REShow: Al Michaels - Hour 1 (8-4-2022)

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That's 877-ASK-DELL to save up to 48% on our latest technology. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Hello. My name's Rich Eisen. Thank you for consuming this program on Peacock Sirius XM85, Terrestrial Radio Network, coast to coast of the Rich Eisen Show. Our podcast listeners, hello to you, because you listen to this show whenever you want. And we appreciate you hitting that subscribe button to our podcast.

It comes to you every single day. Hit that RSS feed for us. We say hello to everybody maybe listening on the Odyssey app, and then there's the YouTube stream for everybody, our YouTube page, pardon me, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show for everything that you might miss.

And there's a lot to potentially miss on this program. We have multiple in-studio guests. We have six guests.

We're 6-1 today. Yeah, we've got six personnel here on this program. First up's Al Michaels, because I wanted to speak to him about the passing of Vin Scully.

And so we had Bob Costas on yesterday and Al Michaels today, and that's how we are rolling on that front. Kirk Ferentz will join us. Iowa Hawkeye's head coach will join us on this program right here in the heart of Big Ten Country in Los Angeles, California.

Wonder what he thinks of L.A. now being part of Big Ten Country. We've got the actor Theo Rossi. So many of you might remember him as Jews from Sons of Anarchy. He's now in a new movie called Emily the Criminal.

He's from my hometown of Staten Island, New York. He'll be on the program. And Tom Pelissero will join us from training camps, wherever he may be across the country, talking about some top story news we'll get to in a second. The Sklar brothers will be there. They're rebooting their fantastic show, The Cheap Seats, from their ESPN Classic days when I used to be an ESPNer.

It's now called The Nosebleeds. It's part of UFC Fight Pass. They will be here in studio. That's how we're rolling. Chris Brockman, good to see you. Hello! What's going on? I had no idea Richard Kind had shown up. How are you?

DJ Mikey D is in D's Nuts. I'm doing very well, Rich. TJ Jefferson has lit the candle.

How are you, sir? I mean, if we're doing impressions, you've got to warn me for this. That's OK. No, we're not.

I didn't expect that one either. We were somehow, for some reason, talking about Richard Kind before the program. Anyway, here we are.

Here we are. I said when Deshaun Watson's suspension was handed down by Sue L. Robinson, the independent judge chosen by the Players Association and the NFL, to rule on this matter as part of the new collective bargaining agreement is hammered out in 2020. The way of discipline being handed out, player conduct policy violations in the NFL. She ruled six game suspension because of the precedents that had been set in previous years for nonviolent sexual assault behavior. And again, Deshaun Watson also not criminally charged for this behavior. As we all know, everybody knows the story.

I'm just kind of laying the groundwork for you. Because in case you might not know, the National Football League in the collective bargaining agreement agreed to by the union in 2020 and passed, allows for the independent judge's ruling to be appealed by the NFL to the NFL. And it's either the commissioner can hear the case himself or his designee. And the league had three business days to hammer this thing out and they did it in two business days.

They're appealing. And to that I say good. I don't believe six games was nearly enough. And the reason why Deshaun Watson got six games is because of precedents. And even though the judge said this is without precedents and agreed that Watson had met the NFL and the collective bargaining agreement's definition of what he did in terms of sexual nature. And they, if you read Suell Robinson's opinion, it seems like she's about to throw the book at him and the league wanted a full year. And according to Charles Robinson, no relation to Suell I imagine, of Yahoo, the judge told the NFL and the Players Association in the room in front of everyone during this process that the league was not going to get what they're looking for.

A year suspension open ended where Watson needs to meet certain benchmarks in order to be reinstated. And so that made perfect sense of everything else that had come out that the Players Association was not going to come to a settlement with the league before the ruling. And then if you remember, there was a statement the Players Association put out the night before the ruling was reportedly coming saying we're going to abide by this decision no matter what. And we think the league should too, even though they have a collectively bargained right to not live by the decision. I guess they knew already the league wasn't getting the full year, so we'll abide by the decision.

We know it's not a full year, at least that makes sense. And it also made sense for the Players Association to tell Suell Robinson about presidents. And also the fact that owners of the National Football League have run afoul of personal conduct.

