REShow: Charles Woodson & Paul Mullin - Hour 3 (8-9-2023)

Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen. They're GMs calling me going, he doesn't watch tape. This is The Rich Eisen Show.

Zero. The Rich Eisen Show. Eric Bienemy tells you what time it is.

Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Eric Bienemy is who he is. Eric Bienemy is a tough, hard-nosed coach.

And I'm also the number one fan. Earlier on the show, Falcons quarterback Desmond Ritter, Saints safety Tyron Matthew. Still to come, pro football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, Rexham AFC striker Paul Mullen. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Yes, our number three of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Rexham AFC striker Paul Mullen is in our green room. It'll be a fun conversation with the guy who is front and center on Welcome to Rexham, the highly popular FX documentary on Rexham being purchased by Ryan Reynolds. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhinney and then getting promoted in their world of professional soccer. It's season two of that FX documentary coming up on September 12th on FX and streaming the next day right here on Roku on Hulu. Paul's going to come out. Great chats in hour number one with Desmond Ritter of the Falcons and hour number two of this show.

We had Tyron Matthew of the Saints. If you missed any of that, we re-air as soon as this is over on the Roku channel. And there's also our YouTube stream, our Twitter stream, our Facebook, our TikTok, my gosh, our Instagram, our podcast where all podcasts can be acquired all three hours.

You can now, by the way, on our TikTok page, get to our podcast. Hey. It's called a connected universe. Multiverse.

The multiverse. Well, you know, speaking of multitasking and somebody who could do multiple things, like play offense and defense and win the Heisman Trophy for it. Also, you've got the ability to play for the Raiders and Packers and make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And you can also make a phenomenal wine, intercept wines. Phenomenal. And now look what I have on my desk. I've got not one, but two bottles of hard liquor with Charles Whitson's name on it.

The great Pro Football Hall of Famer and my friend Charles Whitson back in the program. How are you, Charles? Rich, I'm doing great, man.

I'm glad to hear you've got a couple of bottles on the desk. Let me paint the word picture. Let me paint the word picture.

It's what I do for a living, Charles. Woodson bourbon whiskey wine barrels. That's what I've got right here. Finished in wine barrels right here. I got that big ass bottle in front of me.

And wait for this one, gents. Let me read the label on this one. Woodson, it's bourbon whiskey in vermouth. Manhattan made with bourbon whiskey in vermouth.

Woodson highs Manhattan. You see what I mean? Hey, I see what you did there, Rich. No, I see what you did.

I see what you were doing. Exactly. Exactly. You know, that's the name of the game, man.

When it comes to, you know, trying to build a brand, you know, you got to make a label that people can connect with. And, you know, if you can make a play on words, then you make a play on words. And, you know, of course you get it. You get the highs, Manhattan. I do.

I do. So it's a Manhattan in a bottle. Is that what it is? Like, it's just, you just pour and it's a Manhattan.

Is that what it is? Man, it's a ready to pour Manhattan. I mean, you just put a big rock in a glass, pour it over that rock, add a cherry if you want to, and you're good to go. Okay. And then, and it says here, hold on a minute.

Let's keep talking about this. Finished in CW's French Oak Cabernet barrels. So once you're done with your intercept wine, you put it in the Cabernet barrels? Is that what you're saying?

Or you just use different ones? Once we're done with the aging process, which the bourbon has to go through, you know, it's criteria of being able to be called bourbon. Once that's done, then we put it in the wine barrels and finish it in there for a period of time. So, yeah, man, we're trying to, you know, be sustainable at the same time, you know, while we're doing this. So, yeah, man, that's what we got going on. I'm very excited. WoodsonWhiskey.com.

You can find it in a store or order it online directly. Again, WoodsonWhiskey.com. All right, Charles, did you see we're number two on the coaches? And I said we because I, you know, you played for them. I shouldn't say we. But did you see Michigan is number two on the coaches' column? Did you see that?

You're an honorary player, Rich, so you could say we. Did you guys hear that? Did you guys hear that? I really did.

Something in my ear. Okay, very good. What do you think, Charles? What do you think?

Yeah, I thought it number two and I love it. I love it because, you know, we're getting some respect, you know, and I like that for those young guys because they put in a ton of hard work. Been through a lot with that program over the years.

I would say the last, you know, 15 to 20 years, especially in terms of playing, you know, that that scarlet in grade school. So now we're in that position where we've gotten to win against those guys twice in a row now and have made it to the playoffs. Finally, back to back years. And so, you know, you got to take those steps and you look at the last couple of years we got there. But obviously we weren't ready to win the whole thing.

But in order to get to where you want to go, you got to take those steps. And so getting that respect being at number two, you know, going to the season is great for those guys. But now, you know, the targets on the back, you know, and, you know, there were years when nobody was really expecting anything from him. Well, now there's expectations. So, you know, hopefully those guys are ready to live up to that. Have you spoken to Jim lately?

It looks like he's going to miss the first four games, Charles. I spoke to him. I didn't speak to him about that. I was up there. They had a camp a couple of weeks ago and I was actually able to take my son up there, my oldest son, you know, to be able to witness, you know, what a big time program is all about. Being able to, you know, go into Schembechler Hall, see the weight room, and just, you know, really just put his eyes on a big time program.

