REShow: Dean Blandino - Hour 3

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Learn more at Discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. He's bad. He's beautiful. He's crazy. It's Rich Eisen. The best thing about us, though, is it's about us. That is the new slogan for R.E.S.

Consulting. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Is he Comeback Player of the Year? Russ, he's 34-1 Russell Wilson. Comeback Player of the Year? Yeah.

See, people are even thinking it's possible. The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, host of Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio, actor Omar J. Dorsey. Coming up, Fox Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino, plus your phone calls, latest news and more. And now it's Rich Eisen.

Hour number three of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air, which means, you know, in case you're new here, there were two other hours before it. That's how we do. I don't know why I decided to come on the Internet. I like when you do just the best thing about us, though, is it's about us. You know, honestly, I've been thinking, what is the best thing about us?

It's about us. You know, when you think about it, just put your finger right on when you think about it. I heard that sound, but I'm like, that is and that's the new R.E.S.

Consulting. Give it to me one more time. It's too good. It's too it's just absolutely too good right here.

The best thing about us, though, is it's about us. Yeah. Yeah, man, we got Tiger Woods playing golf this week. That's right.

That's what we're doing that properly. No, I'm not great. Tiger Woods is great. He looks so good, too. Does he? I haven't seen him. Oh, he had a he spoke this morning. Oh, he did. Yeah, he looks jacked. He said he's walking so much better. This all the surgeries in the last year.

All right. He wants to play one tournament a month in twenty twenty four. Oh, boy.

Get me to April. Does he want the the the Jon Rahm deal that's supposedly on the table? You hear about that rumor? I thought the live tour was supposed to lay off the PGA Tour players. I thought that was part or this is over is over.

The agreement is falling apart. You think so? If they're if the Saudis are knocking on Jon Rahm's door and saying, how does six hundred million sound?

I got to be honest, man. Yeah, I heard that to play golf. I've read that the Fenway sports group is might be coming in to the PGA Tour instead of the Saudis now. Oh, is that right? So LeBron's going to come to the rescue with with your with John Henry, who I can't stand. And Tom Werner, potentially. I've I've heard that really.

Yeah, I'm taking six hundred. It's all I'm saying. So you know what they could do?

They could use that revenue to keep the next Mookie Betts. Oh, sorry to go get Yamamoto and Otani. You mean. Oh, there you go. Well, why not? There you go.

They're too cheap. Let me tell you where Otani's not going. Let's you know, we just talked about by the way, Dean Blandino is about to come out here.

His hair looks perfect. Yeah. By the way. Yeah. Honestly, guys, I'm just telling you, he's going to show us all up. Yeah. You know, he's going to sit down with his hair looking perfect.

Sundays, Dean comes on. No challenge. No challenge flag on that hair.

Nothing. He's doing it right. Speaking of challenge flags. Did you see the one from Matt Ebro flutes last night in the fourth quarter as the Vikings were driving? He threw a challenge flag on a Jordan Addison catch, saying it wasn't a catch.

They upheld it. But at the point in time, he threw it from his sideline all the way to the Midfield Vikings logo. At the time, it was the longest Bears attempt of the night. It was unreal.

It was the longest attempt of the night. I wondered where you were going with that. Justin Fields.

That's sad. I don't know if it's Luke Getze, the OC play caller, just concerned that Brian Flores was going to blitz him coming off the bus, which they do to everybody. And he just like was concerned about Field's ability to read the defense and trust what he's seeing and hit the hot receiver and manage the game with a crazy coordinator blitzing like crazy. And because every single pass attempt went behind the line of scrimmage, it felt like the ESPN broadcast last night at one point said the average. Completion. Of Fields's night where the receiver caught it, essentially the average distance from the line of scrimmage was point three yards.

What makes you miss this in March? Three yards. It was point three yards from the line of scrimmage. Oh, God.

And I'm like, wait a minute, it's terrible. This is the same Justin Fields that made it to the Heisman podium, right? Like it's the same Justin Fields that that that threw the entire route tree on Georgia in a playoff game, right? Didn't he beat Michigan? He is, fun fact, the last Ohio State quarterback to beat Michigan. And in case you're wondering, this is Justin Fields third year in the NFL.

Hashtag facts, but like what is going on? And I know he said he felt like a robot before, you know, in the season, and that made everybody flip out. And so that means Justin Fields is never going to give you a soundbite the rest of his life. But what the hell was that? And then at the end of the game, Brian Flores starts playing coverage. And and Fields finds D.J. Moore wide open over the middle. He ripped that pass. That was a ripped dart. Yes, he did.

Like he saw it and he ripped it. And that won the game for the Bears. Whose defense started playing lights out. I mean, Iberfluz can call a defense and I know Bears fans might be done with him. I don't know.

