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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Jets are crushing. They got some really good things. It's all Tejito.
Oh, please. It has nothing to do with this year. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests. Country musician Kenny Chesney.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur. Three-time Emmy Award-winning actor and comedian Ray Romano. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Well, hey everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio Sirius XM Channel 80.
So many headlines going on in the world of sports, but the biggest headline is this: Kenny Chesney's in our green room. Yes. Let's go. He's about to come out here and start off our program, First Hour Guest, and. As if, you know, he's not great at everything.
He's got a Best-selling book just because he wrote it. And it's great. And it's awesome. And um He's here. I mean, hopefully, just the touch of Kenny Chesney puts this show in a different universe.
A little touch of Chesney. At any rate, I'm having my fun. He's awesome. His book is a bestseller. I'm holding it right here.
It's called, wait, hold on a minute. Let me put my glasses on. There we go. It's called Kenny Chesney. Got it.
With Holly Gleason, who's also here.
So it's all great. And love this guy. Love when he's on this program. He's here in our Los Angeles studio. It's great.
And then Ray Romano's in our three. That's how we're rolling today. Mike LaFleur, the new head coach of the Arizona Cartoon, is on this program. Oh baby.
So much to talk about. Look at this picture on the back too. I mean, the guy's got the greatest life. You know what I mean? He's watching the sunset.
Yeah. over the water. Um, anyway, Kenny Chesney's here. It's all good in our hood. 844-204-Rich, number of dollars.
Hello, Chris Brock. Hello, Rich Heisen. What's up? DJ Mikey Diaz in the middle of the year. Morning, Rich.
Good to see you. DJ Jefferson, the candle is lit indeed. Good to see you, sir. Candle is lit. It's like, oh, I'm Kenny Chesney.
I sell out arenas. I'm a best-selling author. I'm an actor. It's like, what can't the guy do? You know, well, he can't sell out a sphere.
Hold on a minute. Hold on. No, totally can.
Okay. And as a matter of fact, he's going back to the sphere. Kenny Chesney. I do everything. He does.
Well. And he appears here on the Rich Isaac Show, which are exciting. Top story news is like anything to do with Aaron Rodgers. Anything to do with Aaron Rodgers. Is noted, notable.
And then you're always wondering if it's a team who does something involving Aaron Rodgers. What does Aaron Rodgers think? What does Aaron Rodgers know? Does it mess with Aaron Rodgers? Does it mess with your relationship with Aaron Rodgers?
What could he possibly be thinking? Am I wrong?
Okay. Listen. That's the way it goes. And the story came out today, Adam Schefter tweeting it out. That the Steelers place the rare right of first refusal tender on Aaron Rodgers, meaning that he can accept a 10% raise off last year's salary, which would pay him about $15 million this season.
And the Steelers also now have the right to match any offer sheet he would sign with another team. As another condition of the tender, Rogers would only be able to sign with the Steelers once training camp begins. Here, Coach.
Okay. He's not there yet. Does this mean he's not going to be there? Has he given any indication he's not going to be there? Why would the Steelers be backing up a position?
of theirs. Unless There's no there there. And you know what? I figured instead of us just throwing darts at a board, which we would be doing. Let's get Tom Pelocero first up.
There he is. Oh, yeah. Huh? Surprise. Oh, surprise.
What a day. What's up to the boys in the studio? What up, Tom? I got to say, you know, if I ever need to have my life put in perspective and a dose of humility, I got to hear about Chesney selling out arenas in the sphere, writing bestsellers. Let's bring in Tom in his basement to talk about the UFA figure.
He's got nothing else to do. He'll show you the top of the show. Have you ever opened for Kenny Chesney before? Ever? I'm willing, as you know, but you're doing it.
This is what you are doing. This is happening. You are opening for Kenny Chesney. I'll take it. It's like Kenny Chesney is here.
And Tom Paul's.
Next time you're in Minneapolis, Kenny, you need a rhythm guitarist. That's right. You and your house band you talk about all the time. Right? There you go.
Yeah. The Brothers of the Sun 2026 tour. Pelosaro and Jake. Let's make it. What do we got?
What is this about? What's this about with Aaron Rodgers, Tom? What's it about? What do you got?
So let me explain first of all what the UFA tender is. It's not used very often, but it is something that teams apply, I'd say, once or twice a year. Last year was J.K. Dobbins, Elijah Moore. They both got the UFA tender.
Both of them signed with other teams.
So there is nothing about the UFA tender that precludes you from going elsewhere through July 22nd, which is about three months from right now. With respect to the tweet that you read, it's not quite accurate. There's no right to match involved in this. What the UFA tender does is it is a one-year tender for 110% of what you made last year. Aaron Rodgers, for him, that would be about a $15.5 million tender offer for 2026.
