REShow: Bill Cowher - Hour 3

Oh my God, you guys are my favorite. This is the Rich Eisen Show. The one and only Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Magic Johnson, he kind of summed it all up for me. Tonight we learn the world champion Denver Nuggets are going to be very tough to beat in the NBA playoffs. Breaking news, you learned it here in the playoffs. In the playoffs, by the way.

Magic's already jumping ahead to wait April. Earlier on the show, CEO and co-founder of Smack Entertainment, Constance Schwartzmarini. Coming up, Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Cowher. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We had a great chat with Constance Schwartzmarini, the CEO and co-founder of Smack Entertainment. And the lady behind everything being built for Dion's image and name and likeness. She's got the NIL deal for Dion pretty much going on. And she was on in support of the launch of season two of Coach Prime.

It's coming out on Prime Video on December 7th. Told some great stories about she was the one to basically tell Dion. Instead of you helping your alma mater recruit, how about you start coaching yourself in college? And look what's happening right now. The Rose Bowl with Colorado taking on UCLA in a couple of days from now here in Los Angeles, California. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial here on the Roku channel. Last time I saw this man was in Canton, Ohio. I saw him chit-chatting on the night of the jacket dinner with Mike Tomlin. And it was just so cool.

It's one of those moments where, you know, you want to just take out your phone and snap a photograph of it. Because you know so many fans of this man and obviously Tomlin and the Steelers would just love to see this sort of thing. And I was thrilled to be a fly on the wall. And also thrilled to have provided the narration for the third season of NFL Icons, which is airing on MGM+. This Saturday night, an all-new episode with the legendary Hall of Fame coach from the Pittsburgh Steelers, now from CBS Sports, Bill Cowher, back here on The Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, Bill. Good to see you, Rich. And I remember that Friday night we were together.

You're right. Coach Tomlin came in for Rondae Barbers, who was going in. And we actually put the jacket on him that evening. And we kind of got together later on that evening. And it was a really good talk.

Actually, probably the longest talks him and I have had, given the circumstance we've always ended up meeting ourselves with. So it was nice. Yeah, I mean, I really wanted to be a fly on the wall. I really wanted to be, I'll be honest with you, you know, just to know what you guys were talking about. Because it's like, straight up, you know, Coach Noel is gone. And in the same bus room that you're in, you're kind of like astronauts, the two of you, you know?

There's not many of you walking around the planet, Bill. So what do you talk about with Mike, if you don't mind sharing? It was interesting, Rich. I said, you know, when we got a chance to sit down and talk and, you know, where he's at this year. And kind of transitioning from Ben to Kenny. And, you know, and I said, you know, I did some transitioning myself. Probably a little bit more so than you did. But I said, I just talked about, you know, when coaching, the difference from your first year to now, you're, you know, for him, his 17th year. And I said, you know, I was a different coach later in my career than I was earlier in my career. You're probably a little bit more tolerant when you're younger. You know, you're still trying to establish yourself. As you do establish yourself, you become a little less tolerable to some things.

And some things become a little bit more important to you. So, you know, we kind of just talked about the state of the game, where it's at. Some of the young coaches coming up with advice you would give to them. So it was good. It really, really was.

It was one of those situations we had a chance to sit back. And I got great respect for Mike and the job he's done down through the years. And just talking about what he walked into after I left. And it's just interesting because I think Chuck didn't say anything to me. I didn't say anything to Mike. This is probably the first time that, you know, him and I had a chance to talk after he's been here for all these years.

So, more reflection than anything else. So it was as special as I thought it was when I was standing in that room. It really was. It was.

It was. We don't talk very often. You know, when I got the job in Pittsburgh, you know, I try to kind of reach out to Chuck a couple of times. But, you know, he would reach out very nicely.

But he didn't want to talk football. So I'm like, okay. And so, you know, and I thought, you know, I know the dynamics in the building. But the dynamics will be a little bit different because it's you. You're the one that has to sit there and, you know, you're the one that's going to control how it unfolds. And I know he's working now well with Omar.

And, you know, he's gone from Kevin to Omar. And so it's just, it's a very special place with its own unique mystique about it. And I think part of the mystique is the fact that there's a, you know, a respect that you have for where you're at.

And more importantly, where the organization in a franchise has been. Especially since we live in the world of hot seat conversations. We have it here on the show quite a bit. What is it about the Rooney's where they're just, are they chill? I mean, honestly, I'm sure they're not.

No, I know. They're chill when you win, but not when you get lost. You have those uncomfortable conversations I had of many of those. Like what? Like what? Well, you know, it's like one of those things. So, you know, what kind of changes are you planning on making? Well, what kind of changes do you think you want to see? So it's like, I know I want the results to change.

So does that mean there's another part of layer to that? So, but you know, it just is, it's such a great place. I think the one thing about the Rooney's that is they understood it was about the game. It was always about the game, you know?

And yes, winning was a by-product for the organization. But a lot of times we talked about the game. We talked about family.

He was a Pittsburgher through and through. And it's just something about that dynamic and the connection with the people. And, you know, we reflect them. And we have to make sure we do a good job of reflecting what this city is all about. The core values that we stand for.

