REShow: Andrew Whitworth - Hour 2 (8-8-2023)

This is the Rich Eisen Show. By the way, you know, the realignment with the Big Ten, I don't think folks realize... Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

That the Big Ten is going to a one big mosh pit of a standings like the Big Twelve. Earlier on the show, Prime Video TNF analyst Andrew Whitworth coming up. Host of Peacock's Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio, recording artist Jason Derulo.

Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

Andrew Whitworth of Prime Video is about to join us. He was on the set with me for the top ten reveal of the NFL 100 top players in the NFL list. That we've been counting down on NFL Network and NFL Plus. Last night, the show debuted on NFL Plus on Thursday night in advance of the first full slate of pre-season games on NFL Network and NFL Plus. We're going to see the top ten reveal on NFL Network on Thursday night.

Andrew Whitworth will be in studio. It was Patrick Mahomes, by the way, number one overall. Not surprising.

Oh, get out of here, really? For the second time, for the second time... I can't believe that. The only other person to be number one on this list multiple times is... Tom Brady. You want to guess how many times he was number one on the top 100 list, which was born in 2011. But she was number one that year.

2011. I think he was three times. It was four times. And the first time he was number one was at age 34 for him. So he peaked late.

And Mahomes... He started the list that year. That's when they started the list. Justin Jefferson's second. Number two. And number three was Hertz.

And number four, Nick Bosa. So the top ten, it went Mahomes, Hertz, Burrow, Allen. Or the order of quarterbacks being ranked.

Would you agree with that? Yeah, Warren Sharp had the full quarterback list on where they were in the top 100. Mahomes won, like you said, a Hertz and Burrow two and three. Josh Allen, four. Yes.

Herbert, five. Yes. Kirk Cousins, six.

Yes. Rogers, seven. Dak, eight. Goff, nine.

Lamar Jackson, ten. These are, by the way, the Piers voting this. Piers voting.

Piers voting. Geno Smith, 11. Tua, 12. Justin Fields, 13.

And Trevor Lawrence, 14. I feel like this list is going to look very different next year. Well, keep it, keep it. Well, I mean, it obviously changes from year to year, but I totally believe Hertz deserves to be where he is on that ranking. I think so. Yeah, absolutely. I was saying that two weeks ago when the athletic came out with their tier system based on 50 unnamed executives and coaches and coordinators and whatnot.

And more taking issue with that. That he was a top of tier two guy and not a tier one guy with Allen, Burrow, Herbert, Mahomes, and company. I'm more having an issue with Cousins at six and Trevor Lawrence at 14. Cousins over Rogers is totally nuts.

Get out of here. But players do appreciate Cousins. Players do appreciate Cousins. You know, somebody had to throw the ball to the guy who's number two on the list of the wide receiver spot.

The only other wide receivers in the history of this list that were number two overall was Calvin Johnson and Antonio Brown. So I told Justin Jefferson in my interview that you're either going to the Hall of Fame or taking your shirt off and quitting. What did he say? He laughed. Was it a laugh, laugh or a laugh?

No, he laughed and I'm like, I guess there's some gray area in between. Obviously, Antonio Brown was number two for a reason. Antonio Brown was great. He would be in the Hall of Fame if it wasn't for the whole taking your shirt off and, you know, complaining about your helmet with the Raiders and things of that nature. Speaking of that, hard knocks is on tonight with the Jets. Great conversation with Ken Rogers in NFL films last night. So, obviously, we'll have a full on conversation about that tomorrow when the Jets show up in Carolina Panthers camp.

Teams are going to start to scrimmage against each other before playing against each other. We've already seen the clip today of Tyreek Hill roasting the Falcons secondary. Tyreek Hill was number seven on the list. He cracked the top ten, I believe, for the first time. Yeah, Kelsey was in the top ten.

Kelsey was five. Chris roasting them verbally or on the field? It was on the field.

Yeah, it was on the field. Burrow was six. Tyreek Hill was seven. Number ten was Chris Jones. Number nine was Micah Parsons. Number eight was Josh Allen. Micah should have been one or two. I just feel like Micah's a little low there at nine. Well, again, it's a quarterback driven league, obviously. And Micah Parsons, I do believe, is set for a huge year. I'll screw it.

I'll just say it. I think he's going to win defensive player of the year. Oh, Rich Eisen.

Well, you just took the words right out of my mouth there, Rich. I do believe he's going to win defensive player of the year. Chris Brockman, I know him. He's already googling the odds. Of course. Am I wrong?

You're already googling the odds. By the way, Rich Eisen, you are not wrong. You know your man over there. I actually think it's, hold on a second, I don't want to get it wrong. I think he's going to be defensive player of the year. I'm going to take it a step further. That is. When we make our predictions later, before the season starts, you'll see.

Well, I'm already- There's only one other thing I could go beyond that, so. Well, I mean, you've got Nick Bosa, you've got T.J. Watt, again. You've got Aaron Donald, if he can game wreck in the way that we know he can. And then there's Miles Garrett. Jones is, he was upset about being 10th.

He thinks he should be higher. Those are all bad boys. They are. I mean, so, you know, those are the top 10 players as voted on by the peers. Michael's got the best odds.

He's six to one. All right. Let's talk after the show, Chris.

I also, you know, and again, just people can't be happy in this world. Whoever's from the Orioles front office or ownership group that is watching television and saying, you know, why are we living in the past? Why can't we talk about how terrific our team is right now? But he is by pointing out that stat. That they can actually start turning the page.

