REShow: Cynthia Frelund - Hour 3

Accessing. This is, this is The Rich Eisen Show. There you go.

Love it. Live from The Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. You guys were wondering when I came in today, I'm like, we got a new drop. And you're like, when are we going to use it? Does it matter?

Uno, dos, tres. The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Steve Weissman. Earlier on the show, comedian Michael Kosta, PGA Tour golfer Luke Donald. Coming up, NFL Network analyst Cynthia Freeland. And now, sitting in for Rich, Steve Weissman. It is hour three of The Rich Eisen Show.

Steve Weissman filling in for Rich today, yesterday, trying to head into the weekend strong. And I am so happy to welcome in my first in person, in studio guest on The Rich Eisen Show, my longtime friend, Cynthia Freeland, NFL media analytics expert. You're on all the shows. You're on Game Day Morning. You're on Game Day View, Fantasy Live.

You write for NFL.com. There's nothing you don't do. Well, there's I mean, that's because I live here, right? So they're like, you're here. Come in. That's perfect.

That's that's how it works. Thanks. Thanks for coming in. Thank you for having me. This is great.

Like 60 percent of us are South Bayers. So I know it makes it a little it makes it a little easier. Makes it a little easier.

You just told me you have a little time off from the network, but obviously you're always doing stuff and writing and all that. What what stories are you most interested in right now as we're six weeks away from training camp? I think it's interesting that this year we have like DeAndre Hopkins and Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott, which, you know, I feel like there's like a lot of big name players that still don't have a home. So as we're seeing all these things kind of unfold, that's what I'm looking at, because I'm very curious, especially in the AFC. I just don't know who's going to be good. I mean, I know they're all good there. There's a lot of great quarterbacks. But the NFC, I'm like, well, this seems like if I'd like to win, can I just go to the NFC South? That'd be great. But I'm very curious to see where some of these guys will land.

All right. So DeAndre Hopkins, let's start with him. Visited the Titans, visited the Patriots, left without a deal. Who to see fit best with? Who can he help most? Well, obviously, we know Bill O'Brien knows how to use DeAndre Hopkins really well and leverage his skills. I think that because he's got the suspension looming that maybe there isn't as much of a time crunch as it might seem. I feel like for whatever reason, Tennessee might be out of it. They just it just feels like he's kind of like, not so much. But to me, it feels like a Patriots move, even though I know that, you know, the odds makers would tell you something different.

So they would say Bills or they would say Chiefs. But I think maybe the Patriots dark horse chance of really nabbing Hopkins. OK, I mean, that'd be amazing for Mac Jones. Did you have the analytics on what that would add to his life? Yeah, well, it's interesting with Mac Jones, because we do just Miss Schuster obviously going there earlier this offseason.

He's had a lot of health concerns. So that was a big jump for Mac Jones. Just spreading the offense a little bit, giving him a little bit more space so that Brockman can be happy that the Patriots actually like have actually doing something, do something right.

Something fun and inspiring. Yeah. So, you know, when I'm looking at that, it's like that creates a lot more space and gives Mac Jones a lot more of an opportunity. But I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. I'm not sure that Juju's Miss Schuster will stay healthy like he hasn't before.

So I can see it kind of going south. So DeAndre Hopkins would add such a huge element. Obviously, those contested catches were something that that's what he's masterful at.

Like he doesn't need any space to catch a ball. And Mac Jones could really use something like that. I feel like to me, it's like the Randy Moss going back in the day for Tom Brady. I mean, they both come in three all pros, five Pro Bowls, kind of average the same amount of yards per game and game changers. And obviously, Brady and Mac Jones are two different quarterbacks. But this could even help Mac more than a Moss helped a Brady. And the AFC East is a nightmare this season. Like, I think they're all contenders. You could I mean, one or two injuries here or there could shake up the entire AFC each which could therefore shake up the entire AFC and change the entire postseason and therefore the Super Bowl. So it's that East.

No, thank you. It used to be one where we're like the East, like the Patriots, just like, you know, foregone conclusion that the Patriots are in the postseason. But now now it's well, yeah, the East is it's a nightmare.

It's a total nightmare. But Cynthia, it's not even just the East now. It's the North.

It's the West. It's kind of the South is one of those divisions where, OK, it looks like it's going to be Jacksonville now for a while with with Trevor Lawrence kind of ascending with Doug Peterson. And they're hitting a stride now getting Calvin Ridley. Travis Etienne has proven to be a pretty formidable back, you know, returning to the lineup last year. It seems like the AFC just itself is stacked to where you think if you can withstand and come out of that, you have a very good chance of winning the Super Bowl. Exactly. But like I said, you know, those injuries, one or two injuries here or there is going to make such a huge difference in the entire AFC.

All right. Let's stay with the AFC. AFC East. Let's talk about Aaron Rodgers. What is he bringing to the New York Jets? Are they a Super Bowl contender now?

I mean, you got to say yes. Aaron Rodgers back to back MVPs just two seasons ago. And remember that hand injury last year made things a lot different and the lack of real passing options for him. You saw him at one point last season.

I think it was 10 or 11 games in. He had the highest percentage of passes thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage, which is something we've never seen from Aaron Rodgers prior to last season. So I'm looking at Aaron Rodgers and I'm looking at all the other weapons and how well Joe Douglas has drafted for this team for several years. Zach Wilson maybe could be a little asterisk there.

