RE Show: Tim McGraw - Hour 3

This is the Rich Eisen Show. Please welcome Rich Eisen. What a story. Can't believe it. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

This was done out of the goodness of the giant's heart. Taequann Barkley had resigned himself to the fact that he just needed to show up. Now Josh Jacobs, not inclined to show up anytime soon. Earlier on the show, NFL Network reporter Mike Garofalo, former NFL executive Joe Banner. Coming up, Grammy Award winning artist Tim McGraw. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Yes, hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Great conversations in hour number one about the opening training camps across the National Football League. Mike Garofalo from the Giants training camp where Taequann Barkley did not speak today. Joe Banner, the longtime executive on his thoughts on what the running back market should do. He had some fascinating comments about Taequann Barkley saying, Taequann coming in now has guaranteed him being franchise tagged next year.

That's what he said. If he's coming in now and not holding out at all and not making the Giants sweat, then the Giants are absolutely going to franchise tag him. He said he thought Barkley should have just stayed out until the Tuesday before week one and basically said, I'm not playing week one. But I'll be there the rest of the year. You made the Giants sweat. You would have loved that.

Oh, man, that would have made that prediction even that much easier. I'm with you. You know, James Robinson or Taequann? Hell yeah.

No offense. Tim McGraw is about to show up here on the program. That's going to be dynamite. He's got a new album coming out on August the 25th called Standing Room Only. He was just on Monday night. He showed up at the Whiskey nightclub on the Sunset Strip with Richard Marks out of the blue.

How about that? We'll talk to Tim McGraw, who's in town for his new album and and little Tennessee Titans football. Rich, do you believe that I'm actually because you think I don't go anywhere. I've attended a Tim McGraw concert. Have you really?

And Kenny Chesney, Brothers of the Sun 2012. Oh, so. Oh, great. So you went out 11 years ago. That's great.

Why I oughta. Yeah, isn't that great. Eleven years ago you went out. It was 11 years ago last week. Wonderful.

That's the thing. Oh, the anniversary. Happy anniversary of you going out.

You went out 11 years ago. Fantastic, Rich. That was fantastic. If you've missed any of the first two hours, don't worry. We re-air right here on the Roku channel. There's also our podcast where all podcasts can be acquired through the Cumulus Podcast Network all three hours every single day. Hit us with the follow button. Add yourself to our RSS feed. And of course, there's our YouTube page.

There's so many different ways to follow us and we're so appreciative of everybody doing that. Again, Tim McGraw is about to show up here. Okay. I have been on this story.

I talked about it a lot back in June. Much to the dismay of Buffalo Bill's lovers as if I, you know, I don't have any leg to stand on with them. You know, I got crushed like a folding table. Like, I've been talking about how much I love Josh Allen and he's coming for your soul. And I chose them to win the Super Bowl last year going in. And of course, we found out in the middle of the season how this team filled with heart and soul. And everything that happened with them and Damar Hamlin's heart. I think they just gave way. And Allen also did not have enough red zone options at his disposal and did try to do the dreaded too much.

And I think they've fixed these problems. I think adding Damian Harris to the mix there. I know they lost Naeem Hines, but I think that they have Dalton Kincaid coming in, their first round draft choice out of Utah. This tight end is going to be an absolute game wrecker on defenses inside the 20 yard line. Von Miller's coming back. He says he's hoping to play week one. By the way, I feel the same way about Von as you do about Saquon in week one. Let him sit out. Take your time.

Yeah, man. Don't rush back. It's a long season. But Von is looking engaged and looks as great as ever. Tavis Murray is on this depth chart at running back as well.

I think they have checked a lot of boxes. But the thing that caused me some alarm was the fact that Stefan Diggs showed up at the mandatory minicamp and then didn't stay the day. Went home, either went home or got sent home. And the head coach, Sean McDermott, when asked at one point in the press conference of the first day of this training camp, are you concerned? He said very concerned. Normally coach is like, oh, no, we're working out. We're in the house.

We got this, that, the other thing. No, he flat out said there. OK, so if the coach is saying there's cause for concern, then I am concerned. Because whatever happened with Diggs and Allen on the sidelines of their playoff loss in the western New York snow against the Bengals, if that's still lingering in any way, shape or form in June, that hasn't been put to rest bed, however, to the satisfaction of Diggs.

Then why and how will that affect matters when games actually get played? That's what I said. I talked about it with everybody that was on the show.

Information men and women and also analysts. Robert Griffin, the third, said it was something personal between Diggs and Allen, which set off on definitely an alarm bell in here. And I saw Allen show up on the bus and podcast and say, you know, that this is overblown. Media is talking about it too much.

And I can only think he was talking to me because anything involving that bus involves me. I mean, obviously. I think we're on day 407 right now. They ain't missing. So. Allen's like, this is not an issue. And I at the time was saying, I got you. I need to hear from Diggs. And of course, I'd like to hear from Allen again when training camp starts.

And that day. Arrived today. So we've got sound bites galore. Are you ready, Mike? I don't know what you're doing. Just stop your banking or whatever you're doing on your app. OK, done. Here we go.

