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Now, on with the show. Activating. No. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here's the other surprising part.
With guest host, Kirk Morrison, live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guest: Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reed, Golf Channel Analyst Randall Chamblay, Senior NBA Writer for the Athletic, Joe Varden, NFL VP of Broadcast Planning, Mike North. And now, filling in for Rich, it's Kirk Morrison. But Huh? Huh?
Yeah, how are we doing, Kirk Warsham here, filling in for Rich on this beautiful Friday, wrapping up a great week of sports and entertainment all through. I'm just sitting in for Rich, which is a much-deserved day off today, but I still got my guys here to help me through, get me through the next three hours of a great sports talk. We got TJ over. TJ, thank you for staying with me, for being here with me. I know everybody's on vacation.
There's no Brock today. We do got Jay, man. Jay is here. What's up, Jay? Good to see you.
See, I wouldn't leave my brother here alone. Exactly. I appreciate it, man. I always appreciate the opportunity to come here on the Rich Isaac show. My first time since the show has been with the.
You know, Disney Disney Plus since she since you moved on up. Yeah, moved on up. I as a Disney employee, I'm okay. We're good. It's true.
You're good to be here. You heard telling me some of the benefits of being a Disney guy. I'm a blue badge guy, as they call it. What is that? Oh, god.
Yeah. You you need your little marker, your little badge to go around some places. I got a blue badge.
Okay.
So it's good. You know, make sure we got to get you a blue badge now. Yeah, I need to. Good, good. Oh, man.
So much to get to, as always, here on a Friday as we got so much to get caught up on. The PGA championship going on right now as the second major of the year has taken off. And right now, I'm looking at a leaderboard. It's like five guys tied over at the top.
So we're going to get updates throughout. Brandon Chamblis will definitely join us in the third way in the second hour. Yeah, hour number two at the top of the hour. Can't wait to get just kind of the feeling of what this PGA has meant so far. One day in as we get to the second day today.
The NBA, we got two guys. Game sixes tonight. How many? Two. I said two.
Yeah, not one. Not, yeah, just two. Two. But two game sixes tonight. Obviously, Pistons, Cavs, that series right now, three, two in favor of the Cavs.
Can they close things out at home today? And then later on tonight, 9:30 Eastern Time, another game six. Spurs, Timberwolves. Can the Spurs on enemy territory close things out? And then we'll have our NBA conference finals set up for both sides.
Oklahoma City already waiting. One side, and on the opposite side, we know it's the, yeah, New York Knicks. Can the New York Knicks? This is all for the New York Knicks. We'll get into all that a little bit later.
But. I do want to start here. Yesterday was May 14th.
Some people just say it would say normal Thursday, but May 14th was obviously different. It was different in so many reasons. And the biggest thing why it was different was because. It was the day that the NFL schedule was released. Like, there's like certain dates throughout the year.
That you circle. And you can't wait. And for me as an NFL guy, you always circle, obviously, Super Bowl. Then you kind of move on to Combine, and when does free agency start, and when does the draft? And after all that's done, right, in the early parts of the year, you get to the month of May.
And you already know the opponents. You know what divisions you're playing and teams, and you know who's home and who's away. But you don't know when. You don't know the timing of it. You don't know what channel it is.
And then all of a sudden, May 14th gets here, and you're like, oh man. The anticipation. The Calling of your buddies. Hey, what game are we going to go to? Are we going to go to this game?
We're going to go to that game. But you finally have a time. You finally have the date. You finally have it all in front of you. And it's really now become one of the biggest days of the year on the football calendar.
Now that being said, I don't know when it it became this. event for social media. Like every every year now, we have this Time in which the social media teams all across the NFL. Have now put out all of these videos. in regarding the schedule.
And you know what? They're actually pretty good. I just don't know when did it become this.
Sort of thing now, the competition. And right now, I would be honest with you: the team that's leading the competition is who? The Los Angeles Chargers. Every year, putting out one of the great schedule videos, one of the great hype videos, I think, of the NFL. And it's exciting to see just where this thing has gone.
It sort of just started with, oh, here's the schedule, and you announced it. And you have somebody come out and get a microphone and then. Here's our schedule, everybody. We've got this team and that team. And now it's become sort of like cinema.
Right, so what are you going to do next? And everybody's now catching up. Like, first, it was kind of just the Chargers.
