REShow: Antoine Fuqua - Hour 3

This is the Rich Eisen Show Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. What was it like running on the field after Lewis hit that home run?

Go for it Colby. It was pretty cool because I think we all knew as soon as he hit it, it was gone. Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, Fox Sports college football analyst Bruce Feldman, Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Coming up, Equalizer 3 director Antoine Fuqua. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Wow, this show's going real fast. Tom Pelissero joined us in hour number one to give us the latest on Jonathan Taylor and the waiver wire cuts. And then in hour number two, Bruce Feldman stopped in to talk about the upcoming college football weekend, the first big weekend in college football. He's going off with his Fox crew to see TCU and Colorado play each other in Dallas. I mean, what a big game for Deon to come out of the shoot as the new head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes.

And then Odell Beckham Jr. called into the program. You're calling in at 844-204-rich number to dial if you missed any of the first two hours. We re-air on the Roku Channel. There's our podcast version of the show, all three hours on the Cumulus Podcast Network, the Roku Channel relationship that we have that's free. As the Roku Channel is turning 10 very soon. And so, part of that is our video on demand service, the Rich Eisen Show Collection. You can watch us back anytime, again, as soon as this third hour is over and it's going to go real fast as well. Your phone calls at 844-204-rich number to dial. Antoine Fuqua, the director of the Equalizer 3 in theaters near you on Friday will be joining us in studio.

It's his fifth collaboration with the brilliant Denzel Washington. So, that's coming up. Chris Brockman, Mike Del Tufo in their spots. TJ Jefferson is where he normally sits here on this program. Again, 844-204-rich is the number to dial.

We'll take your phone calls. Wild times in the NFL. Joe Burrow, who, man, several weeks was the designation of when he'd be ready to come back and play football.

Apparently, during our commercial break, trotted out onto the practice field with his helmet and pads on. Huh, Christopher? He did. We're efforting a photo, a visual evidence that's been posted. I believe it. I just saw it.

I believe it. Joe Burrow, back and pads. Okay. Helmet, shoulder pads. Here we go.

I don't know what he's doing with his hair these days. Here we go. Looks great. Okay. Several weeks.

Looks like it's now. Cincinnati and Cleveland. Week one.

Here we go. Cleveland traditionally is Joe's number. Except for one time last year.

So, that's going to be lit. Hopefully, he is going to be healthy and upright for that one. And the Bengals do have Joe Burrow for all 17 weeks of this season. So, if you grab Joe Burrow in sixth, seventh rounds of your fantasy draft because you're afraid about Joe Burrow, okay, you might be a happy camper right now.

In the same way, if you grab Jonathan Taylor in the second week of your, second round of your fantasy draft, you're not very happy. Talk about crazy stuff going on in the league as well. Reports all over the place that the Packers were in on Jonathan Taylor. That's crazy. And that the Dolphins were in on Jonathan Taylor. We knew that, but we had no idea that the Colts were asking for Jalen Waddleback. I love it.

Also crazy in this NFL world, third string quarterbacks getting mosh pit interviewed. For instance, you don't have people surrounding Malik Cunningham's locker today, do you? They do not. Okay. That's just a for instance. Of course.

Thank you. But when you're Trey Lance, well, that's a different story. Trey Lance met with the media to talk about his acquisition by the Cowboys from San Francisco. You know, that conversation obviously, you know, wasn't something I wanted to hear, but that's the reality of the situation. And nothing but respect and gratitude for everyone there and, you know, coaching staff, locker room. You know, obviously, athletic training staff, everyone I spent a ton of time with these last few years. But, yeah, obviously, you know, it was tough, tough. But for me, it was, you know, kind of trying to figure out, you know, what's next and what's going to happen in the future. When you were told Cowboys, was it surprising?

Like, was that a team you were thinking of? I really tried to not, you know, expect anything one way or another. But I can say that when I heard Cowboys, you know, I had a big smile on my face.

I was very excited to be here. TJ, he's excited to be in Dallas. Why wouldn't he be? Well, because you'll get maybe the same number of reps he would have gotten in San Francisco.

If they traded him to New England, he might be getting reps, you know. Obviously, something was wrong in San Francisco, right? He wasn't happy. Not clearly. So you get a new start, but is it really a new start? We don't know what's going on, man.

This is very weird. Again, this is not pressuring Dak or it's not doing it. What's this do for Trey Lance? It's they think a fourth round pick was worthy of bringing Trey Lance in and he's better in their mind than Will Greer.

End of story. And they're willing to part with a fourth round pick for it. And if somehow, someway, something happens with Dak this year and Cooper rushes up and he goes down, then they saw what happened with San Francisco last year. They don't want to be caught a quarterback shy when they're on a Super Bowl run. Yeah, I don't need Deuce Vaughn taking snaps in the playoff game. Yeah, I know, right?

