Charles Woodson Says Michigan Could Have Dominated Rose Bowl Game

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. Happy New Year! Go Blue! This is the Rich Eisen Show. Mike Corum with an outstanding run! Touchdown, Wolverines! Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Oh snap!

Quarterback run up the middle! Yeah! He's not gonna make it! Yeah!

Everything that we went through this entire year, it made us unbreakable. Today's guests, Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, plus latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen! Our number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We'll take your phone calls this hour. Also this hour, game up with a top five list of the top five wildest stories that we missed while we were out on vacation. There's a handful of them. There's a handful of them. A couple we've already talked about. A few more we still have yet to hit on. I'm looking forward to this. We'll do that.

844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We're waiting on Charles Woodson, who we'll hopefully zoom in in a minute. He flew back. He took a red eye from Los Angeles last night. So, I'm hoping he's awake. Not gonna lie to you.

Not gonna lie to you. So, that's what's going on. Chris Brockman and Jay Felly in their spots.

Jay Jefferson in his spot. Good to see you guys. Good to see you guys. Still basking in the glow right now. As you should be. Still basking in the glow, man.

I mean... How long does the glow last before you start... Getting nervous? Yeah, and then winding yourself back up for Monday's matchup. Ask me tomorrow. Today's not that day. Sure.

Today's not that day. It was, again, just being in that stadium. There's nothing like it. You saw a Rose Bowl between Georgia and Oklahoma, right? Yeah, we were all that way. Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Sony Michelle, right? A lot of pros on that field. Totally.

Triple overtime. There's no place like the Rose Bowl. It's the greatest place to watch a high stakes football game.

Yeah, without question. I mean, did you see John Madden's grandson is on Michigan? Oh, really? And his grandpa won a Super Bowl in that stadium.

Wow, that's really cool. You know what I mean? Like, it's just, there's no history.

There's nothing like it. It's a hundred years old. Yeah, like McCarthy didn't, he was talking about the superstition. He didn't want to touch the Rose until after they had won there. And he went and got it out. Right, and then put it in his mouth like Charles.

Yeah, pretty cool. And did you hear what Jim Harbaugh had to say about J.J. McCarthy after the game? I don't know if we have that sound bite, if you don't mind. You know, and this is why he's, I'm hoping Jim sticks around.

I'm hoping. But this is what he had to say about J.J. McCarthy. Glorious. It was right where we wanted to be. It's everything that we worked for, everything that we prepared for, everything we hoped for, everything we trained and strained for. And the team just was not going to be denied. J.J. said it when he walked off the same podium last year in the semifinal game. He said, we're going to be back.

And what he told me was, not only are we going to be back, we're going to win. And there he did. You know, I mean, and in overtime against Alabama, I think the last quarterback to win in overtime against Alabama was none other than Tom Brady.

And I've said it before, but this is right here. This is the greatest quarterback in University of Michigan football, college football history. Got a long way to go to get to where Tom Brady eventually got to, which is the GOAT. I mean, he's lapped the field when it comes to that. But in a college career, there's been nobody at Michigan better than J.J. And I know we talk about an amalgamation of quarterbacks. He is that guy. And of course, Jim's including himself. Harbaugh was my first quarterback when I was in school.

I think the kids lost one game. He's been amazing. The day Ryan Day said, you know, no thanks to him. Because that's where he wanted to go. I mean, it's so delicious when it comes to the Ohio State stuff. Oh, is he from Ohio?

No, he's from Illinois. But at any rate, the question was asked of Harbaugh about, is next week now going to be his last game as coach at Michigan? There's a lot of interest in your future. I wonder if you can tell me what the chances are that the championship game might be your last one at Michigan. My future consists of a happy flight back to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Can't wait. Did he go Ric Flair? That sounds like it. Riding high, man. Junior Colson, a linebacker of Michigan, and J.J. McCarthy were on the podium next to him. Both of them whipped their heads right at coach to hear what the answer to that question was going to be. And he sidestepped it. He sidestepped it, and that's for another day as well.

