REShow: Leonard Fournette - Hour 3

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That's 877-ASK-DELL to save up to 48% on our latest technology. Which fictional sporting event would you have most liked to attend? This is The Rich Eisen Show. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

Everybody can change. It's the name Rudy. Rudy?

Right off the bat. That is fictional. That is fictional. I agree. Earlier on the show, former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, two-time World Series champion David Wells. Still to come, Bucks running back Leonard Fournette. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, hour number three of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

Right here on Peacock at Sirius XM Channel 85 and this terrestrial radio affiliate on The Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio network coast to coast. It is our final hour of the week. We are going to be off tomorrow. Not just the royal we, me, but all of us. Brockman, you're off to the big slick charity tournament and fundraiser in Kansas City.

Come say hi. The quintet of Messrs. Rudd, Riggle, Stone Street, Keckner and Sudeikis go back to their hometown and make as much money as they possibly can for Children's Mercy Hospital there in Kansas City. It's a beautiful event and it's just a lot of fun and you are going tonight and hanging out there all week. That's going to be a lot of fun. I am heading off on the weekend to take my kids to camp. Nice. So I'll be spending my birthday tomorrow on a flight to Boston.

Won't that be just great? I'll probably be in Tarzana roaming around at some point this weekend if anyone is on Ventura Boulevard. Looking for more pendants that you can wear on the show? You know, maybe trying to find a good auto body shop. You never know. Okay. You got front ended, right? Man.

Yeah. There's somebody backing up into your car. The person forgot that they put it in reverse at the red light and thought they were just going straight and then boom just hit you. His explanation was he wanted to switch lanes. What?

I don't know why you'd have to like... Go in reverse to switch lanes? Yeah. That is an unsatisfactory answer. That's how my back feels right now.

Very unsatisfactory. Leonard Fournette's going to be joining us here on the show. Biggest news of the day, without a doubt, is that Arch Manning has chosen University of Texas to ply his collegiate football craft.

Yes, indeed. I just, I don't think people understand how massive this is. This is massive.

This is massive. Like the most anticipated college recruitment probably in the last 15, 20 years. Obviously the lineage there, being the nephew of Peyton and Eli. Everyone wondering where he was going to go. Was it going to be Ole Miss? LSU was in the mix. Georgia was in the mix. And to go to Texas, what a coup for Steve Sarkeesian, Matthew McConaughey, and all the other Longhorns. Like this is massive, especially with UT now joining the SEC.

It's just going to be awesome. When do they join the SEC? Not next year, but the year after? Right, he still has one more year of high school, obviously. So the year that they go into the SEC is the year he arrives. Right. He will usher Texas into the SEC. Is that what it is?

I think so. And he's already projected to be the number one pick in the 2026 NFL draft. You know, the first year that he would be eligible. I mean, anything less than a national championship and a Heisman Trophy I think will be a disappointment in the Arch Manning Longhorns era. It's a pretty big deal. Pretty big news. 2025 is when they join the SEC.

Okay, great. So it'll be his what? It'll be if he's next year's... That'll be his sophomore season. Sophomore year. At UT. And then he'll come out after his junior year.

He'll be the number one pick. And then... I don't know. Don't the Manning's stay all four?

Don't they normally do that? The lure might be too much for... I would say not anymore, Rich. I can't wait to see what his NIL deal is going to be. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a high school NIL deal this year for his senior season. Can you do that?

I think you can. That's what Chris and I have already said. That might keep him in school that extra year for his senior year because he's made so much money in his NIL deal that taking a rookie NFL contract would be financially a step down. Pay cut. We'll see.

How much... What's the difference? Tennessee orange is much more bright than the burnt of Texas, right? A little bit brighter, yeah. Can we do Cooper Manning a favor and say he's Cooper's son? Sure. Instead of Eli and Peyton's nephew? Sure. We can do that because we know the Manning family. Can we do... Casuals, I think. Can we identify him as Cooper's kid?

Can we do that? How about Archie's grandson? Archie's grandson is great. And Peyton and Eli's nephew is great too. Right.

But, you know... This is Cooper's kid. This is Cooper's kid. Cooper.

As they refer to him in that family. The funniest Manning. Cooper. The funniest Manning. The funniest Manning is Cooper?

Oh, I think that... I mean, he snuck his way... He's hilarious, man. He snuck his way into the Halle Berry J.B. Smoove commercials, right? Cooper Manning's pretty funny, man.

