REShow: Bob Ryan - Hour 2 (8-1-2022)

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry clean feel all day. Let's jump into Deshaun Watson. This is The Rich Eisen Show. How transparent has Deshaun Watson been with the NFL? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. We've seen the NFL come down harder on players in the past that weren't transparent with them.

Deshaun Watson has been suspended for six games. The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, senior writer for the MMQB Albert Breer. Still to come, Hall of Fame sports columnist Bob Ryan.

Plus ESPN MLB columnist Buster Olney. And now it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

We spent hour number one significantly. The lion's share of that hour on the subject matter of Deshaun Watson being suspended by the independent arbitrator and judge as selected by the league and its players association in the NFL. Sue L. Robinson giving Deshaun Watson a six-game suspension. Albert Breer talking about the the how behind it, the why potentially behind it, and then what the moves for the league might be from here on out as Deshaun Watson is practicing with the team. Now that is always going to be the case when a player gets suspended.

They're allowed to not only practice the team. I think you're going to see Deshaun Watson play some preseason football as well. That's the way it always goes in the NFL. And we'll see what happens from here on out. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated and the MMQB joined us.

If you missed any of that, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. Chris Brockman lead off hour number two with the way our poll question is going right now. I think our poll question is similar to ones that other shows are doing today, but we're just going to jump into it.

Go for it. Yeah, we throw it out there. How do you feel about this Deshaun Watson suspension, appropriate or not? No, 85%. I think that's the way it's going to be. 85%. Yeah, and the court of public opinion is chiming in and that does matter.

Although when things are codified and in a collective bargaining agreement and language is there and you have a judge applying the language to it, that's how you get a suspension like this where she's paying no heed to public opinion. I'm going to throw out another one here actually. I'm going to say what should it have been? What should it have been?

You know what, let's just throw, let's leave that one for today. The next three days is, this is going to be a subject of conversation. You're probably right. Because the league has three business days to let the players association know that they're going to appeal it and that's when things are going to go a little bit differently because the appeal is to the commissioner or his designee.

So there's all that. Yeah, Diana Rossini tweeted out 20 minutes ago, the league is meeting today and will continue tomorrow to decide if they will appeal. They shall huddle up. This will not be a hurry up offense.

This is going to be a huddle situation, I would imagine. Our number three buster only will join us. And John Heyman in the New York Post saying several teams have been told by the A's that they're out on Frankie Montas, their young stud ace pitcher who is available in the next 24 hours. And with Luis Castillo being a mariner now, that is I imagine the apple of the eye of Yankees, Mets, Dodgers.

Anybody trying to add another starter? Could be Astros, who knows? We'll see how that goes. The Yankees just made a move. What did they do? They acquired Ephris from the Cubs.

Okay. And then John Heyman just tweeted out, the Angels have decided to keep Shohei Itani. The Yankees did make an offer. Yankees were among the teams to make an offer. Everybody's making an offer, you know? The Brooklyn Bridge.

There's nothing you can't offer for, and again, every single team. I don't know if the Brooklyn Bridge works in Anaheim. They could.

We could. Out to Disneyland. They built Radiator Springs down the road. London Bridge.

Good Lord. You see what they do there in Disney? They can reimagine anything.

I mean, basically you go around the world hearing the same song over and over again in a nice 10-minute air-conditioned boat ride. Padres and White Sox also. The other team is taking an offer.

Of course. Everybody. Yankees right now. By the way, any team's looking for pitching. Great starting pitching right now.

Great arm. Anybody's looking for starting pitching. And everybody else is looking for a bat. Everybody's looking for a bat.

And so there's one guy that meets both on the spot. You got yourself your ace pitcher, and you got yourself your left-handed power bat. Are you kidding me? And if they had traded him, it's just like, you know, close up shop. You don't want to be in Major League Baseball.

If you have Shohei Ohtani and you're like, yeah, we're out of options here, so we're going to trade him. Forget it. He's Plan A. And they all know about the, just look at the logo right with the halo around the A. That's Plan A. 844-204-rich number to dial here on the program. So the red sweater, is Plan B.

Thank you very much. That's a little Ken Bone drop to go with your Shohei Ohtani takes. The passing of Bill Russell. Look, I clearly wasn't alive when he played, and I wasn't alive when he was a player coach. By the way, two championship seasons as a player coach. Could you imagine today a player coach in the NBA?

I could. I think LeBron could do it. Yeah, didn't we have that in the bubble? He's doing it now. He's doing it already.

