What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: 15 with Kevin Harlan

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Limitations apply. First and ten, Eagle 45. Hurts winds up long arching spiral near sideline. Broken up, may have been intercepted. Out of bounds, there's a picked off it was. Love is picked off the ball. Seattle is intercepted. Hurts at the 21. Six seconds left.

Hurts has been picked off for a second time and Love has his second interception tonight. That was the incredible voice of Kevin Harlan. Westwood One's Kevin Harlan. He will join us soon on What the Football, which is brought to you by Game Time. The fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater events near you. Game Time's got killer last minute deals, all in prices.

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Use GameTime.co. And I'm just so thrilled to be able to have Kevin Harlan join us on this week's edition of What the Football. This is his, Amy, 34th consecutive season calling NFL games. His 31st for NBA. His schedule is insane and I'm so happy that this happened ahead of time. This wasn't even a last minute ask. And then he has this incredible call last night.

Obviously, we record this on a Tuesday for that 20 to 17 victory in Seattle. And what's amazing, Suzy, is given all the years he's been doing this, which you just noted, and how many games he does in any given week, how real and sincere his passion is for the games. There's absolutely nothing protectional. When I listen to him, I get every bit of information I want about a particular play and his passion is palpable.

Nothing protectional about it. And I can't wait to ask him how he does this week after week. Call after call. How he still remains excited after this many years. And it strikes me that the answer is because he loves what he does.

Has to. Speaking of a guy who loves what he does, let's talk about Pete Carroll, the oldest coach in the NFL. And don't tell that to Pete because he's like Benjamin Button. And I have to tell you that it was thrilling for me to watch the game last night from a totally personal and selfish perspective. I got to get to know Pete in New England when he was there for that ill-fated, short jaunt in New England. But when he was the head coach of the USC Trojans, I covered the Trojans for those three years that before he left and before things then shifted after the Reggie Bush years and the Carson Palmers and the Matt Liner years. And watching him just absolutely gallop all over the sidelines last night in victory and then come to do the pregame, sorry, postgame conference with his hat back on, it was thrilling to watch. Let's listen to Pete Carroll after the game. What a beautiful night for a Monday night football game and some beautiful football by a bunch of guys. I would love the way we ran the ball in the third quarter.

It changed the game. Drew played a fantastic football game for us and did a beautiful job. The throwing catch to Jackson, I haven't seen the good looks of it yet, but I do know from what everybody's comments were, that's the guy that's going to make that play. He's going to make that catch.

He's just that good. And for him to have that opportunity, for Drew to put the ball on him, for Shane to call it, guys protect all of that. There's so many gorgeous things that happened there football-wise. Julian Love's game, you tag it onto what he did last week and then this week, incredible game, incredible plays. The last catch is exquisite on the sidelines. Toes tapping, hanging on to the football in the game, a walk-off interception all, but just fantastic stuff.

I mean the adjectives. He sounds like Paul Hollywood talking about pastry weeks, but what do you think, Amy? Well, I thought your segue from Kevin Harlan to Pete Carroll was terrific in many ways. Each of these men have a passion for what they do and it's palpable. And I love watching Pete on the sideline. Look, I had no interest in which of those teams won.

No rooting interest, I should say. It was a terrific game to watch and there was so much I liked about it. I loved watching Geno Smith's sincere excitement when Drew Locke threw that touchdown. That's a teammate being a teammate and seeing Pete on the sideline, that is just raw, true emotion and I loved it. And you know, one thing I love about Pete is, and this is something that I watched week in and week out when I was covering USC, he's out there running laps with the team before they have practice.

He's out there throwing spirals. He's constantly a part of the team. And if you think about it, Bill Belichick say you're younger than Pete Carroll.

You'd never know that, right? And looking at the two guys. And I think it's Pete's infectious laughter and it's the way he, his excitement, the way he gets into these games, the way he keeps himself in such great shape that makes him more relatable for a lot of his players.

Well, I've shared this innumerable times, but the best advice I ever received in my life was from my mom who said, to thine own self be true. And I believe that's what we see when we see Pete Carroll on the sideline. That's who he is. He's not acting that way.

That's not pretextual. That's who he is. And I love watching it. Drew Locke, very emotional after the game last night. I thought that was incredible to watch this 27 year old have his moment to shine.