It's for another day as well. Because trust me, if he wins it all, let him go. Either way, Michigan can never give Jim, as Bruce Feldman pointed out two Wednesdays ago sitting here, never give him a Lombardi Trophy, and if that's what he wants, then that's it. The man who knows about winning a national championship at Michigan as well as Super Bowl is about to join us in a second. Charles Woodson is about to join us. So, with Harbaugh saying what he said, you never know. But this man knows exactly the choice that Jim has to make and the beauty of winning it in two different levels.

He's in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was there last night. Are you already on the golf course, Charles? Is that where you are right now? Are you already teeing it up off a red-eye? Get out of here.

Hey, not yet, man. I have to find space. My home is being renovated right now, so I've got to find a spot wherever I can. So, the best place for me is on my golf cart, baby. That's the best place I could be. Other than Pasadena, California, I imagine, Charles.

Other than Pasadena. There's nothing like being there at the Rose Bowl when your team's in it. And again, I didn't ask you this last night in the brief talk that we had, so I'd love to ask you. What is it like for you to stroll on that field with your memories? What goes through your brain when you're on the field at the Rose Bowl, Charles? Man, you know, it's funny because we're standing there on the sideline, and I'm with my boys.

Somebody asked a question like, you know, where was the interception, you know, for what I played. And it's like that corner, like right there, I'm like almost right in the very spot where I was able to make a play, a big play in the game where we were playing for it all, playing for a national championship. And so you think about, you know, after that game and everybody rushing the field, you know, you just won a national championship. Like you start thinking about all of those moments, man, and all of the build up, getting to the Rose Bowl. You know, I always felt like the two teams that I played on in 95 and 96 would be the teams that got to the Rose Bowl.

And we never were able to accomplish it. And we would hear stories from the coaches and, you know, alumni who had made it to the Rose Bowl. And they'd give their description of riding down that windy road, you know, to get to the game and getting into the, you know, one of the most special stadiums around and talking about how the weather was going to be, how to how the sunset would be, you know, once the end of the game would come and we'd never got to experience it. And then finally in 1997, you know, we went undefeated and got our chance to go to the Rose Bowl. So I started thinking about all that stuff, man, and it was a lot of great and special memories to me. And then how about the fact that now for Michigan to win a national championship in 2024 calendar year, 23 season, they have to go through a team from the state of Washington as well. You know, I mean, you can't make it up.

No, no, you can't you can't ride it any better. And think about think about the, you know, the games, the epic games that Washington and Michigan had, you know, in the Rose Bowl over the years. You know, you remember some of the great names in those games, you know, on our side, you got Wheatley and on their side, man, they had some great guys, man, as well. So, yeah, that's that's pretty I didn't even think about that.

That's pretty wild. I know. And I was sitting in the I was sitting in a spot, a row in front of Warren Moon. And I'm like, you know, he's he was wearing his Washington Huskies sweater on and I'm like, you know, you know, good luck to you later on. And, you know, I know, you know what it's like to win in this building against Michigan, you know, 1978 Rose Bowl. And, you know, right now it's a Big Ten matchup. You know, it's about that. Isn't that crazy?

I mean, it's it's so crazy. So what did you think of the game yesterday? What did you think of Michigan's win over Alabama when when this game was was unfolding?

Charles, walk me through your emotions watching that. Yeah, there was it was a lot going on, man. You know, I feel like, you know, overall, I feel like for us, you know, there was a lot of missed opportunities. This this is a close game, you know, a tight game. And but I felt like we could have we could have actually dominated the way we started the game. We had, you know, muff punts, you know, we, you know, on a field goal, we, you know, we the ball doesn't get off the ground.

It slides past the kicker. Some missed third down opportunities, you know, were throws that, you know, I thought JJ had to make and, you know, maybe it was behind the receiver. But I thought we were physical, you know, our defensive line started out incredible, you know, getting sacks. I thought there was a there was one hit on the kickoff team and where we ran down the field, man. And we just I mean, we just almost knocked the life out of Alabama the way that those guys were hidden. And then, you know, at the end of the game, you know, towards the end, you know, you had, you know, we got to come back, you know, we got to make plays to win the game. And me, you talked about this, talked about Roman Wilson and the block in the back that he had.

And it's like, oh, my God, like it was it was clearly a black and a black block in the back is like, what are you doing? And then the catch, I'm going to call it the catch. We're standing on the sideline, me and my son, and we're watching this ball in the air come out of McCarthy's hands and it's sailing.

