Are roll batteries the same? Yeah. That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that?
No, just him.
Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell. Remember, GOATs only trust GOATs because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracel.
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Now, on with the show. Uh Pump up the volume. This is the Rich Eisen Show with guest host, WWE superstar Seth Rollins. God, I love that guy. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Today's guests. Super Bowl champion quarterback Joe Theisman. Apple TV MLS play-by-play announcer Max Pretos. Comedian Brad Williams. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Seth Rollins.
Yo Oh, guys, we're back. Yes, we're back. All right. Nearly a year removed from the scene of the crime. The last time I was in this chair, I had a knee brace on.
Yeah, you did. There were crutches hiding out over there somewhere. I was hobbling around here, lying my face off to you guys. We were like literally asking you how you're feeling and your mentals were. Mental health.
Yeah, we were making sure you were just all right as a person, not even in your day job. Is he on painkillers? Yeah, yeah. I still feel bad about it. I'm not going to lie.
But the end product, come on. Come on. You've got to admit. It was, look, the juice was worth all the squeeze. Absolutely.
But at the end of the day.
So there's no hard feelings. No hard feelings. Happy to be along for that ride, that ruse of the century. It was fantastic. Glad you're in good health and good spirits today.
Today. And we are still on the track for SummerSlam this year as well. Different setup, though. No injury, no ruse, straight up fight. Me, Roman Reigns.
Let's go. The World Heavyweight Championship. If you watch Monday Night Raw this past week, we made it official. I threw out the challenge. He accepted the challenge.
We are on the road to SummerSlam, Minneapolis, at the beginning of August. I'm pretty hyped. I'm hyped. I don't know how you guys feel, but I'm hyped about it. I'm just glad your daughter doesn't have to lie to anyone.
You know what I mean? Teachers, friends. Yeah, she doesn't have to see this boy this year. She just gets to be along for the ride as well. You know what?
Funny thing about that, actually, she's really now, she's five and a half, she's really getting into it. Like, she's getting into the wrestling. She likes it. Like, she likes to be out there. Like, this past Monday, she had her little headphones on, and she's sitting off to the side of the stage when I make my entrance.
And she likes to tell people that daddy wins and who daddy's wrestling and all that stuff. Vice versa. You know, she likes that too. One thing that I want to say here. She, I have to get this in.
She. I've been wrestling Brawnbreaker a lot lately. My daughter refers to Braunbreaker. As the little guy. The little guy.
Wow. Broadbreaker, if he's listening right now, or if this makes it to him, he's going to be so angry at my five-year-old daughter. But yeah. What is the genesis of that? I think just look, he is slightly shorter than me.
And I think she just, you know, she saw us like, you know, standing next to each other. And she doesn't understand, like, you know, like, he's massive this way, right? Width and thickness. Yeah, like 250 pounds of pure man muscle. He's not a little guy, but she just saw the height and it's just goes.
Oh, the little guy. Daddy's going to fight the little guy again. That's amazing. That's amazing. I saw Becky had just.
Incredibly funny interview with Stephanie McMahon, and she was saying how Rude doesn't know your wrestling name. That's right. She knows her mom is Becky Lynch, but she was like, ask what's dad's name. And she's like, I don't know. And then I guess Cody.
God announced On TV, it was on the background, and she was like, That's my dad. Is that how it went down? That is how it went down. She heard the name as Becky was watching the show one of the days, and she heard the name. She's Cody Rhodes, that's my daddy.
That's a whole different conversation. A can of worms, we do not need to open up at all. But yeah, never been to paternity tests, none needed. I mean, she does look bro. It's like you copy and pasted your face.
Yeah, I was gonna say, that is my kid for sure, no doubt about it. As my wife says, if you lose her, somebody would return her to me, you know.
So, so that's that's my world, that's where I'm living right now. And ask for me personally to be a part of that, like Brockman said, you know, how my love for wrestling is.
So, yeah, to have even a small part, I was just mad that we didn't get into the unreal. Uh, episode, I know, because that was my biggest like disappointment. Was like, because I thought we played such a big part in it because every you guys were the first, you were the first time anybody saw me after the Saturday Night's main event, yeah. And I had the video of you, I kind of snuck a video of you walking, like, yeah, he's got the brace on, and the one thing I Do regret is I was going to ask you before you left that day. It's like, when you're done with the brace, can I have it and put it in studio?
And then the brace became so iconic. I'm like, oh, crap, there's no way we'd get that in here. Yeah, I was so impressed by my ability to just take that thing off so quickly when I did at SummerSlam Last. Yeah, which is just like boop, yeah. Yeah, I was so weak because I didn't rehearse it at all.
