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Hour 3: NFL Network’s Stacey Dales In-Studio, NFL Sleeper Teams Draft: Round 3, and More

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen
The Truth Network Radio
July 23, 2026 3:59 pm

Hour 3: NFL Network’s Stacey Dales In-Studio, NFL Sleeper Teams Draft: Round 3, and More

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen

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July 23, 2026 3:59 pm

The Rich Eisen Show discusses the NFL, including the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams, as well as the WNBA and Caitlin Clark. Stacey Dales joins the show to talk about the Miami Dolphins and the WNBA officiating controversy. Seth Rollins also shares his thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL season.

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Now, on with the show. And, um You'd be kicked out of our team meeting. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You're lucky I'm not going to throw this freaking podium. With guest host, WWE superstar Seth Rollins.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests, NFL Network Reporter Stacey Dales. Seth's top five, plus latest news and more. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Seth Rollins. We are back.

On the Rich Eisen Show, I am WWE superstar Seth Freaking Rollins. Filling in. For Rich today with the boys, TJ and Delftufo and Brockman. I'm going to, I'm just, I love the name. I'm just going to say Delftufo.

Seth, it's been a bit of a secret. It has been butchered over the years. You have said your name. Larry King could say your name. I have no idea.

I don't. How do you mess that up? Trust me. Del Tufo. Every mail because it's got space.

Yeah. I get things at Tufo, Dell. It's UPS, it's Tufo.

So I go there, I go show my license. They're like, you don't have a package. I'm like, check Tufo. They go back and it says Tufo on a thing. Yes.

I see, yeah. It is a great name. Delta UFO. It's actually a wine, I believe, in Italy. Delta UFO.

Wait, really? Yes. Del Tufo wine? Yes. What?

Yes. Amazing. Let's see. Yeah, check this out. Oh, yeah.

No, it is. Del Tufo Farmhouse and Wines in Dogliani. See? Oh, wow.

Okay. All right. Is it full like winery? Yeah, Del Tufo Winery in Dogliani, Italy. Beautiful.

Next time I go to Italy, I wish I got paid for this. Yeah, geez, for the plug. You were just in Italy, though. I was just in Italy. I was there for a few weeks.

I was on vacation-ish for a month. Yeah, it was so nice in June. I ate so much pizza, so much pasta. It was the best. Do you find that the pizza in Italy isn't that great?

Because that's what I found. Whoa, whoa, TJ. Whoa. That's a hot take. Maybe it's just where I was.

Whoa. But that's fighting. One time I had pizza in Italy. I was very where'd you go? Oh, man.

I'd have to look up the city real quick. I'll tell you. I'm telling you right now. If you're in Naples, anywhere around Naples and it wasn't anything set. Like, you're right.

Oh, am I right? God. Yeah. All I know is it was a restaurant. It was right on the ocean or lake or wherever it was on water.

Except you got offended at that. I'm so offended. You must find in the wrong part of the country, Dad, because it is. Cheap? And I mean that not in like a quality way.

It is Inexpensive. The dough is so fresh, so light. Neapolitan style. Unbelievable. Like, I mean, you can get a p like a full-on, delicious, perfect margarita pizza for like 10 euros there.

Yep. And you don't feel like crap the next day. You just feel like you just put, I could eat three of them. I ate so much pizza when I was there, so much fresh pasta. It was incredible.

I can't believe you said that.

Okay. Wow. I'll send a picture home. Wow. What city was that?

Yeah, please. Please let us know. Yeah. I mean, I just ate a cupcake. That's kind of the same thing.

Kind of the same thing. I mean, it's a high-quality cupcake. Yeah, high-quality cupcake. I feel great. Delicious.

All right. Okay. Well, we are here. Rich Eisen Show. We got a hotline.

Give us a call. 844-204-Rich. And we got some people on that. We got some people on that.

So let me take a look here. Let's do. Wisconsin. We got Josh from Wisconsin wants to talk bears. I'm skeptical about this.

Josh. What kind of bears talk you want to get into from Wisconsin? Uh, well, don't be skeptical. I'm a true diehard Bears fan. I bleed navy, blue, and orange.

Thank goodness. I was concerned. I bled a little red when I got my tattoo of the Bears logo. Oh, wow.

Okay, he's real with it. I also have the Blackhawks Bulls. And cubs tattoos as well, all on my arms.

So nice. I am a die-hard fan. Dang. All right. Well, let's talk bears, baby.

What do you want? What do you what's on your mind?

So I did the win loss game a couple of months ago when Tom Pellicero was filling in and I had them at 10 and 7. Do you think that's realistic? Yeah. What was my win-loss for them? I feel like you said 11 and 6, right?