You know, not to be self-centered, not to be selfish, not to be about me. It's about us. And so those are the things that you understood. And I didn't, I understood it because I grew up there. And so, you know, there was just very much a line. It's just like, you know, like I said, it was just growing up there and going back there.

The icons that we're going to see Saturday night, I saw that. I'd never seen that much footage of my first press conference. Like I've seen me walk in there, but that's the first time I've seen a lot of footage for the first time. And all the things I'm saying, I'm like, wow, young brash kid that walked in there.

Okay, we'll see. So it was pretty daunting walking in there to that franchise and the history, the tradition. But once you get in there, you almost feel like now it's more of an obligation to keep it going. Bill Cowher right here on The Rich Eisen Show referring to NFL Icons, a terrific documentary series. NFL films produced, MGM Plus sprinkles its dust on it as well.

And it's just awesome. And the 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific episode this Saturday featuring our guest right now, Bill Cowher. And again, you know, you talk about your roots and where you grew up and becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. But was there a time where you thought you would be the next Cleveland Browns head coach in your life, Bill? Well, yeah, I mean, I don't know if it was the next one, but the year before I went to Pittsburgh, I did have an interview with the Cleveland Browns at the last minute, the year that Bill Belcher got it.

And it's interesting that it's well documented in there. Bill and I go back to 1989. You know, Marty Schonheimer got fired after the 88 season.

I went down to the Senior Bowl. Bill Belichick interviewed me. I got a call from Bill Parcells. Do you want to be the defensive back coach for the New York Giants? And at the same time, Marty went to Kansas City. So I said, well, you know what? Marty wants me to come with him there.

So I end up going with Marty. And long story short, I ended up becoming a coordinator and coaching linebackers. Bill Belichick, they hired Al Groh. He coached the secondary. And then him and I got together for an afternoon in New York Giants Stadium in 1989, prior to my first year as a coordinator. And I talked to him about defensive back play. He talked about linebacker play, 89 and 90. We have common opponents. We share our thoughts about common opponents. Got to know each other very well. And then 91 came, you know, they won the Super Bowl in 90. And so, you know, he gets interviewed.

I'll send you the last minute. They call me in. They get an interview. And I'm like, wow, that was pretty young at the time, 33. And so it was like, wow, okay. So we came down to him and I.

He got the job as he should have. But that interview that I had, because I knew Mr. Modell very well. I knew Kevin Burns very well. I mean, I played in Cleveland. I coached in Cleveland. My first two kids were born in Cleveland. So Cleveland was like my first home. I said, listen, I remember running out there and I was part of the 1980 cardiac kids. It was my rookie year.

You know, then I got a chance to come back. I coached special teams. And I coached the dog pound with Hanford Dixon and Frank Middlefield.

So I knew what that place was all about. And I ended up going back to my hometown in Pittsburgh. And so Bill and I went from friends to adversaries very quickly. You know, so we played against each other. And then, you know, ironically enough, then he went to New England. And it's so funny because it was 2004. We lost to those guys in a championship game. We go back in 2005. We're getting ready for the Super Bowl. And Bill calls me up.

And he had just gotten beaten by, I think, Denver the week before we beat Denver. And he said, hey, listen, is there anything you need like on the Super Bowl? I'm like, yeah, let me just pick your brain a little bit about the preparation, what you did. And really from that time moving forward, we kind of reconnected again. It was like, you know, it's almost like, what, you know, 10 years of, you know, in between there from 92 to 2005, what, 13 years, we didn't really talk much.

We competed against each other. And, you know, then, you know, I stepped down. And really from the time I stepped down, we've become very good friends.

We talk frequently. And so much respect for Bill, his history of the game, his respect for the game. You know, he's a football coach through and through.

And if he respects you, I mean, that is the greatest, right? I mean, and obviously, you know, you I'm sure serve as that for so many others as well, Bill Cower. But I mean, for him to basically be, all right, adversaries. I mean, the Patriots and the Steelers, you know, in the Brady era, you with Big Ben. I mean, you with Betis, them doing their thing. And obviously everything that happened with you in the 90s taking on the Cowboys. And for you to continue to build and become as terrific as a program you had. And then there's Brady and Belichick there.

And then you make it to the Super Bowl. And he calls you after all of that. I mean, that is actually very typical of him. Is it not, Bill? Yeah, it was really special, Rich. Yeah, it is.

It is. I mean, you know, I think the thing that both of us, we had a great passion for the game. We're both defensive coaches. We all always, you know, I had at the time when he had LT, I had Derek Thomas and I used to just throw LTS and like I threw tape of LT on there. I Derek, you're almost there.

What do you mean I'm almost there? I go, yeah, you're not as good as this guy. So, you know, he, and he's still on tape of Derek Thomas. So we, I said, yeah, why don't you just, we'll just kind of amp the other two guys up and take it from their level.

So, so it was, but it was, it wasn't, it was built on respect. And even like when I stepped down, I used to talk to him about blitzes and, you know, zone coverages and zone blitzes and dogs. And, you know, I give him a couple of times, I give him an off season, like last four or five years, I give him a couple of blitzes. He'd be calling me up, Hey, but what happens on this motion? I go, well, let me think about this.

I got me put this. So we talked football, I still talk football and I, he, he loves it. I love it.