You guys can already say he's doing it already. By player coach GM, he's doing the weird NBA try. You know what I'm saying? Like, literally, like player on the court, time out. Yeah, that's what we're saying.

You know, gets a clipboard. Have you watched the Lakers play? But I mean, Bill Russell, there are only a handful of individuals who can match what he did as an athlete, championship-wise, athletics. By the way, you know he was a high jumper. He did hurdles, too. And whatever the championships that he won, and a perfect example of this, kids who may not know, Bob Ryan, who's joining us in about 14 minutes time.

You might hear this out of his mouth because this is what he put out yesterday just to remind everyone. In his final 14 years, 14 years as a basketball player, Bill Russell's team participated in 21 winner-take-all contests. Nine NCAA tournament games, right? It's a winner-take-all. One Olympic gold medal game, that's a lot for the winner to take. Ten game sevens and one decisive game five. Those are the 21 such winner-take-all contests. Bill Russell's team won them all. 21-and-oh.

Perfect. 21 for 21. And again, it's team. You got to say team because he facilitated. Look up, kids, Google his or YouTube highlights.

Just five, six minutes of it. The passing, the facilitating. He ran the break. Could you imagine what that looked like?

Right now, you could see seven-footers run breaks, thanks to Shaq and everyone else. Yeah. You can see it.

It's just okay. Also, he was 6'11", you know, about 220, 230, something like that. Unreal. Unreal. The athleticism back then was extremely super, whatever adjective you want, rare. Right. Didn't happen.

Correct. And then the number of athletes, we've seen many, but not enough. Certainly, these days, putting their careers on the line, at stake, or using their platform from their professional playing careers to talk about the real stuff that matters.

Social justice, a fair world for everyone. And Bill Russell did that even better than he was a basketball player. We're seeing the famed photograph of him with the Mount Rushmore of such players.

When you combine their greatness in their athletic endeavors, with their greatness in talking about their world, our world, and making everyone's world equal and fair for all. You're talking about Kareem Jim Brown, you're talking about Muhammad Ali, and you're talking about Bill Russell. And obviously, when you're talking about Mount Rushmore, there's only four, but clearly Jackie Robinson is in that realm as well.

Just to name five. Talk about an important voice. It was Bill Russell, 88 years old, universally loved and beloved.

May he rest in peace. And Bob Ryan's going to be joining us in about five minutes time. Bob Ryan's going to be joining us in about five minutes time to talk about so much more in the life of Bill Russell, especially in light of what's going on in the world today.

And then Buster Olney will join us in hour number three of this program. It's so interesting, Rich, that these two things happened on back-to-back days. I wish we could spend the whole show talking about Bill Russell and how great of a man he was, but news of the day dictates we talk about Deshaun Watson.

It's just interesting, that contrast to me. Well, the world that also Russell was overcoming while he was performing at an insanely high level of success as well. And Bob Ryan will tell those stories coming up. He will do them much better justice than me just recounting them on the program. Jeff and Detroit, our friend Jeffrey, joining us back here on The Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Jeff? Oh, what's going on, my cousins?

It's wonderful when we get all together, man. Listen, first of all, thanks for giving out the information that you gave to Dan about Matt. Patricia's still getting paid by the Lions and going under a different name so he can get the money from the Lions.

Oh, that just pissed the whole entire barbershop off. Well, it's not just so he could get his money. It's, I think, so Bob Kraft doesn't have to pay it, to be very honest with you.

He's going to get his money either way, you know, but that, too, that, too. Let me speak real quick on Bill Russell. My father, Lord rest his soul, would have been 89 years of age, and he spoke so well of that man because Bill Russell was the person that African-Americans needed. It wasn't a positive representation of African-Americans and somebody who won, somebody who stood for dignity, who stood for righteousness, who basically was an uncle to basically everybody in the NBA.

The man will surely be missing. Like I said, I've never heard my father really talk about anybody like he talked about him, Ali, and those people trying to further the human cause to be a true humanitarian, you know what I mean? In the face, in the face, in the face of ugly racism that was pointed directly at him. He did it at a high level with so much against him, and like you said, against him. And like you said, then I'm getting ready to transition to talk about Deshaun Watson and his situation. What I want to just say real quick is me being a former law enforcement officer, I don't agree with, but I can see where the judge is coming from because out of 66 individuals, no prosecutor went forth with charges, which means he walked a fine line between being creepy and freaky.