11 and 6, 12 and 5, or something like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I had them winning the division. You were pretty reasonable. Yeah, I was reasonable.

Yeah, I think it's absolutely that 10 and 7, I think, is. More than reasonable for sure. I get it's a tough division, but I think all signs point to progress on the offensive side of the ball. Dennis Allen has moved some pieces around on defense to get some players that he thinks are going to fit that scheme better and make that defense. I mean, I know they had a lot of turnovers last year, but I think at the end of the day, they were not a very good defense, especially getting off the field on third down.

And so you get. Kind of Dennis Allen, okay, here's who I want. Let's go out and make some plays and get some guys that I want in here to fit that system, fit that scheme, do what he wants to do. And I think they're going to be a much better team defensively overall. And I think they have no reason to believe the offense isn't going to take the next step.

So that's how I feel. Feel good about it. What about you? You having second guesses? My only concern is the defense, the lack of a real significant pass rush and no real moves to improve that.

I. Was really hoping they would get Max Crosby, even though he had the knee issue. I still think. That would have been a huge benefit to getting a guy like that, especially because the Packers made that move for Micah Parsons, which, TJ, I should throw some strays at you for that. Why?

Because The Cowboys, like, what what are we doing here? You guys. Add a generational talent. And you let him go to the Packers of all team. Yeah, I didn't like that, but I feel what we got from him.

or for him is gonna make it worthwhile. And plus, Micah is. We don't even know when his season's starting this year. That's right.

So that's true. That's true. We got a nice little haul for him. Be a record for 'em. What was that?

He was on pace to be a real game record for them, though. Yeah, look, it took me a long time, Josh in Wisconsin, to be okay with this trade.

So let's not revisit it. I feel we did, we got a great return in that investment.

So we'll see. But we got Caleb down, so he's going to be a student. I have concerns about the Green Bay defense this season. I really do. Earlier in my sleeper draft, I talked about Jeff Hafley.

Leaving Green Bay. I think he is a very, very good defensive coordinator. You know, we mentioned Micah Parsons. We don't know when he's going to return and when he's actually going to play this year. I do have concerns about Green Bay this year.

I mean, I know they're well coached. I like LaFleur. I think he's awesome. But I do have concerns that their defense might not be. quite as good as it has been in past years with Halfley as a coordinator, now in Miami as a head coach.

So We'll see. T B D? Josh, thanks for calling in. I love talking bears, so I appreciate you calling and getting me on my bear wagon, baby. Yeah, I think Green Bays, they're a good squad, and that division is going to be really, really difficult, guys.

But I do have concerns defensively that they're not going to be. They put a lot of eggs in the Micah Parsons basket for him to be. to be hurt and then they lose their decoordinator. I mean, there's a lot of questions there. We'll see how it goes.

But I do think that's a good idea. We should finish up the sleeper draft, the sleeper team draft. Are you guys ready for it? Doing it right now. Are you ready for the.

Let's go. Ready for the third round? All right. Well, first of all, let's look at the first two rounds, see where we're at. These are great pictures.

We all look fantastic. All of our hair is immaculate. My picture is kind of. Yeah, so first round, I went Dolphins. Brockman goes Titans.

TJ goes Nolins, the Saints, and Tyler Shuck. Then we went in reverse order, and TJ went with the Vikings, which I'm disgusted by, and I hope they lose every single game. Brockman goes to Atlanta, where the quarterback controversy is unsettled, but he seems to think Tua is going to be the guy there, and I. Oh, punched myself in the face and said Aaron Rodgers is going to have a better season than people think he is.

So. Um let's switch up the order. And we'll start round three with Brockman. Hey, all right, here's going to be. My final sleeper team for 2026.

Now, here's the deal: last year, This team overachiefed. A lot of people said it was big because of the schedule. You didn't really have a lot of Players on this team, from this team in your fantasy league, most likely. In fact, their number one receiver from last year isn't even on the team anymore.

So, you know, expectations are kind of parred in this team. They didn't look great in the playoffs, and they didn't end the season on a high note.

So there's the expectations are super low for this team. Heading into this season, they're not even the favorites to win their own division, Seth Rollins. Can you believe that? I have a feeling I know where this is. Can you believe that?

My final sleeper team of this draft. Are your defending AFC champion, New England? Wow, Brockman. Nobody thinks they're going to be good this year, okay? All the off-season stuff that's going on, I don't even want to bring it up.

I won't even dignify it with a response. But they improved. Have you heard of A.J. Brown, Seth Rollins? I've heard that name.