Lisa Salters, I'll give her a shout out right there. That was an excellent post-game interview. She let him speak. She saw the emotion and he had a really heartfelt response and was really seen last night. I was really psyched for him. Jalen Hurts on the other hand, you could tell how under the weather he was. He took his own plane to get to Seattle. I think that says a lot in the post COVID era where he wants his own plane to keep from having something infectious spread to the other guys.

But we heard him after the game and we heard a lot of disappointment in his voice. Let's roll it. What do you mean by that about being committed? Commitment. I don't know that I have a dictionary on me now.

Excuse me. I don't know how else to say that we got to pick ourselves out of this. I ain't really too fond of the you practice the same app, but you're getting the same results. We have to make an internal change in how we attack things, how we come to work every day. It starts with the little things, how committed we are to doing what we're doing.

And it all starts with me, the quarterback. He mentioned internal change. And while I don't believe this is what he was referencing, the fact is they did just make an internal change. They changed defensive coordinators. And yes, there were areas of the game where they looked better, but on that final drive by the Seahawks, they made an internal change and the change didn't prevent Seattle from scoring. Now, by the way, I thought that was an absurd play call from Philadelphia at the end of the game. And I don't know whether it was called or it was an audible or he went with what he saw, but they needed to tie that game. And that was a high risk play and the risk did not pay off.

Yeah. I wonder how different it was. Matt, Patricia, obviously taking over and making those calls. And I wonder how difficult it was for the guys in one week to hear a new voice in their helmets.

I don't know that the new voice would have hurt. I'd be interested in what was different substantively because clearly on that final drive, they didn't get the job done defensive. I'm not sorry, not on their final drive. They didn't get the job done defensively a few times. Is that Matt, Patricia? Is that the players? Was it bad defensive signal calling?

Was it simply bad execution? I don't know the answer to that, but it resonated with me when he said we need to make an internal change. Well, you just did. The Eagles, of course, strapping to 10 and four, their third straight loss. And they're in a virtual tie with the Cowboys now for the NFC East. They've got the easiest remaining closing schedule in the NFL. I wonder how that will work out for them. Two games. So they've got Giants Cardinals.

We'll see what happens for them as they close out and see how this affects the playoff run. But now Seattle is amongst the scrum at seven and seven. So this plays right into your conversation.

We have all the time about parody. And by the way, excellent use of scrum. I like that. That's a good word.

It sure does. And look, we know there've been teams that have been eliminated from playoff contentions. It's week 15.

We're heading into week 16. Of course, there have been teams that have been eliminated, but not a lot. And there is a backlog of teams all vying for those wildcard spots. And that's exactly what the league wants.

And that's exactly the way the league is designed. Let's go back to Jalen Hurts for a moment because he just looked absolutely awful. He just looked sick. And you have to wonder, it's very easy to go back and say, if only he'd been healthy, but he talked about commitments. He talked about players that are not committed. So what's the message he's sending there, Amy?

It's pretty clear, it seems, but I'm curious about your take. You raise an interesting point about how much of what we saw was related to the fact that he has been ill, that he was playing under the weather. He just really gave it his all on the field. So how much of it was him speaking from just a physical exhaustion and how much of it was, we just got to change this.

We are not doing things right. How much of it was emotional versus physical? And it was probably both, but he's been making comments of this nature for quite a while now, as you just noted, Susie, they've lost three in a row and he feels that more needs to be changed.

And I did like that he added, it starts with me. You had some interesting comments about the implications from a business perspective when it came time to teams and not making the playoffs. When you are eliminated, you walk back in that office the next day and it is just dismal.

Everyone's head is hanging. It's really miserable. And by the way, as a team, you don't want to hire anyone. You don't want to employ anyone who's not going to be miserable if you've been eliminated. So I'm not suggesting it's wrong to be miserable.

You should be miserable. But the fact is all of the business ops people still have jobs to do and their jobs just got harder. Fans are going to be angry. Your customer service lines are going to be going nuts. Sponsorship department is going to be having to talk to the sponsors about what do we do to keep people engaged over the remaining games given that we've been eliminated. Advertising, social media, media. Every single business department is going to have harder work now.

It's the same work. It's harder to effectuate. And by the way, some teams begin season ticket renewals during the preceding season.