But other than that, I mean, you get the O-Roy and the D-Roy like you're doing a few things right. And by the way, before his injury, their running back could have also been considered in that same mix of conversation. So I think that absolutely, again, injuries will come down to it. And for me, I'm also looking at their O-line. Is Makai Becton going to be on the field?

He played 48 snaps in two seasons. Left tackle is a really important position that obviously Aaron Rodgers is going to need a little help with. So that really comes down to the O-line and their ability to kind of stay healthy and get Aaron Rodgers. It seems like the chemistry is forming and Aaron Rodgers is participating in, you know, offseason activities more so than we've seen in a lot of years.

So they're absolutely there. They're in the mix for sure. Cynthia Freeland with us here, Rich Eisen Show, Steve Weissman filling in today. You talk about drafting well with the Jets. Let's talk about the draft that we just had.

Which rookies are you most excited about seeing and who will bring the most to their future team? You know, it's funny because I'm looking at obviously the quarterback. You've got to say, oh, there's two quarterbacks that are starting. Well, I think that actually the South is really interesting and kind of could be the NFC South could be decided in maybe even like week one, because I think that that whole division is being reset.

Is that a nice way to say it? But that first game between Carolina and Atlanta, I actually think we always, every single year we see a team go from fourth to first in their division. And the Falcons technically were fourth based on, you know, there's a lot of ties because their record was kind of the same, right?

So that one game and if Carolina doesn't win that one game, it actually could mean that the Falcons could have a real shot at winning the South, which is hilarious to me because of Bijan Robinson. And right out of the gate, you always see running backs have just a better opportunity to really, you know, they don't need anyone else, right? You just run the ball. You don't need someone to pass it to you or need someone to catch the ball.

And you don't need necessarily they have a good old line, so you don't necessarily need to worry about that as much. And Arthur Smith clearly knows how to make that happen. So, I mean, fantasy wise, you're you're absolutely drafting Bijan Robinson right up there with all the other guys. But we'll see how those quarterbacks pan out. And you got to spend some time with the Falcons. I saw your whole, you know, behind the scenes going through the draft. What was that like? It was awesome. So Terry Fontenot, the GM of the Falcons, gave us we went through, we watched all of their rookies and all of the film on each rookie.

And it was wild because, you know, you you as outsiders were like, ah, and I'm an analytics person running back so high. You need a trade partner. And if they thought they could trade down and still get the player that they wanted, they would have done that. But ultimately, they they wanted Bijan. That was their decision. And no one you know, they they didn't get to trade all the way down as far as they would have liked to, which every team wanted to. But this was widely regarded as a draft that didn't have as many of the top, top, top prospects.

So you can kind of make the argument that get the guy you want and then just move on. So that that's it was really interesting. And it was really cute because I know you are the best dad ever today. But I know some people have some sons in this room. But but ultimately, he told this awesome story about his son, who I think he's like, I want to say he's like 10-ish.

And he was wearing the exact same outfit as as his dad fell asleep by pick 20. It was it was it was really cute. Every time I'm at this desk, I do feel kind of weird. And I always brought when you were whenever I'm here, you are welcome to take. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't take that the last.

Yeah, that's fine. It's it's it's strange. Whatever.

I'll take any best ever title. You don't have a pet or anything, you know, a dog. No, but but Cynthia does has a new dog that I've met and is amazing. Gordy is like a super dog. He's the stepdad. Yeah, I could be a stepdad.

I would totally be Gordy's stepdad ever. He's the best uncle ever. That's the best uncle.

Let's let's update this. You really are the best uncle ever. You have like a human child.

You can be Gordy's uncle, but that's true. I have a niece. I have a niece, Marlo.

She's fantastic. You're a duncle. A doggy uncle. Yeah, a doggy uncle. I'm a real uncle, a doggy uncle.

But this I mean, the dad thing is, you know, best dad ever. It's interesting. You talk about the Falcons, Bijan Robinson. We talked a lot about running backs yesterday and the value going down and guys being franchise tagged and that kind of putting a cap on what they're being paid. And Brockman had some some thoughts about Justin Tucker maybe being more valuable than than five than anyone other than five running backs. All but five.

I think so. Running backs in the league. What are the analytics say about the value of running backs in this National Football League? Well, the reality is, is you can't overpay any position and a running back in a second contract, which is typically your most expensive contract, sometimes a third contracts more.

But it's rare that you're going to find someone who isn't and I hate to say this, pretty easily substitutable. There's probably about five running backs in the league that are not easy to substitute. But the rest, it's you know, you can look to the draft and the Bijan Robinsons of the world who are on a rookie deal. It's going to be interesting to see what happens four years from now when he would have to be looking at a potential renewal.

Where will the marketplace be? Because you wouldn't have imagined with Ezekiel Elliott with, you know, coming out and being drafted for overall like that's a wildly high number. But at the end of the day, it's really about price for return on investment. We talk about the cap going up, but let's be honest, it only has gone up about eight percent and that eight percent. You're pretty much just paying your quarterback and maybe a pass rusher, you know.