Now, I'm looking at what the Titans did yesterday. I'm looking at what the Raiders did yesterday and how they brought together a Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza sort of stepbrothers. You got that. You have the Colts giving me a little bit of the Simpsons vibes with how they released their schedule. And so now it's truly become something that.
I think the NFL is brilliant when it comes to this. How do we engage our fans? How do we engage the people who come to games? How do we engage the folks that Whoa. They know what today is all about, but now also be entertained.
It's what are they going to do next? How are they going to do it? And well, guess what? That's what the NFL has now changed to. And I'm excited to see where it will continue to grow.
But I will tell you this: I'm not going to lie to you. When I had the. When they told us, hey, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, just wait. The schedules will be released through videos, through social media.
And I immediately said, I cannot wait to see what the Chargers do. And they did it. They did a little bit of a halo scenario. And so. I just don't, I just, I can't remember when it first started, though.
Do you know when it first started? Like, this whole situation, this whole scenario when it comes to like scheduled releases being this way. I mean, that's an excellent question. When did it actually start? It's been the last like three, four years, and it seems.
I think it may be a little bit longer. We just expand on it. It's now become comedy now. It's going to be coming. Yeah, but where everyone seems to really be putting all their best efforts into it.
Like, I can remember the one year the Titans do the man on the street thing great. Right. That is like their jam. That's their thing. And it could be awful if not done right, but they do it right.
And remember the one year. The one lady they showed the logos and the one he was like Lightning McQueen and every so yeah, they did that again this year with look-alikes, yeah, and they did a great job finding look-alike people for like Cam Scataboo and Big Dom. Yeah, but like to say when it actually became a thing, I'm not sure, but Everyone's showing off and they're showing out for these releases. Absolutely. See in 2016, pioneered by the Seahawks.
By the Seahawks. That's according to Alan Iverson over here.
Okay.
I got you. AI.
Okay.
Good. I was like, wait, Alan Irveson. Oh, you got me. You got me. But that's kind of, I think, one of the starts of it is the scheduled release social media-wise.
And then after you get through all these videos, I would say I've probably gotten through maybe. I would say about eight or nine teams because now they're lengthy. Like, okay, now they're now starting to become like little short films. And I don't know if I'm ready for the short films of the NFL yet. Like, I love the scheduled release.
Get me to the schedule release. It should be a two-minute limit. I mean, I'm looking at the Chiefs and what they've been able to do. That thing was like eight minutes. The Cowboys, the Cowboys video, the TIA, the Tyler Intelligence Agency.
That was a little over eight minutes. Yeah, a little lengthy. Yeah, that's a short film.
Okay.
You can get an Oscar num for a film about that. I think that's what we're trying to do. Guys are trying to get Emmys over here now. You know what I mean? Like, let's just give them Oscars, give them the awards now.
So I guess, say, look, there you go, NFL. There you go. We just helped you out. BTJ and Jason. We've helped you out.
NFL Honors, make sure you give out the social media award. You can expand it now. Here's another now award at NFL Honors that could be given to one of the 32 teams, their social media teams, and how they break news or how they break the schedule release.
So there you go, you have that. But the one thing I always do, and I I do this every single year. Every single year. when it comes to the schedule. The schedule breakdown for me is always simple.
I've done this as a player. Whether I was in the NFL. College Or even now, as an analyst, I do the same thing. When the schedule is released, I go through what I go through. And when I say go through, it's always want to know these things.
And what I need to know is. First of all, where am I starting in? Where's week one? Am I home? Am I away?
Right, right. And people don't realize, like, oh, the schedule is, oh, you know, you'll get the schedule. You're fine. No, no, no, no, no. Like Here's the week one schedule right here.
Why is it so important? It's important. Because You finally put a face. Till week one. Like You're off season.
Is I'm working to get better. I'm working with my team. I'm working. But all of a sudden, now you've got a face that you're looking forward to see. You know, hey, every time you break it down now.
If I'm looking at the Raiders schedule, right? Obviously, with my team, the Raiders. Curtis, for those who don't know, it is your first time on Disney. Let them know what it is that you do. Oh, as the Raiders color analyst, radio broadcaster for the football team, it's one of those things where now, if you're a player, every time you break it down, you're in the huddle during LTAs and minicams.
Hey, hey, the Dolphins around the corner. The Dolphins around the corner. You see them. Week one, we're going to be ready. Let's go.
