REShow: DeShaun Foster - Hour 2

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Blasted. Blasted. With guest host Suzy Schuster.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. I can't believe the Lakers are in the Western Conference final. The yoke is for three. Got it at the horn. Right over Anthony Davis.

Maybe just one time you repeat. Maybe tip your hat to him. Earlier on the show, Yes Network Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay. ESPN NBA reporter Lisa Salters. Coming up, UCLA running backs coach Deshaun Foster.

Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. And now sitting in for Rich, it's Suzy Schuster. Yeah, we changed things around here on the Rich Eisen Show. Deshaun was supposed to be in at 10 20. He got here early. I said bring this man out because I love Deshaun Foster. I covered him at UCLA and got to go visit you.

Actually, I don't remember, but when you were with the Carolina Panthers, I think I was doing a real sports piece or something. Got to see you down there as well. And so happy to see you.

How's how's everything? I mean, again, people understand that like when I'm in the chair, I like to kind of go through the Rolodex and book the show out myself. But TJ Jefferson said, I have an idea for you.

Can Deshaun Foster come in? And I was over the moon because I like to see the kids that I cover in football go on to become some of the most prolific running backs coaches that there are. So first of all, say hi to your mom for me.

Because his mom was always a practice. I got to know her really well. I'm really happy to hear that she is doing really well. And how about you? How do you like it over at UCLA? I've been there for a couple years now and your running backs seem to be, I don't know, prolific.

Yeah, they're doing well. I've been coaching since 2012. I did one year at Texas Tech 2016 and been back at UCLA since, but my backs are doing well. We got four in the NFL right now and hopefully I can keep on. Why are you so good at this Deshaun? It's more of the kids, you know, they listen to the detail that they take, put into their game and just, I just try to give them little tips and they run with it.

There's got to be more than that though. So tell me about how you relate to them. What is it that you see in these kids and how do you draw on your own experience to get these kids to perform as well as they do? I mean, a lot of it is how I'd like to be with, how I wanted to be coached, I guess, you know, so I try to just lean on that a lot.

Kids usually listen to people that have either done it, you know, I have little experience in the running back field. So I'm just lucky that I have guys that listen and, you know, we've, I've had four different type of guys and they've all listened in different ways and they've all been successful. So I'm just trying to just, just stay there, just be a guy that, that can, they can lean on certain times, you know, I've sat in that chair, so I just. Do you ever flex and get out your phone and say, well, oh, this is just me running in the Super Bowl for one of the longest rushes in Super Bowl history. Oh, this, that's just me, right? Oh, that guy running, that's me. Do you ever do that? No, there's a couple of pictures of me in the building, so I might walk by and tell them that's me. Are there any pictures of me in the building? There's not, but we can fix that.

Can you fix that? We can change that. Come on. I mean, you and I were together, I mean, five days a week back in those days. That, that was, that was the Corey Pause, Brian Pulley Dixon, Fab Five, Freddie Mitchell. And you know, I used to take the guys for a ride home all the time after the Rose Bowl.

I had no idea that it was a violation. I'm like, oh, I'll give you a ride home. You don't want to take the bus?

Freddie would, I mean, Freddie would just hop in the front seat. I'm like, sure, I'll take you back to Westwood. No idea that was a violation. We ran loose and fast back then, right? We had fun. It was really fun. It was a good time. And so what, what's your, what's your best memory from UCLA and from then?

I mean, because let's face it, that was, you know, there, there were starts and stops then, but you were, you were fantastic. You were a beast for UCLA. I guess I would say the Rose Bowl, you know, you know, playing the Rose Bowl, being Pac-12 champs that year, playing in the Rose Bowl. We didn't actually get to victory, but just the experience of being able to say that I played in a Rose Bowl for UCLA. So what's it like being back there now as a coach? You know, walking under those same hallways, walking to that same practice field and going to the Rose Bowl. What's it like for you to, to now be in that seat developing this talent? It's, it's surreal, you know, just being back. The school's changed a lot. You know, we have our own, the Wasserman Building, our own football facility.

So it's just, it's just cool, you know, just to be there to see. I just like giving back to the school, basically. I want to give back to running backs, get back to the school, you know, make things right, go from there. We're doing that. My backs are playing well. I like working with Chip. You know, we have a good team. I'm excited about these backs out of this year. But it's just, it's, you know, I'm blessed. Right.

I just try to just take it in each day. Let's talk about the four backs that you have sent to the NFL. It's hard to pick out one who's your favorite or you think is the most talented because those are your kids. But who is your favorite and who's most talented? Oh, they'll kill me if I say that. It's just you and me.

There's no one watching. It's just us and the Roku channel. They all bring something different to the table. You know, my first back was Josh Kelly. He's with the Chargers. Josh is relentless. He was an ex walk on, you know, he earned a scholarship.

