REShow: George Kittle - Hour 1

From the top, let's go. One, two, three. Tua takes that stage tonight and can say, I'm here now.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Tua's down. He got body slammed. He got thrown down.

They're coming out right now. Oh, boy. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. It's a tough moment for everybody. Today's guests, San Francisco 49ers tight end, George Kittle. Cleveland Browns wide receiver, Amari Cooper. Actor and Steelers fan, Joe Manganiello. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Yes, it is. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Live from Los Angeles, California, 844204. Rich is the number to have a conversation with us. Whether you're watching on the Roku Channel 210 or listening to us on the Terrestrial Radio Network, Coast to Coast, the Rich Eisen Show Terrestrial Radio Network. Whether you're listening to Sirius XM Radio, Sirius Channel 218, XM Channel 202. Channel 992 for those trying to find us on the app, right?

There you go. 992, people. We got a lot of that.

992 on the app. We're literally all over the map, figuratively, but we appreciate anybody who wants to find us. You can find us, certainly on the Odyssey app, certainly where our podcast lives and the Cumulus Podcast Network, where all podcasts are acquired. All three hours of it.

YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show for the full archive of our program. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you on this Friday? Rich, what's up, my man?

DJ Mikey D is off. That means Jason Feller is here. Good to see you, Jay Feller. What's up, Rich?

Good to see you. And TJ Jefferson, light the candle, sir. Light the candle. It's lit. It's Friday.

Let's do this. And on this program, three guests, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers, Amari Cooper of the Cleveland Browns, and Joe Manganiello will join us in studio. The actor, diehard Steeler fan.

It's fascinating. Joe Manganiello is here two days before his Steelers take on my jets. George Kittle will call in to the program shortly one day before his Iowa Hawkeyes take on my Michigan Wolverines.

I have no, I think, odds at all with Amari Cooper. I don't think. We could find something. I don't think so.

No, we don't need it. It's just an interesting convergence of guests appearing on days. I'm gonna find some beef for you. Where there's beef, yes. Weekend before beef. It's the beef weekend. Had no idea. What's beef?

Had no idea. 844-204, Rich is an projectile on this show. Chris Brockman has What's More Likely all planned up, where he has all of these scenarios that could play out, one or the other, over the weekend. He will tell me what's more likely. I will do my best to predict, although I don't have a crystal ball. Also on this program, I'll run down the rest of week number four outside of that Monday nighter that's coming up between the 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.

TJ Jefferson has his fantasy segment, and I do believe you settled on a name and a theme and a whole style for your segment. Well, we'll see. It could be a week. We'll see. It's going to happen. Well, it's going to happen today, and whether it carries over the next week, I'll listen to what the people ask. You cannot, no, no, no, please.

You cannot make the commitment that you're about to make on this program and then back off it. This is it? You made your play? This is happening. This is happening.

I can't wait for you to unveil it. I'm not going to give anything more away other than the fact that you've got to tune in. You got to stay where you are. Hallelujah.

You have to stay where you are. Yes, Sundays comes early on Rich Eisen's show. Let's start with the Thursday night game, and let's start with Tua Tungo Valoa.

I don't think he should have played. I'm just going to come out and say it, and I know that you could say that's 2020 hindsight. I thought that whole business, I shouldn't say that whole business because that's infused.

That's my New York upbringing. When you say that whole business, you're inferring that the business that I'm about to unfold really was hanky. A lot of people saw Tua Tungo Valoa stumble around on the turf in Miami on Sunday and wonder how the hell did he come back in that game? Well, the Dolphins and Tua said afterwards it wasn't his head hitting the turf that caused him to stumble and then go into the locker room for evaluation. No, it was his lower back. Anybody who has back problems, and you know Jason Feller, you're our resident back problem expert here, anybody who has back problems, I've had back problems where I just suddenly hit the floor.

You can't get up, and I haven't been thrown down to the floor by somebody much larger than me wearing pads. That was violent. And it was a terrible moment to see him stumble around like a punch-drunk fighter, and he came back in the game and he looked terrific, and then after the game he looked completely with it. And as Kirk Herbstreet of the Amazon broadcast said last night in the third quarter, and as Ryan Fitzpatrick mentioned after the game, that they saw Tua this week and thought he was totally fine. And any medical concussion expert will tell you that sure, looking in somebody's eyes and seeing potentially them not there, that is in fact something you look for. It is a symptom that the NFL and their independent neurologist that's at each game does take a look for when evaluating somebody on the spot for concussion.