In my opinion, he's freaky and creepy. It should be dealt with as such because it's almost like you get away with the crime and what happens next time? What is going to be the deterrent? Not only that, you're famous dude, and you're rich.

You can, you can do this somewhere else or another way. It's people that would be willing to do whatever you wanted consensually. You're the quarterback of the Houston, Texas, but you to go out and hunt down these women on ID and such, it's a power grab. It's something that's long upstairs.

Listen, and thanks for the call. Anybody who goes on vacation and wants to, you know, splurge a little bit and say, you know, I'll get a massage here at this hotel. Did you hit the spa when you were in Vegas in any way, shape or form? I did not. I kind of wish I did.

I mean, as everybody who listens to us in Las Vegas, Nevada, the great city where Mo Green has no plaque or signpost. I mean, the spa treatments are everywhere. He can't go and get one. Otherwise, that's a violation of this ruling where she basically said club employees are the only people allowed to massage the Sean Watson. That's it.

That's, that's like the independent study clause. You know, we're going to check on you. No more sliding into people's DMs, Mr. Watson, it's basically what Sue Robinson said. If you're looking for a massage, it's crazy. I can't believe the stuff I talk about on this program. It's nuts. Because it's happening. It's happening. It's totally crazy that an NFL quarterback has been told who and who may not be allowed to give him a massage because his behavior has warranted such a ruling. Is that more ridiculous than the Kyler Murray thing?

Hey, don't play video games. You know what? They're in two totally different worlds and solace. I know, I know what you're saying, but I'd rather they had find him.

I'd rather they had find him. But I guess this is Sue Robinson trying to protect unsuspecting masseuses in the greater metropolitan Cleveland area. I don't know. Called it some of the most egregious, the most egregious behavior. The NFL's ever reviewed. But I, again, I haven't seen the, it's a six page ruling. I haven't seen the previous five pages where she decided based on the, that first paragraph was definitely her saying what the Players Association argued merits less than the full freight of what the league was asking for.

Eight four four two oh four, which is the number to dial on the program. Let's take a break. So we're on time for Bob Ryan and spend some time talking about Bill Russell, who's passing left a hole in many hearts. No question about it. Cross the association landscape and beyond.

The great Bill Russell's passed away at the age of 88 in the Hall of Fame sports writer. Bob Ryan's going to join us to lend perspective. That's coming up. Back here on the terrestrial radio stations. Joining us here on Peacock. We were just spending the last three minutes. TJ Jefferson, who taps out mentally from every single conversation we have here about golf, has played golf.

Yes. Finally did it over the weekend. First time I'd been on a golf course. I've been on the golf course twice in the last 10 years. Once with the Michael Jordan thing and once when I shot that Callaway piece. Do you have a bug? Have you been bitten by the bug? Do you want to do it again?

I don't want to say I have a bug, but what I do have is a feeling in my lat that a blowtorch is like right under here and there's a muscle I guess I hadn't really twisted. All right. So, yeah. So I was like, okay, I really was. I was putting in work out there because TJ and I both putting in work on the course Saturday. How'd you do?

I played pretty well. I shot at 84 at the wind course. Whoa.

And then I went 83 the day before at the Paiute resort. Is the wind course the one that they played in the match recently? Yeah.

Brady and Rogers? Yep. Huh. You played that course and you shot at 83? 84 at the wind course.

Where were the T's? We were playing a little mix. It was about 6,100. That's insignificant. No, it's not. Good time.

All right. The wind course is fun because 18 is the rare par 3, but they do it. So if you get a hole in one, you win 10 grand. Glad you guys played golf this weekend.

No one came close. I mean, I wouldn't say I initially played golf. I mean, I want to disrespect golfers. I was on the course. You were swinging clubs. I was swinging the club. You were out there. You're a golfer now.

Good for you. You know what's the funniest thing is? The worst part of my game that day was my... Don't say it.

Don't say it. My putting. Oh, come on.

I don't know why. It was the worst part of my game that day was putting. Where are you right now?

And I'm sitting on the... And the irony is rich. Because I was like, oh, I got this. I'm like, you can help me with everything else. I'm like putting. I probably... I don't want to put a percentage, but it was under 50% from a short putt. I'm not a golfer. I don't know.

But it was fun. It was fun to get out there, hang out with the fellows because we haven't done that. Something like that in a minute. Bob Ryan will be joining us shortly here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's go to Terzo in Iowa. Terzo, what's going on?