So that was awesome, you know, for me to be able to take him up there. But I ran into Rich and we just talked about everything, but didn't talk about the suspension. Okay.

I don't know much about that. So at some point, are you going to explain to your son that Michigan was an original Big Ten team? We're going to have to sit down, children? Hey, Michigan's an original Big Ten? Is that what we say?

Is that how he goes? That's going to be a conversation we're going to have to have with a lot of kids, Rich. You know, not just, you know, my son, but just kids growing up all over this country.

The original Big Ten and what happened to the Pac-12. It's going to be a lot of conversation. What do you think about all this, Charles? What do you think about this? To me, I like change.

I like the things to grow, get better if they will. I was just looking on TV earlier and they were talking about Pac-12 not being able to secure, you know, TV deals and that sort of thing. So schools got to go where the money is at. You know, that's certainly understandable.

It's no different than anything else. You got to figure out, you know, you got to figure out how, you know, you can, you know, maintain and join in the Big Ten in the way that, you know, some of these schools, the route they have to take. I'm all for it.

So, you know, now we got to figure out. In my eyes, it's going to be, you know, two major conferences. It's going to be the Big Ten.

It's going to be the SEC the way I see it. So, yeah, I'm all for it, man. Growth is good.

And so they're just growing the game. It's just it's kind of crazy, though, right? But I'm currently living in Big Ten country here in Los Angeles.

When I saw Warren at the Hall of Fame, Warren Moon at the Hall of Fame, I took a picture with him and Instagram that out saying just two Big Ten guys hanging out here at the Hall of Fame. You know, and it's just it's I understand it's you got to adapt or die, but it's also really sad, isn't it? I mean, that that that we're in this position here. And I know, you know, that Washington State was a team that you beat. And Ryan Leaf like they're they're left behind. Washington State's kind of toast, you would think.

Charles, you know. Yeah, I think that, you know, as you look at it, you know, they have a saying, they have a saying, everybody can't go. And it's going to be sad for some teams that, you know, they're not going to be able to.

And one team in a conference enjoy. But that's just kind of the harsh reality really in life. You know what I mean?

And not to disparage anybody that's not going to be able to, you know, follow the origins or USC or whatever team is leaving. But that's just kind of the way it is, Richard. And so everybody's got to figure out how they're going to deal with it. And like I said, that's the way life is. Things happen and you've got to deal with it.

So we'll see what guys, how they handle it. I'm looking at your rookie contract. Your base salary for the Raiders is $350,000. Would you have made more in NIL if there was NIL in your final year at Michigan? Man, I would have been a monster, Rich.

Geez. I wish we had that back in the day. I don't know what the number would have been. Man, I know it'd be seven figures the way the guys are getting paid now.

I definitely would have been able to capitalize on that, man. I think it's great, you know, that the kids are able now to capitalize on their name, image and likeness. You know, some of the numbers I think, you know, for some players is outrageous, but it's no different than the professional ranking. You know, some guys you feel like they deserve a big contract and some guys you're like, oh, man, how did he get that much money?

To me, it's all the level playing field. And I think that, you know, had this been around when I was in school, most definitely I would have been able to make a ton of cash. Yeah, I'm looking at your prorated bonus, $1.3 million, your rookie year. NIL would have been north of that, you think? Let's go put a number on it.

What do you think? $1.3 million north of that? You, Charles Woodson, back in 1987? I mean, I just rounded up to two, you know, just to, you know, put a round figure on it. Right. But I'd say even north of two, Rich. Why not?

Okay, why not? Charles Woodson here on the Rich Eisen Show. I don't know if you saw this, it went viral the other day, but Norm McDonald's joke at the ESPYs years ago, you were sitting there in the audience. Do you remember that one, Charles? Yeah, I was stunned just like everybody else. I was about to say, how'd that one hit you, the joke that Charles, that night at the ESPYs? Well, it hit me a little different because I was a part of the joke, you know? And we all know what, you know, what went down. And so all of a sudden, you know, he references me and then all of a sudden, you know, the O.J.

part comes in. I'm like, holy cow. I'm like, why did he give me a hey? Norm could have gave me a heads up, man.

Like, hey, man, I'm going to put you in this joke, be ready for it. Did you ever run into him? Like, what hit me was the Sledge Center.

No, I never ran into him. But yeah, that was one of those viral moments. Oh, yes.

Like if there was Twitter or what have you back in the day, that would have gone. Oh, my gosh. Last couple for you, Charles, before I let you go again. Charles Woodson, WoodsonWhiskey.com for the two bottles that I have on the desk and so much more. And Intercept wines is incredible wine as well from Charles Woodson. Just to mention before you go on, the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders. You got to throw that in there, man, because that's a big deal.

Yes, and yes, the official whiskey, the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, too. Oh, look at this photograph. Look at you standing there in the building. Oh, my gosh. Yep. OK. Sign, seal, deliver. OK. Sign, seal, deliver. OK. So. So sign, sealed and delivered your back.

But Josh Jacobs is not basically right now. Right, Charles. Yeah, I beat him.

I beat him back to the Raiders. What do you think? Is he coming or what? What do you think? Is he coming? What do you think, Charles?

What do you think? I certainly hope. I certainly hope so.

