REShow: Barry Sanders - Hour 3

This is The Rich Eisen Show. There's a certain limp I have today, like the rest of Jets Nation, because the football gods just won't stop kicking us in the nards. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

It's tough to see because there's no chance on this planet that Aaron Rodgers should come back this year. Earlier on the show, Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, ATP Tour player and Tennis Channel analyst Nick Kyrgios. Coming up, Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number three The Rich Eisen Show. We're on the air here on the Roku channel. Free on all Roku devices. Select Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TVs. We're free on the Roku app because the Roku channel is free on it.

RokuChannel.com for all of you internet freaks out there that want to watch us that way. I don't mean to say freaks. Shout out to my freaks out there.

But Papa Pump is your hook up. Holla, if you hear me. Excuse me, may I take this show back for a moment? We say hello to our terrestrial radio audience.

We say hello to Sirius X, M, Odyssey and more. Fun show so far. Kurt Warner, hour number one. Hour number two. Nick Kyrgios was in studio. That was awesome. Of the tennis tour.

Men's tennis tour. You guys brought up that I have said I could get a point off of Carlos Alcaraz. Great job to you, TJ, because I had forgotten that. And I'm glad we were able to slip that in for the last couple minutes.

Donkey! I was just wondering, we had a pro here. I was wondering, what do you think? We're going to make this happen. Apparently he left saying that he would make it happen.

I'm like, OK, when Alcaraz comes to Los Angeles, he'll know. And then I will get out there and play two sets out of three. Out of three. Speaking of existence, I'll force a third set. Do it, Rich.

You got this, man. You're going to force a third set. You don't believe it. Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have made a change at offensive coordinator that the Steelers fan base has been begging for for some time.

Pleadingly. They saw the writing on the wall. They saw it as inevitable. Tomlin did not.

And then today it became official later on in the sour. We'll hear from Mike Tomlin on that subject matter. And Tom Brady says the NFL product is mediocre. I'll give you my two cents on that. Kind of hit on that with Kurt Warner in hour number one.

Barry Sanders is about to join us as well. But I have not given my two cents on the Kansas City Chiefs loss last night. Because as you know, around these parts, we like to talk about the teams that win first. Sometimes the teams that lose first always get the attention.

And sometimes that happens here. Certainly when it's the Cowboys. Or the Jets. Or the Jets.

See, I'll throw myself in that mix, too. Settle down just a little bit. That said, I want to hit the Chiefs here.

Because narratives, narratives, narratives, narratives. It's so funny, even Mike McDaniel going into the Chiefs Dolphins game in Germany said, I understand. We lose. We officially are that team that can't beat anybody. We win and suddenly, you know, we've got a chance to win the Super Bowl. Which we feel is the case now. And we will feel is the case even if we lose.

But I understand what the narratives are and what they are not. And the narratives, the number one narrative that is roosted on Kansas City. Ever since Tyree Kill put up the deuces and said, I'm leaving Kansas City. I want out in Kansas City. There's the door and we will take some draft choices. And you will go to Miami. Fine.

Sold. Ever since that day, the narrative is just you watch Mahomes and the Chiefs die on the vine. Because their big playability just deuced out the door going to Miami. Just you watch.

They will die on the vine because their passing game won't be nearly as fearful for opponents. And then they went out and won the Super Bowl anyway. So you take that narrative and flush it down the toilet. But just like the goldfish, sometimes it takes a couple of flushes. Right.

And I'm a parent. So that narrative has not been flushed even by Lombardi. Even winning at all. It's just like, OK, now. Now, like, who is it outside of Kelsey?

Who is it? And then Caderius Toney in game one turned into Caderius Scissorhands. And and and that narrative roosted. And then the Chiefs started winning games.

Did they not? Until they lost in Denver. And Mahomes lost a division game for the first time ever on the road. And he's now the quarterback of a team that can't do it because of offensively can't do it. And then they beat the Dolphins. With a defensive touchdown and everything like that. And now they come off the bye. And last night. Happens. And the last drive.

Is a perfect example. A first down grab to bring up a fourth down because he dropped it. I mean, it's his guy, Kelsey in the hands. Right.