You know, I get that. It's not what you're looking for. Tony Pollard running Wildcat is not what you're looking for. Is that what the Packers were going to do, by the way? If they were to get Taylor, they're just going to run a wishbone offense and just have three running backs. No, I think they got Jordan Love.

Pretend to be the Soomers. No, they got Jordan Love. So, you know, I prefer to say you won't hear much about Trey Lance until later on, maybe in the trade deadline, somebody might need him.

And then the Cowboys trying to improve on the fourth round pick they gave up. I have no idea. Can I respectfully disagree with you on that? Because as I'm watching all these other shows that are on at the same time we are in, literally they're spending half an hour of time every day talking about this Trey Lance and Dak and McCarthy and Dak know about this situation. Well, as you know, I know that for I've been told by very reasonable sources.

Say it loud again. That McCarthy was read into the whole situation the entire time. Which is info that you're the other people in your seats don't seem to have. But let Dak Prescott throw two picks in the first two weeks and then you're going to hear a lot about Trey. And obviously Sunday Night Football will be a big game to start the season, Cowboys and Giants. And then you got the Jets coming in. And so but that's part and parcel of being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. They're not benching Dak for Trey Lance.

That's never happening on planet Earth. They're going to ride it out with Dak. And I don't think they have to ride anything out. They're going to ride or die with Dak.

That's the end of story. And if Dak doesn't make it, it'll be Cooper Rush in the game. And let this kid Trey Lance just be, you know, develop in peace, for crying out loud. But it's the Dallas Cowboys and it's a guy who was drafted third overall. And, you know, and not just drafted third overall, but drafted by a team that gave up a ton of draft capital for the right to do that. And he starts four games for him, plays in eight games with them and gone before the beginning of season three. That's a rarity. We may not see that too often.

Ever again. So in that spirit, with Trey Lance now elsewhere before season three of his career begins. By the way, that's my guy. I just want to throw that out there, Chris, just so you know. So now that this has all happened with Trey Lance being elsewhere before season three begins. And Zach Wilson now benched for Aaron Rodgers, which nobody saw coming the night that the Jets took Zach Wilson to. Don't forget the Niners went to three in the draft order because they knew Trevor Lawrence was going to Jacksonville. And they knew the Jets had their sights set on Zach Wilson.

So they knew we're get up to three. It's going to be Lance, Matt Jones or Justin Fields. And they chose Trey Lance. So now that Zach is benched for Aaron Rodgers, I have a redraft of the twenty twenty one National Football League draft. And I give you the top ten in the form of my first power rankings of the twenty twenty three NFL season.

Hit it, please. Power rankings. All right, so I've got a redraft of the twenty twenty one NFL draft. And again, don't think about who everyone has now. Think about what they had then knowing what these players have become now. That makes sense to everybody.

And I also have the original draft order. So this the Niners wouldn't have traded up for Trey Lance. Let's put it that way. OK, this is something Chris and I talk about a lot. We love this. So I can't. Great.

I appreciate you saying that. First up, we're going to go one to ten first on the clock. The Jacksonville Jaguars, they still draft Trevor Lawrence. They know who they have in him. They know it is a quarterback driven league. They go ahead and still take the kid out of Clemson and make him a Jacksonville Jaguar.

And if we go back in time and tell them he is who he is now, they would do it. And they'd also say, wait, we hired Urban Meyer. Next up, number two on this list. The New York Jets select Micah freaking Parsons out of Penn State. They take this kid out of Penn State and you could make the case there would be some table pounding in the Jaguars draft room to take him over Trevor Lawrence. But again, it's a quarterback driven league in the 12th overall pick in the draft becomes the second overall pick in the redraft.

Number three on this list. Don't forget, drafting third with the Miami Dolphins who originally traded out so the Niners could come up. They stay put and they take Jamar Chase out of LSU. Could you imagine Jamar Chase in this offense right now?

I'm imagining it with Jaylen Waddle. So Jamar Chase. Still pretty good. You know what I mean? But do they still get Tyreek? They still do.

I don't know. But Jamar Chase would be number three overall. Number four overall. Don't forget the Falcons went ahead and took Kyle Pitts in the draft here. I don't believe we're going to get Kyle Pitts anywhere in the top 10 of my power rankings in the redraft. Number four, the Falcons select Patrick Sertan the second. Oh, and they stick him in their secondary. I think this kid is balling out and Denver knows what they have in him right now. I think the ninth overall pick in the draft is the fourth overall pick in the redraft. And the Falcons go ahead and still don't take a quarterback there in Justin Field. I was going to say, I thought you were going to say they should have done what they should have done. I understand that, but I don't think I think that they would they they take this kid.

Yeah. Number five, the Cincinnati Bengals select Jalen Waddle. They take this kid here. As we all know, he wound up being the sixth overall pick in the original draft because the Dolphins traded back in to the top 10 after trading out in order to do that. He's number five overall. And then number six overall, the Philadelphia Eagles take Devante Smith here. So the 10th overall pick that the Eagles used on Devante Smith, they use the sixth overall pick on the Heisman Trophy winner right there. Seventh overall, the Detroit Lions in this twenty twenty one draft took Penay Sewell. I think they do it again. They go ahead and just take the Oregon Duck and put him in there.