So it's not like going up like gangbusters. So the running back salary and by the way, tight ends are now starting to get paid more because they're catching more passes. And we're throwing the ball in first down a higher percentage of the time, year over year over year. So you really have to pay for performance and wide receivers and corners and pass rushers and tackles and wide receivers. I'm not anti running back. I'm just don't overpay your running back. No, that's why I feel bad because I love running backs and I think they're extremely valuable.

It's just the market that we're in right now. And that said, Dalvin Cook, he's ready to get paid. Who is going to pay him? Who is he the best fit for? I think what you'll see is a deal that resembles more of what Austin Eckler got because Eckler is actually enormously valuable, especially because he, knock on wood for him, seems to not get hurt.

And the rest of the Chargers have some sort of injury plague that seems to happen on that team every year. But I'm looking at Dalvin Cook's deal and saying, OK, well, he's going to probably get an incentive structure that looks more like Austin Eckler's, which means pay for performance. Are you on the field? Are you doing the things we need?

If yes, then get paid more. I don't know where he'll land. With Zeke in the marketplace, too, and rumors of trades or whatever potentially even still looming, it's an interesting problem. I know it seems he wants to go to Miami given his Instagram situation. But I mean, I would want you to.

No state income tax. It's a really nice weather situation. And you get to play your brother, I guess, when he plays the Bills. But the market will dictate that. And I actually think that we could see something like for him, like we could see like wait till training camp and we see it every year. Someone unfortunately gets hurt and potentially that could drive where he lands.

It's I don't think it's a you know, I don't think there's a ton of activity to try to to try to land him at this point. I definitely always believe what people put on social media. So if, you know, Miami it is. If you work out, you have to post that you work out. Otherwise it didn't happen. It totally didn't happen. I mean, come on. We know that.

I was I was in the gym, I swear. That said, with Dalvin Cook, is he one of those five guys that that you would value more than than Justin Tucker? No, no.

All right. So who? Minnesota fans think I hate them already. I don't hate Minnesota fans, but he's not he's not up there. Who are your running backs on the Justin Tucker level? I mean, look, Derek Henry changes the complex of a defense. He makes it so that you can because it's yards after. Always look at if you want like a shortcut as to who's really valuable.

Look at, yeah, both kinds, yards after contact and yards after the catch and yards after contact, after the catch, because running backs have to do both. I think I actually do think Austin Eckler has is in that spot, which is amazing because he's never been to a Pro Bowl, which seems really crazy to me. I would say, look, I don't know about Saquon yet. I don't know if I would put him up there yet.

I'm not sure. I do think he's enormously valuable and they need to figure out a way to find a deal with him. But I want to see more from him, potentially him. He's he's kind of borderline for me. There's a number, but I not Dalvin Cook doesn't fall on that.

I've heard like two. So I would just I think this is fascinating that we're comparing. Christian McCaffrey. I don't actually even know if I think he's a running back, but he's a. But the fact that we're comparing these guys to Justin Tucker, by the way, credit to you, Rockman. It's value. Yeah, you know, absolutely. But right.

Fascinating. Right. Don't overpay him. Like, don't overpay him. Don't overpay.

Right. It's not saying he's not valuable thing. Like, don't overpay them, him, them meaning anyone who's not. It sounds crazy because these are huge numbers, but we have a cap and we have a floor like that. That's the these are the rules of our game.

Like, this is what you signed up for. It comes down to money at the end of the day. This is really the only sport where your value is based on your position, though. Right. In the NBA, your value is not based on your position in baseball. Your value is not based on your position.

The NFL it is. Well, but you also have to remember that, you know, in the NBA specifically, you got your 20 percent of your team's output at any point you're on the on the court. Right. Whereas like 11 players or 9 percent. Right. So you're even if even if you're the most valuable player.

So. And look, the NBA has done a much better job of structuring it so that there's guarantees and there's more of like a it's it's less obscure and the formula is a little bit more clear. And also, you know, the way that GMs have structured salary caps and the way you can move money into the future or pull it back and all those at some point, you have to pay for over overpaying at some point.

You have to it catches up to you, but you can time that. Right. Is it your time to go all out for a Super Bowl win or is it your time to back off and kind of restock the shelves and get your cap in the right spot? Because escrow all these like this stuff's all super confusing. If there weren't escrow and you didn't have to have all these rules, you would have already seen Joe Burrow get paid because let's just be clear that every second that ticks off that clock, his price goes up and that makes it harder to sign all the rest of the guys.

So if you didn't have these these rules and all like this crazy finance situation that we have, then it would it would look a lot different. And that's why you went to Kellogg. NBA from Northwestern University, Cynthia Freeland. Cynthia, hang around. Yeah, we're gonna do another segment with Cynthia Freeland coming up. Rich Eisen show Steve Weissman filling in for Rich. Don't go anywhere.

Call us 844-204-rich. I've got a nickname for you, certainly since, again, as we established earlier on, that that that people are concerned of the amount of usage that you have and you're getting and that, you know, running backs wind up showing diminishing returns. And I don't think you're showing any diminishing returns.

And that's not going to happen. As a matter of fact, you are the one who does the diminishing. You're the one who comes downhill and does the diminishing. So I have a nickname for you.

You, Derrick Henry, are the diminisher. I love it. I love it. Whoa, I love it. OK, so you understand this is this means a lot to me because I've tried a lot to give nicknames to people in the NFL and they have rejected them.

