Spice Adams: the grass is only green where you water it

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. Oh my God, you guys are my favorites. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about.

That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show with guest host Brian Weber. OMG. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

Oh my gosh. And now, sitting in for Rich, here's Brian Weber. It is the final hour of the program.

A lot to get done, but we'll always carve out time for the possibility of your interaction. An 8-4-4, 2-0-4, 7-4-2-4. Took two calls yesterday, two more today. Record setting, but in all candor, we have a little less time to navigate through because coming up in 20 minutes, looking forward to our scheduled conversation with Spice Adams, former NFL defensive tackle. Played for the 49ers and the Bears. We'll talk about the outlook in Chicago. Matt Eberfluss, my favorite name to say in all of sports.

I pulled my Eberfluss once, but the doctor was able to rectify that. Is Eberfluss going to survive if you've not been paying attention, and I don't blame you because the Bears are largely irrelevant other than what they're going to do with the number one overall pick they're getting from Carolina based on last year's deal. Chicago's quietly doubled their win total from last year.

The win over Arizona puts them at 6-9, so has Eberfluss done enough to survive? And, I think much more interestingly, should they get that number one overall pick, what are they going to do with it? Is it a done deal? They're going to take cable with Williams. If you believe the reports out there, Williams intimating he does not want to go to Chicago, so would he pull the Eli Manning and force his way out?

There's a lot of different directions to go. And, Spice also is a big personality. Made a smooth transition from his playing days to on camera work. TV host dabbles in comedy looking forward to that. Meaning, if you want to be a part of the program, you've got to pick up the phone and the possibility would come up in about 30 minutes.

So, if you want to do your own clock management, you know our roadmap together. As we head back to the top story that developed about 20 minutes into the program, which dovetailed nicely with how I decided to open the show with an opening monologue about a bizarre year under center in the NFL. With unprecedented numbers of injuries across the league at quarterback and some minor moves that came up earlier today.

The glorious Tommy DeVito era is over in New York. Terod Taylor demonstrating he's actually a functioning NFL quarterback as we saw in the second half against Philadelphia. Made that game much more interesting than it should have been from the Eagles point of view. Taylor starting for the Giants coming up this weekend. Jacoby Brissett takes over for the battered Sam Howell who leads the league with 17 picks. Brissett engineered a phenomenal comeback against the Jets this weekend.

And then, of course, it's the commanders. They find a way to lose even more than the Jets can. And that's saying something because now the Jets have the longest postseason drought in all of North America sports. And I mentioned and then it kicked in about 20 minutes later with the scoop from Adam Schefter that most NFL insiders obviously are well sourced and connected and are tipped off. But over the last week or so, they have been dropping a lot of hints that if you're paying attention, track what's going on in Denver, especially after the loss of the Patriots called by the host of this program.

Always great to hear Rich doing play by play. That loss virtually eliminated the Broncos from any real playoff contention. I know mathematically they're still alive, but there are life support because they've gone one in three over the last four. So once that kicked in, once that kick was made by the Patriots taking advantage of the altitude, that long bomb at the gun, you heard more and more about the possibility that Russell Wilson would be benched. That became official today as Schefter broke the news that Sean Payton informed his team that they're making the move to Jared Stitham.

Now the spin is going to be because they're not officially dead yet. Denver would have to win the next two starting with the matchup against the Chargers. And that is going to be must-see TV, huh? Your L.A. Chargers, led by the immortal Easton Stick, matching up with the Broncos one in three over the last four, now guided by Jared Stitham. And doesn't that tell you all you need to know about this brutal year at the quarterback position? And it all started when Aaron Rodgers popped his Achilles on national TV.