There was no rehearsal. I stayed because I stayed on a bus the whole day. I was, you know, sequestered. And so I didn't really rehearse it. I didn't, nothing was, I just went out there and winged it.
I had an idea of what I wanted to do. You know, I was envisioning Forrest Gump. Running as a child, he was running, like even the hands out and the drop, none of that, none of that was rehearsed at all. I had a discussion with my producer for that segment, who's uh former wrestler Bobby Rood, and Bobby's fancy yes, glorious. And he, Bobby's idea, was to do the drop, but we didn't know how it was going to come out.
Like, we didn't like again, no rehearsal or anything like that.
So, I, yeah, I had this cool vision of it all going properly, and it could not have gone smoother, to be fair. Yeah, it was, you know, as a longtime fan, even if someone didn't watch like that moment when the music hit the crowds popping. Oh, it was epic. You come walking out, and in the back of your mind, you're thinking, all right, he's just letting them know that I'm still here because you turned around to walk away, and then when you stopped. Wow.
I'm getting goosebumps right now, thinking about it, reliving it in my mind, and then everything that happened that led up to it, and you being here. Amazing.
Well done. As we said before at the time, 10 out of 10. Yeah. And I definitely got some new Twitter followers after, and I asked them, we asked about your mentals, and people were in the comments saying how good of a person I was because I went. And I was like, sure, sure, I'll take that.
I appreciate it. I appreciated it all the way through. Anybody that had to suffer the wrath of that lie, I really appreciated it. Let me just blanket statement to everybody out there, you guys included. I appreciate it.
It's history. SummerSlam's good for me. I've had a lot of really, really great moments at SummerSlam.
So hopefully we can get another one this year when I can dethrone the tribal chief one more time. I don't want to take us off base here, but definitely before the show's over, we got to dive into Monday night and your challenge because that was a moment. We'll get into it. I think we should get into it. We should get into some other stuff, though.
What else we got, Brock? What's going on?
Well, look, story of the day. We've been talking a lot about it. The World Cup has just been tremendous. Five stars. Across the board.
All the superstars in the football world are showing up and showing out so far. And then last night, U.S. men's national team, Bosnia-Herzevinia, up in Santa Clara. Team, the U.S. team does its thing.
Two nothing victory, first knockout stage win since 2002. Wow. Moving on to face Belgium this Monday in Seattle. It was Absolutely epic. A late goal in the first half, one in the second half.
And USA, not Team USA, it's a U.S. men's national team. Moving on, cannot wait.
However, Is going to be without Superstar striker. Uh Balogun, who got a red card in the second half. Very controversial. It was very controversial. Very controversial because there was a play that Messi had earlier, very similar play.
Didn't even get a yellow. Nothing. And Balogan gets a red card, ejected. Rules state, must sit out the next game. Cannot appeal.
No appeals. No appeal process either. Wow. So U.S. men's national team is going to be out one of their best players on Monday, but.
Did not stop them from moving on last night. And I don't know about you guys. I had a driveway watch party with my neighbors. We were hyped. It was awesome.
It was so cool to see. And did you guys watch it? What were your thoughts? Yeah. I mean, how about you, sir?
So I have been in Europe for the past month.
So we've been, our time schedules have been all off for these games. Last night was the first time I was home. I got to sit down. On schedule and watch one of the games. And I was fascinated.
I was fascinated. It was an extremely hard-fought game. The goals were not. Easy for the U.S. national team at all.
And that red card, I mean, because I've got a group chat, I got some buddies who were, you know, getting after it every single game. They were here for the duration. They were losing their minds about that red card. And Rich, I saw online too. Rich was very upset about the red card.
The fact that there's no appeals process for that is crazy. Crazy. But because FIFA, they used the VAR like nobody's business, right? Like all the time.
So clearly, they want to get this thing right. They went and looked at it. And the fact that you can't appeal it after seems like, okay, why are we drawing the line here? You know what I mean? Why stop?
So I don't know, but it was very questionable. And to lose Baligan for another game, ah, that's going to be the killer. But at least, I mean, they got another score. They got it done. They got another score when they were down a man on the free kick, which was, woo, baby.
Still, man, that was impressive. What a shot. Yeah. But there was a goal. I forget who scored it, and then they.
Disallowed the goal because it was Balogan.
Okay. And they showed like the line, and it was just like. I get it. Like, i if I don't understand it. I take that back.