But really what this is, is a placeholder that protects the Steelers' rights in the event that Aaron Rodgers doesn't sign with Pittsburgh and then something happens elsewhere, an injury to a quarterback, whatever it might be, and he were to sign someplace else. The window for calculating compensates. Picks close on Monday for all unrestricted free agents except players who get the UFA tender.
So basically, this entitles the Steelers, who would have, what, fourth or fifth round compensatory pick value if Rodgers were to sign this type of deal someplace else. It just protects their rights. My understanding is they gave Aaron and his agent a heads up prior to doing this. It is strictly a formality. This does not change anything.
Nothing has changed other than all the people who wanted to say, oh, the Steelers know they've already got a deal. They know exactly what he's showing up. They're just messing with the media. This shows you they don't have a firm commitment from Aaron Rodgers. The communication continues.
Everything seems to be pointing in the direction of Aaron Rodgers coming back. But as we've seen many times through the years here, Rich, it's ultimately up to a guy who is as unpredictable as anyone in the NFL. And so we continue to await final and firm word from Aaron Rodgers.
Okay, so this. Gives the Steelers a better compensatory pick than they would have had without signing him to without designating this. Like, I'm just trying to- Aaron Rodgers, right? If they didn't give him the UFA tender, and tomorrow Aaron Rodgers signs with Team X, there would be no comp pick value at all. The formula has closed as of yesterday.
And depending whether or not you're in line to get compensatory picks or not, because it's all based upon how many free agents you add versus how many you lose, this does play into teams' thinking. I mean, there are plenty of players we saw a few yesterday getting signed who teams will deliberately wait until the comp pick window closes to sign those veterans because, hey, even a $4 million contract might offset the pick that you had coming to you.
So, it's a factor, but it's not the sole factor. Again, J.K. Dobbins went to the Broncos last year. It did not stop him from going. Elijah Moore, I think it was the day after the Browns gave him the UFA tender, went and signed with the Bills.
If you're not in line for a pick anyway, this doesn't affect you. And again, I think the emphasis here is. Mm. This is not a sign that Aaron Rodgers is thinking of going someplace else. The expectation has always been: if Aaron Rodgers plays another season, if he plays a 22nd NFL season, it's going to be in Pittsburgh.
It's going to be with Mike McCarthy, who he talks to a lot. If you're Aaron Rodgers, wherever on the planet you are right now and you are, you know, catching, I doubt he's watching the draft. I can fairly say I doubt that Aaron Rodgers is watching the draft. But if he's getting text, checking the internet and seeing, and you see, hey, they added two offensive linemen in the first couple of days, they added a bigger type of a wide receiver. These are some things that I would probably want if I'm coming back to Pittsburgh here.
You know, come July 22nd, yes. Like any player with the UFA tender, if he hasn't signed by then, he would only be allowed to sign with the Steelers through the 10th week of the season when he's not allowed to sign with anybody. He would only be able to sign with the Steelers. But no one expects this to go to July 22nd. I still believe that the target date is May 18th.
That's the first day of OTAs. We may well have word from Aaron Rodgers in the next couple of weeks. Weeks, but he hasn't told the Steelers that. This is not some grand conspiracy, the type that Aaron might want to embrace normally. That this is not, he's told them, and everyone's keeping it quiet, and this is all misdirection.
If it were, you wouldn't have them offering this tender this strictly. It's a formality, it protects their rights, and I wouldn't read much more into it than that. Yeah, I mean, because it seems to me, this shows you that the Steelers want him. Like, that's what this shows, like, they're, they're, they're counting on him, and that if and if he doesn't come, then they're gonna maximize their their uh I guess fallback position. Right, which is next year's draft.
Right. That's what it looks like to me that they have every intention of starting Aaron Rodgers week one this season. That's what this looks like to me. That's how they've been proceeding. Obviously, you know, they are really high on Will Howard.
From everything I was told, he looked really good in that bonus mini-camp that they had leading into the draft.
So you're hopeful, but he's a sixth-round pick. What about Drew Aller? And then you add Drew Aller in the draft. That one's developmental. He's got traits.
He's got the size. He's got the arm. He's got the intelligence. It's just, I mean, anybody who watched Penn State knows it was a roller coaster ride with Aller. But that's this is Mike McCarthy's bread and butter: developing quarterbacks.
You know, all those things that coaches saw in film: like, why does his footwork look perfect on one play and terrible on the next play on the exact same throw? These are the things that Mike's really good at.