So they may be either doing right now renewals for the next year or gearing up for the next year. Season tickets, club seats, suites, that all just got a lot harder. I wonder, did you have any times with the Raiders where you guys were trying to sell seats and you were giving away some of those ridiculous giveaways? Because there were times you had ups and downs. You had wins and losses. We did.

And I'll try to think as we sit here, I'll try to think of some of them. But we really did try things. We tried giveaways. I like to do more experiential things for our season ticket holders rather than give them a bag or give them a shirt.

Do things where we could have a drawing and certain number of ticket holders could come down on the field pregame or be somewhere where the players exit postgame. I thought experiential things were much more fun than a hat. Yeah, no kidding.

But by the way, nobody wants a toaster or a hat. They want to get out there and run a 50, right? Run a 40. Well, speaking of that, are you going to ever do run, Rich, run again where you do the running and you beat them? No, I'm so pissed off. I tried to run last year.

After all these years, I never used to run because I didn't want Rich to be faster than me. And it turns out he is. Yeah, we'll figure out a way you can cheat. We're going to figure out how you can cheat.

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To learn more, go to safepalestosleep.org today. Seattle down by four, third down in ten, 33 seconds left. Shotgun snap, three-man rush. Lock throws, long pass down the far sideline, caught.

Over the shoulder, it's grab. Smith and Chinga, touchdown, touchdown. Seattle touchdown. The Seahawks have taken the lead. 28 seconds to go. Oh, Kevin, you've got your own groupies here.

I mean, your own groupies one and two. Amy and I are absolutely in love with every call that you've ever made, and we are so thrilled that you took time to be on the podcast with us today. Thank you. Oh, thanks.

Thanks for the invitation. I haven't heard that until this first time since we did it last night. I'm in San Francisco now getting ready for an NBA game, and I've worked all morning long, got up at the crack of dawn and left with Kurt Warner and our crew to go to the airport, and that's the first time I've heard since last night in our replay section of the broadcast. So it was an exciting game, and being out with your husband and Kurt every Monday is such an honor, number one, and so much fun, number two, and now I get the the best part of Rich, which is you and Amy. So this is perfect.

That's what they all say. What's it like when you hear it back? So I'm thrilled that you hadn't heard again. What's it like when you hear yourself?

Uncomfortable, I would say, because I think every time I listen to anything or watch anything I've done, I don't know if you guys are the same way, I've got a thousand things I would have done differently. On that call, I don't know. It was late in the game, and there was a lot going on, and I probably would have tweaked a couple things if it were written in front of me, and I could say a couple more things, but I think for the most part it probably captured.

The one thing is when it happens live like that, as you both know, you just kind of trust your instincts and go with that, and I guess if I had to do it 10 times, I would have probably done it like that nine of the 10 times, but there's always a part of me that wishes that I could go back and maybe just finagle a word here, add a word there, pause less, more, whatever, but it was an exciting finish for sure. Well, there's nothing wrong in my view with always wanting to fix something, change something, to use a great word you just used finagle something, because if we are our strongest critics and we are the ones demanding the most of ourselves, that ends up well, and Suzy asked you the precise question I was going to ask you, which is as a listener who loves listening to you, I think you deliver information perfectly. Everything I want to know, you deliver, and you deliver it with a passion that I love, and my question for you was going to be, did you like the way you delivered it, and I loved your answer. Here's to being our strongest critics. Right, and I think that if you don't watch your own work and you don't have a lot of self-reflection, not only in broadcasting, but I'm certain that writers go back and look and read and maybe revisit something they've done, you know, in the past and say, I wish I would have, whatever, and I think that's probably a good thing for life, too, as a parent, now a grandparent, and we're all kind of in that world of, at this stage I'm 63, so I always go back and, you know, wonder if I had to do it over again, if I had to do something, what would I do to be better the next time that event or that whatever came around again, and I always think that's kind of a good habit to have, just self-critique. I read a book by Andrew Carnegie years and years, somebody gave it to me, and in that book, How to Make Friends and Influence People, I think that was the name of it, and in that book there was, he has many excellent things that really you can use in our lives today, even though it was written back in the 20s or 30s, and I think he said something about, at the end of every day, self-reflection, about, you know, did I handle this conversation the right way, did I treat this person with the kind of care and respect that they deserved, did I manage this particular problem the best that I could do, and then out of all these things, what can I take and do better the next time that rolls around and is on my doorstep?

