RE Show: Mike Tomlin - Hour 2

Let me just say this. This is the Rich Eisen Show. I want to see Aaron Rodgers walking out.

The Rich Eisen Show. I want to see two handoffs, one bubble screen and a deep throat. Rodgers under center. Drops back. Lobs one.

Front left pylon. It is caught. Darren Wilson. Oh, it's a Jeff touchdown. Earlier on the show, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlowski. Coming up, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

Plus, your phone calls, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. The fact, proven by the fact that I'm now on television and inside your radio. That's odd for me to say something like that. But that's the way we're rolling here to kick off our number two on this final week before the regular season of the National Football League begins. College football already underway. Baseball is getting red hot for some teams. Not the team I root for.

But all good in this hood. Chris Brockman, Mike Del Tufo, where they are. TJ Jefferson, good to see you in our number two on this program. He's one of my favorites and I'm not just saying that because he's kind enough to call in and on hold hearing this introduction. Entering the 17th season of his tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He is Mike Tomlin back on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you, coach? Great.

Always good to be on with you, Rich. How are you guys doing? We're great. We're great.

I just want to jump in with the last time I saw you. How cool was that at the Pro Football Hall of Fame watching Rhonda Barber go in? What was your perspective on that night of the jacket dinner, Coach Tomlin?

Coach, I just don't have the words, man, to be a part of his journey and to be with him when he was in his early to mid 20s and watch him build that and see the culmination of his commitment and his talents, man. It really just left me speechless. I was humbled and honored to be a part of it.

And yeah, you put the jacket on him with John Lynch as well, Mike. I mean, what was that moment like for you, that moment? Man, I think back to when we were all in our 20s kind of working together, you know, and I was responsible for coaching those guys. And I took that responsibility very seriously, man. It's really kind of been a springboard for my career. I never wanted to let those two guys down, man.

As a coach, to coach those guys, man, you had to be super prepared and organized daily. And they just brought the best out of me because I wanted the best for them. And to see them in their rightful place, man, in Canton, Ohio, man, it gets no better than that. Well, and also, just again, I love being a fly on the wall. I'm so fortunate to be a fly on the wall for that weekend and then to be, you know, in the post dinner reception party and then just looking over to my right and seeing you talk to Bill Cowher.

And I thought to myself, I'm a 54 year old guy. Those are just two of the only three coaches of the Steelers in my entire lifetime. And what is your relationship with Bill, Mike? Man, I love BC, man. He has been an awesome big brother to me. Man, I've done nothing but appreciate him more over the years, man, because this very small fraternity he and I are in is a beautiful thing, man. He knows the ground that I walk on. I'm always amazed when we get a chance to catch up if he can tell me exactly what's going on in my life if he's been there.

And that is a cool thing. I enjoyed the brotherhood, the camaraderie. It was great to see him there. I don't get enough time with him, but obviously, you know, he lived in NY and is very busy with his second career and all of that. But, man, nights with him like that one, man, is special for me. So what's the same where he says, are you doing this or are you doing that? And you're like, yep, hasn't changed.

I mean, is there some specific? You know, just the structure of how we go about our business organizationally. He knows where our organizational focus is on an over 12 month calendar and the head coach's responsibilities in it. And, you know, he's right. And, you know, he is the only guy on the planet, man, that really kind of understands what it's like to walk in my shoes, man. And I'm so appreciative of that.

And that's why I enjoy spending time with him. Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to his 17th season as head coach in Pittsburgh right here on the Rich Eisen Show. From the outside, coach, it looks like your team is ready and really improved from last year. I wonder what you think.

You know, I think we'll find out, man, on September 10th and beyond, you know. I know before we start playing preseason games, everybody's tone wasn't like that. So I don't read too much into it when it's not supportive. I don't read too much into it when they're crowning us. The important thing is that we work continually daily to get better individually and collectively. And that's what I've seen from this group. And that's why I'm excited about him. I mean, this is your 17th team, as I keep mentioning here.

Is there anything that you're seeing that is similar to other years at this time where it turned out to be an excellent season, Coach Tomlin? I just like the collective fearlessness of the group. They're not scared. And that's a major ingredient, I think, of really good teams. Man, you've got to be fearless.

What you're pursuing is rare air. And so you can't be bashful about the pursuit of it or fearful. And I hadn't sensed fear in this group at any step of the process to this point. And that's exciting to me. What's the metric of fearlessness?

How do you measure that? Just their willingness to compete, their pursuit of victory as opposed to the fear of failure. You know, we've got a challenging camp. We do so thoughtfully. We put them in competitive circumstances. That's the only way to get to know them. That's the only way for them to get to know themselves. We feel like that tees them up for preseason ball and then thus tees them up for regular season ball.

And I just like the spirit, the competitive spirit of this group. Is that the sparring that you were referring to the other day, other than just playing them, sparring? Yeah, the boxing analogy, yep, that's it. Where'd you get that one? Where'd that one come from? Did you just make that up on the podium, Mike? No, I'm sure I probably heard it somewhere before. I just can't remember.