And they didn't get the hammer thrown down on them. To all that I say again, what DeSean Watson did and him apparently, according to the reports, I really want to hear from him again. And I guess we will at some point. You know, the Browns say he's remorseful and then you see all the reporting coming out of Watson camp saying he didn't do anything wrong. And Sue Robinson even said you did all of this wrong and you don't have any remorse and that's part of the reason why I'm giving you the six games, which is kind of double what president says I should do to you. And again, there are people with purchasing power for this business that thinks six games and no fine when he also has a contract that only puts 1 million of his 46 up for being hit by the NFL due to a suspension in lost wages. That something had to be done and the league is doing it and I have no idea what's going to come of it. And again, Charles Robinson of Yahoo is saying today that there are two options the league is offering to Watson. One is a full year. Did you read this article?

I don't know if you read this Chris today, but I read it this morning. The full year option? It's a full year and his contract would toll.

What does that mean? It means that his five year contract extension would not begin until 2023, meaning he's one year further away from having another contract negotiation. Obviously teams can rip up deals, but I don't know why he'd want to have this deal ripped up because it's the best deal in the history of deals. It's all fully guaranteed, but Watson would have to sit out the year and he would have to have his contract told. And he would have to seek counseling for all of the things that if you read anything about what Watson did in the New York Times and any of these lawsuits.

I think he does need to sit down and talk to somebody about all this. And there would be no further fine. The other one is a 12 year, 12 game, pardon me, suspension and a hefty fine, a significant fine. One in which, according to Robinson, would be to take the money away from him that he earned last year just sitting around with the Texans. So last year would be a defacto suspension of Watson, even though he willingly said, I don't want to play. And then on top of it would be another year suspension, 12 games.

I don't know which one he would want to choose. Both require him to have counseling and the contract wouldn't toll because obviously he would play. Massive fine, 12 game suspension, no tolling and no need to apply for reinstatement. Or your suspension contract tolls no fine. That's apparently what the league is offering to Deshaun Watson right now. And they could basically say, do what you want. We're going to sue you anyway.

And then who in the whole knows what happens right there? Mike Florio says that Watson would be in a very difficult position to win that. So. That's what's up.

On that front. And the league is basically saying, you know, say what you will about this process. But and you can say that we're making it a sham because we're not accepting the ruling of the independent judge and we are going to appeal it to ourselves because it's the commissioner's choice to either hear the case himself.

And Tom Palacios is joining us in hour three. Our colleague Ian Rappaport saying the commissioner will not hear it himself. And as a matter of fact, he will hire an arbitrator that's outside of the NFL.

I think that's a good move. Because the NFL believes on its merits, on its merits, that what Sue L. Robinson said Watson did and the fact that Robinson was so strident in putting it out there. The league is like, she, she knows this is worth this long of a suspension, but our previous iterations mandated her to not give us the full year.

And she basically told them at the outset. So the league has had almost a month to prepare for this moment. If I'm Watson, I'll take the 12 games.

Give me the 12 games. I don't want my contract tolling. I'm going to make an insane amount of money. It's all guaranteed. I'll take the 12 games with a massive fine. I don't need to apply for reinstatement either. I'm back.

I'd be back. 12 games. Cleveland, do they have a late buy?

They don't. It's right in the middle of the season. So he would be back week 13.

Oh my gosh, at Houston. All right. Welcome back. And then you could play this year. Be there for your team.

Get it over with. Yeah, Rich. 12 games. He'd be back for Cincinnati. Is that what it would be? Yeah, it's games. Games, not weeks, probably. Okay, so it would be eight weeks, then a buy. And then, yeah, eight games and then four more. He would miss the game at Houston.

Yeah. Even better for him. He'd be back for a stretch run, maybe playoffs. Cincinnati, Baltimore, New Orleans, Washington, Pittsburgh.

He'd be back for three division games. Yeah, man. If I'm him, pay the money. Obviously, it's not mine.

But if it's 10 million bucks, I guess, of whatever he was making last year in Houston, that's it. Stroke the check. Be done with it.

You're back for your team this year. Or what do you roll the dice and say I win in court? But as you know, he's all about the league with the one thing that I didn't see in this story, and I'll just wrap with this here.