But in my days, and again that's the issue, is everybody's an armchair doctor here trying to measure all of this from afar. Everybody who I've spoken to over the 20 years of me covering the NFL says somebody gets a concussion, you sometimes can see them recover pretty fast from it, but the problem is once you've been concussed, the next time becomes easier for you to get concussed and it becomes worse. So that's why it's important that sure, even if you have been concussed and you do look fine and you do talk fine and you walk fine and you feel fine, you need to sit.

Your brain has slammed against the side of your head. You got to sit. And Tua didn't sit. And he played. And we saw a horrible, horrible reaction to his head hitting the turf.

Frightening doesn't do it justice. I mean, his fingers, the way that they were, and I tweeted out, can any doctor tell me why his fingers are the way that they are? And I got a lot of, it's a fencing response, which is the response when somebody gets concussed, and I've known this for years, your arms go up in the air and, you know, throughout the years, it's been told to other players, hey, when you see your teammates arms go up after they've hit the ground, don't grab and pull them up.

They're not asking for your help. That is an involuntary reaction. Your arms go up in the air when you've been concussed, you have a brain injury.

So leave your guy on the ground until you say, you know, you can communicate. I've seen fencing responses. I've never seen fingers in the way that we saw Tua's. Now, I mean, that was frightening. Yeah. Big time. It was stomach turning. It was awful. He's carted off.

He didn't give a thumbs up. You know, like, what the hell was that all about? Really scary. And then thank goodness the reports came in that that McDaniel spoke with him before he left. And then he goes to the hospital and he's getting medical attention. His parents are there. Then you hear he's going home on the team playing.

All right. After the game, here was Mike McDaniel, the head coach. And again, he, along with Tua, saying all week, not the head, it's the lower back.

He's fine. So he was asked, you know, if he would play a player that was concussed. Obviously, you know what his answer would be. And the setup to this is McDaniel adamant, adamant that he would not put a player in harm's way.

This is what he had to say. I don't think that his, an injury from last week made him fall the same way this week, you know. But yeah, I do not have any, like, absolutely zero patience for or will ever put a player in a position for them to be in harm's way. That is, like, not what I'm about at all. And no outcome of a game would ever influence me being irresponsible as the head coach of the football team. Every single NFL game that is played, there's an independent specialist that specializes in the specialty of brain matter. So, yeah, for me, as long as I'm coaching here, if there's, you know, I'm not going to fudge that whole, that whole situation. If there's any, any sort of inclination that someone has a concussion, they go into concussion protocol, and it's very strict without, without, yeah, people don't vary or stray. We don't mess with that.

Never have. And I, as long as I'm the head coach, that will never be an issue that you guys have to worry about. I love Mike McDaniel.

I love him. And he did say at one point, however, in his opening soliloquy that, thank goodness, it's just a concussion for Tua. And that, when he said that, I cringed, because a concussion can last a very long time.

And again, if you have one, the next one's easier to get, and it's worse to get through. But he was just basically saying, lucky, it's just a concussion, that that's not some sort of spinal injury that leaves him paralyzed. I think that's what he meant. I think so. And, and he's right. He's right. He's right. He's right. He's right.

And, um, and he's right. There is a protocol. And I know the people in the NFL front office who are freaking out today and their hands are ringing. They're the ones who are saying, we're putting those weird looking caps on the heads of linemen during training camp.

Should we use those in games? I don't think so, because again, this is a game and we watch it. We all know this can happen on any snap, on any play. And it is possible that Tua had a lower back injury on Sunday, didn't have a head injury, and then just got awfully concussed last night.

I, I don't, from my two cents and from where I sit, I don't think that's what happened. And I think the league has to take a look at the protocol, which is set up during the game to make sure that if somebody doesn't have it, he's quickly returned to play because they want to get him out there. Players want him out there. Coaches want him out there.

Trainers are looked at saying, can my guy go? I mean, everything is geared towards getting the guy back on the field. And the thing I don't understand is if there was an evaluation and an investigation, the players association saying they're going to sue or what have you last night. I know I'm kind of paraphrasing, but if there was an investigation as to whether Tua was concussed and got put back on the field, how is he back on the field if that wasn't concluded by the time he's put back on the field?

I know it's a short week, but maybe we needed, you know what, a double secret protocol. I don't know, like an active protocol plus where if there is an investigation launched or necessary or deemed necessary to take a look at whether a player was concussed and is ready for his next game, that in a short week, it's too bad. That guy's not getting back on the field, doesn't matter how much he's smiling around the facility or clear-eyed or talking or walking or feeling well, that that player is not cleared until this independent study is completed and a report is placed on the commissioner's desk or whoever's in charge of this area of the business. And give it to the players association too. They didn't say anything before the game. They shouldn't be out there.