So he was banking. Josh Allen was asked about his communication with Diggs. And here's what he had to say. Have you and Steph since then talked things through or did you feel a need to talk to them through since then? I wouldn't say we've talked things through, but we've talked. You know, it's it's not about that anymore. It's about moving towards the season and setting our goals of what we want to do.

We want to bring a Lombardi Trophy here come February. So just making sure again that everybody in the team is on the same page, striving to have that that singular goal. And that's that's all it is. So the pages turned. Now they're just focusing on.

The season. And I don't blame. Allen for saying something like that, but I just I just love the I love everything about this kid.

I really do. And he seems to have a great relationship with Diggs or did. And now he's saying they talk, which is great because it didn't seem like they were talking to one another, but at one another. Last time we saw them on a football field together. But Diggs hasn't spoken.

That happened today. He was Diggs on his relationship with Josh Allen. Josh. Yeah, yeah, that's my guy. Like I say, when his family matters, like me and him have a conversation like, I don't know if you got kids or you have like siblings like y'all don't always get along. And me and him never did not get along. And I still but that's still been my guy.

That's always going to be my guy. So, yeah, we're fine. Why did it seem to take until minicam for those conversations to be had and all this get hash? You know, such that that's so long offseason that he was talking about earlier. So, I mean, I feel like it's a lot of time. And I mean, what do people do without a time out of time gives you a lot of time to think about things. And, you know, regarding at the end of the game or how things happen with the game, you can kind of like start mustering up like however you feel about it from your point of view or from your standpoint.

And that's what it's made for. The offseason is made for people to talk. It's not a lot of football going on. So let's talk about things that's going on outside of football or have a season in it or this. So for me, I just feel like, you know, such a long offseason. So took a little while.

I love his smile, too, man. It's a million watts. Look, he's not wrong. We definitely in the media talk about things when there's no football being played that we ordinarily might not focus in on laser. But this one is different or was different.

I'll give them the benefit of the usage of past tense here was different because this is this. These relationships need to be rock solid when things don't go your way as they invariably do in the crucible of an NFL game. Like, say, week one Monday night, whole country watching Aaron Rodgers making his Jets debut. And you're having to either go point for point or maintain a lead. So what was the first like what was the frustration?

Because clearly they lasted long enough where the long offseason it did take till June to hash it out. You know, here we're not done. This is the sound bites of Palooza.

Let's go. What were Stefan Diggs frustrations for teamwork to describe it? I mean, do your did your frustrations, whatever you talked about, involve your role in the offense specifically and the number of targets? No, it's not necessarily because I've been north of 100 targets through since my since my years getting here.

If you look at the numbers, I've been north of 100, I think every year since I've got here. So it's not about targets. It wasn't when I say teamwork, I guess when he attributed to teamwork, I guess it would be like as we're out there trying to make things shake, getting on the same pace consistently, you know, in those pivotal moments, in those moments where we're trying to, you know, make things happen, you know, because, you know, last year we had like a real feast or famine kind of like time when we spent in the red zone, like where we weren't clicking on all centers, like we would have an amazing touchdown and then we'll have like a miscue. And I and I take a lot of credit for that just as far as like, I mean, what could I do better?

How much more time could I be putting in? So that's why I think I mean, in my regard, he's talking about like teamwork. Like I could be a lot better for him because I know like I always say I can't imagine how hard it is to be the quarterback. And he's into our eyes. He's amazing.

And he's so hard on himself. So I just feel like I could be better for him or not. And I will. OK, I could be better for him and I will. The last question, they're like, OK, so we're good. Everybody's good here. You're good with Josh. How about you with the bills? You want to finish your career here? That was actually asked of Stefan Diggs today. Question, if you wanted to be a Buffalo Bill. Yeah. Is that also outlandish or? Yeah.

I mean, I feel like I mean, the year before that, I tell you, I wanted to retire Buffalo Bill. And like, I mean, it's more interesting to see how people run with a story. And it's kind of unfortunate a little bit in my eyes, because they're like saying I had the utmost love and appreciation for everybody involved. But you kind of start seeing people with true colors when they might hear something or like I might not clarify, but I don't speak on anything I don't want to speak on. I feel like at the end of the day, I'm entitled to speak on what I want to. I'm an adult. And like even like with my kids, like I feel like, you know, at one point you say I don't have to explain myself. You know what I'm saying?

But before the people that support me and the people that love me, I'm always have the most appreciation for. But, you know, it's kind of like in the smear campaign is it's never winning with me. I'm saying I would. You still want to retire Buffalo Bill? A hundred percent, sir. That's oh, sorry.

I didn't answer your question. OK. For the Bills to win it all this year, that that relationship has got to be rock solid. And as of now, all smiles.

And I would assume that's what it will be in the fall. These are the questions I wanted answered at the time. The coach saying I'm very concerned caused me to. That's an outlet that you don't hear that.

Coaches normally tamp it down, put it to bed. Him saying, yeah, I'm concerned. So wants to be a bill for life. I'm going to be better for Josh. Things happen.

Love them. Alan's like, yeah, OK, we're we're talking, but we're talking about the fall. Week one. ESPN is going to have a camera on Stefan Diggs the entire game. And the Jets are going to put sauce gardener on him. And Josh Allen is going to step on that field. And he's going to take the Buffalo Bills into New Jersey.