He just imposed his will on us and, you know, got the job and got the position and ran with it. So Josh was a different, different type of kid, just the way he played football. The next was Demetri Felton, a smaller back.

He's playing slot and running back for the Cleveland Browns. But he's another guy that, you know, just tough. And that's one thing that all four of them have had is that they're tough kids.

You know, they can be in certain situations and have high football intelligence, you know. But next one after that was Britton Brown. He's with the Raiders. He was a portal transfer from Duke.

So I got him for two years. And, you know, just the way he ran, he's from Atlanta, physical runner. I always said he was running like he was screaming.

That was Britton Brown. And then this year, Zach Charbonnet, he just got drafted to Seattle. And Zach's just a really talented kid. And Pete Carroll will develop him because he loves to work. That's what he respects so much. So what do you think Pete saw in him in particular?

Just the fact that he took a Bruin lets me know that it had to be something special. You know, it just wasn't, it just wasn't, just some, oh, let's get this guy. But I'm excited for Zach. You know, they're going to run the ball.

You know, they got to protect Gino. They're going to run the ball this year. They're going to use two backs and, you know, he's going to get in there and be successful.

So I'm excited to see what happens. And it looks like Josh might get some more opportunity this year with Austin Eckler, right? Yes.

Don't you think? He should. His role is increased each year, you know, so I'm excited for him.

This is what, four, year four or five right now. So I'm excited for Josh too. You stay in touch with any of the guys that you played with at UCLA? Yeah. I still talk to Freddie, Poli, Jermaine, Corey, just saw the normal, the Cade, you know, so all the guys we played, most of Marcus Anderson on defense, Ricky.

Freddie's staying out of trouble. Do I have to call him up and give him a piece of my mind? Yeah, maybe give him just a call, maybe. Yeah, I have a feeling.

Do you want to be a coach in the NFL? Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Eventually. It's just hard, like, giving my commitment to the guys that I've had, it's hard for me to break that promise and just take off on them, you know? So I got to wait till it's the right opportunity to really do that. Have there been feelers? Are you getting phone calls already?

Yeah, every year. Mm-hmm. Anybody that's been really tempting for you? There was a couple this year that were tempting. Mm-hmm.

Really tempting. Mm-hmm. Were they somewhere where there was really good barbecue on the East Coast?

I mean, what are we talking here? Maybe a little Midwest. Mm-hmm.

Maybe LA. Really? That'd be nice. You could still see your mom. Mm-hmm.

So what would it take to make it sweet enough that you would go? Just timing, really. There's just timing of it all.

And what about head coach? Do you see yourself calling? Yeah, eventually.

You can't just be in this business and not want to keep elevated. You want to keep going? Yeah.

Yeah, I can see that. Mm-hmm. What do you think's the most challenging thing about coaching versus playing? Playing is easy.

That's not a... Coaching is, there's a teaching aspect in there. So can you teach guys? Can you figure out how he learns? Because everybody doesn't learn the same. You know what I mean? And then, like, the number one thing is, like, a lot of guys can play football, but can you teach somebody how to play football?

Do you understand the ins and outs of what's going on? You can't just... Like, for me, I can't just teach them running back. They got to know what the offense is doing. Mm-hmm. You know, so it's just... We're teachers, basically.

You know, you got to get in there and really teach somebody. It's not just get the ball and run. Deshaun Foster joining me here on The Rich Eisen Show.

Suzy Schuster in for Rich Eisen. Yeah, I mean, there's something about that motivation for a younger athlete. And we have seen college football change so dramatically since you and I were together at UCLA. The NIL has changed so much. The transfer portal has changed so much. How do you see... Let's start with transfer portal as a coach. How have you seen that affect how your players react, play, have loyalties, etc.? It's actually getting them ready for the NFL because there's new players coming daily. So, you can't be complacent.

You can't understand. You got to know that you're actually competing against people that aren't in this room right now. So, that's kind of how I'd let my guys know, like, your competition might not be here right now. But that's like the NFL. So, just get used to that. And as long as you keep performing, you'll be fine. But it's helped us out a lot.

I've gotten two backs out of the portal. They've helped us. They've been great.

They've both gone to the NFL. So, you know, we kind of do a pretty good job on how who we pick and just to see if they can really mesh with the type of team that we have. And we've done a good job with it so far. So, you think the portal is good for college football? I mean, it's what college football is right now. So, I'm going to use it. Okay.

How about the NIL? What's your reaction to these players cashing in now and getting some money on their name, image, and likeness? I mean, you should be able to cash in on your name, image, and likeness. But let's just make sure that we're teaching them financial literacy and let's get them prepared for, you know, they got to file taxes now. There's different stuff to have stuff. And so, let's just make sure that they're prepared for that. And I don't want to take, let's not take the want to out of kids. You know, the younger you get, the more you might not want to play because he has this. So, let's just make sure we keep that in perspective.