And I would love to cite my source if I can remember where I heard it, but I can't. But that just slipped out. Yeah, you got to spar if you're going to box and your team is definitely full of sparring. Your quarterback, five drives, all of them wind up in touchdowns. Again, I know it is preseason, but what can you take out of Kenny Pickett's summer, Coach? I think he individually is probably a good representative of what I've been talking about. Man, the dude comes to compete every day. He loves it. He's getting better. He's getting more comfortable in his shoes in terms of wearing the informal responsibility that comes with being him.

And we all kind of know what that is. Man, the quarterback is the heartbeat of a unit. He's the heartbeat of a team. And he's been that before, but it's the first time at this level.

And I think he's more comfortable in those shoes. And I think there's more fluidity in his play because of all of the above. What about his vocal aspect of his game with his teammates?

What can you reveal there for me, Mike Tomlin? He is very vocal, emotional, fiery. And it's been fun to kind of watch that natural component of him come out. You know, I'm cheating because of the proximity to his university. And so I knew that about him, but it's cool to see that come out of him at the professional level. Have you counseled him on that front?

Say, hey, let's see it. Did you have to counsel him, I guess is the question. I think it has to be organic, but obviously he and I spent a lot of time together talking about a lot of things, you know, tangible, formal things, intangible things relative to his position in mind. There's a lot of similarities at times between our roles. You know, we both get too much credit when things are going well, and we both better be ready to absorb negativity when things aren't.

And so, you know, there's a lot for he and I to talk about. Well, I just think his improvement or the sense of him being improved is, I guess, evidenced by the fact no one's talking about his hands anymore. Coach, you notice that? Nobody's talking about his hands anymore? You know, that's just that draft, that's just that draft father sometimes that takes on a life of his own.

I'm just saying nobody's talking about that anymore. I had George Pickens on the show the other day. What a delight. Oh, man.

I had him on the show the other day. Just a delightful chat. He told me you are telling him to do the routine things routinely. Can you confirm that? That's what you're telling him? Yes, sir.

Okay. What does that mean? I just want him to get really comfortable with what can be drudgery. The things that – the high volume things that come with being a professional, the things that you need to do on a routine basis, making routine plays. We all know that he is capable of the spectacular. And I love that about his game. But I want to see him make the routine plays all the time. You know, the stops at the sticks on possession downs, the catch and run slants away from bump and run. The routine things that big time wide outs do that don't get a lot of attention, you just take it for granted. If he's going to be what we need him to be and what he aspires to be, he's going to have this spectacular component of his game, but he's going to do the routine things as well. What does that mean to you when you hear that he is, I guess, recalling or regurgitating your coaching points in moments like this?

What do you take away from him? I try not to give him an option. I probably say it to him three or four times a day.

I bet so. And so when did he have you at hello? Did he have you at hello? When did you first see George Pickens and then turn to everybody and go, okay, I think this is going to be a stealer? When did that happen for you, coach? Man, I was watching Georgia play his freshman year on TV and he made a freaky play and I just never forgot him. And, you know, I watch a lot of college football. I'm a college football fan. And so I get familiar with the really good players, the guys that have outstanding attributes. And most of the time I see him pretty early on and I saw him early on.

But you didn't need a, you know, you didn't need a magnifying glass to see that talent. I mean, Darnell Washington want to talk about another freaky talent from Georgia. Is he, what's your vision for his rookie season, coach? You know, I just really love the fact that he embraces the blocking component of the position.

When we went down to Athens, man, they said his personalized license plate was sixth offensive lineman. And just the guy that embraces that component of the job in today's game is exciting. He's got the physical attributes to boot.

He's been really good during team development. And so I'm excited about what he can bring at the point of attack in the run game. You know, we don't talk a lot about it, but, you know, you need guys that look like 4-3 ends to block 4-3 ends. And so, you know, he looks like some of these animals that play 4-3 ends. He's a big guy. You know, today's 250-pound tight end oftentimes struggles to block the 4-3 end. And so you better have somebody that looks like that.

He physically looks like that. He has an appetite and an attitude for it. And so I'm looking forward to him being a big-time help to us. And really he's been better in the passing game through this process maybe than we anticipated, which is also a plus. Mike Tomlin, coach of the Steelers. A few more minutes left with him here on two Mondays before kicking off the season against the San Francisco 49ers.

We already established again back in the day, you with Tampa. You were obviously coaching the back end of the defense, but you've been around some really talented people there and where you currently are. Where does T.J. Watt rank for you?

Oh, man. Man, he's in that elite class. And not only because of his talent, but his commitment daily. The physical work that he does, the classroom work that he does, his approach to his business is elite. It is Derrick Brooks-like. It is John Lynch-like.

It is like some of the guys that I've been around that we had the chance to spend some time with a few weekends ago. Everyone obviously talks about his talent. He's been a defensive player of the year and all of that. But, man, he's such a really good example to the young Steeler just on a day like today. Just watching him go about his business and the professionalism in which he does it and the urgency in which he does it every single day.

And so, yeah, he's in the tip top of that elite group for sure. Benny, of course, he's not the only one who could put the quarterback horizontal on your team. How good can this defense be? Coach, walk me through that. You know, I think for us it's going to be communication. We've got quality players. We've got experience. Some of our experience is new to us.

Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander, Pat Pee, Keyon O'Neal, all are veteran players. We're all very familiar with those guys and that's why they're here. But as a collective, we're new. And so I really think our ability to communicate, and particularly in our home stadium, the challenge from a defensive perspective of communicating in the home stadium. A home stadium is an awesome advantage when your defense communicates. And so that's where our stress has been. And that's why we've played some of these veteran players as much as we've played them throughout the preseason.

There's just no substitution for getting those guys in the bowl and letting them compete and communicate, because ultimately their ability to communicate and stay connected is going to define our level of greatness. When was the first time you met Joey Porter, Jr.? When was the first time for that?

I think he was eight or nine. He and my son were in a track meet in Sacramento, California, met at a national track meet, and they were in a prelim together. And they were in the same heat, and me and his old man wanted to bet on the race.

So that's what some dads would do. That's probably the first time, man, but it is funny. It's really dating me. It's making me realize how long I've been at it.

Yeah, I know. Have you caught yourself? I know you're intense and you're locked in at every moment, but have you caught yourself, oh, my God, I cannot believe I'm coaching this kid right now in a stealing uniform? Probably in moments when we're not busy. You run into him in the cafeteria or something like that, but in the midst of the work, I really don't think a whole lot about it. He had such an accomplished career at Penn State, so I'm not surprised that he's here. But when I think about the history of it, how long I've known this kid throughout his life, it is pretty funny.

I mean, young, old, we've just wrapped this conversation up, Coach, just went through your roster and some of the moves, and we haven't even hit all of them, certainly from the draft and some kids that are looking really good in the preseason. Do you, at any point prior to week one or already have, played the nobody believes in his card, do you do such a thing, Mike Tomlin? No, they know I don't care.

I can't play that card. This group knows me, and they know I don't care what people think, and so I'd be less than genuine if I played that card. You know that devalues my position in this whole conversation, Coach, you know what I mean, as a member of the media, if you don't believe, you don't listen to the outside noise, all of us in the media feel like we're insignificant, Coach. You know what I mean?

Hey, definitively not you, man. I appreciate your service. That I appreciate.

Before I let you go, I lied one last one. I know this is not your team, but Brian Flores looks to be ready to roll in Minnesota, and I'm wondering your conversations with him that you're willing to share or what he might bring to the table and how he might be able to tighten the bolts in that organization there on the defensive side of things. Coach? You know, not speaking specifically about the Vikings, because obviously I've been focused on our group, but I just know Brian Flores, I know what a special guy he is, what a special coach he is, and I'm not going to be surprised ever with the levels of success that he has.

I'd imagine they're going to play some really good defense up there. Coach, I appreciate the time right here always. I do not take it for granted. It was great to see you in Canton, and I hope to see you down the road. Thanks again. My brother, no problem. Thank you.

Right back at you. That's at Coach Tomlin if you want to find him anywhere outside of a sideline or a practice field of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the great Mike Tomlin who's going to have a gold jacket himself one day. I can tell you that.

Definitively he will have a gold jacket. Well, I just – that was so funny. Like he can't play the nobody believes in this card because the team knows he doesn't care. They know it. It wouldn't ring true.

I'm still laughing at that. It wouldn't ring true if he did that. It would be not genuine for him to do that.

Nobody believes in us, which by the way is a fact. I bet if you look at folks' previews and predictions for AFC North finishes, the Steelers would be fourth. If not, maybe ticking up to third. A total afterthought.

Oh, yeah. Joe Burrow, forget it. Lamar Jackson, he's been paid. What are the Steelers doing? Kenny Pickett with his Hamburger Helper gloves throwing the ball around? I mean, Kurt Warner got a gold jacket with gloves on. I got it.

But I'm just saying, you know, what's he going to do? Really? This team?

Yeah. This team that had to fight and claw to make sure this coach didn't have a losing record finally? I get it.

But I just named everybody – or not everybody is what I'm saying. A whole bunch of players that are really good and they're healthy right now. Knock on wood for them. That's a sleeper team right there, folks. Pittsburgh Steelers. I think they make the playoffs.

I have a standby, my original. Which is? I don't know if that's a hot take, but – I mean, we got a hot take a little, right? All four teams in that division go. I know you've said that. I think that's wild.

If it doesn't happen, Chris, you're not going to remember it, but if it does – Okay. Then you've got to take one out. That's your – that's the Brockman rule. You've got to take them out. You can't just sit here and go, they're in.

Who are you taking out? Chargers don't make it. Dolphins. Jets don't make it. The Jets didn't make it last year.

No, I know. I'm saying a lot of people think they are now this year. Well, I mean, just forget about – don't get too deep in the weeds about predicting who else makes it. You've got to take one out from last year. You mentioned two of them.

Give me one. Chargers, Dolphins. Yeah, I think they both make it again.

They do. So, then who's out? I don't think four teams from the North make it. So, then the Ravens are out or the Bengals? They played each other.

I think one of them is out. Oh, my word. I don't know about the Bengals. What if Burrow's cap just – Dude, heaven forbid.

Can't heal. But I'm kind of with you. I do love – I'm high on the Steelers. Clearly, we keep talking about them around here.

