REShow: Albert Breer - Hour 3 (1-5-2023)

The sense I get, and this is from people who know him much better than me. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Is that if he's offered, he will leave.

Doesn't matter the job. Oh my God. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The Panthers, people will go, well, David Tepper just hired a college guy.

Well, Jim Harbaugh was really not a college guy. Earlier on the show, three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Shleret, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Paul Zeiss, co-host of CBS Mornings, Nate Burleson. Coming up, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

All right. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. And what started the day off so brightly is just giving more peps and steps because DeMar Hamlin is not only up and awake, or awake, but he is trending up.

How does that sound to kick off hour number three of this program here on the Roku channel and the Rich Eisen Show, Terrestrial Radio Network, Sirius XM, Odyssey, and more. We're just getting good news in droves now after getting nothing right for three days. After getting nothing for three days, now we're getting good news in droves. It started this morning when the Bills put out a statement saying that he appeared DeMar Hamlin neurologically intact, called him still critically ill, and that he's still making steady progress. Ian Rappaport giving us some more details this morning about squeezing the fingers of his loved ones and how he opened his eyes last night. He's responsive. And another good sign that we get is that two physicians caring for him or leading the care for him at the UC Medical Center in Cincinnati holding a press conference.

And it's happening. And I would imagine if things weren't trending upward, that these guys wouldn't be talking publicly and taking questions, right? Wouldn't you assume that?

You would assume they'd still be in there working. And clearly anybody who's had a loved one in intensive care or anybody who's had a loved one dealing with a cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated and brought back to life as these physicians confirmed did in fact happen, that, you know, there are steps back with steps forward and things of that nature. But I do want to take a moment here to let you know what these physicians are saying through the Twitter feed of our friend and occasional fill-in host here from the NFL media group, Tom Pelissero, talking. Dr. Timothy Pritz from the UC College of Medicine says that there's been, quote-unquote, substantial improvement with Hamlin over the last 24 hours. Quote, he's beginning to awaken and it appears his neurological condition and function is intact.

How about that? Neurological condition and function is intact. UC health physician Dr. William Knight IV says, oh, gosh, it's been a long and difficult road. The past few days he's been very sick. He's made a fairly remarkable improvement showing positive signs and vital signs in organ recovery. Workup ongoing regarding the cause. Dr. Knight said the immediate recognition of a serious condition and loss of a pulse by the Bill's medical staff was critical, allowing Hamlin to get immediate bystander CPR and defibrillation.

Quote-unquote, we cannot credit their team enough. How about that? Way to go, Bill's medical staff.

Way to go. On the spot. Because again, he falls down, right? Like Nate Burleson said he hurt his leg so badly. He was in hour number two. Remember that he said he got up and then he fell right down. So your thought might be, okay, let's check his body. Let's check his bones. Let's check, you know, his head injury, whatever. Somebody noticed on the spot he's in cardiac arrest. Yeah. You imagine? Because you can't even be thinking that he could be a cardiac arrest. The speed at which they picked that up was incredible. It was incredible. And he's got a helmet on, so you can't really read his face, right? So you can't really see.

Imagine without really seeing it. Dr. Knight, quote, where you focused on the long-term recovery right now. He has a ways to go with liberation from the ventilator, okay? You don't want to be on a ventilator too long, as we all know from the COVID years, right?

We're still in the COVID years, but the outset. Too early to project Hamlin's full recovery, says the doctor. Many more steps, but focuses on getting him home to his family. Pelicero said the question was, could Damar play pro football again?

Quote, it's entirely too early to have that conversation. He's still critically ill in the ICU. Focuses on getting him breathing on his own, getting stronger and back home. Quote, the best outcome is back to who he was before this all happened. Oh, and then the best part.

The best part about all of this is apparently, um, Hamlin wrote on a piece of paper. Who won the game when he woke up last night and communicated in writing that the doctor said they answered, you won in the game of life. And that the doctors, Dr. Knight said he held my hand, uh, interacted with family and bill staff today, and that, um, he's, um, got an excellent prognosis moving forward, but they're all cautiously optimistic about who won the game, you won the game of life. And apparently the doctors say that his parents have explained to him what happened.