I don't know. I love it. I love it. I can tell you put thought and time into this nickname. And I definitely appreciate it. Like you said, we've known each other for a long time. Yes. I know that you put a lot of thought into this and I'm very appreciative.

It comes from the heart. I love it. Right here. You are the diminisher. You're the diminisher is coming to your town to diminish your chance of winning. You are the diminisher in the fourth quarter.

The diminisher is running downhill. Derrick Henry. Yes. Right. But you know what I got to do? I got to live up to it.

The only thing I live up to is how you gave the nickname. I am not concerned about it. That's all I'm saying. Appreciate it. OK.

I am not concerned about. So let's print up the the shirts and the hats and let's go. And you can have it. You take it.

How does that sound? All right. Take it.

Hey, sounds good. Derrick Henry. Say that one more time.

I want to hear it. Say it one more time. The diminisher.

Yes. Derrick, you have no idea how much you made his show. You have no idea, Derrick. Back on the Rich Eisen Show, Steve Weisman filling in for Rich from the diminisher to the numbers queen. I like it. I do like that. You're in on that? I just made that up.

Perfect. Cynthia Freeland, NFL media analytics expert in the house with us on the Rich Eisen Show. You recently had some articles on NFL.com about the most underappreciated players in the league.

Who's underappreciated? Well, we kind of came up with a formula because we had to like draw the line somewhere and it was not allowed to be a first round pick. So anyone who was a first round pick, nope, no more than one pro bowl and absolutely no all pros.

So it kind of it does it does break these. And then they couldn't be the top 10 highest paid in any position. OK, so one of the things that I did notice from the list, like just in general, that I have more wide receivers on here than maybe I thought. Right. Because it like 2-2 Atwell for the Rams like that one came up. That was an interesting one. And then in with Nikko Collins, like I just kind of noticed that there were some underappreciated wide outs that actually have a lot more impact, especially when they're not the subject of the pass.

Right. Like what they how they change the shape of the defense to give other people better opportunities. That was kind of my like overall note from it. But then like a lot of off ball linebackers, we don't talk about them enough nationally. And then, you know, obviously there's some like I mean, I love a good o-lineman because that's my like master's thesis.

So anyone who's underpaid o-lineman that's good, I'm going to sneak them in there and tell my editor that they have to deal with that. That was seriously your master's thesis? It was. It was on who's a waist bender and who's not. You're welcome Northwestern.

Measured 300 pound men's booties for a year and use a bunch of computer vision to measure like how low they can keep their hips for how long of a time. So actually, Michigan grad, which would appreciate that, Taylor Lewan came in like very, very strong for having not being a waist bender and keeping his butt down. So that was one. And it was just very interesting. You can actually map it to the first 10 split of their 42 so that you can see if they keep their butt down the whole way.

Then, you know, in the first 10 split, then they tend not to be waist benders in the league. That's fascinating. A lot of butts. Spent a lot of time with the butts.

Third Northwestern Wildcat, by the way, last two days on the show. I take a lot of pride in that. We had Rashawn Slater on yesterday. I don't know if you still do the waist bending.

I do. He's great. I asked you, I was like, are his biceps okay?

Because he was actually really wonderful. And then you look to see, you know, actually it's not too dissimilar to the other Northwestern offensive line. He's slightly different position, right? Maybe he projects a bit more as a guard than as a tackle, whatever.

But they have actually similar waist bending, lack of waist bending profiles. All right. Luke Donald, by the way, also on the show. Every year, Sin, we always see some team that missed the playoffs, make the playoffs the next year. What do the numbers say? I think that, I mean, look, the teams that I like this year to kind of make it to the playoffs, like we already talked about how the AFC is like kind of like very murky and will come down to a lot of injuries probably. But I think maybe in the NFC things are a little bit more clear. Like, I think that, you know, this team from a state that I'm from.

Michigan. Yeah, I think they make it to the playoffs. I don't know if they can win a playoff game. Let's be clear. In my lifetime, I don't know if I'll see that.

I don't know if I have. Come on. It's a thing.

Go look it up. Lions fans, long suffering, very long suffering. But I think, you know, look, when I'm looking at that one, that one seems very likely.

I do. Still, I'm on this Falcons train. Someone from, because it's not, I think the Bucks are in a rebuilding mode. So one of those three South teams has to make it. It's probably, a lot of people probably think the Saints with the acquisition of Derek Carr this offseason.

But I kind of feel like they've got a harder schedule than people give them credit for. So I'm looking, I don't know, I kind of like the Falcons to sneak in there. And I think the repeat, I actually, the thing that I think will be different is I think the Seahawks and the 49ers will both make it, but in the flip-flopped order. So I think the Seahawks could actually, depending on what happens with the quarterback position, Brock Purdy coming back, very confused about all of that. I don't think we know at this point, sitting here mid-June, but I think the Seahawks are going to be stronger, even stronger this offseason as well. So no Rams.

Am I going to be able to drive home today? No, I like the Rams, but I think like we talked about it before, it's like they're in that situation where they're catching up to their cap, right? The O line is really the question mark for me. I mean, Matthew Stafford's awesome.

I'm obviously a Lions fan and I was so happy that he won a Super Bowl because his talent and the amount of hits he took in Detroit, just in general, I was really happy to see him finally just crush and do so well. But I think they have to catch up to some of their cap situations, even trade. I don't know who their corner, what's going on with corner, like trading away Jalen Ramsey. There's some holes and I don't think it's as a bad team.