But. On fourth down, who does he look for? Hits him right in the gut with the ball first down Travis Kelsey.

And then then comes. A do or die, it seemed because it was a second down play and times running out and he goes up top for Marquez Valdez Scantling. That was a dime who gets behind the defense and hits him directly in the hands on the one yard line. And the Scantling, you know, didn't run through it. Thought he couldn't run through it. However, you want to put it was a little too far for him to run through it because he left his feet and he couldn't catch it. The next play winds up with an intentional grounding to bring up fourth and forever. Definitely end of the game, right? Definitely not going to convert fourth and twenty five, but it's Mahomes who hits Justin Watson directly in the hands with what would have been a conversion on fourth and twenty five.

Oh, man. Could you imagine if the game had continued off of that time was winding down. They were out of timeouts, but it still would have been an amazing conversion.

And then giving the general sense of all. So there's your narrative. There's your narrative. Forget about the fact that Mahomes threw a red zone interception or the fact that Kelsey committed a red zone turnover. But because of that last turnover by Kelsey in the red zone. Now comes this is not a narrative because narratives you can argue about.

Well, how valid is it? They won a championship last year without Tyree Kill. Without with Valdez Scantling and what you did now, you just put Justin Watson and Caderius Toney in the role of Juju Smith Schuster, who wasn't lighting up too many fires for this team. This kid Rashid Rice can make some moves, so that's a narrative talking about how it's going to really work or not. And the fact that they drop these balls and the receivers are a little less than this is not a narrative. This is a fact. This is a trend. This is something the Chiefs have to deal with.

That is concerning. Did you know they have now gone scoreless in the second half of three consecutive ball games? And it's not just the last three games. It's the entire football season after halftime. They have averaged in the second half this season five point three points per second half.

That is DFL, as the kids say, in the NFL. Just five touchdowns after halftime. That's tied for last in the NFL. The three times that they've been shut out in a row. That's tied for last just overall. The last three weeks gives them three scoreless second halves. That's tied for last for the entire season.

And here's the problem. You don't want to be associated with the other teams that you're tied for last with. The only other teams that have gone scoreless after halftime three times this year are the Giants and the Cardinals. And the only team that has five touchdowns after halftime this year other than the Chiefs are the Jets. You don't want to be associated with this. This has been a season long issue.

I don't know how to fix it. And to Kansas City's credit, they've scored in the first half. They've had significant first halves and the defense has made it stand up seven times out of ten.

That's a fact. So that's the concern for me for the Chiefs so far. Is it possible because their receivers are less than?

Sure. But this is the stuff like Andy Reid should be and Mahomes should be dissecting what's going on in the first half and figure it out for the second half and adjust. There's been zero adjustment.

Everyone's been adjusting to them. And in the case of last night, the Eagles adjusted the scoreboard at the same time. Patrick Mahomes on this very subject matter after last night's loss. I mean, I don't have any concern because I'm going to do whatever I can to play the best football I can. I know the other guys are going to do the same. And if you have concern, then you don't win football games.

And so I believe in the guys that we have in the locker room and we'll come to work with that mentality of we're going to find a way to fix it. To his credit, he just he's he's the best man. To his credit, he's he's not calling anybody out. He's just like, I believe in the guys.

You don't see the body language at all. And even poor Patrick Mahomes to a very viral video I saw on the old X machine last night and everywhere else. I guess he took off his headband or his wristband, flipped it to a fan in the stands, and they dropped that, too.

So it was an epidemic. Now, here's the good part. I'll channel my inner Mahomes.

I believe in them, too. That kid Pacheco is a real stud. Kelsey's a stud. OK, Mahomes is a stud. I like this Rishi Rice kid. Let's find him a little bit more, man. Sky Moore has disappeared off the planet. I don't know what's up with that.

But here's what I also love about it. Put up their schedule, if you do not mind, from here on out. Tell me where the losses are, please. Tell me where you're like, oh, tell me where they are at Vegas, where they've never lost. Maybe because they're what they're playing out of their skulls a little bit at Green Bay. Yeah, maybe.

