the result wasn't what you wanted in Super Bowl fifty, but you deserve to be on that spot ten years later, introduced as a Hall of Famer to that crowd, man. You deserved a moment like that. I heard, you know, from the knock on the door video. You know, Greg Olson tell you that you're you you don't talk about yourself enough.
So let others do it for you. Um, and in that regard, who do you know who's going to be introducing you? Have you decided that yet? Is that a decision? I gotta, yeah, I gotta figure that part out.
So, it's been it's been a whirlwind, obviously, the last couple weeks. And I gotta figure, there's two of them I got to figure out.
So, who's gonna introduce you to Shrimp Day? And then who's gonna put the jacket on you, too? That'll be uh, I've learned that'll be on Friday night.
So, um, I got some figuring out to do, and it'll be, uh, it'll be fun, whoever it ends up being. But, Greg, Greg's a stud. You already know that. Everybody knows that about Greg.
So. Yeah, and we send our condolences to him for losing his brother. Luke, you're the man, and listen, you know, part of this as well is a party. Tapper's got deep pockets, man. Do not be humble about it.
He's got to dig deep. Let's throw a bash for you in Ohio.
Okay. That's yours. I'm going to have you represent me and be like, hey. Rich needs to talk to you, Mr. Tepper.
We need to get this thing going. Yeah, Dave, I'll just do it through the camera on. He asked me, you got the cash. Let's go. Let's go.
He's a Hall of Famer. He's a Carolina Panther. Let's go dig deep and let's throw a party for this man. How's that? Thank you.
Did that work for you? That's perfect. That's great. I direct you straight to the camera. Thanks for the time.
Luke, you're the best, bud. Thanks, guys. You bet. Congratulations to Luke Keekly. Yes, sir.
Pro Football Hall of Famer in the second ballot right there on the program. See, and everybody says that, you know, the class might not be this or that without Belichick. Uh-uh. It's still going to mean a ton. It's going to mean a ton to this guy and Fitz.
And Breeze and Roger Craig, who, by the way, didn't wait for the knock on the door, he beat. Ronnie Lott, Ronnie was like this, and the door opened. He's like, I got this. I've been waiting 30 years. We didn't really talk about how awesome.
Those are great moments, man. And Vinetary. He'll represent the Patriots before Bill gets in eventually. 844-204, Rich Number Doll off, and running here on this fun Monday show. Or it's a Wednesday.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eyes and Show, the Hyundai. Folks want to let you know. that one hundred percent You could drive the kids to soccer practicing style. You can do it.
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for details or you can just call 844204 rich And uh tell me how you like your Hyundai Palisade.
Well, Terzo in Iowa has been a longtime listener and longtime caller into this program. You're on ESPN now, Terzo. Hopefully, are we on in the bar? And I hope you guys are always on. Come on, Richard.
And you always on. They either got you streaming or on the ESPN. Fantastic.
They got you on it everywhere you're at. Terzo, are you because, again, you're a legal expert. Is there any way that you could potentially slap a lawsuit on the Seahawks for winning in the 49ers stadium and demand that they pay for some sort of defumigation of the beloved home locker room of your beloved Niners? Terzo? Yeah, see, that's where it'd have to come from.
We'd have to have a lawsuit against them for damages that are not in the everyday realm of wear and tear.
So if they were doing things in excess to do that, that's kind of where we'd try and recoup any of that fumigation or mitigation that we got going on there. Saul Goodman would come up with something.
So let's go. Terzo and I will let Terzo. They didn't flush the toilets. They didn't clean up after themselves. They left food out.
They did something wrong. What they did is they won the Super Bowl.
Well, that too. Yep.
Hmm.
Well, and that that that might be that might be the worst part about the defacing of the of our field there.
So that that might be kind of the main part that we'd be looking at is the pure damages.
Sorry, Terzo. It's all good. Hey, hey, Rich, I got a question for you guys. We're having this discussion there at Carl's. Um talking about Floyd Mayweather fighting Titan.
And we were thinking, In NBA talks. What would be the best two on two team. And they've had and it's throughout the NBA history, but they would have had to have played on the same team.
Now theoretically, you would hope that they were all in their prime whenever they played together. But the argument came down to MJ and Pippin versus LeBron or Kyrie Or Durant and Curry.
Now, there was some pushback with Kobe and Shaq, but I think it's always pretty difficult to throw Shaq in there because I think he's just. The most dominant player. Yeah, I know. That's why you would take him, Terzo. You just basically talked your way into the answer, I think, right?
I mean, and we're up against the end of the hour. Thanks for calling, Terzo. When you say Kobe and Shaq, how can you versus Jordan and Pippin? Isn't that the answer? But how they can't guard him?
I guess Durant, you can't guard him down low either. And then there's Curry to. For a three-point shot. Interesting question. This is a good part bar talk.
Yeah, we could spend an hour on this, man. Holy crap. I'm almost inclined to go Jerry West and Wilt. That's not bad. Oh, if you want to go old school, Magic and Kareem.
I mean, Magic and Kareem would be tough to beat. Kobe and Shaq, yeah, obviously, because Shaq's hard to deal with. MDE, baby. What about hardening and Embiid? No.
Not on that.
Now it's totally facetious.
Okay. This guy, I mean, Tatum and Brown, right?
Okay. Okay. Maybe you'll see it on March 1st, baby. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
