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Now, on with the show. Bye-bye, but big in, big in, big in. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What do you think we are? Gangsters?
From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Running backs should be paid because of what these guys do. Today's guests, three-time Super Bowl champion receiver Ed McCaffrey, Commanders radio analyst London Fletcher, actor Anthony Michael Hall. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Everybody, it is the Rich Eisen Show here on a very busy first Wednesday in the month of August, 2026.
844-204-Rich, number to dial right here on the program. All sorts of good stuff. Here in this neighborhood, Ed McCaffrey is joining us here. He's got a couple kids playing in the National Football League. I don't know if you've heard about that.
That's so cool. But one of the all-time best Denver Broncos and one of the more decorated Broncos is going to be here. I'm in just 20 minutes time in person, and Ed's talking about granola. All right. Words that I've never said about any egg or any food stuff, name granola here on this program.
We're going to talk about that very much, but we shall. Here and then how how many shows can say we're gonna have Ed McCaffrey talking about Granola and then a bona fide Brat Packer in hour number three in Anthony Michael Hall? And then in between London Fletcher. is going to join us on this program. Um, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial right here on this great day.
It's Xander, my oldest's birthday. He is 18 years old today. Oh, why X, man? And he's too busy in his internship right now. He's not hearing this, but love you, bud.
Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? I remember one of the first days I met X. I've known him since he was about three years old. That's right.
Happy birthday. He's very cool. I have an 18-year-old today. Jason Feller, how are you, buddy? What's up, Rich?
Good to see you. Good to be. Try to remember what these buttons do. Thus, end Del Tufo's streak at 12 days. Was he here for 12 straight days?
He was. Did he pull anything? Did he? We know. Is that why he's not here?
Yeah. Is that why he's not here? He actually pulled something. Yeah. Being here 12 straight days.
Good to see you, TJ Jefferson. What's going on? Hey, Rich. You know, on Wednesdays, we wear pink.
Okay, very good. What is that from again? Ping girls. It's ping girls.
Okay. Good to see you, sir. How are you? How are you? I'm good, bro.
How about yourself? I'm doing fine. How are you feeling, though, dog? 18 years old. That's like for how you feeling.
A blink of an eye. It goes fast, man. 18 years old. Kind of crazy. But yeah, all is good in that neighborhood.
844-204-Rich. Hello, Disney Plus Audience, ESPN, App Audience, ESPN Radio, and SiriusXM. Audiences, of course, we say hello to our podcast listeners. Just because you're not listening live doesn't mean I don't get to say hello to you all. You just can't call us at 844-204-Rich.
Because if you call us, we might not be here if you're listening whenever you're done. Speaking of darn well pleasing, didn't expect to start this way, but. You know what? I mean, we could start with Tarek Skubel losing his first start as a Los Angeles Dodger to have them losing five games in a row. Um for a team that everybody said oh It's all over.
It's all over baseball because they got Tarek Scoob. But we could talk about your Boston Red Sox, but I don't wish to. uh we could do that later 29 out of less basically talk baseball we could talk baseball all we want um and there is lots to talk about uh on on um on uh this show later on we shall But right now, normally we don't start the show this way, but I'm going to do it because it's football and I'm just so psyched that it's football season. I don't know if you're feeling it too. Hardknocks was last night.
Hardknocks hit last night. That's kind of along with this weekend's event in Canton, Ohio. By the way, we will be. Doing this show live from the Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum. On Friday, 12 to 3 Eastern Time, Steve Hutchinson's going to be our first guest.
So we're going to reunite with Hutch. And Luke Keekly is scheduled to join. Rod Woodson is scheduled to join. Chris Berman is the master of ceremonies again this weekend. He's scheduled to join.
We're going to be there on Friday. Friday night is the jacket ceremony. That I will be hosting in downtown Canton. It's incredible. It's the moment where Hall of Famers get their first tangible items.
um to uh r make it Dawn upon them that they are now football immortals. Um That's Friday. The game's Thursday. Hard Knocks debut's Tuesday. It's now a football Wednesday on the Rich Eisen Show, which means it's time for a power act.
And I have done this the last couple of weeks.
Well, I do power rankings every Wednesday, but I have turned the power rankings into my own top ten at a position. Top 10 quarterbacks a couple of weeks ago, top 10 running backs last week. It's now time for my POW rankings on NFL wide receivers. Brought to you by SoFi. Hit it.
Ah! This is the power rankings. Many like it, but this one is mine. Power rankings. Power rankings of the top 10 wide receivers in the National Football League brought to you by SoFi.