All rise. What's up, Terzo? Hey, what's up guys? Happy to hear TJ's gone out on the golf course, man. Way to join the brotherhood.

What's going on? Hey, Rich, I want to give a shout out to Bill Russell, man. We lost a great human being. I wasn't alive whenever he played, but it's been great that I've had the opportunity to be able to go back and see a lot of his speaking engagements that are out there. He was just eloquent and well-spoken, man. We're going to truly miss a great. When it comes to Deshaun Watson, I think he got away with it.

And this is coming from a defense attorney. I don't think the six games is enough. The unfortunate part is he's on my fantasy football team. And I don't know if I want to keep him because I really haven't if I want to root for him or not.

And if I keep him, I feel like I'm just kind of feeding into it. Terzo, I get it. I understand, you know, and we're just going to all at some point turn a page. I mean, we're already talking about some other football related items today on that front, but I appreciate the call. Thank you for the call, Terzo. Bob Ryan will be calling us shortly on the program here on the Rich Eisen Show. Got a little baseball breaking news. What do you got Buster Olney calling us in about 35 minutes. All right. So according to Ken Rosenthal and everybody else, Jeff Passon, Brewers trading for Joey Gallo.

No, sorry. The Brewers are trading Josh Hayter to the Padres. Wow. Why would they do that? Josh Hayter going to the Padres. Hayter was on the market.

He's a free agent after 2023. That's huge for San Diego. That's huge. That's huge, man. The mindset of a Yankee fan.

I wanted them all. Hayter was available. Big return. So it's a Taylor Rogers prospect, Robert Gasser, outfielder, Asturre-Rourez, right-hander, Dinlinson-Lament.

Hayter's going to be a free agent, like you said, after next year. Can you put up the NL West standings for me, if you don't mind? I think that one's in the books, right? The Dodgers are finally running away with that.

Am I not mistaken on that front? No, they're running away with the division, yeah. Yeah, they had nine and a half games. The question is, you know, what's going on in the wild card? And you take a look at the NL wild card and San Diego's sitting right there?

Yeah, bro. And how about, why would Milwaukee do that? I mean, Milwaukee's 12 games over 500.

Like, what are they doing? Probably don't think he's going to resign, so why not get a haul of prospects? Now? And then maybe face him in the playoffs? By the way, the Braves would be first. That's going to be one of those two, is that, you know, you win the NL East, you get a week off. You lose the NL East, you take on the Padres in the wild card. How about that?

Thanks. You don't want any piece of that. What would you rather, sit back and watch the wild card teams hit each other? Because that's part of these playoffs that are going to be, that we haven't seen before. The baseball playoffs is the top two records in the leagues get the week off, while the third best record, so the division winner that doesn't have the top two, has got to take on the third wild card team and put it all on the line.

You know, you got to consider that. You'd be able to, you could sit back and set up your pitching, rest your bullpen, while everybody else does everything they possibly have to do to get to the next round. Why would you want to do that if you're the Brewers? That's weird. And passengers pointed out the Padres really didn't give up any of the main prospects that have been discussed in other deals, so it's possible they could still pull off getting Juan Soto today or tomorrow.

Who's this? The Padres still? Yeah, Padres still have enough ammunition to go get Soto, so they could get Soto and Hader, which is insane.

And again, that's why you want to win the NLE, so you don't want any piece of that in a short series if you can sit at home otherwise. Right. Man, oh man. We'll go to Jack in Ohio here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Jack? Hey, how's it going, Rich? I'm doing fine, thank you. How are you?

I'm good. I wanted to ask about a potential trade. I don't know if anyone's really talked about it or if it's really a dumb idea or not, but I was wondering if there'd be any interest by a trade from the 49ers to trade Jimmy G to the Eagles for Jalen Hurts, plus or minus some picks, but if there'd be any interest in that. I was thinking that because I thought Jalen Hurts would make the backup role for Trey Lance a lot easier because they both have a similar style of play, and Jimmy G is a more accurate of a thrower for that Eagles offense. What are your thoughts? I don't think it's gonna happen.

I mean, you know, here's the deal. Jalen Hurts is going to be the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback this year. They're all in on him, and I think he's going to have a significant year. I think he's going to look terrific, and I think he's going to be much better than what you saw last year.