Certainly. Certainly a young man that's deserving, you know, everything that he can get, you know, from his profession. We're kind of in this period right now where the running back man is in a tough position right now in terms of them receiving what they feel like they're valued at. And, you know, you've got a rushing title coming in, coming off the last year and not being able to kind of realize, you know, what he wants to realize as a player, especially when you look around and you see, you know, what the quarterbacks make, what the, you know, opposite tackles or defensive lineman and those guys make and here you have the running backs that are kind of being held off.

But, man, he's a guy that I'm mad. I'm hopeful that they can work a deal out because, you know, you got a new quarterback coming in. You got Devontae who you brought over, you know, a year ago who wants to win and Jimmy G is going to need him in that backfield, you know, just to take a load off of him. So, yeah, man, I'm hoping that they can get him signed. And at the same time, understanding that these guys are, they're looking at the business side of things more so than they ever have, you know, in our league. And so hopefully, man, they can get something done with him.

And then last one for you. Have you spoken with Aaron Rodgers since he's put on a jet uniform? Charles Woodson, have you connected with him at all?

I spoke to him a little bit out in Tahoe at the American Century Championship tournament a couple weeks ago. And, man, I just got to say, man, he looks like a new man to me. He just had a real, if I will, a real glow about him. He looks like he's very excited about the move. Excited to be there with the Jets. I think, you know, the younger guys on the team, you know, some young superstars have really energized him. I mean, I look for, you know, a really, really, really good year out of A-Rod this year, man. He looks great.

He looks happy. Yeah, I know, again, you might have been traveling. And, again, the news today that the whiskey that's right here on my desk is the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, the Woodson bourbon whiskey. But I don't know if you saw Hard Knocks last night. The glow that you're referring to, feeling like a different man, a new man, that came across in the 60-minute episode last night, big time, that he looks happy and content and engaged and eager to be the Jets quarterback in a way that I, it even took me back, Charles, to be very honest with you. Yeah, I didn't get a chance to catch it last night. You know, I was, my youngest son is just starting his first year of tackle football and they get to practice at eight something. So I'm trying to get home and get myself in the bed and get up the next morning and take my oldest son to practice.

So I didn't get a chance to see it. But, you know, looking at him and being around him, you know, I think, you know, Aaron, you know, he spent 18 years in Green Bay, Green Bay being, you know, a small town. And I really think, as Aaron has gotten older, I think he's more of a big city guy. And I think New York has really, you know, brought that side out of him. And I think he's excited about, you know, being in the city, being able to, you know, you've seen him at Broadway plays, I believe, and he's at concerts, he's dancing a little bit. Like, he's having fun. You know, this is a real, what I say, a real restart to his career, if you will, after 18 years, you know, to kind of get a second chance at another chapter in his life and to do it in the Big Apple. I think it's really, you know, bringing the best out of him. So, man, I'm excited to see what he does this year. Thanks for the time, Charles.

Enjoy practice with your kids. And I know you're going to be in Vegas this weekend promoting your partnership with the Raiders with Woodson, Bourbon, Whiskey at the Raiders-Niners preseason game, a little Jimmy Garoppolo homecoming, in a way. And let's chat down the line. And I know you'll be out here soon as part of your work with Fox Sports every now and then.

I'd love to have you in studio again. I miss you. You be well. Can't wait, man. Yep, it'll be good to see you. Enjoy that.

Hi, Manhattan. I will. Enjoy your little Woodson, Bourbon, Whiskey. I will do that.

It's the official bourbon of the Las Vegas Raiders. Very good. I appreciate it. Here's what I'll do is I think what I'll do is I'll leave the Woodson Heis Manhattan here in studio and then take the big-ass bottle home. That's what I'm going to do.

Put it on my new bar. I like it. I like it.

Sounds good. I like it. Enjoy. Thanks, Charles.

Greatly appreciate it. It's Charles Woodson, Pro Football Hall of Famer, and now a partner of the Raiders. Question is, will their choices with Josh Jacobs cause people to drink? That's a win-win for Charles.

I was going to say, that's a good thing? Let's take a break. Paul Mullen of Rexham AFC is here. Don't you dare miss that.

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Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Is it your job to get DeVito on board for It's Always Sunny? Yes, I got a call from John Landgraf, who runs the studio, and he said, oh, you know, nobody wants your show. And I'm like, yeah, well, you didn't promote it. And nicely done. And he said, well, you know, here's the thing. We're going to pick you up for season two.

Thank you. But we're not going to promote it because we don't have a big marketing budget, but what we'd like to do is bring on an actor of some note, somebody with some cachet that can maybe bring some attention to the show. And he said, what do you think about Danny DeVito? And I said, we love Danny DeVito, but we don't want him on the show because, you know, and nothing against Danny. It was just like, you don't know if it's going to screw the dynamic, you know, of the chemistry of the show.

Right. And he said, great. And we were like, OK, get Danny DeVito on the phone. And then what actually happened with Danny was I went to his house and he's like, Danny wants to meet with you. I was like, I don't want to meet with Danny.

So I drove over to his house and sat down. He's like, so what's the character? And we hadn't talked about what the character was, but I was like, well, I got to I got to do something. So I just made something up on the spot. You spitballed Danny DeVito's character for It's Always Sunny.