And always demand more of yourself than anyone demands of you, and always expect more of yourself than anyone expects of you. True, well you two have been great examples of people that have thrived in various roles in life and whatever those roles might have been, and being the way you both are successful and on top of your games, I'm sure you've gone through that too, and I just think it's kind of a healthy thing to do, but at the same time I think it's always it's always a little torturous to go back and revisit things because we all feel we could probably have done something a little bit better, and then there are those times, and what it has taught me too, I always visit with my wife about this, is we should never not enjoy the good things that happen, because I think when something does not go the way we want, we're always so quick to criticize and sink to the low of that moment, but I hope that we always can make it the opposite when something good happens, not feel guilty, not feel anything but the joy of that moment, and sometimes we let the lows take most of us and not enjoy the highs as much as maybe we should. All right, so then let me ask you, what's been your greatest high as an announcer? Probably because I still don't know that I've had my best broadcast, but I would say that the ability to maintain a network level for so long and be at a level that is in the broadcasting business viewed as the goal, the network, national broadcasts, I think most young broadcasters, men or women, it doesn't matter, that watch the three of us, that listen to the three of us, I would say that there are many women that say, I would love to be at that level someday, and when you get to the level, I don't know if it's harder to get to the level or it's harder to maintain the level, and then to maintain it for a long time, and as an add-on, to continue to evolve to get better. As Madden always said so beautifully, and Amy, you know this better than anybody, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse, and so I live by that pretty much every day, and tonight I've got the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors, and I hope I'm better tonight than I was last week doing the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks for TNT.

I just hope that I'm always looking to continue to improve, and that's kind of the challenge and the beauty of the business and life is to always be your best self and make whatever you have better the next day and the next time around. This is like choosing kids, but what do you prefer to call the NBA or the NFL? I love, well the NFL, and this is not a slight anything else that I do, I would say because the NFL is so massively popular, the jobs to do NFL games, to broadcast NFL games are demanding and exclusive and difficult and hard to keep, and so an accomplishment of being a network NFL announcer is, that brings great joy and satisfaction, but the challenge is greater. I've done the NBA for so long, as long as the NFL, and consider that challenging and incredibly fruitful, so it's, as you said, it's like trying to pick your favorite child. We've got four, and I couldn't pick my favorite, so it's hard, but I think most people would say from the outside looking in that being an NFL network announcer is a pretty significant achievement in the business, and so I'm comfortable with that and like that challenge and probably would agree to a certain level that it is.

I enjoy both, but the NFL is, my dad was in the NFL, I was a ball boy in the NFL from the time I was 10 with Green Bay, so I've kind of grown up with that world, and just personally in my heart probably that would be the last thing I'd hate to give up or hate to leave. Kevin, I'm glad you mentioned your dad. I was going to do that at some point during our conversation. I had the tremendous, tremendous pleasure of sharing those league owners meetings, those one per club and two per club meetings with your dad for a long, long, long time, and he was always tremendously, tremendously supportive and encouraging, and all those years where I was the only woman in the room, he went out of his way to lend me his support and his encouragement, so I'm glad you referenced him. Well, I'm glad you said that. I told my dad I was going to be on with both of you today, and he remembered you well and how you brought a side of Al Davis to the world that people may not have understood. You explained him, and you explained the organization, and he always appreciated that. Al was always nice to my dad. Al Davis is a Mount Rushmore type figure in professional football, so my dad being from an organization that is a small market, as we all know, to be at those meetings with some big name people, the Maris, the Runys, the Al Davises of the world, and then to have your connection with Al, that was important for my dad, and so he smiled when I could hear it in his voice when I told him I was going to be on with both of you, and Susie, he loves Rich, so when I told him it was the two of you, I could tell he was pleased, but I'm glad he was. I will quickly add that just as I always get goosebumps listening to you call games, when you just shared what your dad said, I got goosebumps again, so please thank him for me. I will, I will, I will. He'll appreciate you remembering him.

You know, he's been retired since oh seven, and you know, I'm not at that stage of retirement, but I'm sure there's a part of everybody that is in the limelight, especially in a league as big as the NFL, or on television, and then you're suddenly, because of retirement and age, and just the way the world works, you now move into a different role of away from the limelight, and so I think whenever anybody mentions, say hi to your dad, or remembers him in his professional life, I think it brings great satisfaction to him, as it does to everybody who is at that stage of life. You know, in today's world, it seems the best treatment is reserved only for a few. Well, Discover wants to change that by making everyone feel special. That's why with your Discover card, you have access to 24-7 live customer service, as well as zero dollar fraud liability, which means you're never held responsible for unauthorized purchases. Finally, no matter who you are, or where you are in life, you'll feel special with Discover. Learn more at discover.com credit card.