But that's also a production. It wasn't Kevin Brown, the announcer in question wasn't just off the top of his head. They had a rundown meeting clearly and put on a graphic. It was in the game notes. It was in a graphic. This is from Massen, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

They made a decision that we're going to talk about how we can actually turn the page. And, and if somebody in ownership's like saying, how come we can't just always wear team gear because we want to sell, you know, team gear. And by the way, when you put announcers in team gear, you're, you're, you're basically saying to everyone at home, they don't have any idea on having an independent voice.

Your broadcast is totally whitewashed. So any team that says we're putting it. And by the way, I don't mind team gear being worn by announcers during preseason football games.

All right. Because we're not. These are all local broadcasts. I understand you're just a local audience that's watching a preseason game. This is we're talking regular season baseball. And your announcer should have an ability to say this stinks.

That's a bad idea. Because that's the way everyone at home is taking in the broadcast. But for this guy to be apparently suspended for just talking about the past, instead of living in the present, the Orioles have 70 wins. You know who also has 70 wins? The Braves. Correct. That's it.

That's it. And the Braves have been this year without question, every single information individual we've had on here saying the best team in major league baseball, bar none World Series favorites to win it again are the Atlanta Braves. And the Orioles have as many wins right now. Three game lead on the Rays team that they are better than right now. And the Rays started the season like the 84 Tigers. Look at this. And somebody sitting in the Orioles front office or management group saying we should talk about the 70 wins, not the last several awful years that our fan base is totally scarred by.

And the fact that we have 70 wins is because we have so many terrific players because we stunk so bad and we actually made the right decisions. Mid-Atlantic Dave is in Nashville, Tennessee wants to talk about this. What's up, Mid-Atlantic Dave? Oh, yeah. Am I speaking to El Sacador?

Yes, you are. I guess. How are you? You threw me on that one.

What's up? There's a lot of truth there. I saw that in the break there. Anyway, Kevin Brown. So the weird thing about this is when I would listen to his games, he wasn't horrible. He was literally a homer. Just like Ken Harrelson and all the Ks, the Yankees, they really do are homers. So I'm watching a game, the Orioles score four runs, they're up 4-0, and Kevin Brown goes, the Orioles are pouring it on with a lot of exuberance. Like, man, 4-0 is not a safe lead in the American League East. So, if anything he's guilty of, it's being a homer.

Not the opposite. Again, if you're going to be on a broadcast, and thanks for the call, Mid-Atlantic Dave, and put up on the screen, hey, they're 1-15-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays over the last Semont Series. The last time they won was 2017, and then there's somebody in management or ownership sitting at home, steaming, saying, we have so many wins, we are good, finally, and we're talking about the past, suspend this man.

Send him to radio. As if, by the way, that's a punishment. It's just nuts. Just sit back and enjoy the ride that you are on, and not sit there and say the past doesn't exist. It's like what we're seeing with, you know, an education in our country, right?

It's writ large. It's just like, let's forget about the bad stuff. We can't teach our kids about that. Let's just talk about how wonderful things are right now, when they're not. That's the real world.

In the toy department, the Orioles have as many wins as the Braves. Lord. Connor in Wilmington, North Carolina, you're on the Rich Eisen Show, been hanging on for a while, what's up? Hey, Rich, how you doing?

What's going on? Good. I'm glad to be on the show. Been a big fan for a long time. Thank you.

Excuse me. Greatly appreciate it. And just wanted to say real quick before I start that I'm also a moderator for Tom Grassi, so enjoyed your interview with him from a few weeks ago. It was a pleasure to meet him and see him do what he did for St. Jude. Yeah, I got to meet him as well when he was in Charlotte.

First time I got to meet him in person, so that was great. But yeah, I grew up as a been a lifelong Orioles fan, and it's just kind of crazy this whole situation because, you know, it seems that it's kind of funny how, you know, the Orioles are being humiliated when, you know, John Angelos and the execs don't didn't want to be humiliated with those facts being put out there. Now, you know, these broadcasters coming out, you know, in support of Kevin Brown, and now you're going to have a national television audience tonight on TBS watching the Orioles play the Astros. And what's the first or second thing they're talking about is this entire situation that's happened. And it's just.

Right. But a perfect example, though, I don't know if they're going to be talking about an announcer during a game, to be honest with you, they might bring it up for for a brief bit. And this is more of a local issue, but I'm bringing it to everyone's attention nationally here, because I think it's unfair that that somebody is suspended for talking facts that are supported on the screen by a graphic. And I honestly I watched that entire video like a horror movie through my fingers, like saying, when is he going to say something inappropriate? And then honestly, when the video ended, you saw it, T.J., right? I was like, that's it. I watched it three times to see. Did we miss anything?

Did he flash a sign or something that I didn't see? So, you know, I was like, oh, man. And I appreciate the call.

Thank you. But the Astros, remember when they won, they started winning. The number of times they were saying they had 100 losses, this is a 100 loss team, and now look at them. Mm hmm. Do you think the front office was like screaming at the screen or doing something called picking up a phone and demanding the suspension of somebody who's saying they used to have 100 losses? No.

Because that's that's it. I mean, honestly, you talk in the NFL worse to first. Do you think Sean Khan was railing at somebody maybe in a Jacksonville broadcast? Hey, let's talk about how good Trevor Lawrence is looking. Not the fact that we were picked first overall two years in a row.

Come on. Is that a plus for the front office to say you lost 100 and now look at you would make me feel like the front office did something really good. They got it together. They turned it around. Yes.

That's how I was. The alternative is also we've stunk. We've had all these great draft choices and the players that we've used aren't up in the majors because they stink. No. As a matter of fact, and I'm excited for Orioles fans. I am until they start enjoying the Yankees demise.