I think he's a smart, smart quarterback, a smart kid, who is 1,000% somebody who can, and thanks for the call, who can assimilate his experiences from last year and come back even better. Yeah, Rich, I trust Pro Football Focus for my fantasy information just because they really dial in all the analytics and stuff. They have Jalen Hurts as QB 6 going into the season. 6. Well, that's fantasy, you know.

I understand, but those numbers do usually translate. Except last year where the number of times Jalen Hurts had a dreadful first half and a third quarter, and then that's true, and then gave you the fantasy points you need with some sort of insane barrage that either put the Philadelphia Eagles in front or, you know, him trying to get the reps in in a blowout, but they still made the playoffs. They did. They still made the playoffs, and they added AJ Brown, and the running game one would think is still good enough. It's going to be just as good, and now they've added Georgia Bulldogs on defense.

I don't know, man. The Jalen Hurts aspect of this, I think, will by the end of the year put the Eagles in a better spot, I think. Joining us here on the day after the passing of Bill Russell is one of the all-time greats, a Hall of Fame sports writer whose perspective on this was the first person I thought of, literally, when I heard of the passing of Bill Russell on the Mercedes-Benz phone line is the Boston Globe great Bob Ryan. How are you doing, Bob? You know, I'm feeling bad.

It's a sad day, but these things happen as we know. Absolutely. So, I will give the floor to you on Bill Russell's legacy, Bob Ryan. There are two facets to Bill Russell that need to be discussed, and we can take them in whatever order you like.

Just a basketball player and just a man. He's known for basketball for a very, very good reason. He's the greatest documented winner in North American sports history, having competed from 1959 to 1955 to 1969 for 16 championships. Two NCAA's, a gold medal in Melbourne, and 13 NBA championships. His teams just happened to win 14 of those.

And then the 15th one, he was injured. And then anybody reasonable knows they would have beaten the Hawks in 58, which would have made it one more. Now, and he also, we'll talk about the technique, but he put the block shot into basketball, made it an art form. And as he once said, I love this quote, I introduced the verticality to basketball. I made basketball vertical. Bill Russell was an athlete ahead of his time. He could kick the rim. I said kick, K-I-C-K, not touch, T-O-U-C-H. His reliability was extraordinary. He was an athlete so far ahead of his time that it's hard to comprehend.

All right, that's the basketball. The other side is that he was one of the great Americans of the 21st, 20th and 21st century, a proud black man who did not let racism defeat him. He tolerated, you know, he didn't tolerate it.

He gave it the back of his hand. He had a great quote, which that I think people should really fasten on. And that is, and he's loved saying this, my citizenship is not a gift, it's a birthright. And by that, he meant that he did not need the approval of white America to do anything. And whether it's sleep, eat, play basketball, vote, anything, that was something that should have been automatically given to him as a citizen of America. And he acted in that manner and that it was not anything that he should not be grateful for.

It was something that was owed him by birthright. And he lived his life with that motto. He lived an extraordinarily eventful life and should be remembered really as far more than just a great basketball player. Do you have a good story about him as the man that you witnessed yourself personally? He's an interesting man because he was in control of every relationship. And he had a very interesting definition or concept of friendship, as opposed to being someone's acquaintance or being in the outer circle. He put a great premium on it and he had kind of his own rules. He has his own rules for everything.

And he controlled the relationships. I spent one memorable evening that I will never forget. In 1999, the city of Boston got around to doing what should have been done years before and officially honored Bill Russell for being Bill Russell. There was a sold out ceremony at the Boston Garden. The emcee, by the way, was Bill Cosby. And celebrities of all walks of life were there in that sold out building.

And I was given the privilege by the Boston Globe of writing the preview story, the setup story for the event. And in so doing, I interviewed Bill over dinner in Providence, Rhode Island for over three and a half hours, in which he put on his A game for me. His charm was tremendous. He told stories. He has his most famous laugh.

You probably have heard about the cackle of his laugh. It was one of the most memorable things about him, personally. And it was an extraordinary evening. And I'm very proud of the story. It's been reprinted with editing in today's Boston Globe online.

I recommend it for your reading. And it was a great night and I'll never forget it. So I'll just say that I had a little acquaintanceship with him, mostly took place in the 80s when he was a broadcaster. I covered him as the coach of the Sonics and Sacramento.

I did not cover him as a player. I came in the year after he retired, but I got to know him a little bit in the ensuing years. But that night was the highlight.