OK. All right. Home for Buffalo. You think the Bills. OK, maybe you've been you've been the king. You've been the king of the Bills or less than how many overreaction Monday matters. They're like they're going to miss. We're talking about the Chiefs right now. OK, that's a possibility. And that's a tough game at New England on a Monday night. I mean, no home for Vegas on on Christmas Day.

I don't know. OK. Home for Cincinnati with Jake Browning coming in. Could be OK. OK. And OK, here's what I say. That's six and one at the worst. Six and one at the worst. Write it down. Well, I'll take that. OK. Thirteen and four at the worst. I got a twelve even even even. How about this? I'll even go.

I'll give you another one. Maybe twelve or five at the worst. Maybe the Chargers win the division. They win the division. Who's going to have 13 wins? The Ravens. The Ravens. Guess, you know, needs to you needs to have 13 wins to make it cash. The Dolphins, because the Chiefs have beaten them. Who's going to have 13 wins?

Houston, Jacksonville. That's what I'm saying. OK. And we just take a beat and a breath.

And the receivers catch the football man, catch it. Easy for me to say, but I'm just saying the Chiefs of the Chiefs, everyone thinks, OK, what they're they can be had now. OK, someone's going to have to have them in Arrowhead. I don't think they're not a wild card team. They're not starting wild card weekend on the road. Is it possible that they start the wild card weekend at home? Yeah. Because somebody's got in the one seed, then that team's going to have to win.

OK, because my home's might have two home games and then maybe, maybe have to go and win an AFC championship game on the road in his first ever road playoff game. Maybe that's the way I'm looking at it right now. Now, everybody just who saw. But that was a tough one last night because they had it. Yeah.

They had it. Now, before we get to Barry Sanders, I want to hit Tom Brady a little bit here on our friend Stephen A. Smith's show. OK, this was Tom Brady telling Stephen A. about the current version of football that he is seeing on his television sets post Brady era in the NFL. I think there's a lot of mediocrity in today's NFL. I don't see the excellence that I saw in the past. Why not?

And why not? I think the coaching isn't as good as it was. I don't think the development of young players is as good as it was. The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game.

So I just think the product, in my opinion, is less than what it's been. I think I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott and guys that impacted the game in a certain way. And every hit they would have made would have been a penalty. Your coach is complaining about their own player being tackling and not necessarily why don't they talk to their player about how to protect themselves?

We used to work on the fundamentals, those things all the time. Now they're trying to be regulated all the time. Offensive players need to protect themselves. It's not up to the defensive player to protect the offensive player. A defensive player needs to protect himself. I didn't throw the ball to certain areas because I was afraid players are going to get knocked out.

That's the reality. I didn't throw it to the middle when I played Ray Lewis because you knock him out of the game and I couldn't afford to lose a good player. Tom Brady. Now you could sit here and go, OK, Tom, you're the GOAT. Of course everyone's going to be mediocre. And you were coached by Bill Belichick. Of course the other coaching is not going to be as good. Fine.

Say that. Tom Brady. And I'm saying this as the host of NFL Network. And my job is to make sure you as a fan love the NFL, hear about the NFL, watch the NFL.

That is my job. But I'm also somebody there as well as here shooting you straight. Tom Brady is 100% accurate when he says this.

100% accurate. Now then, who's to blame for it? Well, here's the deal. In terms of developing players, you cannot, once the Super Bowl ends, have a player in your facility, in a spot. You can't even have contact with them.

Right? Until offseason. You can't have them in the building until the offseason workout program begins in April.

That's new. When NFL Network first started, you could have players in around the clock and all of these mandatory, not mandatory, but really mandatory things. And it was insane.

It was. Coaches were just like, you're not here. You're not believing in the program. You're not doing everything you need to do to win here. But coach, it's not mandatory.

Well, says the rules, technically, but why aren't you here? Or then the coach is basically saying, well, you know, only talking about the guys who are here, it'd be great to have these other guys here. They would kind of shame these players. And I think the Players Association kind of had enough of that and got in a collective bargaining agreement negotiation. Hey, we want to codify that you can't make stuff mandatory that is voluntary. If it's voluntary, that's it. Don't like, you know, denigrate players or downgrade players on a roster because they're you. You take their lack of presence to be their lack of interest in getting better. And I believe the owners were like, how much money is not going to cost us?