And that's all she wrote. He's been terrific. I think the Lions stay put.

And it's the only kid that I have redrafted in the same spot. Number eight overall, the Carolina Panthers. And again, this is twenty twenty one. They select Justin Fields. The Panthers take Justin Fields here. The 11th overall pick, Justin Fields goes to Carolina in my redraft. Number nine, Denver, as we all know, took Patrick Sertan. I believe they go ahead and take Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs, who lasted all the way to the 63rd overall pick. And this kid, you can make the argument, is the best center in the National Football League. And man, Mahomes is going to be taking snaps from this kid maybe for the rest of his career.

I'm telling you, he is so good. And Denver, I mean, one of their offensive line issues are all over the map. So I think they would take Creed Humphrey there and then wrap things up. Despite having Zeke in the fold, the Dallas Cowboys take Najee Harris and make him a Dallas Cowboy. And I think it was either him at this 10th spot or you can hit it, Mike Del Tufo, if you want to do that, because it is the usual drill here on the program is to ask that question from Motions 11. And number 11 in this draft, I think the New York Giants would take Amon Ra, St. Brown, the fourth round.

Son of God. 112th overall pick. He was 112th overall in the 2021 draft.

That's a little too low. And he is dynamite. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys would have taken him over Najee Harris.

Maybe. And left Najee for the Giants, who they probably wouldn't have taken. That's probably why I did this. They had Saquon there. They were going to go running back like ever. But when you redraft, it's like, do you put people in positions of how good they are?

Needs at the time? I don't know. And that's my 2021 NFL redraft power rankings. Rich notable players left out. Ramondre Stevenson, fourth round pick.

He's got 1600 yards. You'd put him in the top 10 of a draft? Maybe. I don't know. I'm just listing names.

Elijah Mitchell was 194th overall. He's been a nice player. Let's see. Yeah, that's pretty good. Thank you.

That was high register. All right. Let's do one more thing here. Jaylen Phillips, too.

That's true. Second most second. Let's do one more thing here before welcoming our guest Antoine Fuqua out on the set.

We've got to be fair and balanced. We talked about Baltimore with Odell Beckham Jr. Joe Burrows back on the practice field, it appears for the Cincinnati Bengals. Shane in Cleveland. You're here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's take your phone call. What's up, Shane? Hey, Rich, thanks for taking my call. Just want to say first and foremost, living Cleveland, but diehard Wolverine fan. So I'm in enemy territory.

You know what? You're in you're in the right territory. That's the proper territory. Wherever you got to, because again, Desmond Howard, he's from Ohio.

Charles Woodson, he's from Ohio. So it's OK. It's just absolutely fine.

You're just surrounded by people who won't spell things with the letter M. In other words, they're orons. OK, let's roll here. I know what you're about to do.

I know what you're about to do. You want to play the win loss game for which team? The Cleveland the Cleveland Browns.

We have yet to have this, so you're filling a need for us. Shane in Cleveland. Here we go. Let's get the Cleveland Browns scheduled up. There it is. Home for the Bengals.

What do you have? I'll be at that game. Win. At the Steelers on a Monday night.

What a way to start. Lost. Home for the Titans. Win. Odell Beckham Jr. and the Ravens come back to Cleveland.

What do you got? Lost, unfortunately. That's two and two coming out of the buy. Home for the Niners. What was the game?

I'm sorry. Home for the 49ers out of the buy. We're going to lose that game. Two and three at the Colts. Win. Three and three at the Seahawks.

Lost. Three and four home for the Cardinals. Win. Four and four at the Ravens.

Lost. Four and five home for the Steelers. Win. Five and five at the Broncos.

Altitude. We're going to lose. Five and six at the Rams.

Hopefully Brockman will be there to watch the Browns win. Six and six home for the Jaguars. Win. Seven and six home for the Bears. Win. Eight and six at the Texans. Win. Nine and six home for the Jets on a Thursday night. I don't know what to say here, but I toss up loss. Well, you're smart.

You went to Michigan. Nine and seven at the Bengals. I think the season's going to come down to this one. Don't know if the Bengals will play their starters. I'm going to say win. Ten and seven for the Browns, Shane and Cleveland.

Thanks for the call. Ooh, wow. Yeah, one game the Browns aren't losing is at the Texans with Deshaun Watson. There's going to be a kitchen sink and they're going to throw it at D'Amico Ryans, that's for sure. Browns win total nine and a half, so he's right on the number.

He takes the over. Nine and seven. Fun stuff, isn't it? We're going to get some answers soon. Let's take a break.

Antoine Fuqua, the brilliant director coming out of our green room. That's next. The Equalizer 3 coming in theaters near you this Friday. Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back. Now on YouTube and YouTube TV. Go to YouTube.com slash presale to get $50 off. Terms and embargoes apply. Offer ends 919.