So if you're a quarterback developer, you want somebody with traits. But I would not anticipate that Drew Aller, even in a world where Aaron Rodgers doesn't come back, is starting this year. All signs would be pointing toward Will Howard at that point. Obviously, Mason Rudolph started a lot of games. He's still on the roster as well, pending whatever happens with Rodgers coming back.
But absolutely, this has been the Steelers' plan. They do want Aaron Rodgers to return. There is no doubt about that. But again, in terms of using this tender today, it's really just about protecting their rights in a really unique situation: a 42-year-old former NFL MVP who is going to make a bunch of money. If he does play, that's why the tender rich is not used very often, is because how often do you have a player who's going to sign that level of a contract who's not signed by the Monday after the draft?
It just doesn't happen very often. And so the Steelers are just ensuring that they do have a level of control. Again, there's not a right to match an offer, but what they do have is the right to compensatory compensation if he signs elsewhere before July 22nd. And then as of July 22nd, the only team Rogers can sign with is the Steelers. If something were to happen, he's not signed, an injury happens in August, he could rush in, sign that tender, and then say, trade me.
I mean, this in no way restricts his movement. It just does protect the Steelers to have the right to kind of dictate to a certain degree what direction things go. And again, it's not like Aaron Rodgers read this on the internet when he woke up in whatever country he's in right now. This is very much something that was communicated to him. They sent it over.
I don't anticipate from what I know that this is any type of an issue. And we'll see. Hopefully, sooner than later, for all of our sanity, Rich, exactly what Aaron Rodgerson says. All right, nothing to see here except Tom Pellisero making a surprise appearance and us forcing him to take a shower earlier than he probably expected on a Tuesday after the draft. I just want you to have that visual bright and early.
Thank you very much, Tom Pellisero, everybody.
Well done.
Well done.
There goes Tommy P.
So, what else want to know? What else do you want to know? I mean, we could have been like, well Rogers is not going to be happy about this. Like it's restricting his movement and it's restricting his salary and the Steelers are going to the battle stations. And Tom's like, no, it's not that.
Yeah. So What you prefer the argument and the speculation and the wild speculation than calming facts, reasonable information? I mean, is that what you're saying? Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday, yeah.
Well, that's coming up later, anyway. Of course. You know how he feels. Should I add one, Roy? Yeah, all right.
The Steelers are on the outside Rogers. He didn't know. Right now, he's sitting in the dark. He's going to get to text. What?
Chew on Bark.
Okay. That's what he's doing right now. If I'm Aaron Rodgers, I'm somewhere where I don't even know what day of the week it is.
Okay. I'm with you. You know what I mean? Like Kenny Chesney. No shirt, no shirt.
He knows what day of the week it is. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made the appointment. That's a good point. He's here. On time.
He's here. Let's bring him out.
Okay. So. That's now put aside. Later on, Ty Simpson says he and Sean McVay were hanging out before the draft for a long time. Tom Foolery going on.
Oh, interesting. It's not Tom Foolery. I mean, Drake sense of that. Tom trickery? Tom Tricker.
Not Tom Trickery. Go ahead. It's Tie Trickery. Tie Foolery. Tie foolery.
Much better. Secret meetings. I don't know. There's no se whatever. Secret meetings.
Okay, we're going to talk about that. Is there a special knock, Brock? I am now. I might need a new hat, Mike. What?
Half Yankees Half Phillies. Woo! Powder baseball. Information on that. Coming up.
I love baseball now. Baseball. Baseball. Oh, baby. Baseball's still going on?
The Phillies, man. I love baseball right now. Oh, it's great. Yeah, the Red Sox have won three in a row. Hey, Luis.
Somebody over there is wondering how his manager's staying put. My goodness gracious. That would be you, TK. That would be you. Let's take a break.
The author of Kenny Chesney. Kenny Chesnut. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen here. I've traveled all over for some of the biggest NFL moments you can imagine: conference championships, Super Bowls, draft weekends, and everywhere I go, the city just feels different.
It's buzzing, packed, electric.
Now take that energy. and multiply it by the entire world. That's what's coming this summer with the FIFA World Cup. Fans from every corner of the globe are going to be traveling to experience it live. And when that many people come to town, they're all looking for a place to stay.
And that got me thinking. If you live in or near a host city, this is one of those rare moments. You already have a space. This summer, you could list your space on Airbnb while fans are in town for the FIFA World Cup, not as a full-time thing. Not as some huge lifestyle change, just during an event when demand is naturally high.
When I travel for big games, I just want a comfortable place in a real neighborhood, and that's exactly what so many visiting fans will be looking for. If you've ever thought about listing your space, this summer is a great time as we welcome FIFA World Cup fans. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Rich Eisen here.