Best to my knowledge, maybe that's what we need to do. We need to take a look at the way players are cleared during the game and it has vastly improved. How many times do you see in a game where your team's going to try to go fast, right? Quick snap, trying to go, wait a minute, plays blown dead.

Why? What's going on? Somebody called timeout? Is there a flag? No.

Somebody upstairs is buzzed down. That safety's got to come out because he looked a little wobbly getting out of the pig pile. We've seen it. That did not happen when I first started with the NFL network and started covering games. That did not happen, you know? So it's getting better, but I think we need to reevaluate how to evaluate somebody in a game.

And we as fans need to reevaluate the way we look at it. The guy can't return and you're like, crap, my backup looks awful. Too bad. I don't know.

I don't know. Crap, my backup looks awful. Too bad.

Got to rethink the way we watch the game too. Too bad. There's no such thing as just rubbing dirt on it anymore because what we saw last night was frightening. Holy crap. I think it was just a coincidence, Rich, but also at the same time yesterday, Concussion with Will Smith was playing and I happened to turn it on right.

It was just like, wow. Well, it's a different time. And again, there were a lot of dramatizations in that as well. And then there are a lot of where not so much. It's a different era.

There are different ways of looking at it from the league. And there has been a culture change to a degree. I've seen it, but something happened this week that feels off to a lot of fans. And then it was confirmed when you saw Tua look the way that he did on that turf last night.

And it was frightening. Now then, the game. If you bought low on the Bengals, as our Monday guest, Chris Long, two-time Super Bowl champion, suggested that you should do when they were 0-2. What you saw last night, that's the team with an offensive line getting better coming out on an opening drive where Joe Mixon is putting the ball in the back of the net. Where Joe Mixon is pig piling his way into the end zone and Burrow is standing back there, nice clean pocket. That's what you're looking for.

And then the rest of the game sacked only once. That's what you're looking for. Maybe a better yards per carry from Mixon. Sure. Maybe a little bit more from Jamar Chase in the air. Maybe.

Sure. Chase was kind of quiet until that last 40-yard catch. But it was a Higgins night last night.

It was a Boyd day Sunday. I mean, that's what you want to see. You want to see a diverse group of receivers and Hayden Hurst, everybody.

How about that at the tight end position? And defensively, they got up. Obviously, they got after the Dolphins.

So in this marathon, not a sprint. The Bengals are back to 500. Their 0-2 start has been evened out. Their next game is against the Ravens who are taking on the Bills at home this weekend. And as you know, in that Sunday night game, I am sure NBC will have dialed up that 500-yard game he put on Baltimore last December. And I'm sure Baltimore feels the taste of that on the heels of what I'm assuming the Bills are about to dispense.

A whooping? I don't know about that. I know you don't know about that. Let's see. But let's just posit, if you don't mind, a Bills victory there. And the Ravens are 2-2. Let's just say Cleveland goes into Atlanta. And Atlanta, even though Cordero Patterson might be out.

We don't know about Miles Garrett. Let's just chalk this up. Let's just do it.

Okay? And even if the Steelers come up with their with the win at Acresher against my jets. Is it possible you got a four-way tie 2-2 at the end of this weekend? And the Bengals are flat in this mix?

That's possible. And even if they are 2-2 and somebody's 3-1, let's say that person is Baltimore. Let's say that team is Baltimore 3-1. They can go ahead and get past them next week by the end of week five. Everything's fine in the hood of the defending AFC champs. And in terms of the Dolphins, hey, that defense can get after.

How about Melvin Ingram? What he's been doing so far this year. It seems like the Pittsburgh hostage has become a Miami volunteer, huh? All right.

Okay. And he has been volunteering and that defense can get after people. So just stay the course defensively. And Tua will, it seems, come back because he was seen. He came home from the hospital. I would hope that he sits out the next game.

Give him a, give him a 10-day head clearer for crying out loud. Because Teddy Bridgewater can sling it. Teddy H2O is in a position where, okay, you know, these receivers are getting open and he can find them.

And Raheem Mostert's beginning to run the ball. The Dolphins are just fine. And they should just let Tua sit. For my two cents, they take on the Jets at the Jets next week. Home for Minnesota, then a Sunday nighter against Pittsburgh, at Detroit, at Chicago, home for Cleveland, Miami could go on a nice little run here.

Look at the long term, get Tua's marbles back if it is something that can happen. I mean, what if he's out to the bye week? Then fine. Then get what Teddy Bridgewater's there for, man. He looks pretty good.