Either way, the league would 100 percent make him admit something was up. Express remorse significant. Accept responsibility for what happened.

Again, I know he has many supporters in Cleveland, and I know many people are coming after me for talking in this strident matter about him, thinking that I am also not nearly as strident about the NFL owners and other foibles of the front office. This is a totally different story, folks. Just read all the details. Read it. Do yourself a favor and read it, and then you tell me it's not worth the NFL to up Sue Robinson's discipline.

Because it's worth it. For a lot of people. And for Watson to say he did nothing wrong in his camp to say he did nothing wrong? Really? Come on. I wasn't born on August 3rd, 2022. Which would have been interesting. It would have been. You and your wife, same birthday. Well, I mean, I also... You'd be a day old. I would.

I'm not drinking some Java here. Let's take a break. Boy, do we have a lot to get to, and I'd love to get to your phone calls as well. Once again, Tom Pelosaro, top of hour number three, will join us in advance of the Sklar brothers coming out here, having some fun. And then Kirk Ferentz of Iowa football joins us in advance of the actor Theo Rossi of the new film Emily the Criminal, and so many know him from Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy and more. He'll be here in studio hour number two, but when we come back, the great one and only Al Bino himself.

Al Michaels on the passing of Vince Sculley, next on The Rich Eisen Show. Dovmen dry spray contains Dov's unique one-quarter moisturizing cream that helps protect your skin. Try Dovmen Plus Care dry spray. Goes on dry.

Clean feel all day. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, 844-204-rich number to dial. We'll take your phone calls in a moment, but I want to get to the phone call of this man who I adore. And it is something that I cherish to be able to call him a friend, having met him a while ago, and I figured let's get him on today after we had Bob Costas on yesterday to talk about Vince Sculley and his passing.

He is the voice of soon-to-be Thursday Night Football on Amazon, and also just the man on the Mercedes-Benz fans phone line, the great Al Michaels. How you doing, Al? I'm fine. How are you doing, Rich?

I'm hanging in there. I'll give you the floor on your friend Vinnie. I've always heard you refer to him that way. I'll give you the floor on his legacy and passing, Al. Well, I would say he was probably as influential as anybody in my life in terms of what happened with me and my career because it all started as a kid growing up in Brooklyn, and we could actually walk to Ebbets Field. And the first thing I ever remember in life is my father taking me to a Dodger game. On a weekend afternoon, we walked over to Ebbets Field and I was enthralled just walking into the place with how beautiful it was and how green the grass was and the signage on the outfield walls. And at one point during the game, my father pointed to what was the broadcast booth, and it was an open-air broadcast booth at that point in the front of the upper deck.

And Vinnie was there with Red Barber, a classic announcer, and then a guy named Connie Desmond, who was also very good. And I looked at them and I thought, I think the first kind of conscious thought I had was, I want to be here every day. I just want to come here every day and somehow get in for free. And of course, thought about at that point maybe, you know, you're going to get paid.

This is going to be your job. So that's the first thing that I can recall, and Vinnie of course had to be in his maybe first or second year as an announcer. And then growing up in Brooklyn and going to the games and listening to the games and falling in love with, you know, with Barber and Vinnie and listening to every game, I was destroyed when the Dodgers then left Brooklyn.

But ironically, my father got transferred in his work in 1958 to Los Angeles. So I didn't miss a beat. I heard Vinnie's entire career from the time I was a child until the very end, of course, when he ended it in 2016. I was beyond honored to ask at Dodger Stadium to introduce Vinnie and a lot of the Dodger greats who had come to celebrate the beginning of Vinnie's final season. We, you know, I first met him in Hawaii when I called his hotel room and I was starting my career and I knew he was on vacation at the Kahala Hilton. Hold on a second. Hold on a second now, because I was going to ask you that, like when you first met him.

What? You knew he was on vacation, so you called his room? We were, you know, we're in Honolulu and somehow word had come down. You know, you kind of knew everybody who was coming to town at that point.

This was, you know, 68, 69 or 70. And I very nervously picked up the phone and, you know, called the hotel room and introduced myself. And I said, I know you're on vacation, but is there any chance I can bring a cameraman over and do a short interview with you for the sports on Channel 4 in Hawaii at that time? And ironically, I'll just throw this in parenthetically, Chuck Henry was the news anchor.