Yes. I remember it's not exactly what it turned into, but it was it was something that he responded to. But I remember the moment where we had his daughter, Lucy, comes in, who's now in her 30s. But at the time, she was, I don't know, in high school. And she goes, oh, hey, dad. Oh, hey, Rob, I love your show. And then walks out.

And once you have the kids, you got the parents. That's it. That was it.

Come on. That was it. Now you had to be sit there thinking, oh, I know she walked out and then he looked back at me and I looked back at him and I said, I got you, but he was like, yeah, did he think that you planned something like that or you planned it? It's something with his daughter. My gosh, I don't know.

Yeah, it worked out. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. 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 and look who has just stopped by. The striker, who is the star in many ways of welcome to Rexham on FX, because to hell with the guys who own the team, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhinney, I can say that not not their employee who's right here.

The great striker of Rexham AFC, Paul Mullen. Good to see you, Paul. How are you doing? Good to see you. Finally, after last year.

I know. We called, we spoke, we spoke. And now here you are in person. And as I told you in our green room, it's thrilled, I'm thrilled to see you in person. But the reason why you're still here in Los Angeles, I'm not happy for you on that respect. You have the floor. You know, a lot of folks know why, but you're still here in Los Angeles.

Why? Slightly unfortunate turn of events, I'd say. We obviously came over on our preseason tour and visited North Carolina and then headed to L.A. And then we moved on to San Diego to play against Manchester United, which was obviously going to be a big occasion. It was a sold out Snapdragon Arena.

Ten minutes in, I think it was, unfortunately, I've collided with the goalkeeper and managed to break four ribs and puncture my left lung. And sadly, that meant that I couldn't fly home for an extra couple of weeks or two weeks in all. And yes, still here now, obviously, it's unfortunate. But I think there's a lot worse places you could get injured than California.

It's true. California, at that as well, it's not a bad spot. So how are you right now? Feeling better. The first couple of days were really rough, to be fair.

The first seven days, I'd say, were quite rough and painful. And after that, I sort of stopped taking the pain meds to make me feel nauseous in the morning. So I stopped taking them and I'm feeling a lot better now.

Obviously, it's nearly two weeks on from the injury and I feel a lot better at the moment. So the painkillers, to help you not feel the pain. They're making you too nauseous. So the nausea was something that made you feel like, I'd rather feel the pain than nauseous. Is that what you're saying?

Yeah. It was exactly that, really. It was obviously being an athlete in the UK, we get drug tested so I couldn't take certain meds. So the painkillers wasn't that strong anyway, but just taking them on an empty stomach of a morning or whatever, it'd make me feel sick. And I didn't feel like eating, obviously, due to the injury and things. So I just thought it'd be best if I left them. And obviously, it didn't hurt that much that I had to take them.

So I was sort of taking them on a recommendation and I just left them in the end, but it made me feel better and I'm getting stronger every day and I feel a lot fitter now than I did a week ago. And unfortunately, the season started without you, right? Yeah, the season obviously started, it had been 15, 16 years that they've been out of this division. We managed to achieve the promotion last season, which was phenomenal for us. And I was really looking forward to walking out on that pitch the first game of the season to a big cheer from the fans and a roar and a real excitement, but it wasn't to be, but the lads went out and they had the best shot.

I think the American tour of a lot of jet lagging that maybe played the partners, not being quite at it during the first game, but I'm pretty sure going into the next couple of games, it would be better. When do you go back, do you think? What's the plan on that? A flight back tomorrow.

Okay. So we've got a flight tomorrow evening, which is obviously brilliant after being a bit of time away and away from the family, I'm really looking forward to getting back and seeing my little boy. That's how old's your, how old's your boy? My little boy is four.

So his name's Albie and he's, um, he's autistic. So he doesn't quite understand why his dad hasn't been there for so long, but his mom Molly's done an unbelievable job and I'm looking forward to getting back and seeing him. Well, that's wonderful.

Um, is it true, Paul Mullen, you have to tell the truth here on the Rich Eisen show. Is it true that, uh, Rob McElhenney invited you to stay with him while you're here in Southern California? And you said, no, I do not want to stay. He offered me obviously a place to stay in his place with him and obviously it was unbelievably grateful for that.

They were wanting to really look after me and make sure that everything was taken care of. But me two friends from Liverpool were here watching me for the tour and they both decided that they'd like to stay with me just to keep me company and give me some home comfort. So although Robert offered for me to stay in his house and it was an unbelievable gesture from him, I turned it down just cause me two friends were here and I think two, three guests would have been a bit too many for him. I know he's probably got the rooms in the house, but I don't think he'd have liked the uh, Scouse company too much after a couple of days. Cause I was about to say, you know, uh, welcome to Rexham is not his first rodeo on FX.

You know, I mean the guy has a very successful show for FX. Just a couple. Yeah.

You know, just to say the least. Um, plus three, I mean you plus two, I guess, uh, you didn't even ask him? No, I didn't want him. No, I don't like putting people in that position. I know he'd offered me to stay there, but um, I didn't want to put him in a position where he felt like he couldn't say no after offering me it.

So um, he's ownership. We decided to stay somewhere else on our own and spend a bit of time together. Obviously being my friends and being busy at home with work and life in general, you don't get to spend much time with them.