I can't think of anything close to this year, and I don't have some general explanation for it. Sometimes weird stuff happens in a violent sport, a collision sport like the NFL. Now I've read theories that because of all the rule changes out there to protect quarterbacks, that some are feeling more emboldened to run more because they know that even if they slide late, they're going to be protected. Because anybody taking a shot at a quarterback is not only going to get ticketed for the 15 yards, you're facing a massive fine, maybe even a suspension. So perhaps quarterbacks now are feeling too liberated to run around, plus you have a generation of college quarterbacks playing in a spread offense in which they have the green light. So if you've got four wideouts, now as I'm breaking it down in granular detail, but if you spread everything out, there should be lanes to run up the middle, and you have all these young quarterbacks now making the transition to the NFL in which using their mobility is a big part of what they do. Whatever the explanation is, we've never seen this kind of injury level across the NFL at quarterback, at least not in my memory, and I'm older than my energetic delivery would suggest. So Russell Wilson has taken off the field. Denver can spin it as for competitive reasons because they're not officially eliminated from the playoff hunt yet.

But you don't have to be a capologist to figure out what's really going on here, and this number had been thrown around prior to the word crystallizing today in Denver. Russ, should he have gotten hurt, either this week or next week, would have the luxury of 37 million guaranteed kicking in because of that injury, on top of 39 million bucks that he's already due for next year. So Sean Payton was not going to run that risk because he wants to have all the options available, and it's not clear that Sean Payton wants Russell Wilson to be his quarterback. Obviously, he inherited him. Now, Sean had options, if you believe the consensus of opinion out there.

He chose Denver, so he knew, presumably in general fashion, what he was getting by agreeing to try to coach up Russell Wilson. And Sean is a gifted communicator. He's been on the Rich Eisen Show many times. Sean can create a narrative.

He can tell a story, and the story he was telling, I heard him on Radio Row at the Super Bowl on several shows. He believed that this was not going to be a massive rehabilitation. He thought he could, quote, unquote, fix Russell Wilson.

We didn't see it early on. Denver had a hideous start to the season. Remember, this is a team that gave up 70 points over 700 yards of total offense to Miami. Now, I realize Russell Wilson doesn't play defense.

He's not tackling anybody. But that felt like a microcosm of, oh my goodness, this is going to be a two or three win year in Denver. To their credit, they're professionals, they have pride, and they have tenacity.

And they figured it out. They got hot until the recent rough patch. Wilson's played well. I'm not going to sit here and say he was outstanding, phenomenal.

You pick the big word. He was good. If you just want to follow the numbers, number seven this year in passer rating, 26 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

Well, you want more context? I was mentioning the Josh Allen MVP conversation, primarily because Allen has accounted for 40 total touchdowns. Well, Josh has thrown 15 picks. Patrick Mahomes having the worst season of his career, and you can't blame it all on receivers who simply cannot catch the football. Hard to make a play if you can't catch the ball.

I haven't played since the eighth grade. Even I recall that. Travis Kelce, something's amiss, and I'm not going to blame T. Sizzle because I don't want the Swifties coming my way. But just watching that team, Kelce does not look the same. And I'm not going to do the predictable, well, it was like when Tony Romo went on vacation with Jessica Simpson. Two things can be equally true. You can have a relationship.

You can be in commercials and still do your job. But just watching Kelce, not the same level of productivity, obviously, but Mahomes can't get out of his own way. 14 interceptions, had to pick six in that bizarre game, losing to the Raiders. So if you're just going to compare and contrast, Russell Wilson throwing eight interceptions is a respectable tally, especially when you consider what Allen and Mahomes have been doing. But the fundamental question at the start of Sean Payton's tenure in Denver was could he and Russell Wilson coexist? What would the offense look like? And then for all of the Denver apologists, you heard the notion, and even Russ, because he is a masterful PR person and could have a future in politics.

And I say that in the best sense, as much as we don't love politicians. Russ is very image conscious. You heard his camp saying that Drew Brees was one of his favorite players, and he was hoping for that kind of synergy with Sean Payton. I'm not in that locker room.

I have no idea what the relationship is like. I do know what I saw a couple weeks ago against the Lions when we reached the end of that beat down against Detroit. Sean Payton was in Russell Wilson's grill. He was airing him out for the whole country to see on national TV.

Now you can say, heat of the moment, you can say to competitors, to me, I could also speak more to what is their dynamic like on a personal level. Because ultimately, Payton has the hammer, as he dropped today. He controls playing time. Now I'm not suggesting this necessarily is the end of Russell Wilson in Denver. If you think it's trending that way, the cop that would come to mind would be Derek Carr last year. Remember, he was shut down by the Raiders, never saw him in the silver and black again. I really thought he was going to be more successful in New Orleans, especially with all those playmakers around him and Chris Alave, Michael Thomas finally healthy, and something's amiss with Carr. And if you just want to get between the ears again, once his confidence went away, I don't know if he's going to get it back. Because in addition to all the physical injuries, he's been taking a beating this year, he's just not the same quarterback.