Full disclosure: this list is going to piss some people off. Wonder who It's going to piss some people off. I bet it's not going to make me mad. I would say it will not make you mad. I have a thing.
I will not make you mad. But I'm going to make some people mad. You can guess who's going to be those some people. By the end of the. Uh uh of the reveal, if you will.
There are so many. There are so many terrific wide receivers that could be number 10 on this list. Quite frankly, they are all worthy of it. But I am landing on Chris Olave as tent on this list. Interesting.
He's really friggin' good. He sure is. When he is healthy. And he, you know, hopefully has this guy in Tyler Shuck. Hopefully shucks the guy.
Okay, because They signed Olave to this big, big fat contract. And he produces. He's done nothing but produce when he is healthy. And he is just a tough cover man.
So I'm putting him 10th on this list right here. and then ninth just so I can put my head on the pillow. Because of the um Ohio State receivers that are on this list. Plural. I'm putting Nico Collins here, another guy that went healthy.
He is a beast. He is an absolute beast. He could be your possession receiver. He can be your. physical across the Middle receiver, he can be your take the top of the defense.
Off receiver. When healthy. And I bought into the Nico Collins hype last year. Um taking him second round in my draft. That of the League I wanted to win the most, it just didn't work out.
Because he did not stay healthy enough. And they also didn't have enough help for him to potentially not get. Blanketed. By the way, Tank Dell is back at practice just on this very day.
So, hopefully, some help there is on the way. And they did draft some good young kids there last year. Nico Collins, though, individually. Is an absolute beast, and I'm putting here at ninth. He still had a thousand-yard season last year, despite being hurt.
Okay. Eighth. I am so Loath to put him on this list because he's never done it before. And it puts two receivers from this team on the list. The only team on this list.
To have two receivers on the list. I'm putting George Pickens here. A little low, but yeah, I like it. Can he do it again, man? Can he 'cause 'cause what he did last year was so beyond impressive sick.
and so terrific. and so unstoppable. That this is why the Steelers were being patient. And you gotta wonder if they're gonna lament. losing their patience at the end of the day.
But he's gotta prove it. And the Cowboys, after having seen Seen what he did last year. We're like, yeah, we're just gonna franchise tag it. Show it to us again, and then you'll have to put the bag on the table, and then we're going to start staring down the abyss. of paying our wide receivers.
You know. They're already paying the wide receivers if you think about it as much as Dak.
So it's the most expensive quarterback receiving combination in the National Football League, and he's got to prove that it is worth it for the Cowboys. But that said, I'm putting him at eighth. Crap. And now I'm putting A.J. Brown here.
This is a big season for him. Uh this is past performance. This is past performance, and then also just showing you. How everything I said about Nico Collins. can be said about A.J.
Brown. Really can. He can be, you name it, what do you want? And he is perfect for the moment for you, sir. Yes, sir.
Perfect for the moment for you. Dirac May. Let's go. Drake, Drake, May, May. Yeah, buddy.
Coming off of his almost. MVP season. And almost Championship season. Yeah, that game wasn't close.
Well... He still made it. He still made it. He woke up on a Super Sunday saying, I could be a champion tonight. I would love that.
There's only two quarterbacks who do that. Starting quarterbacks who do that on any given football. Super Sunday. And he was one of them. And what a great move for the Patriots to say.
This is the deep ball guy. You can have your 50-50 guy. You can have. When you are the guy who Kurt Warner says, out of anybody in the NFL throwing a deep ball, it's like a handoff. Yep.
And Let's go, AJ Brown. Let's see what happened last year. Disproven on the New England turf. I don't mean to turn this into a. Referendum.
But that's what a power rankings is. I'm putting him at seven. And he's not the highest ranked. Guy With Brown and his last name on this list. You know, I called Amon Ross St.
Brown a top five receiver. Long before he started becoming Amon Ross St. Brown, the top five receiver. And it's ironic that I'm now here saying he's sixth on the top. Oh!
He's sixth on my list. Because I cannot put him above any of the five. that are in my top five. But he is 5A.
Okay, I love him. I love what he does Catching the football, making himself presentable. going ahead and Drugging off the bad games and coming back at it. And turning himself into what he is. How he goes about his business.
Oh, my goodness.
So I'm on raw. The sun god of Detroit is six. Cause I can't put him above CeeDee Lamb, man. CD's 5. Might be too low.
Might be too low. I don't know about it. Let's see again. But are the Cowboys the only team that have two on the list?