Honestly, that's the alternative. And by the way, I would push back that Kay is not a homer. I think one of the callers just said that he is not a homer.

Okay. Honestly, I know you hear his calls and he said no. But then he steps on his radio show and he lights everyone up.

He lights them up on the air. I mean, honestly. Every home announcer is a homer. No, I know that.

But I think I've heard. Dave O'Brien is a homer like they all are. But Orsillo isn't. For San Diego, of course he is. He's a homer. But in Boston, Orsillo would speak his mind and Remy would too. And that's why they got fired. Come on.

Remy, rest in peace. You know what? Again, maybe I'm just maybe I'm naive.

I don't know. I kind of want my TV guy to be a homer. I mean, watching the broadcast is more fun. There is a line in announcing. Let the caller guy be more critical.

Trust me, if I I'm an expert on this subject matter. When I am paid by the league. That runs the network with its name on it that I have been hosting for 20 years this fall. You know, there are times obviously we're not going to do any expose on the league that other maybe news outlets are endeavoring. You know, all this stuff you've seen about how playmakers went away.

Remember that you see I've seen what there's like 20th anniversary of Playmakers. It wouldn't happen anymore because, again, television networks are now partners with the league. You're working together. OK, we're a partner with ESPN. They were a partner with ESPN. But back in the day, ESPN was biting the hand that that there that feeds.

And so and so, of course, the NFL is going to be like, what are you doing? Not to mention the show Stunk. Oh, hard disagree.

OK, fine. But I also was very I was wondering what the hell ESPN was doing. All of their original prescripted stuff, the movies and whatever. They were awful. Well, the Bob Knight one was not great. Good Lord.

But Playmakers was kind of ahead of its time. By what? Showing all that crazy stuff? Showing the real stuff that goes on behind closed doors with these guys. I just I was seeing it.

I'm like, what the hell are we doing? That's what I was doing, sitting there. But then again, it's my job to be talking about this stuff, and they made it more difficult on me to do that. That's true. You had a different perspective. And I have a problem with that. And I speak about it on the show. And I've been told many times backed up by the man himself. What I just saw on the podium in in in Canton, you know, speak your mind, do your thing, just be respectful. And if you have any pushback from anyone, the lead, you call me and Roger Goodell told me that 20 years ago, right around this time.

As a matter of fact, when I met him for the first time, I remember exactly where I was when he told me that I was a sand trap. He would have been lead counsel back then. No, he was the CEO of the NFL.

I told you that story, right? That I got a call in my apartment from Roger Goodell's office and I called Steve Bornstein immediately, my boss at the NFL Network. And I'm like, I just got a call from someone in the NFL. You know, I'm unfamiliar with this person.

I didn't know the flowchart of the NFL. Did you call him Goodle? I did not. No, I told Steve Bornstein, who was it?

Who is that? I said, it's Roger Goodell. He goes, hang up and call him right now. What are you talking to me for? So I'm like, oh, I called him.

I love your impression. It's the truth, though. It's the truth that there is a fine line. But I have never been reprimanded for talking about a fact.

Just a straight numbers fact. I got through the lockout talking about the lockout. I did the 20 minute interview with Jeff Saturday on NFL Total Access unedited.

And I didn't get a phone call. And this guy for talking about how the Rays were dominant on the Orioles is getting suspended over it. And how the Orioles have turned the corner.

So petty and skinned. He got 70 wins on August 8th. They didn't have how many how many seasons did they go through where they they didn't even get 70 wins? Great question. Oh, don't be careful. You'll be suspended.

Don't tell me. Come at me, Angelos. Can we agree that this was Richard the king? Petty. Oh, yes.

Oh, it's at the top of the petty level. All right. Andrew Whitworth's coming up here on the Rich Isaac show.

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Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. All right, we're back here on our Roku channel feed. Our radio audience will join us in just about a couple of minutes time. I am thrilled to have here on the Rich Eisen show from Amazon Prime's coverage of Thursday night football. A Walter Payton man of the year, longtime NFL veteran, our friend Andrew Whitworth. Good to see you again, sir.

Hello, Rich. You know, I got to tell you guys, I saw this man last Thursday. We recorded the top 10 reveal of the 100 top 100 list that aired on NFL Plus last night. And I turned to you and I'm like, hey, I'd love to have you on. Here you are. I'm here. I'm a good listener, man. Offensive lineman.

Rich Eisen speaks. We listen, man. That's right. You have my back. You literally have my back.

That's right. So I said, yeah, I'd like to come on. I'd like you to come on four days later.

Here you are. And that was a fun show that we did. It was. It was fun. That was a good time. What an honor. Something like that with you. It was certainly with somebody who was on the list three times yourself. Yeah, that was fun.

You know, so here are the things that we're going to talk about once the radio audience returns. Have you been to any training camps or don't you have? I have. I've been to Rams camp and I went to Cowboys. At Rams and Cowboys. OK, so you stayed local. Yeah, local. OK, but I know you're locked in on a lot of what's going on in the NFL and talked to a bunch of people, which I think is outstanding, obviously.

So I want to hit you on a few of those items. And then Thursday Night Football, your first game is where is your first one? Philadelphia Vikings, Eagles, Vikings, Eagles.

Nice on that one. A lot of points in that game. Well, the Vikings start the Vikings start at home against Tampa and then go to Philly. And then Philly goes starts at New England, watches Brady, LFG, the whole thing with a with the statue in front. And then they play Thursday night.

Rough 0 and 1 start for the Eagles. Well done. Very good job.

