REShow: Mike Florio - Hour 2

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Yes indeed it is. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We just hung out with Kyle Brandt, the actor Steve Howie in True Lies on CBS. Many folks will definitely know him from his years on Shameless as the guy who played Kevin Ball. He will be here in studio in hour number three.

We're about to redo our brackets for the final 16 teams remaining to try and cut down the nets in Houston in a couple of Mondays from now. We're going to do that shortly here on the Rich Eisen Show. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the program. And I love our radio show open hearing based on the story that you put in your news segment because Susie, my betrothed, because I won't say the word my wife because you do that. Anyway, she texted us the story about Jimmy Garoppolo being offered free happiness by a certain ranch in Las Vegas for life. Then it led to our radio show open to contain the character Lily Von Stubb from Blazing Saddles. That might be one of Susie's favorite achievements she's ever had on this program. And as you know, she's a frequent guest host of this show. And a clucking chicken.

Clucking chicken. There you go. That's one of the top stories in Las Vegas. Happy for Jimmy. CJ Stroud's pro days going down. All of Carolina is there. I mean, literally all of Carolina is there. I mean, is Coach K there?

I don't know. Will he be there? Anybody from Carolina is there today. And there's lots to talk about on that front. Joining us here to kick off our number two is the creator of Pro Football Talk and the host of PFT Live every day. And he's got his new novel coming out shortly.

He'll talk about that. Our friend Mike Florio is back here in the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, Mike? Rich, doing great, buddy. How are you?

I'm good. What's going on in your world? How often is your phone lighten up ringing these days? Oh, you know, most of it's by text message. I think we've evolved to a point in society where we don't like to talk to each other. We prefer to just text. It's so much more efficient and economical and you can respond whenever you feel like it. You can say, lose my number, nice try. You can do all sorts of things when you opt to text people.

So the texts pour in all day long and the emails pour in all day long and you just try to keep up with everything because you don't want to miss something good that can be possibly finessed into a story that people would care about. Got it, got it. So it was one week ago today, Mike Florio, that Lamar Jackson was officially available to be contacted by teams in the NFL willing to sign him to an offer sheet that they hope the Ravens would refuse to match. Where do things stand right now, a week into the Lamar-a-palooza? Well, one of the things that I became aware of over the weekend and we spent some time trying to get it in a posture where it would be appropriate and accurate to report it, the idea that there is someone out there who is not a certified NFLPA agent who is contacting multiple teams on behalf of Lamar to try to get something going. And we reported that yesterday and we added that this person is claiming that Lamar doesn't want a fully guaranteed contract despite the fact that he has consistently asked the Ravens for one and that he's ready to move on from the Ravens. And that one specific aspect caused a lot of Ravens fans to lose their minds. And it's like, folks, if someone's calling other teams on Lamar Jackson's behalf, what do you think the person is saying?

Do you think they're saying, hey, will you do me a favor? You don't know me and I don't know you. We haven't worked together before.

We'll never work together again. But would you give me an offer sheet that Lamar could sign to the Ravens' magic because he really wants to stay in Baltimore. So the ship is trying to get out of the harbor as it relates to Lamar Jackson looking for something else, but he's yet to find any takers. I've yet to hear of any team that is seriously considering it. Maybe after the draft somebody would, but between now and day one of the 2023 draft, I think it's highly unlikely that anyone pursues him to sign to do an offer sheet, in large part, Rich, because I believe that teams believe the Ravens are likely to match pretty much any offer that Lamar Jackson would get. And so how does it work once the draft occurs? Let's say this does go through the draft. Let's say we hear who this year's Brock Purdy is.

The confetti comes down in Kansas City and it's all over. What happens then? Well, the idea that he's restricted by the non-exclusive franchise tag, which means that any team that would sign to do an offer sheet that isn't matched would have to give up their next two first round picks. That's this year's and next year's for now, pre-2023 draft. And it's your original pick or higher if you've moved up. The Panthers don't have their original pick, but they're higher, so it would be the first overall pick if they were to do it. They aren't likely to do it.

I'm just using them as an example. After the draft, then any team that has their 2024 and 2025 first round pick can negotiate with Lamar Jackson, sign to do an offer sheet, and we see whether or not the Ravens match. And that, to me, would be the Bill Belichick move. You don't do it now when you hold the 14th overall pick. If you're thinking about upgrading from Mac Jones to Lamar Jackson, and I think most reasonable people would say, yeah, Lamar Jackson is better than Mac Jones, you wait until after the draft, you make a move then, and if the Ravens don't match, then what you get is a much lower first round pick in 24, presuming that the Patriots are better with Lamar Jackson and maybe a low pick in 2025. So after the draft, I think that's when maybe a small universe of interested teams, Lamar to the Colts, for example, they're sitting at number four. They think they're going to get a quarterback. Somebody trades up to the Cardinals at three, and it goes quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, and they don't like the fourth guy left, and they don't come out of it with a quarterback, then maybe we see Jim Erce try to take the Mayflower back to Baltimore and bring Lamar Jackson back to Indianapolis. So I think after the draft, it makes a lot more sense. But even then, even then, there's a belief that the Ravens are ready to match. And one of the reasons they did this non-exclusive franchise tag is to basically hope and pray that someone would get him signed to an offer sheet because they can't get him signed to a long-term contract. So thank you for doing our negotiation.