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Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. So, what were your thoughts, by the way? I'll ask you about the Eagles, as it's the third time that you saw them last night. Obviously, you saw a really banged up Jill in hurts taking his own plane to get there, so as not to infect his teammates, but what were your thoughts on seeing how this team has changed over the course of one season? I think any team that exits the world that they were in a year ago, so incredibly powerful, all the way to the Super Bowl, high expectations, and in that Philly market, which is very demanding. I think there's probably, as we're seeing with the Chiefs, although they've been a little bit more resilient being the three of the last four Super Bowls and winning two of them, you leave that Super Bowl and you're exhausted.

I've seen it with so many teams. That's what makes what the Chiefs and the Cowboys and the Patriots and these kind of these dynastic franchises we've had over the last 30, 40 years, Pittsburgh certainly, to do what they've done and done it for so long is such an accomplishment. The wear and tear that you take physically, emotionally, the toll is so great that to rebound the way the Chiefs have done and been as good as they've been for so long here in these four or five years is just amazing. In Philadelphia, got a taste of it, maybe somewhat surprisingly that Hertz jumped up and has flourished as much as he has, but then they've changed. They've changed from the days of Doug Peterson out of Nick Sirianni. They've had a nice little moment in time here in the NFL, but it wears on you after a while and they've had the target on their back like the Chiefs have had and they've lived with it well. I do think that all these teams hit troughs. San Francisco, we had a three-game losing streak.

Now they've rebonded and they're as good as ever. I think Philadelphia is going to be the same way. I don't think Hertz is 100 percent healthy. We know he was ill last night, but physically he just does not look right to me for whatever reason.

I'm not sure. I don't know if it's ankle, shoulder, maybe it's everything with all these guys, but it seems like they're a little worn right now. They'll bounce back. They'll be the team we think they are when it matters most in January.

I have all the confidence in the world the Eagles will not disappoint. Kevin, you were not surprisingly very, very diplomatic in your description of the Philadelphia market having been a visiting team in Philadelphia. I'll just leave it at that. You were diplomatic, but the point you make about coming off the Super Bowl, particularly for the Eagles having lost the Super Bowl resonated with me. After we lost the Super Bowl, Andrea Kramer asked me how we were going to deal with the Super Bowl hangover for the losing team. And I scoffed at her and said, oh, there's no such thing.

There is such a thing. And when you come off losing a Super Bowl, it is rough to get your feet back under you. So, you know, there's two ways to look at Philadelphia, which is they lost the last three, but they did really well to start the season.

I think they ran out to ten and one. They did. And I think that is really what they are and not maybe what we've seen over the last handful of weeks. They have a difficult schedule, but I mean everybody's schedule is hard.

And they wouldn't use that as an excuse. And they've had some guys banged up on the offensive line. They watched the right guard against Juergens. They didn't have him last night. And I just don't think they're 100% completely healthy. Listen, they knew going in in the last, excuse me, I've had this my third game in a row.

I got to make sure I'm good in a couple hours. They knew going in that they had clinched a playoff spot last night. Whether it was a letdown, traveling across the country, not knowing who was going to be the quarterback, it could have been a hundred different things. I do think that they are going to be very strong when it matters the most. Now it's to see, can they be the number one team in the NFC? It's going to be tough the way San Francisco is playing.

San Francisco smells blood too. They went in there last year in the NFC championship game, lost their quarterback, and they were a shell of what they are and what they were last year. I think they're on a revenge tour. The Niners are. I think they got the quarterback right where they want them. They got healthy left tackle. Williams, healthy, the Swiss army knife and Deebo Samuel, they're ready to go.

They smell blood. They're going to be a tough team to beat, but Philadelphia will give them a good shot. I just think that maybe a couple things are working against the Eagles last night. Going down to Dallas is a tough place to play.

They found that out. Dallas at home has been unbeatable and 15 straight wins and plus 171 plus minus differential point differential. I mean, they've just been incredibly good.