No refund. Subscription auto renews. We're here with Antoine Fuqua right here on the Rich Eisen Show on the Roku channel. And I'm back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network now, part of our Roku channel feed. 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. I will tell our radio audience that just joined us. We saw a fun clip from the Equalizer 3 with Denzel Washington available exclusively in theaters this Friday, September 1st. The director of that film, Antoine Fuqua, is here. Your fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington. What's the first time you were in a room with Denzel?

Can you tell me that story? Yeah. I think I met Denzel at the Beverly Hills Hotel about training day. You know, and Denzel's intense, man. You know, I was a little nervous sitting out with Denzel about the movie.

Yes. And we sat down and what was great about Denzel is that we didn't talk much about the movie. We just talked about life. We talked about God and different things. And when we talked about the streets and he wanted to just get a sense of me just as a man, as a person. And I think we were there for like two hours, man, before I knew it. He was like, let's do it.

And that was it. So when you met Denzel, you just knew that he only knew that he was interested in the project? Was he attached to the project? Well, he was attached to it. I think he was circling it.

I'm not sure he actually landed on it. And he was trying to find the right director. And Pauletta, his wife, had introduced this a while ago. And she was the one that sort of initiated it.

And Ed Lamato, his agent who passed away. Yes. And they said, you should sit down with this guy.

I think I just done the replacement killers. Yes. And Denzel wanted to sit down. We talked about the character a little bit. You know, the streets, the cops, the world.

Yes. And I remember Tom and Denzel. Yeah, you know, some cops I know just have a badge. But they're a lot like some of the other guys I know. And we had dinner with them. We got the cops together and some of these street guys, some gang members. And me and Denzel went and had dinner together with all of them. And when we walked out of the dinner, he was like, yeah, I know this guy. So this was after, obviously, your first meeting. After the first meeting. Okay. And whose idea was it to get together with dinner with the real life individuals?

I believe it was mine. You know, Denzel knows what he knows. And I know what I know. And I know some friends that maybe you want to meet them. And he was like, let's grab some dinner. And we put some SIS guys together and some gang members together.

A friend of mine named Bone from Athens Park Bloods and all that. And it's funny because they all know each other. You know what I mean?

There's no secrets on the streets. And I think that's where things started to click in. Then it was something different we were doing. When did Ethan Hawke get involved in this whole thing? Ethan got involved. I couldn't find Jake.

Right. And at the time, the studio, they weren't as interested in Ethan. Because Ethan moved to New York.

He wouldn't get his teeth fixed. He didn't want to be a movie star. You know, Ethan was me and Ethan. And I love him, man. And I saw him one night on some talk show promoting, I think, Hamlet. And I remember saying, that's Jake.

Just by watching him on TV. I was like, that's Jake. Because he had, he's obviously a great actor. But he also had this boyish way about him.

Yes. And I would believe he would be a little naive in that world. And also tough enough to maybe survive it. And so I got together with Ethan. Same thing with Ethan. We met in Beverly Hills at a hotel. And me and Ethan were together, I don't know how many hours. And a woman came over to us and said, I don't know what you guys are talking about.

But I want to sit over here and hang with you. Because we were laughing and talking. It was all about family and life. Same sort of thing with Denzel. And I called the studio and I said, I really want Ethan Hawke.

At the time they weren't as interested. And then me and Lorenzo de Monteventura, who's a good friend of mine who ran the studio at that time. He said, well, we need some other names if you want Ethan. And I said, I'm going to call Snoop and Dre. And I'm going to put Snoop in a wheelchair. And I want Dre to play a cop.

You know, complete opposite of everything they're about. And then they were like, all right, cool. And that's how Ethan Hawke got greenlit on Training Day.

That's how he got greenlit on Training Day, yeah, man. Did you call Snoop and Dre and what was your conversations with them like? Well, I called Snoop. You know, Snoop's my man.

I called Snoop. I said, I want you to be in this movie. And he was like, you know, hey, nephew, you know, Snoop, he's, you know, of course, you know. And I said, I want you to be in a wheelchair. He's going to be running down the street in a wheelchair. And he was like, all right, I'm down for that.

I think Dre was a little harder because I want him to be a cop. And I don't think he was excited about that at first. He was like, nah, I don't know, homie.

I don't know about that one. I was like, come on, man. But I said, but you're not going to be like a normal cop.

You're going to be on the other side. And he was like, all right, that makes more sense. OK, so you don't have to twist his arm too much. Not too much, you know. He's like, yeah, I'm going to throw some corn rolls in.

I said, but you guys aren't exactly the good guys. And then there's another cameo in this to call it that. Antoine Fuqua, the director of The Equalizer 3, which we'll get to in a moment. The fifth collaboration he had with Denzel Washington. We're still talking about the first training day right now. Terry Crews was on this program.

He has hit it considerably in his career. But he said he was just on the set as an extra. And he wanted to come out.