We match your offer. And if a team does that, they get nothing. They get nothing. They get no compensation. They get no pick.

They don't get anything. They just put in the time and the effort to get them to sign an offer sheet, the Ravens match it, and then that's it. That team goes forward, potentially with a mess if they have a starter that's been undermined by the open pursuit of Lamar Jackson. Well, I mean, that would be amazing if the Colts decide to make the Lamar Jackson move with ten minutes on the clock and demand the Ravens give them an answer if they match before the time's up.

That would be wild. I don't know if the Ravens would be so willing to do something like that. But I'm just wondering if there is a team that says or Lamar's like waits till May to make this decision and somebody signs him to an offer sheet in May. Right. Or somebody goes through OTAs and they don't like their quarterback situation and they wait till then to do it.

And a team like the 49ers would then have the two first round selections that would be required to talk to Lamar. I'm just wondering when is the end game? Just for everyone to understand, it would be June? Is that when it is? Or mid-July when they have to, he either signs it or doesn't? What is the end game here so everybody can put this in their mind's eye here in the middle of March?

Well, Rich, first of all, you raise a great point that I hadn't considered. What if the team signs into an offer sheet within five days of the draft? How does that work?

And I'm going to try to find an answer to that because I guess it's possible that someone could do that. Which first round pick do you get then? Do you have to match before you short-circuit the five-day period by signing into an offer sheet right before you're on the clock?

So I want to look into that because I think that's a fascinating wrinkle I hadn't previously considered. Now, what happens after the draft, if no one signs into an offer sheet, the Ravens have until July 17. It's usually the 15th this year, the 15th is a Saturday. So it's July 17, 4 p.m. Eastern. To sign him to a multi-year deal. After that, the Ravens can't sign into a multi-year contract. Now, I believe after that, other teams could still sign into an offer sheet and the Ravens could match it. But after July 17, the Ravens cannot sign him to a multi-year deal. And if we get to that, let's say he doesn't hire an agent, he can't get an offer sheet, he and the Ravens can't get a long-term deal done. They've been trying for over two years and they haven't.

We get to July 17. The battle lines then become Lamar has a $32.4 million franchise tender if he accepts that he's under contract for one year. Well, is he going to play for $32.4 million?

I wouldn't advise him to do that. I would advise him to say, I want more than $32.4 million. And if I'm the Ravens, what I'm considering is, and we hear about per-game roster bonuses, you get extra money for every game that you actually play. I would consider offering him a very significant per-game roster bonus as an incentive to get him to play. So we get into another situation where he's got a knee injury, he's not 100%, and maybe he's being careful about his future earnings. Well, if you offer him something ridiculous like a million a game, and he plays all 17 games, he pushes his pay for the year to 49.4, that may be the way to make him happy about his circumstance. My big concern is he signs a contract or accepts a franchise tender and isn't happy, and then you have a guy who may not go above and beyond and continue to be upset about not getting that big money contract that he earned years ago and is yet to cash in on. So before we move on, just to circle back to your Pro Football Talk report about somebody who's not league or union certified, pardon me, knocking on doors of NFL teams to say, hey, Lamar's interested if you are, because he wants to leave the Ravens, and you don't have to guarantee all dollars and cents. Who's most upset by that?

Or nobody? I think that a lot of people should be upset by it. It's a CBA violation if the teams actually engage in discussions with that person. Primarily, if the league does nothing about it, the agents who pay the money to the union for their annual fees, they have to go out and buy malpractice insurance every year, they have to go to a meeting every year, they're subject to discipline and regulation and oversight by the union. If I'm an agent that checks all the boxes to properly participate in this business, and the union and the league are doing nothing to eradicate people who aren't officially certified representing players and reach a lot of the guys who are self-represented and we make a big deal and we cheer them on, hey, that's great, go do it yourself.

Most of those guys have somebody who isn't certified who's helping them. So the proper way to say it is not that they're represented by themselves, they're represented by someone who isn't certified by the NFLPA. So if this is happening and it's not being squashed by the league and or the union, the agent should be upset because they're the ones who are doing everything to be the ones in position to properly and legally negotiate these deals. Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk, PFT, live on Peacock, joining me here on The Rich Eisen Show and also coming up next month, a new novel by this gentleman called Father of Mine.

You can order it right now where all books can be ordered right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Interesting post today you had about the Jets should just tell the Packers, hey, you're on the hook for 60 million with Rogers. That's what I've been saying for the last week plus is just we know you're going to have to trade them.