I said, I get it. I don't get it. That's the thing. I don't claim to be the most knowledgeable about soccer, but it just seemed like it was a game or an inch off. You know, it's happened in a few other matches this year.
You know, offsides, they go to the VAR. It's almost like the Hawkeye and tennis or what we're doing for the first down marker in the NFL. They have that imaginary line and it goes right down the line. And if any part of your body, you know, I think Iran had a goal overturned because of the tip of his toe was over the line. Like it was the Kevin Durant situation.
If he wore a 12 and a half instead of a 13, you know, it would have been a goal. His arm was just over. You know, it's not great for the casuals. We don't really understand. It's like, come on.
Yeah. Offsides. Play defense. Score. Let him cherry pick.
Who cares? Because I was about to argue that, and I was like, that would be like someone saying, well, I don't understand his foot went out of bounds, but there's a line you can see in foot basketball and rackball. I can't see that line. Yeah, it is hard. I mean, and it's not like you get.
You know, like football, if you're on the goal line, you just usually get another chance. You know what I mean? Like the ball stays there. It's not like they get another chance right there to just do the thing again. You're offside.
It's actually a penalty. You lose possession. You know, it sucks. It's painful. And those goals, they're not often.
Like that happens. I mean, you're sitting there just watching the ball do this. For minutes and hours.
So when they get a goal, I mean, that's a big deal. Yeah, and then the other U.S. men's team matches. Gotten off to hot starts. Scored a lot, four goals in the first game, multiple goals in the first half in some of the other games.
This was an ugly, ugly batch. We kind of had to muddy it up and ugly it up a little bit, and they were able to battle and hang tough, play good defense, get a score on, and just kind of hold on to it, even man down, add a goal. I thought that was super impressive. And look, I know one of your best players is going to be out. Got to be riding high, got to be feeling great, you know, going into the round of 16 match.
I hope so. The U.S. has never got through the round of 16. Is that correct? Correct.
Never gotten that. No, I've never gotten past it. Oh, baby. Yeah. Ooh, baby.
It's awesome. We're not huge soccer fans. And I think people that are looking at our YouTube videos are picking up on that. But we do appreciate the game. We are having a game.
We appreciate it. And we're learning. Probably should have learned this years ago.
Some of my best friends played soccer all through college. But I Football is always going to be king here, right? But I think this might be the moment that kind of gives a little bit more of a shift now because. These games, people are just loving this so much. And they're going to be moms who don't want their sons to play football.
I think they're going to maybe encourage them to play soccer after watching this. I think this is going to do so much for the game of soccer here in America. Of course, it's never going to take over football, but I feel like. It's definitely going to boost up soccer. Yeah, it might be the boost that they were hoping the 94 World Cup here kind of was.
And it just kind of took a while to get going. But look, MLS is having great success. Great worldwide players are coming over here to play now. You can see that with David Beckham kind of started it, and Zlatan, and now Messi. And I just think.
Say it every time, maybe we're just caught up in the moment, but this has been the greatest World Cup I can remember just in terms of star power performing like we've never seen with Mbappe and Messi in Holland, et cetera, down the line. And then just the performance of the U.S. men's national team. So, super psyched, super enjoying it. Excited to kind of build on my soccer fandom and knowledge and all of that.
And, like, can't wait for Monday. Yeah, Monday. That's the next one for the U.S. team, right? Yeah, Monday, 5 Pacific, 8 Eastern in Seattle.
Yeah, Ken. Great. God, I will be working. No, I get working. That's right.
You got stuff to do on Monday. Where is Raw on Monday? It's in Chicago. Oh, home game. Not only do you have to work, you've got a big day at work.
We've got to hustle. Yeah, we got to hustle. That's one of the top cities for you. But here's the bracket right now. I'm looking at it.
This is, yeah, this is, I mean. Yeah, so Spain and Austria is today 3 Eastern noon local here in LA at SoFi Los Angeles Stadium. And then Portugal and Croatia. Man, Portugal has not looked great. Ronaldo taking a lot of heat.
Did have a couple of goals in his last outing, but. Could be a potential, you know, big showdown. Spain, Portugal, maybe next round, U.S. We get through Spain in the quarters. Could you imagine?
Oh, baby. I would love to see it. I mean, I think anytime a host country gets an opportunity to shine like this, especially, I mean, the U.S. has been. Look, they've been a doormat for soccer internationally for a long time.
So to have something like this when when They're playing kind of on their home turf a lot of these games. That's really exciting. That's great for the sport. I think you guys mentioned it. It's great for the sport here in the United States.