So this opportunity to spend the two weeks with me, two best friends from high school has been phenomenal. Okay. So, um, it wasn't like you didn't want to stay with the boss then? Oh, obviously not.

Of course, I'd have stayed if I was on my own and I needed care. So I'm pretty sure Rob and Caitlin has an unbelievable job for that. As we've seen when we were in Vegas, they looked after us with the sun cream every day to make sure we didn't burn. So I'm pretty sure that they've been in safe hands. What?

Say that you're in? What? When we were in Las Vegas celebrating a promotion at the end of the season, Rob and Caitlin come to spend time with us and Caitlin was the one walking around making sure that we were putting our sun tan on with sun cream on. So we didn't burn. She thought we were taking it as man versus sun and there was only ever going to be one winner.

So she had to look out for us a little bit. Understood. Cause you can't, you can't be sunburned, you know, and, uh, and promoted at the same time, I guess, uh, AFC, uh, Rexham AFC striker, Paul Mullen here on the Rich Eisen show. Why did you go to Rexham?

Why? Initially it was based around me son, I'd been away from home for a year and I decided before that year that regardless how it went, that I wanted to go home after her and I done really well. And luckily it was a summer where it was quite sought after with different clubs and transfers being rumoured. And I didn't know where I just didn't want to move away from Liverpool ultimately.

And that's a 40 minute, 50 minute drive to Rexham every day. And when he became interested, that was obviously, he made me an unbelievable offer to move to the club and initially, but the main driving force behind it was to be able to spend the time with my son every single night. And, uh, it's something obviously I've not regretted from the moment to sign the club's only been going one way and that's up.

So, it's been the most enjoyable time of my career to date. So for those who may not know, again, this is all covered immensely well, obviously in this incredibly popular Welcome to Rexham series, season two of Welcome to Rexham premieres September 12th at 10 Eastern on FX and streaming the next day on Hulu, which you can check it out right here on Roku. Who was there first, you or Rob and, you know, Ryan? Rob and Ryan initially signed the club, I think it was in the October before I signed, I signed in the June or July of the next year. So it was the first, the first full season that they were going to have as owners of the club. And, um, I think I was one of the first signings that they made obviously that summer. Did they sit down with you?

No, I was initially, I was in actually in my mum's back garden when I first got a phone call. It was, uh, obviously a number with a code from Beverly Hills in Los Angeles and Dave is me sat in Liverpool, looking at my phone, thinking who's this calling, but when I answered it was Rob. Rob, give me a call and really wants to sell the club to me and the dream and the vision that they have for it going forward. And to be honest, he didn't tell one lie on their phone call, everything they've said is made true.

What did he say to you? He just told me that the ultimate aim was to get out to the division and that they see the club progressing so far. Obviously from a commercial point of view with the documentary, that was something I didn't know about the club. And he explained how they were going to try and grow the whole, the whole club as a community and really put time and effort into the people of the place, not just into the football club. And that's been fulfilled at the moment and we want to keep building on the pitch. Obviously we've had success last season and this year, this year we're aiming to do it again. No, obviously you had just told us here about the personal reasons as to why you wanted to sign and how the benefits, I guess, for your personal life, geographic soundness of Rexham, but was there a part of you that's like, you know, these actors want to buy this club from America here in this part of the world and I need to check on this a little bit.

Was there any part of that for you, Paul? Not really. Once I'd spoke to Rob, I think initially my thought was how much will they really know about, obviously, the UK game and that league in general, it's not, it wasn't a league that was ever out there. It wasn't a league that was ever really put into the public spotlight and I think that the two owners made that happen and now there's probably a lot of people in the world who know what the National League is.

But even being from the UK, it wasn't a league that was talked about ever so much. They've really done that. Yeah. And they've done what they said they would do. Yeah, from the moment I got there, they obviously outlined the plans for the club and it took probably one year longer than we expected to get promoted. But I think that just added to the drama and probably helped the documentary just that little bit more. Well, they do have the sense of drama.

The Hollywood ending. There's no question about it, but that's where you're, so where can Rexham go from here, do you think? The sky's the limit. Obviously, there's been people laughing at Rob and Ryan doing interviews saying that they want the ultimate aim is to play in the Premier League, but when they've had dreams as kids and gone and achieved them in their personal lives and in their jobs, why couldn't they do it in a business aspect? Football's a game where anything can happen and this season there'll be a team in the Premier League called Luton, who not so long ago were playing in the same division we was last year and they've achieved so many promotions now that they've arrived in the Premier League and with Rob and Ryan's backing, obviously, and the whole support that we've got from not just in Rexham now, from all around the world, it's only going to push the club on and give them other outlets of income and things like that, which need to come down the line, the higher up you go through the divisions and the sky is really is the limit, they can achieve the Premier League, but who knows how long it could take, it could take five, ten, twenty years or it could take four, you just never know in this game. But obviously you would have a large role in that, correct? Your own personal success?