I'll never forget it. So Bob Ryan here, Boston Globe, Globe columnist, emeritus, Hall of Famer right here on the Rich Eisen show. His relationship to the city of Boston and it with him walked me through how that developed and the ups and downs of that. It didn't develop the way it obviously should have. Bill Russell entered Boston in 1956 at a time when Boston was the word tribal has been used.

I like it. Tribal neighborhoods, even just rivalries. And it was not a welcoming place for people of color, period. And he walked into the middle of this, had never experienced anything like this, given the fact that his family had uprooted with the great migration from his birthplace in Monroe, Louisiana to Oakland when he was eight.

So he experienced racism, of course, as any black person would in those days or even now. But not to the extent that he found it in Boston. And so he separated his professional life with the Celtics, which he loved and where he was embraced and where he made friends with both races.

And there was never an issue with the Celtics. And of course, he very much appreciated the red hour back. But the city of Boston didn't love him back after the game ended the way they should have.

You probably know the famous story of someone breaking into his house and reading this and spreading feces on his wall. That would not please you or me or anybody else. He had an arm's length relationship with the city from most of the time that he played in the city. And he made it clear, you know, how he was going to live his life. As time went on, culminating in eight ninety nine, some of the city made some amends to him, but he never found it as as welcoming, a comfortable place. He didn't come here too, too often other than for any reason other than the Celtics and and be honored that night. And he only did that because it was for a charity that he had great love for called a mentoring charity.

And so in Boston, in Boston, you know, it was it was not good. And the it was just a very embarrassing thing for the city of Boston and not just for Bill Russell, but for any black person of those days. So the championship years for him, Bob Ryan, Bill Russell, the fact that red hour back hands the reins of the team over to him, it's just certainly in this day and age, just mind boggling. But it was the clearly the the best move red hour back could do.

Right. I mean, when you hand it off to your your star player and championship player, it makes sense now through the fog of history. But can you walk me through what you know about that handoff or what happened?

Sure. He did think about other people at first, a couple of other people. But but then he settled on Russell and and believing the joke that read told was Russell's the only one that could coach Russell.

And actually, I suspect that was about 78 percent of the reason. But the other 22 percent was that I read knew Russell was intellectually and totally capable of the job of handling the job and that he would embrace it and and do it the way he was going to do it. He had like a committee of elders that helped him run that team.

And the time he had Satch Sanders, he later he added Wayne Embry, who was very important. Larry Siegfried was kind of like the offensive, like de facto offensive coordinator for that team. And in the late 60s and Russell made all the final decisions, of course.

And who's going to all the standard coaching decisions were made by Bill Russell. He's very proud of us. He was very proud of his coaching. Didn't think he was getting enough credit for it. He was really happy to go into the Hall of Fame as a coach, as well as a player. But it was a logical thing to do for for our back to to give it to Russell.

It just speaks. And now he was the first the second black man. The first one, of course, was John McLeod, who had coached in the American Basketball League, hired by, of all people, George Steinbrenner back in 1961 and in short lived American Basketball League, Dave Saperstein's league. But the end for the, you know, the really stable professional sports, he was the first black coach in America. So Bob Ryan here, a couple more minutes left with the best selling author and Hall of Fame sports writer here on The Rich Eisen Show.

So when when kids walk into TD Garden or whatever it's going to be called forevermore, who knows, and they see Russell's name and jersey and things of that nature. What's the story that you think should be told about it? Once again, the basketball story is that he put a dimension to the game with the shot blocking that changed the concept of what a center could do and should do and did it better than anyone's ever done it by keeping the ball in play and not knocking into the 10th row, which most people do, and then watch the other team get the ball back and score.

And that happens, as you well know, very often. Russell tried to keep the ball in play with his incredible dexterity was able to do so and start fast breaks. The basketball part, the winning part, the fact that in 21 times in his career, starting with the NCAA tournament and 55, that his team was playing a winner take all game.

Someone's going home tonight. Go Russell's teams were 21 and 0. That includes two NCAAs, the gold medal round of the Olympics, and all the best of fives and best of sevens in the NBA. And that from 1955 to 69, as I mentioned, he's competed for 16 championships in 114.

That part should be known for sure. But the part that he was a civil rights icon in the 60s that he stood up and did things. You see him in the right places in Selma, Alabama, Montgomery, wherever he was there. And he was a man's man and lived life on his terms. You can't say enough about about Bill Russell.

He was truly one of the great Americans. So and obviously no Celtic has worn six and will ever again since Russell's retirement. I really believe that the NBA should duplicate baseball with Jackie Robinson. That was my next question. And there should be a six taken down. Nobody should wear six in the NBA, period. That was my next question. Do you think the NBA should do that? And yes, that would be a perfectly fitting tribute right now.