So I thought about putting, I toyed with T. Higgins at 10. But um I I have to put CeeDee Lamb here at five. And I understand you're like Tulo, but You can now get to the portion of this Power Rankings where I'm going to piss a ton of people off. You ready for it, guys?
You're mad no matter what you do. Huh? I said, those people would be mad. I mean, they all accuse me. Oh, yeah.
No, there's four guys left. Yeah. You know where I'm going on this front, but I'll get to it right here. Four is Jackson, Smith, and Jigba and three is Puka. I'm putting Puka above.
And I will be straight up with you in the same way that I thought I was right about. Matthew Stafford being the MVP. I did vote for Puka Nakua as Offensive Player of the Year last year. Cause Puka played one fewer game than Jackson, Smith, and Jigba. It wound up being 78 yards shy of tying him for the most yards in the NFL.
And pukina co-op. Had the most Receptions in the NFL last year with a buck 29. And he had the best yards. Per game in the NFL last year, 107.2. He and Jackson, Smith, and Jigba each had.
10 touchdowns. Smith and Jigba. Did Have Puka on an average yards per catch, 15.1 of Puka's 13. Point three. Puka's yards after the catch were 666 yards.
That was the most in the National Football League. And he had won fewer games. 'Cause he missed one. Honestly, I just, you know, I understand JSN is a Super Bowl champ and the offensive player of the year from last year and fully deserves to be a top-five wide receiver. He's got the belt.
He's got the belt. We'll see what Poker can do. Number two on the list, I understand. You know, his stats. Last year.
I'm going to throw out the fact that the quarterback wasn't. to his liking or to anybody's liking. Justin Jefferson is too. Justin Jefferson, let's not forget. Let's not forget.
Those are the three words I'll say about Justin Jefferson. Let's not forget. Forget. 'Cause I understand again. Where he is on all of these stats lists of what I just said about why I chose Puka over JSN.
Justin Jefferson is number two, and without doubt, without doubt, Jamar Chase is the number one receiver in the national football league. Him and Joe Barrow, good luck. Good luck. Jamar Chase is number one. He is.
I I don't think any argument And what he can do, and what he should do if Burrow stays healthy for 17 starts this coming season.
So that's my power rankings of NFL wide receivers. Brought to you by SoFi. Get your money. Right. Gents Yes.
I think maybe where did you put CD? You said CD was too low at five. Who do you put him above? Oh, I put I would have Justin Jefferson five. I would move everybody up one, put C D four and have Justin Jefferson five.
I think I would have maybe Drake London instead of Chris Olave. Um, that's kind of that's kind of the only quibble.
Okay. I I don't know. They're kind of the same player. They both have extreme talent and they both have, you know, kind of trouble staying on the field. I hear you.
I I'll take Olave if I have Olave versus Drake London in a fantasy league. It's tough to argue with Olave's um catches and If we're talking fantasy, I kind of like Olave a little bit better just because quarterback situation. Drake London had 68 catches last year. 68. Seven touchdowns.
I know. And Olave had a hundred. And nine touchdowns. Yeah, I'll be with State Home. And 1,163 yards.
I mean, it's tough to argue. Stats. It's very tough to argue with that. I mean, I liked your list. Like I said, anyone can nitpick and move guys.
I'm super nitpicking. But, yeah, overall. No, I know the 12s are going to be angry with me. I get it. But I'm not going to sit here and go, uh-oh, I'm upset about the guy.
This is off the 12s.
Well plus look who's ahead of him. Puka. Jefferson and Chase, like it, you know, kind of hard to argue. JSN had that awesome kind of first half of the year, and Puka was awesome down the stretch. It was just, you know, kind of football coin on those two guys.
But I agree, Chase number one.
Okay, 844-204-Rich is that number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Get away into the Hyundai. Getaway sales event and getaway where the deal is so right it almost feels wrong. Right now, you can get great deals on our most popular models, including our adventure ready SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Santa Fe Hybrid. The Tucson or Tucson hybrid is available for you.
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So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away the deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com. Four details. Did you see last night the Lombard family, George Lombard Sr. and his wife were there watching George Jr.
Homer? And their son In his first minor league start, also homero. Yeah, and single A. What a wild moment for that family.
So, I'm wondering: how many times have Christian and Luke scored on the same? Oh, interesting. You know who would have the answer to that? Yeah. Let's bring him out.
Ed McCaffrey here on the Rich Eisen Show. In studio. Don't go anywhere. Bum bum. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
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Alrighty. Mm-hmm. Auto. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters.