Well, hopefully, as I say, you never know in time how long it will take them to get there and obviously I'd love to achieve that, I'm not saying it's definitely going to happen because I'm not a fortune teller so I can't see that, but obviously this season especially we're going to work as hard as we can, me included in that, to try and replicate last season and to just continue doing as well as I can and this time next year we could be in the next division up and then you're only a couple of steps away from the Premier League, so you never know. Of course, right, so how do you like having the cameras on you? It's something I've sort of gotten used to, it's not something that bothers me but equally it's not something that I sought after, I don't change when I'm in front of cameras and I am what you see or what you get, it's something that doesn't faze me, I sort of be myself and I think if you always be yourself then you can never have any regrets or you'll never say something that you regret saying because you're just speaking your mind. Yeah, sure, but I mean are any of your teammates a little bit leery of it or concerned about it?

I think some are a little bit more happy to see the cameras than others, yeah, I think some of them like being in the spotlight a little bit more but some obviously don't, it's personalities change and for me last season obviously scoring a lot of goals and obviously from when the documentaries come out I was one of the main talking points and things you sort of get a bit more of a spotlight and things and it was something I just had to accept and roll with and now it's something that's become a little bit more regular and something that you just get on with. Did you know who these guys were when they called you and hired you or wanted you to come aboard? Well, initially when I heard about Rexham I didn't fully know who Robin Ryan was, obviously you have to Google him? I'd watched Always Sunny, I didn't recognize Rob McElhenny as being in it, I just knew it as Mac, which was quite refreshing when I did realize because I'd watched a couple of the seasons of it and then with Ryan I knew the name, I knew it was a popular actor but I just hadn't watched many of his movies, I wasn't, I'm still not a movie person particularly obviously now, I've caught up on a couple of them and sort of got to know him better through his Deadpool character.

Okay, so Deadpool is your entry into Ryan Reynolds and your entry into Rob McElhenny? I watched Red Notice, was my first movie of Ryan's that I can watch, I remember watching purposely because he was in it, but obviously with Rob it was Always Sunny, I'd watched a couple of seasons. But you didn't recognize him, did you then hang him? I didn't recognize the name, it was just as Mac obviously and Always Sunny, he's known as Mac.

So when you're sitting in your mother's backyard as you said, yeah, I was just getting renovated so he was staying in my mom's for a couple of weeks. You're staying with your mom and you look down at your phone and I assume 310 area code or whatever, that's the area code here in Los Angeles, pops on your phone and you're talking to Rob, did he say I'm an actor from Always Sunny in Philadelphia or did you have to, once you hung up, go oh my god, that's the guy from the show that I'm watching? When I answered he said I'm the big shot for my life, just kidding, which he is but he didn't say that. No, he's a really down to earth person and obviously his personal life or his jobs and achievements didn't really come into conversation, he just wanted to sell Rexham as the football club to me to get me to sign, which is what he done, he sold it as best he could.

If he wasn't in the jobs he's in, I think he'd get a good job as a salesperson because his pitch was phenomenal. Because I'm just saying again that you just hang up the phone and then you then you realized eventually it dawned on you that one of the actors from a show that you're watching was the guy who just called to pitch you on going to Rexham. Yeah it was quite cool to be fair, it was afterwards when obviously I realized, well to be honest before the phone call I'd researched it, I was like oh yeah that's from Always Sunny but initially when I first heard that the Rexham interest I hadn't but they're just good people and as I say I'm not one of those people who gets overrode or thinks any different of anybody from the homeless person on the street to the A-list celebrities who now talk to everybody is the same in life and they're both owners are exactly the same as me in that aspect, they treat everybody the same and that was what was most pleasing for me is speaking to the people he was and he did have no ego, it was literally that they were there to do the best for Rexham and the community and for me that's my job now is to do the best for Rexham and the community also. Now you always hear, certainly here in the States and I'm sure it applies around the world in the world of athletics, Paul Mullen, the Rexham AFC striker, again FX's Welcome to Rexham season two is premiering in September on the 12th at 10 Eastern Time, the phrase you hear from athletes all the time is no one believes in us and they use that as a rallying cry within the locker room or wherever they're on and I'm just wondering if the fact that Ryan and Rob bought this team, everybody thought you're just a lark, it's a lark by them, they're not really serious about it and your squad is not to be taken seriously and look what you've done so far, is that appropriate, do you use this maybe as a rallying cry for yourself? I think when they'd signed the players that we've signed, the really good players from higher divisions, I think from the public's point of view the team was expected to do well which created more pressure on us and obviously the documentary and the owners being who they are creates more eyes and more spotlight and it was up to us to deliver but the whole underdog story is about the community as a whole, it's a town that hasn't ever been given the support it needs to progress and to become a better, more influential town in the North of Wales, it's a massive area and it sort of got left by the government and the town as a whole and the people of the town really rallied together and I think as footballers and a group of players we had to rally around ourselves and forget about all the attention we're getting and all the applaud that's when we're doing well and realise that we've got to represent the people who support us and represent the community as best we can and give absolutely all in every single game and we've done that last season and obviously we'll continue to give absolutely everything because the people of the town never gave up as it's said in the documentary, they put the houses together, their own mortgages to keep their football club afloat and now they were lucky enough to have two really famous, really rich, really successful people take over the club who really do mean well and there was people out there saying they're going to be gone soon, there'll be only a flash in the pan type thing, it won't last too long but they're really two serious guys who want to progress the club as good as they can and as far as they can and I think them saying that they still want to be in 10 years, that was one thing when I spoke to Rob he said the two of them want to be remembered in 100 years for doing something unbelievable for a community and I think they've picked a good community to do that in and hopefully in 100 years time we've already wrote a little piece of history with us included in it but hopefully in 100 years time we'll all be remembered like that. So I think that's obviously part of the success of this show here in the US watching this unfold in Wrexham, it's not just obviously the celebrity element to it but a metaphor for the town, the team is a, the club is a metaphor for the town, exactly what you just said.