And we assume that part of the what happened includes $7 million plus in his GoFundMe page as of this morning, $7.1 million. So that is your update right now on what's going on in Cincinnati. Now then Albert Breer is going to be joining us in a few minutes time, too, because he had a deep dive, as they say in the business about what happened on the field and he'll join us and then give us an update on what the league I would imagine feels more comfortable talking about now, which is what to do with the bills Bengals game that was postponed and then what to do about the seedings. We had a conversation yesterday and today about how, you know, calling it a tie doesn't really solve much. And then there's the Matt Hasselbeck idea that was forwarded by Adam Schefter today, that whoever finishes first in the standings based on winning percentage when the game's not replayed, as Mark Schlereth pointed out in hour number one, you didn't want to replay. You don't want to go back there, put the teams back out there after a week 18 game, just you're the one week 19 game and when do you play it?

That it's just, you know, turn the page. There's too much trauma, mental trauma with putting those teams back on that field so quickly to replay the game or resume that game. Then Matt Hasselbeck says, give one team, whoever finishes with the best winning percentage, they choose, do you want to take the one seed and get home field advantage or do you want to get a bye week? So you get one of two things, home field advantage or bye week, you can't get both. And that whichever one's left on the table, the team that's second in the standings takes that. And I said, well, I mean, I take the bye because that means I'm already one step forward in the playoff process. I don't run the risk of losing.

I'll get an extra week. And then in terms of you run the risk of losing a home field advantage battle to the team that's above you. Well, in this idea of parsing out the spoils that would normally go fully to the team with the best record in the NFL or in the conference, the idea would be if two teams face each other with a different number of regular season games being played. In other words, any AFC championship game that isn't a replay of Bills versus Bengals, it would have to be played on a neutral site. So what are you concerned about giving up home field advantage? If you're already in the divisional round, you're going to get home field advantage in that game for sure. And then most likely you'll have to play the AFC championship game in a neutral site.

Take the bye. There is one other solution apparently that we haven't talked about yet, because the other solution that we did talk about with Mike Florio yesterday, which is play the NFC wildcard games this weekend, week 19, with the Bengals and Bills resuming their game. Then the next week, the entirety of the NFC playoff field gets off, give them a bye week, while the AFC catches up and plays all of their wildcard games.

And then you just keep going on and on and on. And we lose the bye week between the championship game and the Super Bowl and championship game in the Super Bowl and everything just goes on as scripted. The problem with that is the NFC one seed would have three weeks off. Right. I don't hate that idea.

It's one solution for sure. But here's one that's apparently being considered adding an eighth playoff team, just one special season where you add an eighth playoff team. Nobody has a bye. Nobody has a bye. And winning percentage just... So you get rid of the whole idea of the bye week being something that you get.

Right. And home field advantage would just go to whoever wins the winning percentage battle. That's an omelet that breaks a few eggs, which is Bengals and Bills might not get the one seed. And then there's a matter of the NFC saying, wait a minute, the Eagles after all this time, we don't get a bye? When Jalen Hurts is hurt, we don't get that bye? And Lane Johnson is hurt? And two of our top corners are hurt? Why are we involved in this?

It's terrible what happened, but why are we involved in this? On the positive side though, that would open the playoff door to a bunch of teams that already said that they're done. That includes the Jets. Yeah, a bunch of teams that have E next to them.

Who would this open the door for? So the Jets currently have the E next to their name. That would be out. They're now suddenly alive. And the commanders also have the E next to their name. Major Tutty could be back in the house.

They're now alive. And someone brought up like... Do you start Sam Howell if you arrive? Exactly. I would say no. I would start Heinecke. Yeah, Wensing.

I'm not going to be there. But suddenly you're looking at the NFC, Seattle's locked in at the seven, they win, they're in, and suddenly now you got Detroit and Green Bay. Which would truly be a win and end. Regardless of what Seattle loses. But if Seattle ends up losing and the commanders win, suddenly the commanders are in because they're 881. So the Jets and the commanders might be... Okay guys, well look at this. Let back into the playoff picture? We know the Washington football team is losing. Okay, we know this. Oh, because they're playing the Cowboys. I get it.

Just go from there. The Cowboys have nothing to play for. Oh pride, Chris, pride. But then in the AFC, suddenly you've got now four teams, two spots. Patriots, Dolphins, Steelers, Jets.