Yes, of course. The last pick notwithstanding. He could, he could absolutely win football games from that position.

Certainly if Cooper Rush is doing it down in Dallas with this offense, with those receivers getting clear of their defenders the way that they do. Give Tua the time, man. I think it would be inexcusable to not have him sit out the next game. But then again, that, again, that is the public perception. I need to get some, I want to see this report best that I can see this report.

And it does not violate whatever privacy's would get violated. I need to see how this works, how somebody said Sunday yes, and how they're like, we're going to investigate it, but he could still play in the meantime. I think for, for a lot of people who are horrified watching last night, that is a necessity. What do you think 844204rich number to dial? I'll ask George Kittle what he thought watching this last night. Amari Cooper in hour number two, what's more likely in hour number two? You cannot tamper with Amari Cooper when he calls TJ.

All right, you may not do that. He's not coming back to your team. It's over. I mean, he's not walking through that Metroplex door, at least not this year. And then Joe Manganiello in hour number three.

I love that man. I don't know if he's bringing his hairless Chihuahua and that is not a metaphor for anything. Talking about his dog Bubbles. Who almost bit you last night.

Not almost. Took a little nip. Well, you shouldn't have gotten an area. I shouldn't have gotten an area. That's true. He's got, he's got the catch radius.

That little dog. Rich, I got Mac Jones news. Let's do that when we come back. Let's do that when we come back. Let's do that. We come back because he's telling people he wants to play. And I want to hear what you got to say, because that's a big game for this, for, for, for new England. All right, we'll take a break. We'll hear that news. We'll hear from George Kittle.

How about them apples? That's next on the Rich Eisen Show. This episode is brought to you by Samsung. Unfold the all new Galaxy Z Fold 4 and expand your world with flex mode.

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And I am so excited to tell you about my brand new podcast. Hello, Ross. You know, I just said that.

Yeah, I know. I was just saying it again to emphasize the name of my new podcast. It's Hello, Ross. Look, you only have like 30 seconds to tell them about the new podcast. Hello, Ross. You have to tell them about the celebrity guests, the interesting people with cool stories to tell.

And it's new every Thursday. Go ahead. You never know who's gonna pop by to say hello, Ross.

It could be an Oscar winner, the star of your favorite show, even my dental hygienist. Really? No, she's fascinating.

Okay. Anyone else? One time I was at a dinner party and the lady across from me turns out she was a dominatrix. Oh, that's gonna hurt.

I've been a naughty boy. Are you going to ask? We're gonna go there. For reals?

And there. For real reals? You better stretch.

I better stretch? On our show, nothing's off limits. I'm gonna ask that question. No. And that question. No.

And I'm gonna get away with it. Oh boy. So it's like Mr. Rogers neighborhood, right?

Except think of it. Mr. Matthew's gayborhood. Oh, that sounds fun.

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We are so over our time limit. Oh, that's a bummer. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, eight four four two oh four, rich number, the dial, find the latest and greatest audio entertainment on audible. It's got everything you want to hear, including this show.

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Listen on the road at the gym or anywhere you want to fuel up your imagination. Join and get 30 days free at the home of storytelling, audible.com. Now, while we're on the subject of storytelling, Chris Brockman's been spinning a yarn all week. And if there was a headline to his story, it would be, please no more Hoyer. For the love of God.

Is that a kid's book? For the love of God. So you sound like Geo the podcaster during the combine where he told Howie Roseman for the love of God. Linebackers, Howie. God, no Brian Hoyer. For the love of God, Howie listened to him.

You think Bill's going to listen to me? So what's going on in New England? Hey guys, Patriots practice this morning. Is Mac Jones out there? Mac Jones is out there.

Come on. He is here. Now I saw a high ankle sprain once on a Thursday night suffered by Big Ben Roethlisberger. And everybody thought that's a wrap. He's out for the night. And Marshall Falk goes, I don't know with Big Ben. I think he's going to try and come back. We're like, yeah, right.

Taped it up, went back out there, played on a high ankle sprain. All right. I'm zooming in on a Mike Reese photo. Yes. Oh God.

Heavily, uh, heavily wrapped feet. He's not going. He's out there. What do you think?

Do you think, is this, is this for the benefit of Green Bay? Yeah, sure. Hey, just you got to prepare.

No, I just don't. How does that work? How does that work? Like you're going to, like you're going to, you're going to, I never understood this. Hey, keep them guessing. Like you can't prepare for Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer at the same time. That's too much manpower, too much manpower. You're overloading the system in Green Bay. Overloading the system. Like Matt LaFleur cannot handle, with the rest of his staff, the ability to prepare for Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer. Keep them guessing.