Yes, I think that's to me. It's a given. It's a no brainer. But let's see what happens. Bob Bryan, thank you for the time.

Oh, and just before I let you go, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about the present day. Do you think the Celtics should, if this is true or not, cough up Jalen Brown in a package for more and keep adding to it so Durant can come to the Celtics? No, I do not. I want to keep the team as is. I want I want Chatham to have a chance to address the failings that he had.

And he will, because he's smart and he's sensitive to the criticism he's received for his less than stellar play in the finals. I want to keep this team together. They have added pieces with Malcolm Bogdan and Gollinari that address major needs that they had. And they have the depth.

Why would they want to tear up their depth? There's no guarantee that that Durant would produce a championship. He's 34. He gets injured. And he's kind of you don't know where he's coming from anymore either. You don't.

You just don't. You know, this is not a necessary move. They've got all the pieces you need to go back and try it again. And I want to win with this team. Now, I'm speaking more as a fan than a so-called, you know, pundit. But in this, but I believe it firmly.

So no, I think it'd be a mistake to make this deal. Bob, thanks for taking the time on a busy day to help this show pay the proper respects to Bill Russell and lending your perspective. Always appreciate it, Bob. Thank you. I'm always open to you, Rich.

Really appreciate that. That's the great Bob Ryan from the Boston Globe, ESPN, and so much more right here on the Rich Eisen Show. All right, let us take a break here on the program. Retiring number six league-wide. I mean, no brainer.

That'd be it, right? And put the Bill Russell banner in every arena in the NBA. I think that's super cool.

There's 10, 11 guys right now currently wearing number six, including LeBron James. So let them ride it out the rest of their career and then retire it for good. And that'll be it.

Yep. Why not? I think it's a great move.

It's too easy. It's a spectacular tribute. And let's hope that they feel the same way. And I bet you they will. Look at that picture of all those rings on that smiling face.

It's the ultimate photo. You said earlier about a handful of people like in his room when it comes to championships. There's nobody.

There's nobody. This dude is on a terror solo by himself. How many did Yogi have? He had a lot, right? It was Yogi 21-0.

No, no, no, no. He lost a little bit. Yogi was known for his malaprops and his phrases, not for trying to change the world. You had that factor on top of Russell's greatness. That's kind of like my point. The fact that Bill Russell was fighting for stuff in the 50s and 60s and 70s that it could, if you just close your eyes and listen, he could have been talking yesterday. And the 80s and 90s and aughts and the teens too. So it's like things haven't changed.

It's ridiculous. But I mean, you can't even say enough great things about the man. Just like I said, he's on a tear. He's on a level completely by himself. Which is why number six should be in the rafters by itself in every NBA barn. And as someone whose favorite basketball player of all time also wore six, I'm completely okay. You're in.

Yeah, definitely. Let's take a break. When we come back here on the Rich Eisen Show, something happened in practice.

Practice? Something happened in training camp. What are we talking about?

That we do have to discuss. A throw from a quarterback. Uh-oh. Not a game?

Oh, not a game. We're talking practice. When Callaway engineered ChromeSoft to be the best tour ball, it didn't just make the best players better, folks. It made everybody better. That includes me.

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Find out which ChromeSoft is right for you at CallawayGolf.com slash ChromeSoft. Christopher, we like having fun about tweeting out videos from practice. Yes. They're an NFL training camp. I love it.

I can't get enough. You know what I mean? It's just sometimes guys and shells, not full-on pads. You see now those helmets that they're wearing, the padding on top of the helmets. I like those. Well, I mean, it's like Darth helmet.

It's like a little Darth helmet, but it's for making sure that you don't suffer a head injury. Like Mark Kelso. We're talking about practice.

Thank you. And that's Allen Iverson talking about practice and how we make bigger deals out of stuff. And then there's videos that are thrown out there by the teams that sometimes make the players look better than they really are. And then there's videos that intended to do that, but completely backfire, like the one the Dolphins put up during OTAs, when a wobbly pass in the air was thrown by Tua to Tyreek Hill, who had to slow up to catch that pass. And the Dolphins were like, you know, fire emoji. Well, this one was taken from high atop the practice by a member of the media. Tua going up to Tyreek Hill and here we go.