And we both me and my son said, oh, no, that was that was the game. And here comes Roman Wilson out of nowhere, man. He snags this thing out of out of the air, catches it, comes down and didn't make some, you know, make some moves and almost gets into the end zone. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, like, we're going to score now that we're here. Then it's just a matter of tying this game up.

And then the end of the game is, hold on, we got another buff puck. I'm like, all right. Oh, I got to be like this thing almost ends on the safety. Right. So this was, man, this game had there were so many ups and downs.

I have so many so many emotions, man. But to watch this defense at the end of the game have to get a stop. They put the ball in their main guy's hands. And again, the defensive line just playing physical got penetration. Quarterback had nowhere to go.

And that thing is over, over. And man, what a game. Well, I mean, yeah, Mason Graham, number fifty five, he was a beast inside and was making plays. And, you know, obviously, Saban said that it was a designed run for Milro. He did have an opportunity to maybe throw it to his left, but the snap was low.

And then that was all she wrote. Mason Graham was named the defensive player of the game. But I guess you can't name a cornerback, a defensive player in the game when there's only two balls thrown in his direction.

You know, and that matches the uniform number that Will Johnson wears, which is your uniform number, Charles. And I think this this kid, you know, front and back end play together. This kid's going to have his hands full against Washington.

That is for sure. And I'm wondering what you think about that match up and what the kid who wears your number, what you think of him to Charles. Yeah, well, he won't have another game where there's not many passes thrown, you know, all over the field. What what Phoenix has done this year as a whole, what his team has done, those offensive weapons he has, the receivers. You know, there's been everybody knows, you know, about what they have offensively. And so our guys will have to dig in, man. One thing that's going to be important to them is, you know, Pinnix is very good, very aware in the pocket. He extends plays.

So we're going to have to cover. It's going to be one of those those things where the way our defensive line played in this past game, they had to do it again, get him off the spot, but they got to get him down because if not, you know, these guys, man, they are special. You know, saw one catch over the middle, a dunes. I believe it was in last night's game where somebody draped all over him and he pulls that ball in.

It's like that's special right there. You know, man, a game like that in game when guys make catches like that. It's funny because, well, you know, those guys go to the combine and we'll figure out if they can run the ball. I mean, you know, run down a line and catch a ball on both sides. It's like, look, man, the guy does this in games.

I don't need to know if he's good enough. He ran. He ran a gauntlet against Texas. We saw it, you know. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So we'll have our hands full with those guys. But I know the coach, Steve Cleanscale, DB coach, man, he'll have those guys ready to play and locked in. And again, you know, it's about to me that defense line in the rotation, you know, that we have on those that line with Mason and Jenkins and those guys, man.

They'll be up for the task. All right. Before I let you go, a few minutes left with Charles Woodson, Pro Football Hall of Famer. And obviously we know greatest defensive player in the history of Michigan football right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Let's talk some real stuff right here. What do you say? Because the word cheaters was trending last night, Charles. What do you say to people who talk about asterisks or Michigan's a bunch of cheaters and don't deserve what's happening right now? How do you respond to that?

Charles? Well, I think, you know, if people are going to call us cheaters, then we might as well go win it all. You looked at the video with Coach Harbaugh, you know, talking about JJ McCarthy and, you know, trying to compare him to Tom Brady. Here's the one thing I know about Tom Brady is that every time anybody mentions Tom Brady, they call him a seven time Super Bowl champion. Nobody ever says anything about all the talk about cheating that New England Patriots were supposed to have done. They just say he's a seven time Super Bowl champion. So for our guys, if they're going to call you cheaters, you might as well win it. And then guess what?

Forever, they have to call you a national championship or national champion. So go get it done. Okay.

And do you think this is Jim's last game as a coach? What do you think? That's a tough one, Rich. That's a tough one. But I can certainly see that being the case. If he wins this game and he's a national champion and you talk about all the stuff that has gone on this past year with that cheating scandal or whatever it is.

They're possibly being, you know, sanctions to come down the road because there's still investigations going on. I can see John or Jim moving on to the to the NFL. Yeah. By the way, I don't blame you for mixing up your hardballs right now. They're both number one in their respective sports.