Yeah we represent them people, we work as hard as we can but I think in the documentary you get to see us as people not as the athletes like in the UK athletes get seen as different in life, they don't, they shouldn't experience the same things that normal people with normal jobs do just because they're athletes but for us I think it's reflected really well in the documentary how we're all just normal people, we all have our own problems and we all have to work really hard to get even where we've got to now and that's exactly like the people of Wrexham, they have to work really hard to afford to come to watch us every single week and luckily enough we managed to sell out the stadium and that support doesn't go unnoticed because in hard times they're the ones who pull us through as well as when they're suffering hard times and they come to watch on a weekend we can give them a bit of joy also to take home with them. Okay, so did you, what did you do while you were out here before I let you go, I mean anything that I need to know that you sampled? No to be fair the first couple of days after the injury was very much rest and recover and spend a bit of time on the local beaches and probably try different beaches out ahead of down to Santa Monica Pier because I've seen it pretty much on a lot of films and on GTA also which is something I had to check out but we spent a lot of time relaxing and then the weekend just gone we managed to go for some dinner in LA and in Beverly Hills which was also quite strange I managed to.

Why was it strange? Well I walk into a bar and there's paparazzi taking photos of me that was something I never thought was ever going to happen in life but it's something that I sort of have to get used to I suppose. Well I guess it's a new documentary Welcome to Beverly Hills Paul that's next up for you.

I might try that one. So you there's no paparazzi in Wrexham is what you're saying? Not real paparazzi no.

It's one person with a camera? It's more the documentary crew but obviously a lot of the fans who come and watch are always asking for photos but when I'm in Wrexham clothes I come to expect that you know it's a lot more recognizable I didn't think my face would be that recognizable I'd walk into a place in LA and the camera guys outside if he's shooting shots at me it was sort of a shock at first and I think the first photo they got up there probably be a bit of a picture because I wasn't expecting it at all but it was quite funny me two friends were there who were laughing you know we're all normal people average people from Liverpool who probably found the funny side of it. That's what high schoolers will do high school friends will do that and then your book is coming out my Wrexham story available now when you pre-order and then available wherever you get your books November 23rd of this year what's the purpose of the memoir just to talk about everything that you just talked about? No it was something that I was really interested in doing is writing a story and first off I was going to write it purely just on the successful season we just had and last summer my whole plan was to hopefully have a successful season and then write about it but I was approached by the publishing company to do the book which was already in my thoughts so it was something I jumped at and something I've really enjoyed doing it's basically talking about my whole life from the start and how basically it's somebody who still leads a normal life but came from a normal background with a loving family went through quite a few rough times within sport obviously not in the terms of life but within sport and within football more importantly I found it tough at times and sometimes in life you've got to dig in and then you get to a point where I signed for Wrexham and everything's gone swimmingly and all the stories beforehand where there was a Cambridge and do well from a moment before I found me where it was really tough and then I found myself at Wrexham as I say and it's gone from strength to strength from there and then my little boy and talking about his autism and trying to help parents with that because it's not easy it's really tough and if I could just help one person even just in that segment of the book it's something I'd be really proud about. Well good luck on the book congratulations in advance on that and all your success and again I'm sorry you're able to appear here because you got hurt but now you're well go home and hang out with your club.

Every cloud has a silver lining I suppose. I guess so yeah and hang out with your club and obviously your family. Paul I really appreciate you coming here sir. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Anytime absolutely right back at you at Paul Mullen 12 on Instagram everyone check out again his new book coming out pre-order it right now my Wrexham story available for pre-ordering it's going to be coming out around Thanksgiving time here in the States and then season two of FX's Welcome to Wrexham premieres September 12th at 10 Eastern on FX streams the next day on Hulu which is where you can catch it on Roku. It's time for kickoff and the Believe podcast will get you ready for the new season. How do you live through this as a different sports fan? Believe has podcasts covering all 32 professional teams and many of your favorite college teams too. You slid it by your defense you got better sideline to sideline end zone to end zone.

If you don't do those things then you're not even trying your hardest to win at football and I don't know what we're doing. There was a lot of great players on those teams that I was fortunate to be part of. Search BLEAV podcasts wherever you listen. Back here on our show the good chat with Paul Mullen right there. Yeah that was really cool. Nice bloke. Is that what I'm supposed to say?

I think so yeah I think that's fine chap lovely chap. Take off your hat Mike. Bitch it's not going to happen.

Mike just do it. Show me the edges. Here's the edges. Just take off. Show me the edges.

It's black. Yeah. No no come on. That's quick.

Why? Nope. Nope.

Screen grab. Alright now show me the inside of your hat. Is it black? No I'm not showing the inside. It's not black. Is it four seasons?

