REShow: Charles Woodson - Hour 1

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. TCU wins. Do you get the sense the playoff committee is itching to get somebody else in there other than you? You know, our guys hear all that stuff.

They thought we were terrible in the beginning and we were not going to listen to them when they start telling you how great they are or how great you are. Today's guests, Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, Fox Sports Announcer Gus Johnson. From Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, actor Sam Jagger. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Okay everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2022. We are live on the Roku channel. This Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio affiliate Sirius XM channel 992 if you're listening on the app. 218 Sirius XM 202. We say hello listening audience on Odyssey.

I think I skipped a word there but I feel okay, don't worry. We say hello to everybody who's listening on our podcast. It's your right to listen to us on demand as well.

You could watch us on demand on the Roku channel as well. You could visit all of our clips from the history of our program, 8 plus years, on our YouTube page, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show. However, there is a first for us today.

We have in-studio for the first time. He's been on the phone before. But the great Gus Johnson is on his way to the Rich Eisen Show studio today. Before he hops on a flight to Columbus, Ohio to call the big game with Joel Klatt on Fox. And interestingly enough, our first guest is a man.

A man. 25 years ago wrecked the buffet of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. 25 years ago yesterday is when native Ohioan Charles Woodson took one to the house. And that's the way that things began.

In that game that year was all sorts of good in the hood for the Michigan Wolverines that year. Charles Woodson up first. Gus Johnson in studio second. And Sam Jager, who plays Mark Tuolo on The Handmaid's Tale and Hulu. Hulu. Hulu.

The very popular Handmaid's Tale show. He's in studio hour number three apparently. He's from Toledo, Ohio and is a big Buckeye fan.

And just to show, I mean, okay. Our co-EP on this program, her name is Liz Weil. She's been here since day one, just like you, Brockman. Day one. Just like you, Del Tufo. Day one.

Like the Usos. You were also with us from the very beginning, although not on the air, T.J. Jefferson. Yeah, I was in an executive capacity back then. You were? Yes. All right.

Well, I was. She's from Ohio. She loves the Buckeyes.

And she's having her fun. And I come in today and there's scarlet and gray sort of crepe paper covering all different things that we have on this set that are Michigan Wolverine material. And we have a lot of it, you know, like this helmet.

I come in. This is the way the helmet looks today. All covered in crepe paper. Yeah, of course. The audacity.

She left the Ohio State helmet, you know, completely untouched. I put pictures of this stuff on Twitter, Rich. This book that I have here in front of you, people are like, what's in that book? It's all sorts of notes from so much from the show. Like I write stuff down for the show because I'm a lead pipe wielding professional.

It's a Michigan Alumni Association book. She even covered the assiness. She went too far. That's going too far.

That's going too far. Hold on a second. Liz is outstanding. She, all these cards that you may see here in front of me, there's notes for the guests on there. I don't know if you could see on the Sam Jager card, all the M's are X'd out. All of them.

Every last M is X'd out. Disrespect is real. Disrespect is real. Great job, Liz. I put all this on Twitter for you, Rich.

Great job, Liz. I mean, not the notebook, though. That's too far. You know, and then I have zero control over what's going on in the show. Anybody who follows us on Twitter at Rich Isen Show sees there's a poll question out. Who should start for the Jets this week?

Mike White, Joe Flacco, or me? And that's because there's a New England Patriot fan who's in charge of our Twitter account and the poll questions. Yeah. Yeah, you.

Yeah, you. Not Sam Elliott. He looks more like Yosemite Sam every day, this guy. I mean, he really does, but I'm still digging it the most, man.

More like Henry Cavill in Mission Impossible. That's what I think. Okay. That's what I've been doing.

Then go jump out of plane. Figuratively. Of course, it's Thanksgiving week. I'm very thankful for you. Thank you. I've been in your house for Thanksgiving. I know you have. Okay. Yesterday, Tuesday, when Robert Sala would not commit to starting Zach Wilson this weekend against the Bears, I said my sense of it was because Zach Wilson is still, despite 20 dreadful collective starts as a Jet quarterback, when your stats are on par with Jamarcus Russell.

And the only difference is Jamarcus drank sizzurp and you're drinking your own Kool-Aid. That's it. Stop. I thought. I thought.

Let me just give you that, please. I thought. I thought that Robert Sala was doing what Susan and I do with our kids, which is we're going to count to three. Don't make me get to three.

You will not like it when I get to three. I thought that's what he was doing just to tell Zach, come on now, because just to continue more analogies, we're all Jet fans suddenly Mona Lisa Vito, you know, stomping our feet. Our biological clocks are ticking because the defense is balling out and suddenly is arriving in the championship.