You've heard of that guy. TJ, you know what? You've heard about AJ Brown. I've heard of him. They should have had the MVP of the whole dang league last year.

Got better on defense. Got better on offense. Oh, we're back. We got a chip on our shoulder. We are angry.

Get ready. The New England Patriots are an underdog this year. We're wearing that. Let's go. Ah, all right, okay, okay, all right.

Respect, respect, respect. You know, I saw where you were going with that. And I gotta be honest with you, I'm a little upset with you. I'm a little upset with you. Because you stole my play, man.

Of course. Of course, the Chicago Bears. Of course, the Chicago Bears are a sleeper team. Look at this. They're not even predicted.

They're like predicted to finish third in the north this season. Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Are you lunatics? You don't think that like Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams and year two together are going to be absolutely unstoppable?

All right. Roma Dunze back to full health. Colston Loveland in his second season, who's going to be. If not, is one of the top five tight ends in the league coming up here shortly. You've got Luther Burden, who's a sleeper in fantasy and a baller when he gets into open space.

And guess who is? Like the number one schemer of getting wide receivers open. Ben Johnson. This man is unreal. And you've got two running backs coming back, Swift, who had his best season in years, and Manangai in his second year.

This team is going to be better. The defense, I talked about it when we were talking with Josh in Wisconsin. They're going to be better. You can't imagine that Jalen Johnson is going to be hurt as much as he was. Kyler Gordon can't be as hurt as he was.

You bring in Kobe Bryant in the safety position. You draft Tiananmen. I mean, the secondary is going to be better, which is going to give more time for these front four to get after the quarterback with Montez Sweat and Dale. This team is going to be better than last year. And yes, I see you over there, Brockman.

I see you. Got the freezing cold in here. No, it's not. You're doing the Iceman, the Madden cover athlete. This squad is going to be better than last year.

They're going to win this division and they are going to get to the NFC title game, if not the Super Bowl.

Son. Let's go! Give it to me now! Fired up! Ha!

Third in their own division, it's ridiculous.

So, get up, Tyler Murray. Come on now. Come on. I'm rooting for him, but come on, man. TJ.

Do it.

Okay, I'm just going to throw a number out at you guys. Do it.

Give it to me. 11,134. And I'm going to just keep that in mind because I'll come back to it. You know, the thing about the NFL, guys, it does seem like this is the league that it's easiest to go from worst to first, right? It seems like you can have a more impactful turnaround in the NFL than you can in the NBA, and especially in baseball.

Like, if your team stinks in baseball, Chris, it's going to stink forever. It's going to be rough.

So this team I'm thinking of They are Didn't make the playoffs last year. Nope. Had a pretty atrocious defense, you know, but on the other side of the ball, things look kind of cool. You know, look like, you know, if only they could do something about this defense, then maybe they could win some more games. Maybe they could make a playoff run.

So 11,134. That's the number of days it's been since the Dallas Cowboys last won the Super Bowl, January 28th, 1996. And I say this because I'm going to give you a number, another number, that's 30. That's how many points a game that the Dallas Cowboys defense gave up last year. Guys, you know this.

You can't win football games giving up 30 points a game.

Now enter stage left Christian Parker. This savant that I've been hearing about, he's going to turn the defense around Seth Rollins. He's going to make me happy instead of being sad every Monday. Great draft picks with Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, and the richest guy, Jay Sean Barm. Rich Eisen is doing the draft.

He's texting me during the draft live while he's on there telling me how big of a deal it is that the Cowboys got Jay Sean Barm. And did I mention we got Caleb Downs? Look, all 11 starters are back on the offense, guys. We got the best kicker in football. He's a guy I pay five bucks for every year in fantasy because we're in an auction and they got to know I'm going to get those 60 yarders, I'm going to get all those points.

My sleep routine. And what you wouldn't expect anything less. Oh, no. Of course not. I have to do it, whether I even believe it or not, but to sleep a team.

The team that will hoist. the Lombardi trophy this year. Oh. backed by popular demand. You are mine, our.

Dallas Cowboy. Wow. God, guys, we are awful, aren't we? We really did it.

So we're so disgusting. We're so basic. We're so predictable. Yeah, I'm going to pick the Rams, everybody. We are a sleeper because no one thinks we could do it.

Every year you hear people go, Oh, Cowboy fans, every year is our year.

Well, look. We're fans. If you don't think that your team is going to win every year, then why are you even spending time watching the games? Football and sports take up way too much of our time, take up way too much of our emotional capacity. Like, I can't watch two and a half hours of terrible Met baseball seth because I want to have a good summer.