Dolphins 03. One, two, three. Dolphins. Because that's the mindset there, because you see it there. Cause you're speaking like, okay.
The Dolphins, that's week one. It's like It's far, but yet it's right here. Opening weekend was September 13th, I believe, is the day of that game. Don't quote me on that. Is it September 13th?
September 13th. Sunday, September 13th. Sunday, September 13th. I mean, we got like five games that week. I'm like, is it the 13th or is it the?
I mean, we got games over on one day or is on a Friday in Australia, but yet it's on a Thursday in the USA. Just sorry, I'm just trying to figure it all out, people. But September 13th, obviously, with the opening Sunday. For a lot of these teams, now you do know who you're playing. You do know the opponent.
You do know what you're striving for. You do know, you know, I can't wait to see them. But you start to put it all together. and you put it together to a point where now you know where you open at. I do always look at: hey, where's the close at?
What are we doing week 18? Where are we? Are we on the road? Are we at home? Usually, week 18 has what?
Playoff implications.
So you want to know: hey, if we're fighting for a playoff spot or a seeding or whatever it may be, who are we going up against? Who do I end with? That's what the schedule I like to see too.
Next thing is what everybody always wants to know. When do I get a break? I think everybody does that with their job. Hey, when's vacation? It's like as soon as you get the schedule for the year, it's like, hey, when's vacation?
When's that? When's that bye week? As soon as you get hired, you get hired somewhere. You're like, hey, when does vacation start? And for the NFL players, I tell you this: when that schedule comes out, when is my bye week?
And obviously you want a much later bye week than an early bye week. And I've had them all. I've had the early bye weeks. I'm talking about bye weeks that come in like week four, week five. And then I've had those late bye weeks that come in the middle of the season.
And you have the extremely late bye weeks like the last of them. And I don't know how the Dallas Cowboys got the last bye week, by the way. Week 14. Yeah, they almost don't have a bye week until Christmas. That's how long they're going to play.
But we got to go a long time without a bye week. Exactly. And depth will be tested. But you always want to know that, especially the guys who, you know, the guys who have big families, right? You always try to have that date, a weekend, to know, hey, hey, there's a weekend that dad doesn't have to be at work or husband doesn't have to go into work.
So you're able to kind of plan something, maybe plan a trip, kind of just rejuvenate a little bit and kind of distance yourself from football and then get back.
So you always don't know when the bye week. That's it. Always know the b bye week. For me always one thing me And I say this because people might say, oh, you're California soft. No, I'm not California soft.
I did play in Buffalo for two years, so I think I got that card. I got a pass.
Okay? But I always wanted to know where am I at the last four weeks of the season. Like, do I need to go get a coat? Because we know, look, September doesn't matter. No matter where you are in the country, the weather's gonna be perfect.
Weather's gonna be fine. September football, everything is great. The grass is green, it smells amazing. Everybody's, you know, it's comfortable.
Some places may be hotter than others, but you don't get the bad weather. But you get into that late December, early January. I need to know where I'm playing at. Am I playing in the snow? Am I going to play in some windy conditions?
Or am I going to play in some temperatures that, you know what? I might need to figure out, I might need to layer up a little bit. Oh, and there's a, but that's just part of football. I get it, but those are also the games that I learned. From family, that hey brother, I'm not coming to see you play.
So you're gonna be on your own with a little bit. Like, either it's a rogue game and you're going to a cold weather city, or if you're playing in a cold weather city in that time of the year. Fans, people, they're like, nah, I'm not gonna come. I'm gonna watch that one. That's one of the games I'm going to watch.
So, those are some of the things I looked at in the schedule. I always loved that part of it. And, you know, we're going to break down the schedule a little bit in the next hour. I can't wait to break down the Raiders schedule and when possibly could Fernando Mendoza. Be taking the field, right?
When you look at that schedule, I got a couple of spots up in there.
So, you got a question? I said, No, that is the big question. That's the big question. That's all we want to talk about all offseason. Yeah, you get to the Raiders facility.
That's people, everybody wants to know. I don't know anything in the competition. I like Kirk Cousins, right? First of all, guys named Kirk are pretty cool.
So, you know, obviously, he's on my team and I like that. But, you know, a guy who I think I would love to really talk to about the schedule. But my guy Rich caught up with him already.
So, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid, Rich Eisen, before I hopped in, he had a chance to talk to Andy Reid. We'll hear that conversation coming up next, right here on the Rich Eisen show. Kirk Morrison's here filling in for Rich. Uh The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. In a world in need of a hero, one man rises to the challenge in style.
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It's great, man, back here on the Rich Eisen show. And so many of your phone calls. I can't wait because is it too early now that we we do have the schedule?
So, is it win-loss game time already? I mean, the only problem is we usually got the schedules printed out. Right. You know, hey. We do have them right here.
Oh, I got them. Oh, you got them? Oh, I got them. I got the schedules right here. I ain't got nothing.
Who am I, though? I'm just in the corner here. 844-204-Rich. 844-204-Rich. If you want to get into the win-loss game.
Because you now you know where your team Is playing, you know, the date, you know, the time.
So we'll have all of that right here: 844-204-Rich. Also, watch us on Disney Plus and the ESPNF. Follow us on Instagram. And ex-Rich Eisen show. Before I got here, Rich had a chance to catch up with the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, none other than Andy Reid.
This man just got handed his 14th schedule. For a regular season as a head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, he is Andy Reed. How are you, Coach Reed? What is going on, man? I'm doing great, Rich.
How are you? I feel this is like, you know, it's a holiday. It's a holiday getting a schedule. It's like, cause it just, the juices begin to flow just even. Thinking about these matchups, what's the first thing you think of when you saw, or you thought of when you saw?
your schedule. Coach. Yeah, so I looked at obviously the first game, which is a great one, great rivalry game with the Denver Broncos. On Monday night, doesn't get any better than that. And then I kind of go through and And glance at where the bye week is.
You're always interested in that. You're interested in the night games that you have and Thursday game, and in our case, a couple of Thursday games, actually back-to-back Thursday games. And then, you know, you, you, um, You know, you go from there.
So it's. Uh it's kind of a neat deal. We're playing uh on Thanksgiving, so uh that's always a a good time, too. Yeah, and so you know, um Again, we're doing this the day after the schedule's out.
So we're just taking a look at it here. When you said you're looking at night games, you're looking at bye weeks, you see two night games and a bye week in the first five weeks. Do you like a week five bye? Coach, you're fine. Yeah, okay.
You know, I'm I'm I'm kind of nutty about that. I just I we're whoever we're playing, we play. Whenever we play, we play them and and then you you go do your thing. I don't get caught up too much on Um you know, what it looks like or doesn't look like. These are all good football teams and at this level and you gotta play him somewhere and so And at some time, and let's get ourselves ready and go.
So, a week five by is something that. What what like what would be the benefit? for a week five by. Sure.
Well, you just came out of a long training camp. You have an opportunity to play four games against good opponents. And so you take that time and you kind of rekindle it up. We get a mini buy there down a little bit further. with the two Thursday back-to-back games before we play the Cincinnati Bengals.
You get a mini buy there for 10 days and to get yourself ready to play against a good team. And you take advantage of those times and get yourself going and ready for the rest of the season. Yeah, and then obviously you got to play them when you play them. But weeks 12 through 14, you mentioned those Thursday nighters. Week 12 is the Thanksgiving game.
And then the league does like to put a Thursday night after Thanksgiving between two teams that play on Thanksgiving.
So it is a regular week's worth complement of rest. in between games for a normally otherwise short week. You're at the Rams on that one, and then you're at Cincinnati the following Sunday. There is a mini buy, but it is still three in a row on the road. I'm sure you've done that before multiple times.
What's the challenges for something like that? Andy? Sure.
Well, they're all good teams. We play Buffalo for the first one. And you've got the Rams, Buffalo, and then you've got Cincinnati.
So they're all three are really good football teams. That to me kind of charges it up. You don't have to say much to the guys about getting fired up.
So it doesn't matter. uh the days are where you play it's uh the teams uh that you're playing are are explosive football teams on both sides of the ball. and special teams for that matter and and uh That fires you up.
So it really doesn't matter. Listen, we'll go play in the McDonald's parking lot. As long as they're giving out cheeseburgers, right? That's right, of course. That's right.
I know that. I know you're not going for the chicken sandwich. That's right, the chicken sandwich or nuggets. That's a good one. I'm calling back some of your commercial work right there.
I picked up on that one.