Deep depot in the station earlier than anybody thought they could potentially pull in as such. And Zach Wilson goes and lays another egg against the Patriots, after which he's asked a point blank blank question if he's let the defense down and he says no. And he looks like a kid who just wants to get away from mom and dad because he or she senses the questions coming from mom and dad are all infused with disappointment and potential punishment. I thought, again, he's just counting to three because he's still the number two overall pick in the draft last year, and you can't bench him in the middle of the season without everybody thinking if he's toast. But Robert Sala counted to three today. He counted to three and he is benching Zach Wilson and starting Mike White against the Chicago Bears. Mike White, who got four starts in place of Zach Wilson last year when Zach hurt his knee. He had a remarkable game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he set a record for most touchdowns and no interceptions in your first career start, because he got some run against the Patriots when Zach was getting hurt. And then he got hurt against the Colts when everybody thought that he might actually have something here. If you remember that he then has started a Thursday night and he got hurt in that game and you were trolling me about Mike White trolling, creating a quarterback controversy.

It was a journalistic question. And then he got blown out by the Bills, who admittedly Zach Wilson just beat. But you were a year ahead of your time because there is now because now Mike White's the starter and Zach is, in fact, benched. Here is Robert Sala making the announcement. We're going to roll with Mike White. It's the same things we talked about when we elevated him to the second spot.

It feels like three or four weeks ago. We know he's fully capable. He started in this league. He's won games for us. And we just want to give him an opportunity. Zach's career here is not over. I know that's going to be the narrative.

I know that's what everybody wants to shout out. The intent, the full intent, is to make sure Zach gets back on the football field at some point this year. When that is, I'll make that decision. I'm going to take it day to day. The biggest thing with Zach and the same things that we've talked about is the young man needs a reset. His decision making has been fine. His practice habits, all that stuff, have been fine.

But there's some basic fundamental things that have gotten really out of whack for him. And this is just an opportunity for him to sit back, focus on those things, find a way to reconnect to all the different things that we fell in love with during the draft process. And it's something that I feel like he's going to be able to do.

I think to ask him to do all those things while preparing for a game is unfair. But at the same time, it's something just talking with Zach that I think we're all excited to attack. And this is, like I said, is it a small step back? Absolutely for him.

Do I think it's going to be a great leap forward when he does get a chance to reset himself? Absolutely. And so this is not putting a nail in his coffin. This is not that. It's not even close to that. Interesting he uses that phrase because so many people are using that phraseology.

Our friend RG3 said the casket was closed today at the end of a tweet that he put out there. And so many folks are saying that this is the nail in the coffin because how do you bench somebody this young with that huge amount of expectation at the top of your draft last year and not have this be a complete devolution instead of the revolution we were hoping for? And that's a very sound supposition.

It is definitely something that one would say in the history of the NFL. It's tough to come back from a benching like this. No doubt. But I say Robert Sala clearly has his finger on the pulse of this situation. That's how I feel. I get this sense.

I like the way that he's handling this. Because Zach Wilson is not at present a guy who can lead this team to the playoffs and they have a shot to make the playoffs this year. Yeah, but Rich, he might no longer be the quarterback of the future anymore. Well, you know what? If this is something that he can't come back from, then he wasn't the quarterback of the future to begin with.

There you go. Is my opinion on it. And it does appear that the coach who is a defensive minded coach who has no doubt a championship quality defense on his hands right now. A grown ass man in Quinnen Williams blossoming into a defensive player of the year candidate. And Saus being a defensive rookie of the year candidate and a pro bowler and everybody in between. Clearly when Zach Wilson said flippantly, did you let this team down, this defense down? No, no. Clearly that left a mark as did other things, because here was the answer on a very thorny issue when put to Robert Salah about having potentially lost the locker room with his comments after the game from Zach Wilson.

It's my opinion. And I know that, you know, there's always going to be that discussion why he's going to lose the locker room. Zach doesn't have the locker room. I don't think players go out there, we play for one another, we fight for one another, we do that. But at the same time, I don't think a player is going to play any less harder because he doesn't like his teammate. He's playing hard for his family. He's playing hard for the guys that he loves on the team.

But he's not going to turn it down because he doesn't have love for somebody. Now with that said, I think like I've said before, I think guys have empathy for one another when it comes to how difficult this job is and the heat of the moment and being at the end of the game and the way we lost and the way we all played. And for Zach and his teammates, I don't think there, maybe there was a little irritation at the moment, but I don't think there's a grudge. I don't think there's hate. I don't think there's lingering effects when it comes to that. So to answer your question, I didn't, I had no bearing on this decision.