Here's the deal. Like the game plan, he's got to be different for both. Mac never got out from behind the quarterback netting and barely moved at all when he was back there. Both ankles heavily taped, according to Mike Giardi, viewing portion of practice now. Over. Get out of here. So that's just for the benefit of the media in Green Bay. Run, tell that, says Bill Belichick.

There you go. Again, like Matt LaFleur and the Packers cannot have the capacity to get ready for both. Joe Berry, right?

He's running the defense in Green Bay. Does he have a Hoyer book and a Mac Jones book that are two different books? Joe, just some insight, maybe some. Oh, don't give whatever the opposition insight.

It's totally fine. He probably knows this. He's smart.

He's a he's a he's a 52 year old man, Rich. That's going on. Whatever game plan you were going to use for Mac Jones.

Yes. Will work 10 times better against Brian Hoyer. OK, what about Bailey Zappi? Is there a Zappi book? There's no book on Zappi.

No one's seen him play. There's no book on Zappi? How's there no book on Zappi? The book is Zappi?

The book is. There's no Zappi book? The book on Zappi. Write it down. The book on Zappi. That's a fantasy name. The book on Zappi.

Either way, I'm starting Green Bay defense and fantasy this week. The book on Zappi. You know what you should do? You should write down the dates that we say these things because it will help us with context 11 months from now when we throw them in Paul Rudd's direction for the 2023 Rich Eisen show fantasy team.

I can do that. That's a really simple. I have been doing that for four four characters. TJ's already ahead of it. All right, let's get to our next guest. He's patiently waiting. He will be taking on the Los Angeles Rams in Monday Night Football. He's a big friend of the program and there's a big game tomorrow.

Big game tomorrow. Let's talk about it on the Mercedes-Benz phone line with one of our favorites from the San Francisco 49ers, George Kittle. How you doing, George? I'm wonderful.

Wonderful to hear that. Look, this may be an odd way to start our conversation when you're playing on Monday night, but what are you doing tomorrow, George? What are you doing Saturday, George? What are you doing? What are you up to? What are you up to?

Nope. I'm gonna watch. There's this one game going on. What is it? What's that game, George? What's the game? I think Michigan goes to Iowa.

The Wolverines come to Iowa City, Iowa. What a day for us to talk, don't you think? Today being that day? I think you got this planned. I think that you're number five. You're like, oh, I'm big and mighty. I'm cocky.

I'm rich. Let's bring George on and talk some smoke. Oh, man.

Why would I talk smoke? We played each other in the Big Ten Championship game last year. Iowa's a stout Big Ten program. Think crazy things happen when Michigan goes to Iowa. I'm a nervous guy about Saturday.

You should be rich. You should be because I think it was one of my favorite things was my senior year. I think Michigan was number three and came in a Kinnock and that didn't go very well for them. The one and the only CJ Beathard just decided to be a Wolverine killer that night. They're all Wolverine killers in Iowa.

All of them. They're going back to Chuck Long, George. Going way back to even before all that. Come on now. It's really funny.

The last two times Harbaugh has been in the building, he lost as a player and then also lost as a coach. You know, this is not information I'm looking for, to be honest with you. I'm not here to hear you turn yourself into some research nugget guy. That's not research.

That's just common knowledge. I have no idea what's going to happen to Rich. Do you watch it? Are you going to be locked in? Wake up? A little morning coffee?

Something like that? Is that what happens tomorrow? George, that's what's going to happen with me.

I'll definitely be giving it a gander. I will be. We won't be at the hotel yet. We're playing on Monday, so we'll be at the hotel on Sunday night. I'll have the time. You have my number.

You can text me. You can talk your smack if you want to, but I'm looking forward to it. Kinnock and Knights is a special place. A pink locker room.

People play a little different. That is true, right? The opposing locker room is pink, right? That happens. That's definitely happening. I know that.

It's a very nice size, but it is pink. George Kittle here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's get down to brass tacks with you. What does Rams week mean in your world? Is it different? Is it different?

It definitely is. There's certain players on the Rams you have to account for in every single play. Aaron Donald, pretty decent football player.

Pretty consistent, but a little bit of extra focus. This is a pretty awesome rivalry, especially in the years that I've been here. After last year, I know we won six.

They won the one that really matters. Definitely it's going to be a fun one this year. Monday Night Football, Big Stage, Levi's Stadium. Fans are hungry.

Players are hungry. It's going to be a good one. It's just crazy how life works, certainly in the NFL, George, that Jimmy G is your starting quarterback again. Did you ever think that would be possible for you again, George?