Just like you tell us when 1201 is in your mind and so we can at least prepare. We all know this is going to have to happen. So my question for you is, Mike, is could this be over money? Because Rogers said to McAfee that he wants to have something done right by him, by the Packers. And that was the end of his answer talking about how he's debatably the best player in the history of the franchise and they should do right by him towards the end of his stay there.

That rings a bell to me. I'm just wondering. The compensation is not the issue between the teams. It's the compensation between Rogers and the Packers.

Is that possible at all? I have been poking around this issue from every possible angle and I have yet to hear that there's an issue with Aaron Rodgers' contract. And from the Packers' perspective, they actually have a higher cap number for Rogers.

If they trade him before June 1, then if he's on the roster. And that's one of their arguments for getting more than maybe what they should. Hey Jets, by doing this deal before June 1, we take on a higher cap charge for Aaron Rodgers this year as we clear the dead money off the books. So I think this is all about what the Packers want from the Jets to get this deal done. They're digging in their heels as Rodgers told McAfee last week.

And I think that's what it all comes down to and that's what the Jets should do. It's very simple. Because we have to agree on when the deadline is.

You hit the nail on the head. 12-0-1. When is 12-0-1? Both sides have to agree because nobody moves toward their bottom line until they believe the real deadline is coming. I think the Jets say, hey Packers, if you want to get this done before the draft, here's our offer with 20-23 draft pick. One or more picks.

Whatever it is, here's our offer. And if you don't want that, then after the draft, here's our offer based on 20-24 pick and also throw in something in 20-25 if he plays for us in 20-24. Our deadline is starting training camp. And then I think separately the Jets need to say to Rodgers, you need to tell the Packers, if this isn't done by training camp, you're showing up just like Favre did in 2008. That puts the pressure on the Packers from multiple possible directions. And at some point, at some point before week one when his $58.3 million option bonus converts to salary and it's all guaranteed, they're paying him that money if they don't get rid of him. At some point before week one, the Packers are going to decide, we have to move on. We have to take what we can and get past this financial obligation. Right. Right. And so can it be as simple as if this is what it is, can it be as simple as what's the difference between costing the Packers money by getting them off the books pre-June 1 and after June 1 and the Jets pick up that difference?

Rich, it's as easy as this. Do the trade after June 1. Process it after June 1. This gives Rodgers cover for not participating in the offseason program. Because if he would be traded today and we have the press conference early next week and all the people are in the room and they're asking all the questions, somebody's going to say, are you going to be at the offseason program?

Because you've got a history of not showing up. If you don't do the deal until after the offseason program ends, that's even better. And he could gather his guys together in California, work with the new receivers. He knows the offense like the back of his hand. It's Nathaniel Hackett installing the Packers offense.

They don't need him. And the Packers actually get a much better cap situation after June 1 if they do the trade then. So there are reasons for the Jets to dig in and be willing to have this happen as late as the start of training camp. I said, why not just blow the dust off the old Brett Favre trade terms? It's a fourth up to a first depending upon how many snaps Rodgers takes and how well they do. I think the first round pick would have been unlocked if Favre took 80% of the snaps and they made it to the Super Bowl. Whatever it is.

If you want to add a sweetener in there or something, make it a little bit different. Like I said earlier, a 2025 draft pick could be played the second year. But after we get through the 23 draft, it's a lot easier to condition the pick on what Rodgers and the Jets actually do in 2024. And if that's the case, there's an incentive for the Packers to get it done. Because the sooner Rodgers is there, the better they do, the higher the pick.

That's right. And then the Jets can use their draft capital this year. And then the picks that they eventually send for Rodgers, if they're high draft choices, they won't be that high up. Because Rodgers will get them so deep into the season it will damn near be a second round pick.

And you give Zach Wilson all the reps that he desperately needs during the spring. That's it. So what's the big deal? You know, it's amazing to me, man. This league, it's got to strike midnight for people to work. I was upset because two years ago Rodgers tried to get him fired.

I think it's that simple. Remember that report from Charles Robinson? Rodgers wanted Gudekunz fired. Rodgers never, and we know how Rodgers reacts to anything that he believes is even remotely fake news about him.

He never said boo about that being false. Gudekunz took the high road, but this is a way for them to push back a little bit. And Rich, they want the first round pick of the New York Jets. They want 13 overall for Rodgers. And when you consider how many quarterbacks are going to come off the board, you know, that's a valuable pick. The quarterback position is under control. That's a top ten pick if you don't need a quarterback. So the Jets don't want to give that up, and I don't think they should have to.

I agree with you. Last one for you, Mike Florio, before I send you on your day. The NFL annual meeting, the owner's meeting, right around the corner. And I imagine taking center stage will be the state of Dan Snyder's Washington commander's office. What do you have for me on that front to front load everybody on that conversation? I have so many Washington commanders fans come up to me, whether I'm out and about or at the combine, tell me, please, is he selling the team? Like, every single fan wants to know that.