So Chuck, who's now on Channel 4 here, Chuck and I go all the way back to that time. Anyway, he couldn't have been more gracious. I went out there and very, you know, nervously interviewed him.

I was giddy. And I got, you know, four or five minute interview with Vinnie. And then I next saw him when I got the Reds job.

I'm doing Cincinnati in 1971. And one of the great throws for me, Rich, was when he asked me to be a guest when the Reds went to L.A. that year on one of our trips to be a guest on Dodger Warmup, his pregame show, which I, of course, have listened to a thousand times. And here I am being interviewed by Vince Scully. So through the years, obviously, we developed a great friendship.

We belong to the same golf club. You know, I had many, many meals with him through the years and talked to him so often. And down the stretch of his career and his life, you know, we would talk a lot on the phone. And he was extremely complimentary. You know, I would do a football game and he'd call me and he'd say, oh, I just love watching the game and you were great. You know, it never ceased to thrill me to hear Vinnie on the other end of the phone.

And of course, it's one of those things right now where I have about four voicemails on my machine from Vinnie and they will never be erased. So in terms of, you know, being my idol, which he was and helping me, you know, become what I've become in terms of a broadcaster, learning so much from his style, his rhythm. And most of all, I think Rich's naturalness. He had just a natural way of broadcasting the games.

And, you know, there's been very few figures as beloved as Vinnie as you can well tell from all of the testimonials that we've heard and read over the last two days. The brilliant Al Michaels here on The Rich Eisen Show, a couple of days after the passing of his friend and colleague, the iconic Vin Scully. So, Al, you're the perfect person to ask what made him so good at what he did?

A lot of things. I go back to that naturalness. He didn't sound like a guy playing announcer. He was your friend and he was narrating the game for you and he did it in such an eloquent and then fantastic way. He also taught you the game.

I mean, I learned more baseball from Vinnie as did, you know, probably millions of listeners through three or four generations. I learned as much from him as from anybody. He taught you strategy. He taught you about the players. He taught you about the history of the game. And he was able to weave this in. Of course, everybody's talking about what a great storyteller he was. Of course he was. But in addition to that, his play by play was fantastic. Just his way of describing the game. And the sound of his voice and just the rhythm of his voice and how he did things.

It was comfortable. And that's what you strive to be. All of us in this business are hoping to be. You don't want to be an annoyance. You don't want to be cacophonous.

You want people to say, get the hell out of here. Vinnie was welcomed in to millions of homes over 67 years. And you'd be hard pressed to find somebody who truly felt that Vinnie was an announcer that you would really love to hear. And he brought so many things to the game.

He was so obviously well prepared. But the fact that he could take a run of the mill game, an average game, and God knows he did thousands and thousands of games and there were a bunch of those. He could take that game and turn it into a great listen, a great broadcast. And then he could take a great game and turn it into an iconic broadcast.

And in 67 years, as they say in sports, he brought it every night. And what he did, and it's what you do, Al, and Bob Costas on yesterday's show actually pointed that out. Mentioning you having the ability to, and it sounds so simple.

It sounds so simple, but it's not. And that's what I think he was terrific at, and you are as well, is that you take the nuanced and difficult and make it seem natural and simple. That he used his voice, the inflection of his voice and the rising of his voice in describing the action. So the action, a shocking moment. I mean, the perfect example was Buckner. You know, it's by the bag and it gets by Buckner. Here comes night and the Mets win it.

How simple is that? I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it. And then you hear the crowd. And then he would let the crowd tell the story and then come in with a line. And come in with a line, you know, the Impossibles and a year of where, you know, the Improv, right. You know, all of the iconic lines. He would just come in a madhouse at Candlestick. Unbelievable how he would do those sorts of things.

Well, he and I, we actually talked about what you were talking about right now about, you know, how you get to, how you put a coda on something. And, you know, you brought up that line. I mean, his line after Kirk Gibson's home run in 1988, I mean, he's not supposed to play. Obviously, the players are pinch hitter. You know, I'm sure Tommy was sort of hoping he can maybe draw a walk and send a pinch runner in and then he gets a home run to win the game. Which was just astonishing.