They're both trending. But I mean, you know about winning a Lombardi Trophy and the draw of that. Do you think that that's what it is? I mean, with Jim and why he's not even answering a direct question right now about coming back and anything like that. Charles, what's the draw there?

Well, we're not answering a direct question. That's kind of what Jim does. He always he always does that. But I think that's that definitely could be part of it. You know, Jim, of course, coached against his brother in the Super Bowl. And I know I feel I know he probably feels like that's one that got away from him. So if he could win a championship in college and then also have an opportunity to move on and go back to the NFL and have a shot at winning the Lombardi Trophy.

I'm sure that's something that's in the back of his mind that he would sure like to do. So if it were to happen, man, and he wins a championship, all I would have to say is thank you. All right. And then this is the realest of them all, Charles. Okay. And I know I just asked you two real questions. Yeah, two real back to back.

Okay. Where does this team currently Michigan compare to your national championship team? Were they right on par?

Maybe? Well, there's one game left. If they go on and win this game, they're the greatest team in Michigan history. Really? Hands down.

Hands down. And one of the reasons is because, you know, we didn't get a chance to, you know, play in a playoff and play, you know, one versus two or whatever that is. You know, we went out and played in the Rose Bowl, played in Washington State, and, you know, we'll always have that, you know, that kind of that co-champ, you know, connected with us as national champions. This will be a team that went through the gauntlet. This will be a team that went through the playoffs. This is a team that went and beat the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl. And if they can get it done against Washington, I give it up.

They'd be the greatest team in Michigan history. Damn. How about that for an answer? Do you expect that one, guys? By the way, and that's a nice carrot to put out there on the stick, Charles Woodson. I love it.

That's it. Go get it, fellas. Go get it.

Go get it. Love you, Charles Woodson. It's great to see you here.

Thanks for doing this. You're hanging out in your garage to come and zoom in on all jet-lagged out. But that was just, what a spot, right? That Rose Bowl.

There's nothing like it. And what did you think of when you saw J.J. McCarthy put the rose in his mouth, just like you, Charles? What'd you think of that? Hey, you know, all I could do was smile, man.

I saw the picture and, you know, I reposted and said that I'd seen that somewhere before. And, you know, there was a few guys with photos with the rose in their mouth. And, man, so fitting. And it was great to see those guys, man, celebrating. Celebrating much like we did back in the day when we got the roses. And, man, we just, hey, one more. And it's fitting. Coram, where's your number two? Again, I know it's offense, defense. How good is that kid, man?

And just a human as well. He's the best. Tough.

Tough. He's what, you know, Michigan is all about, you know, playing football there. You know, the way Michigan's always been built has been built on, you know, big, tough, physical, offensive line and running the football. And whenever we need a reminder of what Michigan is, you watch what Blake Coram does in games. Just a tough, physical runner. Never say die attitude. And when we needed to play, when we needed a big play, a number two came up with it. So I love it.

I love it. And those who stay, right, Charles? Those who stay, which is what he did.

And he's now one game away. Just like you stayed instead of bolting off to Miami because you got all upset with Lloyd Carr. All I think about, if it would have been the days of transfer portal, what might have been, I might have made one of the biggest mistakes of my life, man. Thank goodness there was no portal, but your mom would have been standing in the way of the portal anyway, Charles. We know that. No doubt. One call to mom changes everything. That's right.

She'd have been like Matumbo standing at the portal. No, no, no. Take care of yourself, Charles. You're the best. Love you, man. Yeah, man. Yeah, love you, guys.

Right back at you, ladies and gentlemen. Charles Woodson, everybody. Zoom in. His house is under construction. He's like, let me go to the garage. He's sitting in the golf cart. I saw him checking in.

I'm like, wait, golf cart? No, and you can see the garage is behind him. He's in the garage. A lot of great reception in the garage.

Great lighting in the garage. Well, you would assume so. He's Charles Woodson. I mean, he's got the highest internet.

How about that? He thinks if they win it all, they're the best team in the history of the Michigan Wolverines. I mean, I don't know.

He was on a pretty good team. Tough to argue, though. I mean, I didn't want to ask the follow up question because I knew what the answer was anyway. You asked Hutch, too, if you had taken on Nebraska next week, what would have happened?