What can you tell me on that front? What I tripped over last week that was news to me, and I did the research to make sure it wasn't already out there and I'd missed it. The idea that Dan and Tonya Snyder cleared everything they have out of the commander's facility in December, late December, gone.

That had never been reported. To me, that is the most tangible piece of evidence that they are done with. It's one thing to have an office and not show up. It's another thing to take all your stuff, pack up and leave.

You're living in London now. So he's checked out. And I'm told within the building, we wrote this last week, within the building, the word that's being passed around is imminent. And it will not surprise me if we ultimately learn that they lined everything up quietly behind the scenes, get through this week, get to Arizona, get the buyer approved. Everybody's operating under an NDA that they're all respecting. And then maybe there's a chance next week we find out, in one fell swoop, Snyder's out and, in certain name of new owner, is in.

That would be euphoria for commander's fans. It's exactly what the NFL needs to restore to credibility. One of its flagship franchises used to be flagship franchises. And I'm still not ready to rule out that's going to happen because I think it just makes too much sense for the league to try to set it all up and get it done and get all the signatures and finalize it. Because I think the last thing they need is for a preliminary announcement to be made that somebody's buying the team. And then you have five, six, seven, eight weeks where Dan Snyder can do something to undermine that because there's still that lingering sense he's not going to go through with it. I'd want to get everything done, everything buttoned up, and then you say to the world, Snyder's out, new buyer's in. Or wouldn't it be great if the new buyer shows up at the owner's meeting next week, pronounces the commissioner's name properly, and then holds up a new offer sheet for Lamar Jackson? Wouldn't that be amazing? I mean, would that break the internet?

What do you think? Well, that really would. And I thought that maybe Snyder would try to do it, but when the report came out this week from Ben Stan to give the athletic that the contract signed last week by the commanders delayed assigning bonuses until May, I think the ship had failed. It was too late to make a run at Lamar. But yes, that would be a great one. Although, you could tell the commander's fans that the start, and I don't want to insult some backup quarterback out there, so you could say Bobby Boucher is going to be the starting quarterback of the Washington commanders, and they'll still be euphoric. You don't need to go after Lamar Jackson. You can do that next year.

This year is all afterglow of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. Mike, you're, as always, stellar, appreciated, and how can people pre-order your novel right now? How can they do that? Anywhere that e-books are available. It is available for the low, low cost of $4.99.

I keep researching what's out there for cheaper than $4.99. Not much. And Rich, I texted you last night. I'm in this period right now of extreme angst, because when you take a manuscript and it gets converted into what the book is actually going to look like, and you start reading it again, I am ping-ponging back and forth between this isn't bad to this is just complete and total poop. I edited myself there. So I'm making a bunch of changes to this thing, and it's like, you know, at least I'm making the changes, because this is your last chance to put it into some form that people won't hate. So that's the goal. Write something that people won't hate.

I think you're probably being too hard on yourself, but again, we'll talk more about it as the publishing date hits, and congrats on that, and I always appreciate the time. Mike, thank you. Thanks, Rich.

Good talking to you, buddy. You guys, Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk, at Pro Football Talk, must follow. Must follow. Dan Snyder, next week, rubber meat in the road. What do you think? What do you think next week? And by the way, his reporting on Lamar Jackson, that was just, as I said, I was not surprised at all to hear somebody's knocking on doors, but to have a knock on doors and say he's willing to leave the Ravens and he doesn't want everything guaranteed so everything that he's told the Ravens, you don't have to, you don't, you don't have to do.

They do, but you don't have to do. And he's right. If you're a certified agent, you hear that, you're like, what the hell is happening? The hell going on? The hell going on? All right, let's take a break. When we come back, I have my redone brackets right here. All the red ink, like it never existed. Poof, like Kaiser.

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There's a risk of unintentional injection into a blood vessel, which can cause vision abnormalities, blindness, stroke, temporary scabs, or scarring. Talk to a licensed specialist to find out if it's right for you. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, sitting here at the Rich Eisen Show desk that is furnished by Grainger. With supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger is the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by right here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network part of the stream here live on the Roku channel. Great chat with Mike Florio right there. Good chat with him.

Let me just say this about the Rogers Jets thing. Get this off my chest. You know what?

I need a little bit more runway than the ones that I'm going to have right now. I've just decided. I'm going to do this top of the next hour. Oh, okay. Gotta get some other thing off my chest. Alright.

About what's going on with the Jets and the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. Teeth? That's teeth? Oh yeah.

It's called a teeth. Laramie Tunsell is having a press conference right now for the Houston Texans as he's the highest paid tackle in professional football. And we were talking during the commercial break, as you said, it's quite the comeback. Quite the comeback. I mean, we called Dion the comeback player of the year, but Laramie Tunsell. I remember.