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Okay. But we're in the works. Ed McCream. It's in the works. He's here on the Rich Islands Show, three-time Super Bowl champion, along with his wife, Lisa, and their four sons, expanding the McCaffrey brands family with the launch of McCaffrey's Rocky Mountain granola, as well as mustards and horseradish and all the good stuff, right?
That's right here in the yes, and this is all for you. I hope you. Oh, wow. If you really like it, you can talk more about it. If not, just text me.
Okay. Yeah, let me know what you think. But I think you'll like it. Yeah. You look healthy.
You're in good shape. You've been running?
Well, okay.
Now, listen, easy ass. Yes, I've been running. But secondly, did he go higher register with the You Look Healthy? A little bit. Because again, we hear on this program, if anybody goes higher register, they got to go higher register to believe what they're saying.
Or is it just me being potential? Particularly sensitive. Like, you're like, you look healthy, you know what I mean? Instead of.
Well, I was trying to. No, there it just happened to be. I was trying to set up my joke. Have you been running? Because obviously, you know, run return.
So, you know, not everyone will get that, but I was trying to set that up. But you actually do look healthy. I would say you look like you're in good cardiovascular shape because we're around the same age. You're a young buck. You're a little younger than me.
But we're around. You're a month or something.
Well, you know, you almost made it to Leo, but you got the crabs.
So you're. I'm cancerous. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Junior. And so you almost made it to Leo, but not quite, but you're younger.
But you look in good cardiovascular. You might not hit the weight room as much. Thank you. Yeah, I do. Is that accurate?
You know, I'm hitting the weight room a little bit more.
Okay. But it's not. You have some tone, but you're not like, you know, gym rat. That's correct. Which neither am I.
I'm zone tuning for the zone twoing for those in the know on the treadmill. I do the zone two to get my heart rate. I'm fat burning.
Well, you look in good shape. Thank you, sir. I greatly appreciate it. It's only going to get better with the you look in good shape. Thank you, sir.
Sir, I appreciate it. Ed McCaffrey on the Rich Isen Show.
Okay, so let's get into some of the old good days. When you went, how did you go from the Giants to the Broncos back? I was cut. You were cut. Is that right?
Yeah, I thought I was having a great career. I love New York and love the Giants. Still have some friends that work for the organization. And Daniel was the coach from your last year. Yeah, well, you know what?
It started out with Bill Parcells. I was drafted by Bill Parcells. He gave me the call on draft day. What was that? You know, that was when they only had.
I think maybe the first two rounds on the first day of the draft. Maybe the first round, I forget. But after that, Well, I was the last pick of the third round. It was no longer televised at that point. And I was waiting around on the Napoleon dynamite rotary phone for my call.
And my buddy kept calling me. I'm like, dude, stop calling me. I keep thinking I'm getting drafted. And so eventually I thought, you know what, I guess I'll get drafted day two. But I got the call, and Bill Parcels was the coach.
But he made it through one mini camp and then he stepped down. And then Ray Hanley became the head coach. He was there two years. Then, after going eight and eight, and six and ten, he was let go. But I got to play with all those players that were on the Super Bowl team with Lawrence Taylor and Phil Sims and all those guys.
Okay, give me your favorite Lawrence Taylor story. What do you got?
Well, my first day of camp. I held out for eight days, which is frowned upon for a third-round draft pick, over maybe 20 grand. Who knows what it was for? But I held out. Was George Young the guy you rolled?
He was. George Young was there. He was gone. Yeah. So I held out.
So I show up to camp, and we were at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Yeah, I have to figure out. And they set up the locker room in the auxiliary gym.
So it's like where they have their intramural sports. And there were wooden makeshift lockers, and they have the athletic tape with your name written in a Sharpie. And I walk through the locker room, and sure enough, my name's spelled wrong on the On the athletic tape above my locker, but for some reason, my locker is right between Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor. And I'm thinking I don't know why I'm with the linebackers, but Lawrence Taylor's reputation already precedes him. I'm going to start off with saying he was an incredible teammate, and he was really nice to me, and he's smart and has a good sense of humor.
Nice. But I had never met him before.
So I'm sitting down between LT and Carl, and it's between the first and second practice. Back then, as soon as you signed, you run out and go to practice.
So I signed after the first, right before the second, and they're like, get out to practice.
So I'm in my locker getting ready to go. And LT's locker is notoriously messy. It's like a disaster. He can't find one of his cleats.
So I haven't met these guys yet. And we already know about LT. Everybody knows everything about LT.