Still alive. And in the AFC you would have Seattle, Lions... NFC, Seattle... Sorry, in the NFC you'd have Seattle, Lions, Packers, and Commanders. That's it?

Nobody else? Saints are seven and nine. I think they're out.

Really? I mean... Yeah, because... What if they're eight and nine? If they're eight and nine and there's a whole bunch of eight and nine spots, maybe this opens the door for the Saints too, brother. Maybe, I don't know what tiebreak is going on. Did they have the tiebreak over anyone?

Hold on a minute, let me make sure I get this right. Because yeah, what ended up, as you know, famously eliminating the commanders was the Packers winning. When the Packers won their football game against the Vikings, that eliminated both the commanders and Saints on the spot. I think that opens the door for the Saints, Chris. So the Saints play the Panthers. If they were to win that game... Would that open the door for the Panthers too? No, Panthers are six and ten. So the Saints would have a sixth conference win, which as we know is a tiebreaker.

I think it would open the door for them. Green Bay and Detroit play each other. That would give them each a seventh conference win, whoever wins. So that winner is automatically in. So the Saints currently only have five conference wins right now?

I don't have this information right here in front of me. Right, right, right. But their strength of victory is higher than Seattle, so if Seattle were to lose, yeah, I think the Saints would still be alive. Saints would still be alive, brother. Saints would still be alive. Wow.

Just doing some math quick. Yeah, would Cleveland still be alive? This is Tennessee? This is some weird, wacky stuff.

Eight and nine. Cleveland would not, because they only have four conference wins. But Tennessee might. And the same way that Jacksonville still is, well, Jacksonville's conference record is what really keeps them going. There's seven and four in the AFC. Tennessee has a really bad strength of victory, so they would be probably at the bottom of that. So did Jacksonville lost every game to the NFC conference that they played?

Jeez. Yeah, Jacksonville's seven and four in the AFC. And they're eight and eight overall? Yeah. Huh. Okay. So it opens up the door to a lot more teams if we add an eight.

That's wild. Then what do we do? Do we have four games on Saturday and Sunday, two games Monday? Like how would that work? I mean, whatever. Well, that's the least of anybody's problems is that they figure out which television partner runs it. But I don't understand why the eighth playoff team solves anything that the other stuff doesn't. That teams that are already eliminated get a shot to come back in.

Why? Because the one seed situation is difficult to solve, so we'll let both conferences have more teams in it. Then it'll be such an incredible playoff weekend. Maybe we should add an eighth team next year. Then suddenly you got the NHL and the NBA. We're the eighth and final playoff spot. You talk about it. I don't love half the league making the playoffs.

I don't think the NFL does either. All right, we'll take a break. Let's talk to Albert Breer about it. Let's get his two cents and what is going on. By the way, the physicians are still talking in Cincinnati.

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Call, click, grainger.com or just stop by. All right. Lots to talk about with our friend Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated, the MMQB scribe.

Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, Mercedes-Benz van's phone line. How are you, Albert Breer? I'm good. I'm good.

I probably have similar feelings on officiating you coming out of the weekend, so I'm all right. I'm all right. Oh, Albert. I will say this. I will say this. I think we probably also have this similar feeling too. I'm not going to lie. The fact that you guys aren't in it sort of softens the blow a little bit.

I'm sure you feel the same way about us. You know what I mean? It's really freaking hard.

I'll tell you what. The way 2022 ended was very difficult. Certainly, as you know, I went to the game, but ringing in 2023 like that was terrific.

I had a great way to ring in 2023, like literally the first second of 2023. I'll say for my part, watching the yearly game was kind of liberating as far as watching the results of the later game. This is why we're rivals. This is why we're rivals. Although I will just spend another minute on this subject.

I was talking yesterday that this is the way of the world now, Albert. Certainly, when it's going to be 12 teams in, we got a little glimpse here that the Michigan Ohio State rivalry, or say Auburn, Alabama, if Auburn gets to the Alabama level, or name any other diehard rivalry where you win, certainly if it's late, and you stick it to the other team, season's not over anymore. Just to say, for instance, you could beat your bitter rival by 20 at home and leave them wondering if they have the right coach and complaining left, right, up, and down.

They can back in and then almost win it all anyway, for instance. I went to the Ohio State Michigan game in 2006, which is the one-two game. I was there in 16, which was, I think, a two-three game.