And. Needing to do to the Jets what they did to the Rams last year, which is the building is electric. Electric field with happy campers in the stands celebrating. Now, the Rams are celebrating a banner and a ring. Jets are celebrating.

A new lease that has not been around in a long time. And hopefully for the bills, they've got Von Miller at their disposal because he is a Hall of Fame game wrecker. A professional game wrecker. And that will be the one individual more than Diggs and Allen that can neutralize Rogers, obviously. And the Jets are going to be hyped. In the locker room and hyped by the media, and the Bills will be sick and friggin tired of it. In the same way you heard Mahomes on the Netflix documentary say, you know what, I think we match up better with the Bills, but I want the Bengals because they're doing a lot of talking. When he was asked by a member of his family, I think, who do you want in the AFC Championship game? He's like, Bengals, because they're doing a lot of talking. I think the Bills are going to be thinking the Jets are doing a lot of talking, even though they're not, really. It's just the media doing a lot of talking about them after the meteor had their names, Diggs and Allen, in their mouths. We did on this show.

I am one of them. But I will defend my interest in the subject matter when the coach says, I'm very concerned. And the last we saw of these two players was what we saw on the field or on the sideline in the western New York snow with the season falling completely now to shambles that started looking so great in Los Angeles. By punking the Rams in the night, they raised their banner. And then we didn't see much between these two guys at all until the minicamp. And we saw what happened.

So I will defend my interest in the subject matter. But all of that, what we heard today, there will still be a camera trained on Diggs on that Monday night. And they're going to come in really, really excited to tell Jets fans what time it is. And it's still their time in the AFC East. And Rodgers and the Jets will be really eager to show the Bills and the rest of the league that have already finished up the first week of the season, that it's their time now.

Holy cow. Is that a huge week one finale? I can't wait. It's going to be lit. And it's going to be so, so intense. And we'll see it all play out. Oh, my gosh, I can't wait. But for the moment, I will turn the page.

I will. I've heard what I needed to hear. They say the page is turned.

And that's that. And I would, as Joe Banner said in hour number two, counsel anybody who thinks that the Bills are suddenly beatable in a way that they haven't been the last couple of years, I'd push back on that notion. I am genuinely concerned that the Jets are all set up and there's not the Patriots sitting at the top. Brady's finally gone, but the Bills are there.

And if Diggs and Allen are cool and everyone else is healthy, I still think they're the team to beat in the AFC East. Take a break. Tim McGraw, everybody.

Yeah. In studio and still to come as well. Somebody got a new tattoo arm sleeve and somebody has a new mustache in the NFL. And what you're about to see, you will not unsee.

But before that, Tim McGraw in studio. That's next. How would you like to look five years younger? In a clinical study, people that had volume added with Juvederm Voluma XC in the cheeks perceived themselves as looking five years younger at six months after treatment. Look younger.

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For full important safety information, visit Juvederm dot com. This is what I love about fandom, football fandom. You're a sweet person. You are known generally as just a sweet, nice person who likes meeting people and just likes human life. You would love making people's lives better through either your music or your words or your essence. I understand it, but when it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs, to hell with everybody else. Did I say it right?

By the way, I don't mean to tell an all-time great lyricist how to speak or talk or communicate. I have a Kansas City Chiefs guitar strap and when I play Oakland or Denver or Boston, I will come out and I will start. Believe me, my audience will love, especially in New England, my audience will love me, love me, they're cheering and I'll go, and I'll see you in the playoffs and then it's all of a sudden booze, it's horrible, it will ruin a show. My wife says, don't talk football. I can't help it.

But you've got to do it. You've got the passion for it. Who was your chief growing up? Who was the person that you're like, okay, this is making me fall in love with football? Well, it was my father and it was Lenny Dawson and Hank Stram and the 1969, 1970 Chiefs. I watched the Super Bowl. I saw my hometown and everyone go crazy and it just, of course, that was the last time we were in the Super Bowl. But since then, every year you're like, we could do that again.

It never goes away. I know. You know the draft is coming in a couple of years too to Kansas City.

I don't know if you're aware of that. I was really excited. I was so excited because it's such a, Kansas City is a beautiful city. That whole area is, they love their Chiefs, our Chiefs. They are, it's a beautiful city that's grown and has so much to offer and I love that they've got that and people can actually see them. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, part of the live stream right here on Roku, sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger.

With supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. An honor to have here in the Rich Eisen Show studio here in Los Angeles, California, someone who I have not seen since the draft in Nashville. His new album, Standing Room Only, will be available wherever on August 25th. The Grammy Award winning recording artist, the great Tim McGraw here on the show. Great to see you, Tim. Great to see you, man.

Always. I have not seen you since the draft in Nashville, Tennessee. I know what a fun time that was. Let me tell you something. You know how Super Bowls are in rotations for cities.

The draft should be in a rotation for Nashville. That was unbelievable. It was crazy how many people were there. I mean, it blew my mind, the people that showed up. Nashville always shows up for big events and they blew it out of the water. I mean, it was one of the most special events I've ever played. And of course, I'm a football nut, too, so to be able to be involved in all of that and to be involved in bringing it to the city. It was really one of those things that I'll always remember as a highlight of my career.