So he's talking to Carl across my face saying, hey, man, you seen my cleat? And I'm just sitting there minding my own business. I'm the skinny wide receiver from Stanford who just got to the team. And Carl, who's a big dude, he's like 6'5, 6'6, 250. And LT is a good 250, and they're, you know, just won a Super Bowl, and they're two of the best, most ferocious linebackers in the league.
And so LT stands up on the other side. I mean, he says, hey, man. Did you take my cleat? And I'm thinking, I'm going to get my ass kicked on the first day of practice. I just got here.
And he's looking at me like he's seriously going to beat the hell out of me. And then he just slaps me on the back and says, ah, man, I'm just messing with you. I'm like, oh my Lord, like, what just happened? And then I kid you not, we go out to practice. And on one of the first plays of our our drill against the defense.
Uh, he head slaps one of the tight ends, one of the young tight ends on our team, and literally breaks his nose, and the tight end. You know, had to leave the practice, and he's like, Oh, I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean to do it. And so, I'm thinking he really is crazy. Like, yeah, I really almost did get my ass kicked. I don't know, yeah, but he was ended up being a great teammate.
I really enjoyed my time there, he was really cool to me. But he did scare the living hell out of me on the first day of practice. I bet.
So, you get caught, and then how did you wind your way to Denver? Which, by the way, talk about, you know, you just mentioned in talking about your granola and your mustards that are sitting here on my desk. You know, you've moved to Colorado and you've lived there your entire days, and that's your home. I bet you were thinking at the time, what's happening in my life? What's happening in my career?
Not knowing a life-altering moment. For the positive, what's just about to happen here? Yeah, it turned out to be great. I mean, long story short, we won three Super Bowls in the next five years. It worked out pretty well for me.
But you know what? It wasn't all luck. I remember once I got cut, Max, who's now coaching for the Chargers, he's a running back coach for the Chargers. He's our oldest son. He was two months old.
So we just moved into a new apartment and I'm writing down all my goals. You know how you do. Like, I want to be a starter, I want to have so many catches. And I was feeling really good about my position on the team. And then I just get a call that they have enough receivers in camp and we won't be needing you to show up to camp.
Like, what is my whole world just got rocked? I'm thinking law school, business school. Camp already started for teams.
So it's a little late to try to find a team. And I had maybe four or five options of teams that were looking to potentially bring in a receiver, and the 49ers were one of them. But I made the decision To go to a team I thought could win a Super Bowl. I'm like, you know what? I want to be part of a Super Bowl championship team.
That was the number one. Factor that I considered before I selected a team to try out for, because there's no guarantee you're going to make the team. And so I decided I want to try out for the 49ers. I think they're in a good position to potentially win a Super Bowl. 94, they did.
Yeah. And so I go out to the team, and there's like 14 receivers in camp. And when I first got there, they put me in a room with like eight other receivers in bunk beds. If you can believe it, they did that in training camp in the NFL in the 90s. And I had to go to Coach Seifert and say, Look, if you don't want me on the team, I get it.
But like, there's no way I'm going to room with a bunch of other receivers. People listen to music, stay up at different hours. I'm like, I'm serious about making the team. And I thought he was going to cut me. And then I was really thinking, you know, business school, law school, I'm going to do something.
Look for another career. But luckily, William Barnun Floyd was holding out and there was an empty room. And I ended up with my own room, which was pretty cool until he signed. But I had sprained my ankle. I played in a charity basketball game.
I was kind of Good cause, stupid for me to do that. Sprained my ankle, so my ankle's wrapped up like in a cast. We're in Rockland, California. It's like 120-some degrees. I almost got cut thinking I was going to get cut when I talked to Coach Seaford, but luckily I didn't.
And then every day, I'm going out to compete. For my job with Jerry Rice.
Well, I'm backing up Jerry. I know I'm not gonna start, but they only kept four receivers. That's unheard of. They keep four receivers, and all four from the team the year before were on the team. And two of them are Jerry Rice and John Taylor.
So, really, maybe there's one spot or two spots between 14 guys competing for these spots. And guess who I have to go up against every day? Deion Sanders, right?
So it's like, I'm backing up Jerry Rice. I gotta somehow do well against Deion Sanders in practice to be able to make the team. And there's 14 receivers here, and all four from the year before. And I was like, my ankle was killing me. I was like stressed out.
But that was a turning point in my life and in my football career. I remember walking out to practice, and I just started laughing. Like to myself, like this is ridiculous. I have a sprained ankle. I gotta try to beat Deion Santa on a good day when you're healthy.