Tua fading back from his own 30, 55 yards in the air, a total dime dropped full on spiral. Perfectly accurate. Looks like the most accurate thrower in the league right to Tyreek Hill and they're going crazy in Miami practice. And I saw that and I'm like, okay. But can he do it in Buffalo?

Okay. I know about y'all. Salty Tua putting it on the field and on film. Hey folks, Tyreek Hill is going to beat some coverage this year. He's going to beat some coverage. He's going to be behind the defense raising his hand saying, hit me. And you know, I know you say do it in Buffalo in January, whatever. Let's see.

Hold on a minute. Do they? Do they?

Do they? They play them deep in December. Let's see.

Week 15. Yeah. Oh, there you go. That's what I'm talking about.

Oh, week 17 at New England. That's going to be all warmed up. You know what though? Everybody back off. I'm going to put my tinfoil Tuanon hat on right now. You're in deep. You're on like, well, two is one chance. This is the truth.

This is unvarnished truth delivered from this seat to you. With all those burners running these routes that are going to create matchup problems from the line of scrimmage to what, 10 yards from the line. Like there's going to be a lot going, there's going to be a lot of games. There's going to be a lot of games behind a line and there's going to be a lot of game play where receivers are slashing all across and trying to get that matchup nightmare where suddenly a safety's on a speed burner or a linebacker's got to cover somebody because that speed burner comes out of the backfield and oh my god run across the field and all that business. There's going to be a lot of games that Mike McDaniel and that offense is cooking up for the defense put pressure on in that 10 yard box from the line of scrimmage on.

Right? Tyreek Hill is going to be going outside the numbers doing this a lot and he's going to have some single coverage sometimes. Maybe a safety's going to be shaded over but it doesn't matter if Tua is going to drop it in like that. If Tua shows up like that this is a big problem for the rest of this conference, this division, this league.

I mean I thought overreaction Monday was in like 10 minutes. Not yet. Not what I just said, I just gave you an if. It's a big if.

It's a big if. But it's in there. It's in there and I just hope this commentary breaks Tua's tight circle because that means he hears me and I'm important to him because as you know all the other negativities out of his circle.

That salty Tua drop of dimes to the cheetah. Yes sir. I mean he's wearing the red jersey and no one was around. I know that. Hey but I think you I think you get my point.

So said with some potential entertaining effect. Also Rich but he doesn't need to throw 55 yards every game because Tua is so good at taking a 10-yard pass and taking it 60 to the crib. So is Shaylen Waddell.

He doesn't need to throw 60 yards in the air. Your guy Cedric Wilson from last year. Yeah he's going to be a player for them. Dude that's wide receiver threats. W are three in their offense and they're going to they're going to hit you with Raheem Mostert. They're going to hit you.

They're going to hit you and then they're going to hit you big. Tua if he is the most accurate quarterback in the league. I'm going to put this out on a poll and I'm going to ask you guys both right now. Right now I'm going to ask you this as I put it up on a poll. Would you draft Tua and Fantasy to be your starting quarterback? No.

What's next? I mean with you know I do. Come on man.

It depends on how much money I had left. Yeah I might spend all my money on running backs and I get Tua for a buck. Sure. And that and you know what but that's that's the the subtext of that is that Tua is not a viable starting quarterback in the league and all I say to that is he's the Dolphins quarterback.

Who haven't been a viable team in the league for a while. Well. Either the last nine. Hold on a sec.

Keep that in mind. Last year. Last playoff win. Anybody? Insulted them a little bit. Crickets. They did finish up strong last year.

They sure did. And Mike McDaniel as you know has a unique perspective on things. One of our favorites. Just let me see that pass one more time. Give me one more time. Let me see it one more time. Let me see it one more time.

Give me one more. There he is. There's Tua. Tua fades back to pass in the Baptist Health training complex and he baptizes the defense right over them. I don't know about you but that looked like money.

That's right. All right the last head coach the Dolphins won a playoff game. Wait a minute from his 30 and the ball lands on the seven.

Seven. I don't know about you but that looked like money. It was money.

Tight spiral. A dollar to anyone who could name the last coach of a Dolphins playoff win. Dave Wansta. Oh Rich good job. Thank you. I will take that dollar. I know he's got a buck because I gave him one. And I'm going to take that. I'm going to take that one dollar Mr. Duke. And I'm going to go on StubHub and buy a ticket to the next live golf tournament. That's really how much it costs to see it this weekend.

And there's open bar. 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 babyface 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.