Yeah, I remember, you know, we're seeing a photograph of you performing. This was after the Friday night, right? The second night of the draft? I think so. The second night of the draft. But, you know, the commissioner, I do believe, brought you out. He did. With Eddie George, right?

To start the whole shooting match. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. And then, as I'm drawing a blank, coach came out. Yeah. And we threw footballs. No, the Saints coach. Oh, the Saints coach. Sean Payton at the time? Sean Payton came out. Okay. And we threw some footballs in the crowd.

I think I went pretty deep on one of them. But just the fact that they made lower Broadway into a draft hall where you could just sit there, watch proceedings, and then go into some of the best establishments in the United States of America for food and drink and revelry. And good music. And good music, right, obviously. They have to bring it back. They have to constantly bring it back.

So, like, Nashville set the bar a little higher for those things. How often do you perform in any of those spots in Nashville, Tim, or used to? Not very often. I used to. I started my career down on lower Broadway in Penner's Alley at a place called Skulls Rainbow Room. And I was the house band there for a while. Okay. When I first moved to town.

Now, walk me through that. Yeah. You're part of the house band. Well, I was the front guy for the band. A really good band at the time. In fact, a couple of the guys that played in that band played with me for years. In fact, one guy's been with me 31 years now that started out playing with me there. That's cool.

Yeah. And so you would just play? Just play every night.

Gosh, almost probably seven nights a week, sometimes six nights a week play. And it was back there and it was a little seedier than it is now. There was Skulls Rainbow Room and right next to Skulls Rainbow Room was the Pink Poodle, which you can imagine what kind of establishment that was. Well, that's a dog rescue, right? Yeah, yeah.

And look, I won't go into detail, but the good thing about it was the dressing room had connecting doors to the Pink Poodle. Fantastic. That was fun times back then. You've come a long way, Tim. You've come a long way. So what was your big break? When did you get your big break?

I made a demo. I'd never been in the studio before. And actually, rest his soul, the guy who played steel guitar in the band there, the house band there, took me in the studio and I recorded three songs. And I went to Curb Records, Mike Curb. Well, Mike Curb owned Curb Records, but Mike Borchetta, who oddly enough is the father of Scott Borchetta, who runs my label now that I'm on a big machine. But I went to his office and I kept trying to get in the door, kept trying to get in the door, kept trying to call and couldn't get a meeting.

So I just showed up one day and walked into his office and he goes, Tim, I got to go. I don't have time. So just listen to one song. Just listen to one song. And this was in, gosh, I want to say early 91.

Okay. Or spring of 91. And I moved here to Nashville in 89 and walked in the door. I said, well, if you'll listen to one song, then I'll get out of your hair and leave you alone. And he listened to one song. And by the end of the song, he says, you've got a record deal. Come on.

Yeah. And so a couple months later, signed a record deal. And then when the studio started recording my first album, which I always say went wood, it didn't do very well. It was one top 40 song off of it.

It was enough to get me going. And then after it didn't do anything that much, the label sort of forgot about me. So I started collecting songs and collecting songs and collecting songs and met Byron Gallimore, who's my producer now.

And then our producer forever after those first three sides. And I started gathering songs and didn't play them for anybody, didn't play them for management. And then I didn't let the label know. And we rented a studio and went in and started recording the album without letting the label know about it. And then we finally finished the album and turned it in. And they said, we didn't give you permission to record this album. Right. And then they heard the album. It was Not A Moment Too Soon, which was my first big record. Yes. And after they heard the album, they go, all right, let's go.

Let's go set it all up. Well, what a great, I guess, way to, what a great message, I guess. It is just like, do it, right?

If not you, the thing I tell everyone here is that if not you, who, and if not now, when, just go out and do it. Right. I mean, part of it is just having the cojones just to go give it a shot. Right.

Sure. And try because there's tons of, I mean, there's way better talented, more talented people than I am out there. But you've got to, you know, it's like always sort of look at it as like jumping off the cliff at night and you don't know what's below you. But you have to jump. Right. Yeah. And you've got to sew and get in the water and then obviously swim.

Well, you sink or swim at that point. I know, right? And now you've got your new album, Standing Room Only, available everywhere on August 25th, your 17th studio album with 13 brand new tracks. And what inspired you to do this one? Yeah, you know, it's been three years since I released an album.

The first one, the last one, came out right in the middle of COVID. So I had a lot of time on my hands to start collecting music and writing music and started to figure out what I wanted to say on my record and spent the last three years working on it and recording and making it. And just trying to find songs that in a lot of ways reflected what everybody was going through at that time and then reflected us getting our feet back under us, you know. So most of it's about life affirmation and about how you live your life and the important things in life and important things that matter.

I mean, there's some fun stuff on there as well. But even the uptempo fun songs have a good message to them as well. And for me, it's always about the song. Songs are things that matter. I mean, you can sing the phone book, but if you don't have a good song, you don't have anything. So what's your process? Does it just come in the shower, behind the wheel of a car?