Okay. I do like Robert Sala. I think he's had, I mean in the New York media, he is handling this situation superbly. And I think he's got his finger on the pulse and he says that didn't have anything to do with this decision. If there's irritation, he sensed it and irritation can become irreparable.

I have no problem with this maneuver at all. I think he's handling it Sala perfectly. And I believe, let's put it this way. You're hearing all about the 10 year anniversary of the butt fumble being yesterday. And that was Belichick. And Belichick once had Sam Darnold saying this. Interestingly enough, we revisit this the day after Sam Darnold gets his job back in Carolina for the time being.

And certainly now comes this, where Zach Wilson is supplanted by a guy who was drafted 169 spots after Sam Darnold in that 2018 draft. And that was after Belichick swept him. And then he said, oh, Belichick's doing it again to another Jets young quarterback.

I will say this. This kid kind of did it to himself too. Because the simple stuff that Sala's saying, that he's clearly off, can't get back to the kid who was doing things that made the Jets fall in love with him. It's because his footwork, all you gotta do, look, I'm not an all 22 guy. But you could see when a guy is not setting his feet and the throws are sailing. You're seeing, I mean, and it happens over and over and over again. And it's just like, bro, get the basics down.

Once you get the basics down, then we can work the magic. Instead, he just thinks, I got the magic. At least that's the sense you're getting watching this thing. And then the lack of accountability after the game. It's just, it was something for Sala to say, I'm hitting the pause button. If he didn't, basically is what I'm saying. If he didn't say what he said after the game. If he came on after the game and said what apparently Albert Breer said, Justin Fields said in private to his defense in Chicago saying, my bad. If he did anything like that, I think he'd be starting this week against the Bears. But the totality of it, Belichick didn't put a gun to his head and say, be thin skinned on the podium or come across as such. He clearly is who he is.

And for the moment, Sala thought he needed to hit the pause button. And in terms of him being done, OK, in terms of him being done and Sala saying that this is not the case, I believe him there. All you got to do, look at Jimmy Garoppolo. I know they're different.

I know they're different in terms of where they are in a career. We thought there was no chance. We thought the hottest place in the history of hottest places ever created, fictionally or real, would have to freeze over before he got a chance to stay with the 49ers, start for the 49ers or be in this position of Thanksgiving week as a four touchdown throwing quarterback of the surging San Francisco 49ers. We thought that place would have to freeze over before he got that opportunity.

So spare me the caskets closed talk. If I'm trusting Sala to make this maneuver, I will trust him to rehabilitate Zach Wilson. Is it possible that one day we'll look back and he'll sit here and say, I needed that?

As he's leading the Jets to playoff seasons in a row. It's possible. Is it probable?

I would say maybe so. Not great, Bob. Not great.

This is not the way I envisioned it. And Jet fans are freaking out, don't like it. Mike White, who could he be? Who is he? Because guess who's backing him up? It's Flacco. It's not even Zach. He won't be dressed.

He'll be there with an earbud in and having to root on his teammates and watch. It won't be easy. So my message, I would normally deliver it myself, but I have my friend Gordon who's going to do it for me to Zach Wilson. This is your wake up call, pal. Go to work. That's it.

This is your wake up call, pal. Go to work. Footwork. Arm angle.

Fundamentals. And then do your thing. Because the coach didn't say we're not going to see him anymore. He didn't put like a Frank Wright saying you won't see him anymore. Like Paulie and the Godfather. Oh, you won't see him no more.

No, no, no. The coach is saying this is not it. He's getting the sense of it. And kudos to him to have the brass to do it and the brass to have him feel like he can do it. From the GM to the owner.

Woody. I mean, it's in solid we trust. And I wouldn't have said that about some previous Jets coaches. So that's my two cents on the subject of the day. Not in Ryan we trust, you wouldn't have said that?

No. I mean, for a split second I would have. I would have said, Ryan, I'll follow his personality. Perfect for the Jets at the time. Not kissing Bill's rings. And then he did what he said he was going to do. And then it all fell apart because it wasn't sustainable salary cap wise.

And Rex wise. But this is the way I'm feeling about it. And let's go. See what happens. And let the defense have its day and let Zach come back and see if he can be the guy when chips are down.

I didn't see, however, this being the path. Twenty starts in. That is for sure. We will take a break. We've got Charles Woodson. I'll ask him about this subject matter.