It's still a great passion of mine. I love game planning. I love the, you know, the creativity that the football really is all about on both sides of the ball. You're talking about, you know, we always talk about creating great, good looking plays on offense, but defensively is the same thing.

You know, it's the ultimate chess match. It's out there and you know, good defensive coordinators, you get a little bit creative in what they're doing weekend and weekend, whether you're moving a certain player to get a great matchup or you're showing a certain thing. So, that's, that's what Bill is all about. And, and I love talking with football with him. Well, then on that subject matter, before we move on in the final minutes, we have here with you, Bill, like, what are you, what are you willing to share about what you think's going on in his head, his world, his thought process about what's going on right now? He's in a period of transition.

I mean, it's like, it's one of those things right now and, you know, it doesn't just happen one year. It might be another year, but listen, Bill's, Bill's determined to catch Don Shuler. I know that for a fact, and he would love to do it right there in the neighborhood. I don't know that to not talk with him about that.

Right. I think he would love that to be the case. He's also realistic to know what the, what the NFL is all about. So, you know, I, I think you tried a little bit of experience experiment last year. It didn't work things in bill O'Brien this year, you know, they lost a couple of their tough offensive players or defensive players, you know, a couple of weeks ago.

So they're transitioning here, but the, you know, I mean, the game they put on the other day against the Buffalo bills is still going to be the same thing. He knows the right buttons to push. He's going to get the most of what he has right now. And I just think talent wise are just, they're not as good as they've been in the past and he's happened to acclimate to that and he's trying to be resourceful and be creative with what he's got, but he's the ultimate competitor. And that's the one thing about him, you know, he's going to give you everything he's got. He's going to turn over every stone with what he has. That's just who he is as a coach. You put your Bill Cowher marker on one team right now and during week eight, which one is it?

What you got? You know, one, one team I got to tell you the Baltimore Ravens, I look at them and what they're doing, they lead the league in sacks at 39, 12 different players. I think Todd Monken has, I think, you know, Lamar, there's a couple of games they've lost that they just, you know, some drop passes or whatever, what he did last week against the Detroit lions was very, very impressive site and he gets got the best group of skilled players he's ever had, Zay flowers, Odell Bateman. I mean, this is as good a receiving core. He is Lamar.

He's never had. It got Mark Andrews, one of top tight ends in the national football league. So this is a good football team and I'm just an AFC North is going to be a challenge. I liked the Detroit lions in spite of what happened to them last week. I think I still like Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, you know, so I, I, I, you know, I look at that, but you know, the Philadelphia Eagles still continue to be a team that they're a solid man. Jalen hurts is he, he wills that it's there any more of an intense player than Jalen hurts in the national football league.

I mean, he just, his passion, his message in the way that he approaches his, his craft is very, very impressive. And those offensive and defensive lines of the Philadelphia Eagles are very, very solid, good skill people. They're going to be a tough out. Yeah, and I, I, I, I put my chip on the chief still. You know what I mean? I know. I know. Yup. I got you.

I got you. It's just, it just seems to do in a different way. It's just because my homes hasn't found 15 different receivers and Tyree kills doing his thing somewhere else. And I can't wait to call that game in Frankfurt in two weeks with the dolphins and the chiefs, but it's defensively, right? It's Spagnola what he's dialing up like that is it's six and one there because of that, I think for the first six weeks of the season, you know, question about, I mean, and Chris Jones has come back and playing like a man who wants a contract. And so he's, he's, he's, he's spags is one of the almost underrated defensive coordinators in the national football league. There's no question about it. You're right. You never can cut out Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

You never can. Before I let you go here, this, this documentary, it's, it's so cool. It's so great. Um, I, I just want to know, uh, of all the things, the, the Polaroid incident where you took the Polaroid and you jammed it into what was it? McCarter's pocket.

The gourd, gourd, gourd McCarter. What happened? Tell me the full story here. Give me, give me the full story. Bill. Come on. Well, the full story and everyone.

Okay. So they, they may go to kick a field goal. They missed the field goal. A penalty flag comes out and as we're starting to walk off, everyone's wondering what happened.

I said, we didn't rough the kicker. He said, there's 12 guys on the field. And as I go, well, like, wait a minute. And so we had a couple of guys starting to mill to the, I got, I said, stop, just stop. And I go, I start counting. And I said, um, there was 11 guys, there's 11 guys right here. And then I pulled over. I think Kevin green and come over. I said, all right, Kevin, I said, did somebody run off the field that I didn't see? I said, cause I'm not going to sit there and they go, no, no promise to coach. We only have everybody was there. And at the meantime, while that's going on and I'm looking in and they're getting ready to go, you know, okay.

You know, he's, they're going to give another chance or moving a ball. I get the Polaroid. And so he has a Polaroid and I kind of go, Oh my gosh, there was 11 guys here. So I just came over. I said, go, I tried to start. I think I might call a time out like, Hey, I go, Gordon. I said, no, you can't look down, but we have 11 guys. He goes, bill, it's a penalty. The lines judge called. They go, yeah.

He was standing right in front of the Minnesota bench. I go, it's I go, but the Polaroid you're, you're wrong. There's 11 guys. I got, I got a vision right here and I know you can't look down, but just do the right thing. Just do the right thing. Cause I can't penalty was enforced. They made the field goal and I just took it. I was just so mad. I said, okay, here, here, here, here, here, just take it. I just, you can look at, you can't look at it here, put it in your pocket.