What are they supposed to say? I know that. I know. That's why I didn't ask it.

Ask an answer. Can we ask Tommy Frazier or what would he say? True, true.

If we asked Tommy Frazier, he'd be likely to have taken him out. All right. Top five wildest stories we missed on vacation. Oh, yeah.

That's coming up next. Before we go, take the Game Time app, download it, put it on your mobile device, your phone, anything that is mobile enough for you to be as mobile as you want to be to get the best tickets in the house. And anyhow, sports, music, comedy, theater events near you, killer last minute deals, all in prices. What that means is when you get your tickets before you buy them, you get the entire cost upfront. So there's no surprises. Best price guarantee as well. Game Time takes the tick guesswork right out of buying tickets that you can buy in seconds with two taps.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. That was such a blast. Charles friggin' Woodson, man. You're living your best life right now, man. Come on, I am.

Talk with my chest and then having these guys show up to talk about it. Rich Eisen here. If you love football as much as we do here and want to be in the game every day, there's something the guys on my show have been enjoying. Prizepix Daily Fantasy Sports, the number one daily fantasy sports app. Brockman, tell everybody about Prizepix and your strategy this season. Rich, it's fun and easy. Pick two players or more based on their stats and place your entry.

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Learn more at discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. You are an accomplished water skiing enthusiast. Yes, I am. You once worked as a water skiing instructor.

Yes, I am. When the Happy Days writers found out, they wrote it into the script and that's how Jump the Shark was born. Okay, my father said to me, tell Gary Marshall you water ski. I said, I'm not telling him I water ski. Tell him you water ski. So he told me enough times I went to Gary.

I said, I'm just going to say this. My father wants you to know I'm a water skier and I was a counselor in camp as a water skier. All of a sudden, I'm water skiing. I pull up on the beach. I let go of the rope.

I pull up on the beach. I step out of the skis and I go, hey, look at that. And I'm smiling. If you watch the scene, half of that smile is the Fonz going, hey, I did it.

And the other half is Henry going, oh, I can't believe you did it. True. And you are aware of the phrase Jump the Shark. I am.

And its meaning within the pop culture. I am. A young man, John. John Haim. Yeah, he's a Michigan guy. A Michigan guy in his dorm room. Yeah. With his roommate, don't know his name.

They came up with the phrase Jump the Shark because of that episode. Yes. And I met him years later.

Now, this is America. He comes up with a phrase. There's a book. There's a game.

He's on the radio, on the Howard Stern Network. That's true. Now, people say, how did you feel? You know, this phrase, Jump the Shark. Every time they mentioned it, and it was in the newspaper, they had a picture of me water skiing. At that time, I had great legs. So I didn't care for one minute.

We were number one for five years after that. What did I care? That there was a phrase. That's true. That's true.

That's true. Henry Wernicke of Working Blue is maybe one of the greatest moments in the history of our show. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, 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. Dante and San Jose, California has been hanging on forever. What's up, Dante? Thanks for hanging on. No problem. How are you guys doing?

We're great. Happy New Year. Thank you. Same to you.

What's in your mind, Dante? Well, one, congratulations to Michigan from saving us from another SEC national championship. I didn't want to see it personally. Okay. All right. It just means more to us, I guess? I guess that's what it meant. Right?

I mean, if Michigan beat a team from the SEC, it must have meant more. Of course. Okay.

And I also had a great pleasure yesterday as a University of Oklahoma graduate student in Texas. You and Zach. Not alone.

Publicist to the stars. Zach. Okay. All right. But I guess what I wanted to ask you guys, as a Niners fan, am I wrong to assume that the Lions are the team that I should put the most into the playoffs? Because, I mean, no offense to the Cowboys, but we've been there and done that with them. I don't know.

Interesting. I mean, the Lions are just a team that just doesn't care. I mean, they won in... You know, great question.

Thanks for the call, Dante. I mean, the Lions won in Green Bay last year when they were eliminated. The Lions.