Somebody was out to get him. What was that draft night? Was that 2015? Yeah, it was 2015.

In Chicago, Illinois? And it was a wild night because somebody did we find out who did him dirty like that? Did we find out it was like a stepfather? It was a family member.

It was a family member. Where a video comes out on draft night of him. 2016. Like a Pineapple Express movie moment.

Okay. In addition to, by the way, don't forget that night, there were also Instagram posts showing off conversations between him and members of the Ole Miss football staff asking for rent money and utility money. Was it Hugh Freeze?

I believe so. It was a total wild night to the point where, I'll say this story here, as you know, when I'm hosting an NFL draft, I stay off of Twitter. In the Twitter world, I guess since 2008, is that when I first joined Twitter? I don't know what my Twitter anniversary is. Hugh Freeze was the Ole Miss coach.

Oh my gosh. I stay off of Twitter because Twitter is, you know, is now faster letting you know who's about to be drafted than the commissioner. Because it's, what we do in a draft, it's a show.

It's a television show. And so we need, you know, if we're on the air and ESPN's at break, the commissioner's not announcing a pick. If ESPN's on the air and NFL network's on a break, the commissioner's not announcing a pick. If the commissioner and the NFL have a presentation on the stage that they want to put in front of the viewing audience, they will not make a pick.

And picks sometimes rack up. Sometimes it's, someone's on a clock, a pick's already in and that pick hasn't been announced, but Twitter has announced it to the world. I stay off of Twitter. It's the only time, that night, Laramie Tunsell having the gas mask on, was the only time I hopped on Twitter.

Charlie Hook, the king of spring, who runs, you know, is our EP of production now at the NFL network, sitting in the truck. He's, you know, in my ear, my earpiece, helping produce the draft. He's like, you got to see this, go to Twitter. And I'm like, dude, we have this discussion.

I am not going on Twitter. I need to be in the dark. He goes, not about this. You have to see it. And I'm like, really? He goes, trust me.

I go online. I see what I need to see. And I get back in his ear. I'm like, yeah, you're right. I needed to see that.

Whole world blows up. Today, he's at a press conference talking as the highest paid tackle in the NFL. Crazy. Unreal. Is that the greatest comeback, draft comeback to present day moment? Unreal. If you had told me that night when the whole conversation is going on, I would have thought he'd be out of the league in a couple.

I mean, that poor kid. I think he went to a press conference right after he got drafted and he's now in front of a press conference. And that's when the Instagram stuff came out.

It hit. I remember he was supposed to be a top five, top eight pick. Right. He went to 13.

He lasted until to Miami. Yeah. And I just remember if you had told me that night, oh, by the way, in less than 10 years, less than eight years, he is going to be the highest paid tackle in the NFL.

I'd be like, get out of here. Yeah. But he is good for him. Good for him. Good for the Texans. Good for the Texans.

They got something brewing down there. They do. But you didn't say cooking like Laramie Tunsil did today. I just said that. Well, he said it.

Well, he did say that's correct. You're fine. OK. Are you ready?

I'm ready. Because my bracket was such a nightmare. You had who winning? I had Houston. So I'm Houston. So you're still good. Who did you have winning the NCAA tournament?

We're going to find out shortly. No, but who did you have winning it prior to? Do you want me to give my pick now since it hasn't changed?

Well, mine hasn't changed either. That's kind of the point. I thought we'd wait until they came up to say who. Who did you have winning?

UCLA. OK, very good. So why are we doing that?

No, no, it's OK. Because I had Alabama. But I'm redoing everything else. We're redoing everything else. Well, some of us can't ride around in a, you know, in a yacht where your first shot at it worked. Three of them. OK.

Damn. All right, then, Rich, this is for you and me. This segment is for you and for me.

And the rest of America, I think. Good for you, TJ. All right. It's time for tourney predictions presented by Dave and Busters here on The Rich Eisen Show. And it's time now for us to get rid of all the red ink on our brackets, except TJ, because this bracket is so pristine.

I only had six out of 16. OK, so it's now time for us to take from here, from this point forward, everything else that's just happened. Doesn't matter. We're predicting from here to the very end. The Rich Eisen Show tourney predictions presented by Dave and Busters.

Music, please. You're first up, Chris Brockman. I need to know who's winning in the Sweet 16 to make the Elite Eight. Here we go. Who from the Elite Eight makes the final four and who cuts down the nets? You have the floor first.

All right. In the south, Alabama, San Diego State. I like the I'm going to roll tide, taking the number one seed. Same thing with Creighton and Princeton. Look, it's been a great run for the Princeton Tigers.

All due respect to Kyle Brandt. I got Creighton moving on. Let's go to the east. I like Tennessee to take out FAU and I like Kansas State. They're underdogs to Michigan State. You know, that's surprising to me, even though the three said I like K State to move on in the Midwest. Going with the top two seeds. Houston, they're my champ.