This is a fascinating conversation. Because, as you know, some NFL narratives. Like John McClain, Die Hard. Case in point, Chiefs offense, it's no Tyreek Hill is going to cost them in the passing game, right? They won the Super Bowl last year. That thing's dead until they go three straight games without scoring a point in the second half.

And poof, there comes the narrative again. Yeah, again, what's up with the Chiefs offense? And so the narrative is, do the Bears have. Their next franchise quarterback and Justin Fields, and it's amazing how. The only quarterback of that draft class where that's not a question is Trevor Lawrence, everything else is, you know, Zach Wilson's. Just like the guy chosen behind him, third string this weekend, except Trey Lance is on his second team now. Matt Jones, I mean, as much as Bill keeps thinking about it, he's been benched five times. It's crazy.

It's a lot of zappy time. But Justin Fields has some incredible ability. He has got an uncanny ability to stay upright. Even sometimes to his detriment, that's how he blew out his thumb for a month because he didn't know when the play ended. And he's a great runner, man.

And he's got an arm. And here we are again, here's the narrative again, because the pick the Bears got from Carolina in this coming draft may be first overall again. And then the question is, if the Bears choose first overall again, are they going to allow Ryan Polls to be the general manager to pick it? Are they going to allow Matt Eberfluss to be the coach to coach that player? And you got to make that decision like right away, like you've got to do it. Right is as soon as the season ends, because if you have any doubts about it, you can't you can't just go through the process. You can't be like the Jets and let one general manager choose the player and then bring in the new general manager after the draft.

I can't believe they friggin did that with Adam Gase still the coach. What? I got to stop. But this is happening again. Oh, stop it. That's that's way before.

That's John Isik several GMs ago. Exactly. But it's not about the Jets. It's about the Bears and what decision do they have in front of. You know, and the next few weeks are 100 percent an audition, I think you have to if you're the Bears. Absolutely.

But for for everybody. For the coach, for the quarterback, I mean, the general manager has already made his last move, by the way. Montez Sweat looks like a nice pick up. Right now, like you get them, if you will, on the cheap, because your second round draft choice in this upcoming draft ain't going to be Montez Sweat, who's had sacks in the last two games and you signed him.

He's yours. Chicago's next games. Next up, they're on a bye and they come back their home against the Detroit team. It's the Lions last outdoor game of the year. You know that. You know, we just saw the last time they played one another at Cleveland, home for Arizona, home for Atlanta, at Green Bay.

Or and if they don't, do you use that as a referendum? That field isn't the guy because Caleb Williams is the guy. I'm telling everybody, forget about all this nonsense out there. I'm telling you. All the nonsense will be out there. The is he really coming out will end in the middle of January, and I'll tell you how it's going to look. It's going to go like this. It's going to be an outstanding, beautiful. Instagram post with a with a with a with a message, and it's going to be graphically wonderful. It's going to look great. It's going to be a picture of him and it's going to be him smiling and whatever, with a heartfelt message saying farewell to college football and everybody else. All of it. You might be going to include Oklahoma in there just to piss off Zach Rosenfield publicist to the stars.

You Lincoln Riley. It's going to be all that. It's going to be wonderful. And then we're going to see him at the Super Bowl.

Maybe he'll be kind enough to come on the Rich Island show. Fantastic. He'll be at the Super Bowl representing some sports drink. Yeah.

OK, you have something. He'll be sandwich. It'll be all conversations about about him. Oh, no, I'll go wherever I'm drafted. Wink.

You'll have to answer all those questions. Then we'll see him in Indianapolis at the combine. It'll be wearing his pajamas. He ain't throwing.

No, no, no, no. Won't be there. And then all of a sudden, you know, he's going to throw there. Maybe Drake may throws, maybe Pentax throws, bone, Pentax and Knicks and all of them. We're going to see him talk about how deep this quarterback draft class is.

And then all of a sudden, it'll be like, look how these guys throw. And wait a minute, did Caleb Williams cry on his mama's shoulder? No.

Wait a minute. Did he did he did he say he's just going to go home and Netflix and roll up with his dog? And didn't he?

What happened at the end of USC, UCLA and even talk to the media? What's wrong with this kid? And then he's going to throw at this car. He's going to throw this protein. He's going to light it the F up and he's going to be first overall.

That is the way it's going to go. He's going to say it next time. I won't. I'm telling you. I've been around this block.

Yeah, you have. So the Bears are going to have this choice because the only thing that could prevent the Bears from having this choice about Caleb Williams. Is if the Patriots actually get the first overall pick in this draft ever.

Brockman can't just can't control himself. This was me, Chris. You are me through the first 12 weeks of the 2020 season thinking that Trevor Lawrence is coming to the Jets. We're so close. And then again, as I said at the end of last hour, the Jets for some reason won two games in a row.

We're so close. How did those work? How did those work?

Those banners anywhere in New Jersey? Florham Parker, did they have anything in that moment that Frank Gore creased the end zone against the Rams? Creased the end zone. Any of those moments? Any of the Greg with 3G Williams, you know, defensive game plans and laminate hung on a wall about beating the Browns in that day.