So, and then you take a look at the schedule and you see how you're finishing. As well. I mean, their last four, you've got the defending AFC champion, New England Patriots, coming to your house on a Monday night. Then you've got San Francisco after that, a visit out here to take on the Chargers before you have Vegas. at home What is the plan about finishing?
I mean, how does one prepare for something like that? Coach, because again, you've been there, you've done that. It's not like you're seeing things for the first time. Yeah. Well, you better be ready.
You better be ready to go all the way through this season. And Um uh you finish with two AFC West opponents, so you better You better not relax. And uh. And those two teams right there. Make sure that you don't do that.
And so that's a positive. The guys see that, they understand it. uh they they know how the season goes it's a long season a lot of things can happen There are always ups and downs, and you just keep pounding forward. Andy Reid here on The Rich Eisen Show. All right, let's get right to it here.
Looking at s weeks one through eighteen. I know we're sitting here in the middle of May. What week do we see Patrick Mahomes as the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs? Andy Reid. No, Richmond.
Oh, yeah. I went there just straight from the door. I walked through the door with you, right through the front door. Yeah, listen, I can tell you, I'm not Confucius at all, but I can tell you that. We're sitting here and I hear people say, well, he's ahead of schedule.
I'm not sure who made who makes a schedule.
So everybody's different. I would tell you, though, that he spent a ton of time here. He's getting better every day. He's not taking any setbacks, and that's what you look for. You're making sure that.
Uh, as you push them, which Julie, our trainer, is doing the real trainer. Actually, if you go back to the commercial, she's a real trainer in the picture, so she's she's pushing them and um. And he wants more. And so. I would tell you he's doing very well, but it's a day-to-day thing.
And as long as he keeps making the progress forward. Maybe you have a chance to see him in the first game. But again, we'll play that as we go.
Well, in my world, where I sit in front of a microphone and talking to people, television, this, that, radio callers and things of that nature, basically outside of your world. The notion that the league, the NFL, and its schedule makers. Put your team. At home Monday night, Denver Broncos defending. AFC West champs in your house in week one means the league believes Patrick Mahomes will be the starting quarterback that night and might have gotten some sort of indication.
Is there anything? Yeah, well, deep down, Roger Goodell wanted to be a physical therapist.
So he said, listen, two of the top quarterbacks in the National Football League need some motivation to get themselves back on the football field. That works.
So let's put them against each other. Let's just put them against each other and we'll see what happens.
So. Here we sit. But we wouldn't want any other way. I don't think Denver would want any other way. This is a great thing.
If the play, if the guys can be there, they're going to be there, and both of them are great competitors, and we'll just see. See where it all goes. What are you? Obviously, you're going to take the cue from, as you mentioned, the trainer, medical staff. Um, and again, this is not your first rodeo on this front either, Andy Reid.
But what are you, what do you want to see? Your eyeball, your gut, your feel. What do you want to see from Mahomes? July, August, so you can feel comfortable taking the advice from the medical staff. Yeah, there's probably a couple that you want to make sure that it's healed.
number one and that he can keep himself out of harm's way as needed. In other words, be able to play the game. And, you know, if you can't do that, then you got to spend more time getting yourself to be able to do that. And we'll keep a close eye on that. And if that decision needs to be made and when it needs to be made, we'll make that.
But um You know, we're we're obviously Not going to just throw him out there to throw him out there and I don't I know his competitive nature is he's going to want to play. And but we've got to we've got to evaluate all that as we go forward. And then you know, last one for you on this. It's new for him, although his healing powers we've seen before, my gosh, that that time on a quarterback sneak where his kneecap wound up on the side of his leg, and I thought his year was over and it was the exact opposite. That said, what are you seeing from him?
In his rehab, when he's around and how he's attacking it, if there's anything different. any sort of sensibility you see from him differently. with a chip on his shoulder about this Injury potentially, you know, it's funny you mentioned that that game that was in Denver, by the way. And uh, and and so he was trying to talk me in at halftime of going back in the game.
So, I mean, that that's how this guy is wired. And it's uh It's a great thing, but at the same time. you know, you got to kind of you got to make sure that it's everything's right. And I wish everybody could see how he's gone about his business and getting himself ready. It's, I mean, it's a pretty impressive deal.
Seven hours in the building every day. Every day he's in here and going and working. And so, but at the same time, he's still got a lot left in his career. You don't want to put them in a bad position there.