He was curious to watch Denzel Washington work. And you spotted him and put him in the movie. Yeah, I love doing that.

I love doing that. Yeah, I saw Terry. Just just a big guy standing there. And I had all the gang members around. Terry just had a presence about him. I was like, you want to be in the movie? And I think he was overwhelmed. I said, I need you to take your shirt off and go on the roof. He's going to be flipping pigeons. And he was like, all right. I'm sure you've done anything you asked at that point in time. Somebody would have came to me and told me I'm flipping pigeons on the roof with my shirt off. I don't know. But he was like, yeah, let's do it.

He got up there, man. And next thing I know, Terry Crews is everywhere. So you do that frequently on your films where you're looking around? I love to do that.

Yeah, I did it on Equalizer 3. I love to find real faces, people to just, you know, something interesting about when they're real, when they're not actors in certain roles, the authenticity of who they are, it's just there, you know? You don't have to do anything. Just put them in the right environment. And if they don't have any fear, like Terry didn't, you know, you might find somebody that's the next Terry Crews.

Exactly. I did it with a kid in Training Day who wound up becoming an actor, writer, director. I can't remember his name at the moment. And I put him in Southpaw. I didn't know he was the same kid. He was a little kid in Training Day in the jungle and his life was going in a different direction. And he's one of the guys in Southpaw that was around Jake. And at the end of Southpaw, he came up to me and he had tears in his eyes. And I could tell he was from L.A. He had a certain swagger about him. And he said, Mr. Fuqua, I don't want to say anything during the production, but he goes, I'm the kid that you and Denzel and Ethan would like talk to all the time in the jungle. He said, you changed my life. And he became a filmmaker and he's an actor now.

Antoine Fuqua here on The Rich Eisen Show. And again, before we get to The Equalizer joining us here on the program, what's the Denzel twist on the role in Training Day that he came up with? And you sat there and go, that's Denzel. Is there a moment in that film that he put a twist on it you didn't see coming?

Wasn't part of the script any story like that that you can tell? When he said that, I was like, that's that's Alonzo. That was something that he he had lived that moment in the beginning. He was talking to Ethan. We were rehearsing and Denzel just said it.

And he just said, and we were just kind of the whole room froze. And I was like, oh, yeah, we put that in the movie. We doing that, you know, but it was one of those things that, you know, you I saw Alonzo. He started smiling when he said he was so. Just devious, you know, and then I saw Alonzo, and I think that was the moment I knew that he was going to put a whole different twist on this guy.

You know, the first scene I shot was in the cafe and when he was sitting there and Ethan started talking and the way he started smiling and leaned back and started to get comfortable, I could see Alonzo. And those are the moments where I knew he was just on fire. You know, but that would really sort of put the real icing on it was King Kong. You know, he was just he was always just he was vicious in that movie. He was charming. He was seductive, but he was vicious.

And when we shot that scene, King Kong. That was him. That's all him. So when you say it's all him, you mean his inflection or he came up with the line? He came over to me afterwards. I don't know what I came from. In fact, I got one take of that. Right.

I'm shooting anamorphic and anamorphic. You know, you got to be like my focus puller came up to me and he was shaking. He was like, I hope I got it. And so when I got to the editing bay, I told my editor, if you looked at the movie, a little bit of a buzz on it, just the eyes, a little blurry on it. My editor said, it's so amazing nobody's going to ever notice it.

I haven't noticed that. Yeah, but I got one take and that came from Denzel. He was just in a certain place and I just came out of him. And I remember a few gang members coming up to me going, man, he's out of here.

It was like when he when he hits I'll go back when he walked outside and he said, you in the office, baby, and he hit the switch in the car. Yeah. Right.

A few gang members. Boom. I remember Bone walked over to me goes, man, this movie's a hit, man. This movie's gone.

And that was that was the first thing I shot. But that's all Denzel. That's just his.

He just put swagger on it. You know, Antoine Fuqua here on the Rich Eisen show, The Equalizer 3. He doesn't do too many sequels. So never have. That's the first one.

This is it, right? I mean, so what do you think it is? What I mean, your collaboration, obviously he wants you involved and you want him involved. So and you love being involved together. Absolutely.

So what do you think clicks here? There's something about the character that I think Denzel really likes. I know he likes the idea of justice.

Of course, we all that's what we we do it for. There's something about the complexity of that character, the OCD, the sort of tortured, quiet soul of that character that I think Denzel just responds to. You know, he came up with the OCD. That's something he just started doing. You know, I didn't know what he wanted. A napkin. He wanted a cup. And we were sitting there in the first one in the coffee shop and he just started doing it. You know, and I just let the camera roll. I just start capturing it. It became part of that character.

So there's something about Robert McCall that Denzel really responds to. You'd have to ask him what that is. Sure. Yeah.

You know, but what about it from you? I mean, I love the complexity of the character. I love the idea of a dark angel handing out justice. And in the movie, we get to we get to give bad guys or just do, you know, in a brutal way.