I don't got a lot of summers left. You don't know how old I am, but I can tell you there's a lot less left than I had in the previous. I'm not going to let the Mets ruin my summer. All right. So, yeah, if you're not a fan, you got to have some type of realization.

I realize my baseball team's going to stake, but I'm always going to ride for the star because I feel like. This is our year. You know what? I love this for us, guys. I love this for us.

And you're right, though. You know what I mean? You're right. The thing is, we should believe in our squads. That's what we should do.

That's right.

And the fact that all of us feel like we got a chip on our shoulder going into the season, that's good.

So there it is. There is the, if you're watching at home, there is the final, final sleeper draft. And I would say a pretty good draft here. I think so too. By the way, the fact that we didn't discuss this, we came up with this right before we went on air.

And yet all of us at the very end picked our own teams is just, yeah, it's just amazing. It was pretty good. I'm excited to see where things mid-season when we kind of revisit this bad boy and see where everybody's at here. I got to, I mean, hopefully I'm not going to be mad, but you know, sometimes I'm mad around this. You're going to get all three of your teams are making the playoffs.

Oh, wow.

Whoa. I'd like to take that right now. All three of them are bad on it right now. All right. Deltufa.

I'm with that. All three of them are making it. Let's sick. And I think you're definitely in the NFC championship. Whoa.

I love it. You won't make it. He may make it again because they're only going to get better.

Well, you could do it. You could win the East.

Somebody on YouTube, they're winning the East. I'm picking them to win the East.

Somebody on YouTube, when I picked 14 and 3, was like, yeah, all that just to lose to the Bears in the first one. That's the point. And I thought it was you. I had to check it. Like, is Seth Rowan?

That's my burner, dog. That's my burner. You got to, you, if you two play, oh, that's great. Bring it on. That's my burner.

Love it. Oh, and again, I don't want any part of Seth and the Bears because as we've noted, I tried that last year. It didn't go well for you last year. It was awful. No more group chats for that.

Yeah, yeah, it was not good. But that sleeper team draft was good. That was awesome. I thought we did really good. I loved all your guys' picks.

That was great. We got Stacey Dales coming up.

So let's get to it. Right after this, we'll be back on The Rich Eisen Show with Seth Rollins. Zah. Mm-hmm. Save $2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Coverall Tire Dressing.

Plus, receive four times O rewards points now at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O'Reilly Auto Parts store or O'ReillyAuto.com. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters.

A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent.

With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14.

Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. Because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here.

Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. This is amazing. Stacy Dale talking Miami Dolphins, talking about how they are absolutely a sleeper team this year.

Just like Seth Rollins said in the first hour of the show, we are back on ESPN Radio. We are back, Disney Plus ESPN apps. Stacy, again, thank you so much for being in here. But if we're talking football, Can we talk Bears? Yeah.

Can we talk Bears? Tell me about the Chicago Bears. What do you think about the Chicago Bears right now? I need to know. Give it to me.

Put it in my bloodstream.

Well,. It all starts with Caleb and Ben. Yes. And Caleb is just so special. He's so special.

I mean, when you, if you were Ryan Poles, the GM sitting there and saying, I get the first pick and I I get to get this this player, and now I've got the coach. Like what Ben did with him last year was extraordinary. His growth from week one until. All the way down to their playoff loss against the Rams. I mean, this team could have been in the NFC Championship.

They were very close. Uh you know, Dennis Allen comes back on the defensive side of things. They lost a lot of in terms of some of their personnel with the top Takeaway defense in the league, but Ben wants to outscore you and outscore you badly. They're going to have to score him earlier in games. That's right.

Like, put all this six comeback victories last season. We don't want to see that. I mean, you were sitting there, Seth. What were you doing? How did you watch those games last year?

You must have been just on the edge. Of the desk. It was one of those things as a Bears fan where. You you're so accustomed to To losing those games over the years. You've just been beaten down.

You've been conditioned to know that they're going to. They have that final drive and they're going to fail. And so the first couple games, you're like... Whoa. Wow.

But by the time we got to like two-thirds of the way through the season, I wasn't even concerned anymore. Yeah. I was like, oh, he's going to come back. Yeah. Caleb's going to bring this team back, and on the final drive, they're going to get the job done and they're going to win.

And so even in those crazy Green Bay games where the Packers went out to a huge lead, I was like. I mean, how much time's left on the clock? You know what I mean? Like, there's plenty of time. He can get this done.

They're going to figure out a way. And as many turnovers as they were forcing him, like, something's going to happen. You know, so it was a crazy, jarring experience as a Chicago Bears fan to expect to win when you were playing from behind. And you said something interesting. They beat the Packers twice.