Well, that's it. I mean, there's that idea that you have to play and put in the downs in order to cash in and to get the reward on the other end. And some of these kids are, as you said, are getting exposed to money in a way they never were before.

And by the way, the government takes money out of your pocket. And that is something that you have to be responsible for. And I wonder, you know, how this changes a relationship that a coach could have with his players when you know that a kid is making a lot of money.

And do they listen to you the same way? I'm lucky that I haven't experienced anything like that yet, you know. So, just like I said, we've done a good job with the kids that we've picked and they're working out for us.

They come and play well and able to go to the NFL. So, but I know it's just like you said, it's out there and it's a tough situation. But, you know, you just got to find a way to balance it. Do you enjoy the recruiting side of it? Yeah.

What's that like when you go into the houses and talking things out? Are you as competitive recruiting as you were playing? Yeah, because you know exactly who you lost to.

So, that's the part about it that's competitive. Because, I mean, that's really what it was like at UCLA, was watching you compete and watching you because you were always, here's a real shocker for all of you listening and watching, you didn't say a whole lot. You weren't one of those guys that was going to be mouthy like Freddie. You know, you didn't get out there and say things before you played. So, I just wonder what that is like for you in terms of how that translates to coaching and recruiting. Yeah, a little more talking. You got to get out in front of it a little bit. But, I just lean on that I've done this.

So, if you follow this, this is what could happen for you. Deshaun Foster here on the Rich Eisen Show. I'm so curious about your thoughts on a coach like Deion Sanders. I mean, Deion is really shaking up college football and I'm here for every single second of it. What's your reaction to watching what Deion is doing in Colorado? It's great. He's bringing attention to Colorado, getting them players, getting the exposure that they want. He's another coach I can coach off experience. I've played this.

I've done this, you know. So, and him being a head coach, it's just gonna help other athletes become head coaches. So, that's how I look at it. I'm here for it.

I'm all about competition. So, anything that's gonna elevate competition and ball, I'm for it. What I really like about how he's coaching over there is he is very much a disciplinarian, but he's a players coach, right? He's not there for everybody else. He's there to support his guys and we all know how Deion is. It's his way or the highway, but I think that it'll be interesting to see how his style of coaching affects the rest of college football.

Mm-hmm. Because you have in your coach a very different approach. You've got an older school style coach.

Yeah. So, how do you interject your style with someone who already has an established style of coaching? You just gotta kind of stay in your lane. You can't beat something that you're not, you know. Kids will see through that. Mm-hmm.

I kind of just, you got to stay in your lane and go from there really, but it's not. I just like what Deion's bringing to the table and bring to the pack this year. So, I'm excited. I'm glad we get to play him in LA. No kidding.

I didn't want to go out there. I know, right? I think we'll get tickets for that ahead of time. TJ, you want to go?

Oh, you know this. You and I will go together? Let's do it. It'll be sweet. We'll hook that one up, right?

I'll give some players. I know some people. You know some people. We know a person who knows a person, right?

I know a guy who knows a guy. I think you're right. Who should we look for at UCLA now? This is in my running back room. I have a returning player, TJ Hardin from Inglewood.

Oh, that name right there alone. He played the last two games. Then I also have Carson Steele. He's a portal transfer from, undergrad transfer from Ball State.

Mm-hmm. He had 1,500 yards last year and 17 touchdowns. And he looks like Thor. We actually looked this guy up. Get on to Chris. Yeah.

I'm really excited about this guy. Do you ever want to like drive across town and poach anybody? Do you ever just added that old-fashioned like, go over to the Trojans and think, hey I could work with you. They've had a couple kids come to their senses and come on over. They, you know, they went from the dark side and came. It was kind of like, it was kind of like Star Wars a little bit. Well, you know, that's exactly right. I mean you have to work some Jedi mind tricks and try to let them know.

I always tell my kids, and you should try this out, don't you know it's like you can either fall to the dark side or you can follow me to the light. No Ewoks involved, right? There it is. Who was the running back when you were playing that you wanted to be most like?

Marshall Faulk. Mm-hmm. Now he's, I know a guy.

Yeah. I know a guy. What about coach? Who's the running backs coach or who's the coach that you had that meant the most to you? So, okay, my high school coach, well let's, let's, let's go back. Pops was my first coach, you know, he started all the discipline and everything, being in the military and everything.

Got that from him. My high school coach, I was just glad that he transferred into the school, came, put us in the weight room and, you know, just got us lifting and really just trying to be a team. And he loves to play both ways so you can be an athlete. When I got to college, I had Kelly Skipper. That was really my man. He taught me a lot of ball and how to play and understand football at that point. Then I went to the NFL and I got drafted to, to Panthers and Kelly's dad was my coach.

Jim Skipper. That's right. Yeah. So I was still in the family getting the same coaching.

That was great. And then once I started coaching, I was under a man named Kennedy Palamola and he coached Reggie and everybody across town. Was he choice? Yes. Uncle, right?