So he's sort of a he's a reluctant savage when it comes to that. The Equalizer three in theaters this Friday, September 1st, you were born and raised in Pittsburgh, P.A., correct? Pittsburgh, P.A. What would a movie on Mike Tomlin look like if you were directing a film on Mike Tomlin? Man, I'm trying to do a documentary now about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin's a great coach, one of the greatest coaches of all time, I believe.

Yeah. And just a solid guy. If I had the opportunity to tell a story about Mike Tomlin, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You know, just a solid guy. I never heard a player say anything negative about the man.

So he obviously has a certain. Well, have you ever met Antonio Brown? I have not met Antonio Brown. I have not met Antonio Brown.

I'm just I'm fooling around here a little bit, obviously. But we just had him on Monday, Mike Tomlin. Oh, Mike.

Yeah, he called in. And I don't know what it is in Pittsburgh. I know that they haven't won a playoff game in a while. And obviously they haven't won a Super Bowl since the one that he brought to Pittsburgh. So I this guy would be employed by somebody else in two seconds flat.

And that's not a you know, an exaggeration. What do you think about the Steelers upcoming season? Do you got any thoughts on the subject matter? Yeah, I think the Steelers are going to be in the playoffs.

OK. I think they're going to do well. I think when they get their stride, they're going to be dangerous. I love the quarterback.

I love the connection with Pickett and Pinkins. Yeah. I mean, he's ready to run and do his thing. Yeah. And Tomlin is always a great coach. And Watt is a monster. He is that. And, you know, so he's an equalizer. Oh, for sure. He's an equalizer. That's my man. He gives people fewer than nine seconds.

That is his clock starts around two, two seconds. And then, you know, then you got to beware. But I think the Steelers are going to do well, man. You know, if they stay healthy and Tomlin is obviously a great coach.

I think they're doing this, you know, they're doing this and I'm really excited about them. Who is your favorite stealer of all time? Frenchy Fuqua, my cousin. I was going to ask if there's any sort of, you know, that's my cousin.

OK. Yeah. My favorite stiller. I mean, if I'm being honest with you, it's hard because back in the day, they were all fantastic. You know, Lambert, Mean Joe Green and all these guys, Lin Swan, you know, they were just incredible athletes during that time. You know, Franco Harris, love Franco, you know, but, you know, it's hard to pick one. I'm friends with Marshall Falk.

I've worked with him forever and a day. One of my favorite stories Marshall tells me is that they were taking on once upon a time, the Rams were taking on the Arizona Cardinals. And Mean Joe Green was an assistant coach on the team. And they had a running back who, you know, was running his mouth on the Rams. You know, whenever he would get a first down, he'd be on their sideline and running his mouth. And Marshall just got really pissed about it. So Marshall did a Marshall thing, which is, you know, score on him. And as you came up with a big play, he started screaming and yelling at the entire sideline, went up and down, went up the sideline and just gave everybody the business. And he realized he passed by Mean Joe Green won't give him the business. And he went back to me. He said, not you, Mr. Smart man.

Like he caught himself in the zone of giving crap back to the team. He went back to me said, not you, Mr. Green. That's right. Those guys were incredible, man. Jack Lambert.

Come on, man. Well, I mean, every single summer we see Mel Blount at the Hall of Fame and he's wearing a cowboy hat every time. And that makes him look eight feet tall. And every single time I stand next to him, I think this is why they remade the rules.

Because if he is this big now at his age now, what must he have been like in helmet and pads back in the day when you can grab people? Yeah. Well, you know, really, really, you can do some slam them, do whatever you want. Yes, sir.

Yeah. I remember, man, I used to watch all those Sunday NFL highlights. You know, I was that kid in Pittsburgh.

I love football. What's your favorite? I mean, what's your favorite Denzel film that you did not collaborate with him on? Which one? Malcolm X.

Why is that? Because Denzel doesn't look anything like Malcolm X. And you believed every single moment of that moment that he was Malcolm X. And that's that that's to Denzel's credit. Malcolm was like, you know, light skin with red hair and all that.

But you watched Denzel as Malcolm X. About every second of it. That's my favorite equalizer for in the mix. What do you think? No, no. This is it. This is it. This is it, Rich. OK, this is it. Might be a prequel, maybe. OK. I don't know. I'm saying if there's going to be one with John David, that would be incredible.

I love that idea. But, you know, now with Denzel and me right now, I remember again, I think I might have told you the story last time you're here. If I did, I apologize. You know, when John David was playing with the Rams in preseason football years and years and years ago, this is before apps and streaming and, you know, an NFL network showing all these games.

We got a call saying, you know, hey, because I was on the set hosting the preseason action, saying that there's no way for people to see the St. Louis Rams in Los Angeles play their preseason game. You know, Denzel Washington's coming to the studio to watch his son. And I remember watching him watch his son for a little bit.