I think it's not a team that's, they're clearly not going full tilt this year to try to make that push. Cynthia Freeland with us here, Rich Eyes and Show, Steve Weisman filling in today, was here yesterday as well. Cynthia, you talk about the cap and it's kind of like a chess game, right? You have all these different pieces and you need to know which ones are more valuable. And then you put it together to make the best team.

That's my transition to what you're doing. I believe next week, chess.com, this is really fun to find out who the best NFL chess player is. What is this?

This is so nerdy and so it speaks to my soul because I love everything about it. So eight NFL players have agreed to play each other. In fact, they had it last year and Chidibwe Owusia, so Cheeto, let's call him Cheeto, he won last year. So he is defending his chess.com title. Larry Fitzgerald is in it.

Caleb Farley, a recent addition. I did not know these young guys like to play chess. There's a lot of really good players and I'm very excited. Like this is going to be probably the most crap talking that I'm going to hear because you usually can't hear them. How do you talk crap about chess? Oh they, trust me, it's fun.

L1 to C3 or whatever. Yeah, exactly. They're like, oh my. Oh, you're using your bishop, bro? Exactly. And it speaks to my soul. There's so many good analytics on like, like if you watch it, you can see the percentage chances of like, is this a good move?

Is this a bad move? They use a ton of machine learning to like rate that. So us as outsiders, we can watch it. We can be like, you know, that was a terrible, even if you don't know anything about chess, like you don't have to love it.

It's so much fun. And I don't know, it's, it's a speed game. So it's the whole thing is going to take four hours for the, for the entire, like of the eight people. So you'll have, you know, your first place, there's $100,000 on the line for a charity. And everyone's charity gets a little something, but first place. And then there's a consolation bracket as well.

So the whole thing only takes four hours and it should be just tons of fun. Again, it speaks to my nerdy soul. Are you a big chess player? When's the last time you played? Well, I play on, I play on chess.com.

Me and Larry Fitzgerald actually, we have a pretty heated game going on right now. Oh, first game. Have you beaten him yet? I haven't beaten him yet. He's really good. Wow. I saw Larry at LACC yesterday. Yeah? He was walking around on the broadcast.

So that's why you haven't, your game hasn't finished yet. He's busy watching the US Open. As he should be. I mean, that's where we're going to go later too.

But that's a good thing. We just actually like really, we just talked, like I get to play against a, you know, he's going to be a first battle Hall of Famer. He would never let you say that. He was like, oh, just wait. But first battle Hall of Famer and I get to play him in chess? Like, that's awesome.

I love that. So cool. So is this all online or where is this? Yes, it's online on chess.com. You can go watch it.

It's going to be fun. And obviously the man who started it, their chief chess officer, Daniel Ranch. Yep. That's the title. CCO?

Yep. The CCO. When he sees you, I'm like chief compliance officer. That's like the bad boring. Chief chess officer. That is the good boring. So like he's on there and he's just, he's like a, you know, grand master of the highest order.

So it's a very, very fun, like it's all like, it's just nerdy fun. Searching for the next Bobby Fischer. Searching for the next Cheeto. Cheeto's got to defend his, I mean, he's got to defend his title. I guess he and Joe Burrow play a lot. Joe couldn't be a part of this charity thing. He's busy.

But, you know, they play a lot in their locker room too. So if you want to be more like Joe Burrow, then you play chess. What is your role on the broadcast? Well, I'm going to do some of the analysis. So we did a deep dive.

This is so nerdy. We did a deep dive into a lot of the analytics around. So as all these different players, they play all year long on chess.com. And so you can see how they've gotten better. So in the same way we can see how like a draft pick progresses through their college career, you can see how the chess players have progressed during their chess career or the year. And you can see them getting better and it analyzes all of your moves post game and says, oh, you're getting better and better. And chess obviously is done by ratings.

That's how you get different rankings. And you have to play in person for them to be kind of legit, right? But you can see their growth on chess.com. That's so cool. By the way, did you know like 10 million people play on chess.com? I believe that. It's a wild number. Like Queens Gambit, you're welcome.

Like that was a good uptick in that. I was a third grade chess champion. Why don't you get back? We can play, yeah. I've never played online though. I like to play in person. I like to play in person too. Hit the box.

Hit the box, yeah. That's fun. I like to play in person too, but online is good because you can like just do a move and think about it, wait. So there's no time limit online? Depends.

There's different types of games and you can play with a time limit or without. There's 352,000 people playing on chess.com right now. Live.

352,000. Playing right now. I know. It's wild.

There's 8 million games going on today. And if you're not like a chess player, like again, I feel like I'm working, I do like, I'll work for them for a day, but it's all for charity. So it's, you know, it's, this is a charitable, it's fun to learn, right? Like it's, if you're going to like, like think about something and do some logic and maybe like instead of your social media for the summer, maybe go to chess.com, like learn something. Good for your brain. That's what I've been doing. Food for thought. Food for thought.

Chess.com. Did you see the chief Super Bowl rings? I did.

What'd you think? I could fit in it. I'm going to take a nap in it later.

I'm going to go home and get in my chair. Yeah. They were, they were large.