By the way, by an official call in Seattle that was terrible, if you remember that one, right? That screwed the Rams in the final game of the year last year. So they go into Lambeau Field to play a game that means, if you will, nothing to them, and they play like everything's on the line for them. And then they go into Kansas City when everybody thought they were just going to be the Washington Generals to the banner-hanging Globetrotters in Kansas City, and they win that game. And in Dallas, it's their homecoming night, literally, for Jimmy Johnson and the triplets and everybody else. Come on home. It's a literal homecoming game, and, you know, it's the Lions. And they damn near win that too. So why wouldn't they go into San Francisco with zero fear and just say, we'll come in there? So would you say that? Which is the team that should fear the most?

Going into San Francisco? I'd say the Rams. How about them apples? You don't want to face a division opponent that knows you and all that stuff. It just comes down to which quarterback you trust the most.

I guess. You know, do you trust Goff? Do you trust Dak? Do you trust Hertz the most right now?

I mean, take your pick. Stafford. Stafford, why not? Out of all of them, you know, Dak has had the best season, but Stafford is kind of 1-8 to Dak's one. Stafford's really coming on. Jeff and Detroit, what's up, Jeffrey? Oh, mixed emotions, mixed emotions. Like my coach said, he's off of that turbo blue, that high octane gasoline, man, right about now. Yeah.

Ready to go get anybody. It always seems like it comes down to a particular play and it's being snatched. Now, you did come to mind, you have to play better than the ref's ref.

But at the end of the effort, and listen, everybody left my house, everybody was gone. And with that minute left when they drove down the field, did exactly what they had to do, then you think to yourself, if you would have kicked the field goal early in the game, if we just went for the three points, would we be in a situation? But then you have to take the good with the bad because I look at it like this, would we have the record that we have right now? So, you know, I'm taking the good with the bad, we still got it, but it's just ridiculous because we deserve that particular game at that point in time. Right, but again, like Dan Campbell, instead of taking a bunny early on in the game, goes for it, they come away with zero points, but that's just him. That's what you get with him, and at least with him, you're getting wins more than not.

Brandon Staley coaches the same way, and all of them would go against him. And, you know, and now he's out of a job. So, you know, that's one of the differences. On the beautiful side of it. Yes. Oh, my goodness. Yes, sir.

Let's go. Like you said, this feels so good. For me to be able to call down to Alabama and just laugh in my cousin's ear, for me to just be able to sit there and just think about everything that Michigan has went through this year, all of the things.

I mean, the coach not being on the sideline, and for them to be in the position that they're in, they win a national championship. Yes. Yes. It's beautiful, man.

That actually made up for the Lions, because we're still in the playoffs, and you of them good old go blue football. Somebody check on Paul Finebaum, man. That's right. Well, fair check. Somebody make sure he all right. Well, fair check. Well, fair check.

Thank you very much. Appreciate the call, Jeff. Michigan fans, right now it's Finebaum number one and Pete Thamel kind of number two, which is unfortunate to hold a journalist accountable, as if he's got some ax to grind.

He kind of Michael Jackson moonwalked those statements. I would like to see Pete Thamel's byline on a catapult story, just to see how he's covering that. I just want to see that.

I'm curious as to why certain teams are not on their iPads watching film right now. I'm wondering. That's all.

844-204, Rich is the number to dial. So we're back here on our show, second day of 2024. Everybody enjoy their time away? Yeah, man. It's always good to get a little refresh.

Okay, get a little refresh. So while we were out in our out of office mode, the sports world kept clicking. I know. They just kept playing games.

It's kind of weird. You know what I mean? And stuff kept happening. I didn't get that. So I've got a top five list. Top five wildest stories we missed on vacation.

Hit it. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Rich's top five. All right, number five on this list. While we were gone, week 16, National Football League. Packers at Carolina Panthers. Number five on the list is Jair Alexander's Carolina coin toss coup.

Oh, look at you. Did you see what happened? Jair Alexander goes out for the coin toss in Carolina. Not a captain.

He goes out on his own. And not only is he not a captain, not supposed to be out there, he damn near blows the coin toss. Because you're supposed to say if you win the toss, you're going to receive or defer. You let them know that we are willing to give up the football now to get it at the beginning of the second half. He said, we're going to put the defense out there, which is not a choice. Well, it's a choice to go on defense. I guess if you'd say we're going on defense and not defer, and if that's accepted as a choice, then you give up the football to start both halves. Right, you're giving him the ball. Which, by the way, captains who are designated as such for the coin toss should know.