Then I went this year, which was another two-three game that was, I think, that was both undefeated teams. There was so much tension around that, Rich. I would say as tense an environment as you would be at any level of any sport, right? I think a huge part of that is a zero-sum game. You know what I mean? In those situations, in 06 and 16 and this year in 22, there was a do-or-die feel to it, even though that isn't what wound up happening this year, right? I think you're right. If we have one of those games in the future now, past next year, then it's not a zero-sum game.

You know what I mean? If Michigan and Ohio State come in one-two or two-three, at that point, we probably know that both teams are going to the playoffs, right? It's probably almost locked in if both teams are ranked that high, that late in the season, I would think, right? No question about it. Also, a team like TCU, where people are like, well, it's not from one of the top-tier conferences and they didn't win their conference, so they don't deserve to be in because they have no shot. Well, yeah, they do, and they're really good. I saw that with my own two eyes, for sure.

I will say this in your defense too, Rich. I think a lot of people have the wrong idea on TCU. I've talked to enough scouts over the course of the last couple of months about them. This isn't Mountain West TCU anymore, you know what I mean?

I think a lot of people still have that in their head. This is a legitimate power five. The talent on that team, they have two linemen. One of the linemen, I think potentially going to be a first-round pick. The receiver, Quinton Johnson, is going to be a first-round pick. The running backs in the NFL running back, the quarterbacks probably going to play in the pros.

They've got speed on defense. It's a Cinderella story because of the circumstance, the first-year coach and everything else, but that team has horses. That's not Boise State in 2007 or whatever it was. Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show, senior NFL reporter from the MMQB. Let's jump into what a wonderful read it was, although harrowing as well. The wonderful part being you giving the proper spotlight to the individual and individuals that provided life-saving care on the spot to Damar Hamlin. The physicians who just held a press conference at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said that without a doubt, the folks who administered first aid on the spot to Damar Hamlin saved his life.

I'll give you the floor and what you found out and you can tell folks what you found out. Albert, please. It's been an interesting week, of course. It just so happens that my wife's a cardiac nurse. She works in the cardiac ICU at Children's in Boston. She's been personally a great resource for me.

I guess just making sure I don't step in rakes the way I term things. She's sort of been my editor this week. I found out last night that it was Denny Callington, the assistant athletic trainer for the bills that administered CPR. I was told that he was a hero in this situation.

I reported that this morning. She told me one of the things to make sure you do here is sometimes it's multiple people performing CPR. I guess by the book, you're only supposed to do it for a certain amount of time before you give way to somebody else doing it for the first news you're trying to revive. So that's one of the things I just want to emphasize here is that it wasn't just him. There were multiple people that were working on Damar Hamlin, but certainly I know having talked to some bills people last night that Denny Callington administering the CPR was absolutely vital. It's not saving Damar Hamlin's life, making his life a lot better going forward because as I'm sure everybody out there has read or heard, so much of this is about time.

How much time there is where your brain might not be getting oxygen and what that can mean, not just for whether or not you survive, but the quality of your life going forward. So the speed and skill with which Denny Callington reacted in this circumstance was absolutely enormous. He's one of a handful of heroes that were on the field at the end of the game. I think it's important that we say their names too because we'll be talking about Damar Hamlin for a long time hopefully. He comes out of this and he's able to live, forget about football, he's able to live a great life coming out of this. But I think it's also important that we say the name of the people that were there on the field. Denny Callington just happened to be one of the guys that was down there and was so important to doing his best to make sure that whatever Damar Hamlin's life looks like going forward coming out of this, it's a little better than maybe it otherwise would have been because he was able to get there so fast and he was able to act with such skill when he got there. So yeah, I mean, I just think, like I said, there are going to be more names that are going to come out over the next couple of days there should be.

And yeah, I'm just happy that I was able to kind of get one of those names out there earlier today. Albert Breer, the MMQB Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter, lead content strategist right here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's the NFL thinking about now? You're hearing so much about not replaying this game. I think we can be rest assured this game's not going to be resumed, that it's over and that they're not going to send these two teams back with the wounds so raw, mental wounds obviously so raw.