The precision isn't there, he just makes bad throws in obvious situations. But if you're thinking that's the precedent, Carr shut down for the exact same reasons, the financial concerns about the injury guarantee, and never play for the Raiders again. I don't know that's going to be the case in Denver, but now Peyton has a wide range of options. Because if he's decided it's not working with Russ, and according to reports, Peyton has a large say in player personnel while he's not the GM de facto like Bill Belichick. If Peyton has decided he can't win a Super Bowl with Russ, here's your opportunity to move on.

Although, as mentioned, as Schefter pointed out, and I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen, Wednesday edition of the Rich Eisen Show coming up in 10 minutes looking forward to what should be an entertaining conversation with Spice Adams, the former NFL defensive tackle, who is now a host and a comedian in the Chicagoland area. Russ is already guaranteed $39 million for next year. That was prior to the possibility of the $37 million kicking in had he got hurt. But we know anything can be massaged and manipulated in the NFL, and that $39 million could be knocked down if Russ is willing to take a pay cut. No need for a bake sale for Russell Wilson. He's made a ton of money. Does he want to stay in Denver? Does he like the setup? Does he like the relationship with Sean Peyton?

Let's flip it to the other side. Does Sean Peyton want Russell Wilson to hang around? Because that had to have been a challenging conversation.

You don't get to be the stature, not physically, I'm talking about career profile of Russell Wilson without having a lot of self-esteem. Hey Russ, I love you. Oh, by the way, this team has basically kicked away any shot of going to the playoffs, going one and three over the last month, so I'm going to bench you. But we're really doing it to make sure you don't get hurt.

That had to be a challenging back and forth. But that's going to be the story now moving forward. What is the future of Russell Wilson? I'm not saying the door is closed because Peyton has given himself a lot of wiggle room here if Russ believes this is the best place to be. And suddenly now, the AFC West doesn't feel like a death sentence if you're not playing for the Chiefs. The Chiefs are probably going to win their 8th consecutive division title with another chance to wrap it up this weekend after they were unable to get it done against the Raiders. But it's a Kansas City team that's a shadow of themselves and they play on Sunday facing Cincinnati and I pause just to make sure they were not part of the earlier action because we do have a Saturday game and it's a good matchup. Detroit and Dallas coming up the day before the second to last Sunday of the regular season. You don't have to be as concerned about the Chiefs, and of course I'll probably be proven dead wrong in playoff time, but right now Kansas City looks a lot more mortal. So if you're Russell Wilson, maybe you want to stay in Denver, you feel like the foundation has been established this year, but how much of a pay cut are you willing to take?

Or do you think there's a better landing spot? It's going to be fascinating to see how this soap opera plays out moving forward now that it's official. Russ has been benched. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. Coming up we'll keep the NFL conversation going.

What are the Bears going to do with the number one overall pick that they're getting, presumably from Carolina? Looking forward to checking in with Spice Adams, the former NFL defensive tackle who played for the Niners and the Bears. All part of a jam-packed Wednesday here on the program. Weber in for Eisen.

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Learn more at Discover dot com slash credit card. Limitations apply. Brian Weber back with you. We continue on this busy Wednesday on the Rich Eisen Show and let's talk much more football. Pleased to be joined by Anthony Spice Adams, former NFL defensive tackle. He is a comedian. He is a TV host.

He is a content creator and he's joining us on behalf of Frosted Flakes and Friday's upcoming Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl featuring Notre Dame and Oregon State. Spice, appreciate you taking the time. How are you? Oh, man, I'm doing well, man. Had a good Christmas and still eating over here.