I appreciate that. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger is the right product for you.

Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. Just like Andrew Whitworth from Prime Video on Amazon of Thursday Night Football. A long time pro bowler in the National Football League and Walter Payton, man of the year candidate. Great to see you, sir. Thank you.

I'm happy to be here. So let's get just jump straight into this, because you told me a story that I have actually told a couple of times since you told it to me when we sat on the NFL Network set talking about the top 10 players and revealed the top 100 final 10. TJ, this is for you, sir. Oh, yes. Micah Parsons.

Yeah. You saw him. You went to Cowboys camp. You saw him do his thing.

And then I want to talk about what what what he did afterwards with you. But tell me what you saw from Micah Parsons on that practice field in Oxnard, California. Andrew, I think what's so refreshing about Mike and I think we touched on this in the offseason is just his passion for getting better. I mean, how much he talks about that one percent about being different than everyone else.

I think this week he talked about he wants to be one of the best in the Hall of Fame, not just in the Hall of Fame. I mean, that's really his mentality. And to watch him practice every rep, he is just destroying every play. It's almost to the point where, you know, the coaches make jokes like, would it be better to not have him in there in plays? Because just at least we could have like a, you know, a productive football play and get to see if a play works or not, because he's jumping the counts. He's beating guys so early that some plays don't even get a chance to progress through their national progression of a football snap. And so he's just wrecking shop and he's excited and you see it every play. There's just an energy that's different. So they joke about it or they actually did occasionally take him off the field?

I think they do. I mean, and I you know, that's why I asked him that, you know, on our show is that, you know, he's one of those guys, Aaron Donald is much the same way. It's like sometimes you're like, hey, giving him a couple of reps every now and then or trying to get him off the field for a minute kind of gives us a chance to see what other guys can do. And then also have just productive offensive plays that we want to get off. And so there's always going to be that battle when you're that good of a player and you're that dominant of, you know, what people want to give you a little break, take you off the field, some for you and also for the team at times. And but I think he's always going to battle and he's one of those guys, man, competing is his thing. And that's all he wants to do. Did you ever in a Rams practice go up to Aaron Donald and just say, hey, vet to vet here?

Can you can you just dial it down a little bit? Because we need to work on a couple of things here. Honestly, here's the problem. AD is such a he's a, you know, absolute terror. He's a monster in a football game, but he's also a sweetheart. And it's really honestly, Rich, what made me realize my career was coming to an end because he was so gentle with me. If we ever ended up over each other, he didn't just annihilate me. He kind of just, you know, slowly would move me back towards the quarterback and then kind of, you know, conveniently pull off a little bit. So he was he was very gentle with me. I used to say he was intimidated by me. That's what it was. But I clearly know he didn't want to hurt me.

That's what it was. So why did you take that as an indication that father time was finally tapping you? I looked like enough of an old man that he was like, you know what?

I don't want to I don't want to hurt big brother, big uncle or grandpa. I think I think that's more closer to grandpa, but I think he'd have felt bad hurting the old man, the old statesman. And you see some of that in Micah Parsons when you're actually watching the Cowboys practice. Yeah, unfortunately, right now, Micah is in that young mode of I'm destroying everybody. And so, you know, I think those guys and sure in the offensive line don't really love having to go against him every day just because he is that guy.

Like he is trying to compete to win every snap because he's young and he's got to prove himself. And then what happened after practice? What happened after practice? You know, then he came up to me and, you know, gave a big hug and kind of, you know, wanted me to kind of talk to some of the guys and stuff. And then I said, hey, you know what? I'm off tomorrow.

What you doing? And I said, well, I live like 30 minutes from here. And he said, I'm coming over.

So I said, all right, perfect. He's coming over. So I call him on the way home like, hey, babe, you know what? Micah's coming over tomorrow with us and the kids and it's going to be a fun day. And what can you you want to share? What was going on?

Like, what is Micah like when he's coming by the Whitworths? He was great, man. We we hung out. Kids got in the pool, grilled out a little bit and had some good food.

But, you know, I was telling last night we have, you know, our Amazon seminar going right now and the league officials and all that were there. And so we had a little dinner and I was telling them a cool NFL moment, you know, just the family, the brotherhood that we are. My daughter, who's 12, massive Taylor Swift fan, loves to sing. She's in a singing group, kind of brings it up to the dinner table and he's like, I want to hear it. And she looks at me like, Dad, do I really have to sing right here in front of him? And I was like, you got to sing in front of Micah?

This is pressure, babe. If you want to sing, you got to do it. Put it on my phone, play her a song. She sings in front of him.

He stands up. She's standing at the kitchen island singing and he's like doing his arms, dancing in front of her, like encouraging her. And I was just sitting there like, we're not documenting this, but like what a like a NFL family moment. Here's this young star who's at my house watching my daughter sing, encouraging her, cheering her on, smile on his face. It was just it was just a cool moment. Well, and in all seriousness, and this is not painting folks with a with a brush. But I mean, he's a young kid in Southern California on an off day. And he's with the Whitworths hanging out at the dinner with kids and conducting, you know, a little girl's singing of Taylor Swift. I mean, that's that's that's a choice. But it's it's it's wonderful that he's doing that. You know what I mean?

Like some other guys might just say, screw it. I'm going to town and, you know, with the owls. But it's tough to soar with the Eagles, as Rod Woodson said.

He always heard from Chuck Knoll. So how good do you think the Cowboys can be? Let's just put this right on the head. Yeah, I think, you know, you look at that division, it's going to be really tough. I mean, I think that, you know, obviously the Giants have done things to get better. The Eagles are going to be really special again.