Sure, he's got two cents on the subject. Charles will be joining us here. As we all know, it's a very big game and it's on Big Fox. He will be part of the pregame coverage on Fox.

Charles Woodson. And then when the coach talks, I will turn the sound down. I'm going to lie. I have no interest in hearing what he's got to say. But then I'll turn the sound up because Gus Johnson's on the call and he's here in studio.

Yeah. Can't wait for that. And then there's you at eight four four two oh four. Rich number two Donald got my power rankings. We might sneak in a little bit of what's more likely since this is our last show of the week. We got Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow.

Lots to discuss. Eight four four two oh four. Rich being the number to dial. Charles Woodson when we come back. Heisman Trophy winner. Super Bowl winner.

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And don't wait. Unlock your potential inside a Mercedes Benz Sprinter. Speaking of unlocking your potential, twenty five years ago yesterday in the big house with Ohio State, pardon me, the Ohio State attempting to put him on his behind on a punt return. One of the best defensive players in the history of college football did this. He runs Woodson all the way back to the twenty two yard line. Ah, yes, the dulcet tones of the great Keith Jackson. Keith Jackson.

No flag. And Gus Johnson slated to be here in Studio Hour number two, currently calling the action. I wonder how Gus would have called that play.

And part of the Fox coverage of said big game is none other than our friend Hall of Famer Charles Woodson. How are you, sir? I'm doing well, man.

How are you guys doing? What's your what's your memory of that moment standing back there for that punt? Twenty five, by the way, twenty five years ago yesterday. My memories are that, you know, I remember, you know, the punter, you know, stepping back to kick that ball and it comes off of his foot. And I just remember, man, how long it seemed like that ball held in the air. Seemed like it was in the air forever, man.

It was an outstanding pun. The only thing for him is that he out kicked that coverage and gave us time to set things up, man. And I was listening to that broadcast and they talked about how many punts I had that year. But that was the only time I'd ever took one back to the house.

So I had plenty of opportunities. But that was the one man. So a great memory of running down that sideline and getting to the end zone. I stick my left hand out. I'm telling the cameras to focus in because I'm going to do the old Desmond pose. But my fellow Wolverines, man, they jumped on me and tackled me to the grab before I could hit the pose. That was that moment.

That was that moment. And so, like Des, you are a native Ohioan. How were you let out of the state?

Like what happened? How did you wind up at Michigan, Charles? Yeah, man, it was, you know, it was really out of out of Ohio State's hands. You know, at that point, I grew up a Michigan fan because my brother was a fan of Michigan. And, you know, I was I was always you know, I'm a lawyer person.

Right. So it's like, you know, if you like one of these schools, you can't like the other one. And that's kind of the way I looked at it. So I grew up as a Michigan fan. And when that time came, you know, as I'm a high school senior and thinking about where to go to school and where to take visits to. I couldn't go to Ohio State because they were the rival. And that's kind of the way that, you know, it shook out. You know, I took a visit to Notre Dame.

I took a visit to the Miami Hurricane in Michigan. Of course, Michigan was always at the top of the list. But when it came to, you know, visiting Michigan or Ohio State, I couldn't go to Ohio State because they were the rival. That's just how I saw it. So the answer to the question as to why you went to Michigan and didn't stay at home to go to Ohio State is you were raised right. That's what you're saying, Charles.

Yeah. I give all the credit to when the Ohio State fans want to get mad. They had to get mad at my older brother, man. It was his fault. He was the Michigan fan first.

He drew me to that wing helmet and I never let it go. You just come from great stock. That's all it is.

That's all it is. I love it. Where are you? Where are you? Did I hear a whistle? Are you at a practice? What's going on?

No, man. I'm in Lake Nona, here in Orlando, Florida. I'm on the golf course. You know, I just parred a par 5. I'm feeling real good about myself right now.

Okay. I appreciate that. And I appreciate you taking time away from a quality round of golf to chop it up with this show.

Anytime I get to spend with my main man, Rich, I'm about it. I love it. And I feel the same way about you, Charles Woodson.

As you know, you had me at Hello all those years ago. And I just love the fact that we can talk on a week like this. How do you see Michigan-Ohio State, with both teams undefeated, coming into this game first time in well over a decade since that's happened? How do you see it playing out on Saturday, Charles?

Well, first of all, man, what an atmosphere it's going to be down there in Columbus in the shoe. You know, this long-standing rivalry against the two great teams coming in the right way, you know, both teams coming in, you know, undefeated. Michigan, they squeaked by Illinois last week. You know, Ohio State, they had their hands full with Maryland.