I like them to move on. I like Texas to take out Xavier. And then I like Arkansas to upset Yukon.

I'm going with EMOS. He's going to rip his shirt off again. And then I like UCLA to take out the Zags. And then moving on to the final four. I'm going to take the top two seeds. Alabama, Houston.

I had them originally, the only two I had left. And then I'm going to go with Tennessee and UCLA. And then I'm going number one v. number one with Houston cutting down the nets.

All right. And as we all know, the final four occurs in the city of Houston. Jim Nantz final March Madness that he's calling.

He went to Houston. I think it all works out nicely. That Houston wins. The basketball gods and television gods get together and make it happen. All right. T.J. Jefferson, I need to get your sweet 16 prediction.

Yes, indeed. All the way through the Elite Eight Final Four and national champion. The champions. OK, we're starting in the south. I got Alabama over San Diego State. I have Creighton. Shout out to Benoit Benjamin, Kyle Korver and Dougie McDermott. I got them taking out Princeton.

OK, we're going to move down to the east. Got Tennessee over FAU. I'm going with those Spartans. I think I'm going to go with the Spartans are going to ride this wave. You know, sometimes you can turn tragedy into triumph.

I think maybe that's what is going on here. Over in the Midwest, I have what do I have here? I have Houston taking out Miami. I have Xavier beating Texas. OK. And then down in the west, I have our Kansas over Yukon. And I've got UCLA.

Of course, you can zag out. And then your final four final four, we got Alabama against Michigan State. I got Alabama taking out the Spartans. We got Houston against UCLA. I've got the Bruins taking out Houston and then my champion, you know, me and a clap. I got the UCLA Bruins. Who do you have UCLA beating in the national?

I'm sorry. I have UCLA beating Alabama, Alabama. OK, there you go. So you got Izzo making the final four.

That would be something else. OK, here are my attorney predictions at present. By the way, I had I had Marquette going to the final four. So there's that I I'm going to take Bama and Princeton as the regional final in the south. I'm going to have Princeton knocking off, as you pointed out, Kyle Korver and Benoit Benjamin's alma mater.

I like hearing those names. I'm going to have Tennessee advancing to take on Kansas State. As you know, I'm I'm rooting for Michigan State. But I, I saw Marquis Noel play some basketball and the rest of that Kansas State team has a serious story themselves. Obviously not born out of tragedy, just born out of a new coach and getting a whole bunch of kids to join the program. That Noel is a fifth year senior leading at five foot seven.

I mean, he is incredible. I've got Houston and Texas advancing from the Sweet 16 to the elite eight in the Midwest. And I am going to say Eric Musselman rips his shirt off one more time.

And he gets a call from Thunder down under there in Vegas because that's where they are in Vegas. And I have UCLA advancing over Gonzaga. That's going to be a heck of a Sweet 16 game. UCLA and Gonzaga.

Right. So my final four is Bama, Houston. I'm taking Kansas State to make the final four and I'm taking UCLA to make the final four. And then I'm going to have Alabama upsetting Houston in front of the home crowd and Nance in his final game, calling the you know, getting ready for one shining moment. I'm going to have Houston getting upset, even though I think Alabama is the better team.

I have Alabama cutting down the nets. We all have something different. I like that. And we do have something different. But you and I had to have something different. TJ Jefferson mostly did not to salute, sir, that you had UCLA prior to the tournament. I did.

And you're just you're sticking with what you had. I'm riding the wheel. That is impressive. The tourney predictions presented by Dave and Busters. That was tourney predictions presented by Dave and Busters. Watch basketball like a pro at D&B with 40 foot watch screens, cocktails, beer and delicious food. It's the ultimate watch experience. Right here on the Rich Eisen Show. I love David Busters.

So do the kids. I can remember there's a point in my life for that that Thursday and Friday of the tournament, there was nothing that meant more than me and my friends and my late teens, early 20s. I would request from work a month off early just to make sure I didn't have to work those two days. So me and my boys would go sit and watch these games for hours. Oh, sure. Do you know how it went over my first couple of years at ESPN that I asked off for March Madness? I was asking off from Foot Locker.

You're asking off from ESPN. I had the temerity to attempt it. And what happened? They're like, sit down, son, you're doing Sports Center. Like, that's your dream.

What's your problem? Yeah. And I just like, OK, I wanted to just like hang with my buddies like the old times.

One year I took it off way in advance at NFL Network, and then it worked out that Syracuse is playing the first first round in Sacramento. Yeah. So I drove up. It's awesome. So fun.

Oh, going to see. Yeah. When they were like, oh, they just happened to be in Sacramento.

So I was like, oh, I'm already off. I might as well just drive up and go watch them. Did they win? They did. They won both games. Of course they did. That was back when you when you like Jim Bayhayat.

That was 2013. When you weren't cursing him out on the Rich Eisen show. When you weren't the mush.