I feel you, my man. And then we get to do it again coming up on New Year's Eve. Let's start talking a little football and then we'll get into what you're doing with Frosted Flakes and the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

By way of reference, I have a 1996 Sun Bowl. I'll give you the detail coming up. I have all the paraphernalia you're going to watch, I got a hat, but we'll get to that later on. Given what you've done over the course of your career as a player for the Bears, now you work on the Inside the Bears TV show. What do you make of the arc of this season early on? There was so much controversy, so much speculation that Matt Eberfluss may not survive for the entire year.

And here they are having won six games, doubling their win total from last year. You think Eberfluss has a good chance of surviving? I don't know. I don't know, man. You know, it's been very unpredictable this whole season, as is every football season. But I think the pressing issue is what are they going to do with Justin Fields? Are they going to keep him? Are they going to trade for him? Or are they going to get somebody in the draft?

Or are they going to give him more weapons or what? I think that's what the pressing issue is, on top of if they're going to keep Flus tonight. Like, you don't know.

I don't know. They have a lot of decisions that they have to make, and it's going to be interesting these next couple weeks, what goes down. I know you're not making those decisions, but you're a keen observer of the team.

Let me frame it this way. How much improvement have you seen from Justin Fields this season? Well, it seems like whenever it's time for him to make the decision to run, he sticks to it and he gets more than the five or six yards that he needs to get. He gets those tough yards while he's running the ball. I've seen him make a lot of good throws where he tries to thread the needle and things like that, or make some passes that are on point.

I've seen some improvement there. I've seen enough to know that I think we should keep him. Like you just said, I don't make the decisions, but I think they should keep him and surround him with a lot of good talent. I think DJ Moore is doing a great job, but he needs more than just DJ Moore and Cole Kamet.

He needs a little bit more. It's going to be interesting to see what they do in the draft as well as free agent acquisitions. Spice, you know how it works especially in a big market like Chicago. Momentum builds, things become spoken into existence on sports talk radio. What's the general vibe that you're sensing from the fanbase? Do they buy into Justin or are they thinking, we have the number one overall pick, presumably, thanks to Carolina. We have to go out and get Caleb Williams if Caleb wants to come to Chicago. Well, from the tweets and from comments on Instagram, it seems like everybody is riding the Justin Fields train. I think they should because, like I said, he's been doing some pretty good things here lately. And it's crazy that he's probably had two to three offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches his three years here. So it's always difficult when new people come in and you got new terminology and things like that.

But as far as the fans are concerned here, I've seen it split. I've seen a lot of people saying, hey, we should do this in the draft. But then it's like, okay, sometimes the Bears don't get the draft right. Sometimes, Spice, come on. We could talk about the last half century at quarterback. Yeah, especially when it comes to the quarterback position. I was just about to get into that. So it's like, man, you got to be careful what you ask for.

And the grass is only green where you water it. So let's just water what we have now and surround them with some good talent and then we can really see what he has. Chatting with Spice Adams. He joins us on behalf of Frosted Flakes.

We're going to talk about the upcoming Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl with all the great work that Frosted Flakes is doing in your community coming up. So Spice, I went back throughout your career resume just to make sure the timeline aligned. You were in the league playing for the Niners back in the day and obviously with the Bears. So your career overlaps with Joe Flacco. Can you believe what he's doing at the age of 38?

And is this Cleveland defense good enough for this team to have an impact in the playoffs? Well, I'm not surprised. I mean, you know, quarterbacks are, you know, they can be a little bit older.

You know, I would be surprised more if it was like a defensive tackle or somebody like that. You know, that's just been in those trenches. But Flacco is doing his thing, man. I'm proud of him and he's still out there grinding and, you know, still out there trying to make sure that he has the title of elite. So we had that debate 10 years ago. Come on Spice.

We're jumping in the hot tub time machine. Yeah, so I'm happy for him and I'm happy for anybody upwards of 35 that's out there doing their thing, man, because this once you hit 30, it is your body is so much different, man. And so it's refreshing to see that somebody is still out there, you know, making the throws that he makes and making the plays that he makes, you know, so shout out to Flacco for, you know, him being elite again. If he ever was, but hey, he's got the Super Bowl ring. Last time I checked, I don't and I don't think you do, but hey, I admire your career path because you played at the highest level and now you're killing it across a variety of media platforms.