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For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include a lot more people than ourselves. Loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrive Ent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more.
ThriveEnt, where money means more. Connect with us at Thriveent.com. Kenny Chesney here on The Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience has just returned. We're just chopping it up.
Heart life. Music. Is Kenny Chesney's new book, Go Get It Where All Books Are Sold? It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Kenny is here in person on the show, here in studio.
What's the one story you're telling in this book that you've kind of forgot and you're. Your co-author Holly Gleason pulled it out of you. Hmm. That I forgot? Yeah, that you're like, I've kind of forgot that story, but I love telling that story.
Oh, wow. I don't know. Or you remembered all of them. That's all.
Well, no, I think that there was, you know, especially when you're talking about heroes. Yeah. And. When you're looking back, there's these moments that happen in your life when you're younger, that in the moment that you don't realize you didn't see them as big deals at all. But when you.
Get older, and you look back and see how it affected your life, and maybe set you on a path that you didn't even know you were on at the time. And that was like me as a child going to see concerts and I didn't really realize at the time that there was this thing inside of me that was burning, that I didn't know what it was. And that was called the dream of it all. You know, and look, I wanted to play second base for the Boston Red Sox. I wanted to be Dustin Pedro.
Yes. Right? That's what I wanted. But I wanted to. I need you right now.
But I want to get you now. Yeah, they got rid of everybody. Yeah, I know. We need you. Yeah.
So, um. My friend Kevin Millar, I want him to be the next manager of the Boston WrestleMania. I want to be the bench coach. But anyway. What was I talking about?
You're talking about a life-changing situation where you felt it in your gut and then you got on Dustin Pedroa and here we are. Right, but see, I wanted to play sports. Yes. And I thought when I was a freshman in high school that I was going to do that because I was this size when I was 15. And then the next year, my sophomore year, I was still this size.
And then all of a sudden, I knew that whatever you believe in up there had different plans for me. But I didn't know at the time. You know, I talk about this in the book about all these different things that happened to us that set us on a path that we don't even know. What that we know, it's the dream, but we don't know what the dream is. Yes, and that was me growing up in East Tennessee.
And that's what I felt like a lot of Heart Life music was: about just the dream of it all. And And again, not to use a sports analogy again, but to be a part of something bigger than yourself. That is what's happened to me. And that's one of the biggest gifts that's been given to me: the gift of creativity. But to also have people with you and around you and out there on the road with you that truly celebrate what's happened to us.
And we're a part of something together. I mean, yes, it's me singing and it's me on the road. It's my name on there. But I have a group of people that celebrate what happened to us. And I love that.
I feel the same way about everybody around here, by the way. Yeah, not to say I'm the Kenny Chesney of sports, you know, entertainment and all that sort of radio and TV, but we celebrate what we do here every day. Every day. And, you know, this show was almost dead five years ago, six years ago. And we all banded together, and, you know, Here we are together, and I feel the same exact way with them.
So I totally can relate to what you're saying. Also, with that, when I was, you know, in. Not high school, but kind of middle school, I realized I couldn't hit the curveball. I couldn't make the jump shot. I couldn't throw one.
And I better start talking about it for a living.
So I can kind of relate to that sensibility too.
So when you're. I kind of feel it's weird. Like, you've written a have, have you written a memoir with time left to go here? Is that what this is? Or are you just basically a message here?
Snapshot.
Okay. Of how of how I did it and where I'm at in my life. It's not a memoir, it's just postcards from my soul, I like to say. It's my love of music, family, the journey, sports, and just the dream of it all. I love it.
Yeah. That's so cool. We were talking, and I've got Kenny Chesney here on the Rich His Show. You'll never guess the name that we were talking about before today's program in the green room about how we have a friend in common. Do you want to drop his name here?
Go ahead. John C. McGinley. Oh, whoa. Ladies and gentlemen.
John C. Minley. Johnny C. was sitting in that chair just three weeks ago. Isn't he great?
Oh, my God. He's fantastic. And my follow-up question to Kenny, I'll say it here. Have you been in the hot house in the ice? I've been in the hot house.
And I did a writer's trip in Malibu. I brought some songwriters out, and we do this every now and then. Yes. And it was two of my really good friends who I write songs with. And at the end of the day, we went over to Johnny's house and got in the hothouse that did the heat and ice.
Well, when Johnny's show Rooster comes out a couple weeks ago. Yeah. Those guys call me and they see the first episode of Johnny and whoever it was in the hot house. And they call me and they go, Hey, we've been in that hot house.