Uh-huh. And I got a lot of my, a lot of the stuff and my terminology is from Coach Palamola. But those four people, those are the coaches that have really made a good imprint on me. Before we let you go, Deshaun Foster, what do you think? How many years are we gonna see you around college football? If you were to guess, like if you were to structure this and if you were going to, you know, have like a perfect track, what do you think? How long before we see you in the National Football League? I don't want to like jinx it and put, you know what I'm saying? I might put like eight years out there and then, but there's not a time. It's just the perfect situation. It's just timing, you know.

It's gonna be tough for me to leave UCLA knowing that that's my school and the success I'm having with my running backs and everything. But you know, it's, it's, it's in the near future. You still have your old sweatshirts so they still fit? Yeah. You kind of look the exact same. I mean, just here it take.

It's shaped different. Whatever. Whatever. No, I mean.

When you're older, it's different. It's like yesterday. It's kind of funny. It's great.

I'm so happy to see you. I don't have any hair on my head, but I have it on my face now. Well, I mean, I'm married to a man who's suffering from that, so it's not like it's gonna bother me at all, you know what I mean? Yeah, and Chris, the grass, the room, is that exactly... Deshaun, real quick, where's your touchdown ball from the Super Bowl? You got that? Yeah, I got that.

Well, my, my mom, my parents have it at their house. No, that makes sense. But I have it. Okay. Yeah.

What was it like playing in that game and what do you remember from that Sunday? I just knew I was gonna be Sports Illustrated. That was the cover.

Right there. I just knew it. If we win this game, I'm gonna... But it was, uh, that's Janet Jackson. That's the Janet Jackson Super Bowl, you know. It was a good game. We really couldn't move the ball in the first half.

We got in the second half, kind of went two-minute, kind of did our tempo, and that's how we ran up all the points. But, you know, Patriots are a good team. I was upset at that time, but I can't be upset that that dynasty beat us. You know we're both Patriots fans, right? Most people are. It's okay, though. I'm not gonna hold it against you.

Thank you. Deshaun, you once had a 301-yard game with four touchdowns against Washington. What was that like? So Jerry Newhouse was on staff. His dad was the coach. Oh, you're kidding.

I have no idea. Yeah, Jerry's a receiver coach. So I see Rick all the time. Rick's like, you better thank me for getting you drafted every time I see him.

That's his first thing. But it was just, I was just on that game. It was just, you know, it was just another game I was just on. Why do you always like that dark visor?

Technically, you can look around and they can't see where your eyes are. That's the real, you know, but it's also cool. It's just like the look of it. It's kind of sweet. Yeah, that makes sense.

You know what I mean? Also, Suzy, Carson still, he does look like Thor. He does, confirmed. And he has a pet alligator. Well, who doesn't, TJ? Who doesn't have a pet alligator?

No, thank you. Has he brought it around? No, it's still in Indiana. How does a gator get to Indiana? Apparently, it was a Christmas gift.

Carefully. Wow. It was a gift that, yeah, I believe so, yeah. You know, it's funny, you brought up Marshall. Marshall always says that when he played, the game would slow down and it was like everything got really slow and he could kind of look very matrix-y at the field. What was it like for you? Well, he was moving at a way faster pace than I was, but it was similar to that. It was.

So, walk us through it. What was that like? You just get in the zone, really, and this stuff is moving. It's moving fast, but it's still in a controlled manner, you know. It's not, you're not really reacting to stuff anymore. You're kind of anticipating it happening. So, we're just getting that. Like we were saying earlier, you kind of turned to a Jedi, I guess.

Kind of see it before it happens. You miss playing? Not really.

I mean, I guess, yeah. You don't miss getting hit. That's the part. That part. I don't miss that.

The preparation. Because that was it, TJ. I mean, you know, Dashaun, you were always big, like you, for a back, like you, you know, you were solid and you could take it, but that's a lot of abuse, Chris, as you know. I mean, a bad guy. So, Marshall always says that he was fast because he didn't like getting hit. That's got to get away from these guys. Right.

You just don't want to get hit. No. Dashaun, real quick, you mentioned the Super Bowl and it was the Janet Jackson halftime. Did you guys know what was going on? Did you hear about any of that? Nothing.

Nothing at all. When did you find out? After the game. And I think once I saw it on TV. I don't think anybody told me about it until you saw it on TV.

Can you imagine now, these guys would be in the locker room and you guys would be like, what? You would have saw it. That last glance at your phone, like, oh, that just happened? And you're like, wait, where is she? Like, what's going on out here? But can you imagine? I mean, it's so different.

Like, you think about if you'd played now, how different your experience would have been because of social media. I have three pictures from the Super Bowl. That's it, right? Yeah. I can't even like. I mean, the one that you got is really cool. But if it would have happened now, I would have so much more.