Yeah, man. I remember the night that Archie Manning got the award for the Pat Summerall Award for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I hosted that night at the Super Bowl. I think it was the Super Bowl in New Orleans. I think it was the year... Yeah, that's what it was.

The year of the Harbaugh. And he received the Pat Summerall Award, Archie Manning did. And I just remember all three of his sons speaking first. And I just remember Eli and Peyton deferring to Cooper Manning, because he's the oldest.

He's the oldest, yeah. And so let's defer as well. Okay. You know?

Let's make sure he's taken care of. I just now bought three Archie Manning football cards. Did you really? Well, remember last year I bought... Did you really? How much are they going for right now? They're relatively cheap now, so I'd say get them while you can.

Get them while you can. But what is a card of him as what? Is it a high school card? Well, there's a football... He also has a basketball card. Oh my gosh. Arch driving to the rim. Driving to the hole.

I love the idea of these big time coaches going to a small gym in Louisiana to watch Arch play basketball when they're trying to get him to play football. A Newman High School football card? Is there such a thing? Come on, guys. Really?

And so one day... It's a hot shot's prospect is what the card is. So he's going to start... His first year is going to be the 2023 season? Texas season? 24. 24. Coming up.

Senior coming up. So it's the 2024 season. So you're hoping this cashes in in the 2027 NFL draft? 26. There you go.

Okay. Or the 46th Pro Football Hall of Fame. Well, somebody knows how to perform successfully in the Southeastern Conference in football, now in the National Football League.

I believe this is year six for him coming up in the NFL. Joining us on the Mercedes-Benz phone line of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is Leonard Fortnite. How you doing, Leonard? You there, Leonard?

Uh-oh. Boy, we've been having phone issues all day today. We good? Going to pop him back on hold? He's connected. Hold on a second. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Put him back on hold if you don't mind, please, and figure this thing out. Jay, thank you so much. Boy, Adam's having a rough day back there.

He normally just sits back there and stares at the wall. What's wrong with you, man? What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me is what you're saying. Let me just repeat that.

What is wrong with me? Really? Are we good?

No, we're not good. His person's trying to connect him. She's unclear what's going on, so she's efforting.

Okay. So the words that Adam popped in that says, Leonard on, is not correct. That's not Adam's fault. I'm sure he was told that Leonard was on. Well, I mean, it's got to be somebody's fault, Chris.

I mean, I'm just saying it's not Adam's. Well, I mean, Chris Long, our former head of DirecTV, Chris Long, I once had to go shoot something for BKB Boxing. I was the producer, not the cinematographer. We got a shot back and Chris didn't like the shot. And guess who got reamed out for 20 minutes? You. Because he goes, you're the producer.

This is your shoot. And basically, I had to accept that the buck had- Were you wrong? Were you wrong? No, it was not my- Was he wrong? I mean, yeah, I wasn't the one with the camera, but- But you have to check the shot.

But I was the producer, so, you know. All right, let's give it a number two. Joining us on the Mercedes-Benz phone line from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is Leonard Fournette. How are you, Leonard? I'm good. How you doing?

Hey! Lombardi Leonard. Yeah, what nickname do you like the best, Leonard? Leonard, out of all the Lenny stuff, which one do you like the most?

At this point, it don't matter, man. People call me Lenny, playoff Lenny, Lombardi Lenny. I got all types of names, so it doesn't really matter. Well, I would assume Lombardi Lenny has to be your favorite, right? That's got to be your favorite. Yeah, definitely. Earned the trophy with that, helped my team win the championship.

So, that name is definitely legendary around here in Tampa. Okay, I like that very much. So, Leonard, one of my favorite, I guess, stories that I've heard in the past several months, I'll be honest, was the story that you received a text from Tom Brady when you were on a free agent's visit to New England. Is that a true story, the text that he sent you while you were on the visit?

Yeah, yeah, that's true. So, can you tell that story, Leonard, about that, from your perspective? No, so, you know, at this moment, at this time, I was a free agent.

I didn't know if I was going to return back to the books or not. The future was uncertain, so I went around shopping, you know, to see what teams had and stole it from me. And when I went up to New England, he texted me. He was like, man, man, what's your ass doing out there?

I went out there shopping around, trying to see what was good for me, trying to see what was available for me and myself, you know, to provide for my family. And he was like, man, I'll call you back, I'll call you back. So, the next thing you know, Tava called me with an offer. So, did Tom Brady call like Jason Light and the Buccaneers and say you got to get in gear here because we're not losing Leonard to my former team? Did that happen, you think, Leonard? I don't think it was about the former team.