So, yeah, Johnny has been a dear friend of mine since I met John McGinley in 2007. Dude, you've come across the world. And he and I have become such great friends since then. And it was one of those friends that, you know, if you didn't, we didn't talk all the time, but when we. Reconnected, it was like as if no time had passed.
Exactly. Those are the best. And then, since about 2014, he has become a real dear friend. That's pretty cool. Yeah.
So you've been in the hot house and the ice. Oh, yes. I can't imagine that. Yeah. I know.
We do it all the time. Oh, my God. Did you have you ever come up with a song with that idea? No, but I mean, like, if you ever, if on your next single is I am so friggin' hot in here, we know where it was.
Well, there's been one of those songs. Who had a song called It's Getting Hot In Here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was that a friend of John McKinley's? I don't know, maybe.
And you tell some stories in your book, Sean Payton. You've known him for. I've known Sean since Sean Payton was the quarterback's coach. Under Jim Fossell at the Giants when I met him. I was friends with Carrie Collins.
I didn't even know Sean.
Okay. And so Carrie invited me. We were playing in Albany, New York at the arena downtown, and it was August, and they were in training camp there. The Giants were.
So Carrie invited us to come. to practice, and then I invited everybody to come. to the show. And I met Sean, but I briefly, I almost... I don't want to say I dismissed him, but we didn't spend a lot of time together.
And Jason Garrett was on, he was playing at the time. And so. All those guys came to the show. It was Jerry Mishaki, it was Jason Garrett, it was Kerry. I mean, so many players came.
And the next day, Sean calls Jim Fossil and says, He goes, Look, we got a problem. He goes, We had 16 guys miss curfew last night. And they're not just. You know, these are Rookies. These are real, real guys, you know, that we depend on.
And so all of them came to the show and. decided they would pay the fine.
So I've I've uh that's how I met Sean Paper. You met Sean Payton because your concert caused about a full dozen plus Giants to miss curfew. Then Sean went to work for Parcells in Dallas, and that's where we became friends. And then Sean was at my show in Lafayette, Louisiana at the Cajun Dome the day he signed to be the New Orleans Saints head coach. And we've since then, I bought a suite in the Superdome as an attempt for me and my father to have something to do together and just closer.
So, and that war. Us I would take all my friends, all dad's friends, and especially a night game a night game in New Orleans.
So we would go to New Orleans during the day. Have fun. have fun at the game. And then yeah. I'm not going to say when Sean left New Orleans to go to Denver, I was happy, but it was a sigh of relief.
Let me tell you something. I. No, for a fact. The loudest I've ever heard in indoor stadium in the NFL. Is a night game in New Orleans during the Sean Payton Drew Berese era.
The loudest I ever heard it. During that era, it was when they beat the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl. And that was the loudest I've heard almost anything in my life. Were you there the night? I was there.
Were you there the night it reopened after Katrina? I was not.
Okay, so you hadn't gotten your spot yet. No. That night when. Steve Gleason blocked the punt. Yeah.
I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it right now. There's a reason why there's a statue out there. That moment when Katrina. Nearly wiped the stadium off the planet. They reopened it.
Vic fumbled in the opening drive. That led to the punt. And for a second, the ball was loose. That was loud. When the France thought they were going to have a turnover on the first drive that reopened and give the ball to breeze on a short field, that was loud.
And then it rolled out of bounds. And then, oh, it was. And then the punt. Uh blocked touchdown. Over.
I've never seen, I've never heard a stadium like that. Yeah, and it was that night when they won the NFC Championship game, you could. Truly feel it was almost unsafe that like you could feel the Superdome shake. It was so loud. It was amazing.
Were you there the night that you were there at the Super Bowl, too? Yeah, I went to I played.
Well, The Super Bowl two weeks later was in Miami. Yes, sir. And so I went down, I took a lot of my friends there, and um They did uh the the NFL s the the that that Count all the all the pre-Super Bowl shows on the networks on um On South Beach. Sure. Yeah.
So I go, and Chris Berman's a friend of mine.
So I get up and do Chris's show. And what he asked me on the spot, because I was friends with, still friends with Peyton Manning, and then Sean Payton was one of my best friends. Yes. So He puts me on the song.
Okay, well, who are you pulling for tonight? And I just said I just want Peyton to win. Nice. You know, so that was a pretty good answer. Very sly.
But Sean wanted, asked me like four or five days before that if I would play. The after party. And I went Well, sure. I mean, like, he goes, Well, how much do you want? I said, I don't want any money.
If you can get my band tickets to the Super Bowl, I'll come play for free. Damn, how many tickets is that? It was. Yeah. Okay.
Um And we did that not knowing they were going to win, you know.