Like, you gotta go up against Deion. And it's not looking good, but I'm like, I don't even care anymore. I just want to have fun playing football today. And if I beat Dion on one slant route, My two-month-old son's going to hear about it for the rest of his life. In practice.
Did you? Oh, yeah. Ah! Oh, yeah. I love you, Deion.
But I take credit. Deion doesn't give me credit, but I take credit for him being the defensive player of the year that year. He had to go against me in practice every year.
So I'll take it. I'm the only one giving myself credit for that, but I took pride. I was so happy for him. Like, he worked so hard every day, and in some really minuscule small way, I contributed.
So I'm going to take that one. But. But, you know, I just, I loosened up. And, you know, when you run, you can't be tense. You have to relax.
I started breathing. I started relaxing. I didn't care about the past and I didn't care about the future. If I make the team great, if I don't great, I'm going to be okay either way. And it allowed me the freedom to relax and play better.
You run faster, you're quicker, you breathe better, you don't get as tired. And in that moment, I became a better football player. I was a better player as a backup for the Niners. And then because I didn't get in the games that much, Mike Shanahan, who was our offensive coordinator, took note and he barely talked to me all year long. By the way, he has to get in the Hall of Fame.
I don't know if you have a Hall of Fame vote, but if you do, Mike Shanahan. We've waited too long. But anyway. It's. It's kind of a it's it's it's it's a running joke at this point, but he'll get in.
It's just a matter of when. But anyway, he noticed me in practice.
So, for all those people who don't think people are watching, they're watching. The people that matter are watching what you do when no one else is watching. And so, he noticed, and I really loved playing for him. I thought he was an offensive genius. I saw what he did with the 49ers.
We blew out the Chargers in the Super Bowl, and we ran right through the season. Dallas was a tough game in the middle. The Super Bowl was the NFC champion, right? And by the way, I was there as a local reporter for KRCR-TV in Redding, California. Really?
Yes, I was shooting the video just as Steve Young ran underneath the goalpost. Like, I kind of look at the NFL films footage of him, you know, like celebrating to try and pause if you could see me in my. You know, my jacket and tie with a three-quarter-inch camera on my shoulder. I was there that was the Super Bowl, Ed. Yeah, it was.
That was the Super Bowl. It was a great game, and I know they had battled a few years before that, and finally the Niners came out. But Steve Young was so great to me. I was only there seven months. And I have friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
That was such a well-run organization and such wonderful coaches and players on that team. Harris Barton took me in under his wing. Bart Oates had come from the Giants to play for the 49th.
So I got there, but I felt like I had a ton of friends and people that were really cool to me. And it was such a great atmosphere, so many Hall of Fame players, and it was such a magical season. And so I got to live my dream of being part of a Super Bowl champion. And I got to see what greatness looked like. That was a great team.
That was greatness.
So Mike took you to Denver? Took me to Denver. And I had an option. I could have signed a couple other places. But back then, it was really good money for the time at like $136,000 for the season.
But after moving expenses and everything else, You're playing for free, basically. And so it wasn't about the money. I just wanted to be on a championship team. And so I knew what Mike had done. And Jack Elway was my college coach when I first got to Stanford.
So I had met John at breakfast when we played CU one morning. And John was a legend. He was a Stanford guy, but. I'm like. I want to play with John Elway, and I want to play for Mike Shanahan.
So I didn't really know a lot of other people, but those were the two reasons I wanted to play in Denver. And thank goodness. That was the right decision because I got to play with some of the greatest players and coaches. And we got to win our first Super Bowl, then we won another one. And it was such a magical run.
But it all started with adversity, right? It all started with getting cut, and then it started with me surrendering. To just be the best I could be and let fate take care of itself. And then, you know, following the right people and trying to select the right organization, right coach, right players to play with. And it just was a magical five-year run.
But the memories we created in Denver, every single day of my life, I talked to someone about Super Bowl 32, or they asked me a question about Coach Shanahan or John Elway. And it just has, I never thought of that. Like when you're a kid, you think of catching passes in the Super Bowl or winning a championship, but you don't think of how your life is affected for the rest of your life. And then with my kids playing, it's just. It's made it even more special.
Well, I mean, what a life lesson you just gave, Ed, is that your biggest moments where can come out of uh what you consider or what everyone else around you and the rest of the world considers failure. Yeah. and the best moment for you to sit down and go. This ain't it. This is not defining me.
I got this. And Uh it takes a reserve. It takes a certain um A certain excellence within you that you either wake up with sometimes or you don't. And by the way, Rod Smith should be in the Hall of Fame too. Yes, thank you.