But this week, you throw all of that stuff out the window. You know, it really doesn't matter about this game. I see it as a Michigan team that is going to try to establish what they do really well, that's run the football, play great defense. And for the Ohio State Buckeyes, I see them, you know, trying to utilize their air attack. They have a young outstanding receiver, his dad, I played against in the NFL.

Best receiver I played against. They'll try to establish that pass early with Marvin Harrison Jr. in stride and get that connection going. But you know what, they have been trying to run the ball a little bit more lately the last few weeks, so I see them try to, you know, try to hand it to the young freshmen. I think he'll be starting this game and try to get that little run game going as well. But I think it's going to be a tight ball game.

You know, I think it'll be low 20s. But I think the Wolverines have what it takes, man. Defensively, we've been doing really well in terms of end of game, getting sacks, getting pressures, getting off the field. And I think it'll come down to that end of the game, Michigan's defense on the field having to make a big stop to a secure victory. Well, obviously, you know, a quorum potentially being in the role of Hassan Haskins is something that one would think.

And just trying to compare to last year's game would have to happen, right? Something from him and he comes in banged up. I mean, what a scare last week against Illinois.

And then clearly somebody, you know, collectively playing the roles of Hutchinson and Ajabo to get Stroud off the spot. The question I have is what you point out with Marvin Harrison Jr. I mean, that kid is out of his skull. I mean, the fact that, you know, Smith and Jigba, the kid who lit up the Rose Bowl last year, isn't their number one receiver is unreal. I mean, how good is this kid? And I'd love for you to give me your best Marvin Harrison senior story covering him, too, in your answer, if you don't mind, sir.

Go for it. Yeah, well, if you look at Marvin Harrison Jr. and you look at what Ohio State does with their passive attack, if you ever look on that film and you see a gotta have it play, they're going to 18. And I mean, and it's not even a question. If they need to play, it's him. My wife, Tim, I believe it was a couple of weeks ago, he caught a ball on the sideline in the air. He was coming down. He's going to get pushed out of bounds. And all of a sudden he reaches, you know, the near sideline leg out and gets his toe down. So the body control that he has is really unbelievable.

I don't even know if his dad had that kind of body control the way this kid does, but you know, he's big boned up. My job with him. But for me, you know, playing against Marvin Harrison, it's interesting because Marvin never really came off the, you know, the defensive left side of the field. He always lined up to the right of the offense.

So you would think you would have a bead on everything he was trying to do. But to me, you know, I played him when I was just coming out of college, young player. And I thought he was a total package, speed, great hands, quickness. He ran great routes.

And, you know, it was always a challenge for me as a young player going up against Marvin Harrison. He never said anything either, right? He never opened his mouth. No, he didn't talk. He didn't say a word, man.

He just left his feet and hands through the talk. I bet. I bet. So it basically comes down to you think Michigan's ability to run the ball, control the offense, keep Stroud as cold as possible, just like last year, and see what happens. I think, Rich, you know, we'll try to establish a run.

You know, that's who we are at our core. But to me, the most important aspect of this Michigan football team on Saturday is going to be JJ McCarthy. That's what's going to be the difference for us. Last week's game, you know, he didn't play a very good game, missed some wide open throws. Missed a tight end in the end zone. And, you know, for us to be what we want to be, he's got to play state-free football games, make the plays that are there for him to make at all times. And if he does that, we'll win this game.

He's the X factor for this game. Charles Woodson here on the Rich Eisen Show. And before I let you go back to your golf game, I want to just put in perspective to people what this game means. You played in a Super Bowl, obviously. You had a front row seat for arguably the best rivalry in the National Football League with the Packers and the Bears. You grew up with this rivalry. You're from the state of Ohio.

You are a guy who I assume you haven't bought a meal in the state of Michigan for almost three decades. And your bust resides in your home state of Ohio in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Put in perspective what this rivalry game, Michigan-Ohio State, means, Charles.

Well, if you're a player, Rich, and you're playing this game, it's the game you're judged on. You know, for every player that plays for the Buckeyes, every player that plays for Michigan, you know, as you live your life and you're going to do other things and people, you know, know who you are, recognize you, or find out who you are and know that you went to either Michigan-Ohio State, the first thing they're going to ask you, hey, what was your record against Ohio State? What was your record against Michigan? So these young kids playing in this rivalry, they're always, always, for the rest of their life, going to be judged on how they played in this game. So that's the magnitude of the game. You know, each university, each week during the season, we have this game circled.