How did you first get interested in becoming a performer as well off the field? Well, I just kind of I listened to some of my teammates and, you know, they say, man, you're built for social media, and I really couldn't see it because I don't want anything to do with it. Like if you think of Twitter, it's like, you know, you put together what was it, 120 characters, and then people judge you off of your thoughts. And I was just like, this is stupid, man. Nobody wants to be involved. Right.

There's no monetization. You know, I got my thoughts on the game or something like that. And if I tweeted out like millions of people or whoever could see it and judge what I have, what my thoughts are, I was just like, man, this is crazy. So, you know, my teammates kept saying, hey, man, you should you know, you should really look into it, man. We think you're built for it or whatever.

And so I made this video up of like when I was getting close to retiring and I shout out to my friends, Chris Harris and Earl Bennett. And I said, hey, man, you think I should put this out? And they looked at it. They laughed at it. They said, yeah, man.

They say, we see you being funny all the time in the locker room, but nobody else really get a chance to see it. So put it out to the masses and see what they think. So I said, all right, cool. I did it. And it was received well. And it got to the point where the next week I put something else out that was received well. And then I think I'll put out the retirement video.

And then that's when everything just went crazy. And it is all coalesced to a partnership with Frosted Flakes. So we got the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl coming up, Notre Dame and Oregon State. What should we know about what you're going to be doing with the game and as importantly, the efforts to support middle school sports programs locally and across the nation? Well, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes has done a great job in the area of El Paso. They're doing that $30,000 donation to local kids at El Paso's Eastwood Middle School. And they're going to provide the students with sports uniforms and fitness equipment and things like that for their Mission Tiger initiative. And so I'm just there to bring the fun.

So Tony the Tiger and I are going to be throwing the pigskin around first quarter halftime. We're going to have a competition where we're throwing footballs into a bowl, things like that. So we just want to bring a lot of fun and a lot of smiles to kids faces around there. And, you know, what's what's really cool is that they're impacting like a million kids and three thousand schools around that area. So I'm just fortunate and blessed enough to be a part of it. And, you know, just have fun with the kids because, you know, I got kids of my own.

And I remember when I was a kid and, you know, growing up in Detroit, Michigan, you know, we didn't have a lot of fanfare like this. So I can imagine what these kids are thinking when they see, you know, a big guy like me who they may have seen on TV, you know, or they may have seen on social media and then they get a chance to see Tony the Tiger there. So I think we're going to have a good time and I can't wait for it. That is awesome.

And looking forward to all the social media coverage. I mentioned I'm older than my hopefully enthusiastic delivery would suggest. I spent New Year's Eve in El Paso, 1996. I was calling games for my alma mater, Stanford. I just wanted a lot of education spice to talk with you and my cardinal beat a Michigan State team led by Nick Saban.

And I could tell you he was a pain in the ass in 1996 as well. Can tank risk that entire week of banquets? Not easy to deal with. That's pretty cool, man. You know, that's home of Krista McCaffrey.

Yeah. Well, we get into this business to tell stories. I appreciate you taking the time. Safe travels to El Paso. And before I let you go, let me be your agent. And I won't even ask for the 10 percent. I'll take 4 percent with your pipes.

Pull somebody aside. One of the higher ups at Kellogg's and say you want to be the next voice of Tony the Tiger. What would that sound like, Spice?

Let's do a demo on the air. What would Spice Adam saying they're great sound like? If I said it, yeah, that's how I do it. It'll have to be something else. But I'll do it just for the sake of the show.

They're great. But that's just me trying to sound like Tony the Tiger. No, you got it. I think it's AI now or something.

They don't want to pay anybody anymore. Spice, I see even bigger things in your future. Hey, big fan of your work. I've enjoyed hearing you on other shows. Really great to connect today. Happy holidays. And have a great time with the kids in El Paso. Yes, sir. Thank you so much.

I appreciate you. Spice Adams has made a smooth transition, played for a long time in the NFL. And the reason I asked about how he was able to get involved with hosting and everything else is a lot of people want to get into the business.

And it seems like a logical follow up, especially to be an analyst. But you got to want it. And you got to, in my opinion.