There'd be video, there'd be TikTok of it. Everything. One, I was young and I was just thinking, we'll go back. That too. That aspect.

You know, year two, year three, I will go back again. Yeah. I mean, I'd love to know what that is like. I mean, when you're so young, you rip off a historic run and you're still a kid. How was that?

How is that digestible for you back then? It was tough. Come on, come on. You think you're on top of the world? You know, it's a. Everybody watches the Super Bowl, right? No matter what, if people always say, oh, you played in the Super Bowl and I say Janet Jackson, the media.

Oh, I know exactly where I was at, where I saw that, you know, so it's a. The Super Bowl actually, it means something like it was it was pretty exciting just to know that you're in a game that the world stops and everybody's watching it. Were you joking it was tough? Are you are you kidding or was it actually tough mentally to play in it?

No, it wasn't tough to play in it. It's another game. Right. Come on. It's not just another game. No, it's another game. Come on.

You can't put that type of stuff on the game because then you're going to. You got to just a normal game. Football's the same as when I was a little kid playing football to high school, to college, to NFL.

Same thing. We just changed the venue. Just what's around it changed.

The field stayed the same. What do you miss the most? Being a coach, you get the competitive aspect.

So I was missing when I wasn't coaching, I was missing being something to be competitive with. All right. But I can do that now. Will you say hi to your mom for me? I will.

I for sure will. That's Deshaun Foster here on The Rich Eisen Show. TJ, again, thank you. I was so happy to see you. Deshaun, it's great to have you in studio. Come back again soon. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

That's Deshaun Foster here on The Rich Eisen Show. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to break down a couple of things out of Memphis. Just a couple of breaking stories we want to discuss, but happy to talk to you and come back anytime.

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Just search BLEAV podcast wherever you listen. We're back. I was just over there talking to Deshaun Foster, whatever. Mike's like 20 seconds back. I'm like, wait a minute.

I'm not even sitting yet. That was fun. It was great to talk to him. Thanks again, TJ. Great hookup for that one. That was all Scott.

That was awesome. I'm back at the Grainger desk. I'm at the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk. Burnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickrainger.com or just stop by and clean off your desk because let me tell you something. I have to get organized here. That was really fun, TJ. And we also got Deshaun to sign our Rose Bowl seats that we have over there. How many people have signed it? I think that's now 10.

Something like that, yeah. I think from Mark Harmon was first, I think. And then I think it was Josh.

Josh Rosen was Josh Rosen was first years ago. And the seat just happens to be seat number three. He wore number three. So he etched in number three because who gave you the seats, Chris? Rich. I don't know.

Oh, no. Rich knows someone at the Rose Bowl. We assume that you made Rich get him out of your house. And that's how they got like most of the stuff.

Data and Bransino, who's so fantastic, who runs the Rose Bowl could just be. I mean, but by the way, I mean, because we know a guy who knows a guy. But I did make him get out of the house because you know how it is. We have like one small room where Rich is allowed to. And by the word allowed to, he's allowed to have. I love that series. Allowed to. That's amazing. Sorry, honey.

Sorry, Rich-izing. That's much spooky that I forgot. Yeah, there you go, Mike. In one room he's allowed to keep stuff in there. By the way, when the Roku people send stuff, absolutely put it wherever you want. But the junk? But the junk comes in.

Goes to the studio. In fact, he got he got a package the other day. And what I did was I just put it right on top of his car. He said, do you want to let me open it before you see what's inside? You didn't even look to see what it was? Unless it's a top shelf tequila, it's going right to the studio.

And in fact, he got a great mezcal from somebody. And I said, OK. He said, don't get rid of it.

I actually accidentally went to regift it the other day. He said, what are you doing? That's going in our new bar. And I said, OK, I'm so sorry. I'm just so used to cleaning out your stuff when it comes. I'm sure Sarah does the same thing for you, Chris. No, I mean, come on. She's got a lot of collectibles, too.

Well, she is Southern, so they do like to collect. But anyway, I digress. What were we talking about? I'm trying to see. Rich is sending me a text.

So this is what happens whenever I do the show. Usually, he's somewhere and he's working, right? Obviously, Rich took a day off for an all-important colonoscopy. And I'm not afraid to say it on TV because everybody should get checked.

He's not 25. You know what I'm saying? So he's texting me now. Rich is listening.

The mezcal was from Bryan Cranston in an airport. Oh, no, he's listening. Should I get nervous that he's listening?

Did I up the ante? Is he going to kick me out of the seat if I say something wrong? He does get mad. He just said he's coming out of the procedure. So he's a little loopy. I told him to have somebody record him as he's coming out of anesthesia.

Just to see what he might say. By the way, this is what he said to me. He said, you said it wrong. It's Brozino.

Branzino is what you ordered at Lascolia. By the way, are you really going to pick me apart on the pronunciation? I'm the best mom ever. Put some respect on your name. Don't you speak Italian? I do. Yes, you do.