All the above. What I end up doing is I write a lot, but a lot of my stuff doesn't make the albums because what I have is I have these ideas of the themes and the kind of music that I want to record for my next project. So I start writing songs and I'll finish a couple of things. I think, well, that's a pretty good song. And then sure enough, I'll get a song from a songwriter that says what I was trying to say in a lot better way.

Right. So I end up it ends up kicking mine off the record and I end up recording theirs. But I've got so many great songwriter friends and I listen to songs all the time. I mean, I'm always collecting songs. Gosh, I'll probably listen to two or three new songs a day.

Always. Who do you like listening to right now, Tim? Oh, gosh. You know, when I listen, I don't listen to music a whole lot except for new stuff when I'm working on it. But I'm a 70s freak, 80s freak. You know, I love the Eagles. Phil Collins. I always go back to Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, George Strait.

But, you know. But you're naming rock and roll. You're not naming just country music. I grew up, I'm influenced by everything. Everything that I grew up listening to, I'm influenced by. And then I learn from new artists all the time as well.

I mean, you know, I make a point most of the time. We're playing a big fair festival. Yeah. And there's a lot of acts on. I try to get out and stand outside the stage and watch.

And you always pick up something from somebody. No pressure if anybody's looking over and seeing Tim McGraw check him out. I don't think I give him any pressure. No, come on. I can only imagine. When you said 70s music, are you also listening to yacht rock? I love yacht rock.

That's probably my favorite station. I get so much crap from my friends and my kids when I tell them that I listen to yacht rock. They say, I didn't peg you for a yacht rock guy. I'm a sucker for it. And I know every word to every song on the yacht rock channel.

Me too. And I sing it at the top of my lungs to the point where the kids are going, dad, that's enough. What's your yacht rock song then? Oh my gosh. I'll tell you mine.

Tell me. Brandy. Oh, Brandy. Brandy, you're a fine girl.

What a good wife you would be. Exactly. Yeah. Yes. That's a good one. Yeah. That's a good one. Gosh.

That's my go-to. It's Brandy. Michael Bolton, you know. Okay. Love Michael Bolton. Okay, sure.

When he comes on. Okay. You ripped the knob off. Gosh, Journey. Okay.

Journey's top notch. Okay. Yeah. So I mean, I can go on and on about that. Okay. Come on. And then you were with, if I'm not mistaken, Richard Marks here in Los Angeles. Yeah. He's a good friend of mine. On Monday night, you just show up with a sneak preview concert Monday night at the Whiskey Nightclub on the Sunset Strip. It was a lot of fun.

It was a blast. I mean. And he came up and sang with me and we sang Don't Mean Nothing, which was his first hit. Okay. And I think he was 21, 22 when he had that record out and he still looks 21, 22. He does.

Well, I mean, you guys have the fountain of youth, both of you guys. He's a great guy. He's one of my favorite people in the business.

Okay. I was wondering why it was the big traffic jam just down the street from me on the Sunset Strip. Plus, he's on Yacht Rock a lot too. Oh, I'm just kidding. He is indeed. He's the man.

Tim McGraw here on The Rich Eisen Show, at the Tim McGraw on Twitter and Instagram. And then so you've got your shows coming up. You're heading out to Wyoming later on this very week.

This week? Yeah. Playing the Cheyenne Frontiers Day Rodeo. Frontiers Day Rodeo. Okay.

Yeah. It's one of my favorite places to play. I love rodeos. I grew up. I rode high school rodeo for three years.

What'd you do? Bareback and team roping. Okay. A few bulls.

Back in the day between football, baseball, and basketball, I was doing high school rodeo. All right. I'll bite at that one now.

And then we'll return to your dates. So football. Mm-hmm. High school? Is that what you played?

High school, yeah. Okay. What'd you play? I was wide receiver, defensive back, and ran all the kickoffs and punts back.

Okay. So I never came off the field. So you didn't? Yeah. You were a four-down player? Five-down player? Yeah, four-down player.

Oh, every play. And when I graduated high school, I was like a buck 40 and 5'9". So I grew three inches after high school, and I was like, damn, where was that one I needed?

Did you have any designs on maybe continuing to play a little bit? I knew football was out of the question because I was so small, but I was a pretty good player. And basketball was probably my best sport. I was a pretty good basketball player, but still short. But I could dunk in high school at 5'9".

Get out of here! Yeah, yeah. I can still... Well, probably not now because my knees are bad, but until about a year ago, I could still grab the rim. Yeah.

So I don't think I have those hops anymore. Give me Tim McGraw's best night on the hardwood. Give me your... 54 points. What? Yeah. That was my best game. And I had the flu.

The Jordan? Yeah. I had the flu. And I remember one time I had to run straight, I did a layup and run straight through the back doors and went through up outside and come right back in and kept playing and never even stopped the game. Wait a minute. And I thought, and you know, anybody that's ever played when you've been sick, you feel like you're doing nothing, right?

Right. And a couple of times I went over to the coach and said, you know, you need to take me out. I just think I'm hurting the team. And by the end of the game, I thought maybe I'd scored 10 or 12 points. And then I looked at the book and I was like, oh, okay, well, wasn't too bad.