I think it was about just me not being out with them, to be honest. He's got juice. He's got juice. There's no question about that.

And now he's got you. So, what was your opinion of going elsewhere potentially affected by Brady retiring and then unretiring in any way, shape, or form? Leonard?

I'm going to have to see. You know, right now, my career that I'm older, you know, I have a family. You know, I took two, the last two seasons took one-year deals and I wanted to do what was best for myself and for my family. And at that time, you know, I was getting calls from all over. And it just made sense to come back since Tom came back because as a unit, you know, we've been through it from the playoffs to the Super Bowl.

I mean, why not? It made perfect sense to me and also my family. We love Tampa. We love Florida. And I've been in Florida my whole football career.

You know, I love tax free. So, it just made sense. Okay. So, it made sense in that regard. And, you know, you were the one who scored the touchdown to tie the game against the Rams in a remarkable comeback contest in the divisional round last year. And the sense was that Brady just didn't want to leave it at that. What sense did you have after scoring that touchdown? Well, I mean, after the game, you know, we all, you know, we got our emotions out and things like that. And me and Tom was just texting, I'd say, a week later. And I'm just telling them, like, damn, man, we left so much on the field.

You know, as a unit, like, we could have easily won that game. And, you know, and he agreed with me. And I was like, and I was just telling the man, like, you know, we can't go out like that.

You know, I don't want to have you go out like that. You know, your legacy is online. We all have legacies. But at the end of the day, this game is about winning. So I'm glad he came back. You know, this is Super Bowl or nothing right now. That's the mindset. That's the goal. And that feeling is knowing that a couple of years ago we won it with each other. Man, it's not like it.

So trying to get that feeling back. And so is this a sense that this is a one-year window for the gang to get back together, for the band to get back together? Do you have that sense, Leonard? Man, you can say that.

Yeah, you can say that. You know, we know our goal. We know what we want. So it's working ourselves off right now to get to where we want, you know.

Right now it's going to be part of a training camp. You know, we're familiar with the offense, familiar with our teams, our coaches. So it's all about competing. It's all about getting better.

And that's what we're going to do. How is anything different with Bowles now running the show and Bruce Arians retired? Leonard? Not really. Not really different, man. You know, I've always loved football. Even when I played it, I played it different when we was at the head coach at the Jets.

And now he's always been a stand-up guy, a tremendous guy, and I love playing for him. And were you surprised that Arians stepped down and retired, Leonard? Yes, I was. It was very unexpected.

Nobody was expecting that at all. So did you find out on a text from Arians? You just looked down at your phone and is that how you found out about his retirement? I think he texted me a couple of minutes before and told me he was stepping down. And at first we had like a rockin' relationship, but he's one of the best coaches I've been around, you know. So he's a stand-up guy, hard-nosed, old-school coach.

So I love everything about him. What did you say? When you first started, you had a what relationship with him when you first got there?

It was rocky because, you know, I wasn't starting. And everybody knows the story. When he came to me on the plane, he was like, man, what do you want, man?

Like, I don't want to release you, but if you want me to release you, I would. You know, he's just like, you're going to be a part of someone special. And, you know, that's how it happened. I got myself together and we won the Super Bowl. Leonard Fournette here on the Rich Eisen Show. A few more minutes with the star running back of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers here on the program. Gronk's retirement, do you think that there could be maybe a phone call lobbed in by Tom or you or anyone else during the season? And maybe he runs it back one more time or you think that's it for him?

What do you think, Leonard? Nah, just know I will be calling his phone 24-7 for the regular season. We're going to need Gronk, man. Gronk, he's special to our program and to the team, to that locker room. His energy, his vibe, man. Who wouldn't want to have him as a teammate? He's a great guy and I love Gronk. So do you think he would be open to that still or what's your sense, what's your sixth sense on that, Leonard?

I don't know, but the player Lenny in me wants to see, I hope he does. I bet so. Where have I found you? Where are you? Are you at a, it sounds like you're in an airport. Are you in an airport? Where are you?

No, actually I'm golfing out here in Toronto. Just finished a meeting. Okay, so look, I don't want to take you from that too much. I'd rather get you back on another time.

When they told me you wanted to talk to me, I said, man, why not? I appreciate that. I said, man, Rich has been good to me since I was in college. I appreciate that.

For me saying, I said, not play another down in college, so I love Rich. By the way, that was true. That was true. I mean, that is no lie.