I think the commanders are going to be interesting as well. OK, now, look, you have a very deep voice. But did you hear it was that a higher register from Andrew Whitworth?

It was I think it's a mainstream. He just went there. It was a little higher. OK, so so we here at the Rich Eisen Show say you've got to go higher register to believe something that you're saying.

Like, you know, I got to look out for the commanders like that sort of. You didn't say that about the Eagles. You know, you went like the Eagles are going to be good. I kind of think that it's obvious the Eagles ought to be pretty. OK, so but I think I think the Cowboys.

Yeah, I look at it. You know what? Defensively, you got some young stars. They're getting better. And then offensively, you know, hopefully you get Zach Martin back and you still have a good offensive line and their health. And I think if Tyrone Smith stays healthy, you know what? Dak Prescott's always played really well when he's had that guy in the lineup and had the safety and security of being a play the quarterback position without getting hit.

And he makes them that much better because then you move the young kid inside. So I think offensive line wise, they're better. And I mentioned to see how Mike McCarthy takes over the reins and how this team looks differently offensively. What's the question there?

What's the question about that? Well, I just think with Kellen Moore was a little different. And I think that with Mike, it's going to be a little more of an emphasis, I would imagine, of being a more physical team and a little bit of what their nature. They've been better at probably when they were really dominant. That was who they were known as. You don't have Ezekiel Elliott anymore, but can they still be that style of football and really learn how to, you know, I think when they're playing the Eagles, it can't always be an offensive shootout.

They've got to play defense and they've got to be able to control the ball some too. Okay. And so what do you like about the commanders where you went kind of like you gave me that whole don't sleep on them higher register there. I just think you guys... Oh, you went, you just did it again. I did.

You just did it again. They got some special guys and I think that any time you're in a division like that where everybody's really good and you were kind of just forgot that you exist even in the division. I just think you might sneak up on some of these teams and I think they're going to play them tighter than you think. You imagine, go back to last year, Washington and Philadelphia. I mean, so I think they're going to play these teams better than people think.

And that's why I think it's interesting to me and I get a higher pitch because I'm intrigued to see if they can be that team that kind of surprises in the division. Well, it's a quarterback driven league. So the question is, is Sam Howell going to be able to come in in his first year and take advantage of the roster that you're touting here, Andrew Whitworth of Prime Video here on the Rich Eisen Show.

And that's the concern. And then you heard Ron Rivera say don't sleep on Jacoby Brissett. It's just like, okay, that's the quarterback situation going in and it makes you scratch your head. And again, you tell me this, you're a longtime veteran of this league and you would know better than I would if I'm judging a book by its cover.

Mike Hoskins, our coordinating producer, can you call up the Sam Howell headshot for 2023? There it is. That's confidence right there. I mean, you see confidence there. I see I see sleepy, you know, I see just rolling out of bed like, you know, that's not is that elite?

You know what I mean? Like, is that an elite quarterback? I think he right there in that picture is, you know what? He's not worried about being pretty.

He's worried about playing the position. You know, that's what I see. I see confidence. All right.

I'm selling myself right now. Wow. That's right. That's a half.

That's a full glass of Sam Howell. Terrible picture. So you know what I mean? It's just my voice level just went down a couple of notches. They're out.

They're done now. No sneaking up on anybody. Andrew Whitworth here on the Rich Eisen Show. You went to Rams Camp as well. And the number of rookies that they have there, was it weird for you to go to a spot that you're so familiar with and seeing a bunch of people you don't know walking around there already just two years out of the game?

It is. It's crazy. Thirty six rookies in camp. I mean, unbelievable how young they are.

But also, you know what? At times, it's fun because going to their first couple practices. I mean, the the it sounds like a high school practice, like how loud they are every time somebody makes a play. The whole entire DB group, all bunch of youngsters are jumping all over the field. You think they just want a game, you know? But if they break up a pass from Cooper Cup or they knock down a Matthew Stafford long pass down the sideline to Tutu or, you know, Vance Johnson, it's like they literally they throw a party, you know? And so there's this infectious energy to being that young. That's also like cool for a team that's in a position where last year was bad days at work, right? I mean, it was a tough, tough year for them.

You get down on yourself, you get down on how you believe. But to have some of that young energy, I think is a positive for them right now. OK, let's just jump right into it. What you're willing to share on the on the quarterback wide receiver combination that's there, starting with Cup and his health and him pulling up with a hamstring, what, apparently on a red zone play last week in practice. And he's pretty much shut down. Is there any concern for him over there right now? With Coop, it's really how much was he going to play that much in the preseason anyways? But, you know, probably for him, it's it's like getting healthy. And then, I mean, this guy, you know, who he is, how he works, how diligent he is, I think he's going to be prepared no matter what. It's just let's make sure this hamstring is ready to go week one. And so I think that's their only focus is really getting him healthy, less about the reps. I mean, everyone's seen their relationship, Stafford and Cup, and they meet every single morning, early, early in the morning for anybody gets to work.

And they're always going to be on the same page. I'm not too worried about that situation. You know, what's going to come down to this team is really less about who's been there. It's going to be more about there's going to be a lot of young faces that are taking snaps, a lot of snaps this season. And so do I think that they're going to be better than they were last year? No doubt. It's going to be can they kind of overcome some of those rookie young football team mistakes and are they going to cost them in games at the end? Because we all know how close the league is.

And those little mistakes usually end up being what kills you in a game. Sure. And obviously this does appear as if it's the payment of the credit card in many ways of the of the picks being after. And now the picks are now in and it's hopefully time for these guys who the picks have now, you know, become humans to perform.