Yeah. Mike Tomlin, everybody. I am not playing the nobody believes in his card because everybody in that locker room knows I don't care. Because nobody believes that I care about him. What an answer. Overreaction Monday when we come back and more of your phone calls at 844-204-RICH.

Call us because we do care. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Mike.

Thanks, Mike. I will say this. Yes. I am a man that knows when he's defeated. Yes. I was beaten this year.

Yes. So, my business manager is supposed to have the hat for us. He did not bring the hat. Oh, we're throwing Jamal under the bus right here. He did not bring the hat.

He was thrown under the bus by the bus just right now. See, he didn't even show his face. I was willing to wear this hat. He had it made up and everything. Well, he told me that the hat that he made up had the final score on it. No, he had the hat on there. Whatever. It was a hat. I don't know what that was.

The hat is supposed to read the following. I am going to listen to this. Hear this.

Yes. Hail to the victors valiant. Hail to the conquering heroes.

Hail, hail to Michigan, the leaders and best. Wow. That is for you only. Wow. You know it. I honestly did not. That is for me to do that. I honestly can't have thought of anything else that you would do that would make me think that you would not have to follow through on your end of the wager, which is where an I should have gone to Michigan hat on the vaunted field of Notre Dame with touchdown Jesus behind you. But do I let him out of that end of the bet now?

That was pretty epic actually. And he nailed all the words. He grew up in the state of Michigan. He should know them. He should know them. I did not know them.

I had to look them up to make sure I was saying it correctly for you. Also, I'm getting visions of Jerome practicing before he came out here. That did sound rehearsed.

Yeah. It sounded rehearsed. That was great. That took a lot out of me. Great job, Jerome.

You know that. That was awesome. That was awesome. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right.

Wow. The great Jerome Bettis. His multiple appearances on this show is on our YouTube page. Welcome back to 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 has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Chris, you missed a couple last week when Suze was sitting in there and you were drafting in Kansas City. More fans calling in to play the win-loss game. Oh, nice.

Off the rails. Oh, just everybody's going 15 and 2? No, we had a few 13 and 4s, right? And we had a few of them. There was a Vikings one that you got very upset with, right?

I just called it beforehand. I said, this guy's going to say 13 and 4 and it was 13 and 4. Yeah. Andrew in Minnesota had 12 and 5 for the Vikings finish. Chris, according to all of our callers, the Cowboys are going to eventually end up with Marvin Harrison Jr. because we're going to have the worst record in the league.

Justin in Maryland had the Jaguars at 13 and 4. Jeez. Yeah. Obviously, Jake Tapper leads the field with a 16 and 1 choice for the Eagles. I mean, that might happen, though. I hope not.

But in terms of fans calling in, none more nutty and off the rails than the guy who says his Broncos are going 15 and 2. Nick in Corona is back on The Rich Hudson Show. How you been, Nick? You enjoying your 15 minutes of fame on our YouTube page?

Nick? Hey, thank you so much. I am enjoying every bit of it.

It's awesome. Okay. All right. So, might as well just keep it going.

What's on your mind? So, I got a chance to listen to you on Friday on what's more likely. And you continue to bash my quarterback. And I think what's more likely, Matthew Stafford does better than Russell Wilson. So, I figure I'd call in on a Monday overreaction after the Broncos 41 and 0 preseason game over the weekend.

Oh, come on. The Broncos will do better than the Rams this coming season. Better record? Better record.

It's not an overreaction. But I like both teams. I like both coaches. I like, you know, I'm not going to sit here and choose one over the other. The reason why I chose Stafford over Russ to return to form is because we saw Russ last year with a similar group.

And I understand the coach is different and the whole situation is different. But, you know, Cooper Cup's coming back and Stafford's healthy. And I don't know.

I don't know. I just chose Stafford over Russ. I still need to see it.

I want to see it one more time here. Russ does look really healthy. Doesn't it look like Russ isn't better?

It doesn't help when another wide receiver gets hurt either. Like he went on the RW system. Oh, he's down 15, I think. Don't you think? Yeah. Okay.

Not to go all Ryan Clark on you, but I mean, he looked pretty good. But thanks for the call, Nick. I agree. All right, Nick.

I'm not saying it's impossible. Oh, Del Tufo just thumbed him. Yeah, Mike was done. That's messed up, Mike. He got called out. He played quick trigger on that. I'm like, I thought that we were done. How would you answer that?

Russ returns to form more than what's more likely. You were the one who threw that one out there. What did I say?

I forgot. Rich, I wrote that in a Casey Hayes at like midnight. Did you really? Are you serious?

Casey Hayes. Excellent dedication on your part. I was working late. Good to know that you're doing stuff drunk.

That's what you said. The story about Stafford that came out. Not connecting to his teammates. Yeah, I got this off of Twitter, so I don't know how reliable this source is, but apparently he's having a hard time, like Brockman said, connecting with his young teammates, having to go as far as having the equipment staff print out a Facebook air quotes so they could remember everyone's names. And I guess he's so much older and everyone else is so much younger. There's also a hundred people in a training camp and it looks like, aren't half of them new? The Rams have a lot. They're a young team.