I believed every word I said and, you know, a million percent. So have you heard that Arch Manning, that Peyton's nephew and Eli's nephew and Cooper's, he's going to Texas? Did you hear that? He's going to Texas. So if you know the recruiting guy over there at Texas, Brandon Harris, I let you go quarterback my old teammate. Okay.

All right. Have you been contacted by Brian Kelly at all? Have you connected with the new coach there at LSU, Leonard? I was talking to him when I went up there and seen Coach Frank Wilson, which was my running back coach there and my recruiter there. I haven't talked to him in years. So it was great being back up there at LSU, just talking to him.

What would your NIL deal have looked at LSU, Leonard? Do you ever think about that? So I was telling my parents about that. Yeah. I mean, I mean, I was the face of college for a minute, you know what I mean?

And especially LSU at the program I was playing at. So easily, and I'll say not now, I'm looking at the deals these kids get now, I probably would have been over, probably would have made over $10 million. So you think it would have been that much, huh? Damn, man. That's a, that.

Definitely. You got to understand, I was, I was the number one player coming into college out of high school. You know, my first, my freshman year I did okay, but man, that sophomore season I had over a thousand rushing yards in five games.

I mean, I was going crazy, man. And they already had these little signs with my beard and my braces I had all around the stadium. So I definitely got paid a lot.

I bet. You know, and would you have, if there was no backlash or blowback, would you have sat out an entire year because you've already done it? Like, would you have done something like that if you could have done it that year? Yeah, I would have.

I mean, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have changed anything I did. I think this is my dedication for the game. You know, I kept playing on a hurt ankle, you know? And when it was time to make a business decision, but not just for myself, for my family, I had to just call it and it was done. I kept it on a hurt ankle and I received a lot of backlash.

I think I was the first player to ever do that. No doubt. No doubt. And then McCaffrey didn't play at his bowl game and everybody was saying that's a red flag. And now, you know, you're seeing that more often.

And I, I, I can't, I can't criticize anybody for doing that. Zero. Period.

Definitely. I think it's what, you know, I think, I think about the running back that leads to South Carolina. Who was the name, Rich? The South Carolina running back? 21. I remember Jalen Smith, you know, obviously for, for Notre Dame, you know?

It's thought, it's thought of with an L. Okay. I'm not sure, but remember, he was a while back. Leonard, Marcus, Marcus Lattimore. Marcus Lattimore. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Marcus Lattimore, man. He hurt his knee.

And I mean, his, I mean, he was, he was projected for the first round and he got hurt and everything changed, you know? And now look at you, playoff Lenny, Lombardi Lenny, getting texts from Tom Brady saying, what's your ass doing up there? You didn't show that text to Belichick, did you? You didn't show that text to Belichick before you left town, did you? No, no, I didn't. All right. Go back to your golf game.

I don't want to interrupt it. What is your golf, what does a Leonard Fournette golf game look like? Oh, man, listen, I'm on the beginner stage right now. I'm really a bowler, you know, but I have to compete against Tom. So he told me to step my game up. So that's what I'm doing.

I'm practicing for when I run up to him. Okay. Or the match, the next match will be you and Brady, right? Let's get it. And like, and Rogers has got to get like Aaron Jones or something, right?

Like a quarterback running back competition. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's go. Yes, sir.

Definitely. Okay. Leonard, I really appreciate you taking the time. Look for my call again.

I always love chatting with you. And let's do a training camp and a little bit beyond too. Thanks for your time.

Let's do it. No problem. Go hit him straight. Once again, always. Right back at you. That's Leonard Fournette, one of our favorites here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Joining us, stepping out of a golf game. His sophomore year of college at LSU. Stupid. So he lost out on the Heisman Trophy that year to Derrick Henry.

Okay. That's how good Derrick Henry was that year. But Leonard Fournette had 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns.

I still have the Sports Illustrated cover from 2015 with Fournette on the cover. And I realized the article is written by Alan Shipnut. Oh, cover story. How about that? By the way, he's not lying. We were talking about that that whole year. He should sit out 2016. We sit it on the air.

On here. What more could he have done? And obviously Leonard saw it. Yeah, he brought that up. That's what I said the whole time. Why should he play his junior year?

Yeah, it's stupid. He has shown what he can do. Why should he play his junior year? Now, I understand the rule that the NFL has.

About the graduating class? Yes, you have to play three years outside of your graduation. And so many people say it's because the NFL wants to keep college football viable. It's their, you know, feeder system. It's their minor leagues.

They don't have to pay a dime for it. But I'll tell you this, and I have spoken to so many veterans, longtime veterans in the NFL. I've spoken to talent evaluators who do not have anything outside of just talent evaluation on their brain. They're not talking about, well, the business of the NFL and this and that.