Twice.

Okay. And Green Bay had Three games. In which they had a lead in the fourth quarter and they blew those leads. I was at all three of them. Their week three game in Cleveland.

Um that Delpit had I think the pick six, if I'm not mistaken, I can't remember, Grant Delpit, for Cleveland. And then Those two games were against Chicago, those other two games. Yeah. To your point, but you won. against the color you're wearing.

And that in itself, for a team that hasn't Beat beat up on the Packers all that much. I think there is this juice in the city of Chicago that good, better, best is here to stay for, you know. For a good good minute because You know, even when I sat down with Cole Komet, couple of weeks ago I was out at the facility, I was out at Hallis Hall and He said, you know, the good, better, best thing. It was a little cheesy at first. Like we were like, well but then when you start winning when you start winning and you start what you're talking about, Seth, like We got this quarterback.

And how many times Kevin Byard told me last year, you know, we've got the quarterback. He's the ace man. He is who he is. But his growth, just in terms of his pocket, mirroring his footwork with the concepts offensively has been the biggest thing that I've seen. Whether it's a three-step step drop, a five-step drop, he's really starting to marry up.

Not only the cadence, but his footwork with the concepts that Ben is asking him to do, whether it's anything from a A bunch formation or a jumbo package or a 12 personnel, 13 personnel, where that ball's going, where his first and second and third looks are. That is that processing ability and the footwork matching to it is where Caleb has made really substantial improvements and should have you excited because then you still have like he's gonna hit a fade away you know he's gonna hit like He's going to hit that. He's going to dunk it on somebody. When it's time to be Superman, he can put the cape on for sure. I think that's the thing that I think is very interesting: the style that Ben Johnson asks him to play at quarterback is not what he did at all at USC.

He played out of the shotgun. He wasn't doing a lot of play action. He wasn't playing with his back to the defense very often. And you saw that a lot of their big plays ended up coming off play action this season. Like some of the comebacks, yeah, they're just spreading it out and letting them ride.

But a lot of the big plays where it was designed, you look at the deep bomb to DJ to win in the overtime in week 16 and 17, whatever it is, off play action. Yep. You know, and so a lot of those things that they're still kind of new to him, you know, especially in a pro setting.

So I'm looking forward. In his second season with Ben Johnson, what do you think? What do you want to see out of him? What is the next step? in the evolution of him as a quarterback.

Crucify with the chain game. Crucify. Because You know, in hoops, you're only as good, your inside game's only as good as your outside game. Your outside game's only as good as your inside game when you have both. And you can defend.

I mean, that's basketball on the football field. You know, I'm a huge. I love Josh Allen. I think he's. He's so dynamic.

He had 39 total touchdowns, I think, last season. A ton of them were on the ground with his legs. Design runs. That one play that sits in my mind. when this team loses in the playoffs as he launches it downfield.

on a huge Prayer. And Like, then I watch Matthew Stafford. Play the chain game in the playoffs. Against The Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Remember that outside Route he threw to Devontae Adams, that toe tapper on the sideline.

Broke my own. And Devontae catches that. I wasn't even mad. That's just a standard, perfect throw. And listen, I'm not, Matthew was the MVP.

Josh Allen is always going to have a chance to be the MVP. He's brilliant. I think when you get to a point in this league where you're playing. You're in the in overtime and you're playing the chain game to that level. You're going to the NFC championship or the AFC championship.

And I think I want to see Caleb do that. Um it might be boring, but Being able to manipulate the defense and play at every level. Whether it's the intermediate game or the long game, because then those long shots open up. But hey, check that thing down to Colston in space. Check that down to Luther in space.

Luther Burden's a dog, man. Yes. Let those guys go. And I think he's going to get super comfortable doing that to where now you go forward on fourth down. And the trust is there.

The trust that was forged between Ben and Caleb. And now it's like Ben can say, yay, go ahead and throw that. Go ahead and throw it. Or Heath sends in a call to Caleb Williams and Caleb's like, Yeah, Ben's called that for me before, or we worked on this in practice. How many times have I heard that, Seth?

Last season. We drew that up in practice. Like, It's good stuff. Oh, I'm getting it. You got goosebumps?

Yeah, I'm getting excited about it. Excited about talking about it. It's quiet over here. I know, but we're in it. You know what I mean?

We're locked in. We're locked in. All right, all right, all right. We got laser focus. All right, so as much as it pains me, we'll drift off the bears.