I don't know what the hell to say to him, to be quite honest with you. He couldn't have been nicer, couldn't have been more down to earth. Just like any dad watching his son play preseason football in the National Football League.

What a feeling that must be. And now seeing what he's become, his son. He's a movie star. He is that. He's a great actor.

Must be in the genes, huh? Well, his other son, you know, Malcolm just directed his first movie. Fantastic. His daughter produced it.

His other daughter is an actor. I mean, it's like fantastic, man. It's a dream. Well, I appreciate you coming on here and chopping it up with us. You can come back any time. Thanks.

Honestly, we love having you here. It's been too long. I think the equalizer two was the last time. Yeah.

Which is part of the reason why I'm asking if there's a sequel. And I know I'm going to get you back. I'm back, man. We can come back and talk Steelers. OK, let's do that. Let's have you in during the season.

Let's do it. This is coming. Antoine Fuqua here on the Rich Eisen Show. The Equalizer three is in theaters near you. This coming Friday, we will wrap up the show in a moment.

Thanks, sir. Are you currently enjoying the show on the Stitcher app? Then you need to know Stitcher is going away on August 29th. Yep. Going away as in Kaput gone dead.

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Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. I have a few questions about Cincinnati that you might have to know if it's true or false. You're from Athens, right? I am. Yeah.

It's a three hour drive from Cincinnati. Right. Two and a half.

Oh, with a lead foot. Yeah. Pretty much. OK. I've got four aspects of Cincinnati and I want to know if you're already ready to figure out about the city.

Just I'm just picking that city out of the blue. Yeah. OK. True or false. Cincinnati. True or false.

Joe Barr, everybody. True or false. It's the birthplace of Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg. False. Is that true or false?

I have no idea. It is true. I know that. All right. That's number one.

Playdough was invented in Cincinnati. True or false. I'm going to go out on a limb and say all these that you're saying are true. OK. It is true. Now, just hold on a second.

Just because you can read a defense doesn't mean that you can read me right now. This pre snap. Cincinnati is the site of the United States biggest celebration of Oktoberfest. That's true. OK. You see, you do that right then and there about the parties. Yeah. Yeah. Have you been to an October? You have to talk about it with your team first.

Let's talk about your team. And the number one radio station in Cincinnati is WKRP. That one.

I have no idea. Before his time, it's false. There's a famous TV show called WKRP in Cincinnati that is way before your time.

I've never heard of it at all. Darn it. I am. I'm older than most college college football players, but I'm not that old. I mean, we've heard you're older than Lamar Jackson. Yeah.

He was in my recruiting class. Yeah. OK.

Couple couple months, I think. And if you had one choice of a meal, would you pick crawfish or spaghetti with chili? Oh, crawfish. Really? I don't like I don't like I don't like all the Cincinnati cuisine as far as all that stuff.

Not yet. Great. Great. I might learn to like it, but we'll see.

OK, very good. He's going to like it. I bet he's going to say he's going to like it. Back here on our program, back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. Great chat with Antoine Fuqua, the director of the Equalizer three told a story about training that I'd never heard before. Obviously, he used a word that Denzel apparently ad libbed. And if anybody was taken aback by that, he's just quoting the film. And I just wanted to mention that and apologize if anybody was taken aback by it. But he's just telling the story about the movie, which is just growing bigger and bigger by the day.

Legendary in training day. Alex in Tampa, Florida, has been holding on for two hours. Let's take your call. What's up, Alex? Hey, Rich. Hey, Jen. What's up?

I had a quick follow up to a conversation you guys had yesterday. So everyone knows the Cardinals appear to be tanking for Caleb. But has anyone thought, what if Caleb doesn't want to go to the Cardinals? Now, the NFLPA report card was rough.

He has more money than a lot of players who've ever been drafted before. So maybe a little power and playment or player empowerment because the NIL. I don't know.

Great question. I mean, by the way, before NIL, Eli Manning pulled that on the Chargers. Well, he was a Manning.

O. Jackson, Marshall Faulkner. No, I know. But this is this is a unicorn. He's a he's a Manning.

But Caleb is kind of a unicorn. I mean, and I think every single thanks for the call. We had Bruce Feldman on every single Wednesday. He's going to join us talking college football in studio. He he made it seem like it's still an open question as to who's going to win the Heisman Trophy.

And I understand it's rare to see back to back. But I don't think there's any question who's going to win the Heisman Trophy if this guy is healthy. What do you think? He's going to start winging it around and turning it over too many times and throwing incompletions. And suddenly he's not Caleb Williams.

I don't know. I mean, last year, C.J. Stroud for three quarters of the season and Caleb Williams came on. Stroud kind of faltered. And, you know, Caleb Williams won it.

OK, so you never know. And it may be voter bias. Perhaps. It's a southeastern bias. Everybody talks about the East Coast bias in the national media.

College football media is a southeastern bias. Sure. I understand that. And guys, speak of NIL, I saw Caleb in his first commercial yesterday. He did some last year, too. Yeah.