They will say over and over and over and over again that the unicorns are people like Fournette. The lion's share, 99% of the rest, are not physically ready, mentally ready, and emotionally and mature enough to enter a grown-ass man's league like the NFL. It's a business.

It's not just a business. They would get their asses handed to them. That most kids are just not equipped for the lifestyle, for the change, and then also just, you know, some 31-year-old linebacker. I mean, like, this is a perfect example of Bobby Wagner. You're coming into the league, you're coming off, you know, you're running back who's 18, 19 years. Like, could you imagine you're a 19-year-old, you're allowed to come in the NFL based on that they waived this rule. You're 19 years old and there's Bobby Wagner, Aaron Donald.

You're going to get killed. And Fournette strode on the campus like a grown-ass man at 18. Now he's different, though.

His high school YouTube highlights, just take a second and watch this. Oh, Derek Henry, too, right? Derek Henry still holds a lot of the high school rushing records. Plus Fournette looked like he was 26 when he was 18, too, you know? And he is currently 26 years of age. He's only 26. Hey, man. Wow. So let's say he was able to come out, right, and be in the 2016 draft.

Yes. Would you have taken him ahead of Goff, Wentz, Zeke? I wouldn't have taken him ahead of – if you needed a quarterback, you got to go there. Zeke is an outlier. Although I was pounding the table for the Cowboys, they needed Zeke, you know?

I was pounding the table for that, too. They definitely needed him, and I think there was like a photograph somebody put out there of Dez, Romo, Witten, and they photoshopped him in as a Cowboy. It was shown to me by Rocky Arsenault, his agent, who is Marshall's longtime agent and presenter at the Hall of Fame. I saw him out and about at the Super Bowl that year, and he showed me.

He goes, I know you're talking about the Cowboys should take Zeke top five, but here you go. Take a look at that. He showed you a picture. Yeah, he did. It was pretty. That's how real it looked. Derek Henry went 40 cents.

It made sense. Well, you know, Rich, I told Chris – But that's just the way that running backs are viewed in this league. I mean, Jonathan Taylor lasted to the second round, you know? So that's the way running backs are – would I have taken him over Zeke? I still don't think so. Zeke at Ohio State was a grown-ass man there.

You know that. Yeah, he was special. But Fournette was pretty damn special. If he'd come out, he would have been top five, right? I think somebody would have taken him, too. Yeah, he might have actually still ended up in Jacksonville. Jalen Ramsey went fifth. Maybe the Jags take him fifth. Jalen was pretty damn special, though, at college. Deon was going nuts over him. Nuts at the combine. Fun to think about.

Take a break. 844-204-rich. Number to dial.

A little what's more likely. Phone calls and so much more on this Thursday. Fun stuff with Lombardi Lenny. Back on the Rich Eisen show. 844-204-rich.

Number to dial. Just saw a video of Rob Riggle telling a story about getting all over Gene Lamont. Gene Lamont. Gene Lamont. We've seen that. We've seen the old baseball man who's the third base coach screaming at Gene Lamont.

Just get it on Gene Lamont. Riggle, I'm telling you, man, Riggle and Joe Tess on Holy Moly is just so much fun. Gosh, it's so much fun.

We binged most of the season to catch up. It's so funny. I have them all. Will you tell them? You've got to tell them when you see them this weekend. Sending best.

Sending the best right here. Tess might be my new Al Roker this year. Meaning like tight?

You just want to get tighter? I'm just going to follow him around until he tells me to leave him alone. Unless Al Roker is there this year, what happens? Yeah, I haven't seen him on any lists yet.

Any lists? Because if you remember when we all went, Prochman and Al Roker were like... Tight. Close like Starsky and Hutch. I was trying to get some inside on Hoda.

That's like a big Hoda potty. Oh my God. Oh my God. He is.

He really is. I know that. By the way, I know that.

This is today. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not mad at that.

You're ridiculous. The only bummer is, Sudeikis is not going to be there. Oh really? Wow.

Because they're shooting. They're in production for Ted Lasso season three. Oh man. Oh, but you know Sudeikis is going to send like an ill video clip though, right? Or biscuits. More than likely. Or biscuits. Or biscuits.

Definitely take some biscuits. Oh man. Fantastic.

Okay. And that's where you will be heading tonight with Sarah to go raise money for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City Mercy Hospital for kids. And I'm heading with my kids east.