Oh, remember that day? Oh, so great for the Jets organization. Great win. It was a good win. Caleb Williams is on the line. What do you do if you're the Bears?

It is on. And every game's a referendum. And we saw last night. They came up with the W and that win, by the way, just the the Chicago Bears over the span of an eight day period might have the ultimate say or might have had the ultimate say. And who wins the NFC North? Because they folded, if you will, against the Lions and stayed strong and didn't fold against the Vikings. And that may be the difference. One other thing before we'll take a break here, there was a moment in this game where I believe what it was, Addison went on a 17 yard game, which, by the way, in a game like last night was like Javon Hollins, 99 yard pick six and a Hail Mary.

OK. Yeah. And no, it's not a 17 yard game. It's a four yard game because his knee was down.

And did the Bears challenge it? Nope. Replay assists buzzed in. Huh. So they're watching and they're buzzing in to fix stuff like that.

It does work. But a million other things that they could fix. They're not allowed to. And other things that you think they should fix.

They don't. One of the many mind boggling, frustrating aspects about officiating. So we're going to hold Dean Blandino fully responsible, but at least his hair is perfect. The former head of NFL refs, Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino is here.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, back here on Roku, our radio audience rejoins in a matter of moments. Good to see you, Dean Blandino, how are you, sir? I'm doing well, how are you?

I'm great. I think we might have first met at an owner's meeting when you got the gig, right? I think so.

When you took over for Pereira as the head of NFL refs. 2013. Yeah.

Big shoes to fill. Yeah. He actually gave them to me.

He gave me a pair of shoes. Yeah. Well, I mean.

You have to fill these. Yeah, I mean, at least you were in the office when coaches called. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Wow. No, Mike's taking strays here. He's probably at home convalescing anyway.

Mike knows I love him. But no, that we got word when he started doing the NFL Network segments, the official review segments, that he couldn't do it on certain. Like he couldn't. We used to do it right away.

Yeah. And he wasn't in the office because we were doing the segment together. And it was a day when coaches are really calling. Needless to say that that thing got pushed to like Thursday of like it got pushed way out in the week. One time he wasn't feeling well. And they asked if I would do it. And I said, yeah, that's fine. I had never done official review.

Yeah, on total access. And you've never seen a more miraculous recovery. It's like Osweiler thinking he's getting in the game and comes running out. Here's my moment. I have my helmet.

I'm ready to go. And here comes Mike. That was Reed.

He's just take your head second, throw it down like Osweiler. And there goes. Yeah, there goes Mike out to the studio.

That is funny. Mike, if you're out there, we're sending our besties coming off of back surgery, right? He's coming back surgery. So he's doing he's doing well. Okay, great. Fantastic. So Dean Blandino is here. Our radio audience is about to rejoin. And then we're going to get right into this thing.

It's gonna be fun. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by Fox rules analyst and former head of NFL refs Dean Blandino back here on the show. It is good to see you. I'm throwing you right in the line of fire.

Let's go. Roman Wilson touchdown for Michigan. What do you got for me? Because Ohio State fans are like, Oh, we should have won by one point because that's seven points. That guy over there thinks that the ball was moving.

What do you got for me? It was it was definitely moving. I think the issue was control, right? To me, whatever they called on the field had to stand.

It wasn't clear and obvious to change it. You've got the end zone involved. So Wilson looked like he had it once he once he has it long enough, and we're in the end zone, it can't be a fumble at that point, right? It's either a touchdown, or if he doesn't have it, it could have been an interception.

I thought whatever they ruled on the field, they had to stay. It was just one of those plays where it's that close. And there's there's subjectivity to it. Does he have control? Is it firm control?

How long does he have it? It was one of those plays. Okay, so there was nothing clear and obvious to overturn it.

Ask anybody from Scarlet and Gray, and they'll say there was absolutely something. If that play happens at midfield, that's an interception, right? And that's a great point because because I think if it happens at midfield, not that the rule is different, I think the officials lean interception. I think they say survival of the fittest, and they go interception, and now we're stuck with, again, ruling on the field's interception.

It's not clear or not. What's the difference, though? Why does it have to be like that in the end zone? The difference is in the end zone, once he has possession, and knees down, it's over. Like that right there, like that right there, and he does have possession of it.

Who has possession there? You could see if, take a look back at the play. That picture, you can't tell me who has the ball for sure. No, no, no, take a look back at the play. He's got two hands on it, and his knee is down, and that's when the Ohio State guy tries to rip it out.

He pulled it out late. And so if it's on the 50-yard line. Officials ruled possession in the end zone, it's over at that point. In the field of play, the rule isn't different. I just think the officials probably might, they might have let it play out a little longer, right, because now you don't have the end zone involved. But again, neither here nor there, it was too close to change. And now eight years ago, was that a proper spot?