They've been as good at home as they've been bad on the road and bad against good teams on the road. But San Francisco, they clearly are the team to beat right now, I think. All right, so you'll be in the booth with Kurt for that Super Bowl, so it kind of sounds like you're expecting to see the Niners. Who else are you expecting to see? Baltimore right now in what is kind of a very even AFC.

Now, somebody could jump up here in the next couple weeks and it would not surprise me. I don't know if it's the Chiefs, but Baltimore just seems to have all the things rolling for them right now. They played on the road against a pretty good Jacksonville team.

Sunday did not blink. They've got San Francisco coming up, which could be really interesting. If they would meet in the Super Bowl and that would be a game that both coaches would have to have on the radar, how would you play this regular season game? The thing is that both teams want to get that number one seed and the buy that comes with it in their respective conferences, so this is going to be an interesting game for both of those teams when they meet in the regular season. But Buffalo seems to have awakened a little bit here. They certainly had a momentary pause and had to catch their breath, but now they've come out and they've played well here last couple weeks.

I'm wondering if maybe they have rediscovered what it is they're all about. Cincinnati with the backup quarterback, I'm not sure. Chiefs, like I said, just don't, since they've lost Tyreek Hill, even though they won a Super Bowl without him, they have not clearly been the offense they were with him. Then that brings us to Miami where Hill now plays in the AFC and they have not beaten a team over.500. That has got to be worrisome for them because somewhere along the line they're going to have to go on the road and they're going to have to beat a team that's good, playoff good, and that is uncharted territory for them in terms of winning, and that's the biggest question mark about Miami.

Baltimore and San Francisco right now seem to be without the other hardball, they'll have one hardball, but it'll be a rematch of the Super Bowl and New Orleans a couple years ago. Yeah, Rich just can't quit Josh Allen. I mean, that's the one guy that he'll never turn his back on.

I get it. Before we let you go, because I would feel very guilty if you couldn't talk tonight, if you had to look back at your career, and by the way, I mean, can you imagine suddenly they're like, well, Kevin Harlan's a scratch because he's lost his voice from doing a podcast earlier in the day. We get in a lot of trouble from Western Juan. We'd be in so much trouble.

Although we are available to fly up there. My lips are sealed. I wouldn't say a word. It's like the old Barbara Walters, just between you and me.

If you had to look back with all the calls that you've done, what is the one call that you'd want to be remembered for? I don't know that I've had it yet, quite frankly. I'd like to think it is still ahead of me. I'd like to think that doing all these, it's like the stonecutter, right? The stonecutter living in this small village in Russia is going down the road and this gigantic boulder has now appeared and blocked off the road. And so he and then everybody in the village gets the hammer and the chisel, they begin to bang at that road, right?

At that boulder in the road. And it finally cracks on the 10,000th bang of the hammer on the chisel. But it wasn't that hit, that 9,999th hit that broke it.

It was the 9,998 hits before it. And I'd like to think that all these games that I've been so fortunate to do will lead me to that moment when there is that great moment on the field or on the floor that I'm able to capture it. I think waiting for that moment or hoping it comes or being ready for when it comes will be maybe my most memorable. I've done so many games, quite frankly, that kind of blend together.

Some have stuck because social media has made them stick. But I guess in my heart I'd like to think that there's this call coming up that all those hits of my hammer on that chisel on that stone will be the one that finally breaks the stone in half. And that will be the one that all the plays that I've done in all these games led to that call that made that stone split. I had never before heard that stone in the road story. That is magnificent.

And I love the analogy. Look, I'm going to ask you one last question that you do not need to answer now. You can give this all the thought you like. We can talk about it Super Bowl week. Susie asked you, do you like NBA or NFL calls better? I'm going to ask you, put aside the NBA, put aside basketball entirely, put aside the NFL.

If you were given the opportunity to call any Olympic sport, summer or winter, or you can pick one of each, what Olympic sport would you like to deliver the broadcast? You don't have to answer now. You can think about it.

Oh, that can be the next time that he comes on with the football. All right. All right.

I would love to do it more of a descriptive more than anything else. But you know, the great thing about TV, if a picture is worth a thousand words, you don't have to save that much. That means that maybe it was a radio broadcast. That's what I enjoy about radio is that you got to, it hits every reporting sense, every thing that you have to have to be in the business to begin with.

Yes. And it's my hypothetical. So in my hypothetical, you're doing it on the radio.