Yeah. I mean, two years ago, Rich, look at outside Russia. Two years in the Super Bowl team. There's not a single guy from the practice squad, the roster, the draft, anything left on that football team that I played with. There's every single outside rusher is either a rookie or never played the position until this year. I mean, Michael Hoyt was a defensive tackle last year and he's been moved outside rusher.

He is the only guy that's even from that roster. So it's it's pretty wild to see how much turnover there is at certain positions on that team. And then the question about Matthew Stafford's health and what was last year? Was last year something that he truly needed to just be shut down or he was shut down because it wasn't worth running the risk of making whatever he was overcoming worse? Does he have an idea like how long he wants to play? Is this a position in flux or is he just going to come back and just be the guy that we saw two years before? What can you tell us about his mindset coming into this season? Yeah, I think this year he feels pretty good and is feeling back to normal.

And he seems really competitive and locked in just from being around there. But I think people really don't understand because he is such a private guy and somebody who would never complain or even ever let you know when he's going through something. Last year was was a really, really tough year. I mean, you know, it's unfortunate he wasn't on the quarterback series that just came out because it would have been crazy if people see just how intense his arm issues and things that were bothering him. I mean, he's a private guy, but I mean, to not throw a football with your guys the entire offseason, basically, and then to get into camp and be like, hey, you can only so throw me balls, so many balls a day and only so many times a week to really have zero opportunities as a quarterback to throw passes to receivers and then walk into an NFL game and say, all right, I'm going to go out here and perform one, you know, that your arm is obviously not in a great place and how it's feeling is the case. And then to just, you know, just having that ability to throw passes and practice and work at your craft. And that's what every quarterback does. You see him after practice constantly working on certain things to not have that ability to do that. Man, just the mental state he had to be in of struggling to like, hey, I want to go out here and perform.

I want to live up to the expectations, but I mean, I'm just right now I'm in a situation I can't, you know. So I think that year starting how it did, losing so many linemen, him getting crushed, you know, week after week, I think it really led to, hey, we got to make the smartest decision of what's best for his health and for him to keep being the quarterback for the Rams in the year in future years. And so I think now he's ready. He's locked in. He's excited to turn things around. And I'm excited for him. So he is focused in his I mean, I shouldn't say that. Obviously, he's focused, but he is as into playing in the National Football League. But just like when he first came to us, I mean, he seems like Matthew right now. And so it's good to see.

He seems happy and content and ready to roll. OK, I've got Andrew Whitworth here from Prime Video on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's take a break. I want to do finish the hour with you here. I want your something from your other team, Cincinnati and the quarterback and what you might be able to fill us in on on Joe Burrow, because Jamar Chase, another fellow LSU Tigers told him, yeah, we'll see in October. We got this for you.

Someone hit that and then some sleeper teams and maybe a prediction or two from you. OK, Andrew Whitworth here from Prime Video back with him on the Rich Eisen Show in just a moment. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show.

I've got Andrew Whitworth Prime Video here Thursday Night Football going to be starting in about five weeks time on the road. So you were mentioning your daughter is a big Swifty. Taylor Swift is currently in Los Angeles, California. Did you go? I have not gone. I'm going Wednesday night. You are the big finale. I'm going. OK, I'm going.

Rich, listen, you know, I told you this earlier. It's our Amazon seminar this week, you know, meeting with the league and going over the season and all those things. So last night at about two a.m. at the Shea Hotel, you know how these things go. We're sitting around.

We end up hanging out, having some drinks after dinner, talking ball and natural progression. You know, in the city of L.A., everything is Swifty. You know, the hotel lobbies are bracelet making stations. There's Taylor Swift music in every hotel and restaurant going on right now.

Super Bowl. It's unbelievable. It's transformative.

It really is. But natural progression in a night. Ryan Fitzpatrick and I were making friendship bracelets at two a.m. last night.

And I think it's one person who walked in the lobby who was not with us, just a good fan of the program, walked in and said, of all the things I thought I'd see in L.A. when I got here for the Taylor Swift concert is YouTube making bracelets in the lobby of the Shea. But. At two in the morning. Did you have one in your hand right there? Rich Eisen Show. So we are now officially friends. Look at this.

Not that we weren't before, but. Look at this. It's now official.

It does actually say Rich Eisen Show on it. Dude. Goodness. I mean, if you knew how many times I dropped that bracelet and all those little things came off of it last night.

These big fingers trying to tie it at two a.m. Impressive. I was very proud of it, I'll be honest with you. Impressive. Wow, well done. Very much appreciated. This is touching. I'm actually very touched by this.

You're welcome. It was special. It was a special moment.

All right. And Ryan Fitzpatrick just, you know, made one for you. Yeah, he made me one.

He actually made Melissa one. My wife won. So I gave it to her, too. So. Very good. Andrew Whitworth still here.

He just gave me a friendship bracelet that he made at a bracelet making spot in his hotel. Uh, because Taylor Swift's in town. Words I never thought I'd say into a microphone. That's it. You are truly a man of the year. Look at this, Chris. There it is.

Yeah, it's really impressive. And I got it from Andrew Whitworth. Man, oh man.

I don't know if I'm going to take this off. Get ready, Whit. It's a three and a half hour show, apparently. Yes, it is.

Uh, Taylor Swift. Locked in. You're going on Wednesday night, right? Yeah. Okay.

All right. Um, so, what's going on with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati? Are, is this several week stuff going to be over by week one? Your fellow LSU Tiger, Jamar Chase, said he's telling Joe Burrow we've got the first month. Take a ten week break.