They had more than 600 diamonds. Understated. I mean, yeah. Very understated.

But the thought that went into it. Yeah. No, I love that. And listen, I feel like I went to Super Bowl.

I'm getting a big one too. Those Patriots rings though, last two years ago when they were all in, when they were all in the studio right before the Super Bowl was here in LA, we got, you know, the man comes with a ring and like watches you and you get to try them on. Like the man like watches you because it's worth like a hundred grand. Yeah. But like, what would I do? Like, what am I going to do?

Steal it from work? Like, that's weird. So anyways, you try them on. The Patriots ones are still, I think bigger than that Chiefs ones. Really? Oh, those Patriots ones are like, they're like, they're, they were like insane. Golf balls. Yeah. And those are, the funny part is, is those actually are like, like legacy, like they have like a lot of history in, in those rings that the, the ones that the Patriots had were all like Gillette stadium, like reenacted on a hand.

It was wild. Has it gone too far? Cause I mean, like now we're at, you know, more than 600 diamonds. Is it going to go to a thousand diamonds? I mean, the next time the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl, it's going to be like, it'll probably be like 10,000 diamonds.

I don't know. This time next year, but I mean, that ring is going to be, we'll all be, we'll all be dead. So no one will ever find out how dare you, sir. How dare you, would you wear the ring if you, if you want, no, no, you're like on the necklace or something.

No, no. I mean, I see, you know, the, some guys in the studio, Michael, if Mike wants, Michael Ervin, if he ever wears his ring, then I'll, then I would wear mine because I'll just, he's just the coolest person alive. He never brings it. No, I think if to, he probably brings it to Canon when they do that. But I don't know.

I've never asked. Some of the other guys wear the ring. So yeah, no, we see him and that's the first thing I want to do is like, let me, let me wear that. Where would that ring be? Part of that greatness. Right.

All that blank. You like put that like in a room and like you like heavily secured situation because that baby. No, no.

Someday I want to like, I want to work for a team so I can get one of those rings. Uh, but it would be like under lock and key, like all the time. I believe it. It's like the Mona Lisa.

It's like the Mona Lisa. She wouldn't do a pub crawl with it around the chain, Cynthia. Is that what you're saying? No. You want to get like a fake one and maybe like wear the fake one. Okay. Like a security, I guess, to walk around with you while you're rocking the ring.

That's that's way too, like I'm way too, like I wouldn't, I'd start drinking with my security, you know, like, like I can't have someone, no, no, no, no, that's not my style. What's the coolest thing about, about working with Irv? Oh man. The dynamic between Rich, Michael, Mooch and Kurt is one of the funniest things to see.

And it's like legendary. So working with all of them has been one of the biggest like pleasures and also just the genuine interaction, like they really like, like nothing changes when we are not being filmed except maybe some more swear words and maybe some louder and more phone calls. Like Irv will take the phone call like, like this instead of like this. That's really just the difference. I mean, we talk about quarterbacks in the off season going to work out with their receivers and stuff like, is Rich bringing all of you all together to work out in the off season to get ready for game day morning?

See, here's the difference. Rich knows that the thing we'd prefer is to stay the heck away from the studio. So Rich says, go away, do something fun and tell me the story about it later. Like Rich, Rich knows, like we're the opposite because we spend way too much time together. So he's like, stay away, get away. It doesn't have to be the studio, right? It could be like Mammoth, Big Bear, Beach.

You know, all the adults are rich. We're going to all go to his house someday. We'll bring this show too. Good plan. Could be.

Yeah. Could be at the country club. Let's go to his house. With the kids. Susie would love that. A game day morning convention.

A summit, shall we say. You guys can bring out Del Tufo's boat for an afternoon. That's what you should do.

Go sail in the Catalina. There you go. Exactly.

Exactly. That sounds like a fun time. Cynthia, also big, big marathon runner.

Big long distance superstar. How many marathons have you run and where are we at with the next one? I'm at 25.

Okay. So that means 25 states, correct? Halfway through. I've made the stupid goal of doing one in every state and I'm halfway through.

Which sounds... I need to rebrand it. I've only got 25 left. Yeah.

No. I'll probably do Wyoming this year. You run with the horses. Really? It's an outdoor trail run. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's an outdoor trail run, but we'll see.

It could be hard, but... So just one this year? Probably just one this year. And what's your training heading into these things? Well, I accidentally fell off the woodway, the self-propelled, whatever, treadmill, which set me back a little bit because my ankle was a little dicey after that. So usually I'll do two in a summer, but I fell off the woodway so I had to take a little bit of a break.

So my training is after that, it's just gotten a little bit to the point where it's like I do the same kind of eight to 10 week prep, but then I still run all the time. So I don't know. What's been your favorite of the 25?

Great question. Chicago is, if you're going to do one big city one, it's the most friendly to your family, whatever. And then probably my favorite one was Missoula, Montana though. Ooh. Yeah. They have fireworks at the beginning. It's totally gorgeous. And the air was so clean. It felt like really good.

It was great. There's no fans though. So you're just, it's just you. Yeah. But it's Montana. It's kind of like the runner's high becomes like a different.

Oh, it's insane. But the air is so, it's crazy. The air is amazing. Well, speaking of air, have you run in Colorado? I haven't run in Colorado yet.