Not really. No, I did not. I think we kind of talked about it this summer, didn't we? Yeah, we did. I was like, whatever happens happens. It is what it is.

It was fun. It's the NFL. Stuff happens.

You move on. I was a betting man. I would not have bet on that scenario. So how is Jimmy G back in the saddle now? Obviously, he got one game. Everyone's talking about him stepping out of bounds in the end zone, but there was a heck of a first half before the second half began to go in Denver's direction. What's your sense of Jimmy G's mindset coming into these games now that he is back in the saddle after everything that happened, George? I think it's about the same as it has been ever since I played with him. Confident.

Looking forward to it. Excited about the game plan. Gets the guys going. Nothing that we're worried about. I think he's a hell of a quarterback that's going to help us win football games.

He has this energy around him that just kind of makes you play at a higher level. We're just looking forward to having that. Okay.

All right. How often have you chipped Aaron Donald, George? How often does that happen in your career? I think I've blocked Aaron like, I don't know, four times in 12 attempts or 10 attempts.

What do you think? Well, out of 10 games that we played him, I think I've put hands in Aaron Donald maybe four times. He's usually in the interior, which is useful. Exactly. Whenever I see him on the edge, I'm like, Aaron, come on, man. Go back inside. But sometimes he will wind up there, right?

And you're required to put hands on him. How does that go for you? How has that gone for you, George?

How's that happened? It's gone pretty well for me, I'm not going to lie. It's not one I would say, oh, I've dominated that. But it didn't go bad for me because I've seen it go bad for a lot of people and you can kind of check the tape.

It kind of goes bad for everybody all the time. I haven't had one of those instances yet. So I'm going to keep that streak going. You're going to keep it going.

All right. And then what other challenges are presented? I got Bobby Wagner, another guy you're used to seeing two times a year, but he's no longer in Seattle.

He's sitting right there. What challenges? Walk me through the challenge department here going into this game for you. They've got an absolutely phenomenal, like one of the best in the world at Aaron Donald. They have probably a Hall of Fame linebacker and Bobby Wagner in a fantastic corner and Jalen Ramsey.

So they have guys at each level, guys that bring different things to the table, but they all bring an intensity and a confidence that you need to have in the NFL, especially on defense. And so when you have guys like that out there, you have to account for them, you have to deal with them on every single play. And Bobby really brings his intelligence to him. He kind of knows every single play. He's played us.

He's played our offense. And now while he's in a new system, I mean, he knows what he's going to get from us. And it's going to be just going to be a dogfight out there. Honestly, that's what these games always come down to. It's a lot of rushing attempts, a lot of physicality.

And so you can hold on to the ball the longest. I love it. I do love it when you guys play each other. I'm wondering if you do. Honestly, I just know what the game's going to be like. And I know how intense it is. Now I know the history.

I just know all of it. And I'm wondering if you feel the same way, George. Do you? I do. I do.

Like I said, you know what you're going to get. I mean, it's been the exact same. I mean, other than I think my first two years, I think the God is pretty good. But every game since then has been a complete dogfight. You scrap every single play.

If you take a play off, it could be the player that changes the game. Your intensity has to be there every single snap. I mean, you have to have intent and intensity. Can I say that?

Yeah, please. That seems right. It's an intensity. And a little bit of reckless abandonment once in a while. Is that a Ference line from back in the day? Did you pick that up from Ference? Is that a Ference deal?

I picked up a lot of things from Kirk. And I think the number one thing was you can't play football out of bounds. That was one of my favorite rules that he gave me. You can't play football where? Out of bounds? Yeah, you got to play in between the lines, man. Meaning what? Just, you know, don't do anything stupid? Don't hit anybody? What does that mean? Play out of it? It was more of a, there's a truth in life. There's one thing that's undefeated and you can't play football out of bounds, which is technically true. It's very hard to. It's like, don't play baseball in foul territory.

You know, I guess, I don't know, but it's basically the same thing. Hey, whatever works for him. A little nugget for you.

Okay, I appreciate the nugget. How did tight end university work out for you this time around? Ooh, it was wonderful.

Okay. I think we had eight, we had 85 tight ends. It's a great number.

Great number. But yeah, we had 85 tight ends, showed up to Nashville, Tennessee. It was awesome. We had Dallas Clark, former Colts legend, former Hawkeye.