No, I'm just kidding. All right, let's move to the NFL right now, because I think the NFL has an officiating problem. From the point of view of the fan, the fans believe that officiating has never been worse in the National Football League.

And that's how I start this conversation. Would you agree with that assessment, Dean Blandino? I don't know if it's if it's never been worse. I've heard this before.

I've been involved in NFL officiating since 95. And we've heard this before. It's worse than it's ever been.

It's terrible. It's this, it's that I think the scrutiny is greater. I think the technology, I think the access that we have, the angles that the technology, the 4k of it all to all of it. And I think there's a disconnect between when you watch when you watch a play at full speed on the field from one perspective, and then then you take that play. And now we're going to analyze it from four different angles and super slow motion.

There's a disconnect, right? The officials only get that one look. I do feel like we are getting we're getting worse on the field because we're relying too much on replay and we're relying too much on technology to help us. And I think we're getting away from really the on field officials and getting them to a point where we don't have to go to replay. We can get it right initially.

Really? So what what the point of that is is what that the officials are not focused as they don't need to be as focused in the moment because they know there's a backstop focus. But I think they're relying too much on replay. They have their wireless communication, they have somebody in their ear. They're not being as decisive. And they're wanting help from upstairs or getting help from upstairs.

And they're not I think I've said this before and I look at it this way, right? Think of the newer cars today. The newer cars today have all the bells and whistles, right? You back up, it beeps, you got the rear view mirror, you got the camera, all that stuff.

Drive a car from 1995, try to pull out of your driveway. Like it's it's become we're worse drivers today because we have all this technology helping us. And that's what I think is happening with the officials to some extent is we're relying so much. How many plays have you seen where it's a clear and complete pass, but they don't make a decision and they let it go, right? They let and then we come back and we have to put it back and reset the clock. So I think we're relying a little bit too much on replay. I think replay is great. I think we need to add it in some instances, but I think we we need to work on the officials and getting them back to base before we get to that. But what about plays that are have nothing to do with replay? For instance, how is Josh Allen not being taken down by the back of his jersey and the front of his jersey that is ripped as the son of Ed is staring right at it, man? I mean, and and that's so damaging when they're like, he's looking right at it. And those types of plays, you know, Justin Herbert getting hit just as he's going out of bounds or just as he's gone out of bounds.

No flag there, but let's flag the offensive lineman that's clearly inflamed by the moment. Like, let's, let's not, let's, let's not just let it all play out. Let's, let's just be a robot about it. You know, that sort of stuff. And the conversation I hear out of that is that if there were more year round reps and conversations, if these folks were full time employees, instead of letting them be moonlighters, then that stuff would be cleaned up.

How do you answer that? The idea of full time officials, it's a term we like to throw around. I think they are as full time as anyone can be in season, right?

I think they are just, they watch a ton of film, they work hours upon hours upon hours. Like what? Give me give me give people an idea. Okay, so you're going to work your game, right? You get in the day before you're going to go through an entire pregame the day before on Saturday, four or five hours, then you're going to work the game. Like, what's the pregame though? Like, you know, the players, you're going through, you're going through and that's the preparation during the week. They are scouting the two teams.

If we've got the Eagles and 49ers playing on Sunday. Yes, sir. Okay, that crew is going to look at the last couple of weeks, they're going to look at if those two teams, they'll go back to the playoff game, they'll look at all of those things, look for trends, just like the teams are scouting. Spend time looking at film?

Spend time looking at film, looking at tendencies. As a group or individually? Individually during the week because they all live in different places. Yes, sir.

And that, and I think there's, can we get together now with Zoom, the virtual world, we can do that. They have conference calls, they'll go through and then on Saturday they'll go through, okay, we're going to go through, right? The Eagles, obviously, short yardage, this is this is the brotherly shove, here's how we're going to officiate, here's what they do, all of these different things. So that's what goes into a week of preparation. They get the evaluation of their previous game from the league office. They're going through that, mistakes they made, things they need to work on, mechanics, positioning, communication, all of that.

So they're spending, you know, 30, 40 hours a week looking at that stuff. And it used to be you had a full-time job and you officiated. Now, when you get to this level at the NFL, you're a full-time official and you have a job on the side, or you don't even have a job on the side. I think where they could get better in the off season, getting officials together more, getting them to OTAs, they go to training camps now, anytime you can spend more, you know, more time at your craft, you're going to be better.

You're absolutely going to be better. So I think, I think that there's an opportunity there, whether we call them full-time or not, I don't know if the term means anything. What about getting, you know, having them call some of these spring games for other leagues? Absolutely. And we've had those conversations.

We've had those conversations. What's the holdup? Money? Is it money? I don't think there is. I think you, and that's always been, you know, the NFL has more money than they know what to do with, right?