We work on the opposing team each week during the year regardless of who we're playing that week. So this game, this is a big one, Rich. This is a big game, man, and it's a game that will follow you for the rest of your life. Can you imagine, I mean, for Michigan to basically say last year wasn't a one-off and how does a winning streak taste? And then, you know, for Ohio State to basically say last year was a one-off and, you know, you're back to being the Big Ten backbencher with the rest of everybody else while Ohio State moves on into a college football playoff. I mean, that is something else because I am assuming the loser of this game is going to be out with LSU sitting there. Even if they, you know, if they lose to Georgia, they're out. USC has two big games against Notre Dame and then you got the Pac-12 championship against Oregon.

I'm assuming the loser of this is out even though I've been advocating otherwise for that. Alabama still lurks. Clemson, a one-loss team at eight.

What do you think, Charles? Yeah, you have some other teams knocking on the door that are right there. You know, if USC wins out, they're going to get a strong push, you know what I mean, to be in the college football playoffs for sure. I think it's going to be really tough for, you know, the committee to put in two Big Ten teams. I think if there's a shot, then this has to be a 35-34 type ball game, really close, you know, to really, you know, turn the attention on that game to where they'll say, you know what, we need these two teams in the tournament. But if it's not that type of game, then I don't see two Big Ten teams getting in it.

So whoever, you know, this game, you need to win this game. Otherwise, you're not going to have a shot at getting into the tournament. Have a great rest of your golf game. Have a great Thanksgiving with your family. I assume, what, you're heading to the shoe Friday? Is that where you're going?

Is that your situation? No, I'm actually going to have a little Thanksgiving here early in the morning. I get on the plane, headed up to Columbus. My brother, who turned me on to Michigan, and my mother, who's up there with me now, I get to spend the rest of the Thanksgiving with them up in Columbus. Look at this.

It'll be a full schedule for me tomorrow, Rich. A truly blessed day. But I'm thankful. I'm thankful.

Yes, you are. It's Thanksgiving. I'm very thankful. Well, and I'm thankful for you, Charles.

I'm not going to lie. Very thankful. Very thankful that I know you after, you know, watching you do your thing. I'll never forget it.

I was my second year on SportsCenter, and I'm thinking to myself, my gosh, I can't believe I can't get to go to the Rose Bowl and watch them take on Washington State because I've got to work on SportsCenter, which is truly like what I had dreamt of doing while I was at Michigan. And then to watch you do what you've done and what you did in your pro career, I say it every single time. I'm thankful for you, Charles Woodson. Thank you.

Man, I appreciate it. Always good talking to you, tell the crew. I say hello. What's up, fellas? They hear you?

They see Wood. Hit them straight, baby. They hear you. Hit them straight. Take care of yourself. Happy Thanksgiving.

Hey, man, I'm hitting the best shots of my life, man. I knew I was coming on Rich's show. I had to have... The Rich Eisen Show Bump.

The Rich Eisen Show Bump. Let's go. Thank you very much. Take care of yourself, Charles. You be well. All right. Okay, there you go. All right, there you go. There's Charles Woodson, who's hanging up from us and about to hit a provisional.

He's not dead. Very good. All right. Breakfast, brunch ball down there in Orlando. I played Lake Nona. There's a lot of water in there, man.

There's a lake. Right. And it's not like... Florida golf is different. Yeah. Florida golf is different. You gotta have a few sleeves.

And I don't mean because the weather's cold. Yeah, right. There's gators. Yeah, you gotta watch out for the gators. There's sandy. There's a lot of sand. There's a lot of sand.

The grass is different. Lot of water. A lot of water. It's humid.

Humid. I'm currently... I knew I'd get this way. I knew I'd get this way. I'm trying to avoid getting hyped. It's four days to go. You've seen the spread, right?

Ball of today. You've seen the spread? Seen the number?

What is it? Seven? Seven and a half. I get it. Michigan's banged up and everybody thinks that last year was a fluke.

It was a one-off. Yeah. I mean, look at your current defensive player of the week in the National Football Conference. That would be Aiden Hutchinson. That's where he is.

He's in Detroit right now. So, you know, everybody thinks last year was last year. This is this year.

Okay. These commercial breaks feel like they're an hour and a half long in this game. Seriously, the three-minute commercial pods, they feel like I could watch, you know, Gone with the Wind in the middle of it. That's how it feels. They're four and a half, five minutes. Honestly, those commercial breaks in Michigan versus Ohio State, it feels like those times I've been to Las Vegas for a three-day weekend, and I'm already a couple of trips to the ATM Inn at the Blackjack table after an hour and a half, and I'm like, oh, God. What are we doing?