They're going to summer camp. Love it. So that's my weekend.

Love it. So I'll be out of the chair tomorrow. It is my birthday tomorrow. I am. 53. I will be 53 years old. How are you feeling?

All 53 years. Because I'm taking my kids to camp. No pickleball this weekend. That's just going to get me just going to get me more ornery screaming at people to get off my lawn because that just makes me an old man.

Not what I said. Because I don't have my weekly pickleball. Thank you Jay Billis for the backup yesterday. Jay Billis slagging on pickleball yesterday. Slagging on pickleball.

I could beat Jay Billis in pickleball if he wants to. He's got the length on. He's long. Please, the issue with pickleball for tall people. Big time problems.

Big. Got to come back down. No, you're supposed to just hit it.

If you hit it in the kitchen, you can step into the kitchen after it's bounced and get in there. But if you keep it low, low is death in pickleball. If you put it high, you can just calm right down. If you hit it high, it's a problem. Certainly if you try to lob it over, it's an issue. But if you go low, it's tough. It's tough.

Certainly if you're a man of a certain age. We talked to you last week. We kind of touched on a pickleball story that you didn't hear and I remembered that we never got back around to it. So really quickly, in Pittsburgh, there was a story that a grandmother named Meg Burkhardt had sent her daughter a picture. She went looking for a pickleball game in Pittsburgh, went up to a court, found a couple guys, jumped in the game with them. She texts her daughter that me and the guy in the green shirt kicked the other two guys' butts. And then she started wondering why people were asking for pictures. She's like, well, she just thought because she won the pickleball game, that's why they wanted pictures. It turned out that the guy in the green shirt that was her teammate was Minka Fitzpatrick. And the guys that she beat were Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt of the Steelers.

And she had no clue who these guys were. Okay, and they're playing pickleball. Minka Fitzpatrick is on our radar screen to join us soon.

We're going to have a chat. So they're men of a certain age, aren't they too? Very young. So TJ Watt's playing pickleball? TJ Watt, yep.

Damn, he's straight. Alex Highsmith, another Steeler. Well, what about Minka Fitzpatrick? Is he playing pickleball? He and Meg won.

Exceptions to every rule, Rich. You can have your Minka Fitzpatrick's, I'll take Coach K. Look at that. Yes. Look at that. No clue who they were.

No idea. So she and Minka? She and Minka, yes.

Look at her, she doesn't even get up to TJ's shoulder. Heck. That is a close. She and Minka took out Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt. Yeah, and the text she sent to her daughter was, so I rolled up to North Park tonight to jump in a pickleball game, started playing with these guys, had no idea who they were. Right. Last game, the guy in the green shirt and I whooped the other two, then everyone else here wanted to take our photo. Yes.

And so her daughter tweeted that out on June 11th, to which TJ Watt responded, Meg was serving the capital letters hate. We had trouble all day. I'm telling you, if you get a certain serve hit you in pickleball, it's very difficult. It's very difficult. You would not last very long playing pickleball.

So the winner is of a certain age? You wouldn't. I don't know what that means. It's a very, it's a significant workout. I think you would tap out.

The court is very small. Okay, great. I've never played. I'll beat you. Great.

Terrific. Let's do it. Let's see it. Let's do it. It's better doubles though.

Is pickleball a 101 thing? Let's do it. I do not want Mike as a partner in anything. Let's do it. He's better than me. I can't do anything.

Honestly. You choose who you want. I'll choose who I want. Let's go.

You choose who you want. You better call Meg from Pittsburgh. As you know, as you know, as you know, as you know, I have my July vacation coming up.

It's, it's Susie's birthday, right? So there'll be, you, you, you have half of July to find somebody who can play pickleball. Great. I'll find someone. Let's do it. And we'll record it.

And then you will come on the air and recount your ass kicking like you're TJ watt. Okay. I'll bring, I'll bring my guy who will be older than me.

Okay. He will be older than me. You have a guy already? I've got a guy already.

Of course. I've got a guy. Does he walk on your back too? Is there a different guy? He does not walk on my back.

He does not walk on my back. I know exactly who I'm bringing. I know exactly who I'm bringing. I will bring him older than me. I think by at least 10 years, kicking your ass.

So obviously I'm going to come to MC this. I don't know if it's 10 years. I might just have offended the man. Did you just age him up? I might've.

I don't know. I had a guy, I will find a date where he is free and then we will come kick your ass. Oh man. Yes.

I'm here for you. You have to choose somebody though. You gonna bet your chain? I've got to find someone, I don't know anyone who plays pickleball. You know people.