Bears topic for a little bit. Training camp right around the corner. A lot of teams already reported, some reporting soon. I mean, Hall of Fame game in two weeks. Is there a training camp in the NFL that you're most looking forward to just to see what comes out of it?

Certainly, all of them. As a junkie, I know that you're like, anytime there are quarterback competitions, I'm interested. What's the first one that jumps off your head?

Well, obviously in Minnesota. Kyler Murray, to me, is going to be the starter. They bring him in on a one-year deal for a reason. And all of that experience he brings, he's played in the playoffs. hasn't won.

But um He's been injured. J.J. McCarthy's been injured. But Kevin O'Connell went through a carousel of QBs last year. He had three of them.

And uh I think, you know, this is a unique spot for Kyler. He's not used to being. Put to the test, are you going to be our starter? And they led the league in turnovers. They had 30 giveaways offensively last year.

So Who who has the best chemistry with Justin Jefferson through this thing? Is going to be critical. He had career lows in his numbers, all of his numbers last season. And he's gonna one day he's gonna put on a gold jacket. When it's all said and done, he's just that good.

And then, of course, you have Atlanta, you know, the two guys there, Pennex and Tua Tungo Vailola, like. Kevin Stefancy is new to the mix. Both have been embattled from an injury standpoint. Panic's coming back from the ACL to a Fresh start, quick game, play action, get the ball out quickly, all the things Kevin likes to do.

So you kind of think it'll be him. Anxious to see how Mendoza continues to follow Kirk Cousins in Vegas. Mendoza is going to be one of these Caleb Williams kind of specialties. He's really brilliant when it comes to football. And then Tom Brady's peeking over his shoulder, too.

That helps. Or maybe it hurts. I don't know. Do you think that's helpful, or is that a lot of pressure? I think that's very helpful for a player who sat behind Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady.

Touche. Totally pumped about that for him. And Kirk Cousins, what a great guy to learn from in the pocket. And then in Cleveland, you have the competition there with. Deshaun Watson is an interesting one because He could become in some respects, the the comeback player of the year.

I mean, Todd Munkin's there with him now, and Todd was a quarterback. He's the head coach. He was brought there to fix their offense. They've had 13 starting quarterbacks since 2020 in Cleveland, which blows away the league.

So, you know, for whatever you think about Deshaun Watson, um, Look at him as a football player right now. I think he's had a really good offseason. I think you've seen signs of his legs again. Back-to-back Achilles ruptures to the same foot. That's tough.

He hasn't played since January 25.

So Those are some storylines I'm always going to look at when it ever comes to the quarterbacks. Oh, man. That's so fascinating. Seahawks. Niners are going to be a hell of a good team.

I was talking with some friends about this the other day on Good Morning Football. We were talking about the Seahawks and why they're, are they being overlooked this season? Like, they're kind of not being talked about, even in their own division. It's the 49ers with Mike Evans, and it's the Rams with Miles Garrett. And, like, Seahawks are just sort of sitting there.

Defending Super Bowl champions, returning a good chunk of their roster. Like, why are they being overlooked? Do they like that? Is that a part of their identity? You know, what's going on?

Yeah, I think so. Their defense blew me away last year. I mean, they super bowl 19 unaccounted for pressures on Drake May. On 19? I think they sacked him six times.

If I'm not mistaken, I'd have to double-check. But they look different. Anytime a Super team wins a Super Bowl, You're going to question them 'cause their team the roster looks entirely different.

So, like, for instance, Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, is now a chief, and their starting running back is going to be a rookie in Jadarian Price. The golden domer. Je Zach Charbonnet is st you know, starting the season on PUP. But they still have JSN. Still got JSN.

And that defense is a hell of a defense. And Mike McDonald's a hell of a coach. I think Brian Flurry is the new offensive coordinator.

So there's just a lot of continuity. It comes from San Francisco. I think they're going to be just fine in Seattle. I think you're right. I think you're right.

You are going to be on women's sports now later today. Yay. 6 p.m. Eastern. Love it.

There it is. Yeah. What do we have in store there? Talk to us about that. Who we got?

Yeah. So I'll be with Colleen Wolf today, who, you know, I'm going to say we'll try to avoid giggling through the entire show because Colleen is hysterical. We're going to talk a lot of W, though, WNBA, just because the All-Star game is coming up. We're going to talk about WNBA officiating. Certainly, the stars of the game coming up this weekend in Chicago.

It's ironic that I'm here and that's taking place in Chicago. I think we've got a feature coming on, but it's going to be fun. We're going to break down.

some different elements and um the WNBA is super polarizing right now. Is it the WNBA or is it just Caitlin Clark? Which part is polarizing? It's Caitlin's at the forefront of a lot of it. Um because she's an extraordinary basketball player.