That's how long these feel. By the way, in those times that I was telling you about Las Vegas, before working for the NFL. Of course, obviously.

Honestly, it happened so long ago, I don't remember. What am I talking? Is this thing on? All right, we'll take a break here.

844-204 Rich, number to dial here on the show. We'll talk about those college football rankings. Gus Johnson in studio hour two. The World Tournament of Soccer happening in Qatar is finally here. And with all the weird kickoff times and all the other sports happening simultaneously, it can be kind of hard to keep up. So to make sure you're up to speed, be sure to listen to Qatar Kickaround for the daily wrap up of all the action from the tournament. From the group stage all the way to the final, Andy, Lars and Peter are here for you with recaps and opinions of what happened that day in Qatar. Everything can be found at the kickaround.com, the Cumulus podcast channel on YouTube, or wherever you listen.

844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the Rich Eisen show. So the new college football rankings came out last night. And top four is Dormey, would you say?

Or the same? I don't know what it is. Chalk. Tennessee, as we all know, lost to South Carolina and then lost their quarterback and dropped all the way down to 10. LSU is now five. LSU and its two losses, Leapfrog's USC, this is just so stupid and arbitrary.

Let me just say this too. The number of times I'm here, well, Michigan is being punished for its non-conference schedule. I think I heard our friend on our friend DP show driving and David Pollock is like, when you have UConn as your best non-conference team, and it's not basketball season, that's a problem. And I understand it is weak when it's Hawaii and Colorado State, I believe, and UConn. Yeah. Take a look at the non-conference schedule for Clemson. They played Furman.

Okay. Furman. Furman.

Furman. As Michael Irvin would say, don't lose that intensity. Same intensity.

Same intensity. But they're not going to make it. Clemson has no shot at making the final four. How do you know that? How do you know? Put it up one more time, if you don't mind. They would need a lot to happen.

Let's just put it, if you don't mind, put it up one more time, Mr. Hoskins. There's Clemson lurking at eight. Yeah, they would need a lot to happen. Because Alabama's not losing to Auburn, right? They would need that to happen. Right. They would need USC to lose. USC loses once, and LSU loses to Georgia. And then TCU loses to Iowa State. Right.

Right, right, right. There may be a situation if Ohio State pummels Michigan, right? It's dumb and dumber for Clemson. I don't know. I don't know. But that was just fascinating to me that I guess they put LSU there. What does that mean? Does that mean Georgia still makes it if LSU beats them?

Seems like it. Why? Because they made the conference championship. The conference champ and then the defending champ. Well, I mean, if they were in the same... Let's just say if Georgia was in the... Let me just make an example. What if Georgia somehow, some way, was in the same division as Alabama and had to play them every year?

How would that look? That's the situation. Honestly, but they're not.

I know you're not. But Michigan and Ohio State is. That's the way the Big Ten decided to put it together.

I'm just saying that. That Georgia conveniently does not have to play Alabama every year. It is convenient for them.

It is convenient to both that they don't. No one's going to feel bad for Michigan. Like you want everyone to feel sorry for the Big Ten schools. I'm saying the same thing for Ohio State if what happens in my heart happens on the field on Saturday. Ohio State comes into Thanksgiving weekend undefeated and then loses to the best team on their schedule that is scheduled every year because the nation demands it.

And you say all you want and you just roll your eyes. Because you are my Georgia proxy here. You're my Georgia proxy here by... I just think you're overestimating how much people care about this rivalry. It's a rivalry for you guys in the Big Ten and the people of the Midwest. Are you watching it?

Saturday? Because it's the game that's on at 9 o'clock. No, don't even ask. Of course not. I'm not watching it. You're not watching the game? No, we don't care about that. I mean, I do like Michigan.

I hate Ohio State. I bet you the number one watched game of the week is Cowboys-Giants and then number two will be this game. Fox will have the top two viewed games of the weekend. You're smarter than this because it's on and it's Thanksgiving weekend and we're all at home. I'm saying it's going to outrate two NFL Thanksgiving games.

If it was October, it's just run of the mill. It's because of where it is on the schedule. There are two Thanksgiving games, I am saying, in the National Football League with nothing else to do, if you will.

Nothing. The NBA is completely off. I'm saying this will be the second ranked most watched game of the entire weekend. I'll take that.