And, you know, Vinny's call was perfect, of course. And as you said, he let the crowd roar for just a second and then he put the perfect exclamation point on it in the year. Of course, that was a crazy year for the Dodgers.

You had Hirschheiser with that long streak, scoreless innings, and a lot of other crazy stuff that went on. And he said, you know, in the year that's been so improbable, the impossible has happened. I mean, that summed it up perfectly. That's the greatest, as I say, coda maybe I've ever heard.

It was just fantastic. So, he had the ability to, and I remember having a couple of conversations with Vinny over the years. A lot of it is, you got to let it come from your heart, in a way. You're seeing something, but then it's got to be, you know, what you feel.

It's in your bones. And I think, you know, he was very fortunate, and I've been unbelievably lucky to in certain moments, you know, when you can really screw it up. Instead, you kind of make it, you know, iconic in a way. And Vinny had so many of those. The Colfax, perfect game. Gibson's home run.

The Dodgers winning the World Series in 1955. There was just a simplicity to it, but also an elegance. And a lot of it comes from you. From what you're seeing, what your eyes are seeing, and how it's being transmitted to your heart, and then out of your mouth.

And there's an element of luck involved in it, but again, it's a lot about the humanity of a person. And what he sees, and, you know, Vinny was able to sum it up, because he, you know, he read the room. He read the room as well as anybody in the history of the business. Al Michaels here. A couple more minutes left with him on The Rich Eisen Show.

So, I mean, we've been cycling through some photographs while you've been talking, and there's one where you're on the stage. Looks like it's Bob Miller up there as well. Vin's winning an award. There's Costas.

Steve Saks. Brent Musburger up on the stage right there. And I know you probably did a lot of these dinners. There was one honoring you, actually, as a broadcaster. I was there at the Southern Cali. It was an award here in Southern California, and Vin was there for you.

What was it like for you? I've never asked you this. I might as well ask you here in front of everybody. What's it like to just, you and Vin Scully, just chit chat? You know, what was that like? Well, I mean, when I got that honor from, I think it was Southern California Broadcasters Association.

That's right. A man who put it together said, you know, what would you think about a dais? And I wanted you there, and I wanted, you know, my son there, and Bob Miller. And then he said, what about Vinny? I said, oh, my God, of course, but I can't ask Vinny to do it. I just can't.

I can't do this. And then he called me back and he said, Vinny's coming. I mean, that was just, that was too much for me because that was like, I mean, you grow up with somebody.

He helps you form what you are, you know, certainly vocationally, obviously. And then all of a sudden he's going to come over and say a few words. And he was, you remember, he was so eloquent that day, as he always was. But that was a thrill. I mean, look, every time I was with Vinny, it's like when you, you know, if you're a musician and you grow up idolizing a pianist or a singer or an artist and you're a kid and you love art, and then you get into that world, and then that person, that person acknowledges you. It never, it never ceased to thrill me. It was, it was just fantastic when, you know, when Vinny came that day, when I was asked to do certain things, you know, again, that emceeing that final opening day at Dodger Stadium.

I mean, it was just one of the great thrillers of my life to have anything to do with Vinny. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to recollect your friend and mentor and idol. I love it, Al. I love hearing you talk about this sort of thing, because you are that for so many people, including me. And it's something I cherish when you come on here. And you're going to have to come in your studio, Al, I'm going to insist, before you begin, before you begin the 2022 season on Amazon and beyond. Let's do it. It is. It's coming.

It's the train coming out of the tunnel. I'll be down there very shortly. Very good, Al. You be well.

You be well. The great Al Michaels right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Love that guy. Love him.

Just to go a little bit deeper here. I mean, to hear Al talk about how, you know, he's Al Michaels, right? He's been doing this forever and he's being honored by this group, the Pacific Pioneers Broadcasters.

There they are right there. He's like, I'm not even going to ask Vin, and he does. And in the same way that he revered Vin for what he did as a broadcaster, but just, you know, he grew up listening and watching him.

I feel the same way about Al Michaels. And when he asks me to be on a dais, if you don't mind putting that photograph up one more time. And that's his son, Steve, in the middle.