So they have to put the resources in. I think spring football is an opportunity. We used to have NFL Europe where officials would go. So I think the new spring football league, right? The XFL, the USFL is, is merging. I'll be a part of that. I think there's an opportunity there to have, you know, first or second year NFL officials work in that league, or maybe it's an official you're thinking about becoming a referee.

I think there's an opportunity there. So how, Dean Blandino, former head of NFL refs, Fox rules analyst here on the Rich Eisen show. So how, how do these guys get, and ladies get better? How, how do they get better? Because there's a, and I, and I understand it's, it's, it's fast. I've stood on the sideline myself and for them to see stuff as it's going that fast with people that big becoming even bigger because there's pads and helmets on, it is remarkable how much they get right. But the stuff that's getting wrong seems to be coming home to roost a heck of a lot more in recent years. So what, what, what happens?

Like what goes down? It's reps. It's, it's actual reps on the field. It's video. It's, and holding the officials.

A lot of people don't know. The officials are held accountable, right? They are, they are evaluated on every game. They're evaluated on all the calls they make.

They should have made the positioning, the mechanics, all of it, their rules knowledge. They have to take exams and pass those exams. And that evaluation, right, that accumulates throughout the season. And if you don't grade out, right, you're in a, you're in a, they have a tier system. And if you're in a lower tier, you're not getting a postseason assignment.

Then you're kind of going into a remedial training. And then if you don't get up into that acceptable range, they let you go. So, so it's just not right. We hear when a coach gets fired, we hear when a player gets cut. We don't hear about those things when officials get let go. But they do get let go. They are held accountable.

And I just don't know what, what is the expectation? Because I've had, I've had, you know, Bill Belichick told me the same thing that Jim Caldwell told me in two separate conversations. They both said, there are three groups that affect games, coaches, players, and officials. And he said, coaches make the most mistakes, then players, then officials. They make the fewest mistakes. But officials are expected to be perfect, right? They're the only group that's expected to be perfect. And I just don't know if they're 95% accurate. We're never going to get to a hundred.

So what is the acceptable? And I'm not, believe me, I'm not defending. I get more frustrated when I watch, you know, the, the Justin Herbert play or watch the Josh Allen play. And sometimes that's just, they missed it. Sometimes we need better people. We need better training. All of that goes into it. Well, two things. When you say that officials are the only out of groups of players and coaches who are expected to be perfect. I think Dak Prescott would like a word number two. I thought you were going to say the broadcast.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I wasn't going to me, but no, no, the rules analysts are perfect group that we actually meet. But secondly, in order to help, and I know you made a point earlier that you think technology is causing a little bit of a hitch and a giddy up a second guess, not being as crisp on a call as possible, but I mean, how, how could you not need it when things happen?

So bang, bang, how could you not open it up to absolutely everything because we're it's the technology is already there. And it's confusing to fans as to when it is used. Perfect example on Monday night football, Jordan Addison, 17 yard game.

Nope. It's really a four yard game. Why replay assist has buzzed in four yard gain because his knee was down.

Great. Why not use that as to whether a player's helmet did actually collide with a head and neck area? Why not actually use it to see if that really is roughing the passer? Why don't use it to really see if the player that is clearly being hit in my mind as he's going out of bounds was in fact, out of bounds like Justin Herbert on Sunday night football. I don't for the life of me understand it.

And I would like to know what is happening. And look, I've been involved in the NFL. I was there when we brought replay back in 99. And I've seen the evolution. But I agree. I think there's an opportunity. We did it in spring football in the XFL last year, we gave the coaches one challenge. And you could challenge anything, anything, anything. And I remember being in meetings with Wade Phillips and Reggie Barlow and Hines Ward.

And they were peppering me with questions. You know, can we challenge this? And I'm like, guys, my answer is going to be yes to what at any officiating decision you can challenge once. And we did it and they challenged 43 times we changed on the entirety of the entire season.

Not a game. 43 times we overturned 11. So we corrected what we felt were 11 obvious mistakes that impacted the outcome of games.

And I think there's an opportunity for that, right? I don't think we need to get into every little second on the clock or every yard, you know, to 28 versus 29. But when you do have big 15 yard game changing penalties, let's give use the technology, let the officials officiate the play, not be thinking about replay. But then, hey, coach, you think the official made a mistake?

You think it's a horse collar? Use your challenge. So, but what about the pushback whenever I say this to somebody in the league or competition committee or ownership is, well, what about when there's no penalty called?

Because then the game now becomes a million years long. We said you could challenge if the flag wasn't thrown. But what I'm saying is that even if the flag wasn't, so you're saying you put it in the hands of the coach to challenge?

Yes. And not, because right now you're stopping play, you're correcting mistakes to save the coach from a challenge. That system is in place again. And I don't know when it's used because I'd rather the league use it instead of turning a 17 yard gain into a four yard gain.