And the people I've worked with, I admire the most and friends that I have who've been successful, attack their next career with the same amount of intensity and passion as they did being a player. Spice, funny guy, host that show in Chicago, connected to the Bears. I didn't want to put him on the spot.

And that's why also, if you heard, I tried to actively listen. I didn't want him to try to call for the head of Matt Eberfluse. And he doesn't know, I don't know, is Eberfluse going to survive. But Chicago's at least still competing. And there's nowhere to go but up when you only have three wins last year. Up to six wins heading into their matchup with Atlanta.

They could win that game at Soldier Field. All right. Yeah.

Yeah. Seven and nine, maybe eight and nine. Clearly, as I go back to the overall theme of the Bears, and if you've been paying attention to football for more than 15 minutes, when's the last time they had a relevant quarterback? Now, you had sexy Rexy Grossman being part of the Super Bowl. Before that, you got to go back to Jim Harbaugh.

And before that, you want to go back to the 1940s. It has been a minute. So, they have options. I like Justin Fields. I like his confidence. He's going to have to develop his pocket skills because the more you run around, the more you risk injury. If it doesn't work out for Justin Fields in Chicago, he will land elsewhere. He will be a starting quarterback for another team. And I've seen a lot of Caleb Williams, not only being here in Southern California.

I went to grad school at USC. He is a terrific talent, but I think he needs to go to the right spot. And I'm not sure if he has the right, quote, unquote, makeup, and now we're talking about personality, to go to Chicago and struggle and deal with that media and deal with that fan base.

Because while I'm never going to criticize a young person, and if you're still in your formative years in your early 20s, you know, scientists tell us, especially for dopey guys like me, the male brain is not fully formed until your mid-20s. So, I'm never going to be as harsh with my assessment for a college athlete as I would a professional athlete. But Caleb declining to speak with the media twice this year, postgame, is a sign of immaturity. And somebody at USC did him a disservice. I know losing hurts.

I know he didn't want to deal with dopes like me. But this is preparation for your next step forward, your real job. And when you're the face of a franchise in the NFL, and those losses are going to be even more painful, because it's hard to win in the NFL, you got to go to the podium, you have to make yourself available, and he'll learn along the way. There's no way to critique his skill set. Phenomenal talent.

I think, though, fit is going to matter. Well, let's hope our guy Spice has a new gig. They're right. Man, voiceover was the way to go. Think about all of those promos you heard going to movies. Remember when that was actually a thing? And the one guy who did all the trailers in a world. And they would take him in a limo from movie studio to movie studio.

My goodness, the money was lying in the street. And you kids decided to get on TikTok and ruin the whole industry. All right, I'm in a good mood heading into my final segment of the year. We'll wrap it up with even more football. We have the final Thursday night game of the season coming up tomorrow. And you would say Thursday Night Football?

Eh? It's going to be the Joe Flacco experience. Cleveland win and they're in if they can beat the battered Jets led by Trevor Simeon. The Browns clinch a wildcard.

So is Flacco going to keep this improbable run going or is he overdue to come crashing back to earth? That's coming up. I'm Brian Weber in for Rich Eisen. This is The Rich Eisen Show.

Really? We're repairing neighborhoods, but then we're into nosy neighbors and build a career off of that. Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen. Get an inside look at Hollywood with Michael Rosenbaum.

Let's get inside of my father, John Glover. You know, we watch talk, Phil, and most of these episodes I never saw. I didn't watch the show.

You never once saw yourself on Smallville. In the beginning, I used to look at myself all the time and love to. And then as I get older, I stopped.

Why is that? I don't know. Maybe because I'm older. I was going to talk to you about that because you're seventy nine.

Yeah. How old do you feel? Eleven. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen. Brian Weber back with you. We are winding down on this Wednesday edition of The Rich Eisen Show.

That means my pal Dan Schwartzman is warming up. Danny with you tomorrow, Friday and then back on Monday. And then Rich and the fellas return from a well-deserved break, although rich, of course, because he is ubiquitous.

And a big word Wednesday is everywhere. You'll see him across all the NFL networks, variety of platforms here on my Westwood one. And I have a feeling I'll confirm this via the X. Wouldn't be shocked if Rich could make his way out to the Rose Bowl to check out his beloved alma mater when Michigan takes on Alabama. Alabama coming up on Monday as we have the national semifinals finally upon us, Alabama and Michigan, followed by Washington and Texas as we preview those games in the last hour of the program.