Okay. More than Sunday Night Football between the Packers and the Eagles. What do you think, people are going to be watching It's a Wonderful Life or something on Thursday night? That's not on yet. I'm saying there will be a significant Thanksgiving viewing audience on NBC and there will be a significant viewing audience on Thanksgiving on CBS, America's most watched network.

But noon on a Saturday when everyone's shopping and out and about? Yes. Okay. Correct. Respectfully, I disagree.

I think you are disrespectful in everything you're saying right now. Just because it's both Fox. It is that big.

And let me just say this, man. If there's a bigger rivalry, why don't they play it? There is a bigger rivalry. There's a pretty big rivalry. Georgia and Alabama don't play each other. NDUSC if Notre Dame was doing better. Dude, that was a big rivalry when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the Oval Office. It's a big game, even though Notre Dame sucks. But they were getting better, but they're still better. Dude, USC Notre Dame was great when Ed Sullivan was having his day with the Beatles. Rich. They're very close to Ohio State.

Do you think, which one's going to have a bigger rate? Of course you are now because Notre Dame's not doing as well. But they're the top 20, aren't they? Notre Dame has you. You have no other allegiance. You love Notre Dame.

I like Fox. Rudy was carried off. We're slow clapping. Movies are made. Where's the Michigan-Ohio State movie?

They didn't make one. I see. I'm just kidding.

I'm just pointing out. All I'm saying is that it's very helpful to Georgia's case to lose the SEC championship game and still make it. You don't have to play Alabama at all.

Michigan and Ohio State. That's not a rivalry game. How's it not a rivalry game? Because it's not. Maybe it should be. It can be. Maybe.

Maybe it should just mean more. What's the biggest rivalry in the SEC? What is it? Alabama, Auburn. Yeah.

Got it. In-state? No, Michigan's got one of those too. So we've got an out-of-state rival that everybody wants to watch. Then we've got an in-state rival.

Michigan, we got one of both. When was the last time Michigan, Michigan State mattered? Last year. Nationally. Last year. What are you talking about? Because they got upset.

Millard Fillmore. When are they both in the top five? That doesn't happen that much. But we have an in-state rival. The biggest rivalry in the SEC is between... Well guess what? Georgia has an in-state rival too. They have Georgia Tech. So you're saying the biggest rivalry in the SEC involves a team that needs help getting in and is blowing out their coach. That's the biggest rivalry in the SEC? No, it's between Alabama and Georgia.

The two best programs maybe in the country. That's not a rivalry. It should be.

It will be. If they actually, you know, play each other every year. Well hey, Alabama has to do their part and make the SEC title game.

Ooh. Because they play in separate divisions. Which Michigan and Ohio State doesn't have that convenience either. I mean, I just don't get that you think that everyone nationally cares about this as much as you do. Yeah, that's because you... Let's see the numbers.

I don't understand. Let's come back on Monday and see the numbers. You have the numbers for me. I'm going to be more than happy to back off.

No, it's going to kill. That's going to be huge. What, Michigan and Ohio State? 100%.

It's going to be less than Patriots-Vikings. Oh, no, no. I would take that cheese. Come on, guys.

I'll take that cheese. Noon on a Saturday. See, the TV and the college football screws this up, not putting this game in primetime. Well, if you knew the history of the rivalry, this is part of the tradition is it's noon Eastern.

Hey, guess what, Rich? Traditions change, man. I don't know. You want a bigger TV audience? You want it to really matter nationally?

Put it where more people can see it. It matters enough nationally, as I've been proving out on Saturday and then when the TV numbers come back. Do I have your permission to put out a poll about this? Sure, of course. Great. Do you care about Michigan and Ohio State?

What do you mean? You don't need my permission to put polls out. Well, you wouldn't have butthurt that you were the starting quarterback this weekend for the Jets. By the way, did you see somebody then responded saying, in fairness, who should be the starting quarterback of the Patriots, Matt Bailey or me?

They didn't put me on the list. I know. Brock would be born. He actually played quarterback. What's the name of the show?

The Rich Isaac Show. I've seen you throw. I could. Yes, you have, baseballs and footballs. I'm better at throwing a football, to be honest. So is John Elway. See, he and I have something in common there, too.

Stanford's got to play caliber here so I can relate to that, too. It could be information to change your life forever, or the Something You Should Know podcast could just be something interesting. Ramit Sethi talking about being rich. The old definition of rich had a lot to do with how much money you accumulated. But it wasn't about how to spend it. It was more about how to get it. But OK, so once you get it, what do you do with it? In our culture, everybody tells you how to save, but nobody teaches you how to spend it. You should know wherever you listen.