One of the youngest teams in the league. Let me just tell you something, because I share, I share here. Sometimes when I go to the NFL Network campus, I wouldn't mind a Facebook, too. Because everybody knows you. And I've been there 20 years.

Yeah, that makes sense. I do a lot of head nods. Can we just- Walking in the hallway. Hey, Tim. Speaking of what's more likely, how about me predicting the Lance trade? What? I said, more likely, Taylor or Lance get traded. I basically called that. And I said Lance as well. Is that a prediction though? You said the question.

That aged well. No, no. But answer the one. You said which guy's going to return more to his MVP form, and of course neither of them are MVPs.

Well, because Broncos are playing the Rams, so they're based on the matchups. I understand what you were saying, but obviously Stafford didn't play. Stafford over Russ. That's a toss up. Would you take... Well, you're not allowed to do that. I guess I would take Russ.

Okay. And you call yourself a season ticket holder. What did you do for the bigger disappointment? What was that one again? Dead Jets or Giants?

Bigger New York disappointment in 2020. We all saw through your ruse. We saw through your ruse. What did you pick? The Giants. Oh.

What did you pick? I might have cursed you as well. Not on the air. It was off the air for sure though.

Well, no, Rich curses on air now sometimes. Susie appreciated your tone. I thought that was- Well, she said that you also wrote down like skewing positive. You wrote that in parentheses.

You gave her like some stage direction. Skewing positive. I said all these were based on this week's preseason matchups. No, I know that. But you wrote one and then you wrote in parentheses skewing positive.

Like we needed to give- No, Hoskins wrote it. Come on. Oh, okay.

I'm not Mr. Positivity. Come on. I did think it sounded a little weird. It did sound off-brand. You were on-brand last week. That was off-brand.

Let's talk about on-branded. On Monday, it's time for overreaction Monday. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage.

This place sucks. Overreaction Monday. All right. Soon to be a podcast every single Monday. We're still going to do it obviously on this show every Monday as well. Christopher, the floor is yours. All right.

So during my draft on Saturday, we were watching Jets and Giants. Man, one thing really stuck out. Oh boy.

Carrot Wilson's so good. He is going to lead the NFL in receptions and yards. Nah. That's an overreaction.

Are you nuts? He got like 38 targets in those two drives. I understand that.

He's so awesome. He's got some decent wide outs on your squad though. I understand that. I'm just not going to sit here and say he's going to lead the league in receptions and yards. Like he's going to go two-thirds of a cup. Yeah. He's going to go for it.

I would love that more than anything else and I'm not going to jinx it. I'm going to go overreaction. Not saying it's impossible. Not saying it's within him.

It's not within him. I'm just going to say that, I don't know. Just because we saw, we didn't see either of their two starting running backs. And if I'm Aaron Rodgers and I want to get in and get some rhythm and get the hell out of there, I'm looking at the guy I trust the most and that's number 17. So I'm just going to leave it at that.

And I'm not going to sit here and take your bait or your cheese. Was pretty impressive. It wasn't, it was very impressive and it makes you think like he's going to have a big season, but to lead every receiver in both categories, how many, how many times have we seen that Justin Jefferson still plays in the league? Why can't he have one 20 and 1800 yards? He can. I would love it. That means the Jets are going to win the division if that happens.

Possibly yeah. But for the moment, I'm just going to side of just what seems rational. And then the irrational is I'm not going to jinx it. What's next. All right.

Watching all the highlights. I, uh, these rookie quarterbacks, uh, made official by D'Amico Ryan's after last night's performance, uh, CJ Stroud is going to have the best season by a rookie quarterback. I'll say, uh, I'll say no to that. I'll say that's an overreaction.

I'll still go Bryce young. Really yeah, I will. I will. Okay. I will go there. That's what I will say. Interesting. This is an Ohio state thing?

No, it is not. Can I ask why you think that? Because we haven't seen Jack out of him. You're, you're, you're looking through the preseason lens. This kid is number one for a reason. I think Frank Reich is going to have, have him dialed up. I think they have some other problems on this team potentially.

Like the whole line? How to choose? I don't know. I would, I, yeah, I have some, I don't know, Anthony Richardson, if they have, if he has, if he gets Jonathan Taylor back, I would choose him.

I would choose him. A lot of, a lot of sevens or eighteens in the preseason. I understand that, but it's preseason. Let's see what happens. And he, uh, and again, I just think we haven't seen the full Bryce young and I'm just gonna rely on that. You see the Colts cut Kenyan Drake.

Are they in the position to be cutting running backs right now? You need to call on Barney Lenny, right? Or you need to sign two eight. I honestly don't know what the hell's going on back in the camp. Two eight is signed.

He's choosing not to play. Yeah. What else you got over there? All right. Josh Jacobs did get paid though.

He got a, what, a $2 million bump on the, uh, went to the Saquon Barkley route. Before you continue, just one last thing. It's not an overreaction to say CJ Stroud will have the best season out of all three of them. You just think it's going to be Bryce. Correct.

Got it. Right. Uh, Josh Jacobs, uh, led the NFL in rushing last year. I think he's going to maybe do it again. He's going to have the most rushing yards among the RB zoom crew. It's not an overreaction to say that, but I I'm, I'm, I'm still gonna, I don't know. I don't think it, I don't know if it's going to be Saquon either one. Derek Henry was on that zoom, wasn't he? He was getting up there a little bit. No, it's not an overreaction.