This is June 16th, 2017, in the old Sportsman's Lodge, where I take my children to go to eat a HiHo burger every now and then. And there's Al next to Bob Miller. There's his son, Steve. And Vin, to my right. That's a great photo.

You know, like, what's going on here? You know, I was just blown away that Al wanted me on a dais, and I feel the same way about him. How lucky I am that the guy who I my basement in Staten Island watching the Miracle on Ice, you know, trying to stay off of the radio so I didn't have the results spoiled. That guy is now saying, hey, would you like to be on a dais? And so I went on the dais and, yeah, I snapped a pic of Vin while he was talking. I might be creepy, but I'm sitting there and there's Vin Scully, just the whole audience.

There were about 150, 200 people in the luncheon in that room there. I'm like, my God, I'm listening to Vin talk, and this is the greatest thing ever. Oh, and then, by the way, I noticed while sitting on the dais, there was somebody who was very familiar sitting in the crowd, and it was the actor Jamie Farr. There he is.

I took a selfie with him. Corporal Klinger. I have no idea why Jamie Farr was there. Don't ask me.

Don't know. There he is. Big sports fan. I mean, clearly. Clearly.

Here he is. Jamie Farr, one of the many actors on a show that still is on the list of the top 20 most watched television shows finale of all time. The finale of MASH, I think, still sits and it gets knocked down a peg every Super Bowl. Every time the Super Bowl is televised, it knocks the finale of MASH down one peg. MASH is now ninth all time. There you go. MASH finale. Drop out of the tenth in a couple years.

Yeah. Drop out of the top ten. Cup of football and more football seasons, and MASH will be out of the top ten.

Top ten. But I'll always have that photograph of me with Jamie Farr on the same day where there's a photograph of me standing next to Vin. Corporal Klinger. Oh, yeah, man. He's like living in Southern California. You never know.

You never, exactly. Let's go to Lonnie in Los Angeles right here and then we'll take a break. How you been, Lonnie? Uh-oh.

We lost him. Did you do that? No. My hand was in the air.

How can I do that? I picked him up and he dropped. Uh-oh.

He might have. He'll call back. All right.

So let's take a break and we'll take phone calls. Plus, I need help from you guys. Oh. I need help.

Help? I'm going to talk something out because in advance of Kirk Ferentz of Iowa football joining us, I'm heading to Big Ten Country. I say Los Angeles is Big Ten Country.

It is. I'm going to Ohio. As you know, I'm going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The jacket dinner's tomorrow night. Oh, man. And plans need to be hatched. That's coming up next on the Rich Eisen Show.

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Find out which ChromeSoft is right for you at CallawayGolf.com slash ChromeSoft. Let's go to Derek right here in Los Angeles. What's up, Derek? Hey, good morning, Rich.

How are you doing today? What's on your mind, sir? Well, I was just curious what your thoughts were about, you know, it's big front page news in the NFL about how Brady talked to Stephen Ra down in about coming down to Miami. But nobody seems to have any interest in the story about how Stafford and McVeigh met up in Cabo.

They sat down and had drinks, discussed shop. And then in that same offseason, that trade was made for Stafford to come from Detroit to LA. Well, a timeline, Derek, Derek, Derek, the timeline is that he went into the Lions owner and said, I'd like out. You know, and that he and his wife had a major, major, major sit down confab in the Stafford household to say, we are going to leave the only spot we've known professionally as a couple. And that's the story, because also it's not just him saying, I want to go to Los Angeles. It was the Lions getting a deal for Jared Goff. I mean, again, it's not just like what Brady did, which is I'm going to be a free agent.

I get to go wherever I want to go. I think it's two different stories. Thanks for the call, Derek. The issue with Stafford, though, he's not throwing in camp. He's not the quarterback for team drills right now.

And McVeigh is saying that's just, you know, part of our plan. We're going to get him through this training camp, maybe rest him for a couple of weeks and see how his elbow feels. Yeah, they're ramping back. Yes.

They were supposed to be kind of ramping up because he hasn't thrown like this whole offseason and he got another injection in his elbow and is ramping backward. This is something we need to keep an eye on. Something to monitor. And, you know, much no doubt being made of McVeigh's comments, which is not a setback. It's part of a plan.