So assuming that, what is on the table best you can tell right now as we're talking on a Thursday? So they've worked through a lot of, I know they've worked through a lot of different possibilities and you know, there was one actually that did include resuming the game that I don't think got much traction at all, but that was of creating a week 19 and having a standalone built Bengals game and eliminating the Super Bowl bye week. I think the problem with that is it sort of creates a competitive advantage for everybody but the bills and Bengals, right? So you'd actually like materially be sort of punishing the bills and Bengals, you know, where every other playoff team would get a bye week except those two.

So, you know, I think this, like you said, is trending towards being declared a no contest and then it sort of comes down to how you're doing the feeding. You know, some of the ideas out there, I know Adam Schefter said one that I heard too, which was the almost like the cut the cake solution, which is to allow, you know, the Chiefs if they went on Saturday to pick but not have both, whether or not they would be the one seed or host the AFC championship game in essence, either pick whether or not you want the bye week or a home AFC championship game. I think there's some fairness in that. There's the idea of adding the eighth playoff team, which, you know, in that case would, let's call it, the NFL will be adding inventory there but also sort of level the playing field as far as that number one seed goes. So they're working through all that now and trying to be as fair as they can be, you know, because if you just go strictly on win percentage, it's interesting the Chiefs would be the chief beneficiary here, you know, because the Chiefs didn't control the one seed before 8 p.m. on Monday. They would control the one seed in that scenario and not only that, they also wouldn't be able to fall any further than two. You'd be taking the Bengals out of the running for the second seed because the Bengals then wouldn't be able to catch the Chiefs, which wasn't the case at 8 p.m. on Monday and that would mean, you know, potentially the Bengals having to go to Arrowhead in the second round through no fault of their own, you know.

So I think, you know, they're just trying to find the fairest way to deal with this, realizing like that there probably is going to be some level of inequity in whatever they do. There is no question there's going to be some level of inequity, certainly if the Chiefs wind up as the one seed, they lost to the two teams that couldn't finish their game on Monday night through no fault of their own, you know, and so, you know, that's the whole thing about, you know, getting home field advantage for the AFC championship game, but what if you select home field advantage for the AFC championship game, but you get bounced in the wild card round that you just chose or you, so, you know, so clearly you're going to take a buy, you get healthier and you get into the second round of the playoffs and certainly if part of this construct is that if you take on another team that doesn't have the same number of regular season games played as you for the championship game, that goes to a neutral site, so why wouldn't you take the bye week because your divisional round game that you go right into is a home game and that invariably you're going to have to play your game outside of your home stadium anyway, you might as well just take the bye. I'm just thinking if you add an eighth playoff team, obviously that adds remarkable interest to week 18, there are a whole bunch of new fan bases that, you know, that are now interested in the Sunday proceedings and then you give the bye week to the top two, you don't just remove the bye week because you can't just tell the Eagles, hey great job being the last remaining undefeated team and winning all those games in the NFC, you no longer have a bye week, you now got to take on the Washington commanders, the team that actually handed you your first loss of the season, you can't do that, so you give a bye week to the top two and then you have seeds three through eight, go ahead and play it out and the most inequitable aspect would be say the Bills or the Bengals being that three seed because if you look at the Bengals, remember I know I'm getting really arcane here, certainly somebody who's driving into a listening audience that doesn't have this information in front of them or viewing audience, but the Bengals have a better strength of victory than the Bills, so if the Bills lose to the Patriots and the Bengals beat the Ravens then they would be the two seed, so the Bengals and Bills are still kind of, although not against each other, playing it out for the a bye week anyway, the Chiefs getting a bye week as one or the two and so now you're actually giving a bye week to a team in the NFC that might not get it, no one's going to complain about that I imagine, except maybe the Vikings saying hey I didn't know if we were playing for a bye week, but I'm just laying that all out, like that may be the solution, you know, so I'm only a little confused by what you're saying though Rich, like when you say the top two seeds wouldn't go, if you give the top two teams a bye, just like old school, yeah, three through eight play each other, yes, but then you have five teams in each conference still alive, you couldn't do that could you, well you'd have three play eight and four would play seven and five would play six, so you'd have three wild card games in each conference anyway, just like you're gonna have you have those three alive, but then you have five left at the end of that on each conference, someone would still need a bye, in the second round, it would have to be 1-8-2-7, I don't think there's any way to do that, because then it's like you still need to have a team with a bye like the week after that, you know what I mean, all right, we don't know what we're talking about in other words, math is tough, yeah more verbal, I don't know what the answer is brother, but I think if you're doing a 16 team bracket, I would think you would almost have to do it, unless you want to extend the playoffs by a week, no way, I can't do that, no, I guess then nobody gets a bye, I don't think you can do that either, no one gets a bye, you just can't, that's it, you can't really change the rules of engagement on the Eagles can you, so then do you do like an 18 bracket just in the AFC, is that, I mean it's just, no, can't do that either, I mean I think like, I personally think Rich, it's like you have to find a fair way to seed them, and whether it's splitting the baby, like which I think is like fine, you know what I mean, like choose the one seed, or choose the bye, like you or choose home field in the AFC title game, or choose the bye, like I think that's fairish, right, like because at least then it's like okay, like you, there's a choice there, you know what I mean, like and so you're awarding to the Chiefs for getting to 14 wins, but you're not like hitting the bills over the head with it, you know what I mean, like I don't know, I mean like that seems like it will be the fairest way to do it, and again like I think what's really tough about it is just like the win percentage thing would, if you just go strictly on win percentage, it rewards a team, and you just said this, but it rewards a team in the Chiefs that lost head to head.