I'm rooting for him, but I, I, I would, again, I don't know if it just sounds like prop betting here too. I just don't think, I don't know. Back-to-back years. It's just, who was the last one to leave the league in rushing back-to-back years? Uh, I think it was Derek Henry actually.

Derek Henry. I have it actually. Wow. It's open to the page.

Hey, I have it. Last year was Jacobs year before was Taylor and the two years before it was Henry. Then Zeke, then Hunt, then Zeke, then Peterson, DiMarco and Shady. Those are the last 10 lead rushers.

So I will just say, uh, you know, it's not an overreaction, but I don't think it will happen. What else Chris? Josh got a new number as well, Chris. I saw he went to eight, right? Yeah. I think that's cool.

I like the single digits. Uh, obviously Trey Lance traded Friday evening to the Dallas Cowboys. Trey Lance is going to win a Super Bowl ring before Kyle Shanahan. Get out of here. I love that. That's the best thing you ever did, Chris. It's just like, you know, you're, you're using this as a conduit for your own agenda and I don't appreciate it. What do you mean?

This is a very sacred segment. We have here an overreaction Monday. I'm saying the Cowboys win before the Niners, that's all. That's an overreaction.

I think that's absurd. I think the Niners have a better roster than the Cowboys. I do.

Can I ask you a question, Rich? Who's the reigning defensive player of the year? And you know how I feel about Micah Parsons. Micah Parsons might be MVP of the whole league.

I understand that. I understand that, but where is that reigning defensive player? He ain't in camp. He's ATC. He'll be there. Don't you worry. Why are we not talking about the fact that possibly the best defensive player isn't in camp?

Like no one's speaking on him. How many reps will it take him to get ready for the season? One. Thank you. I just like the 49ers better. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm kind of in on the Cowboys. Are you really? Kind of.

So do you believe what you just put down there? Okay, moving on to use the, uh, Brian Gumbel phrase. What's next?

Hey, you know who was awesome? Calling plays. Dak should just call the plays. If he can do that for Will Greer, imagine we can do for himself because he's better than Will Greer.

Let me tell you something. Just let Dak call the plays. What does he need McCarthy for? This is the greatest overreaction Monday ever.

What does he need McCarthy for? Let me just say this. This sounds crazy. It's totally crazy. But that's not an overreaction. If he calls the plays for Will Greer, like that, and it's just like four touchdowns.

Let me do it. Yeah. But guess what, guys?

It's a lot easier when you got the headset on and you don't got a password. I don't know Terry Bradshaw called his own plays. Jim Kelly used to do it. And it's also proof.

It's proof that Dak has the neck up ability like everything else in his body. So I don't know. How many times did Rogers overrule McCarthy back in the day? Probably all the time. So maybe.

While he was taking naps and getting massages. Like, what are we doing? Let Dak call the plays. It's not an overreaction. It may be slightly, but I like where your head's at.

It's not. It's a great leap of like, if he could do this for another human, what can he do for himself? He can do it for a guy who just got cut.

Well also, he's made Will Greer look like- You know how much money Will Greer just made because of Dak? He knew he was getting cut. So the offense was, they put him in the position. They were trying harder?

They put him in the position to succeed, I think. What else? All right, a couple more. I was looking at the guys who won the division last year, teams who won the division. I think we're going to have four new division winners this year. So last year it was Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jacksonville- Are these your choices on the board?

Kansas City. You've got the Seahawks, Lions, Steelers, and Saints up there. Those were not my choices.

That was an editorial decision. Okay. Eagles, Vikings, Bucks, and Niners.

I think we have four new ones. Well, the Eagles for sure. That's not an overreaction because if the Jets can put it together, the Dolphins can put it together. If the Ravens can put it together, or the Steelers can put it together, if the Titans can put it together- Packers.

I'm moving it. By the way, I'm skipping over the AFC West. If the Cowboys can put it together, if anybody else in the NFC... It's entirely possible. We're predicting the NFC South later, and I'm predicting a changing of the guard. I think we all are.

That's not out of the realm at all. Four new division winners. All right, then how about this one? Two teams that finished last in their division last year are going to make the playoffs this year. Well, the Jets finished last last year. Browns, Texans, Broncos, Commanders.

That's a hot pick this year. Bears, Falcons, Cardinals. Two last place teams last year.

I think that's not an overreaction either. You just named a team that can win the division, and a team that can make the playoffs is a wild card right there, and potentially win their division. Two last place teams. What are the last place teams again? All right, last place teams, Cardinals, Falcons, Bears, Commanders. Yeah. They can make- Broncos, Texans, Browns, Jets. Yeah, so just a quarter of those teams make the playoffs. Right.

I could see all of that. That's not crazy. That's not crazy at all. No, not crazy. Okay.

You came up with a lot of crazy, including one that I agree with. Let Dak call the plays. Let Dak cook. Come on. That's what I'm saying.