The six weeks from his pulling up and the first four of the NFL season. What can you fill me in on this? Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I talked to him the day it happened. And, uh, you know, Joe being who he is, man, you know, he's just such an intense guy. He, you know, he was like, man, it really did scare me at first. And I was like, man, I've actually been there.

I had something similar happen to me in my career early in training camp. And it's, calves are tough, man. Just because it's, it's one of those things, especially for somebody like him. Like, pushing off of it, being able to stabilize on it and stuff.

It's something that can bother you a lot. So, you know, I would see him probably saying, hey, there's probably a period of time I'd imagine with a calf that you're doing nothing on it. Just to let it heal a little bit. And then you start to work into, can you get strength back in it and mobility and all that.

You're always stretching it and moving it. But, yeah, I don't know. The one thing I'll say for them, if you think of the last two seasons, how they've started, they haven't really been a team who's, like, jumped out there. They were 0-2 last year and everybody thought they were dead in the water.

Yeah, fallen apart, right? And then the year before, it's not like they were that much better. They had some tough wins. They kicked a field goal or two, you know, late in the game to win a couple games. It's not like they played great football in their first four weeks, the last two years. So, I think if any team has that confidence that, hey, once we win a game, we can go on a roll, it truly is them. So, I don't, I don't see them, I think the best thing about their situation is regardless if it's week one that he's ready, or maybe it is week three or four and it's into October. If there's any team that already has the confidence that we can make late season runs, it's them.

And they have plenty of talent and ability to do it as well. So, I don't think this is really a situation they're that concerned about. I think they obviously want Joe healthy, but I don't think they're that worried about what week it is that he's back. Well, first of all, the good news is it wasn't an Achilles. When I saw that video, did you think- Oh, heart dropped. That's what I told, I actually reached out, like, hey man, I just, you know, at first, I hadn't spoke to him yet. Just more like, hey, just whatever's happened, like, thinking about you, I'm there, any way I could be there for you. And, you know, and then he's kind of shared, like, you know, I'm gonna be okay, but man, it was scary.

But the general- He thought it too, I mean, that's what he thought too, he thought I'm done. I mean, when he went down in a heap, you, we started texting the videos to everyone, honestly. And we were just saying that this is an Achilles, but it clearly is not.

The question is, is what do we, what happens from here, you know? Well, there's a lot of variants, like how severe of a strain is it, what level are we talking about, because that can be a massive difference in how many weeks of a process is- But he's walking on it, around on it now, right? He's walking around, but, you know, taking off and pushing off that thing, two different things, so. Yeah, if you're trying to get away from, say, Miles Garrett in week one. That's a different story. Exactly. So, it'll be interesting, you know, but like I said, I think that they don't feel that much pressure about that situation.

Okay. So, who's your sleeper teams for this year? We've got one in the AFC and the NFC, which means a team that didn't make the playoffs. It can't be the Jets, because there's, we're not sleeping on them. There's hard knocks tonight for- Yeah, no one's sleeping on them.

No. Right, so- You know, I think, honestly, I don't know if I'd call it a sleeper as much as I, you know, after his comments, and really just how things have gone, I'm so interested, Denver Broncos, it's like, you want to see what happens. Like, you jump out there, Sean Payton, he's made a lot of comments this summer that have caused some attention. Right.

Let's put it that way. But I think knowing him, there's always a rhyme or reason to something he's doing, and he's trying to fire up the troops a little bit. And so, I'll be interested to see what this team looks like. He added some guys that you would say, hey, definitely his emphasis looks like to me, he wants to run the football and throw play actions and get back to a little bit of what Russell Wilson was earlier in his career. And so, I think that that's going to be their style, run the football well, try to throw it over people's heads and play great defense. And Sean's always been good at getting teams to play really physical and stuff like that. So, it'll be interesting to see if that style works in that division, though, with Justin Herbert and Patrick Malone. Did you hear this quote about Gilligan hats? Did you hear about that one?

What's that? Okay, talking about preseason games, Sean Payton, what he wants to see from the Broncos in preseason games. When it comes to playing offense, he wants to get the line of scrimmage with plenty of time on the play clock, because that was an issue last year with clock management.

But then he eventually, that's understandable. He then says, it's probably just as easy to answer the question as to what I don't want to see. I don't want to see 10 guys on the field. I don't want to see uniforms off after we're done playing with sunglasses on and Gilligan hats on and interviews during the game.

That's what I don't want to see, but we will communicate all of that. He's just full Bill Parcells now. He's just turning into the mentor. That's great. That's hilarious. It's all predictable.

That's him. He's always had a lot of influence from Bill, and I know how much he means to him. So, you can tell it's an old-school style of, hey, this team needs that kind of... The hammer.

This team needs the hammer. That's what they need, and that's what he's going with. I think he's coming with that opinion. It doesn't mean it's always going to be that way. I think what now he sees is that's what this team needs right now, and that's who I'm going to be. If he's going to do something like that, he's going all out.

So, you think it will translate? I think it will be interesting because it's probably different than really what you see. Obviously, Andy Reid's a little old-school too with the way they practice. They get after the Chiefs do, really. You wouldn't think that with Holmes and that team and Kelsey.

Flipping it behind the back and stuff like that. But they're a physical football team, and they practice that way. So, I think he realizes that probably this Chiefs team is more physical than people give it credit for, and that we've got to be just as physical, and that's going to be our edge. I think when you come into a situation as a head coach, your first year, you're looking for, what edge could I give this team and just make them confident in something? I don't know exactly what our best style or play style is going to be, but I want to find what our edge is. It sounds like his edge is going to be, let's make it old-school, let's make it a fight, and then let's have a bunch of tough guys out on the football field playing that way.