I'd rather say use it when the spot of the ball is so way off that cost the Rams a game but the coach was out of a challenge. You hit the nail on the head. That's what I was talking about earlier with the technology.

We're correcting things that aren't as impactful and we're not correcting the major ones, right? And I think that's what we have to get to. And I think the idea of a sky judge, the concept is good, but they're just, you have to limit it, right? You can't just say, we can't just re officiate every play and look at it. Well, maybe there was a hands to the face on that play. Maybe there was, I got to look at all 22 players.

You're just, you're never going to be able to do that. So how do we limit it and get, and that's why we came up with the coaches challenge to say, Hey, you've, you've got one opportunity break in case of emergency, break glass in case of emergency. And you know, and I think going forward, we'll say, Hey, if you win one, you get a second one. And those types of things where you can keep it limited, but correct an obvious mistake that is truly going to have an impact on the outcome. I would say any flag that's thrown for 15 yards should be sky judged. Yeah.

Not ones that haven't been called. Yeah. I don't disagree with that. That's where a coach can come in and use my challenge. You missed it.

I'll use my challenge there. And maybe, you know, because there's so many of these, they get it right. They get another, I don't know, or one and a half or any player safety foul. That's the flag is thrown that going through kind of an all clear process for yep. It's a flag or no, pick it up.

Right. I think that works because you already have a stop clock, right? And officials are already huddling. So even if the decision isn't made out of the huddle, it still looks as if the officials on the field have made the decision. And I kind of dig that idea because I'm watching every roughing the passer replay through my fingers.

Like I'm watching a horror movie. I'm like, how is this one going to piss me off over the place with roughing the passer and the problem. And we've gotten away from this idea of body weight drives me nuts because when I started, you had to actually do something.

You had to lift and drive or lift and slam, do something extra. And now we're just saying, if you just tackle the quarterback and you don't get your body off to the side, it's 15 yards. And that to me is mind boggling. It's mind boggling.

I have a question. Dean, do you think there's more scrutiny on officiating now last year because of the prevalence of gambling? No doubt.

No, no doubt. The people that look, I get it. And with sports gambling, and that's a part of, you know, now it's legal in however many states it is, there's no doubt that that has increased the scrutiny on officials. And I think the NFL has to take that seriously.

They really do. Because if you're even and especially if they want a piece of the pie, you're going to have to put in controls to say that our games, like think about the NFC Championship game in 2018, right? That where that egregious missed call is the past interference, right? The you can make a case that the that the wrong team went to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, I know. There's a lot of other things that happened during the game. But there's no doubt gambling has a big, big impact on how people view officiating.

And it's not going to get it's not going to decrease. Yeah, we're seeing commercials. Do this prop, it's player, this XYZ versus score touchdown, all of that stuff. And you're seeing calls against maybe not missed. But I also have to push back here and say, look at that and go, what is going on?

No, I get it. But officials are completely clueless when it comes to that. No, yeah, officials are completely no idea. They have no idea.

And that's where I know that people would say that that's naive or whatever. But look, I've never the officials have no they honestly and sometimes look, sometimes they just miss it, right? They just screw up like we all screw up at times. There's nothing nefarious.

There's nothing sinister. It's and they don't think about they don't know point spreads. And they don't know any of that the the amount the vetting process that goes into being an NFL official is insane. And it's a process that continues when you're in the officiating department and you're part of the staff, and you get your banks, you know, your bank accounts checked in your and your your associations checked and all of that. And the NFL has third parties that look at the gambling lines and how calls affect those IP addresses and everything is it is yes, because the what the NFL does not want.

And one of the things that kept me up at night was a was a, you know, quite frankly, a Tim Donahue situation, right? That's or don't want that. And so they are they are kept, you know, so far away from that part of it. And they just, they're just people out there doing a job that's really difficult, and they want to get it right. And sometimes they screw up. And but scrutiny has never been greater. And then just a personal question for you, because when you're on the spot, you know, you get a call, hey, get on the air, okay, you're talking in front of 3540 million people.

And this is a wild moment. And you know, if you're saying they blew it, you're calling out people you used to be the boss of or your friends of because sometimes I see some of the officials who do your job, former officials who do your job, and it's just like, are you not seeing what the rest of humanity is seeing? How could you sit here and defend that? And I'm wondering if just like, it's so tough to criticize your your powers, you know, I mean, my approach always is I try to explain the rule, I try to explain what the officials or what replays looking at, and then give my opinion. If I disagree with a call, I will I will articulate that I think there's a way to do it without being disrespectful.

You know, I think there's a way to do it without really throwing people under the bus. But, you know, and and I'm sure there have been times when I've gone on and I've been on the fence a little bit, and you're just trying to get your thoughts together. But my approach is always if I disagree with the call, and I think it's wrong, I'm gonna say that I just, I just, I'm mindful of saying in a way where it's not, you know, adding fuel to the fire, hey, it's a tough call. I disagree with the call, here's what they were looking at, and then and then go from there.