I have to do some more of the states that aren't as fun before I can go back to doing the fun states. And also like the football season makes it hard cause you know, a lot of the races take place in the fall. And so I'm starting to run out of races that are not in the fall.

That's right. You need, you need June races. I need some June races.

June races. Uh, you do so many different things at NFL network. What, what more, what would be the next thing you would like to do there? I mean, you want to host TA, do you want to host the, I mean like, I'm gonna let the host do the hosting. Do some play by play.

What's next for Cynthia Freeland? I want to do in game analytics. Like I want to do like, uh, like in game, make it fun, make the analytics shine during the game while it's actually going on real time.

That kind of stuff. I think that would be, I'm gonna let the host do the hosting. I don't know. It's not my, it's not my, is that like a second analyst role? Like do you have your, your, your play by play, your football analyst and then your analytics? I think so. I mean, I feel like the booth is a great place for like, there's when you see so many different like feeds and all the, you kind of saw it with Amazon even this season where the second screen had like all the stats running at the same time, but it might be nice to have someone give you a little bit of context so that it's like, well, why do I care?

Or at specific times, like what matters about this and a little less like make you do the math yourself and a little more like, here's the story behind why this data matters. So I think that's my next goal. Okay. Where do you see the betting space going? I think there's two ways. I think people already know how to bet, like, I don't think you're, you're going to educate a new audience. They're, they might switch where they're doing it, but that to me isn't even the most interesting part of betting. To me, it's the, like, it's the connection you have between people.

Like I know Brockman's a Patriots fan and so I don't want to, you know, when usually when the Lions play the Patriots for years, like I'm not, I want to make it fair because then we can, he can buy me a beer later, you know, like I don't necessarily need it to be for like money. I'd rather it be for experiences and connection of between people. And I actually think that's what younger generations are doing too, smaller transactions, maybe for loyalty points or something fun as opposed to necessary, because people, again, people already know, you know, casinos aren't huge and beautiful for no reason.

They know what they're doing there, right? So we don't need to reinvent that wheel. Take the dynamic and the psychology behind it, apply it to something people want, which is younger people want to like connect, like I want a sandwich.

You know, I just want a sandwich, you know, like pizza wings, like three wings, it's core touchdown on this drive. Exactly. But stuff like that, that's like a little like, like, make it, it doesn't need to always be like, Hey, I got this bookie and like, like that, no, it can be something as, as fun as just connecting people and bringing you together, but leveling the playing field a little bit so that if maybe you're a, maybe this year, like the Lions could be good, but like, you know, in years past, I've, I've needed those points, darn it. I think that's brilliant.

Have you started to develop that app? We have. I've started to like, think about how to do that a little bit better because people care about why. Our fans are really smart. They know what zone defense looks like. They know what man to man, they, they don't need to be spoon fed poo. Like they can, nobody needs to be spoon fed poo, like we have really smart fans and they get it and they love it. So, and they just want to be right or they want to be wrong and go down in flames being wrong. Like, you know, it's, it, it, it can be fun.

Like that's the whole thing is, God forbid we have fun with football. The no, no, it's, it's, it can be fun. What a, what is that sandwich?

What does it look like? What's your, what's the favorite sandwich if you were making that wager with Brockman on a, on that drive, I'm going to need something real good. I mean, I like, I like a, like a good, strong, like I go through phases right now. I'm like, all I want right now is like a tuna sandwich. There's a really good one near us and like, I know it sounds crazy, but who has the best tuna sandwich? I actually, you know, Java man and really good tuna coffee there, but I like the like chicken Curry wrap. Like I like it all. Like I'm just fazy.

I'm fazy with food. I'm going to have to try the tuna. It's good. It's really good.

Feller. Have you had the, the tuna sandwich at a Java man? I have not, but I might today now morning glory muffin is my go to a job. So good.

I love that. Morning. It's the best muffin I've ever had in my life. It's delicious.

It's delicious. Next time I come in, I'll bring in morning glory. Oh my God.

See you on Monday. Yeah. There you go. It won't be me, but uh, I invite you here to give them perfect morning glory from Java mint.

Uh, sin. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me stopping by. Absolutely.

Uh, I hope to see you soon in the South Bay. Yeah. With your parents. And with Gordy. With Gordy. Yeah.

But Mary and art too. They're the best. Cynthia has the best family, you know, whether they're humans or pups, but thanks for spending some time with us. Thanks for having me. Excellent NFL media analytics expert back with more after this swap spots, go out there with Rob.

It's like the, it's like the Ravens back in the day, I'm going to beat your double I'm going to just put, I'll high point, I'm going to high point this, I'm going to high point this. You ready? He's going to take your boat.

That's not even mic'd up. All right. Go. Come on. He's going up.

They don't know what to do. I'm watching off the jam and I'm going to hop over that is what's going to happen here. Here we go. We got to go. All right. Nice. Absolutely.

How much time? We've got to make this amazing business now. I'm the only host that lays out, but normally I'll lay out for a soundboard out of football. Welcome back to the rich eyes and show radio network. I am sitting at the rich eyes and show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grainger has the right product for you call click Grainger.com or just stop by Steve Weissman in for rich today, who I believe will be having his best ever 40 time at run rich run next year because he's been training in Israel and just looks, looks faster in the desert. I believe it. He's literally kicking up dust out there. Literally kicking up dust. It is time now and we have waited far too long for this T.J. It is your top five AKA big ass grab bag like we always do it this time, fellas, kaboom. Guess who stepped in the room? T.J. here. Listen to me, guys. We've been doing a lot of talking about food this week for some reason, you know, for me and Tommy Pelosero cruising the streets of Inglewood looking for tacos to you talking about eating snails and frog legs and friends to, you know, someone who hates cheese to Cynthia talking about wings and subs.