Would Stewart Mandel of the athletic feels like that game between UW and Texas could be filled with pyrotechnics? Haven't looked at the under over because I'm not a gambler and I have no problem with what you want to do. If you can gamble responsibly. I just was exposed to a degenerate uncle when I was a kid. He used to take me to Yonkers Raceway.

You know, when you're 12 years old, it's a great place to be. You learn a lot about life when you're at a racetrack watching harness racing. And even I could figure out that jockeys pulling up a little bit too much there, Uncle Mike.

But he told me it was all legit and the fix was not it. So in no way am I anti gambling. I do find some of these shows are overcorrecting. Not everything's got to be driven by the under over or the line.

I'll look those metrics up to get a reference point. And if I'm going to be totally transparent, I'm not getting paid to do that kind of show yet. Once the phone rings, I'll be putting on the green eye shade. I'll be in the sports book and I'll be giving you my lock of the millennium. But just as a casual observer, someone who watches a lot of college football. You got to believe specifically because Washington's defense has been way too porous. They're going to go back and forth up and down the field. And as Stewart laid out, they've not seen an offense with the full capabilities of Texas yet. And that includes Oregon, who I'm surprised Oregon was not able to handle Washington neutral site in Las Vegas.

Considering their first meeting in Seattle was on a short list of games that deserve consideration for the game of the year. And we're thinking about Alabama. And I know it's all SEC all the time. Are we just going to yada, yada, yada over the fact that the Crimson Tide needed a fourth and forever conversion against Auburn?

That didn't happen, right? Well, because it's Alabama. They deserve to be in the playoff. And this is all going to be moot when Florida State gets annihilated by Georgia coming up this weekend at the Orange Bowl on Saturday. In part because in addition to the devastating Jordan Travis injury that gave the selection committee cover not to put in an undefeated power five champion in the Seminoles.

They have been decimated by opt-outs. It is going to be ridiculous to see who's on that field and Georgia has the majority of their big names playing. And of course, Georgia has waves of talent.

Is there a better pipeline to the pros now than Kirby Smart's program? So that's all coming up on Monday. Wanted to wrap things up with the ability to complete the circle talking more quarterbacks.

That's been the dominant theme today. Although I have checked out your thoughts on the X. You can hit me up on Twitter after the show. B.W.

Weber, Weber with two B's. Raider fan, you are passionate. I appreciate your intensity. As I now just talk about myself and my fledgling career for the majority of our final 10 minutes together. When I was a local TV sportscaster in San Francisco who loved being on the radio, I was a part of the Raiders flagship radio station. I was the co-host of the Tim Brown show, meaning I would stand there with a microphone. I'd say, hi, everybody. I'm Brian Weber. Here's Tim Brown. Tim would talk for 10 minutes.

I'd read the sponsor. And that was the segment. So I have been connected to the Raiders back in the day. I have no anti-raider bias. I'm aware the Raiders can still win the AFC West. I was not saying it's over. I was not crowning anybody.

I won't because the microphone will fall off its mooring. Never good as a fill-in guy to destroy the infrastructure. I was just laying out the most straightforward path. I do believe Kansas City back at home against the Cincinnati team that came crashing back to reality. When you thought about all of the excitement surrounding Browning, he was playing like Flacco, right? Oh my goodness, they defeat Minnesota in overtime. Here come the Cincinnati cardiac kids. Okay. Did you watch the game against the Steelers?

Jake Browning remembered he was Jake Browning. So I'll ride with Mahomes and his teammates at home to get it done. But Raider fan, thank you for reminding me Silver and Black aren't done. I'll say this. And we know it's been proven to be true going back to his old man. Members of the Davis family act in mysterious ways. Remember when Mark Davis entertained the notion of interviewing Mike Shanahan of all people? Remember that thought wall between Al Davis and Mike Shanahan? For years and lawsuits and bad blood and bitterness and then Mark trying to prove he's his old man has public interest in Mike Shanahan. I have no conception of what Mark Davis is going to do. I just know watching these games, the players are balling out for Antonio Pierce. Now is it sustainable?