To both teams trying to chase them down, and that didn't have the opportunity to try and do it, you know, I mean that's, I don't know how you, I don't know how we do this, and when we went into Monday night, like that's the thing, like the bills controlled the one seed, and the Bengals had a shot at it too, you know what I mean, like the Bengals, if you have a three-way tie, the Bengals beat both those teams, because that you need, they would need to get Steve Buffalo to get into the three-way tie, look if the Chiefs, now all of a sudden, yeah, yeah right, exactly, if the Chiefs beat the Raiders, if the Chiefs beat, that scenario would have been Bengals 1, Bills 2, Chiefs 3, if the Chiefs beat the Raiders, the Bengals would never, wouldn't have been able to catch the Chiefs anyway, despite having already beaten them, so that's one thing, it would just basically be the Buffalo Bills not having an opportunity to put their head-to-head tie break on the table by the end of the day, and say what's going, you know, what's up with that, so maybe, yeah, maybe what, if the Chiefs win, then the Bills and the Chiefs get played where, in like, it would have to be outdoors right, you're not putting that in a dome, because those are two outdoor stadiums, I don't know, and the Annapolis is a dome, I don't know, you gotta, you gotta go outdoors somewhere cold, the Annapolis is sort of like halfway, right, like I don't know if you put it outside or not, like, or you open the roof, you know, Ursay always tweets out whether the roof's open, I don't know, I mean maybe, there's no, there's really no answer, hey look, before I let you go, I'll give you an opportunity to combine the two things that you're, you're great at, which is reporting on the NFL and trolling Michigan, so what's the deal with Harbaugh, what do you got for me on that, what do you got for me? Yeah, I, I hear, I think like the important thing like here is to sort of, I think it's like look at the, the, the timeline here, and I think there was a period where, where Jim was in high demand from the NFL, when he first got to Michigan, and he rebuffed interest back then, and you know, I'm talking about like the period, maybe his first four years at Michigan, right, and then that interest leveled off, and I think by the time, you know, 2020 came along, when he had to take the pay cut, like that option wasn't there for him, he looked, and he, and there wasn't like hey, you know, like went to the Chargers, went to the, went to the Jets, trying to drum up NFL interest, and it wasn't there, and then even last year, I think some of that interest was a little bit more outgoing than incoming, so you know, I, I think to some degree Jim has felt his mortality as an NFL coach, like where early this time at Michigan, it seemed automatic that that opportunity was going to be there no matter what, you know, whenever he wanted it, and I think now, it's more, well, like I'm almost 60, is that chance going to be there again, like, and if I can generate interest now, like am I sure that I'll be able to generate the same interest two or three years from now, and you know, from, I think that that's a part of the equation here, and so, um, whether or not he goes, I don't know, but I do think for the first time in a few years, the interest from the NFL is incoming rather than outgoing, and I think that's a factor here. Um, Indianapolis has a guy, their assistant general manager Ed Dodd, who would have been Harbaugh's general manager in Vegas last year if Harbaugh had gotten the Vegas job. Um, you know, obviously Denver's got the connection through Stanford, with Condoleezza Rice and Greg Senter, both these Stanford alums, Rice actually has a relationship with Harbaugh, um, so like there are a couple of natural landing spots there, I think you look at those rosters, you know, Carolina too, and you see some similarities, and that there is some frontline talent on those rosters, and there's a need to get the quarterback position right, which is sort of what it was in San Francisco when he went there, and so you can see all of it. I, I, I will say this, and I mean this, like 100%, like in a genuine way, you've got the Michigan program in a great, great spot, and they've got a really good team coming back next year, so that's the part I can't predict.