And then just lastly, making the changes that are required that we're talking about SkyJudge and things like that. It's, and I've been around, obviously, the NFL since 2003, with the NFL Network's advent in our 21st year, and I just see it's it's like turning around a tanker ship. Like it's gotta, it's gotta start in year one, and by like year 10, they'll understand the tuck rule was dumb to begin with, okay, and and the catch rule and things of that nature. So is there just a sense of like such an old school ownership, and I'm not just, I'm not calling anybody out, there's just there's a lot of owners who have been in the game for a while, or have had, you know, things handed down, and then there's new owners who are coming in who might take a different look at it. Is there, what's, what's the politics of making a change based on all this? At first, there has to be an acknowledgement that there's an issue and the NFL, as long as I've been involved in the NFL, there has been and not again, not calling anybody out, but there has been this sentiment of people are always going to complain about officiating, right there, this, this isn't any different.

But I think, because I'm closer to it, and you guys are closer to it, and you watch it, I think what we're seeing is we are seeing some things where we're not as good as we were. And that, acknowledge that and say, okay, what can we do to fix it? Can we get the right people? Can we get the right processes in place? Work with the competition committee?

Look at replay. How are we going to expand this rule? What do we need? But I think it starts with recognizing that we have an issue. And I don't know if all of the decision makers at the league office really feel like there's an issue. And the same thing with coaches and whoever's on the competition committee. Because again, I've always said, I got to have a spot on there. Because the meetings would we'd have to, we'd have to plan longer meetings. Oh, by the way, I also have to say in the catering, the catering, please.

Yes. But in all seriousness, and I'm just throwing my name out there for various reasons. One is because of the name of the show. And I'm, you know, there's an I in Rich N. Heisen, but I think there should be somebody on that staff who talks to them about what the fans are thinking and saying, because you could sit here and say as much as you want. People are always going to complain about officiating. But there is a perception. And the perception itself is a problem. And I know ratings are through the roof.

Thanksgiving, Lions, Packers through the roof, the Monday nighter between the Chiefs and the Eagles through the roof. It's great. But still, there is a perception problem that needs to be addressed. I think it comes to this part of the game. Absolutely does. But if that perception problem doesn't affect the bottom line, I'm not that's where you get that kind of that glacial progress.

Like you don't, there's no sense of urgency. Because like you said, it's a runaway train the NFL and and it's because the game is so good, right? It's just amazing. And the league has done a tremendous job in marketing. And we have tremendous people and tremendous players and personalities. Right.

And I don't think officiating, I think some people just feel like, yeah, it's, it's always going to be that way. Dean, thanks for coming on. I'd love to do this more often.

Yeah, absolutely. This is great. Love seeing you on there. Certainly when you say Michigan touchdowns should stand as called. I think it's a great part of your job. That's where we started. It's great. It's called Full Circle.

Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino here. Just verify one thing. Yes. Does they catch it though?

Right? It depends on what rule. Under today's rule? Yes.

Under the rule back then? No. Correct. That's it.

That's it. Facts. Facts. Still upset. Sorry, pal. No matter what you say. By the way, unfortunately, Chris Weber still called timeout too. Happens every single time. Thanks for coming on. This is Dean Blandino here on the Rich Eisen Show sending him back to Fox to rule. With SOTIC-2 for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, you could show off your skin again.

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Hi, I'm Kelsey Grammer. Wounded Warrior Project supports injured veterans by connecting them with fellow warriors, by serving them through mental health and wellness programs, and by empowering them to live on their own terms. No one should face a battle alone.

Join us at woundedwarriorproject.org. The football season is underway and Believe podcasts are talking about it. When he went home and went to sleep, Michael Parson is terrorizing him.

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 them 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. So I played 11 years. They've been to the Super Bowl nine times and I didn't get their warrants.

Think about that. And I was one pick away from being drafted by the Patriots. What happened? The Chargers drafted me. I know that's what happened.

They didn't come up and come get you. So I went on a visit to the Patriots and that's when Charlie Weiss was office coordinator. And I go to Boston and I really like to visit.

I love Charlie Weiss. Did you meet with Bill? I did meet with Bill.

We sat in his office right above the stadium, right there where you're looking out at the stadium. We really just sat there. We really didn't talk about much. We just looked at each other.

What do you mean? You just looked at each other. We just kind of stared in each other's eyes, you know, I guess.

So you're saying it was awkward? I mean, I just, you know, you know how Bill is. He just, there's only a few things he probably wants to know about you. And I guess he was trying to get a sense of, you know, was I passionate about football as most coaches do. You invest a first round pick on a guy.

You want to make sure they're passionate. Do you think they would have chosen you if you were available? Well, they said they were going to choose me. Charlie Weiss promised me if I was there at six, because they needed a running back.

They needed a running back bad that year. And so, yeah, when the Chargers drafted me, I think they took Richard Seymour. Have you ever brought up to Brady when you've seen him?