When you get through the tunnel, you go inside, you can look at it then, but here's a true story. Now, Richard said, this is true. So afterwards we're in there and my daughter came in after the games, she goes, daddy, that was really official was so bad. And I'm so glad that you did that. And I said, Lauren, no, your father was wrong. You don't show up an official on national TV like that. Two wrongs.

Don't make a right. So it was a great teaching moment for me. Look at you. It was a great father of the year, my daughter, but I know it was very, it did feel good to put that in his pocket. Did you get fined?

Did the league find you? Oh yeah. Like 15 grand.

And that was a lot of money back then. Yeah. You can't put, it actually took the pockets off the officials for like a couple of years after that.

So you basically remove the pockets. It's sometimes it's nice to be part of a rule change, a different version of Mel Blunt. Did Polaroid ever reach out to you for a gig or anything like that?

No, no, no, no. That's too bad. I wanted to get the picture back. I wanted to see if Gordon still had the picture. So I wanted to get the picture back.

My Polaroid back. I wanted to, cause I did have the proof, but I don't think we had, that was the only copy we had. Oh, Bill. That's so great. This is a great documentary. Congrats on being a subject for it. It's pretty neat stuff. So I appreciate that. Thank you for your time there, Nate. I appreciate that.

Amen. So, uh, Greg Cosell has been on this program many times from NFL films and he told me this. I asked him to tell me a story about Fescenda. And he said that he always remember when Fescenda would get copy from NFL films, he would look at it. And when it was a really good line, he would say, nah, that's a horse I can ride like that.

So when I get copy from NFL films, like I'm like, I'm riding that horse, man. It is, it's, they're, they're awesome. So it's MGM plus and obviously your story is perfect for it. So thanks for the time, Bill. You got it. Thanks, Rich. Great chatting with you.

Let's do this again soon. That's Bill Cower. Everybody checked out NFL icons, Bill Cower premiering this Saturday night at 10 PM Eastern and Pacific on MGM plus.

I love that. I mean, I could have asked him a million different stories. It could have went on for an hour. How about that with Bill? With Mike? How about that with Bill? Well, interesting that I think I knew that it was him and Belichick up for the Cleveland Browns job. And so Bill gets it, starts a career path and Belichick and the other Bill doesn't get it and then winds up being the hometown coach. And then they're competing against each other for all those years. And after, honestly, how many times are the Steelers and the Patriots beating each other's brains in? In the playoffs, it felt like they played every year. Every year, right?

But Bill's calling him up saying, hey, you're going you're making the Super Bowl. You want some two cents here or there? Yeah, sure. Yeah, of course. But but, you know, for for for him to do that, it's it's it's cool.

I love stories like that. Yeah. And Rich, during the interview, you know, me, Chris, Mike and I were talking, I looked at them and I was like, you realize there's only two men alive. So I said they called Mike astronauts. Yeah. And I was like, just two. There is only two alive ever coached. Right.

I mean, the others of the Cleveland Browns had in the last five seasons, like wild. So that's why my guys looked at him in the corner. I'm like, that's like, you know, did you two astronauts talking? I didn't because that's that's weird. You know, I mean, but Steeler Nation would have loved that picture.

I'm sure they would realize that. And they they had both had bruised. They both had, you know, some, you know, bottles cracked and they were just sitting there talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, you know, very cool. That's it was great.

And I wanted to ask him about it. He's just like, yeah, we don't really do that too often. Love it. That's wild.

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Covenant house is there to learn more. Go to safeplacetosleep.org today with so tick two for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, you could show off your skin again. And you know what that means beach day as a tick two inhibitor, so tick two is the only once daily pill of its kind for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Ask your dermatologist about so tick two today and learn more at so clearly you.com that's so clearly you.com so tick two decrevacitinib is a prescription treatment for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from systemic therapy or photo therapy. Don't take if you're allergic to so tick two serious reactions can occur before treatment get checked for infections including tuberculosis. So tick two can lower your ability to fight infections. Don't start if you have one serious infections cancers including lymphoma muscle problems and changes in certain labs have occurred. Tell your doctor if you have a history of these events or if you have an infection or symptoms like fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough, or if you have history of hepatitis B or C liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides or had a vaccine or plan to so tick two inhibits tick two which is part of the jack family people 50 and older with heart disease risk factors who use a jack inhibitor are at increased risk for certain side effects sometimes fatal.

It's unknown if so tick two has the same risks as jack inhibitors. Call 1-888-SOTYKTU to learn more. I didn't ask to be thrown in the streets, but I did ask for help. And covenant house was there for me. For these kids who didn't ask to be put in this unthinkable situation covenant house is there.

To learn more, go to safeplacetosleep.org today. What was going through your head when David Baker appeared all of a sudden, Bill? You know, I had absolutely no idea and an ironic part of it was that I sat down that morning with my wife Veronica, you know, I talked about I said, I don't think I'm going to get in and I'm okay with it. I almost put some closure on it and I was okay, you know, when I came in, no one really said anything.