That's right. By the way. I need someone to speak. I will speak to you. You don't even speak Italian. Your name is Del Tufo. No, I know bad things in Italian.

I get slapped. Whoa. Don't say it.

Joel McHale swore apparently on the show a couple of times. This is the Roku Channel, people. We like to keep it classic. But other people's... Never mind. What, TJ? What do you want to see?

I'm just saying some other people get away with swearing and they have windfalls. You know, I think we should be able to get work blue at least once a week. Just once a week. That's all we ask. TJ, we have terrestrial radio. Oh, that's true. That's true. We do have terrestrial radio. We have a lot of people to take care of.

That said... Eyes in after dark. That said, I was doing a TNT playoff game up in, I think it was Seattle. And I've been watching a lot of Deadwood. Has anybody seen Deadwood out there? If you haven't, I'm sure you can find it on the Roku Channel because it's Roku and they have everything.

Everything. If you haven't seen Deadwood, it was ahead of its time. It was one of the greatest shows of all time.

And we can actually, that can morph right into your conversation because TJ doesn't want to watch Succession, but that's a whole nother conversation. I watched Deadwood though. There was some profanity involved in Deadwood. And I'd been watching, I'd never ever binged before Deadwood. Oh, I'm lying. I did. I binged Lost in Rich's office on his laptop while they were out playing poker.

It's before we had kids. Shout out to Damon Lindelof. And so I watched a lot of Deadwood. You know what you don't want to watch when you're doing live television broadcasts?

Deadwood. Because, you know, they tell you all the time, be really careful because you're, you know, you're open no matter what. You think you're on a commercial break. You think you're just doing, you know, just some pregame rehearsal. And I almost dropped a very unfortunate Ian Swearengen word, which I cannot say on this show. In other words, watch your mouth. I'm just saying, TJ won't watch Succession, by the way.

Chris Brockman. You won't watch it. Two more.

You could catch up. The best show on TV right now. OK. So good.

It's so good. OK. One thing. Rich did. Rich did ask a very good question.

OK. So last night for the NBA draft lottery, Brian Windhorst is in Paris. That's the best game with Crown Vic. And he was there for a 72nd interview, which is tremendous. I don't know what the ROI is on that. So Rich wanted to know.

The word is yes. Rich is texting me right now. I love this. What's the furthest you ever had to travel for an interview like that? So Windy goes, I don't know if he was in L.A., L.A. to Paris. Very long flight.

Wow. That's a good overnighter. Or if it was New York to Paris. But what's the furthest you ever had to travel for an interview like that in your broadcast? For just one stand up. You're doing one stand up. Not one stand up, but just to go.

Period? Like ever? I mean, look, I did I did the Aloha Bowl. So I went I did I did a little Hawaii. I had to go from the Aloha. I went.

Wait a minute. I had to go from the Aloha Bowl to New Orleans to do back to back bowls. One for ABC, one for ESPN with a direct flight, get off the flight, sleep, do another game. That was when I was on loan to ESPN from the Mike Torrico crowd from ABC.

So I did that. I once flew to New York from New York to St. Louis and back in the same day to go ask Mark McGuire in person if he'd do an interview. But HBO had big pockets, they had deep pockets, they'd send you first class wherever you went. Honolulu to New Orleans.

Ten hours. I mean, yeah, that was I had to basically do the game, run to get the last flight out of Honolulu, get to New Orleans, go to meetings and then do the game the next morning. So there was that. I did get to go to Europe for real sports.

I did. I went to go interview Juan Antonio Cimarron in Switzerland about the Olympic boat scandal, the Utah boat scandal. I don't know if you remember that one, not TJ.

No, I remember that. And it was great because I was then and then we went to London after that. And I was with the great Frank DeFord, who was the most elegant of sportswriters, most elegant of reporters. He wore an ascot. He was a gentleman. He had a jaunt in his step and he insisted on being chauffeured around in a silver Aston Martin. Of course he did.

In London. So I'm just saying, I remember at the time Rich was on SportsCenter and he was like, your travel is so much better than mine. I'm like, yeah, it was great. There's nothing quite as delightful as traveling the world with the great Frank DeFord. That is one of my favorite memories of working at all. It was definitely not the overnight or the direct flight from Honolulu. But yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think of how else. I think Windy, like that Windhorse interview, I would have done anything for that.

Because think about the payoff. You take a great flight to Paris, you sleep, you're doing a 35 second interview. Meanwhile, as I told you before, I was doing a deep dive into Victor's parents. Dad is of Congolese descent, a track star. Mom is French, is a six foot three basketball player, grandfather was a basketball player.

So he comes from some serious genes. But if I'm 5'8 and with a heel on at least 5'11, if it's in my Shaq shoes, I was six foot, I had some serious platforms for the NBA. But imagine that she's 6'3, because if you look at the pictures of Victor with his parents, they look tiny.