But I think it's also just it's. It's cool. Globally, I think to see, and this would be anywhere. If they were doing this anywhere, if it was held in France and the French team was awesome, which they are, it would be cool.
So, I just think it's an awesome thing. It's great for the sport, it's great for the game globally. No doubt, it's fantastic. It's fantastic. And I think one of the things is social media, right?
94, we didn't have it. It's bringing everyone.
So, now you're getting to see more things in like. The foreigners coming to America and going on food tours. It's been so, so entertaining, right? That alone is bringing people together. Getting a case of that American gluttony, baby.
People love. I don't love, I don't even like ranch, let alone love ranch, but the ranch fascination is amazing. And so, social media, the videos, everything bringing people together, making it more viewable and being able to take in by more people. I think that's why the boom could happen. Yeah, I think that's, yeah, we're getting to, I mean, it's what it's 250 years, too.
We're celebrating the country and everybody's in here. And now we're just discovering ranch dressing, all of its delights. And they don't know that their food is way better than our food. Way better. We got some good stuff.
Free refills. But yeah, so we're going to take a break. When we come back. We got a guest. Who is a Super Bowl champion?
Yeah, he is. Great quarterback, probably the greatest Washington commander quarterback to ever play the game. Joe Theisman. Coming up next. Um I can't wait to talk to him.
Let's get after it, guys. Let's get started. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan.
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This is an amazing photo. If you're just joining us back on ESPN Radio, SiriusXM, Channel 80, we are here with the great Joe Theisman, and we are looking at a photograph of him with the late, great Andre the Giant. And I am just in awe of this photograph because he's holding Andre the Giant is holding Joe Theisman, who again is a full-grown human being. I see him as a child. Andre's hand, his fingers are massive.
His head is like two times the size of Joe's head. This is an incredible photograph. And Joe, you were just telling us that the Washington football franchise was trying to sign Andre the Giant to just block. Kicks and punts. They just wanted him to stand there and put his big old mitt in the air and try to make the kick harder.
That's correct. Yeah, George got a hold of Vince McMahon and said, hey, I want to do this. And so Vince, obviously the ultimate promoter, said, okay, fine, come to New York. And this is the shot that we did. And that's my leopard, my leather jacket made of patchwork leather that I don't have anymore.
Wouldn't fit me anyway. But I mean, it was, I look at that photo sometimes and I just sort of laugh. And it just, I think of the big people in the world today, in the world of athletics specifically. And then I think of this man. And just a giant.
I mean, I watched a documentary on him, and it's just when you're that big, life can't be easy. Where do you sleep? How do you fly? Remember, the planes that were flown at that time didn't have the accommodations for people as big as he was.
So he lived a tough life. I was lived in Montreal. And of course, I played three years in Toronto.
So the Canadian aspect was interesting to me. But yeah, I was when George asked me to do it, I said, absolutely. Like I said, I've been a wrestling fan forever. That's amazing. That is that's so that's cool.
You the other thing you said in that conversation that I that I can't just ignore is you said you played racquetball, right? With Wilt Chamberlain. Is that this correct? Yeah, when I lived in California, I used to play racquetball with Wilt, but that was another thing that was phenomenal. Again, a big man, incredible athlete.
He used to stand in the middle of the court. You couldn't hit it around him. You couldn't hit it over him. You know, the best thing you could do is hit it at him and hope he didn't hit it back at you. I was going to say, that seems like that's his game.
Like, he's so like running around a flagpole. You just, there's this statue in the middle of the court, and you, where do you go? What do you do? And I mean, I've been blessed to meet some incredible people, but these are the two experiences with big people that I've had that have been so much fun. Like I said, I love.
I love what you do. Absolutely love it, man. People talk about you guys, they talk about athletes in this world. You got a whole bunch of them, and you're one of them. I appreciate that.
Thank you very much. Yeah, I fancy myself a bit of an athlete. You know, I don't know. I've seen what you do. But yeah, thank you very much.
All right, Joe, let's check football because that's your name. That's your game. Football and golf. Let's talk about that. Football and golf.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And golf. We'll get to the golf for sure. Where we're going into this season, right now we're in this lull part of the season, right, where we're just chilling, waiting for training camp to get started.
What are your memories of this part of the year for you as a player kind of getting ready to go for the next season? I was always antsy. A lot of guys like to take this time off, maybe take a month or six weeks off just to get away from the game. I couldn't. I'm a football, I was a football junkie.
I'm a football junkie today. I'm a competition junkie. I think that's why we enjoy the things that we do. People say, well, why don't you retire? Why don't you do this?