Oh, not that much sold. We'll take something in the collective bargaining agreement that actually is monetary. That's to our favor. You want quality of life stuff?

Yeah, we're all for it. And the problem is, though, is that takes the ability to develop players down a notch. And then when you do have the players in your building, do you have time to teach them technique? Do you have time to teach them how to get better?

You have the time to give them reps? Nope, you don't. You don't. You're taking away from the first teamers that you have in the building as well. That's a problem.

I remember, again, in London, Tennessee Titans against the Ravens. I asked Mike Vrabel in the production meeting before the game. Hey, how's Will Leviss doing?

And his answer was that. I don't know. Like, I mean, we don't really have much time to give him reps. You know, that's the way it works. I don't know. I don't know how ready he would be. Had no idea when I asked him that question. Will Leviss would be his next starting quarterback because Tannehill got hurt in that game.

And that's the other issue, is that when quarterbacks get hurt and they go down, the backups are thoroughly unready to be as good as the starting quarterback. Can Will Leviss look good in his first game? Yeah. Three games in, will he get his ass beat? Yeah.

Because it's going to be up and down. He's a rookie. He's really talented. Can he start off like C.J. Stroud?

It's a rarity. And the problem is, with the salary cap the way it is, the veteran, Joe Flacco's are being signed at the emergency after three guys are down and put on a commercial airline to be signed to a practice squad instead of being right ready to throw in a game. And he's a Super Bowl winner. He's on his couch because you're trying to get the young kids on your staff.

Right? And I understand, you know, Flacco doesn't fit what they run for Deshaun Watson in the same way that DTR or P.J. Walker does. But neither of those guys have the experience of a guy who won a Super Bowl MVP. And the number of rookie quarterbacks that are starting this year, it's insane.

There are going to be at the end of this week, 52 different starting quarterbacks this year. And two of them are starting their first games ever. They're not rookies in Tim Boyle and Jake Browning, but they're starting their first games. Well, Boyle started it. My bad.

Pardon me. Boyle has started before, but Browning hasn't started either at all. Ten quarterbacks are going to make their, this year, Browning will be a tenth quarterback to make their first career start, the fifth most entering Week 12 since 1950. There have been eight rookie quarterbacks this year with at least two starts, second most in a season since 1950.

The only season there was more was 2019 when there were nine. It's happening more and more. Look, last year, 2022, the most different starting quarterbacks this year, and to just bring it all full circle, some of these guys don't know. If you're throwing your receiver into a defense where the receiver is going to get blown up, you're going to lose your receiver.

You don't know what you're doing. The level of play is going to look worse, more mediocre, and the defender is going to get popped for hitting the receiver in a defenseless position. But the receiver shouldn't have been put in that position because the quarterback should know better, but the quarterback has not developed well enough. And the other reason, because the NFL has totally gotten out of the spring football business. They should tell the Rock, go ahead, take some of our quarterbacks, give them some reps. Kurt Warner in hour one said he would not have been ready to win for the Rams in 99 if he wasn't an Amsterdam Admiral or an Alarina League quarterback.

And he's in the Hall of Fame now. How many Hall of Famers are we missing out on? Because the NFL is like, yeah, it's too expensive to have teams in Europe, but let's send games over there with quarterbacks who aren't ready. Like if I'm an owner in the NFL, I'm like, how much does it cost to start developing these guys? Because I want these guys to come off the bench ready. I don't want my season to be over because more often than not, if you put that up again one more time, the number of different starting quarterbacks, you're going to see your team is going to have, it's going to happen to you.

Sixty-eight different starters last year. That's what Brady's talking about. Quarterbacks who are unready coming into games, throwing receivers into spots. Defenders, you know, are like, where do I hit these guys?

I don't know. I'm getting fined. I'm getting flagged and, you know, game stops, flag on the field. I'm sitting at home saying, what the hell is happening? And that's what Brady means by mediocre. If I'm an owner, I'm like, let's develop these guys. Let's take a break.

Barry Sanders, when we come back, we start turning the page to Thanksgiving football. Let's talk audible people. Audible lets you enjoy all of your audio entertainment all in one app. Titles in every kind in all categories. Wellness, bestsellers and new releases, as well as podcasts and originals. And audible members can keep one title a month from the entire catalog.