Like I think if this was like JK McCarthy and Donovan Edwards and all those guys leaving, like I think that this would be, I gotta go, you know what I mean, I gotta take my shot now. I, I think one thing that probably makes it hard for him at this point is that he's got the program in a really good spot, and he's got a really good team coming back next year, so that's what I really can't, that's what I don't know, like that's what, I, I don't know how much weight that's gonna, gonna have in this whole thing, because I, I do believe like my reporting over the last seven or eight years on him has always been he's got unfinished business in the NFL, so you know, we'll see whether or not he has the offer, and then how much the idea of the team he has coming back from, at Michigan weighs on him when he's making the final call. Well I mean, and that, that is the ultimate thing is what you don't know is really what's good, what is in his heart of hearts and in his, and in his head, like is, is he truly chasing that, you know, that tilting at that windmill, you know, that is not winning a Super Bowl, and what would it be less of a yearn for it if he didn't lose to his brother, is there some sort of familial rivalry that, that's part of this thing, you know, or, or is it just the fact that his contract isn't in line with the rest of coaches who have taken teams to the back-to-back college football playoffs, and that this is all a leverage play, you know, which wouldn't surprise me either, like what, what is it, you know, what, what is it, and.

Well, I mean, I certainly, I certainly do the money things not to be ruled out, like I just, I do know like, you know, there were things when he was in the pros where like, compensation was a factor, you know what I mean, like, and so like, is it possible that like, you know, he does feel like, hey, put it this way, after, if your employer forced you to take a pay cut, like right, to stay on, you probably wouldn't be inclined to do them any favors from a financial standpoint going forward, right, like I think that's just, that's just being a human being, and so like, I don't think you can rule that out either, like I do think that there was a part of him last year where when the Vikings thing came up, like he was still angry that they made him take a pay cut, you know, because there's like a little bit of a, you know, you embarrass me, you know, you know, I feel that's why, I think that was actually like last year with a piece of the puzzle and like going on signing day and doing all that, like, I, that was part of the puzzle for him, you know, was like, you put me out there and maybe take a pay cut and maybe walk the plank and all that, like, so I, I think after like what he went through there, it'd be hard to blame him for trying to leverage a better deal out of Michigan now. Before I let you go, I got about 60 seconds left, so real quick, we're going to get a decision on what's happening with this Bills-Bengals game now that we're seeing a better prognosis for DeMar Hamlin when, before Saturday, so we'll know all this going in and the seedings and everything? Yeah, I would hope, like, I would think like maybe like this afternoon we get an announcement that the Bills-Bengals game is off, right? Like, I think we'll probably get an announcement on that. I, I'm interested to see whether or not they include the feeding scenario there, because I, I do wonder if they maybe want to drag their feet on this and see what happens with the Chiefs game, and I don't know that they can do that and I think it'll depend on how much those teams involved push for an answer, but like, I do think that maybe there's, I'd say over the last 24 to 48 hours, there's been some feeling among people, you know, in the league office, like, maybe we should see what happens with Kansas City before I make a final decision on this, and maybe the result of the Chiefs game makes it simpler on them.

We'll see, you know, but I think any time, you know, between a couple hours from now and, you know, after that game on Saturday, you know, like, I think a decision on the feeding could come. Albert, thanks for the time. As always, Happy New Year to you, and thanks again for your reporting and then confirming, with your wife being a cardiac nurse at Children's Hospital, that she is indeed your better half.

Thanks for that confirmation. I appreciate it. Oh, I, trust me, I've known for, I've known for over a decade now who the brains of the operation is, and you're not talking to them, so yeah. All right, Albert, we'll chat down the line.

And hey, I would say this too, just one last thing, like, I think it was a really great moment, like, hearing DeMar Hamlin ask who won the game. I know, right? I just, like, I don't know, like, when I saw, I got chills when I saw that, you know what I mean? That means he's with it. That means he's with it. That means he's with it, and that he remembers that there was a game, and that he's, you know what I mean?