No, I love to compete. And even this time of year, I'd still go out to the park three days a week. We had a place called quote-unquote Redskin Park, we used to train at. I'd still go out there and I'd still find somebody to throw the ball to, find somebody to run routes with, or just get a startup touch football game, whatever it was, just to be able to continue to work on my trade. I don't think you can work on any trade and then take six weeks to two months off completely and still try and keep an edge because you wanted to be as good as you could going into training camp.
And back when I played, we had six preseason games. And we were in, I used to go to training camp, right? I would be heading for training camp right now. Right now, they just finished their mini camps. I'd be going to training camp right now.
We had six preseason games and 14 regular season games.
So the things were a little bit different then.
So you had to sort of keep your edge.
So there wasn't a whole lot. There was an offseason if you didn't get to the championship or play into the playoffs. I just tried to stay as sharp as I could during that period of time. Wow, that's fascinating. I love that.
I love that work ethic, boys. That kind of inspires me a little bit right there. I like that, man. Six preseason games. Wow.
That's intense. What was the why? Why so many preseason games at that time? Do you remember? It's just the way the schedule was set up.
It's the way the league had set it up. And of course, we went from six to four.
Now we're four to three.
Soon they'll go to two. But this is the problem I see without having preseason games. First of all, it would be like you going into a ring in wrestling. but never having a chance to wrestle against anybody to warm up. Yeah.
When you put the uniform on and you start hitting people. It's a lot different than running around in shorts and a cap. and sneakers or cleats, whatever it might be. When you get hit, things change.
So all of a sudden now you've got guys that have not been hit. The starters won't play any of the preseason games.
So the only time they're really going to get hit is the beginning of the season. And I've sort of always looked at the first two, possibly three games of the regular season now. with the way it's set up as real glorified preseason games. And coaches, how do you evaluate somebody in a pair of shorts? How do you know how good they are?
How do you know how they handle a hit? How do you know how they can take a hit? You just don't know those things. They're all unanswered questions until the season starts. And that's one of the things that I don't like about the fact that they don't have a chance to be able to play some preseason.
Because, like I said, you're looking at people, but over a very short period of time, let's take the Cleveland Browns as an example. And they got five quarterbacks. How do you divide up the work? to give somebody a chance to show what they can do. But on the other side of that, It makes every decision you make, every play you run.
So vitally important to whether you're going to be there or not, or possibly be the starter. Wow. That is fascinating. Yeah, yeah, that's very, you know what? That's a good point you made about getting ready because I mean, that's how I feel when it comes to getting in the ring.
I feel like I need to be in practice all the time. And I know people look at WWE and they go, Oh, it's a year-long. Like, you guys have no offseason. And I'm like, yeah, I'm kind of like, Joe, I like the work. You know, I like it.
I like to be. I mean, this is you, you love football, right? This is what you live and breathe. And so I'm the same with wrestling.
So it's, it, it, sure, sometimes everything feels like work, right? But sure. It's what we love. It's what we're passionate about.
So, even if we're not doing it, we're thinking about it, you know? And so, I get that, but you need that. You need those reps. I understand that. That's a cool perspective, man, especially coming from someone who had six preseason games.
You're like, Yeah, let's go, let's get after it. I appreciate that. So, let's see. The other thing, too, we didn't have the training program, we didn't train 12 months a year. I was on the oldest football team in football at that time.
You know, the Washington football team, we had the oldest guys in the league. George Allen had bought a bunch of guys from the Rams. George believed in not making mistakes. If we didn't make mistakes, We could win games. That's why he chose to run the football a lot with Billy Kilmer.
Billy was sort of the guy.
Sonny threw the ball around, used to drive George crazy. And I believe that the ultimate win for George Allen would have been a 2-0 football game. It means the defense scored, the offense didn't screw up. That would have been nirvana for him. But it was like, you know, so we used basically those six games.
For the guys that were on that football team in particular, as basically the training session. We used training camp, yes, but this was how they got in shape. This is the way they got themselves in shape, was through the course of playing games. It's like golf, for example. The way you get better, you don't get better hitting balls on the range.
You don't get better chipping. You don't get better at putting. It helps your game, but the way you get better is to go out on the course. and deal with the elements and deal with the decisions that you have to make. And that's basically what the preseason became for us.
It was a question of making decisions. During that period of time, to be able to understand what the defenses are trying to do to you, what your offense is all about. What are the players around you like? How good are they? What are their assets?
What are they good at? What are they not good at? All those different things you can only do by being in, I think, the environment as you are. Yes, yes, yes.