54! And you didn't even realize it? And that was before the three pointers. And we didn't have three pointers, but it wouldn't have done me any good because I was a terrible outside shot. Okay. I was a point guard, but I was a terrible outside shot. So you drove the lane, you were a match-up. I was a snatcher. Okay. You had quick first step. That was pretty quick. You had some pick and roll game.

You were tough to defend. Yeah. Yeah. Mid-range maybe, mid-range jumper.

Mid-range jumpers, if I could, but most of the time everybody was so tall, I had to fake a mid-range jumper and kind of scoop it underneath. Okay. Wow. 54 points. That was my best game. Yeah.

Tim McGraw. I know. How about that? Okay. Very good.

They weren't all that good, but. No, hey. But at least you have that.

My average was 27 my senior year. Okay. So who have you, let's just, if you don't mind, drop a name or two. NFL players that are fans of yours that you've had, you had concerts that you know these guys.

Oh my gosh. They know you. You know them. Well, Brett and I have been friends for years and years.

Far, are you talking about? Yeah, before. Okay.

We've been friends for years, since, gosh, 30 years. Okay. Yeah, so. What about Peyton? Peyton. What about Mr. Tennessee himself?

Yeah, Peyton I've hung out with quite a bit. We actually did a show at the, oh, Tipitina's in New Orleans one night, and after concerts sort of, we called them bread and mortar shows, we'll play a club after a concert sometimes. Okay. And he showed up, and it was right when he first signed his huge bonus, I think, with the indie.

Okay. And we have this tip jar, so we will, any request we would play, and if we play it badly, we won't stop playing it unless you tip us again. So he was asking for a song, and he wanted to give me a tip, and he gave me a hundred dollar bill, and I brought him on stage, and I said, dude, I saw what your contract is. I saw what you just signed, and all this goes to charity, and you're gonna give me a hundred dollars. And I think he ended up writing me a ten thousand dollar check. On his top? He put it in there. He put it in there. He's good for it. I should have played it badly, so he'd pay me another ten to stop. That's funny.

Man, that is funny. And so I guess which player or athlete that you've met has the chops to maybe do what you do. Oh my gosh. Music.

That you've come across. I don't, I can't think of anybody right off the bat. You know, well, Mike Reed, of course, who had a big country career. He's a great songwriter.

He's written a couple of songs from, he wrote everywhere for me. So he's, so he's, you know, fantastic artist. Okay. What do you think of the Titans right now? We'll see. We'll see. I mean.

That's a good one. We've got, we've got some stuff, you know, I think it's just staying healthy and putting it all together. Derrick Henry is a Hall of Famer, I believe. Oh, absolutely. I mean, he's a beast. He is. Can you imagine being a defensive back and him coming at you? No.

It's just, I wouldn't get out of the way. It's called what Deion Sanders taught me a long time ago. It's called a business decision. Absolutely.

He's, if Derrick Henry's coming at you, you need to make a business decision. Absolutely. And usually. I'm going to keep playing no matter what. Right. Yeah.

And he's definitely, you know, he's, he's awesome and Tannehill's coming back and now DeAndre Hopkins is in their house there. That's going to be fun to watch. It will be. Yeah. I can't wait to see that.

We'll see. That's a very interesting way of putting that. Yeah. And, and it's so.

But I love him and I'm rooting for him. Yeah, for sure. I mean, and they, I love the coach. I love, you know. Ramble's a great guy. Have you met him?

Oh yeah, absolutely. You met him? You met everybody. I tried to.

Okay. I'm such a huge fan. I fan geek out every now and then when I meet some of these guys.

That is pretty cool. So you are going to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then North Lawrence, Ohio. If we go to Canada, Springfield, Illinois. Back to Canada again and then you'll be on Good Morning America, the concert, summer concert series in New York City.

Go to TimMcGraw.com for more dates and you just keep on crushing it, man. We're having fun. You know, start a big tour next year and first time in arenas in a long time. So we're looking forward to that with a huge production.

Okay. So I'm pretty excited about that. Standing Room Only.

We start rehearsals coming up. Yeah. Standing Room Only. Yeah.

Standing Room Only is the name of the tour. Fantastic. Thank you. Okay.

And then in the song on your album, Letters From Heaven, you talk about putting hot sauce on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Did you really do that? No.

I tried that. It just sounded good. It's one of those things? Yeah. Okay. It just sounded good.

It sounded like a good line. I just had to ask if you actually did something like that. No, I haven't. But I'm from Louisiana so I'll put hot sauce on everything. And you do? It's not above me to try it.

Unfortunately, I go in the opposite direction. You don't like the hot stuff? I can't. Oh, come on.

You know that pod, that show on YouTube where they make people eat hot stuff? I want to do that. I'm sure you'd be welcome to have you, but you could probably do that standing on your head.

No. I'd probably be surprised at how far I wouldn't get. Really? As much as I like hot stuff, I'll probably embarrass myself. I would be hospitalized.

Like two wings in, I would be hospitalized. The hot sauce is good for you though. It's good for your blood.

What do you mean? It's good for your circulation. Just to keep your heartbeat going? Yeah.

It's just totally a flame that you can't use it. I have to talk for a living. You know what I mean? Like I got to get back in front of a microphone, you know?