We weren't discussing. I thought, well, that's being pretty professional. I appreciated them kind of like giving me my space from it all and I was getting ready to do an eye vision with Phil Stens and talking about Lamar Jackson and next thing I turn around and I see David Baker and we all know what he stands for and and it just was a lot of things to try to process at the time. This is kind of why I thought this isn't this is the way I thought this was going to be. I thought I was going to get a call says, hey, you know, you're closely thinking in and we don't find out on Tuesday night or something because it's going to air on Wednesday and yeah, it was almost surreal and it's so funny. I sat back and watch Jimmy Johnson and the same thing happened to him on the halftime of the second game on Sunday at home and I know exactly what he was feeling that matter of fact, I had to put out a tweet and I first thing I thought about is, you know, did Adam Stanley really know that he had two future Hall of Fame's players watching Bobby Boucher in the water and Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Johnson and I were down there and I remember Jimmy and I think this is like 1997 98 whatever was and and Adam actually, I think it's since been retweeted.

I said, but we're talking about booby boos Bobby Boucher and he said he's saying it's like Zach Taylor. So no, he's like Greg Lloyd he goes whatever and so it's going to be really really kind of fun to kind of get reunited with Jimmy over that little one. That's fantastic Bill.

I mean that is just great. Bill Cowher throughout the years youtube.com slash Rich Eisen show for all of that sitting at the Rich Eisen show desk furnished by Granger with supplies and solutions for every industry Granger is the right product for you call click Granger.com or just stop by back here on the Rich Eisen show radio network boy, you know, Cowher's really is it? I don't know what it is. But that Pittsburgh accent is really coming through more and more and then putting it on five or six words when he said them I was like, yeah, I know you see Pat.

I saw it on McAfee's feeds. There was like some high school ref. Yeah, the first Pittsburgh put first down.

Did you see this Chris? He's a high school ref miked up from like a total yinzer. He was definitely a yinzer.

And so, you know, that's funny and the Pittsburgh fans, you can't you can't even come close to a whiff of sounding disrespectful when it comes to them and their traditions. And I think Trevor Lawrence is becoming a bit aware of such a thing. He's going to find out.

Well, Trevor Lawrence. Did you hear about this one Christopher? This escaped you.

I must have missed it because the Jacksonville Jaguar quarterback is coming to Accra shirt. Yeah. And where and and he was asked about the atmosphere that's there including the terrible towels. Okay, and this was his response. Are you too young to know what a terrible towel is? No, I know what they are.

The little yellow towels. It's a hostile environment. It's one of the great environments in the NFL.

It's your first trip there, I think. So your thoughts on playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh? I'm excited. You know, it's definitely a one to check off the list like playing in cool stadiums historic places and obviously Pittsburgh is just they got a great I mean, just their whole organization has like an aura around it.

That's really cool. And they're, you know, they had some obviously great players, some great teams. You always know kind of what team what kind of team Pittsburgh is going to have every year. They're going to have a great basketball, great defense, their offense is playing really well. I mean, that's just you know what you're going to get.

So they're they're really consistent. Coach Tomlin's obviously done a great job there. But I'm excited. I'm excited to play over there. We played in some hostile environments, you know, Kansas City, New Orleans, I think those are up there.

And this will be another one that'll be a challenge and be fun to play and be fun atmosphere. Now, you might be sitting there saying, Rich, where's the disrespect? Where's even the whiff of the disrespect? Where's the even the hint of the whiff of the disrespect from this sweetheart of a twenty four year old who gave the appropriate flowers about playing there? Right. And when you mention the the environments in Arrowhead and where he just won on a short week wearing a brace.

You know, in New Orleans, that's up there, right? Well, it was referring to the terrible towels as the little yellow towels. Our friend Billy Gardell caught wind of that. You better read up about that towel, Junior, but he tweeted back about it. Here's the thing. I read about that towel, Junior. I read a few tweets, a few blogs, and I didn't actually hear him say it. I just read it. And now hearing it, it's like, what's a big deal?

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was like, OK, does he go back to the towel because they also are little yellow towels. He's describing what they are. They're terrible towels, OK?

It's not a beach towel. They're in Cope's creation. But they're have you ever held one? They're like this big. Yeah, they're little yellow. No, I know. I saw in size. Excuse me.

I really thought more disrespect was coming. I was like, oh, OK. They're yellow towels that are, you know, not appropriate for, if you will, drying off after a shower. Sure. You know, I understand.

Yeah, bathing. Yeah. But. They're not they're not little to these folks in Pittsburgh, you know what I mean? Like looking for the what you say about my towels, folks take the towel real seriously back at home, man. Wow.

You learn about them towels, Junior. You can almost hear Gardell say it about it. Right. You're going to pick the Steelers in this game. I don't know. This one.

This one. I am coin flipping, pal. Well, I got their offense stinks. You keep saying that. You keep saying it in a way. You keep saying it. Their running game was the best. They've had it yet. Right. Yeah. Both runbacks got in the end zone. Both two of them. Now you could say they didn't run up and down a lot.

But I thought that was I don't know the numbers and I have them right in front of me. But I was watching the game like Naji was when is Naji been getting six, seven yards a clip? Really hasn't. You know. He's been going wide.

He hasn't been slashing in between, you know, in gaps and stuff like that, only team worse than them and offensive yards per game is the Bengals. I know that. And that's why everyone's saying, you know, blame Canada.