Right. This is our plan. Well, the plan definitely was to have him throwing by now. And McVeigh knows that, too. But he's not going to sit here and go, oh, my God, we're aft.

We're panicked. So he's not going to play this whole preseason, right? I would imagine not. Why would he? Why would he? It's tough, though, for your first game action to be week one Thursday night. He's ramping back now.

Buffalo. He's ramping back now. But I think you're fine. I think he'll be fine enough to throw the cup like he's on the same page as the guy. I don't think obviously you want the reps. You want to get in there and you want your quarterback throwing. But that's something that is 100 percent something to keep an eye on.

When you got a new weapon like Alan Robinson, you need to get on the same page. It's 100 percent something that everybody's got to keep an eye on right now. So, after today's show, gents, I'm heading to Los Angeles International Airport. Wheels up.

By tonight, I'll be in Canton, Ohio. Private? Huh?

Private? No. Oh, because normally when people say wheels up, I just assume. No, no, no.

It's a connotation. No, no, I know those people very well. Yeah. I'm in his group, wonderful people.

Great people. He loves making fun of my Uber rating more than most people. Does he really?

So he does. The wheels up guy? So, at any rate, I will be in Canton, Ohio tonight. 1A? 2A. Oh, 2A. And I'm checking a bag. Whoa. Because I'm going elsewhere afterwards.

So, be that as it may, that's not why I'm bringing this up. It is one of my honors of my life and professional career to host the jacket dinner in Canton, Ohio. Every enshrinee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame receives three physical items for achieving football immortality. They get a Hall of Fame ring, which is presented to them last. They get it at the stadium during the season when they are honored at halftime by the team that they're most closely associated with. There's the bust, as we all know, which is revealed prior to their speech. That's when it's truly cemented. But the first item they receive that causes the recipient to have it dawn upon him that this is actually happening is the jacket. And it's slipped on the enshrinee by a presenter or a member of their family, and it is truly one of the more emotional moments that you can have. And it's a treasure. It's totally amazing. You've been at this ceremony before. Many times. And there's nothing like it because all the returning Hall of Famers are announced first, and they form a gauntlet through which the enshrinee walks to get to the stage.

Sometimes I'm getting goosebumps just even talking about it, at which they then receive the jacket, slipped on them, and they have the jacket, and they go to the event the next day with the jacket, and then they get the bust. I've been doing this for a long time. And when I go to Ohio, shock the world, I kind of hear from local Ohioans about the school up north that they refuse to name Michigan.

They won't even say the letter M, they won't spell it, the red X, I get all of that stuff. You might imagine through the urban modern years, I heard a lot, heard a lot, heard a lot with Ryan Day's first cracks at it as well. He's been good. It's been a while since I've hosted this dinner coming off a Michigan Wolverine win. Tomorrow night, that long ass drought comes to a stirring conclusion. Gents, I plan to be dragged off that stage tomorrow night.

They may actually do that. Heads up, Canton, I'm coming to town. You tell me, unless you're telling me to back off a little bit. I'm not going to tell you to do that. That's what I want to ask you guys for advice. Because here's the deal, Rich, here's the deal, you have been kind of bold and very timely with your cracks in the past when you hadn't won bupkis. Nothing.

Nothing. I would sneak in just one little line. You would sneak in here and there, you know what I mean, like, hey guys, that's the number four, it comes between three and five.

For you Ohio State graduates, yes. You would just kind of bint, real quick, jab. Like blow a little dart, hit some in the neck that didn't see it coming. Now off of last fall, and then we saw how you acted for all of December. I've been writing checks. In the first couple of weeks of January before the semi final. With my speech.

I think that you should just go for it. Like Leo in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Oh, what really? The flamethrower. Wow. You earned it.

TJ, you normally. You bid your time. You're, you're, you're the better angel of this show and broadcast and team. No offense. I should have said that at the top.

None taken. Got it. You're the better angel.

I wouldn't say better, I'd say maybe more of a reasonable. You're the better angel. Okay, well, fine. You are. Okay. And you're, you know, from nearby State College is your team. Yes.