Like, that, that's what that meant, and he wrote it out, you know what I mean? Like, that, I, I'm the same way, and then I love the doctor's responses. It's beautiful. It really is. Yeah, yeah, and a huge, huge, I mean, I, I, like, I, I, I know it because I, you know, like, my, my, my wife is in this field, but I mean, I don't think there are enough words in the English language to explain, like, how appreciated all the people who take care of us are, you know what I mean?

Like, and all the medical professionals, the EMTs, like, I think if there's a silver lining in all of this, it's that, you know, like, an event like this can shine a light on the incredible, miraculous, like, work that so many people did on the field, on the, on the field in Cincinnati on Monday night, and so, a huge, huge shout out to every single person who contributed there. Well said. Thanks for the time, Albert. We'll chat soon. All right. Thanks, Rich.

That's Albert Brier. We got to beat it to a commercial break. We'll be back to wrap up the show in a moment. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, NetSuite wants to make sure that you know your numbers, certainly at the top of Q1 in 2023. If you are relying on outdated finance software and spreadsheets, you don't have the visibility you need. That's why you need to upgrade to NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud financial system to power your growth, visibility and control of your financials, inventory, HR, planning, budgeting, and more. With NetSuite, you can automate your processes and close your books in no time while staying well ahead of your competition. That's why over 32,000 businesses already use NetSuite. For the new year, NetSuite has a new financing program for those ready to upgrade it. NetSuite.com slash Rich Radio. Head to NetSuite.com slash Rich Radio for this special one of a kind financing offer on the number one financial system for growing businesses.

NetSuite.com slash Rich Radio. All right. And it's another one in the books. What a week this has been, huh? Just waiting for news and I'm just so thrilled that we got great news to start the show and talk about throughout. Yeah, it's been awesome, man. Definitely like there was a heaviness this whole week, man. There's no question. We don't have the day and it's very palpable and you can feel it, you know.

They wanted to get him breathing on his own and, you know, obviously I think something clearly they mentioned his lungs. Yeah, so something's going on there. Yeah, I mean, when that happens. That's serious business and there can be setbacks, which is, but the fact that they held a press conference I think is great. I think it's yet another great sign.

Yeah, I mean, you still have to be cautious obviously, but, you know, things are looking great. You can listen to the NFL and the NFL app on the Odyssey app on Westwood1Sports.com via Westwood One Station streams or by asking Alexa to open Westwood One Sports sponsored by AutoZone. The Associated Press is currently reporting that the Bills-Bengals game will not be resumed. I don't know when this is going to become official.

You heard Albert say that we're probably going to hear that. I understand that they want to today, you know, and I understand that they'd want to maybe see if the Chiefs beat the Raiders. That makes things a little simpler for their decision on what to do with seeding these teams in the AFC because that would have, even if the Bengals had beaten the Bills on Monday night, that would have eliminated the Bengals from the one seed, which is another reason why, you know, it was odd for people to see that the league had chosen Chiefs-Raiders to be the first one out the gate on week 18 because had the Bengals beaten the Bills, the Chiefs winning that game would have wrapped up the one seed.

There wouldn't have been any drama and you serve as a Patriot fan, Bills would have had the proverbial not much to play for anything and the Patriots might have they could have sat guys, you know, right, might have been seeing a lot of second stringers. I don't know. Who knows now? I don't know and I just saw some video, my network just ran, of T Higgins praying on the practice field. He had just heard the good news about DeMar Hamlin.

About DeMar Hamlin. That's great. I saw that today. Tomorrow, Chris Fowler, Chris Fowler Friday.

Hey. On the Rich Eisen Show. He'll be here in studio because he's in LA to call the national championship game my team is not involved in. All right.

We'll be back to wrap this show up on Roku in a moment. For over 40 years, Jim Ross has been the voice of wrestling. Nobody has stories like Jim Ross, and he shares his tales with co-host Conrad Thompson on Grilling JR. This McMahon was the top heel in the Attitude Era. It was a fresh character. It was new. It was material that we had not seen or heard to that date, and we could have created a bigger or better heel. Now we wanted to make more heels and we tried to make more heels and we did, but nothing compared to Vince. The Grilling JR podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.