So all of a sudden. They win the Super Bowl. And I had by then, because I woke up that morning before I did Berman Show. I'd had a couple of Bloody Marys at the hotel bar, right?
So I go over there, and that's back when Mike Dicka was on the show, and it was Berman, it was back then.
So I leave. This story is actually in the book. We leave, and I have my tour bus, and we leave South Beach. And I thought, well, we're going to go, we went and had lunch, and then we're going to go early to the stadium. Mm-hmm.
Well, I get a text from Sean in the bus, and he goes, look out your left window. And I look out, and it's the Saints team bus, and they're right beside us. And we just pull in, you know, they got a police escort and everything. Sure. Sean goes, Well, just pull in, pull in behind us.
So we took our bus and we just pulled right in beside right in behind the Saints team buses and rolled right into the Super Bowl with a police escort. And so. And so That got us really fired up, me and the band.
So, you know, I'd started, I had a few cocktails during the game, and then all of a sudden, the game's over. And I'd had several by then. And then I went, oh my God, I got to play.
So we didn't go on stage till like 1:30 in the morning. And it was a long night. But my God, it was so to celebrate that and to experience something like that with one of your really good friends is such a life moment. And it's one, if, You know, I don't know how I'm going to live. If I live to be 120, I will not forget that moment and what that felt like.
I bet. What a great story, Kenny. And I'd gotten to know Sean in the early stages of NFL Network, which was born in 2003. And, you know, he had gotten the job in 06 with the Saints. And we'd gotten to know each other and hang out at Combines in Indianapolis when the coaches' meetings were over and we were off the air.
Just having a blast and him just telling stories. He's one of the A-plus storytellers of planet Earth, and he's got loads of them, which is obviously why you and he get along. And he's really a master motivator. I mean, he really is. And he's like a.
I I mean I'm running out of adjectives, but I mean, he's really great, a great offensive mind. But the way he's these subtle things that he does to. Um Inspire grown men. And uh mess with them not mess with them, but to, I don't know, mentally m make them think a different way. I've seen it firsthand and it's really brilliant.
Well, he joined the NFL Network postgame show on the field in Miami after winning it. And he and I had known each other for a few years, but he goes way back with Marshall Falk. Oh, yeah. He was Marshall's position coach, running backs coach at San Diego State.
So he's known Marshall forever, and Marshall's on the set, and he's just so fired up to see everybody. I'm the first guy he greets, and he slapped my, like, put my hand out to shake it, but he slapped it so hard, Kenny, he gave me a stinger. I had to go to the left hand for the microphone the entire interview. I did not feel my right arm during the entire interview because he was so fired up. Yeah, I love that guy.
You were with the Crafts at the Super Bowl this year. I was.
Okay. That was a difficult room. I'm sure when you're with NFL. I've been in rooms at the Super Bowl with them where it was great. But it was great to be there with them.
How did you, so is that just a New England love? Or you said you wanted to be Pedroia, so you just. Yeah, and I also, I've loved the Patriots since I was a kid. There was a guy. That played at Tennessee, you may remember him.
His name was Stanley Morgan. Of course. Stanley Morgan was drafted by the Patriots, and he was one of my favorite players.
So that's how I And this was way before You know, obviously, social media when you could really follow. Right, right. But that's as a kid, that's where the love of New England started. And also, when I was a kid, there was this show on the networks every week called This Week in Baseball with Joe Gerjol. Of course.
And I love that show. Yeah. Yeah. Here's the Twibnotes from around the nationals. And the networks would nine times out of ten play the play, you know, would air the games of the teams that were doing the best.
And so that specific year, the Red Sox, you know, were. We're doing great, and I love them.
So, even so much so as in Little League, I wanted to be on the Red Sox team, right? Mm-hmm.
So it's it's That's the only thing when I was a kid that but when I started playing music, for some reason that area there was just this groundswell of connection. Even way before I started playing Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, there was this groundswell of a connection that was really unique. And then, once I played Foxborough a couple times, I'd still.
Well, the second time I played Gillette, I I I had lunch with Robert and Jonathan Kraft up in Robert's office. And that was in two thousand six-ish, I think. And that's been an unbelievable tradition every year that I go up there and play.
Now we do two nights to end the tour every year, but. Robert and Jonathan have become truly family, and we've gotten to know each other. And I have. Sat in Super Bowls with them where they got beat. And I've sat in Super Bowls with them where they came back and Tom Brady and they won 28.
They were down. You were sitting with the Crafts against Atlanta in Houston. Yes. And at halftime, that was a tough room to be in. I bet.
And so it really was. But at the end, so yeah, I've, I've. I become really good friends with them. And over the years, it was just they become family in ways. That's amazing.