I've got to do some research. Everybody plays pickleball now except for people who slag on it because it's a small court. They call TJ what? They call TJ. That's good. You want TJ what?

Well, he lost though. Yeah, I'd rather have Minka. You'd rather have Minka?

Okay. Or Meg. I'm telling you. Get Meg on the team. Get Meg on the team. She was bringing the heat.

Clearly. You don't want that smoke. Great story.

Right? Great story. I figured you would like that and then I forgot that we never got around to it. We never got to it.

All right. Let's take a break. We come back. An NFL version of what's more likely. Who is on your radar screen?

Oh, we're going to talk Brady and Gronk right now. Great. Let's go. A little bit more. You got any more? You want to tease one more? You want to tease one more?

Give us one more. A team that you like. A team that you like we might talk about. Oh, the Cowboys then. He loves them. All right.

Let's take a break here on the Rich Eisen Show. Phone calls as well. Rogue ST Irons from Callaway. Check them out right now. I use them.

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What's going on there, Jimmy? I'm here to wish you Feliz Cumpleaños, Senor. Gracias. Happy birthday, sir.

Thank you. And becoming your dad, it's okay, man. Just roll with it. You're fine. You don't like pendants. You don't like the little chains. It's okay. No, it's not.

It's got, the chains are just a little bit too low rent for what I think the guys should put out there. And they don't, they can't even, Jimmy, they can't even respond as to why they do it. Like what's the message? Like what message are they sending? There is no message.

What message do we need? And then, and then also in terms of, you know, turning into my dad, I think I'm doing that. I think we all do that. It's kind of like that progressive commercial, right? Although, you know, I'm sure, I'm sure I, you know, got my dad upset listening to whatever records I was listening to as a kid. None of the, none of the lyrics, however, are quite like Lizzo's lyrics in Girls, you know.

Or Katy Perry's. I had no idea what a CEO was until I listened to that song. So there's that, Jimmy, you know. Shocking. You didn't know what a CEO was. I didn't know. I didn't know it existed.

You know, I was today years old, so. Okay. Gentlemen, are we done with the HR complaints on air?

That's, that's not Emmy winning material. Y'all are looking petty. Okay. I need y'all to tighten that up, Brockman. Thanks, Jimmy.

Head of HR. Yep. You got it. I'm on it.

I'm on it. Okay, brothers. Now, Arch Manning.

Dude, uh, congrats to the T Sips up in Austin. They got their guy. It's the second royalty quarterback that they had.

The first one was Chris Sims. Correct? Yes.

Okay. So question is, Arch, why did you choose the SEC instead of going to like Pac-12 and dominating that conference? He's not going to dominate SEC no matter how long he stays. What do you think about that? I don't know. I think SEC is Manning country, right? Right. So I think that's what calls to him. Exactly.

Were any Pac-12 schools in the mix? I don't know. I don't even know. He had no choice.

He had to go to the SEC. Okay. Well then, congrats. Way to go, Cooper's son. Thank you. Well done, Jimmy.

Cooper's son. I love how attentive Jimmy is in San Antonio. Thanks for the call, Jimmy.

Appreciate it. There's Jimmy in San Antonio. If he had went to ACC or if he went to Clemson or even USC, there would have been talking heads, maybe me, maybe Stu Gatz or Stephen A. Called him soft by running away from the SEC competition. One way that if you want to get out of the SEC and make sure that you don't go somewhere soft, you go to Michigan. That would have been great.

We'd have taken him. Yeah, but you're not quarterback friendly. How do you know that? Oh yeah. I mean, because I've watched games for the last 25 years? Jim Harbaugh, he's such a non-quarterback guy. Oh yeah, you're quarterback prospects under Jim Harbaugh been awesome.

That's why I would love to get arched there. I'm just saying, you know, you go to a kind of a past-friendly, you know, school. Okay. Let's get to what's more likely here on the Rich Eisen Show. Christopher, you've got the floor.

Hit it. What's more likely? What?

What's more likely? Never say never, but never. All right. We've got about five minutes. Let's fit it all in. Let's go fast.

Here's one that I thought of. Gronk retired the other day, right? All time great Hall of Famer. Belichick's going to be a Hall of Famer someday. Oh. Tom Brady's going to be a Hall of Famer someday.

Okay. Who helped Tom Brady's career more? Who's who's been more likely a bigger help to Tom Brady?

Gronk or Belichick? Oh, that's ridiculous. Come on, Chris. Come on. I mean. Oh, Belichick never caught no teeth. Yeah.