So we keep a close eye on it. We've got great people here that do that. our with our trainer rick burkhoral our head trainer our medical staff doctors and and julie is uh i'll put her against any pt in the In the league. I mean, she's a good one. Andy Reid here on the Rich Eises Show.
A few minutes left with the Chiefs head coach. Kurt Signetti in Indiana had a line about his new quarterback from TCU saying that he introduced him to his two new best friends. A running game and a defense. And he winked at the media, and it was really great.
So I want to talk about those two aspects of what might help Mahomes here, right? In his return from injury. The running game, couldn't help but notice the signing, obviously, of the defending Super Bowl MVP and Kenneth Walker the third and the last thousand-yard rusher. You've been. Fortunate enough to field was Kareem Hunt in his first season.
Uh in the pros back in 2017, how much Should Chiefs fans expect to see? your new free agent running back run the football. Coach? Yeah, he's a, I'll tell you, he's a heck of a player. What a great year he had.
And the and the Seattle Seahawks, what a great year they had.
So we were very excited to get him on board. Brett Veach and his crew did a great job of getting him here along with Ken's agent. They orchestrated this thing to where he could be a Kansas City chief. And heck, we'll utilize him. I mean, that's a.
He's a great thing to add to great addition to the offense. I think he's excited to be here. He's been here every day during the OTAs, working his tail off. I think he you know, he's really looking forward to the opportunity of playing. And so, you know, I guess we'll have to use him, Rich.
But more than we're than we've accustomed to maybe see. Um you run the football or dedicate um to running the football on a week to week basis? Yeah, so we'll utilize them. We utilize Kareem. I was lucky to have.
Some pretty good running backs when I was in Philadelphia, and we utilized those guys. And Pacheco came up a couple yards short of a thousand yards.
So I know, listen, when you go to BYU, Rich, it's like going to Michigan, except even a little bit better, right?
So I went to BYU. To BYU, we get tagged. We're not into tattoos, but if we have a tattoo, it would say pass game, right? You know, yes, right over our heart, right over the heart, and that's what we'd have.
So, but. Um Anyways, we'll run the ball. We're going to try to do whatever we can to score points. Doggone. I mean, they're hard to come by in this league.
If we have to throw it, we'll throw it. If we have to run it, we'll run it. Heck, if we can do both good, we'll do both good. And obviously, if you get the points and you stop the other team, that's how you get wins. I could not help but notice the first four draft choices for the Kansas City Chiefs this year, all on the defensive side of the ball, starting with Mansour Delaine, who you traded up to go get.
What do you like about this kid and the others that you got? defensively that might Give Spagnolo a few more. Uh arrows in his quiver. Coach. Yeah, we lost a few of the secondary players to free agency and And trade so Um, bringing him in uh gives us a legitimate corner there to go along with the guys that we have here, but um, a very good uh corner, he was.
tremendous at the college level and we anticipate he'll do the same. Same here and Spags utilizes those guys and and uh relies on them too. And then, with our, we've got a defensive tackle, a defensive end. I mean, we've got some nice additions that we can add in there. We're lucky enough to have.
A couple um you know, first round picks so that we we were able to put some people in place there that SPAGs will use. And I'm sure you know coaches don't look gift horses. In the mouth, and you've got an all-time great thoroughbred, and Travis Kelsey's deciding to continue to play.
So I'll ask you the question about him this way. Why do you think He came back to play. Why do you think he's still out there?
Well, I think he loves the game. That's what I think. And he still can play. And so those things help. But he surely didn't want to leave on the year that we had.
I mean, that's not... He made that clear right after the season.
So he. He wanted to come back and, you know, we worked out. His contract, where his contract was up, so we had to redo the contract and. That part worked out, and here we sit.
So, look forward to having him here. He's been up here and doing his thing. I think he's excited to be here. Did he call you personally to say, hey, this is going down? I'm coming back.
Did he give you a ring? Would you? Yeah, he didn't have it. We talked about right on the day after the season.
So, and he's, he told me, he says, listen, I'm, we get this thing worked out. I'm, I'd love to be back.
So we dug in on that. And, and then, um, Here he is, you know. And we all love Travis. He's a. He's a chief and we appreciate him and it's amazing.
I wish I... I wish I had that energy now. I'm not sure I had the energy when I was his age.
So, I mean, this guy wants to fight you if you take him out of the game or take him out of practice or anything else. Oh, we saw that in the Super Bowl, coach. We saw that.