So let's look ahead a little bit to the 2026, 27 season. What are some things that you're looking at? Maybe some teams that you're looking at who are going to be playing in January, in February, maybe some players, maybe some quarterbacks, maybe one from Chicago that I'm really quite fond of. Just give us your thoughts on the season and where we're at and what you're expecting, what you're excited for.
Well, let's start with Caleb. Let's start with Chicago. I mean, that seems dear to your heart, right? I think he had a heck of a year last year, but it shows you the impact of a coach. And it shows the impact of growth in a year.
Very talented guy coming out of school, extremely talented. Run around, make plays, did it last year at the end of the year. Matter of fact, the Chicago Bears at the end of last season looked an awful lot like the Washington Commanders the year before. Last four or five games of the season, they were heartbumpers. I mean, the suspense was unbelievable.
It was down to the last minute. It was a play here, a play there. And now the year is, now it's got to be more consistent. I think with Caleb, the discipline that Ben has brought there and the teaching process and the learning process, and I've told this to many people: the quarterback position, as in anything, is a process. Every snap you take in practice, every game you play, you have to learn something from.
And we saw him get better and better and better as the year went on, got the ball out of his hands more, didn't have to run around as much.
Now, another year in this system, I expect him to be quite good. And that's a really good football team in that division. I think the Arizona Cardinals. You know, they got a friend, you know, one of my guys, Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame, has gone there with their number one pick. Will Jacoby Brissette be able to do the things he needs to do as a quarterback?
But the one that one of the really intriguing ones to me is Kyler Murray up to Minnesota. What's Kevin going to do? What's he going to be able to do with Kyler? In a system that has to suit him. He's not the biggest guy in the world.
Throwing the ball in the middle of the football field is not easy. He made a living in Arizona running around and running for his life.
So, what's going to happen up in Minnesota?
Now, JJ has an advantage because he's been in the system. But so Kyler's going to have to apply himself. And I'm really curious to see exactly what happens. And of course, in Pittsburgh. You know, with Mike McCarthy and Aaron being married back up together, and what are they going to be able to do?
And of course, near and dear to my heart are the Washington commanders. had a heck of a year with injury last year. Jaden did, but I believe he's going to come back with a vengeance. I know that this football team realizes that they didn't play anywhere near the standard that they want, that the coach wants or that the fans want. And this is a great opportunity for them to be able to.
It's a bounce back season. And so those are some of the things I'm looking at. But we got 10 new head coaches. A third of the league has new head coaches. Three of them in one division, I believe, the AFC North.
Have three new head coaches.
So, you know, people moving around, people getting opportunities. And I can tell you something: when you take over an organization and you're the head coach. You want to be the term head coach really doesn't apply. I think you're a head administrator. Because you have your assistants and that's the biggest key who do you hire as assistants Who's going to deliver the messages that you want the guys to understand?
You do it in a team meeting. But yet in the breakout meetings How are they going to be able to implement the systems both offensively, defensively? And of course, you can't ignore the special teams aspect of it.
So new head coaches, new players in different places, new quarterbacks in different places. Of course, Miles Garrett going to the Rams. All of a sudden, everybody says, oh, Rams are going to be playing a home game.
So far is the home of the Super Bowl 61. The Rams are going to be, they're going to be tough to beat. I mean, he is a four set, 23 sacks. They had 40, I think 45 sacks last year. They had 23 of them.
the man's the man's phenomenon and uh Now he's in an opportunity with, you know, The staff out there is unbelievable.
So, I really, the Rams are going to be one to watch. Seattle, don't count them out. We've seen the last two years one simple statement that everybody makes: defense wins championships. Look at the Eagles two years ago, Seattle this past year. They were driven by their defenses.
Um, not to take anything as a quarterback, I wouldn't take anything away from that position. I'll tell you something: if you've got a great defense, it's unbelievable. Matter of fact, Super Bowl 17, when we beat the Miami Dolphins. David Woodley was the opposing quarterback for the Dolphins. He went 0 for 17 in the second half.
Oh, wow. He didn't complete a pass against us. That is. That's a credit to the defense.
So he didn't complete a pass the entire second half. That's got to be a record that I don't think. I mean, that's no, there's no way that somebody will facts check that, but I believe that was the statistics.
So if I do cover myself, well, Joe, I got to tell you, you just fired me up. Had that conversation about the season, I'm ready to go. I wish we were starting training camp right now. My goodness, I am fired up. Man, there was so much.