I'm not sure. We have seen this before with interim coaches. We saw it a couple years ago after the Gruden email debacle as they played hard for Rich Pasaccio. I don't know if Pierce is the right guy. Remember though he's doing this with the coaching staff that he inherited and hopefully we never have to endure another Josh McDaniels led team.

Feels like that win at KC should have been the signature victory that would be sufficient to get Pierce the gig. But the Raiders are cryptic and that's what makes them so fascinating to cover. Especially because Raider fan reminds me that it's the Raiders world and we're just living in it. Joe Flacco having the time of his life. Somebody forgot to tell him he's pushing 40 at six weeks ago he was at home watching the red zone like the rest of us. We'll see Flacco tomorrow night final Thursday night game of the year.

I'll be watching along and tracking on social media. I know the vitriol surrounding Al Michaels. Al a great friend of the program. Someone I have immense respect for. I'm not going to bash Al Michaels.

Plus I think a lot of the criticism is undeserved. Now Al is not going to start screaming just to placate those of you who want him to do a Gus Johnson impersonation. At the same time we all evolve as we get older. Is he the same broadcaster he was even five years ago?

No. But he's still a high level announcer who has the body of work that says he earned that job. I think to me the larger disconnect is what's pretty obvious just as a listener. There's not a lot of chemistry between Al and Kirk Herbstreet and Kirk is hustling would you turn down a high paying gig to work in the NFL but he's not a pro football quote unquote guy. Still Cleveland if we're just thinking about how bizarre this year has played out no team typifies that more than the Browns. Like most people I left them for dead when Nick Chubb went down with that Grizzly knee injury.

I figured that was it. You lose your best offensive player and I realized the defensive identity but you got to score in this league. And Deshaun Watson coming in and out of the lineup and the revolving door they had under center before they got to Joe Flacco. I was amazed they were even staying in playoff contention. And now here they are with a win and they're in scenario against the Jets who are the kind of team I could spend four hours just doing a podcast on their last four weeks. The Jets are the content gift that keeps on giving and that circus will continue with Robert Sala and GM Joe Douglas getting the good news from owner Woody Johnson before that debacle against Washington.

That they were coming back as Woody announced that to the beat writer for the New York Post. But we'll put the Jets aside. I think we've talked way too much about the Jets. I understand Rich Eisen is a long time Jet fan so I'll tread lightly. Cleveland is fascinating and I'm in the story business.

I don't root for teams or individuals or any particular jersey. I'm looking for interesting things to talk about and Cleveland has been remarkable in every area you'd want them to show up in. My question is because I mentioned Browning in passing and we'll see Cincinnati as I detailed coming up against Kansas City on Sunday is Joe Flacco going to follow the pattern that we've seen a backup quarterbacks crashing back to reality. If you're a Flacco supporter, you'll point out body of work. That's his point of differentiation because unlike say Browning or Dobbs, Joe Flacco had a long and distinguished NFL career. Now he bounced around as a journeyman at the end and says a lot the Jets didn't even want him. Certainly the Jets could have used him and no one could have known that Aaron Rodgers would last what four snaps in his debut for gangrene and we never saw him again. But the concern would be is Flacco now just in some zone?

Is he riding an emotional high as the league gets more current tape on him? It's going to be that quick fall off the cliff. Remember that cliff people were talking about? Not Cliff Clavin with Tom Brady for a long time. He's going to fall off the cliff. He's going to fall off the cliff and then finally he did just going to be really interesting to see starting with tomorrow night against a pretty formidable Jets defense.

Can Flacco keep this going and why not? Because we've never seen a stranger, more surreal, more bizarre year at quarterback at least in my lifetime across the NFL. A lot of people to thank starting with our two terrific guests.

The college football with Stewart Mandela, the athletic Spice Adams put together football and comedy. Want to pass along my sincere thanks to Rich Eisen. I appreciate his confidence in me. Always value the opportunity. Bruce Gilbert, all the good people at Westwood one are technical producer, my pal, Art Martinez.

I'm Brian Weber and I'll talk to you down the road on The Rich Eisen Show. 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.