No, never brought it up. You could have been Robin, his Batman. I always thought about, you know, what would that be like? With all due respect to Antwaun Smith. All due respect to Antwaun Smith.

It would have been a little different. No way. Yeah.

I'm kind of getting freaked out. Our full archive. People like Danian in there. YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show.

All right. Mike Del Tufo. I feel like we're back on Shark Tank. You ever, you're pitching an idea to help officiate? Is that what you're saying? Yes. And you have forwarded this to the highest highest people.

I said it. They should have like an America's basically like American Idol does where you get to vote. You get 10 people. It could be five people, whatever.

It's got to be where you don't you don't have a. An odd number is what you're saying. What are you voting on? You're voting on if there's a penalty, you just feel like America's choice. Now, they don't have to overrule it, but just see what people like you said the fan. You were saying it.

The fan sees like we all see something. So you're saying and that's what that's what would count? No, in the game.

Not at all. OK, no, I want to take it one step further, I think. So you're saying hold on a second before we go. So you're saying that, oh, just put up on the screen.

Is that holding or not? And you have like a snap pole, like American Idol. What does that do? Like what does that do? We just, you know, it's just interactive. It's interactive. If I wanted to know what everybody thought, I'd go to that Hellscape X to help me. That pretty much happens.

No, I think you test TJ, you brought this up, test things out in the spring. So USFL XFL and it actually stands is called by America, a jury of 13. OK. Yeah.

And there's like a new challenge. Someone just actually probably more. We already have a problem in our country.

Not to get too deep here, but we already have a problem in our country of people who aren't expert at things being placed in positions where they are in charge. You never make a decision. It's like our caller said, I'm you know, I'm in football. Bryson Howell, Michigan. Let's take this call. What's up, Bryce?

Hey there, Rich. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. How are you?

I'm I'm honestly doing great, man. I was at the Michigan Ohio State game on Saturday. Wanted to give you my thoughts on that. And so one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is I'm not sure if they showed it on TV, but when Zach Zinter went down, the entire crowd started chanting, let's go, Zach, that actually got the team to get up and come to the center of the field. And when they picked off that ball in the fourth quarter, Rich, I have never seen the big house explode like that. I've been to 30 plus Michigan games throughout my life.

And oh, my gosh, it was it was a memory I'm going to have for the rest of my life. It meant something different, Bryce. This game meant something completely different, because, again, it was it was the last one where winner moves on and loser has the most likelihood of going home.

It's from from now on, it'll be for seeding or for or for a home field. And the only bigger and thanks to the call, Bryce, the only bigger Michigan Ohio State game, certainly with everything with the Connor Stallion stuff on the line in Ohio State, ready to pounce and saying in any Ohio State Buckeye fan that denies this is out of their minds. Ryan Day absolutely was poised to go to the podium and be one million percent smug about, well, now you know why we lost the last two years. Now you know why I've had trouble beating this team. It's not because of what happened on the field.

It's because of what was going on with Connor Stallion's legion of cell phone users. They were absolutely ready to do that and throw everything that Michigan had been building and had been doing to Ohio State for the last two years totally under the bus. They were ready to do it and put it all together. The only bigger Michigan Ohio State game that will ever be ever again is if they meet in the playoffs, which is, by the way, I think entirely possible. I mean, yeah, and I would bet like when, because it will happen probably next year, Michigan and Ohio State make the playoffs together. I bet you the powers that be will place them in opposite ends of the bracket.

So if they meet, it's for the motherload, for the entirety of it, which will dwarf this past Saturday's game. But in the meantime, we'll just take it, sit back, and reminisce about what used to be. And what used to be was Michigan and Ohio State would play each other and the winner would move on and loser would go home. And what used to be was Ohio State bitching and moaning about Connor Stallion's scheme, ticket buying scheme.

And that was exactly what was going on and the reason why Michigan was actually flipping the script on him. And let's be part of the chorus to get Jim Harbaugh suspended only to lose to his interim. And that's what we'll have. That's where we'll be until the next time.

You know, there's nothing more I need to know. I was texting with Ben Lyons after the game. Maybe I'm too much in the memorabilia now.

Rod Moore, when he intercepted that ball, he dropped it. You know how much he could have sold that ball through? Somebody would have paid huge money for that.

That's neither here nor there. I'd rather bask in what I was talking about. For decades, Rolling Stone has set the bar for entertainment publications. Today, Rolling Stone music now takes over in podcast form. We have Michael Azerrad, who was Nirvana's very first biographer. I'm not sure how many people realize how many of the best songs on In Utero were written way beforehand. To be fair to Kurt, he was also a new father. There was a lot of stuff distracting him. It wasn't just, you know, how many of the best songs on In Utero were it wasn't just drugs, although that was certainly a major factor. Rolling Stone music now, wherever you listen.