I, you know, I'm a Bears guy, so I'm thinking about the NFC North. And I was like, okay, all right, all right, yeah, let's talk about it. And then you started going all over the place, and I'm like, yes, yes, Aaron Rodgers' final season. You got new coaches in the AFC North. The Rams, I mean, oh, baby, the storylines are, they are, they are thick.
Thick. They are thick this year, guys. I'm excited. You're excited to be done with Aaron Rodgers. Oh, well, I'm an Aaron Rodgers fan now.
I just want you guys to know that.
Now that he's, Joe, as a Bears fan, you know, I got a lot of pain. I got a lot of pain in my heart over the years from Aaron Rodgers. And so I've been holding on to that. But now that he has announced that he is. Done after the season, likely knock on wood.
You never know. Um, I'm like, all aboard, let's go.
Okay, let him ride it out. I'll induct him into Canton if he wants me to. I got him, baby, you know.
So, I think he's the greatest pure passer we've seen in this game that year. The way he spins the ball, the way he gets it out of his hand, doesn't have to have his feet on the ground, still has the arm strength to do the things he needs to do. I read a quote from Tom Brady who felt the same way. That Aaron is just special in what he has the ability to do. His release is second to none.
Dan Marino had a great release. But Aaron just can, it's a flick of the ball. And, you know, at his age, to be able to do the things that he can do, which is a testament to him as an individual to keep himself ready to play the game. The other thing I'd like to talk a little bit about besides football is the American Century Golf Championship. Read my mind, man.
I was just about to get after that.
So, yeah, let's talk about that. We got the American Century Championship coming up July 8th to 12th. The 10 through 12 is a tournament. Oh, the 10th through the 12th. The 8th, we go out with pro-ams.
We go out with some pro-ams early in the week. But the 10th, 11th, and 12th, it'll be on NBC and Peacock during that period of time. It runs in July in Lake Tahoe. And American Century is just an incredible company. Just to give you an idea about, you know, I know you do a lot of charity work and you give back, and I think it's so important that we can give back because we've been blessed in so many ways.
American Century donates 40% of its dividends. To medical research, 40% of its dividends to medical research, the Stour Institute in Kansas City. It's an incredible company. But we've got something that's really exciting and fun. It's a it's a it's fantasy golf.
Is what it is. Oh, and you can log on to ACCfantasyGolf.com. And there you'll find the way the contest is run. I'll give you a sort of a capsule version. Everybody in the field, about 80 people plus.
are divided into five groups based upon your skill set. You get to choose one person from each group each day. You can change every day if you'd like of the three days. And if you win that day, you get two free tickets to next year's tournament. If you win the overall, you get $10,000 to donate to the charity of your choice.
Now, keep in mind, the purse is $750,000. We expect somewhere near in the neighborhood of 70,000 people to show up. This is the 37th tournament. This is my 36th. And what's neat about it, when we first started, the 17th hole is a classic.
It's right on Lake Tahoe, it's a par 3. When we first started, maybe 400, 500 people there. maybe 10 boats in the water. Today, there's two, three thousand people lining that particular hole, and probably. A hundred boats in the water.
just lined up like an armada out there.
So the fans love it. It's a great place to be. We've raised over $8 million for charities in that area. And it's exciting to be a part of something so special that does so much good for so many. Yeah, that is fantastic.
And the fact that you have been with it for, you said, 36 years for you now. 36 years. And the player, Steph Curry, defending champ, will be there. Oh. Charles Barkley always is there.
John Smaltz will be there. Annika Sorenstam will be there. We call them the usual characters: Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Jerome Bettis. Um, all those guys will be there, and Bobby Flay's coming this year.
So, being a foodie, okay, if you're a foodie, this we got that covered too. Joe, Joe, Rich is going to be there, so we need you to really lock it up. We need you to lock in, maybe find Rich on the range ahead of time, give him a short game tip, just something. Because, you know, he came in second to last last year.
So, we need Rich to like, I don't know, maybe beat a few more people, maybe beat a Kelsey Kittle, somebody, uh, so he can come back and kind of show good face to us.
Well, we've seen it happen, you know. Larry the cable guy, Dan. Dan, when he first got out there, it was a little struggle. He was down around where Rich was. And now he's in the middle of the pack.
He's worked on his game hard. Rich, by the way, performed New York, New York at our karaoke night on Thursday. Let me just leave it at that. That's his song. New York, New York.
That's his song. That's his go-to song. I'm going to find him next week. Help him out, Joe.
Now, I'll give him all the advice I possibly can.
Now, can we implement it? I'm sure he can. I'm anxious to see him do it. That is amazing. You know, I'm filling in for Rich as a host.