Came down and was wonderful for us. Learned a lot from him just about his intent while he played and his love and passion for the game and listening to Travis and Greg Olsen talk was awesome too. But just, you know, really being with those guys and it was fun too because there's a, there's a large group of guys who weren't there last year who got a, this was their first year and it's just fun to meet all of them and be able to talk with them, you know, off the field or not on a training field and just kind of, it's fun to have guys like loosen up a little bit and just, you got to get to know the real side of them. And George, I know you got to run, but I mean, you're, you're one of my favorite players in, in, to talk to in the sport and you're, you're, you're a deep, you know, seriously, you, you're, you're a passionate guy, deeply passionate guy. And I want to know when you saw last night with two on the turf, what was going through your mind and what do you think is, what are you guys talking about in the locker room today?

Anything going on when you have a conversation? You know, it just, football is just, it's a violent sport and things happen. You know, it just, it really, that's like the last thing I ever want to see is someone on the ground doing, you know, especially after getting hit in the head.

Right. It's just, it's brutal to watch, but it's just a reality of the sport that we play and it's the chance that you take every time, you know, going between the lines and, um, it really sucks. And I don't know what the protocols are or, you know, especially with all the clips circulating of what, you know, happened last week with two and then he plays four days later.

Um, you know, it seems like a lot to me and, uh, but you know, as a player, you're gonna do everything you can to be out in the football field because they only get so many opportunities to do it. And sometimes you need help protecting yourself from yourself. And I don't know what that situation was.

I haven't talked to anybody in their building. Right. It's just, it's a tough situation, especially with all the cameras and all the eyes on concussion protocols now. So now I'm interested to see what, um, the NFLPA finds or what the NFL does, but it's just, it's a tough ball. And I just really feel bad for Tua and I'm excited for him though, that, you know, he flew back with the team on the plane. So that's hopefully good news.

And, um, you know, hopefully this will not be something that lingers or he can move on from it fairly quickly, but I hope they make sure they take care of him. Me too. George, you're the best. Uh, I would say, uh, have a good time watching the game tomorrow, but I don't mean it. Um, I do.

I don't know where that closet is. Uh, but I, I, I do believe it will be a tough one. It always will be. And, uh, um, look for my texts, look for my texts tomorrow. You're the best. I really appreciate the time. Tough, big week for you.

Thanks again, brother at G Kittle 46 on Twitter at G Kittle on Instagram, George Kittle right here on the Rich Eisen show. You can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on westwoodonesports.com via Westwood One Station streams or just by asking Alexa simple question or a statement. Uh, Hey, open a Westwood One Sports. You don't have to use the, Hey, just say open Westwood One Sports sponsored by AutoZone. Was that dramatic enough?

Eh. Hey, George saying what I thought he would say. It's a tough sport, but, uh, I, I do believe players need to be protected from themselves. These guys want to play and trainers want them out there and coaches want them out there.

And I, I, I, I'm not saying that they're purposefully looking the other way. I'm, I'm wondering if the manner in which they're cleared to go back needs to be, um, slowed down a little bit. I just want no more. 8 4 4 2 0 4 Rich number to dial here on the show. Your phone calls when we come back right here on the program before our number two kicks off with Amari Cooper of the two and one Cleveland Browns. You know, 8 4 4 2 0 4 Rich is the number to dial.

We have a couple of phone lines open off. You want to get in while the getting's good back on the Roku channel and more in a moment. Navy federal credit union. When you become a member, life gets better. Cause the one thing that keeps getting better and keeps getting better is buying a car with them. If you want Navy federal has created a fully loaded car buying experience. You can finance, buy and protect and enjoy your auto purchase all from one convenient spot. The auto loan rates are great too.

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Navy federal credit union, federally insured by NC UA. Let's go to Bruce in Austin, Texas. You're on the rich eyes and show what's up, Bruce.

Hey, Rich. Uh, I wasn't able to see the game last night. So I just happened a little while ago to try to find the videos on YouTube and I was shocked and I want to do input on that. I was shocked to see a message, uh, on YouTube on the, just about all the NFL videos where it said video unavailable and the NFL had pulled them. Is that common?

Does the NFL do that all the time? I don't know. I don't know. I honestly don't know. And, you know, and, and, and obviously, um, many nefarious, um, I guess theories or nefarious concepts are applied to the NFL because they think they're trying to hide something.

And I'm sorry, rich, but even Joe Burrows post game, uh, remarks were pulled from YouTube. I don't know why that I don't know. I do know. I don't know. I do know that I was able to see it on, uh, I was able to see the video to other sources other than YouTube.

And I have a daughter who has seizure disorder and I have seen that action several times. It's terrible. And, and exactly. And thank you for the call.