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Call clickgranger.com or just stop by. I love this guy and I'm so excited. He's got a new documentary on Prime Video. He is Barry Sanders. How are you, Barry?

Hey there, Rich. I'm real good, man. What are you up to? What am I up to?

I don't know. Thanksgiving, talking about the Lions, killing it. What else? Lots to talk about. Oh, yeah.

And I like turning on Prime Video and watching documentaries of you, you know, like that's what I'm up to. So, you know, and by the way, I like I like the title Bye Bye, Barry, because obviously everyone talks about the way you left the game. But it also is like waving goodbye to you as you, you know, pirouette and zoom past people on the field. You know what I mean? Right. Right.

It has kind of the double meaning to it. Yes. Absolutely. I like that. You know what I mean?

I'm picking up what you're putting down. Why? You always do. Why did you say yes to this? What what what made you want to do something like this, Barry? For me, I think the timing was right.

I think, you know, we've been discussing it for a few years now. And then, you know, NFL films and and and Prime Video, you know, kind of really want to get behind it. You know, they wanted to put the effort into it and and really make it happen. You know, and for me, the timing was right. I mean, I, I, you know, was felt like I could set aside the time to to be able to really get into the story, to be able to devote effort and energy into it.

And so and so that's really how how it ended up coming about. Why? Why here and why now? What are people going to learn about you that they are maybe already know? Barry, what do you think on that front? I think I think I think they'll learn that this is really a thank you to a lot of those people that are not just my dad, but others, you know, coaches and and people like that that really helped me get to where I am. And, you know, some of the storylines, you know, involved in, you know, and me not being heavily recruited and and and, you know, going to Oklahoma State and playing behind Thurman Thomas and and ending up in Detroit, you know, and just things like that. And then, you know, probably I think one of one of the things you'll learn, you know, is me going to London and sort of drama around when I retire, you know.

So so, yeah, I think I think there's a few things that I'll shed light on and that fans fans may learn. When's the first time you knew you had a special ability on the football field, Barry? When was that? That's that's a tough question, Rich, because I felt like I felt like I always had that chip that I was trying to prove something. You know, and so it would have been I think it would have been late, it would have probably been somewhere in college. You know, the first kind of national recognition I received was being all American kick returner as a sophomore. And, you know, being sort of Thurman's backup, that was a kind of a landmark year for me where I at least at least, you know, caught the attention of some national publications. You know, I was Bob Hope, all American, you know, you know, kick returner. And so, you know, I just caught the attention of, you know, football fans and that kind of thing.

And so I would have probably been around then. OK. And have you ever watched a piece of film of yourself and even marveled at what you did where you're like, damn, I did that. No. Yeah.

What do you got? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. That's a tough question. I only ask those, Barry. I only ask those.

I don't know what I don't know who you've been talking to all day, Barry, but this is the way I work. You know, I mean, not that I should have known that I should have already known that, you know, but but yeah, I mean, well, this is the thing. You know, when obviously when, you know, when you're playing, you know, you don't get a chance to see how, you know, plays kind of shape up and everything that's going on within the play. You know, so it's not until you go back and you watch the film and you see sort of everything that happened. You know, but yeah, there's some there's some times where you're surprised, you know, you're surprised at some of the things you're you know, you're able to do on a certain run or in a given play.

Yes. OK. And who's the one that you couldn't juke? Give me one who's the one that you could not juke the player that you could not pull a Barry Sanders move on and get past. He wouldn't wouldn't go for it on the guy.

He would not go for the correct. Give me that. Give me that person. Who is that person? You know what? I'm going to have to I'm going to have to go back and study some film, Rich, because that person doesn't leave to mind, does it? I got some homework. You tell me I got some homework to do. OK, you know.

All right. So then who's the guy that you you thought about before you went into the game? Who's the one guy in your career where you're just like, OK, I see that guy in the hole. I'm going to have to put my a plus plus Barry Sanders move on that cat. Well, I mean, you know, my my first game was against the Cardinals here at home the next week of my rookie year.