All right. Well, you've got to have the right pacing and cadence because a great moment told poorly is screwed up, but sometimes an ordinary moment told well is more impactful. So it may not even have to be something just gigantic, but the Olympics has that enormity and that massive feel to it. But in radio, you've got to use the right words. You've got to have the right inflection. You've got to have a lot of air in your lungs to deliver the call the way it needs to be delivered. And that challenge to get all those things wrapped into one call is like the purest part of broadcasting. Sometimes on TV, you see a great catch.

You don't have to say anything. You can let the crowd serve as the orchestra and let that carry. But on radio, it's everything because if the theater of the mind is the most powerful, if your imagination is the most powerful emotion you have or one of the most powerful things that you possess, just think what you can do with your words and your inflection, the cadence of a call of a play or a moment at the Olympics or the Super Bowl. So that's why moments like last night in Seattle with the rain coming down and the team trying to stay alive in the playoffs and the enormity of that play and the kid who's off the bench and kind of been forgotten quite frankly by a lot of the NFL comes in and for one moment his pass is perfect, knifing through the rain to this young rookie receiver who's covered in the end zone and throws over his back shoulder as the end zone is closing in and the sideline is closing in and he makes this catch.

Those are the moments that you really savor and hopefully you find the right words and the cadence and the feel for the moment that you present it the right way for people that are listening. That's what makes radio so great. TV, we see it. That's one thing. But when you've, like some of those reports from World War II and Edward R. Murrow's standing on rooftops in London describing the bombing of London during World War II, you know sometimes you don't need to see it. His words and the sounds of the bombs and you know he tells you what he smells and what he looks on the streets and sees. Those are the things that, that's what got me to love radio as much as I do and so I'll think about that Olympic moment.

I'll figure out, I'll figure out something. And you just gave me goosebumps again listening to you describe that all of that. Yeah because honestly you just made that description exciting to listen to and I'm not embarrassed to tell you that you know Rich talks about it all the time when he's prepping for games. Just how impactful it is listening to you call games and how much he's learned as he preps for his games by the way you orate and it's really inspiring. I think all the time you know Leslie Visser when I was her intern at CBS said to me turn off the volume and if you can talk about what's happening then you actually know what you're talking about. Which I thought was probably the best advice I ever got and that's how we feel listening to you. Everything that you talk about is exciting and but it but what's great if I can embarrass you is it's not like you make everything have the same level of decibels. It's how you modulate it but it's just so much harder to describe a game that you can't look at.

It's that whole it's that whole expression of painting a picture for somebody and you do it with such ease and it's just such a pleasure to listen to. So I'll leave you with the last question that I think my brother would be curious about. I always kind of think about perspective. How often do people come up to you in the airport and say I knew that that was you or are you Kevin Harlan or I heard your voice and I'm just curious about that and then of course the follow-up is like can you record my voicemail but how often does that happen to you? Unless I talk I kind of blend in and I it happens more right at like restaurants if I if I if I would order something and you know I never think about it like that.

I just think I'm just talking normally and the waiter may say I thought that was you but I don't love it. I don't get recognized or not as much as your husband, Suzy, not as much as Rich. He's on television all the time. Certainly Kurt Warner who I'm with every every Monday who hardly can take a step without someone saying hi Kurt. He's a hall of fame quarterback. He's seen on TV every Sunday with your husband. So the people that are and with CBS we're on for such a short time and with TNT tonight we'll be on for 30 seconds and then we're not on the rest of the game.

So it really is more voice. So only when I talk like at a restaurant if I whatever then they might but I'm pretty I'll tell you who doesn't like to hear my voice are my kids. They're my girls.

That's just the way the world works. And my wife when I go home we've been married for 36 years. My wife she'll say you know I'll get home and I'll start talking talk to Angel which is tough. You know it's so interesting all you do is talk for three straight days and you come home and you're still talking.

You're talking and talking and talking which is she's it's a joke between us but I sometimes like I said in restaurants people will hear it and they'll say something. You are such a prize. It is such a privilege to have you on and again we are your greatest groupie so thanks again for taking thank you for taking that. I know but it's true. I mean it's it's honestly we get to interview people every week. We've been in television for a combined long time and let's not add that up.

Let's not and I have to say Kevin it's it's there are very few people that you get excited to have on. I never got to work with you when I was doing TNT so it's just a pleasure to be able to do this with you now and I want to thank you again for your time. Say hi to Steve Kerr and just please come back on another time. I will and thank you for having me on.