It's my dog. Bill never ran anyone over on Bill and 12. Bill never stiffed on nobody at the 20, carried him in the end zone. Gronk. Gronk. I mean, it's Belichick.

How's that sound? It's Belichick's the one who said, you know what? With Drew Bledsoe coming back, I'm still sticking with Tom. Yeah, but Gronk wasn't there yet. Twice. Twice. Twice he gave him the opportunity. Twice he did it.

Twice this whole thing could have been stopped right at the at the at the water's edge, Chris. I'm sure Bledsoe would have done it, too. Who's the guy who drafted the kid out of Arizona with back problems and still let him be Gronk? Come on. I didn't know how good he was going to be. Stop it.

I mean, it still doesn't hide the fact he didn't score 92 touchdowns like Gronk. Stop it. I understand. That's all I'm saying. What's more likely? It's not even a much more likely. That's not even a what's more likely. You're right, Chris. It's Gronk.

I saw that on Twitter. I wanted to get it out and see what we thought about it. OK. What do you got? How about this? Who's more likely? The running back you'd want in fantasy this year. OK. Jonathan Taylor or Christian McCaffrey? I'll go John. Oh, my God.

Jonathan Taylor. 100 times out of 100. Really? Yeah. 100 times out of 100.

Easy one? I don't trust McCaffrey anymore. Taylor's been just a one hit wonder so far. Jonathan Taylor's more than a one hit wonder. He is more than the own eaters. I'll take that thing he does. What else over there? OK. More likely to have a better season with Baker Mayfield.

Seahawks or Panthers? What are you laughing about there? What was that snort in the microphone? That's a good one. That's the best one he's had yet.

I didn't see that one coming. I'll go with the Panthers. I think they're more equipped to win. Really? Yes. I think they're more equipped to win. Why? They've got a better, even though I just said I didn't trust McCaffrey in fantasy, I think they're better set.

Contradictions? Roster wise, everything wise. I think they're ready. Yeah. I think they're ready.

They're better set. Huh, wow, I'll go Seahawks now that I know. I'll go Seahawks. Hey, your best bet would be to go to the Browns because that's who Baker's playing for. The Panthers could, I think, still have a successful year with Darnold. I don't think they would without him. I don't think the Seahawks would with the current quarterbacks that they have. I think their hopes and opportunities would be appreciably upgraded if Mayfield goes to Seattle.

I think Seattle should still be monitoring whatever the hell is happening in Cleveland. That's for sure. What else? You want to? You want to? I'm not switching anymore.

I've taken my finger off that chess piece. All right, so they both had four wins last year. New York team to double their win total. Giants or Jets? Jets.

Let's go. Jay. Didn't you hear the coach earlier this week? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? More likely to come up with eight wins? Jets.

Absolutely. Where? What are you doing?

Where? We're going to beat the Patriots twice. Are we doing the schedule now? No, we're not doing the schedule yet. We're doing the schedule. We've got time all next week. After your break?

Tons of real estate. After your break? Nah, maybe. Maybe some. I don't know.

Why do they have to give the Cowboys schedule so early and you get to push the Jets? I know. We still haven't done the pass yet. You think we need one more? All right. We'll get one more.

All right. Last one. How about last year's number two seed? Who's more likely to jump up and get the bye? Bucks or Chiefs?

Oh, I like it. Bucks. Bucks. Bucks. Absolutely. The Bucks.

Tom Brady. Let's go. Absolutely. Let's go.

L.F.G. Absolutely. Let's go.

I will take the Bucks. It's an easier conference. I think they have an easier division.

And I think Tom Brady is going to be playing in his last year and then we're going to all see how that looks. Last year. I think so. I don't know. I don't know.

What do I know? I don't know. How about that? How about that? How about that? Put a little sauce on it.

Little sauce. What does this guy do? What's more likely?

What's more likely? What's more likely that people who work here, when there's no one else around, will just stop and leave their stuff in the one spot that's the only spot that's on camera behind me here. There has to be a marker out there, like a spot, like leave your stuff here just to piss Rich off because it's right behind his shot because it's like a big old garbage pail during this entire segment. There was a dude here with David Wells and whatever watering stuff.

There's nothing to water. There's another guy right there who's about to walk in the shot. He just walked away. He's looking for bugs to go zap. I mean, I think he heard you. He was watching the other guy.

I would swear there's a mark out there because it does seem weird how they could stop five feet each direction. 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 because even going back before Hulk Hogan was a baby face, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome, Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.