Let Dak cook. I don't know about that. Oh, let's start that. Do you think we need one more? Oh. All right, we'll get one more. Okay. All right. Here we go. This is tough for me to do, because I don't like to backtrack, but maybe I owe Baker Mayfield an apology. Oh, what? Okay. Look at his pre-season numbers, buddy. I know. He was so good.

14 to 15, 106 yards, two touchdowns, and a 135 pass. Are these errors and omissions? Are we adding a new overreaction Monday moment? Here's the deal. The Indians is like, I've been kind of slagging on the- You've been overreacting, is what you're saying. I've overreacted the last couple of weeks. Wow, what a wrinkle.

He's basically saying he stinks. You once said the man had an arm like a t-shirt cannon, so at some point you were on board. That felt like 30 years ago. What's going on?

A very O. Henry-like twist, O. Brockman twist at the very end. He's growing up. I owe Baker an apology.

What a wrinkle. I owe Baker an apology. Okay. Is that it? That is it.

Okay, very good. Is he overreacting or is he not? Overreacting. No, he's not. What have I been saying here? Well, I don't want to give you any credit.

I'm more apologizing to Baker. That's your man right there. Is he? That's your man. That's your man.

Because sometimes I feel like he's not, or I'm not his. I can understand that. Very odd. I mean, I get what you're saying. But I'm telling you, that's Evans. That's Godwin. Yep. Well, no Evans.

It's been Godwin. So when it starts in a week and a half- I know, but it's going to be no Jensen. That's going to be a problem. That is a major issue. That's a big problem.

But now they're in the preseason. Look at you. Oh, I'm apologizing.

All right. We'll take a break. 844-204-rich. Number to dial. Hour number three is all for us.

We're out of guests. It's just us. NFL Sunday Ticket is now on YouTube and YouTube TV, which means that it just got easier to be an NFL fan, even if you live far away.

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So switch to another podcast app and follow this show there, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Man, it's a shame about Ohtani, as you know, about blowing out his pitching elbow. And of course, you know, him just being a gamer, gutting it out at the plate, just he's half the player that he, wait, hold on a minute. I'm told he hit a ball so high and far, but yet foul that he broke the, the, the, Oh yes, he broke part of the score board in Queens.

He knocked that little thing above the sea out. Yes. Yep. That's amazing.

Those are expensive. It was so high and far and hard. And the Mets had some fun with him later on. There it is. We're sending you the bill for that show. Hey, is what it popped on the, the city field next time he was, I like these video board operators having some fun.

The angels one I showed you all those, those, those pictures I took when Koopa and I went a couple weeks ago. Look, Rich, you know what the Mets will do, they'll just take that out of his salary next year. They will not garnish his wage.

We'll garnish his wage, just a little, you know what, we'll give it to him for free once he signs. Wow. You know, that's.

There is less pot. That's funny. I don't know what Jerry Jones tried to do. Did you hear the GM of the Angels said that they offered O'Shohay and his representative a couple weeks ago to check on his pitching elbow because I guess they figured something was up. I saw that. And he said no. They declined. Yeah. Wait. They offered.

O'Shohay and his team declined to get his wing checked out. They felt like he was okay. Wow. But he's had booster issues and arm soreness kind of all year. Yeah. Broken fingernails. Because he's.

Because he does everything. You know, when you're Cy Young and the Silver Slugger. You know, kind of wears you down a little bit. Hey, your body has to break down a little bit. And I'm just hosting and working out three times a week. It's tough.

Well, the doctors in New York, specifically Queens, are really good. You try to do pickleball and then show up two days later. I played golf Thursday and Friday in 102 degree heat. And you probably were sore after that back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Brockman text me on Friday.

I think I lost five. Right. Here we go. Brutal. Mike Hoskins, this one's for you, our coordinating producer, who is a diehard fan of the team that resides in western New York.

We have yet to have somebody call in to do this. Oh, baby. And Chris in South Carolina is going to provide this moment. Here we are. What's up, Chris? You there?

Mr. Eisen. Good to talk to you. Thanks for taking my call.

Thanks for making it. What's on your mind, Chris? Win loss for Buffalo. There we go. Win loss for Buffalo. I need some inspo.

There's the inspo. I need the schedule. Oddly enough, Mike Hoskins has it so ready, it's popped up on the screen.

Am I going to be angry after this? I don't know. But here we go.

Chris in South Carolina, the big Monday night opener at the Jets. What happens? Lose. Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Are you all right? Hold on a second.

What? Is this the first caller that's called in that said that they've lost the season opener? I believe so. This is the first 0-1 we've had in the win loss game.

I can't be sure, but I think you're right. All right, Chris. All right, Chris, here we go. Next up, home for the Raiders. Win.

At the commanders. Win. All right, we're above 500. Home for the Dolphins. Lose. Whoa. Chris.

Okay. So, we're all sitting here saying, oh, they're in second, third place. They have to be in third place if they lost two games in division, including a home one. Going to Tottenham to take on the Jaguars in London. What happens?

Hello, governor. Win. Three and two against the Giants at home. Win.

Take that, Dayball. Four and two at the Patriots. Win. Five and two, home for the Bucks on a Thursday night. Win.