We we go to the Meadowlands play the Giants. I think, you know, I mean, number 56 for the Giants at that time. You know, I couldn't get him out of my head, you know. I mean, we I did end up surviving that game, but they had you know, this was this was eighty nine. So, you know, it was it was L.T. It was Harry Carson.

It was Carl Banks. It was a lot of those guys. You know, I forgot what year they won it around that same time. They won the Super Bowl. But but obviously, Coach Parcells was there. Phil Simms was there.

I mean, they had so many guys Hall of Famer type players there. So. So, yeah, that's that's one game. I remember where I'm playing against, you know, historic great player that I was definitely thinking about, you know. And so, yeah.

So, yeah. Did L.T. say anything to you that day about rookie? Did he talk to you? Did he did he bark at you?

Yes, he did. What do you say after the game? Because because we were we were we were running the running the shoot offense, you know, and and he came up after the game and he said, man, they need to get you a fullback. You know, if if if, you know, you guys would be unstoppable, you know, some some to that effect.

You guys would be unstoppable if you had a fullback. And and and I was just I was just shocked that he came up to me after that and said that, you know, it was a big honor. It's something I always remember. And yeah. So L.T. came up to me after the game and and those were his words.

You're also the first of two Sanders taken in the top five of that draft, Barry. Right. Yeah. You ever talk to you ever talk to Prime about him going after you?

Anything like that? Any conversations ever have with? Oh, no. I mean, I've talked to him a lot. We haven't really you know, we haven't I know I knew he had expressed that he didn't want to come to Detroit at that time. You know, he had expressed that and that's that's well documented.

I'm glad things worked out the way they did. Yes. You know, in Detroit, the perfect place for me.

Obviously, the phenomenal, you know, in all world back then, you know, and he knew it and just all world football player, all world athlete. You know, so. So, yeah, we've had a few conversations.

I'll be straight up with you, though, Barry. I mean, you know, Detroit, obviously, me being a Wolverine, I'm very partial to partial to the state in the area. And I know what you meant to that town and you know, and I and I know what you still mean to them and what they're doing right now and how you're, you know, you're you're into it. But do you for you to say that Detroit was perfect for you.

Do you think if you were drafted somewhere else, you'd have played past the age of 31 that you wouldn't have been in a situation where you thought about retiring? Barry, I don't know. I don't know. I think I think for me, I mean, it's hard to believe that it could have could have been much better individually.

You know, I don't know. You know, what would it have been like, you know, to go to play in Dallas or to play in San Francisco at that time? The only really other realistic place would have been Green Bay. You know, they had they had the number two pick and they chose Tony Mandridge, you know, and so that would have been interesting.

It could have been interesting. But then, you know, of course, you know, we were in the same division. We are in the same division and we're back then. So a lot of battles with them, you know, so but it's hard. So it's hard for me to even imagine, you know, playing for such a such a arch rival like they are, you know, which which I believe we have.

I believe we have them coming up this week. Yes, you do. Look at you trying to change the subject. No, I will not let you out of my tackle, Barry. Come on.

You can keep you can make your move on me. But in all seriousness, though, you could have been around for far. You know what I mean? Like you could have been there.

Right. For you could have been there. And, you know, Reggie White shows up and far Reggie White. No, I could have it could have been that could have been a good situation. No, I won't.

I won't lie. It could have been a good situation. I mean, you know, Coach Holmgren, he he liked to run the ball, you know, coach from a good balance attack.

You know, Sterling Sharpe and those guys know. Yeah, that was you know, honestly, that was it. That was the day. And, you know, obviously I had a front row seat to seeing them construct that Super Bowl team that went on. You know, they won one Super Bowl and they went to another one back to back.

So so, you know, that could have been it could have been interesting for sure. Barry Sanders here on The Rich Eisen Show. Last one for you on that. And then we'll talk about the here and now.

Again, the documentary, a must see. Bye bye, Barry on Prime Video available right here on Roku. So did did anyone try to talk you out of retiring, Barry?

I would say yes. I would say who did who did first being my dad. You know, my dad, my dad didn't think it was a great idea. He was, you know, he's definitely mad at me for a while. You know, and and being a big football fan that he was, you know, and a few a few other folks, you know, and and, you know, so, yeah, I mean, it was it was.