Fire him. By the way, for a guy that's under the spotlight, they're foreign to the for a guy that's under the microscope. Matt Canada. I've been watching, as you know, a lot of Steelers games.

Sure. They always CBS always has that little camera on Matt Canada. They always got the camera right there. You know, by the way, very unflattering angle for these poor coordinators sitting up in their booth, like sitting on their ass, they're probably having sweat coming out of every poor possible.

It's an intense game. Set up the camera. Chefter sets up his camera from low to high again. I got it. I got to speak to Adam about this.

I remember last year, Ken Dorsey, they had the he went and he just went and then he came over and covered the camera because Canada, for God, it's constantly, you know, under the spotlight in the microscope, he says, OK, to the camera, I guess you don't have a choice. But yeah, I don't know who I'm taking in this game, Chris, because this is a a Steelers team that might you might be turning around in a few weeks from now going, how the hell are they doing it? They're smoking, there's mirrors and then there's wins and there's losses.

I know. And they have they have two more wins than they have losses right now. There's seventh worst in the NFL in points per game and the worst in rushing yards. What about the fourth quarter? Second worst in time?

Pickett time. Remember back in time, I asked you guys, would it be crazy for me to say that all four of these North teams would make the playoffs? They're making a run for it right now under 200 yards. So that would be three division winners and everyone from the AFC North just saying they are.

They're all still competitive. That's your playoff field in the AFC. Three division winners and everyone from the AFC North. I mean, I guess I could see it, but possibly there's still a chance. Well, Baker Mayfield could help something like that happen by putting the bills to five hundred tonight. I would be shocked if that happened. Crazier things have been happening in this really weird season is really what would really shock you?

I don't know. I watched the Bucks play last week and they were at home and it was pretty bad. Their offense is against, you know, the offense is OK on defense, but like, come on their offense.

The last two weeks since the buy has not been anything to write home about exactly. And Josh Allen says he's going to stop thinking more and play a little bit more looser. I think it's big Josh Allen game tonight.

Yeah. I mean, did you see Ryan Fitzpatrick says he's going to take off a shirt if if he wants Josh Allen to be the old Josh Allen, he wants to see Josh Allen leap somebody and then do that monster first down line like he wants him to be, you know, truck people like come out and start trucking people. Josh might be thinking he said he would take his shirt off on the Amazon Prime set.

Well, I think we're going to see shirtless Fitzpatrick tonight. OK. Meanwhile, little yellow towels is resonating in western Pennsylvania.

Today. I mean, the things people decide to get. And I get it. Honestly. What a sweet like you see the soundbodies. It's like sweetheart. Twenty four year old Trevor Lawrence going, oh, yeah, no, I know those little yellow towels and they're not little junior. No disrespect was met by T. Law there. I don't think so either. Kind of admit. But I just want to I just want to mention at Pitt. I guess not. I don't think I think Pitt Pitt went there. I don't know.

I think. And you know, they would there would be terrible talent there. I mean, not. Undersized yellow towels, hand towels, you know, for the hands, dish towels, dish towels. Hey, hey, I don't mean I'm not going to find China, China, China, find China, find dishware towels, not dish towels.

I can't find dishware. Be careful. I want to go home. Hey, Trevor's on his own here.

Yeah. You're on your own son. Don't come for me. Junior, as Gardel said. All right, when we come back, when we come back, we'll finally get to what I wanted to talk about literally two hours ago.

But we keep getting off track. The Marconi. No, no, no. That's still sitting here. Pasta. No, not that. No.

Jim Irsay, an owner of the NFL, saying, you know, hey, the NFL told us they screwed up the officiating and we think it should be reviewed. OK, that's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen here, let's talk about DoorDash, because we talk about it in our household all the time. We and I always go to DoorDash whenever we need some terrific food from our favorite restaurants with timely, responsible professional drivers delivering the food right to our house in a timely fashion. We use DoorDash and now DoorDash is made even better with DashPass. DashPass is the one membership you need to get the most out of DoorDash in everyday life because DashPass members get zero dollar delivery fees and up to 10 percent off eligible DoorDash orders, including groceries, drinks, personal care items and more. DashPass makes delivery even more worth it, helping members save more than thirty five dollars per month on average. So put a little joy back into your schedule.

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Become a DashPass member today. Suzy Schuster and Amy Trask present offbeat conversations and expert sports commentary as they ask, what the football? When my family found out how long it took me to figure out why Charles Woodson named his wine intercept, they said, there's a reason that you had trouble in school. You know, not everyone knows, you know, what I think about a little intercept. They don't know that I play football.

Well, what I've learned is a smooth defensive back can make smooth wine. That's what it's all about. What the football with Suzy Schuster and Amy Trask.

The podcast is available Tuesdays wherever you listen. Well, as we all know, playing fantasy NBA fantasy, it's just a frustrating experience because guys thought the load managed stuff would be over, right? It's all over. But you know, but then the guys are just not playing. They just don't play. These guys don't play 80 games anymore, right?

82, whatever it is. It just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen anymore. It's frustrating.

Well, that chicken, if you will, has come home to roost for my opponent. Tonight's game, Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker, not playing. Bradley Beal, not playing. Not great. Suns Lakers, right there on Turner. I thought we're supposed to avoid this sort of stuff, right?