Well, that's what I'm saying. But I'd much rather have it that way.
So. You know, I'd much rather have it that way. I don't like guys that want to. duck out of the game. I want him to Cherish being in there and cherish every play, and that guy does it better than anybody.
Well, last one for you before I let you go, and I appreciate the time here. Again, not to cause you to be introspective or. Put you in that direction since that's not usually maybe your default. But this is year 14 for you in Kansas City, the same number of years. You coached the Philadelphia Eagles.
When you hear that, what do you think? I'm old. 28 years as a head coach, man. That's like dog years, right? No, you're grizzled.
You're not old, man. No, I know, but I love it. You're a little bit. That's right. I love every minute of it.
I put a Tommy Bahamas shirt on, go to work, and enjoy it, man. I get to be around these young guys, and they keep me young and. Uh, at heart, and then when I'm doing shows like this, and I have to look at myself in this camera right here, I go, Dog, man, you look great. We got to get you a more high-definition camera. Don't worry about it.
We can put a filter on you, we could do that sort of thing. Don't worry about it. But in all seriousness, though, I remember when Hongren was a coach of Seattle longer than he was in Green Bay, where you know, you obviously were an assistant, and I'm like, Man. Like you're almost at that point in time. Of your career in Kansas.
Yeah, we're tied. We'll be tied this year.
So 14 Philly, 14 here. Listen, I'm excited. There's one when you think about this, Rich, we're one out of 32 guys in the whole world that have a chance to do what we're doing. as head coaches and that's an honor i mean and so i cherished every day of it i have since i was in philadelphia i cherished it when i was a tight end coach for the green bay packers and quarterback coach for the green bay packers and loved every minute of it and now here i'm sitting doing this thing so um every day is uh um is something and you got highs and lows in it but that's that's all part of life we're we're just a microcosm of life and You come in and you... You duke it out, you challenge yourself, you challenge guys around you, they challenge you, and here we go, man.
And you try to. work off of each other's you know whatever your strength is rich you're going to cover up my weakness and vice versa and let's go Let's put it together. Coach, thanks for the time. Appreciate you. Appreciate always when you are kind enough to accept the invitation to come here.
And I look forward to the next time already. Thank you. You betcha, man. You do a great job. Right back at you.
Thank you. That means the world. That's Andy Reid, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. That the great Andy Reid, man. And one of my great Andy Reed story of all time is that here I am, 2005.
I'm at the Combine. And I'm doing all the visits. Uh with the teams. And it can be intimidating. And here I am.
You know, just a young guy just trying to make it, just hoping to get drafted. And I walk into these little tiny rooms in Indianapolis when they had the combine at the old RCA dome. And we stayed in a hotel across the street. One of those meetings I had was with the Philadelphia Eagles. I walk into the room And when I walk into the room, I'm talking about this small room, it probably couldn't be, it almost felt like a closet with every like Phil like Philadelphia Eagles staff member in there.
Mm-hmm. And then they kind of lead you to like. almost like a godfather movie type of type of intro. And so they lead you to a room. Trust me, there's no lighting in there, being poor lighting.
And then you they walk you to the table. and you sit down but before you sit down You look And Andy Reid is sitting down. Then he starts to rise. And he keeps rising and he keeps rising, and he finally is his foot. And I'm like, okay, this is really Andy Reid.
Sticks his hands out. Hey, I'm Andy Reid. head coach Philadelphia Eagles and I'm like I know who you are. I'm Kirk Wars. And it's like Steve Spagnolo, static X2.
It was just crazy just thinking about that moment for me. But that's like my Andy Reid story that I always love.
So every time I see him, I reminded it because he. He was supposed to select me with the pick in that second round, and he didn't do it. And I let them know about it every day. Let them know. Yep.
You know who he drafted? Yeah, my best friend.
So it's like, yeah, it's all good, though. Hey, things worked out for a reason.
So, but great to have Andy Reid on the show. And obviously, we got the timeline of what we expect. And we'll come back and kind of dissect that just a little bit because he did give us some Mahomes news there. Yep. So, do we expect him sooner rather than later?
We'll discuss that next, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Need parts fast? O'Reilly Auto Parts has fast. Need them now?
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Alright, Lee. Auto parts. Rich Eisen here. You ever notice what happens when something big rolls into your city? A major tournament, a can't-miss concert, a high-stakes playoff game.