You know, we I know we got a few calls from some teams back then, you know, to see if they want to work out a trade, that kind of stuff. But you weren't interested. No, I wasn't.

No, I wasn't. Why? Why, man?

Why? Well, wasn't I interested in you know what? I mean, there was there was no guarantees. I think I was just at that point in my life, Rich, you know, as a as a 31 year old over the hill running back. Yeah, right.

You know, but no, but aside from being over the hill part comment. But I was at that point where I just I had I had made the decision. I felt good about it. You know, I was looking forward to, you know, looking forward to, you know, what was next. You know, and I, you know, I had great memories and and that kind of thing of what I had been in Detroit and that sort of thing. And so and so, yeah.

And so, yeah, I was just at that point in life where where I was moving on. All right. Before I let you go here, you could play for Dan Campbell, right? Right.

Oh, absolutely. What would that be like? What do you think that would have been like? Barry Sanders playing for Dan Campbell. Barry, come on. Well, I think it would have been awesome.

I think it would have been awesome, man. I mean, the way he has these guys playing and especially especially with this current offensive line, Rich. I mean, yeah, right. Yeah.

But right. But aside from that, but aside from that, you know, he he he certainly has instilled certain expectations, a certain standard that he expects from the guys. You know, we've seen things building to this point with this team. You know, you go into Green Bay last year, you know, and knock them out of the playoffs and really play like you're the team that has something to play for. You come back this season, they go into Kansas City and beat the Chiefs.

And it's just even in from there, you know, you fast forward to today. You know, they they had a great game where they could easily lost that game with the turnovers that they had and pulled it out. They just playing like a very mature, well coached, disciplined team that that really, you know, have learned to win. They're leading the division.

You know, you know, you look at Philly, maybe Phillies, the Phillies, the favorite. You look at the Cowboys, you look at the Niners, the Lions in that conversation. They are, you know, we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves, but they're in that conversation. And and the fans are thrilled that they've played up to their potential.

And there's a lot more for this team to do this season. You're not lying, Barry. I mean, you know, you know all about the Restore the Roar projects and how long it's been going. And it just feels different. You know, it just feels this one feels different. Do you know the last time the Lions had eight wins going into Thanksgiving? You know what that was?

No, I could tell you. You played 1991. That was the last time they had eight wins going into Thanksgiving.

It was also the last time the Lions won a playoff game in that season as well. That's how long it has been. And it just feels different. Barry, it just really does. And you mentioned it is different, you know, right.

Yeah, for sure. It is different. And and these you look at the way this this roster is constructed. Just how well these guys are playing.

And a lot of these guys aren't even in there. Haven't even touched their prime, you know, and it is different. And I know they have I know they have this team has expectations of their own. That's well beyond just the playoffs, you know, and you look at just how they're playing. And the fact that the fans deserve it, you know, they we feel like we've waited long enough. And and, you know, we know that this team has great potential written all over it.

And they're fulfilling that to this point in the season. You know, it's kind of funny, Barry. You know, I was mentioning in our meeting on NFL Network over the weekend that, hey, you know, if the Lions beat the Bears, they'll have eight wins going into Thanksgiving. You know, and I said the same thing, you know, when the last time that was. And Michael Irvin was interested in the answer until I told him when it was. Why do you think Michael wasn't interested in hearing about 1991, Barry?

I have I have a really good idea. Because he was part of that Dallas team. Yeah, I remember that. You know, I remember that you took him out. Yeah, you took him out. We we did.

But he went on to win, I think, three Super Bowls in the next four or five years. You have to build the character for him, Barry. You help build the character.

You know what I mean? That's what you did. When you see Mike, tell him he's very welcome, man.

I will do that. And the last one is, what did you learn about yourself or your story from this documentary? Watching it, what did you learn? Oh, wow. I think maybe how many. I think just, you know, there seems to be a lot of interest in that decision that I made all those years later. And that that, you know, people people still have that sort of interest in it. And there's intrigue about just my story in general, you know, and and, you know, so.

So I guess that would be one thing that I guess I learned. That's a very nice way of saying you broke Eminem's heart, Barry. That's another word. He seemed he definitely seemed pissed.