You're not doing it. But Bradley Beal didn't play the first one. How did Booker look the other night? Like a guy who's not going to play the next game? I mean, hurt his foot. He's dealing with a foot.

How did Booker look the other night? Like a guy who's not playing the next game? Right. But I guess he's got a foot.

We're not playing him the night against Turner. Got a little foot. Got a little foot. Okay. Yeah. Look, they did this for you because they see how bad you're going to smash the fantasy.

No. Part of the week, you know why I'm getting smashed in fantasy? I had no players on the first night.

You had players in the first night. That's where it goes. So now the scales even it up, even it up. Play better than the refs. Right. Got it.

Is that what you always say? And you're the guy who got three Phoenix Suns in the draft. Three. Not one, not two, but three.

And two of them all of a sudden, oh, my foot. Trust me, that's going to work out in my favor. The Suns are going to ball it. It's all about what happens in April and May and June. And that's the thing that's, you know, and they think, do they think that the in-season tournaments can end this sort of stuff because the guys are going to definitely have to play because it's a tournament. Well, it's the money. They're actually hurt.

500K. But they're actually hurt. That's true.

They could be actually hurt. Maybe. Well, it ain't. That's tonight. You've just made this fantasy match up person at the Phoenix Sunstone. It's the Phoenix Sun. That's right. Just the sun.

You got to deal with him. This is the Phoenix Sun. Baby. Tonight. Oh, and Giannis finally plays. It's going to be great. Personal now. We're going to be playing the Rich Eisen Show 844-204-rich number to dial here on the program. So this one caught my eye the other day because I'm watching the Colts intently because I'm calling their game against the Patriots week 10. All right.

Yeah. So when I go to Frankfurt to call chiefs and dolphins, guess what? I stick around. I'll be zooming in from Germany.

Guten tag. We can't get rid of you. Can't get rid of me. Well, you're a Marconi Award winner. Well, you know what? Hey, they just they don't just put this on any desk. That's true.

I've never seen one. Thank you. Anyway. Thought, you know, the Colts were going to win that game against the Browns because, you know, they were balling and it looked over and then not one but two penalties in the end zone gave the Browns a shot at the one and they finally gave it got in the end zone. Kareem Hunt barely creased the plane, but he did. He did. There was a specious illegal contact in the end zone that I didn't see really that you didn't have to call certainly was less contact than say what happened at the end of the Giants Bills game, which I think is the standard of contact in the end zone not getting called being egregious.

Right. And then a pass interference penalty on a ball that nobody could catch Victor Wimbunyama would have a problem catching that talk about untouchable and and you know what? It just drives you crazy seeing that sort of stuff. Imagine owning the Indianapolis Colts Jim Ierse tweeting out. That the league told them isn't a tweet saying Anthony Richardson surgery went down this is a couple days ago now, but I've been out of the chair yesterday as you know, the NFL admits and understands that they did not make the correct calls at the end of the Sunday's Colts Browns game note to magic. This is the way ownership should tweet. I believe we need to Institute instant replay for all calls including penalties in the last two minutes of all games. Let me say this.

First of all. There is replay going down. For every play the question is is does the NFL allow the refs to use it or not and it's very confusing to fans when it's you know when it's being used or why. For instance, you'll sometimes hear an official say after review after they make a call and nobody's thrown a challenge flag.

Do you hear that? Sometimes they'll announce. Oh yeah, that's not a catch. Oh yeah, that is a catch.

Oh yeah, you know balls placed in a different yard line now. After review. Oh wait a minute.

Where's the review? It's called Hawkeye replay assist. You'll sometimes hear announcers use that phrase ology. When do you use it?