I appreciate it again. Uh, maybe people think the NFL want to sweep it under the rug and, and look, the university of Cincinnati medical center where, where, where he went and his parents were, do you think that they're, they, they have any sort of desire to be lenient so he can go fly home with the team and make it look like he's not that hurt. Do you think the parents would be cool with that? Right. JJ watt tweeted out, you see what he tweeted out, stop showing the replays, please. I thought the same thing immediately. There was no need to see it over. It's what he was saying.

So maybe that's the reason why it wasn't on YouTube. I don't know. Eight four four two oh four, rich is the number to dial. So Mac Jones is out there in new England on a practice field.

Make sure you check out that. In new England on a practice field, maybe as a little rope, a dope as if again, the green bay Packers do not have the capacity to prepare for Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer at the same time. It's some old school gamesmanship maybe, or maybe he's getting ready to play because it was as Bill Belichick mentioned earlier in the week, a day by day situation said it no fewer than 12 times, right? Two days ago.

That's right. That caused us to have an, a new clubhouse leader that TJ Jefferson thinks will never get knocked out in our new segment that we debuted over the summer. And we'd really love today's Bill Belichick press conference moment. Well, let's see if today's press conference moment, I hope I'm wrong. That does apparently involve the members of the media asking for more meat on the bones as to what day by day means. Just tell us, bill that's today's bill Belichick press conference moment.

Today's bill Belichick press conference moment. Do you call it the other day sort of a day to day by day situation? Is that the word I used?

I can't remember exactly how I described it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. I think you're right.

I think you're right. Did I break a record on that or is that what it was? Nice. All right. I wasn't trying to do that. Just when you ask the same question, I'll get the same answer. Sorry.

New clubhouse leader. No, no, no, no, no. Not better than the original. It's just one of those sequels that you would hope is as good as the original.

And it just doesn't live up. That's a pretty good, but it's a great sequel. It's not, it's not Caddyshack two. Let's put it that way. That's true. It's better than Caddyshack two.

It's worse than Godfather part two. Well, everything is though. So we can't even use that. That's true. That's true.

Dark Knight-ish maybe. Did I really? Hey, look, you asked the same questions. I'm going to give you the same answer. It wasn't exactly the same question. Cause there was a moment where like, you know, I'm not a medical expert. And they're like, well, what are the medical experts say? And he smiled and said, day by day, somebody has to answer, ask the follow-up question was coach coach.

Were you listening to the God spell soundtrack, the most famous songs in the history of seventies Broadway musical day by day. Rich. Yeah.

I don't know what that is. You have Bill's number. Let's FaceTime Bill right now. I mean, you do rich.

You act like you don't know the man. We haven't texted in a while. Yeah. Hey, what's up? Were you listening to God spell? Are you busy? What's your favorite musical?

What is your favorite seventies musical? Why don't you just try it? Can you work in a fiddler on the roof reference just for me?

Rich, try the holidays. And if he picks up, just say it wasn't an accident. Yeah. Oh, hey. Sorry, Bill.

Just to see what would happen if he would pick up. That's totally my bad. You can hang up real quick. Yeah. Oops. Oh, sorry.

I think he's the wrong guy to say that you texted the wrong person. Oh, wow. Hey. He's laughing today. He's cracking jokes. He's in a good mood. Give me your phone.

I'll do it. Yeah. If you want to just text me, Bill's number. Bill seems to be enjoying himself, right? Today he did. Yeah.

He seemed put off yesterday. Nothing makes me smile more than Belichick smiling. You know what I'm saying?

It is. It's contagious. Day by day.

Day by day. It is really contagious. I just love Bill. I just want him to retire. Look at that smile.

Why do you want him to retire? Are you out of your mind? Are you out of your mind?

Can I see something Chris? Are you gonna bring in that would be a better coach than him? Come on.

Let's check back in on Monday. Who are you gonna get? Well, Sean Payton's available.

He'll be a coach. Is he better than Bill Belichick? No. Come on. Better at offense.

Bro, you got the goat, kid. Get out of here. Stop it. Better at offense. Dude.

But defense wins championships. Not anymore. This guy. He doesn't trust Bill anymore.

He's got the greatest of all time and wants him to walk away. Unbelievable. Absurd. Let's just put a pin in this. Let's just say I will hope that we're on the air still doing this show when Belichick finally does retire and you have a new coach. Let's put a pin in this. You think he's mad now?

Oh my gosh. Wait till one of these other jabronis starts coaching. Every single time Clay Holmes comes in, it ain't Mariano walking through the door. We could get Sean Payton next year. No, you can't. I don't think he can. If Bill retires. Don't be ridiculous.

Are you nuts? Amari Cooper coming up an hour too from the Cleveland Browns. 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.