And you're from Western Pennsylvania and the East Coast ish adjacent. What do you think? Do you think I should put the, take the foot off the gas pedal a little bit tomorrow night or just really just like, cause normally you just say one thing for every 10, 15 minutes and you know, grand total, maybe two, three mentions.

I'm talking about a little bit more booing, like booing and hissing may happen. You know, the thing is watching you work that room and that crowd, I told Chris the first time I went, I was like, I don't know if I'll ever tell him this in person, but it is, it is amazing to watch you dig in your bag when you're working that crowd. It really is. So I'll give you props for that. Thank you. I'm all for staying with your chest. Remember I was the one who pretty much brought that vernacular to the show, staying with the chest. The only thing I'm worried about is your wellbeing.

I told you we could have the Samoan SWAT team, I could have to now get you set up because I chose in the room, Charles would be in the room in the room, Chris said, you talk trash when you didn't win and this is no disrespect. Who knows? You might go another eight year drought. You don't know. So you better get all of it in. Now is what I'm saying. You never know. You never know.

You might not get this chance again, so you better use everything. I should act like I've been there before, but no, not in this particular case, but do you remember? No, I don't see. There you go. So I would, yeah. I'll be honest. I do not.

Unload the clip as they say. Oh, baby. I'm coming. I also think a lot of the people there who attend this function just about every year, they're expecting something from you. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. But I don't know if they're expecting the volume. You're coming with it.

Not the loudness, but I'm talking about the amount. That's on them. I only wish we could be able to see it.

Kirk Ferentz of Iowa football and Theo Rossi up next. We'll just have to tune in on NFL Network tomorrow night and watch. I don't think it's live. Oh, wait. Really? I don't know. All right. We're going to have to have somebody live stream it.

Oh, man. I don't know. They might not want that live, Chris.

He might be working blue. Well, can you go live? Can you FaceTime me and TJ right before you're about to go on and just leave it up front? Yeah.

That could. Sure. I don't know.

It depends on how the reception is in the Civic Center. Set your phone up and just record yourself and then post it later. I don't know.

Oh, is that what I should do? Like, hey guys, I'm going live on Instagram here. Yeah. I'm live on Instagram here. Hey, everybody.

Well, you know what I'm going to do, I'm going to dot the I on Instagram with a 40 burger. Ladies and gentlemen, Hassan Haskins has just scored again. All right, let's move on. I mean, it's just going to, that's what I'm saying. I'm not looking to the negative.

Hassan Haskins just hit his head on the goalpost again. We're going to check in on his condition. Like, I'm just giving a few, I'm crowd sourcing, I'm working on it.

Don't we have a contingent? Just in case something happens and you don't make it back. Oh, I'll know my escape route.

I'm just saying like, if we got to go a week because you're healing up from something. Here's what I might do. Here's what I might do. I might beforehand. Take out insurance.

Find Jonathan Ogden. Oh, okay. Stand behind him. Make sure he occupies Orlando Pace. You're going to have to get some. Enough. Yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? I'm in the form of, normally Pace is the protector, but I think Orlando might be the one to come on the stage if he's there to physically lift me off it and remove me from the podium. Like that's what I'm planning on tomorrow night. Like I would take that moment, but I have to ask Ogden. And the reason why I'll ask Ogden is just, you know, out of, I guess, friendship, but also out of also asking him for support. As a fellow Big Ten-er. As a fellow member of the Big Ten. Make sure Hutchinson is close. You knew I was going, am I telegraphing my stuff so badly? I mean, you know what it is, it's like when your teammates with someone for so long, it's like, you know, you don't even need, it's just like, you know, second nature, sixth sense type of stuff. As a fellow Big Ten-er, Jonathan, you know, Munoz, hey, Anthony, we're not Big Ten. Mishpoka? I'll have to explain to Anthony what that means.

I don't think he does. Like I said, make sure Hutchinson's close. You know. Hutch! That's right. He'll definitely have your back for sure. He's got the interior. Yeah.

I'll take Ogden on the end. You'll never get touched. Oh, can't wait for tomorrow night. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too. All-time Hogan opponents, Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Wow. Because even going back before, you know, Hulk Hogan was a baby face, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome, at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.