And TD's already there. Pat Bolan, obviously, may he rest. I love that man. He helped birth NFL Network. He could not have been a bigger supporter of NFL Network.
His entire Time while in his remaining days from the NFL network to when he passed. Um and you're right. I mean Mike Shanahan is is uh the man Um can you stay to the end of the hour? Because I I have so many other questions.
Well, Rich, you know, I don't know. I got places. I don't know. I have no idea. You know, granola doesn't sell itself.
I have no idea what what you got left. But I do I do want to I'll take a break. I need your favorite L Way story, and obviously, I want to talk about your kids who are playing in the NFL right now. Let's do it.
Okay, that's Ed McCaffrey right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. We're back with more with Ed: The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here. We talk a lot about battles and sports.
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If not, you just cheer them on and hope for the best. And you're happy that they're pursuing their dreams, doing what they want to do. And so, with my kids, they've just always loved football. They've always just taken to it right out the gate.
Well, it's not only just, you know, you played in a Super Bowl, one, three of them. and now you're watching your son Christian having played in a Super Bowl Um, but he's also playing in a Super Bowl For the team you won a Super Bowl with for the first time in your career. For the son of the coach, he won two other ones. That doesn't happen too often. That's crazy, man.
But you're. It's Mike's kid and your kid. You know, trying to get the same goal of what you did. when you were a niner and then what you did when you were a bronco four And with Mike, it's nuts.
Sometimes I feel like I'm on the Truman show, right? Like, is this the real world? Like, the world's bigger than that, right? But it's amazing how it worked out. I knew Kyle when he was the ball boy for the 49ers.
And even though he gets credit for babysitting Christian, that was mostly Crystal that did the babysitting. But yeah, and then he went with Mike to the Broncos. You can see all those pictures of him holding.
So he's grown up a football life, right? He grew up the son of a coach and has been involved with the team since the time he could walk. And so is Christian. He was in the locker room playing Power Rangers with Rod Smith and Shannon Sharp and my teammates and High Five and John Elway after games. And he grew up in this football life.
But that's no guarantee. The percentage of. Pro players whose kids play pro are minuscule, right? It's not like it's a hall pass to the NFL. Let alone for the son of the coach that you won three Super Bowls with.
I don't know if that's ever happened, really. I can't imagine. I can't imagine and any time I speak with Christian. and uh to people who play with Christian. They talk about, and I we pick it up from him.
his remarkable work, I think. His, you know, his best weapon could be what's between his temples and what beats in his chest. Where does he get that from? I think he was born with it. You know, he's always.
Love sports. He's always loved football. He's one of those kids that is very self-aware. And if he loves something, he's all in. He can't get enough of it.
And if he doesn't, he wants nothing to do with it.
So, luckily for football, he's all in. Like, he loves it. And he's a student of the game. He's always studying, always trying to find ways to get better. He's always been super competitive.
Luckily, he had a great big brother in Max who let him tag along with him and his older friends.
So he's always competing with older kids. But some of it is just, you know, innate ability. Like, he was born with. The ability to anticipate and with vision. And, like, that's not something we often talk about.
You talk about 40-yard dashes and bench presses, but. Like The great athletes in every sport have the ability to anticipate and they see things differently. The game slows down for them. And he's been blessed with that. He just has been.
Well, I mean, not for you to speak on his behalf, but I'm about to ask you to do that. He's the magical age of thirty now. Yeah. And you know the conversations about running backs who hit 30. I'm sure he's acutely aware of that.
Is that something that's a fire lit under him, do you think, for this? He's always been a competitor, and in a weird way, even though he's been the best at what he does for many, many years, he always has a chip on his shoulder. And I think it helps to have a chip on your shoulder, to always feel like you have to prove something. It's to other people, it's to your coaches and teammates, but really it's to yourself. Prove yourself that you can do the things people say you can't do.
You know that in your profession. It's football. It's every line of work that anybody has. You always feel like you've got to prove yourself. And so, yeah, I was probably.
in the best shape of my life in my thirties. I was getting in better shape in my 30s. Unfortunately, I had an injury at like 33 or maybe. Right. But I felt in incredible shape.
And Christian started playing the game early. He was 20 when he got in the league, maybe 21, first year in the league. And then he trains like crazy. And there's been a boatload of running backs who have had thousand-yard seasons and been offensive players of the year after the age of 30. You know, if you want to get into the topic of running backs, first of all, the average career in the NFL is three years.
I know, right? And they talk about the average length of receivers versus running backs, and it's 2.6 versus 2.3 years.