I think one of these years I might have to fill in for him on the course, second to last. It was rough. That episode was rough. It's a different world, though. I mean, most of the people that play there, that haven't played before, that come out for the first time, you play at a country club where you belong.
You know, it's a two-foot putt. I'll pick it up, it's good. Yep, yeah, three-foot putt, it's good.
Okay, not here. Everything goes in the hole, everything goes in the cup. And you, you know, and we play on Poanna Green. And they're hard to read because the clover leaves get a little funky, and no telling where you're going to roll the ball to sometimes. And it's a great golf course.
Edgewood is a terrific place. And like I said, we have a wonderful time. And American Century is the host of hosts when it comes to taking care of their people and taking care of us as those who have been invited.
So it's a great thing. It's on NBC, like I say, the 10th, 11th, and 12th NBC in Peacock. Hope everybody tunes in and watches. Charles Barkley, I would have to vote, is the most improved that we've seen out there. Daniel, Charles continues to get better and better and better.
And now that he's half of what he was, I mean, it's exciting. All right, Joe.
Well, thank you so much. It sounds like a really awesome tournament for a really great cause.
So thank you. And thank you for coming on the show and hanging out with me and telling me great stories about Andre the Giant, man. That was fantastic. That was awesome. Thanks, John.
Thank you for having me. And hopefully, I'll see you live somewhere, Seth. Oh, I hope so, man. Let's do it. We'll find you.
Thanks, Joe. All right, thanks, Joe. Take care. Bye-bye. That was awesome.
That was awesome. Anyone want a peanut? What a guy. Love Joe Disman. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
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Call 1-800-GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by. Hirerite the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Get started by posting a free job at linkedin.com slash Eisen. Guys, Seth, we are here. We are live.
We're here. You're the bus. ESPN app, ESPN Radio, SiriusXM. We are everywhere. And we have uh some breaking news to get to.
Here it comes. And Maria is seen. Breaking news. I love that. Breaking news.
Breaking world. Ice hockey. We're going to hockey for breaking news, guys. We don't get a lot of hockey. We do that hockey.
We're going to do that hockey right now. Let's do that hockey. The king is returning. A lot of people wondering if last year was going to be Alexander Ovechkin's final season. The all time leading goalscorer in NHL history is back for one more season, a one year extension, four point two five million dollars.
He is back in Washington for one more season. And he's not saying like this is the final. Like this isn't like his Jeter, his cookie. Like he could come back. LeBron.
Yeah, yeah. Farewell tour. There's not a farewell tour situation here. At least that's not what he's indicating with that post. He's just saying, I'm coming back.
I'm going to play. Another year, year 22, I believe. Yeah, 22nd season, longest tenured athlete in DC sports history. That is incredible. These hockey guys, I feel like they can just play till they're 50.
You know what I mean? Gordy Howe. I mean, how old was Gordy when he retired? He played in his 50s at Yarmouth Yager, retired from the NHL, then played in a Russian league for a long time. He's probably still playing right now.
So he's still playing. I think he is still. And Obi's got, I mean, he's the greatest goal scorer to ever play the game.
So he's just adding, he's just racking up more goals as he goes along. It's it's really remarkable. And look, I'm I'm 40 now, just turned. And I've been wrestling for twenty two years myself. And so, maybe closer to 23 at this point.
And so, anytime I see these guys at this level, I mean, he's playing at. A professional level, it's a young man's game. Sports are a young man's game.
So, anytime you can go out there and be effective at that age with that many years under your belt, I am always so impressed by that. Absolutely. So impressed. I want him to get to a thousand goals. I wanted him to keep playing.
He'd be the first guy to ever get to 1,000.
So he's at 929. 9-29. He had 32 goals last year, played in every game. That's crazy. Every game.
Did not miss a game last year. No load management for him. Zero. He's just out there on the ice. 32 goals, 32 assists.
So he's gonna need a couple more years to get to a thousand. We have probably three more seasons. Oh, gosh. Anyone can do it? Conservatively?
Yeah, if anybody can do it, he can. No, why not? He's hoss, too. Big dude. Big dude.
Always been a big dude. Big burly dude. I love it. As a Penns fan, though, I take umbrage with you calling him the king, and Sidney Crosby still exists. And that's just he's so much better than Sidney Crosby, it's not even funny.
Jason Feller, please weigh in on this. You are the hockey guy and not. Who's better?
Okay, who is better? Just look at the stats. Got to go with Ovechkin at this point. Goal-wise, but look at everything else. He's got a better resume.
The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