Is there a stadium, a room? Again, you're going back to the sphere.
So you're the first country act to appear in the sphere. And June and July dates are there right now. Um Is there a room or a stadium you haven't played that you're like, I want to play? I have never done it. Hmm.
Well, we played the Rose Bowl. I wanted to do that because, as you know, You know, me and my dad watched a lot of football and watched a lot of January 1st football, which used to mean more now because you know than it does now because that was truly the end of the college football season, was January 1st. When you saw Keith Jackson call the Rose Bowl, that was it.
So me and my dad watched that. A lot. And so when I had got the opportunity and got into a place in my life and career, they came to me to play the Rose Bowl. And I was like, oh, wow, this is different. That made me want to move to Southern California as a kid in Staten Island, New York, watching it on TV in my basement.
It was just watching the Rose Bowl on the Ruper Bowl.
So imagine like waking up and getting out of the bus like you've done in so many different places. But this time you get out and you're looking at the Rose Bowl. There's your bus parked outside the Rose Bowl. 100,000 people.
So it was crazy. That was one that stood out a lot. You know, there's places that we play regularly now that. that we're used to, but I don't know. I mean there's um I don't know.
I look forward to a lot of the places that we play. Especially the older stadiums, because the older stadiums hold sound better. Really? Yeah, like if you go into Denver or Kansas City, Seattle. Uh Philly is really loud.
Gillette is really loud. You know, a lot of the newer stadiums are built for suites. Interesting. It's, yeah, but still, the crowds are great. But when you get into these older stadiums like Pittsburgh.
Yeah. Like, it's really loud in there. Is this your humble way of saying you've played every stadium, you've won a diploma? I never didn't really answer your question. No, it's okay.
That's fine. Hey, listen. Been there, done that. That could be the name of your list. I like that.
I'm still there. I don't know. I mean, that's cool. What about a lyric of yours that you have written in your career? that you're like That's one lyric.
Yeah. Oh, that's on the spot now. Yeah, man. I've been writing songs a long time. I'm aware of that.
One lyric. Music book called, you know, Heart, Life, Music. Oh, wow. The Kenny Chesney lyric, where you're like, yeah, that's it. That's the one.
Yeah. Well, I just because I love music so much and I wrote this I wrote a song called I Go Back by Myself. And it's all about how music and songs stamp your life and take you to a specific place in your life. You know, that song means a lot to me, and those lyrics mean a lot to me because it was truly. Autobiographical.
And how I grew up and the songs. And I don't know if it's one lyric. I don't think I answered your question. That's okay. That's all right.
But you have a lot of them. I mean, I. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I. Oops.
There's that. There would be uh you know I wrote Beer in Mexico, and everybody thought that that song was a party song, but it wasn't. It was a true reflection of my soul. And I was 36 when I wrote it. I was playing Sammy Hagar's birthday party in Cabo.
And the band and I, we played for almost four hours at his party. And then we went to a bar called Squid Row right next to it. And Sammy had us a house. And I don't know, I felt this, I felt like there was this. This unfamiliar feeling inside of me, you know, and I didn't really know what it was.
And I didn't know it was a song. I didn't know it was, I just knew I had to go start writing something down.
So I left the bar. I went back to the house that Sammy got us, and I started writing on a notepad and pulled my guitar out of the case. And um I think what I was thinking about. In the bar, I was looking at all my friends and people that were working with me and for me, and they all had families and they all had kids. And here I was 36, and I was.
You know, I didn't have that stuff, but I was building. What I was building. And so I went, wow, I... Maybe I don't have to figure it all out right now. It's okay enough to be playing Sammy Hagar's birthday party.
I don't have to figure all that stuff out at the moment. But that's I went back to the house and wrote that night beer in Mexico. And I thank Sammy for that.
So that was a true autobiographical song. I think I speak for everybody in this room and everybody within the sound of your voice and our voices that I would love to start a sentence in my life. If I was playing Sammy Hagar's birthday party in Mexico, like that, to start a sentence that way is great. If I say it, somebody's like, what are you talking about? You say it's like, oh, please tell me more.
That's why your book is a bestseller, right? As soon as it debuts on the New York Times bestseller list.
So this summer, you're back at the Sphere, June and July. Yes. Right. And then your new single called Carry On is going to drop on May 8th. Yeah, it comes out on May 8th.
Got new music is great. New music means new energy. I'm fired up for it. And we, yes, we start. We played Sphere last year.
We did 12, 13 shows. How'd you like it? I know we were talking about it before going in. You're saying that you're spending so much time planning the visuals and everything. The last time I talked to you, you were ready to do it in the planning of it.