So, what are we talking about? There's no metrics. at all or data that suggests that the elite running backs are Are less productive than elite any other position. And we're not talking about every running back or every receiver or every edge rusher. The elite players are elite for a reason, and because of Yeah.
Franchise tags and salary cap restrictions for running backs, they really drew the short stick. When it comes to the salaries they're making in the NFL. No doubt about it. Right, so it's like it's unbelievable. But I will say this about Christian, he's very self-aware.
And football means the world to him.
So he wants to be the best player he can be for his teammates and for his coaches and for himself. And he does everything he possibly can. You know, I don't want to say that. He works harder than ever. There's a lot of guys that work hard.
There's a lot of guys that work smart. There's a lot of guys that come out of pocket to do everything they can to be the best player they can for their team. And he's one of those guys.
So he will leave no stone unturned in terms of his preparation, and he will be ready to go.
So, and he will play. With a chip on his shoulder all the time. That's how he's wired. Age 30, man. He's made it.
Not bad for a guy that was from Stanford, apparently, couldn't run between the tackles and wasn't a good teammate because he didn't remember the ball game. I remember all of that insanity. I remember all of that. And he shows up at the Combine and runs the route tree better than any wide receiver that was at the Combine. I remember that too.
And let's talk about Luke. He's in a launch position as well, right? Thank you. Yeah, he's going into year three. He's having a good camp.
Coach Quinn does a phenomenal job with that team. He's going to have an opportunity to step up, man. I mean, like, they need weapons for Jaden Daniels here. I mean, I know that there's. You know, McLaurin, the OG, but Luke's got a shot to really proud of him.
I think Coach Quinn does a great job of creating competition within the team, but also building a pretty solid culture.
So the guys love playing for Coach Quinn, and Luke's getting an opportunity. It's a great receiver's room. They all get along, they all work really hard, they all have different skill sets. And so he's going to have an opportunity again in life. You know, everybody knows there's no guarantees, but he's having a really good camp.
Jaden is looking sharp. I was at camp the other day.
Okay. And he was on fire, very efficient, spreading the ball out all around the field. And so I'm hoping that's a good harbinger for what's to come. You know, and Jaden's a special player. But Luke's getting a lot of playing time and he's getting a chance to compete during camp.
And he's fired up too. He's the youngest of four boys.
So when you talk about a chip on the shoulder, right, he's getting the last turkey leg at the dinner table. You know what I'm saying? Like he's scrapping. He's been a scrapper his whole life, and so he's a competitor, which is why I think he fits really well with that team. I appreciate you dropping the word Harbinger, by the way.
That is a Stanford man right there. And I know what Harbinger means because Stanford is the Michigan of the West. And so in the couple minutes I have left here. Uh the best And the worst Mm. Teammate babysitters for your children.
Oh, man. The best. Oh. Teammate babysitters. And why did they answer Lawrence Taylor for both?
Yeah. Oh, man. Max was just a little baby. Best and worst. I've got two minutes here.
Yeah, no, I want to part out. You're radio max. You know, Rod Smith.
Well, God, there's a couple. Rod Smith was great in the locker room. They used to hang out around my locker and we were next to each other. But we actually had, there's some names people may or may not know, but Jake Plummer once dressed up as Santa Claus and came into our house. Bill Musgrave babysat the kids.
And so we did have a couple of guys that actually. Came over the house and did watch and hang out with the kids and throw the football around in the backyard.
Okay, so the teammate that you said, hey, guess who's coming over to babysit and Lisa's like, who? Yeah, really, what? No, Lisa knows him, but no, no, not say who, like, but like, really, who's coming out of the room? Yeah, and well, you know, it was Lisa's idea. Like, someone has to dress up and come over and surprise the kids.
Okay, it's usually her idea. Any of the creative ideas that we have in our family are her. Worst, I will not, I'm not going to throw the worst under the bus, but it did involve driving a motorized vehicle into and through our garage door. Yeah, that was the worst.
Now I need the hook. And they pretended like it didn't happen. It was decades later. The statute of the day. Like the hole just magically, did something happen?
No, nothing happened. Statute's done. I can't do it. I can't throw people out there.
Sounds like it reminds me. Yeah, yeah.
Sounds like. Their number is done. You can't do it, Joan. All right. Everybody, check out the McCaffrey Regional.
Rocky Mountain Granola, again available on Amazon and McCaffreygranola.com. On all of that. Thank you for coming on here. I really appreciate it. That is Ed McCaffrey right here on The Rich Eisen Show.
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