Hey, man, I sometimes it's great when your team is in your area, went down to Anaheim. Yeah. Watched Michigan get curb stomped. By Texas Tech staring at Roger Sherman's ass crap the entire time.

That's right. And then you guys made up. Of the ringer. And then he came in and he had a good time. The famed guy from the ringer. I just wanted him to wear a belter.

Didn't you post the picture of it? Well, I mean, I just he was just sitting right there and trust me, I didn't miss anything. That was Jim. That was, I believe, Beeline's last game as Michigan head coach. Went to the Cavs. That was one and done. Oh, my gosh.

That's what happened to the whole year. You know, I still will go to my you know, I will go to my sports grave knowing knowing that the Cavs owner. What's his name again? Dan Gilbert.

Yeah. Gilbert hired the Michigan coach on behalf of Michigan State. Out of spite.

Out of spite. Let's get him out of the Big Ten because Michigan keeps making too many final fours with him there. Let's get him out. It's a win win. I bring in a coach for my Cavs and I make sure Izzo doesn't have to deal with Beeline.

Does Gilbert have a take your common sense and stick that where it's where, by the way, Gilbert versus versus Dolan in the first round of the NBA playoffs. How about that? That's common. That's coming up. That's a heck of a four or five series. Going to be on Cavs versus Knicks.

NBA playoffs is going to be insane. It's common. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial here on the Rich Eisen Show. The actor Steve Howie making his way to our studio. We'll talk true lies. Oh, he's already here.

Fantastic. He'll be here in hour number three. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial. We'll talk true lies.

We'll talk shameless and we'll talk about playing for Ashton Kutcher. Believe it or not, it's coming up. The ones you care about by new and improved of men plus care antiperspirant.

Wherever personal care products are sold. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, eight four four two oh four rich number to dial. Steve Howie just popped out from our green room.

It's a rarity. Somebody pops up for the green room pre show check in. You know, but then like he's going to come out in the third hour. And I felt like, you know, we just just have him. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Why keep him waiting? That's what I feel like.

I mean, bring him back. Now it's in my head. It's like it's some extra time with Steve. It's like when somebody hangs up and you don't get to say goodbye, Rich. It's like that. Yeah.

Yeah. I should just get out of my own head about saying goodbye and saying hello. You just live with it.

Just roll with it. That would give me 10 extra minutes to ask about shameless. Because, you know, as you guys, these guys know, I love that show.

It's good. Well, you know, one thing that you're definitely not shameless about is talking about Ashton Kutcher. You really will not do it. I'm not. Then I would be shameless. You're shameless if you talk about it. OK. You're not shameless. You find it shameful every time I bring it up. And I bring it up nonstop because you you don't it's kind of like Fight Club. Like you don't you don't talk about Ashton.

Now you say that now. But then guys having the big times where he called me like a name dropper before. And I was like, you know, I've never, ever called you a name dropper. You need to be more of a name dropper.

You need to be. You know, everyone and everyone knows you. The number of times people come up to me and say, hey, you know, I know T.J. Jefferson. I'm like, get out of here.

You do because he never mentions you. I used to be in these streets. You know, I used to. I was in these streets.

So that's why you talk about the reason. And why am I bringing it up is because Steve Howie, our third hour guest in the 2004 NBA All-Star Celebrity Weekend, played for Ashton. Did were you there when he coached? You must have been. No, I think that was in 2004 by the color scheme. I think that was in Denver, maybe.

It looks like Denver colors. I didn't go to that. You got that photo. I don't know if Mr. Hoskins was preparing to put it up at the end of our two. He's got it ready for our interview with Steve. I mean, we front loaded the whole damn thing.

He's already been out here and we're going to. Look at that. 2004 is here.

You're in Los Angeles? Yeah. Oh, that's right. Oh, yeah. Oh, I know. I was at this game. Of course you were. Keep that up.

Keep that up. Richard Jefferson and Lisa Leslie. Is that is that McGrath? Is that who that is? We've got Nick Cannon. We've got Frankie Muniz. Is that Kevin Hart next to Frankie Muniz? That's Kevin Hart.

Oh, my gosh. Frankie Muniz is the same height. Sean Paul just gave me the light. Michael Rappaport. Michael Rappaport. Richard Jefferson in the back.

There's Steve. You know, what's with the Paperboy hat? What was with that hat?

I like that hat. That was, you know, you know, I don't know. That was his that was his Steve's at that time.

You know, what was his coaching style? Were you were you an assistant? Were you right behind the bench? You say this was 04? 04 All-Star game was here. And that was here? OK. That was the game that I sat next to Jay-Z.

The picture that you we popped up before. That was the All-Star game. This was the celebrity game. That's what I'm asking.

Where were you for the celebrity game? I know you and Jay-Z and we're tight. I wouldn't say we're tight. Now he's dropping. It's your boy. Now he's dropping. I'm not even paying attention to you guys. C.J.