He's done a few. I mean, he's out there. He's the second highest, you know, for football players, right? Behind behind Arch Manning, right? Or Dion's son.

Or maybe Chidor. Sure. They're both up. We had a list once. I have to find it.

I don't know. Top five on that list. Honestly, you don't want to go to live and work in Arizona, play for the Arizona Cardinals. I mean, you must have you must like I'm assuming Southern California life. It's not too damn far.

I mean, Kurt flies into L.A. every single weekend. So I don't know. But that'll be something to keep an eye on. I don't know if Arizona is going to be first overall either.

Clayton Toon could be the next Bailey Zappi. All right. Cut. So we had we had Odell Beckham Jr. on the program. And I got to tell you, it made me think harder about our preview of the AFC North Division.

We're previewing a division every single show all the way through to the end of this week, taking us to the first week of the NFL season. Mike Del Tufo, give us some inspiration. You're up first.

Chris Brockman, what do you got? Oh, man, I'm up first. OK, great. I'll start at the bottom. I think the Browns, you know, a lot of unknowns with Cleveland. But I just think when you look at this division, they're clearly fourth.

Now, this is where I zag. Wow. I am with Antoine Fuqua. I am with Mike Tomlin. I think we need to talk more about the Steelers and I think they are really going to shock some people this year. I think the Steelers win the division. I really like the Ravens offense and the new changes that they've made. They are going to finish second and make the playoffs. I just think I know Joe Burrows back today, but the calf and this contract still isn't settled.

I just think there's some weird stuff going on and they're going to regress a little bit and they're going to miss the playoffs. I have Steelers first, Ravens, Bengals, Browns. Hot take. Chris Brockman, TJ, what do you have over there? Full disclosure, I did make this list before I saw Joe Burrow walking onto the field.

Understood. Just want to throw it out there, but you guys know I think this is going to be a really competitive, a really good division. So I've got the Browns fourth, but that's not indicative of how I feel. I feel they're going to have a good season. Like I said, I had the Bengals third, but that was me thinking that they're pulling an okie doke on us with Joe Burrow's calf and he'd be out for, you know, multiple weeks.

I don't know if that's the case. I got the Steelers at two and I got the Ravens at one. I am not, I'm not really secure in these picks. I just do believe that this will be a highly competitive division. And I'm looking forward to watching these North games all season. Me too.

Me too. And we're going to see a whole bunch of them. And Cleveland's going to be tested right away.

I mean, we had one of our fans call in for the win loss game. Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, home for Baltimore, are three of their first four games. So you got the Browns having a considerable test and I, here's what I think about the AFC North. I think the Cleveland Browns are going to finish in fourth place as well. I think that they're in last.

And again, as you said, not indicative of their, you know, step up that they might actually make. But number three on this list, you know, I've been very high on the Steelers. I put the Steelers third. I have the Ravens second. And I think the Bengals are, you know, my one concern is Joe Burrow.

When you hurt your calf, you hurt a soft tissue injury, your muscle and you have a soft tissue injury. Those are tough to shake. They stay around for a while. And I'm hoping he is back and this will not be a problem. And because Trevor Simeon is a is quite the step down and Bailey Zappi is no longer available. So, you know, it's going to be tough.

But I still think they are they're the team to beat. As he said, as he said, Joe Burrow, as long as I'm around, the window is open. And today he was around and there is he doesn't look any worse. The where his hair is elite. He's swagger. He's literally swaggering on the screen. He does not look at all like he has a hitch in his giddy up, but he's not running and he's not being chased by Myles Garrett in week one. So not yet.

So he's not wrapped either. So I don't know. That could be just for show.

Maybe. But I do believe I will say this just to wrap up our AFC North preview. I think three I think the top three teams make the playoffs.

Oh, wow. I think three come out of there. Two comes out of the east.

And one out of the south and west. Oh, man. You do so. Pat, for your pets and bills in the playoffs. How about that? Oh, how about that? Look at us.

That's right. I can't wait for this. Oh, you know, I believe Cunningham should tell his family, but I won't be home for Christmas. He won't be.

Oh, anyway, I'd be fine with that, too. Thanks to Odell Beckham Jr.. Thanks to Chad Steele of the Ravens helping make that happen. We've been cultivating this caper ever since he signed with the Ravens. That was awesome. Finally got to have him on the program. Bruce Feldman again every Wednesday all season long. Today was day one of that.

As I said, residency. Thanks to Tom Pelosaro and Antoine Fuqua, the director of the Equalizer three in theaters near you on Friday. We'll be back to wrap up the show in a moment on the Roku Channel. Thanks to everybody who is listening right here on the Rich Eisen Show Radio Network and for everyone calling in as well. Kyle Brent will be on tomorrow's program helping kick us all off. Well, actually, that's Friday. I'll tell you who's on Thursday. For over three decades, nobody has had a wrestling career like Arn Anderson.

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