When do you not? It's confusing to people. So it exists replay assist exists and it should exist on every play in the NFL 100% because we should never have to go through anymore for fans to see the way these games are ending sometimes oh yeah they admitted a mistake and then there are other times you know what I don't know I'm still waiting to hear maybe the league has given out its report on officiating sometimes they'll send out the teams this was a mistake this was a mistake or they'll just come out and say that's not a mistake even though 10 people watching in a bar 10 out of 10 will say that was a mistake and it's frustrating as well. In the same way when instant replay in the first NFL network owners meeting that we covered in 2004 at the Breakers Hotel in Florida where replay was voted into permanence Charlie Casley was in charge of the competition committee at the time basically said everybody's got a TV at home they can see it on their high definition on their TVs at home we should use it too if everyone can see it at home we should be able to use it it was it's simple an explanation about why instant replay should be used more than not and I understand you don't want to stop the game you don't want to hold up the game you want the game flow you can do it you are doing it you are essentially doing it right now you just don't know when or how it's applied it does appear to be arbitrary I'm sure it is not I'm even confused and it's my job not to be confused about all this stuff so why can't the replay assist get into the ears of the officials in Indianapolis and go that was untouchable pick up the flag those words that's simple hey so throw the flag huddle up you immediately just see a flag being thrown and you see an official go pass interference and pointing to the side as they're running back to the official to tell them what the flag is on and sometimes you'll even hear them get on their microphone because they're all wearing mics to get into the ear of the official so they don't have to run all those yards to tell them it's pass interference on such and such a player you can communicate and do this fast how about maybe slowing it down a little bit and getting the call right that was uncatchable pick up the flag okay after you know you huddle up as an officials and you break the plate there is no foul for pass interference you could even say after further review if you want that might create a little bit of a pandora's box because when you review instant replay i mean via instant replay pass interference we saw what happened all those years ago it was a holy heck of a mess but if you have the ability to review it why aren't you reviewing it and then another one i thought all changes possessions are reviewable right change of possession yes right right right plays change of possession so then what the hell happened in the rams game where they miss spotted the ball change of possession they don't review that oh you're outside of two minutes sorry coach you don't have any timeouts left you can't review it wait a minute hold on a minute i thought all change of possessions are reviewable only if you throw an interception or you fumble it that's on you so we'll review that on you but if it's on us because we screw up the spot creating a change of possession we're not reviewing that that's a good one yeah huh really oh okay so that was a weird point my guys screw up you'll review it your guys screw up we don't review it you're the one who placed the ball down where it was and replay clearly showed kenny pickett's knee was down short of the line of you know line of gain oh but you don't have any timeouts left we're not reviewing that but three quarters ago we're able to have replay assist come down and say that's not a catch oaks and why can't you use replay assist for this well it's not in the rules oh really why not see how confusing it is to people and infuriating certainly since again this is the toughest job i think in sports officiating although i'm sure all those nba referees last night would say hold on hold my beer here okay flopping calls now are now in in the midst you already saw some crazy stuff happen in madison square garden last night so it's not easy and they get a lot of it right but when everything is magnified in this world and you have the ability to replay it using hawkeye and you do have people in the nfl offices who can be used as a backstop to well-intentioned officials for whom the game might be going a little too fast like misidentifying somebody's hand whose hand is down on the ground on the philadelphia side of the line of scrimmage on an upcoming brotherly shove play oh after further review that was jason kelsey's hand it's a foul on only miami getting somebody's getting somebody's headset as opposed to on national tv us saying your guys can't tell whose hand is down help them out help you you have the ability to help out the the folks the men and women who are wearing the stripes who are in the line of fire do it what is what's the problem because you're still relying on the human element at first major league baseball is going to go in this direction call it a strike let the human do it call it a strike or a ball if it's not batter will be able to tap his helmet let's take a look at hawkeye sort of like the same setup that you see on professional tennis circuits where there is a sort of cartoon rendering if you will uh of of a ball being in or out and so let's take a look oh it's not a ball it's a strike or wait a minute it was a strike not a ball get back in the batter's box it only took a few seconds everybody at home thinks that you're doing the best that you can to get it right with technology in the 21st century why the hell isn't replay assist getting in the ears of the officials more when it's there because some owners think it's too much well now you got one in indianapolis that wants it done for the last two minutes well the play at the end of the first half doesn't matter the end of the first quarter doesn't matter and the ripple effects get to it well wasn't it belicheck who said look make everything reviewable all the time a long time ago forever and and for fans who are like games taking too long in college football they don't i've never heard a fan really i'm the only one i'm like a get off my lawn guy these games take three hours and 45 minutes for our game but then people call that's an epic game oh my goodness that was an epic game final score 72 71. there's still between that and what we're seeing in the nfl i think some middle ground and i'd love for the league to find it again put me on the competition committee maybe my marconi will help it couldn't hurt well clearly yeah i talked to people as this beautiful statue that somehow i got through tsa on my carry-on yeah because you could have messed somebody up with that thing i could many different ways but i'm a lover not a fighter yeah stream the nfl and westwood one for free sponsored by autozone all season long you can listen free westwood one broadcast of the nfl live on the nfl app by asking alexa to open westwood one sports or on your westwood one affiliate stations digital platforms kevin harling kurt warner and yours truly all season long for free and get in the zone with autozone autozones free battery testing and charging is available for free at your local autozone get in the zone autozone restriction supply switched up for you tomorrow's show uh miles garrett cross over dribble man himself i'm excited to talk to him i've got a lot of questions for him me too i wonder if he knows that i'm leading the charge for him to be mvp well we'll find out do we make a do we make a tombstone for him for his front lawn for next week's halloween of the long snapper he leapt over i think that's pretty funny that was a visual tombstone a digital tombstone from the rich isin show i like it okay it'll be a first too then tom palisario in studio he's here in person tommy p looks like we might be going to tacos tomorrow after the show tom see what sort of greaser's outfit he'll wear tomorrow definitely a very stylish jacket will be homemade yeah oh his hair is going to be honestly the rest of us will just be staring and wonder it's wonderful that'll be tomorrow's program oh yeah that's tomorrow and again congratulations we'll do it live oh congratulations where's that gonna go i don't know let's keep it here for a while keep me i want to show it to the kids oh that's true be careful you know we can travel yeah it's like the stanley cup two of them there's like this i don't know what about us i stole the other guy's makoni every monday rich isin and chris brockman react to what's happening in the world of football on overreaction monday dolphins final four afc team oh that is not an overreaction at all i'm with you you're in i am in the other three final four teams if you were asking me to call my shot this is the overreaction podcast call your shot entertainment purposes only unless i'm right yeah uh chiefs dolphins bills ravens ravens final four overreaction monday the podcast wherever you listen