I have the scenes. I'm like, what are you? I see who I am. Wait a minute. You're so nice.

You're like, hey bro, I've got multiple Grammy awards. Again, standing room only available everywhere on August 25th. You were an anytime guest, man. Oh, thank you.

I've told you this before. I'm a huge fan of yours. Likewise. In every thank you and everything that you do. And I can't wait to have you back and talk about everything that you do. Yes.

I can't wait for that too. I know. It's everybody here.

Again, Grammy award winning recording artist Tim McGraw right here. The new album standing room only available everywhere on August 25th right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th. Yep. Going away.

As in kaput gone dead. Rest in peace, Stitcher. And thanks for 15 years of service to the podcast community. So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. All right. We're back here on the program.

Fun stuff with Tim McGraw. Yeah. I mean, he's just points rich. By the way, he didn't even let me finish the sentence.

What's your biggest? And he wasn't like, let me think. What did I do? No, 54 points. You knew exactly what his best game was. To anyone who didn't hear, Tim McGraw just revealed he scored 54 points in a high school game with no three pointers. More shocking. 54 points in a high school game by Tim McGraw with no three pointers or that Tim McGraw loves listening to Yacht Rock Radio. That's amazing.

I would think the 54 points would still come in. That's amazing. I don't know. I don't know how talented somebody is, but you'd think Tim McGraw is a Yacht Rock Radio freak. Well, you would figure a musician would appreciate different forms of music. That's the AM Gold era.

It's amazing. You wouldn't suspect Tim McGraw to go out there and drop 54 on you cutting to the hole with no threes. No threes. That's right. And puking. Having the flu game like Jordan. Yeah.

Exactly. The flu game. Tim McGraw's got flu game. Remember the bad pizza game.

He's got mad flu game. Like Mike said, I eat all the pizza. I eat the pizza myself.

I eat it all. Yeah. Man, I just remember. Remember that? That when the last dance was out and we treated that like it was. That's all we had. That's all we had. That's all we had. But we treated it like it was a major sporting event the night before. It was so great because we were at that time where we needed and we as a collective whole, we needed something. Well, didn't ESPN move up the document?

I think two months they moved it up because everyone needed that. And that was, that was, that was it for everyone that brought us all together. That should have, that should have won a Nobel Peace Prize. Peace Prize?

We should have won as a studio, the Nobel Peace Prize coming. By the way, is it weird that I told Tim McGraw that he smelled really good? Because he did, man. I can't remember. He smelled good. We'll find out if he ever returns. That's the answer to your question.

You freaked him out all the time. Back here on our program at Fun's Time with Tim McGraw right there. There's a bunch of stuff, odds and ends to finish up the program. First of all, great job doing this show this week by yourself, Mike. Because again, again, obviously we're here. We're here. TJ, you're there. I'm here. You're there. I'm here. I'm here. You're there. And Brockman's an empty chair.

Because again, normally when Brockman's not here, Susie will sit in that chair. She's out of town. But you are a guy who needs people. You're not a good solo. When I'm home alone, no, I get it.

I don't know. I know. I talk to myself all day, Rich. I need people. You need people.

You hear me here all the time. I know. And I just wanted to give you kudos that you've done a great job having nobody next to you.

I mean, during a commercial break, who are you going to jab her at? That's true. Exactly.

That was me from across the room. I understand that. Hold on. Now, have you gotten more interaction off-air from Del Tufo for the last three days because Chris isn't there? Oh, okay.

No. Because here's what you understand about Mike. Mike's going to say something whether you're listening to him or not. Yeah, I don't think Chris listens. He's going to talk. Oh, I've sat next to him on a plane before.

So whether you're paying attention or not, I'm trying to tweet and do some other things. Do you remember that scene, remember the scenes from Airplane years before where, you know, the main character, you know, Stryker is sitting there and he's telling stories and people start trying to hang themselves or self-immolate, you know, that was me sitting next to Del Tufo on a plane once. But you're the guy who doesn't handle it well whenever you're checked in by Westwood One and they shine you off. No, Brett, my new guys, Brett, Pete, all those guys are amazing. They're great. You say hello to them every day, but you haven't seen them in like a month.

Those guys are like the best. Okay. You can't handle it when people don't even just do the small talk. Yeah. So you've done a great job by yourself there. So I'm saying I'm actually excited for Chris to get back.

And I'm sure it'll be great when he comes back. But I just wanted to at least give you... Thank you, Rich. I've paid attention more, I think. I wanted to give you your due. Mike, keep talking.

He's trying to compliment you and all you did was jibber-jabber over the top except to compliment. I'm sorry. Thank you, TJ. Okay. So there's a couple of odds and ends from the old training camp stuff. Few odds and ends from training camp.

First of all, did you see how Tua has shown up at the training camp? Oh. Jack? Well, he's shown up with an arm sleeve. Oh, look at that.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Salty Tatua. The right arm. His non-throwing arm.

We can only hope the arm that he will use to brace himself with his jiu-jitsu falls now. Tua was asked about the becoming Tatua. It's something that falls off a piece that I had earlier this year. It's a piece that represents my first child.