And it all kind of played in perfectly, guys, because today I decided to dig in the big ass grab bag and I decided to pull this out. I'm going to give you T.J.'s top five fictional restaurants. OK, guys, restaurants now, these are specific restaurant specifics like I'm not talking bar restaurants. Therefore, we won't see, you know, where are we not going to see? We're not going to see Cheers. You know, we're not going to see the Regal Beagle. We're not going to see Patty's Pub. We're not going to see the Boar's Nest.

All right. These are just restaurants. OK. No, Peach Pit didn't quite make the list that could have, you know, shout out to the Peach Pit. Shout out to shenanigans from the movie Waiting.

There's a few that could have made it, but didn't. OK. OK. Coming in at number five, we're going to head to Miliwake, Wisconsin here. We're going to go to a nice little diner drive in type spot. Let me tell you, there's a lot of cool kids that hang out there. As a matter of fact, there might be the coolest guy that's ever lived on TV, wears a leather jacket. He kind of uses the men's room as his office. And look, there's a jukebox.

If you want to hear music, don't put a quarter in. Just have him pound on it. OK, that's Arnold from Happy Days. And the crazy thing is you might even see an owner who looks a lot like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid.

It's crazy. You know, you go in there, you get a good burger, you listen, have some good times and happy days. And that's why I got Arnold's coming in at number five. At number four. This place has 14 locations throughout the country, but the main ones in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

And you know what? If you want some good chicken and just an alarmingly charming owner, I'd say this is the place to go. And as long as you're not worried about like some cartel warfare breaking out, then this is the spot for you, Los Pollos Hermanos. You know, you could see Gus Fring, get yourself some chicken, you know, and like I said, as long as you're not worried about some gunshots, possibly the restaurant, I think you're going to love the place and you'll love the chicken. How did it come?

Yeah. Tell them that Saul said, OK, coming in at number three, this is the ultimate greasy spoon restaurant located in Phoenix, Arizona. You'll get a decent meal, but you'll get a whole lot of sass when you go to this restaurant. You know, the chili con car carne is to die for.

I mean, literally it's to die for someone's died eating it. And that is Mel's Diner, remember, from Alice Mel's Diner. You got Flo, who's going to tell you if you get smart with her, she'll tell you to kiss her grits. You might hear the cook. I wouldn't send anything back because then you'll have Mel come out.

He'll tell you to stow it. You might see Tommy in the corner doing his homework, you know, and you got Alison Ver as well. Mel's Diner. And that just reminds me of like laying back with my grandparents and watching that show. So that's why I had to put that in.

And number three, coming in at number two. Look, we all love pizza, right? Who don't love pizza, especially on a hot day? Nothing better to go into a little pizzeria, especially if you're in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. And I tell you what, you go to this pizzeria, you're going to love the pizza.

The only thing you got to deal with is kind of like a grumpy owner, maybe a somewhat racist son working in there. If you order delivery, there's no time limit where you're going to get it because the pizza delivery guy, he's on his own clock. That's Sal's famous pizzeria from do the right thing. Now, I got to be honest with you, there's no brothers on the wall.

That's a problem for me. Pizza is a buck fifty a slice. Extra cheese is two dollars. That's all good because Sal's famous is where it's at. OK, coming in at number one. OK, this is my number one fictional restaurant of all time. Now you go to this restaurant. It's also located in New York. It's up in Queens now.

It's not the Golden Arch, it's got a golden arc. You're going to get a big mick and it's going to come with no sesame seeds. Look, the employees of this restaurant, man, they're happy. You know why they happy, Chris?

Because they know there's a chance for advancement in the company. They know that this week you could be mopping the floors and next week you're on the fries. And that is McDowell's from coming to America.

Look, you can talk with the owner about football. Just make sure you stay off the bugs and look, you might even find your queen to be running the restaurant. OK, McDowell's restaurant coming to America. It's T.J.'s top five number one best fictional restaurant. Of course, I want to hear everyone else's ideas.

Talk to me, guys. What do you think? I love all of those. Well done. Yes.

Very, very well done. McDowell's number one. So I don't know. The place gets robbed all the time. Doesn't mean the food's not good. That's how good the food is. This is about the food, right? About the safety.

There was one time a guy that looked like Sam Jackson may have, but then they had a great employee, this kid from Africa. He came out with a mop handle, he took care of him, so you're going to be safe at McDowell's. I mean, Los Pollos Hermanos, you're not safe either, but.

Not safe there at all. But the chicken is. The chicken is.

It's phenomenal. What, does Good Burger count? Good Burger almost made the list.

That was the one. No monks? I want a big salad. I know, monks. You guys get mad if I put any extra in, so I had to leave some of these out. Yeah, man. Big thanks to all y'all. Great job, Steve. Brockman Feller. TJ, thanks to Rich for letting me fill in on the show. Have a great weekend, everybody.