My daughter's in the business. I told her as well I was going to be visiting with you both and you know as a father of three girls it's it's great to be on with such accomplished women that are wonderful to talk to as friends and have so much respect for what they've done and the world of sports whether with the team or in broadcasting so I'm honored that you'd have me privileged. Thank you so much and we are honored and privileged that you joined us and please give your daughter our best wishes for every success as she pursues her goals. Thank you.

I will. You're very kind. Happy holidays.

Happy holidays to you. What an inordinate pleasure to have Kevin Harlan on. Can you imagine that you're in a restaurant and he's like should I have the boulebez or should I have the steak?

It's gonna be the steak tonight. And don't you want to ask him maybe next time because we'll try to lure him back. Sure. We could come up with things we want him to read in Kevin Harlan voice just like everyday things we use in life we could have him do a read.

Oh I agree it's probably a good idea to start compiling them now. Like we you know the one thing that we do here at the Rich Eisen Show Productions area is that if guests are in the studio we snag them so today we snagged Andrew Whitworth for an upcoming edition because he was coming out of an appearance with Rich so he'll be coming up with the next couple weeks as we put together our list as we head towards the Super Bowl because obviously Kevin makes everything sound as exciting as possible so I want to let you know we're going to have great guests. That's my best imitation. You did that very well. You did that well. Awful by the way. You had some parting thoughts on some uniforms that made you unhappy this week Amy.

I did and you know me Susie I'm not a hot take artist and I don't get all riled up about a lot of things well maybe I do but I don't do them on air. I was very very bothered that the Tennessee Titans chose to wear throwback uniforms from when they were the Houston Oilers for those who may not know maybe you're younger and you weren't around at the time or you simply don't know the Houston Oilers were moved by the team owner Bud Adams and his family from Houston to Tennessee. They eventually became the Titans. Well they played the Houston Texans last week and they chose to wear the throwback uniforms to when they were Houston Oilers. I thought that was the wrong thing to do and I am very passionate about that. I thought it was a very very insensitive thing to do to fans in Houston.

You move the team out of Houston so why are you wearing your throwback uniforms when you're playing Houston? One of two things either nobody thought that through very well they just didn't give it the right thought and they didn't consider that that's bad or even worse they did and it was kind of a little bit of a screw you whether intended or not I'm not suggesting they intended to do that but I thought that was the effect so either they didn't think it through or they thought it through and made a bad decision. It's so funny I have an absolute opposite thought. I actually thought it was kind of like a neat wink and a nod.

Maybe I just looked at it from a different perspective. I was at ESPN when they did the move over and I remember having to scramble for something for Sunday Sports Center and I had a country singer write a country sing a country song about a Houston team moving to Tennessee and I mean I was just trying to think of like a creative approach to it and so when I watched it I had the absolute opposite thought. I thought it was like oh how cool they're acknowledging their past and bringing it all full circle so who knew?

You know what I love about this? We had absolutely opposite reactions to it 180 degrees apart. You thought it was a nice tribute.

I thought it was insensitive at best perhaps even worse and you know what we're doing Suzy? We are disagreeing agreeably. We are exchanging differing thoughts in a reasoned and reasonable manner. We are engaging in civil discourse and disagreeing agreeably. Take a lesson.

That's a good thing for everyone in the world to learn. I mean there's no better way to wrap up this edition of What the Football than that. Well said. Happy holidays to you Amy. Enjoy the break. To you as well. It's not really a break because you're gonna get a treat next week.

That's true. We are off but we will have a best of show next week and excited to send that off to you. Again our thanks to Kevin Harlan. We so appreciate his time and we want to wish all of you a very very happy holiday season wherever you are and thank you for giving us the greatest gift which is your time. We appreciate it more than you can imagine so have a great holiday season and see you soon. Beautifully said.

Thank you. You love Lala Kent on Vanderpump Rules. Now get to know her on Give Them Lala. I don't know that I would call it respect that I have for Sandoval but the world hated him. He still went out performed shows with his head held high. He showed up to the reunion when we all were going after him like he didn't skip a beat. The way he's handling it if I were in his position and I said it straight up to the entire audience thousands of people I would tell you all to and the room was dead. Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube or search for Give Them Lala wherever you listen.