And they are decidedly not. That's 6'6. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of crazy. One thing I thought was funny last night is he was taking pictures and he was using like one of the old Kodak like snap and the old school camera, like it wasn't an iPhone camera or anything. It was like the old joints we used to have that you have to send the film away to get developed.

And I was like, well, at least be able to upgrade that. Did you guys read at all about his day yesterday? Victor Wemenyama's day. He's playing in a game, right? Yeah. So that's a name, by the way, that's Victor Wemenyama. You have to make sure they do all syllables, that's like Ben Roethlisberger. That's one of those names you have to say, take a deep breath before you say it.

Which gave us a pronunciation guide on it yesterday. Wemenyama. Yeah. Wemenyama. And it was two thirty in the morning there when Wemeny did his interview with him. So it was...

He played a game with Les Metropolitans, right? Ooh. Fancy, huh? Cross town rivals.

Cross town rivals. Yeah. Take a sip with my pinky out after that.

By the way, you really should. You should always sip with your pinky, T.J. He played a game, went across town, partied with Mbappe. Mbappe.

It was everywhere. Mbappe. By the way, like the coolest athlete there is right now. Great name. OK. Exactly.

Yes. And then goes to a party where they now have to basically like chill out until two thirty in the morning. Can you imagine? I would be out cold by eleven. Somebody wake me up around two. Yeah, wake me up before you go-go, T.J.

But can you imagine? That's... You're gonna be hanging on like a yo-yo. I got you. We got you. T.J. I'm a woman of a certain age. I had to go George Michael on that.

Thank you, Del Tufo. But yeah, I mean, can you imagine having to stay up all night for that? Yeah, I'm sure the excitement wouldn't have allowed you to sleep anyway, though. And the reaction from San Antonio, I mean, everybody in that bar, because there's a long history of French players, obviously, in San Antonio. And a large history of number one generational big men, number one draft pick generational big men going to the Spurs, too. And now that they're my new favorite team, this is going to be fun. T.J.'s on. T.J., I'm happy for you. Thank you, man. Thank you.

Thank you, Jack. New team. The sweat will start now.

We're within 19 minutes of Shaq coming on, so now I have to sit here and sweat and make sure that he comes on. But I'm curious to hear what he has to say about him. Ooh, we used to spend a lot of time back when the Lakers and the Spurs were playing down there in San Antonio. Great guacamole.

That's saying. Great battles down there. Tex-Mex. Ooh, baby.

Really good Tex-Mex. Love it. Love San Antonio. The Riverwalk, right? The Riverwalk.

Yeah, Riverwalk. Yep. Used to always know where the guys were going.

And everybody keep it all together. But I'm curious to hear what he'll say about a player of this potential, as ESPN says. Geez, Woj said he's going to be the best player in the league in three years. How about him saying potentially the greatest draft of any athlete of all time? Woj was like, yeah, he's going to be the some scout or executive said he's going to be the best player on both ends of the floor.

So not only is he going to be, he's going to be Kevin Durant on offense, T.J., and he's going to be Giannis on defense in three years. But no pressure. No pressure.

No pressure, kid. And also, like, I realize that he is the Crown Vic. Like I said, he is the jewel of the draft.

But man, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, I think those two are going to be really good professional players. And I don't think I heard either of their names mentioned yesterday, which is crazy. So all about Lemmy.

Yeah, it was all about one dude, man. We are going to take a quick break when we come back. This is my favorite part. We got a lot of callers.

I love callers and let me say this out to you all, are you listening? Would any of you have a maple glazed bacon donut? Because I got one to see if anybody would have one.

I want to hear out there, people, would you eat a maple glazed bacon donut or is that disgusting? Disgust. Let's roll when we come back right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Jimmy from San Antonio. What do you got for me, Jimmy? Bonjour, madam.

Bonjour, c'est va. Bonjour, Jimmy. Jimmy, what do you got for us? Okay, it was nuts here. Okay.

I don't know if you know the stories. Oh, Bex, my six month old dog is jumping on me. Stop it. Susie loves that. Don't worry. Be nice to your dog.

Well, she's named Bex after David Beckham and Becky Hammond. So half of her is in trouble right now. I'm not going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie. I'm going to lie.

I'm going to lie. So in San Antonio, when the Spurs win championships like we have, we like to go honking, but people just drive around downtown and honk their horns. And last night it sounded like we won another one. And I know y'all have seen the video of that bar going nuts when we got the pick, right? Yeah.

It's on our Instagram page. Well, that's the Roo Pub. And I don't know if Patty Mills still is owners, but he started it and they offered a deal that if you have an open tab and the Spurs get the number one pick, Bex, get down. Your tab is free. So that was half the reason everybody celebrated last night was we got the number one pick and then their tab was free at the Roo Pub. Jimmy, were they happier about the tab or Victor?