Changing some of it, keeping some of it. And it's just an amazing thing to be a part of. You know, for people that have lived with this music for a while, when they get into that space, they experience the music in a completely different way. That's unreal.
So, we're going back. We're doing another, I think, 11 shows this summer. Awesome. Starting pretty soon. Kenny, you are the man.
Thank you so much for coming on here.
So, you're going to have to sign this book, obviously. That would be hard. Life Music. It's going to be right here in our studio, and you got to sign our Rose Bull seeds too. Yeah, buddy.
No question. Yeah, man. You and Troy Aikman and Mark Sanchez and Chris Fowler and Joel McHale, who didn't play, and Jim Harbaugh and everybody who's been here. Charles Woodson, great to see you, sir. Thank you.
Kenny Chesney, everybody, go get this man's book right now where all books are sold. Go see him in the Spear in Vegas this summer and get ready for Carry On dropping on May 8th. Uh The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Need parts fast? O'Reilly Auto Parts as fast.
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That was so great with Kenny Chesney. He just signed up. He's the first musician to sign, or a recording artist performer to sign the Rose Bowl seats behind Chris Brockman. Those Rose Bowl seats are maybe my favorite thing in the world. Those are great.
Our buddy Deiden Brosino sent us that since he sent us that for our studio. Anybody who's ever played there or broadcast from there, Fowler signed that. Um Has signed that. Or didn't play there like Joel McHale. Yeah.
I wish you'd have asked Al Michaels to sign that because I'm sure he's called a game at the Rose Bowl. Has to have. The Super Bowl, I'm sure. He's got to have. Yeah.
Jerry Maguire was up there. That's right. Well, if Tom Cruise ever comes in here, we'll have him sign. Listen, Mike, I know I've given you a lot of crap for your dumbass Yankee Met hat. I mean, Yankee Dodger hat.
Justified dumbass crap. Justified that big hat. To the point where who made it their first time? No, no. Oh, no.
New Era made it their 80s. The cat first showed it. They saw the show, I'm convinced. I feel the same. Who else would wear this?
But I now need a Yankee Phillies. Oh, come on. This is gross. Why is it gross? This is gross.
Why is it gross? Because it's the Phillies. I understand it's the Phillies, but one of the greatest human beings ever placed on planet Earth. Don Mattingly, Donald Arthur Mattingly, Donald. Donnie Baseball has been named the interim manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.
That has happened. 'Cause the Phillies have fallen And they cannot get up. And they're only being held up. By the New York Metropolitans. It's a long season.
Well, it's what I'm saying.
So we can. It's true. It's a lot. There are letters. There are letters.
Google it, what it means. Actually, there's a new show, I believe, on HBO called DFL New York. Or DFL Queens. Oh, yeah. Not New York.
Yeah, no. No. Put it up on the screen. Let's take a look.
Okay. I don't know if these have been have these been updated? Yes. Oh, okay. These are recent.
Yeah. Yeah. Ten under it back. The Red Sox have won three in a row. On fire.
Two in a row since they bounced their manager. Maybe. The Phillies will have that with With Donnie baseball. Oh, the Yankees have won again. 19 and 10.
I mean, there's 134 games. We decided, sir, you could keep saying that. I will. I will smoke eat a few. We decided we were going to talk about this baseball season as if it was a football season where every game is life or death and is indicative of somebody's success or failure for the entire season.
We said we were going to do it. We're doing it. We all agreed, and we're going to do it. We're doing it. And in that respect, the Yankees' number three prospect, Elmer Rodriguez, has just been called up to pitch on Wednesday.
I love that. And the month of the year. And Garrett Cole's coming back, and Carlos Radon is coming back. And Max Freed, if it wasn't for Jose Soriano, would be the Major League Baseball pitcher for the month of April in the American League. And there's.
Schlittler And Aaron Judge hit his eleventh, and Ben Rice hit his tenth, and together. If you want to do the math, help me out here. 10 plus 11. It's 21. That's one more than 20.
21 more. Which is the grand total number of home runs hit by the New York Metropolitans as of right now. Oh.
So two Yankees together more than the entire Mets team collectively. And Don Mattingly is managing a baseball team. in Philadelphia. And let's just keep an eye on all of that. That you're going to pretend to root for now.
Why do you mean pretend? Even you to do this year, but I can't do it. Even last year, when he was on the Blue Jays, it was killing me to root against them when the Yankees were playing him. Just saying, it's a little hypocritical. My daughter's middle name is Mattingly.
That's right. I mean, my middle name is Sixer. Actually, right now, Mud. Right now, it's Mud.
Sodo. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