Stroud is throwing right now. Oh, OK. Is that what it is? Oh, yeah.

There are eight million people at this pro day. Oh, that's great. We can't talk about this, but we all can't. I thought you were saying that.

I thought you said that you can't pay attention right now because Emma Radicanu is playing on the tennis channel. I thought that's where you're going. We don't have them. We don't have the mix.

I got the mix. It must be nice. There you go. C.J. Stroud is throwing.

It's like eight deep. Is this like the like the sporting event, like without the express written consent of the commissioner? You can't tell. There's Mike Vrabel. He's fading back. What a throw with no defense in front of him and somebody scripting it. That's John Beck scripting it. John, I believe John Beck is slated to be on this program in April.

All right. So John is now moving to Stroud's right. Stroud is taking a shotgun snap and and there he's moving to his right.

Good shuffle. And we don't see the throw. I mean, what's ESPN doing? I don't know this game. Oh, man, we got a wild, wild camera there on somebody else's throwing right now. Who cares?

I know how the radio audience feels. Oh, that was somebody throwing it back to C.J. Stroud.

This is outstanding television. Carol's there. Oh, he's looking at C.J. Stroud. He's not dropping a five and he flips it out to his right.

And we don't see the completion of a pass, but it looked really good. And this is what a pro day is all about. You know what these guys are talking about right now? Where they're eating dinner tonight?

Exactly. Where are we going? How are we getting to the airport? Are we all set?

What's tomorrow? And then it's like, oh, that's a nice throw by Stroud. Oh, it's a drop. That's a drop. The pass.

I need a name and I need a total accounting. Just dropped. I'm telling you. And then we're going to read about how terrific he looked today and what a good kid he is because he looks terrific and he's a good kid. And he's going number one.

And he's not going number one tomorrow when Bryce Young has this treatment. It's going to be live. It's going to be local. It's going to be late breaking. Mike Del Tufa is going to give us the weather report. I will give you the traffic.

It's going to be great. Is it going to be outside? No. These are all indoors now. I don't know.

It didn't rain on the pro day for USC. Yes. I mean, right.

It's cold weather right here. So here's Stroud fading back. Oh, he moves to his left. Going to his left. And he throws to his left.

And it's a beautiful catch that might have been out of bounds. I can't tell. You know, it's going to be 85 tomorrow in Tuscaloosa. Oh, great. Oh, now Sports Center just cut off it. Alright, back to NFL Network, Mike. No, it's not on NFL Network. It's on NFL Plus.

That's on NFL Plus. Don't you dare say anything bad about NFL Plus. It's going to be a problem. I didn't say a word.

It's going to be a problem. Everyone should get NFL Plus. Did you hear me say a word?

If I'm not mistaken, you can get NFL Plus through Roku. I love it even more. Alright, so everybody should understand. Cut his mic off before he says something stupid.

I never said anything. Alright, coming up in hour number three, Steve Howie will be here and T.J. drops more names. Shamelessly. Right here in the Rich Eisen Show. You know, this one time I was hanging out with Jack Nicholson. That's my guy. The 0-4 NBA All-Star Game. That's a good story.

I was at that NBA. Can't tell that on there. Is that true? What?

You were with Jack Nicholson? Yeah. You can't tell that on there.

That's also true. Okay. That is on the Rich Eisen Show Patreon. That's on Rich Eisen Show Plus?

That's on our band's page. Sounds like it should be minus. The 0-4 NBA All-Star Game was the one I had just moved here. NFL Network was four months old. Susie was getting us into all the NBA events through her association with the NBA and the Lakers and everything else. So you were the plus one. You were the original plus one. You were the original plus one. A million percent.

For all the NBA stuff, I'm still plus one. So don't you see Susie? She's the one who's like, I can get you Jerry West. Jerry West sits here in this chair when she sits in this chair.

Now when I'm sitting in this chair. Is that how she got into the air clear? Oh, that's Susie Eisen's house.

Correct. So I'm at the, you know, pre-game party. And somebody comes up to me and says, hey man, I watch you every day. And I'm like, really? Because the NFL networks are in like 11 million homes.

It's incredible. Like, tell me, how do you get NFL Network? A guy looks at me and says, what's NFL Network? I'm like, well then you don't watch me every day. He goes, you're not on ESPN anymore? Guy pauses and he goes, are you all right?

I'm like, I can fog up a mirror for you if you'd like. That's my old four NBA All-Star memory. No one in the wrestling business has experienced the trials and tribulations, along with redemptions and longevity, quite like Jeff Jarrett.

Come along for the ride on the My World with Jeff Jarrett podcast. They didn't really brand belts in the heyday of boxing. You know, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard. I mean, they had them, but along comes sports entertainment, professional wrestling, and now it is truly a part of pop culture. They've just branded what it looks like to be a champion. My World with Jeff Jarrett, wherever you listen.