Definitely seemed pissed, man. You know, so. But yeah, that definitely came through. But I'm grateful that he that he, you know, Eminem and guys like Jeff Daniels, you know, and others, you know, Detroit personalities, you know, really spoke and, you know, gave their input and gave their opinions about being Lions fans in just that era. It's a great documentary. Bye bye, Barry.

Again, available right now on Prime Video, only on Prime Video, which is available right here on Roku. What a pleasure as well. Have a great Thanksgiving, Barry. Let's chat soon again. Appreciate it, Rich. Great talking to you. Talk to you soon.

All right. Got to be elusive because we got a break. We got to get in. Mike Tomlin on firing his offensive coordinator. That's next as we beat it on down the road on a Tuesday. I took it down like two points because it was raining. That's the time we started getting death threats. Yeah, I'm not surprised.

People worship that movie. Putting on airs. The podcast is on YouTube and wherever you listen. The football season is underway and Believe podcasts are talking about it. When he went home and went to sleep, Michael Parsons was terrorizing. Believe has podcasts covering all 32 professional teams and many of your favorite college teams, too. And to be only producing 15 points a game.

That's something that is definitely disheartening. Sideline to sideline. End zone to end zone.

As a quarterback, I would expect him to be acting like that. Take the accountability. Put that on yourself. Don't put it on your teammates. Search BLEAV podcasts wherever you listen.

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Lowest price guaranteed. This just in. Steelers fans have wanted Matt Canada out for a while. The offensive coordinator of the Steelers has been the subject of much scorn in western Pennsylvania from all the Steelers fans that thought he was the yinzer that was the problem.

Maybe wasn't a real true yinzer to them anyway. So bottom line is he's out. Mike Tomlin has been hanging on for dear life. It seems to keep him there. And Jerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette has been covering this team forever and a day. Said it was R. Rooney the second who decided to get out.

Mike Tomlin said, no, that's not the case. Leadership is lonely. I don't run from it. I run to it. It was mine and mine alone. There you go. I don't run from it.

I run to run to it. My man. Yeah. Well, if you think that that was a great Tomlinism, I'm told the response to the question of his expectation of the of the move being asked how he feels the development of Kenny Pickett, how crucial this move is for the final seven games of the season for the development of Kenny Pickett. Are these final seven games important, critical in the long term development of Kenny?

Man, I'm focused on this week in terms of the development of Kenny. You know, we're not urinating on the fire, man. We're getting ready to play a football game and win this week.

That is the only agenda here. What does that even mean? Urinating on the fire, which means they are they are they're all in on they're not just taking half measures. They're putting out the fire with something that's going to actually put the fire out. OK, that's my interpretation. I agree with you.

All right. Good to know, because I'm just, you know, speaking Tomlin. Well, I mean, as somebody who's 54 years of experience of urination doesn't put out a fire. Speaking for experience, like a big fire, big fire. Yeah, like a big fire.

I mean, a campfire, any fire, a campfire, maybe. I don't. I have many questions on how you how number one goes for you. I'm just saying. How long will you hold that in? I don't know.

You're hanging out with Rick Flair. 16. I don't know. That's a new bite.

That's a new drop right there. We're not urinating on the fire. Don't you? Wow. Again, that's my interpretation is that there is a fire and he has put it out by making a maneuver that is not only out of his. You know.

Sense of normal. It's that for the franchise. First in-season firing of a head coach or coordinator since nineteen forty one.

That's eighty two years. That is basically taking an airplane and dropping a whole bunch of water on the fire. Operation Dumbo Drop. You know, I mean, like I said earlier, save their season. We'll see, won't we? Against Cincinnati starting Jake Browning, who's throwing coach, joins us tomorrow. We will have Jordan Palmer on this program tomorrow and also Bruce Feldman will join me to tell me things I don't want to hear about Michigan. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks too much time is spent discussing talent's age. The younger demo is just as excited about Paul Heyman or John Cena or an undertaker or Becky Lanchard. I don't care what their birth certificate says. They're going to draw a younger demo because they're fun to watch and they're great entertainers. Eighty three weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.