Andrew Whitworth here on the Rich Eisen Show. The sleeper team in the NFC is... You know, I'll say it again. Sleeper's a tough word.

Here's the thing. I want to see Seattle back it up. Last year, I think they surprised everybody. I think they've continued to draft really well. Those two young tackles are really special to watch on offense.

I thought both those guys played great last year. They've got a good schedule. It's going to be fun to see.

Can Geno repeat it? Because to me, consistency is really that thing you want to see out of football teams. Like, hey, it's good to see them have this year where they surprised us last year, but how good are they actually? All right, now that teams aren't saying, you know what, we probably could beat this team. Seattle was legit last year. Can they reproduce it again and can they take the Niners?

I mean, that's going to be the thing. The Rams obviously are down a little bit. The Cardinals are down. The Niners are definitely a dominant football team. But how good is the Seattle team? And they're really young, so it would be fun to see them have some success. They got Geno a couple of new kids, Jackson Smith and Jigba. Excited about him. He looks special.

He's spectacular. And then if the kid can be healthy, Zach Charbonnet from here locally in your neck of the woods, Southern California, along with Kenneth Walker. Again, if they're healthy, look out. And I don't believe DK Metcalf, you know, ate his way through the offseason.

I have a feeling he's just in shape. Yeah, I mean, when you look at those three receivers and the skill players they have, you got to get a little healthier at the running back position right now. But if they do, I mean, they've got a good young offensive line.

Right. You know, the problem for them is going to be D line. You know, they're pretty inexperienced there and weren't as good as they probably wanted to be last year.

So they're going to have to outscore people, but see them repeat and maybe get a little better. You know, Shane Waldron was with us in L.A. and got a ton of respect for him. So I look forward to seeing what he has in store for the Seattle offense this year. In the 90 ticks I have left, Brock Purdy is going to be the guy, right?

I mean, that's the general sense of everything here. Yeah, that's a football team that's scary, man. You know, I think they're going to be really special. And adding Javon Hargrave this year, man, really studied him this offseason from the Eagles. And man, what a special guy. The Eagles are going to miss him.

He was special. And on this Niners D line, it's almost unfair to think of him and Bosa and what they're going to be able to do to people from an interior rush standpoint and Nick Bosa on the edge. I mean, you think of almost when Von Miller and A.D. were teamed up with us and the Rams and the run those two had together.

It's going to be similar with these two guys. OK, so are you choosing them to win the NFC? I actually think they might get it done this year.

OK. They've been there enough times. They've knocked on the door. The injury bug seems to always be after them at the quarterback position. But if Brock Purdy stays healthy, I think this football team, when you really look at it top to bottom, is really special.

And they're all kind of like peaking in the right spots that they need. Young receivers, young DBs, they got great lines on both sides. So I think this team is going to be really tough to beat. Chiefs' conference in the AFC then still. Yeah, I'm still confident in the Chiefs. And mainly because Andy Reid has made an emphasis of we are going to continue to sign good offensive linemen and keep good people in front of my home. I think it's a rare thing that you don't see as much is that when you see these dominant quarterbacks, it's really they almost go the other way and kind of take care of other positions.

But he has said, look, we will pay guys up front to where when this guy's special as he is has time and protection, teams are in a lot of trouble. Really appreciate you coming in, man. It was great hanging with you on the NFL 100 show, the top 10 reveal. Greatly appreciate it. You be well, sir. I appreciate it. Everybody check out this man, Andrew Whitworth, on Prime Video starting in just a few weeks time on Amazon right here on Roku.

Still here on the Roku channel. So here's what I need from you on Wednesday night, because this is the way it's been doing in the NFL again. You could you do you obviously, Andrew Whitworth.

But in the NFL, I need a selfie video of you screaming a Taylor Swift song at the top of your lungs. I got it. Do you know which one it is? Is it Cruel Summer? What do we got?

What's what's the what's the the Swifty song that go to for Andrew Whitworth? You know, the kids are kind of into all of them. You know, it might be Cool Summer. We'll see. I don't know. It's Cruel Summer. It's Cruel Summer. Sorry. You got to get this right.

If you're going to give me a friendship bracelet, you got to get your for me. It's you know, I'm kind of interested to see the set list. I want to know what all is on there because I might know some of those. You know, it's all of them.

Seriously. She plays 45 songs. She's the female Springsteen.

Springsteen is the male Taylor Swift. I haven't been. I can't wait. She gets on again on an eight twenty off at like eleven fifty five.

I'm not kidding. I'll be sleeping the car on the way home. You will be. That's my bedtime.

But the kids will be keeping you up because they'll still be screaming their lyrics. OK, so again, you have the reach. You got it. So what you got to do is you got to show the the the the crowd, the stage out here.

Screen the lyrics, send it to at Rich Eisen Show and we'll collaborate. Done. Thank you for my friendship bracelet.

You're welcome. Dude, you should see this. It's great. It looks like it was done at two in the morning as well. It's like, you know, it's all good.

It's cool. It fell on the floor like 14 times. Try to tie it. If you can imagine these hands trying to tie that little string. It was special. Bless you, sir. For over three decades, nobody has had a wrestling career like Arne Anderson.

Conrad Thompson gets all the stories with Arne. After watching AEW's Double or Nothing, Amy wants to know what this dinosaur tastes like. It ain't chicken. It's like biting into a sinewy charcoal briquette, but chewy. Oh, that's disgusting. It sure is. Check out Arne every week, wherever you listen.