And I think Social media is a is a it's a hell of a a beast. That's right.

And Um The way things have gone this season. It's worthy of discussion. And so that's what we're going to be doing. Yeah, Stacey, we want to play some sound. Let's tee this up.

Speaking of tees, Caitlin got her seventh last night. She's won away from a one-game suspension. Yes. And she was obviously asked about it last night. And here's what she had to say.

I mean, like, I'm never going to back down. And, you know, I think it was the same thing with the way Kelsey was in the first half, too. Like, you know, she got one in the eye. Like, she's never going to back down from a moment. And I think just like continue to try to control your emotions the best you can.

And that intensity and that fire is what makes me me. But also, like, knowing my team needs me and finding a good balance of that. But, you know, I don't think like I'm going to be playing like with that in the back of my head. I don't think, I think that might hinder my play a little bit.

So I think just continue to be myself and then just try to refocus to, you know, focusing on my teammates and how I can help them. Your reaction. Great. Great. So that technical was like.

I'm not allowed to swear on here. Please don't. It was a joke.

Okay. I think I forget who the player is Sanat Tonight. Who is the player? Um Sanaya? I can't remember.

But she said to Caitlin, basically, I'm locking you down.

Okay. Caitlin had 27. Um They had their big three like they dominate they had 123 points And Caitlin's all Caitlin said was scoreboard. I don't. That's why she got a technical scoreboard.

Yes. Scoreboard. Nia Rivers. Like the last one, what? Sanaya Rivers.

Yeah, Sanaya Rivers. Are they not allowed to? I love watching. She's a feisty player. I love watching her.

Are they just not allowed to talk to each other in the game? Is it what?

So you get eight technicals, and as Brockman just said, you're suspended. You're a game. This is a game, right?

So she's on her last, like, she's got one more card. Like, she's about to hit a red card here. We're halfway through the season. It feels like it's inevitable that she's not going to be able to do it. And this is the thing, actually, because you have the all-star break.

The fever are just hitting their stride. And now you need to be playing your best basketball because the playoffs are on the cusp of the playoffs. And now she's potentially, she's going to do something else. Like, she's going to. She might blow a kiss.

I'm blowing you a kiss. If she blows a kiss at the next team she plays against, She just Got issued her last yellow card.

Okay, I see.

So she's going to be in a suspension. What are we doing?

So let me ask you this.

So, and look, this is-I don't care what player this is, Seth. Yeah, that's what I mean. That's what I want to know. Do we feel are the women officiated in this manner differently than the men in the NBA? I don't know if it's that.

No, is it this player specifically? The WNBA needs a better. A system. The officials are not bad. They're not bad people.

But the league needs to elevate the officiating in the WNBA. For instance, we're going to talk about this on the show. They need to be full-time salaried employees. The NBA has such, okay? Secondly, They need a replay center.

The NBA uses a replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey. That has helped the game immensely. These are the best players in the world. Like I said, the officials aren't bad people. They don't want to make Bad calls.

But in order to have more consistency, you have to invest more. They need more confidence. The players need more confidence in them. And then the messaging, the responsiveness from the league. When there are controversial moments, How responsive and how quickly and timely do messages get out?

to support the players and the referees. But Caitlin talks a lot. She's one of the most competitive players I've ever seen. Like There's so many competitive plays. Asia Wilson is an absolute beast when you watch her play for Vegas.

She's a monster. She can hit you with the inside, the outside, the sigma. She's. She's incredible. She's probably going to be the MVP again this year.

She is a competitor now. She's she is very you know, body language. Um she shows you how she feels. You have to let athletes do that. And I don't know if it's some of like the officials are sick of some of Caitlin's, you know.

She's competitive. Like some of her gestures or whatever, I don't know if it's that. You probably have to go, but it's a long conversation, but the officiating needs to be improved. And we're gonna, again, just touch on now, we're gonna go over those. In our show, it's very fascinating, and uh, we can't wait to hear you talk more about it later on.

I wanted to talk wrestling, but forget about it. Wait, forget about it. Yeah, well, well, you can stay, we still got to watch it. You want to stay, yeah, stay around, we can talk wrestling. I just want to know how real it is.

Oh, I can give you all the information you need. If you want to stick around, we can talk wrestling after this, and I will sell you on it, and you're going to be a fan for the rest of your life.

Okay. Deal? Deal. All right. She's in.

Stacy Gale's, everybody's going to stick around for one more segment. You can check her on Yes. Deal is in. Woman's Now, later tonight. Women's Sports Now.