It doesn't come off. We just can't have a four seasons Philadelphia moment. No and you're not going to get a Rudy. That was my reference. Oh I'm sorry. Four seasons. That's when that happened? It was the four seasons landscape. Oh the landscaping. They thought that that's the whole thing. They thought it was going to be an actual four seasons but it was a landscaping place called four seasons. I didn't know that happened.

Because they were so competent. No this is not. This hair is this she's professional. This is not a jabron. Okay. See there's no jabrony stuff that we're doing here. You're not saying anything over there. You're out of it? You're sitting out? You're sitting this one out? I was posting some stuff on Instagram. What were you doing? Whoa.

Posting some stuff to Instagram. Is that good? Okay.

Yes it's good. This is not like. Good job.

Fake. Well done. If you see me on the phone over here Rich that's usually what I'm doing. I'm not like texting. All right so because I enjoyed my time with Paul so much it's going to be a sprint to the finish here. Because we've got a phone call to take and three coaching sound bites.

Let's go fast. All right so because we're about to hear from Tomlin, Zach Taylor on Burrow, and Ron Rivera. Maya Culping.

Interesting. And we got a call that we want to take because it's always fun to take his phone call on the program. Man there's a new Titan Stadium video out. Oh baby.

Looks good. Set to open in 2027. Is there like a year 10 club for Compton? Back here in the Rich Eisen show 8 4 4 2 0 4 Rich number to dial Jimmy in San Antonio. Let's take your call. What's up Jimmy? Hey Jimmy. What's up? Okay I know we're on a time thing.

I heard you so I was listening. I got three things. First thing. Brockman. Fantasy football name for Joe Letrulio's league.

Shohei Churu. Okay very good. I like it. Write it down.

What else you got? Second one. Kevin Brown and Brian Anderson. I worked with Brian in my first radio gig in 96.

Good people. Obviously I think he would be devastated to hear that you cannot say a bad thing about your franchise and free speech has now fallen into the sports realm and that is horrible. What else you got? Paul Mullen's theme song from Rexham. We've got Mullen. Super Paul Mullen. Love it.

I don't think you understand. He plays in red and white. He's effing dynamite.

We've got Super Paul Mullen. Well done. Well done. Well done. Love it. Ladies and gentlemen we gotta get Jimmy in San Antonio on the next season of Welcome to Rexham.

Love it. Zach Taylor when Joe Burrow went out said it's gonna be several weeks. Well it's been a couple of weeks since several weeks.

That's true. Does that mean? So how many weeks left? Coach was asked exactly that. The timeline is several weeks from when I said several weeks so we'll just remain we'll let that play out.

One more follow up. Jamar talked with us and NFL Network and he kind of laughed it off as making a lot of headlines but he said you gotta sit out until week five will be fine as long as you're there when it matters. Do you expect him back before week five even? I mean I said it'll be several weeks from when I said it would be several weeks. It was several weeks from several weeks and even though it's two weeks he hasn't it was several weeks then. It was several weeks when I said several weeks.

Nice. He didn't say four to six. If he said four to six we'd have left him alone. Several is four. No it's not. Several is ten. What? Oh yeah.

Really? Several is ten? Several is ten. No a couple is two. Excuse me.

A couple is one. A few. Look coaches put weeks on it. It's either a couple weeks four to six. Anything longer than that is several. That's the way I'm taking it. Wow. Several is ten? Yeah. How long is several? So let's just put it this way. How much is too much?

Well it depends on what we're talking about. Mike Tomlin, what's the workload for your quarterback here? With Kenny being so young does he need maybe more reps or more work in the preseason than a veteran quarterback? Yes.

Yeah. You don't know how much more he has to be determined. We'll play by ear. We'll give him what he needs.

It's always my mentality. I'm open to all that a healthy plan, how much they play will be determined by what it is they need for it to be a productive step in the process for him a week. And then we'll deal with next week next week.

Tomlin. So that's two weeks. Couple weeks.

Couple. That's it. He didn't say several. Because you just need a small amount of weeks. You know what I mean? I guess. AFC North is coaches talking, well I'm not saying much.

Talk is cheap. Seriously. Several weeks is what for you? Four? Several weeks is about four. That's what I would think.

Yeah, about four. So why don't you say about a month? He's out a month. Why would he do that? I don't know. Why would he put a timetable on it?

Well, that's why he refuses to. Who's playing week one? Cleveland? Don't give them a heads up. Don't give them that. Please. Come on. What do you mean? Don't give them a heads up. Oh.

Because if. Cleveland's kind of owned Cincinnati. Guess what?

Recently. That's what Peru is not preparing for. Do you know who Jim Schwartz is not preparing for week one? Trevor Simeon? Correct. But keep it quiet.

I don't know. Keep it quiet. We're going to prepare. We'll prepare for Joe Burrow. And if Trevor Simeon trots out, we'll high five.

Like that's the plan. But keep it quiet. Don't give the Browns anything. Don't give the Browns a thing.

We'll chat on Thursday. Come on. For over three decades, nobody has had a wrestling career like Arn Anderson.

Conrad Thompson gets all the stories with Arn. After watching AEW's Double or Nothing, Amy wants to know, what's this dinosaur taste like? It ain't chicken. It's like biting into a sinewy charcoal briquette. But chewy. Oh, wow. That's disgusting. It sure is. And check out Arn every week, wherever you listen.