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Because I was getting ready for dinner at the Super Bowl that year. It was 2018, right? 2018?
So getting ready for a dinner amongst colleagues. And This is the day and age that we're in now. It's crazy. It was eight years ago, the 2018. Yeah.
And everyone's phone started just going off. Boom, boom, boom. Like everybody's notifications, like, what is going on? It was a Tuesday as well. Tuesday.
It was a Tuesday night. That's all I remember. It was a Tuesday night. We're all getting ready for dinner. We're all walking in.
I think a lot of NFL guys and a couple of agents and general managers. We're all, you know, just having a good time. And everybody's phone literally just starts going crazy. And we all sit down and we read the the the notification. The Kansas City Chiefs are trading quarterback Alex Smith.
to the Washington Commander was like, wait, what? I mean, we're in the Super Bowl. This is the Chiefs. They come off a playoff appearance, and they're going to make this trade for one. Patrick Mahomes will now be the starter.
They trade away Alex. Patrick becomes a starter, and how crazy, like the rest is history. The rest is history. Fast forward to where we are right now, currently. And so it makes you think.
Because I look at this scheduled release, and everyone's saying, like, oh man, the Denver. Broncos, they open up against this team and that team. And they play of what is it, like seven of eight or seven teams last year that made the playoffs. I kind of laugh and say, but Do we not consider the Kansas City Chiefs a playoff team?
Now, look, I get it, people. I know. They went 6-11. Yeah, they didn't make the playoffs. But I feel like for a team that went 6-11.
We sure do carry them with the weight of a playoff team, right? And the Denver Broncos have to play them twice. They open up, obviously, here's the schedule. They open up on September 14th, that Monday night game, versus Denver.
So Denver comes to Kansas City. And then you have the rematch a little bit later on in week number eight. But I just think it's hilarious when I see the schedule people Or the people who talk about the schedule and say, well, this team is playing against X amount of teams that made the playoffs last year. Do you not consider the Kansas City Chiefs one of those teams that? could have been a playoff team had Patrick Mahomes been healthy.
Are the Detroit Lions not a team that even though they didn't make the playoffs, but aren't they playoff type worthy?
So I always laugh at how we look at last year's teams that made the playoffs and you really think that are they going to be those same types of teams? It's crazy. The teams there's going to be a team or two that don't make the playoffs from last year. That's just part of the way the NFL works. I just don't know when I'll see Patrick Mahomes.
Will we see him at the beginning of the season, middle of the season, or end of the season? We don't know. I mean, These injuries The ACLs, I feel like when you used to have the ACL, you were done for like what, a year, year and a half.
Now, dudes is done and they come back in six months. Boom! Like, I'm from ACL, ACL, like, oh, yeah, go ahead, put some robot testing on. You'll be all right about six months. You know what I mean?
Like, I'm looking at Michael Parsons over there doing beach workouts already. I'm like, dude, you just toured like, what, five months ago? And he's already back. Doing workouts and doing workouts. I think that's what this season's really about right now.
And Tussin is a miracle, Cure. It is. It's a cure.
Some Tussin and ginger ale. Those are the two mixes that you put those together, all of a sudden, the body just feels so much. But I mean, I think when you look now moving forward, that's going to be what this season's about: when Patrick Mahomes, because. I think Bo Nicks as well. I mean, you know, I'll give Bo Nicks his credit as well.
I mean, there's a guy that should have been starting that AFC championship game. But took his team into a division championship last year.
So the reigning division champions is Boatnicks, and then you got a team that we think can get back to where they once were after going on an almost three-peat just a couple of seasons ago in the Kansas City Chiefs. But it's all predicated on Patrick Mahomes' health. And I get it, Andy Reid, this team went all defense, all defense, but we know. As long as you've got number 15, you've got an opportunity and you've got a chance.
So I consider them a team that, yeah, they're probably a playoff team. I'll be real with you. Probably a playoff team this year. Just except when they play against the Raiders.
Now, I don't want to see all that, okay? I'd rather, hey, is it Justin Fields or is it Patrick Mahomes? I'm going to go with Fields first. You know what I'm saying? Let Patrick heal up.
Make sure he's doing all that. Make sure he heals up. But that's a big storyline going into the 2026 season. For the NFL, is when will Patrick Mahomes be ready to go? The only people who know that is Andy Reid and obviously Patrick Mahomes.
The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