Well, I know my people. It was 50 50. We saved a lot of money and we were happy that well, now there's a lot of Mexicans learning French right now. It was really weird, but it's the town went nuts and economically the Spurs needed if we're going to do this super region with the Austin area, San Antonio and Mexico City, then they needed that. And the San Antonio Spurs are probably going to stay in this area. They're not going to move anywhere. That's what I'm seeing.

What do you think? I mean, I can't imagine them being elsewhere. I just can't. You guys have been such an institution for so long and such a pillar with such great athletes. You can't tell the story of the ABA in the NBA without San Antonio. And now Victor's going to have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Greg Popovich coaching him for the next six and a half plus years.

Easy. A good kid could be amazing with the influence of the Hall of Famers. You're not wrong. And by the way, as we know, Greg Popovich, 74, and one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA, and also love everything he has to say about social issues.

I'm a huge fan, a huge admirer of him as well. You know what Pop's going to do? He's going to be asking him about wine in France, and that's all Pop's going to talk to him about after practice. By the way, that's my kind of practice. Jimmy, thanks again for calling in.

Appreciate your time. Bye, Jimmy. Can we get in Spencer before the break?

Spencer from Florida. How you doing, Spencer? Hey, everyone. How's it going? Happy Wednesday. To you as well. Happy Wednesday. What's up?

First of all, Susie, I want to apologize. I must be miserable living with Rich knowing that all he's going to talk about for the next five months is Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. I mean, it's so tiring. I can't even tell you, Spencer. It's just exhausting. And we'll see who's talking in February, just saying.

Two things that I want to address. First of all, I would absolutely eat a maple glazed bacon donut. You would. You would. Interesting, because nobody here has the you-know-whats to pick it up and try it. Where I live, there is a place called Jupiter Donuts, and they are out of this world good, and they have one of those, and it is life-changing.

Anytime you are in South Florida, I highly recommend you stop by and get one. Okay. Okay.

We'll try it. What's on your mind? I actually have a very hot take about Zach Rivers, and I kind of wanted to get TJ's opinion on it, because he's seen him more as both a fan of the Sixers and the Clippers. I really think that after what's happened, this might be his last hurrah as a coach. If you look at his record since winning an NBA championship with Boston, he's only made it to the finals one other time, and he's only made it to the conference finals one other time, both of which he lost. Every other time, he's either made it to the semis and lost, or the first round and lost. His playoff record since then is below 500, and I love him as a person.

He's the nicest guy. I've had the pleasure of meeting him multiple times, but I really just don't see any team hiring him after what he did with Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin in their primes, Joel Embiid, Maxie, and even James Harden. I just can't see him getting another head coaching job, maybe a front office job, but not a head coaching job. I kind of wanted to know what TJ thought of that, since he's basically watched him coach his teams for the past 11 seasons. Obviously, I was upset with the way the season ended for the Sixers and how every season was ending with the Clippers, but to try to put a positive spin on this is Michael Wobaugh, and I heard say yesterday, they say Doc has the most Game 7 losses in the history of the NBA. Well, that also means that he's doing the job of getting his teams to those Game 7s, which was something I didn't really think about, and that is very true. Also, a lot of these things, to be honest, were not Doc's fault.

Chris Paul's ligament issues, the broken fingers, the pulled hamstrings, these are things that a coach can't control. Do I feel as though he'll get another shot? I don't know.

He's 62. I'm not sure. Maybe a front office move might be better for him.

I don't really know. I don't wish any ill will towards Doc, of course. As a fan, it's just you get frustrated and you get angry and you have to point the finger at somebody, and so of course, that's going to be the coach, but I'm not sure, but there is something to be said about getting to all of these Game 7s, that you've done enough work as a coach to get your team there, and obviously, coaching these players with so many different individual philosophies and the way they all look at the game, it can't be easy, Suzy. So I know I was angry yesterday, but I don't want to put it all on Doc, but we know that when the hammer's got to fall, you know where it's going to fall and it's going to be the coach.

Thanks again for your call. I'm just going to chime in on this one really quickly. You play the cards that you're dealt. He had Ben Simmons, so he had that to deal with. He had the ligament. He had James Harden walking up the court the other day, and at the end of the day, how many... You can only handle what you can coach. You can only handle what you can coach. There's a reason why Embiid's playing so well, and I think a lot of it is Doc.

I mean, he's got... What does he have, 16 straight winning seasons? I would never, ever, ever gable against Doc Rivers. You love Lala Kent on Vanderpump Rules, now get to know her on Give Them Lala. With her assistant Jess. What you did not see is when Raquel arrives and she wants to talk to me, I made her sit in a corner. Explain. Sat in a corner booth all by herself in the dark. Waiting for to talk to you. Waiting for me to finish dancing to 50 Cent. It's my birthday. Sit in a corner. Give Them Lala wherever you listen.