And we'll be back with more in a minute. Ooh. 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. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required.

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What's your go-to junk food, though? Like, in all seriousness, well, we are back here and we're talking junk food with Stacey Dales. And. My go-to is pizza. Pizza is my number one.

I love a pizza. I love an ice cream.

Okay. And I love beer.

Okay I'm a simple man. Let's go I'm a simple and like I would you I can't consider like a sushi or steak really like a proper junk food. No, you know what I mean because a sushi is just fish and rice and I'm a classic sushi guy. I'm not like a roll where I want all the stuff on it. I just want a little makase with a little rice and a little sugar fish.

You know, there you go. Oh, great. Yeah. I like that. And then like steak is steak.

You know, it's just red meat. Like I don't need it all crazy. I don't need butter all over it. Nothing like that. I just need a nice, good, medium, rare piece of red meat.

So yeah.

So I'm more of a pizza guy.

Okay. Just fried. I'm a five guys. Oh, burgers and fries? Yeah, I get about three.

After like the Combine, for instance, or the Super Bowl, I'll get like three. Cheeseburgers and French fries and crush them. They're the best fries. There's a five guys five minutes away from here, Steve. But there's also a place called Hi-Ho that, if you want a burger in LA, get you a Hi-Ho.

Everybody's salivating in the middle. Is that in Marina? No rain? It's in Marina, yeah. Yeah, it's very good.

So you're, you're gonna, you're gonna. have a match with um Hit the ring with Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns and I, yes, going toe-to-toe, the heavyweight title. You had some questions about wrestling. I'll try to answer them in the few minutes we have left.

So, what do you got for me? Yeah, how real is it? Like, what. That's an interesting question.

So, it's real in the sense that there's a lot of physicality that goes on, and a lot of it is very painful. And every time I fall on my back or come flying off the top rope and fall on my stomach, bad things can happen. And those bumps, as we call them, do accumulate over time. And it's like getting hit by a car. Like the mat is literally steel, it's plywood, and it's about this much padding and then canvas over top.

And that's it. There's no like magic.

So, how many fractures have you sustained over the years? Because you're one of the best to ever do it. Yeah. So, I mean, some guys go their whole career not getting hurt, but I've had some bad ones. I've torn my whole right knee, so MCL, meniscus, ACL.

I've done my meniscus on my left knee as well. I had rotator cuff surgery last October. I've broken my jaw, separated both my shoulders multiple times. You know, I've had my fair share of concussions as well.

So what brings you back? Oh my God, I love it. You're obsessed with it. I'm obsessed with it. I've loved it since I was a little kid.

Is there ever a moment where like you're looking across the ring at Roman, for instance, and you're like, dude, you just crossed the line. Like, or is that none of it's rehearsed?

Well, so some of it is rehearsed. Yeah, yeah. It is.

Some of it, it's like an improv comedy set a little bit where, like, oh, we've talked about what we might go over. Here are the set pieces, you know what I'm saying? And we speak a common language when we're out there.

So we all kind of know where we're going, at least if we're good at what we do. And usually there's someone in there who's a leader, you know, someone that can like kind of take, like, I could take you and get you through the paces, you know what I'm saying, if with enough training. And so then it's, then it's vibe with the crowd. It's this live audience interaction because you don't know what kind of ride they're going to take you on. You have a design.

You're saying, oh, this is the story we want to tell. This is what we want to get done in there. But sometimes the crowd takes you in a direction that you're not ready for, and you got to be able to pivot to get it done.

So it's a really favorite wrestling move. My favorite wrestling move is one that I'm delivering, and it's my finishing move. And it's called the stomp, and it's just where I put somebody's head directly into the match, and then I pin them. That's my favorite wrestler. That's my favorite.

It's the easiest one, it's the simplest one. It's the one where I win. But yeah, wrestling is a wild. Andre the Giant was my favorite. Andrew my favorite wrestler of all time.

What a king. There you go, Stacey. Look at that picture. Unbelievable. That's the stomp.

There it is. That is amazing. De Penta. Yeah. Look at how athletic you are, dude.

Like, that's just. Still got it. It's sick, man. And it is like a, it looks painful when I watch. Yeah.

But it all, how much rehearsal does go into it? Like, like for this match coming up? It's just more of a conversation. Just a conversation right before? Yeah, it's just more of a conversation.

That's it. Thank you for asking about professional wrestling, though. Thanks for watching. Thanks, Dales, everybody. She won.

Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. At Blies.com, it's not just about window treatments, it's about you, your style, your space, your way. Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right. From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows.

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