All right, that's a four game winning streak at the Bengals. Lose. Six and three, Monday night at home against the Broncos. Win. Seven and three against the Jets. Lose.

Oh. Jets game? Jets game. One, two, three, four.

Hoskins may cut them off. All right, seven and four at the Eagles. Lose. Seven and five coming off the buy at the Chiefs. Lose. Eight and seven. What?

No. Seven and six. This is Patriots, man. Home for the Cowboys. Win.

Oh, come on, buddy. Eight and six at the Chargers. Lose. Eight and seven, home against the Patriots. Lose.

Oh, no, no. Eight and home, Patriots. Win.

All right. And then at the Dolphins. Lose. You just had the Bills miss the... Hold on a second, Chris, are you a Bills fan? He's a Patriots fan. I have to say, I went through a lot of agony with those four Super Bowl losses in the last playoff losses.

Discard. And they got approved to me, Mr. Hyzen, they got approved to me to make it to the Super Bowl and win. Other than that, they're posers to me, as far as I'm concerned.

All right. That's an old school fan. So wait a minute, hold on a second. That's a real Bills fan. Mike Hoskins has confirmed you sound like your accent is Buffalo.

So you are legit. Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls.

That's not very good. I'm not from Buffalo. I don't consider myself from Buffalo. Niagara Falls. That's close enough.

Although I think Bill's nation will think you're all wet. Thank you. Wow. Over the barrel. Best dad ever.

Thank you for the call, Chris, in South Carolina. So what did he have? Wow.

That was the first one. Is that 10 and seven? Nine and eight.

Nine and eight. He has them losing to the Jets. Yeah, that's the only way they lose both games to the Jets. Twice. By the way, if the Jets beat the Bills twice, they're winning the division, correct, Chris?

TJ? Correct. Yeah.

Yeah. Nine and eight. Dolphins were nine and eight last year. Nine and eight made the playoffs.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Remember before he started, I said, am I going to be mad about this? I am mad about that.

There's no way they go nine and eight. Ah, you don't know. I would take the over on that. That's a better squat. I'm telling you.

I'll take the over. Again, like I said before, I just don't know how much the Bills improved in the offseason. Yes. Hold on a second.

In comparison to the rest of the AFC East. Trey White's back. He was gone. That's an automatic improvement. Von Miller is gone.

Now he's back. That's an automatic improvement. There's hopefully- Older player coming off of it. There will hopefully not be a snowstorm of the century that forces them to play a home game in Detroit.

Right? True. That's true. There will hopefully be no, nothing like the Marhamlin or what happened off the field in Buffalo.

Yes. True. True. These are all off the field stuff that they couldn't control. And they got better in the draft. And free agency.

And that's still Josh friggin' Allen out there. Yeah? Come on. 9-8. 9-8. 9-8.

Chris and South Carolina zigged when everybody zagged him. See, I like that. The two Jets losses. He's nuts. So he thinks Bills are out.

No, I think you'll beat him once. Bills would be out because they both, they would get swept by the Dolphins and the Jets. There's no way.

Austin's just banned. The Bills are not going- Hey, listen, man. The Bills are not going two and four in division. No way.

They sweep the Patriots, but get swept by the Dolphins and the Jets. There's no way. Seems unlikely. Yeah. What's more likely? Seems unlikely. Not that. All right, though. But you know, it's like our rule here, whenever a player puts a crazy ass soundbite out in the world, we don't criticize them.

We say, thank you for the content and move on. So to Chris in South Carolina, two salud, nine and eight, I don't think that's happening. What's more likely? Nine and eight Bills or 15 and two Denver Broncos?

I mean, it's not- Don't answer that. Chris doesn't even think about it. I could do that one. Hour number three, my top five preseason performances of the final week coming up. I could do that one. Nine and eight Bills? I mean, no, no, stop. The Broncos aren't winning 15 games. So it's nine and eight Bills. What else we got here?

I think while you were gone as well, Corbin in Texas had the Ravens 13 and four. Jeez. People were like- I've written all this down. This is like this.

What are you smoking, bro? Give me something. Everyone's calling now to do this, to play this game. I love it.

It's a fun game. I like it. Mike in North Carolina matched Al, our Al, in Dallas with the Giants at 11 and six. That's actually- That's semi-realistic.

That's realistic. Andrew in Minnesota had the Vikings 12 and five, Quincy Isaiah 13 and four, and Terzo in Iowa with 12 and five. Who's the other person who called in about the Niners? Two people have done- Terzo pointed out that he had the Niners losing week one. Yeah, that's true.

The Steelers and the Niners, what a week one game. How great was that chat with Tom? I can tell this right now, because after the show we have our meeting saying, this should be a real on our Instagram and TikTok, me asking Mike Tomlin, do you play the nobody believes in his card? And he's just like, nah. My guys know I don't care.

They know I don't care. I mean, that's the best. I love you, Mike Tomlin. It would not be genuine for me to do that. It would fall flat.

Everyone would be like, wait a minute, you tell us to- don't pay attention to the outside noise. God, I love that guy. Or threes for us. Don't go anywhere. It would be fun. 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 scented charcoal briquette. But chewy. Oh, wow. That's disgusting. It sure is. And check out Arn every week, wherever you listen.