There's a lot of things that go on behind it, a lot of cultural significance, a lot of things that has to do with protection, guidance, sort of things like that that we believe in the Samoan culture. So that's what it is. And then we implemented this piece that I already had with this.

So it's almost like when you pray, you take it off, you know, it kind of has the sense of you're taking a part of the tribal out of this side. So that's it. How long does something like that take? This is about three sessions, took about two and a half days.

Two and a half days. Wow. Wow.

So I wonder if he did it old school, the old school way that the Polynesian tattoos do is they kind of use a nail. Oh my gosh. I don't know.

Two and a half days. Let me just put it this way. I can't wait to see what this guy does this year. I hope if we get 17 games out of him, 17 starts, what this team will look like with that front seven. And Vic Fangio back is a defensive coordinator and we're all focused on Jets-Bills. I spent a whole hoo-ha on their first game.

And Dolphins look out. They made the playoffs last year, by the way. Tremendous group of receivers. Tatuah Tongovailoa getting ready to start for the Miami Dolphins week one.

Oh, that's the Chargers. Oh, baby. Tua versus Herbert week one. Okay. Two guys who were always going to be linked together. Okay.

Two are taken right before. Herbert's the one with the richest contract in the NFL and Tua's coming in ready to roll. Oh, and here's what Justin Herbert had to say about his newfound wealth and the team that he's now attached to for quite some time. You know, first off, I was so thankful to the Chargers organization, the Spanos family, Tom Telesco for believing in me three years ago, and Ed McGuire, Katie Sylvan. Words aren't enough to express how thankful and how glad I am to be a part of this organization.

I had complete faith in them from the get-go. I've never wanted to be anywhere else. This is where I've wanted to be for, shoot, as long as I've been born and playing football.

So it's a dream come true and just really excited to be back out there with the team today. The only thing that leaps out to me or that whole soundbite is he said the word organization like he's a Canadian hockey player. I don't know what that one came from, organization. I like it.

Whatever he wants to do. He's a grinder. I get it. That's his line shift. Well done.

He also didn't offer to buy lunch. How about that? The kid who wrote down in his, what, this third grade sheet about his future, I want to be the quarterback of the Chargers and there he is. Not the Los Angeles Chargers, but the Chargers.

There he is. Rich, I have a friend. Richest contract in the NFL. I have a friend who's friends with a coach of the Chargers and you're not telling any stories, but apparently this guy makes me look like someone who goes out all the time because from what I've understood, he stays at the crib, he works on his craft, he's not out in the streets partying, he's fully focused and he's doing everything he can to be a great quarterback.

And if he Netflixes and chills, we hope he does it on Roku. Well, that's obvious. Let's do Jordan Love here. Jordan Love got a phone call prior to Packers training camp starting. We're assuming it was a FaceTime because it came from the old 12 and they was set up. Really?

Yes, in those parts. Check it out. Aaron reached out to me last night and that's exactly what he said. Yeah, he said, just be yourself, have fun, enjoy it.

You know, it's obviously not a chat now. He just said, you know, be yourself. And I mean, that's all you can do. That's kind of been the message.

From everybody is, you know, be yourself, don't try to be anybody else, don't try to be Aaron, things like that, just be yourself and that's kind of what I'm trying to do. I love it. How about Aaron Rodgers reaching out to Jordan Love before he starts his training camp?

First class, all class, love it. Do you think Farve reached out to Rodgers before his first Packers training camp from Jets camp? You think that happened?

I don't want to say anything bad about 12. I don't know. I don't know. About number four, but I don't think so.

All I know is that he's in, Rodgers is in a great state of mind, throwing it to Garrett Wilson one practice after another, baby. Well done on that front. And then one last thing, I just need to warn everybody on Roku, what you're about to see cannot be unseen. And I believe it will be seen throughout the season. One thinks that the way it looks right now is the way it's going to be.

It will require some maintenance on his part, but Arthur Smith showed up with a porn stash today, and it looks like he's straight out of California. So there you have it. It's a lifestyle change. It's not for everybody.

Arthur Smith said about his new mustache, the guy who had to be told at the coaches picture to tell your face to smile. It's not for everybody. And he's just, well, that's the way he views the, as you know, the coaches photo, it's not for everybody. True.

He's got to stand there. It's not about winning. It's not about winning. So why do I got to take a picture with my peers? I'm not smiling. I'm squinting. I'm squinting. He's an angry squinter. He was. Arthur Smith, as we know.

Well, he was right. There's the stash. There's the stash. I can only hope he rolly fingers that stash. It's, it's, it's, it's kind of a, it's kind of a, of John candy, planes, trains and automobile stash. Is it, this is a little bit thicker.

That's a good car. I know. I went in another direction, worked a little blue when Arthur Smith, let's see how it goes. Let's see how it goes. It's the last of the season.

A lifestyle change it better. It's gone by game. The mustache is on the hot seat. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. Collision has been struggling a little bit out of the gate with these ticket sales and a little bit out of the gate. This was a major show announced at a major network with what everybody thought was this huge star. CM Punk. I said he was going to be the biggest financial flop in wrestling history. And I think I'm being proven right every minute of the day, 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.