This was what Jair Alexander had to say when meeting with the media about this subject matter. Are you supposed to be a captain? Because the team announces the three-game captains, and you were the fourth, and you called a toss.

What happened there? Oh, yeah, I mean, you know, it's only suit. I don't think Coach knew I was from Charlotte. So you just did that on your own? I mean, you know, it was like the guys backed me up. They knew I was from here. Do you realize you almost made a big mistake on the call, though?

What did I do? Well, you said we want to go on defense, which in theory they could have said, then you're electing to kick off what you would have lost the opportunity then to receive in the second half? Yeah, no, I told them that I said I want our defense to be out there. And they all looked at me like I was crazy. I'm like, I mean, it's pretty simple what I said.

I want the defense to be out there. They're like, you mean defer? I'm like, yeah, I guess. Did he say that to you? Yeah, he did.

Because the mic was on. Oh, it was? We heard you.

Oh, really? No, he was just like defer? I was like, yeah. Everybody was like, yeah. Everybody was laughing.

I'm like, what are y'all laughing at? It's pretty obvious what I'm asking for. So, you know, it's also obvious that, you know, the word downs means chances. You know what I mean? But you call it a down in the NFL. It's not like, you know, are you willing to take a chance on fourth down? It's called fourth down, right? Yeah. Hey, terminology matters and upshot Jair Alexander got suspended for last week's game. Pretty obvious.

And Matt Leflore said it was for more than just that, but everything's going to be fine and dandy. And the Packers won anyway. That's number five on this list. I'm still confused.

It was so wild. It's pretty obvious. He went rogue.

I'm going out there because I'm from there. Put the defense out there. Not only did he go out there when he wasn't supposed to, he made the call. And it's almost screwed up. He messed it up.

All right. Number four on the list. Everyone knows from Thursday Night Football to kick off week 17. Joe Flacco's Thursday night cap and nap. He capped the Jets and then took a nap.

That's what Joe Flacco's Thursday night was. On the left is him smiling and celebrating. And on the right is him falling asleep. Now, I think he's looking down at his playlist right there. And a lot of people thought he just went to sleep because he kind of like shook it off and he's rubbing his eyes and whatever.

He also has five kids. OK, so a lot of it's going on. It's kind of funny, like Susie and I just ask us, hey, what are you guys watching? Like, what are you guys? And we hear other couples say, are you watching this show on Netflix or Hulu or whatever? And we're like, are you kidding me?

We have three children. You know, we're watching a friggin eyelids like nine o'clock at night. Get out of here. So Joe Flacco is so damn good right now that he's getting 300 yards and three tuddies before half.

And he's I'm taking a nap, going to sleep. Am I the only one bummed that they didn't keep throwing in the second? I know he could have taken 500 yards. Yeah, he could have gotten 600 yards.

The record is 554. He was close. Got to clock these whenever he can.

Number three on this list is Russell Wilson cooked. That's it. I mean, that I did not think when I left the stadium on Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas and all through the house. The one creature that was stirring was Sean Payton saying he'd done. And that's what it seems like right now, although the numbers kind of support. Denver being able to pull back from this brink and saying you're going to stick around for one more year and we'll see what happens. But if they're worried about having guaranteed salary in 2025, why would they put it to the point where they're not going to put them on the field for the final two games of 2023?

Why would they put them out there for 2024? I mean, this thing's over. Take the hell out of lover. This thing is over. And him this officially makes this trade the worst trade. Honestly, it makes it makes the Herschel Walker trade look like, you know, Branch Rickey pulled it off. And I know I'm mixing metaphors and generations here, but a great deal for Seattle.

Get out of here. I mean, Seattle gets Russell out of the mix. They move on from him and they get a ton of draft picks that they use to go get their offensive line straight for the next decade potentially. I feel bad for Russ, man.

I think he's playing well. I just that marriage was not going to work. Number two on the list.

NBA trade in December, everybody. How about that one? I don't get this. Did not see it coming. And I also don't really understand it. I understand it completely. I saw it and I'm like, great. I was saying great deal. Oh, great deal for the Knicks. Really? Absolutely. I love OGN and OB.

And you know what wasn't working in New York? Anybody on the court playing point guard other than Jalen Brunson. And I love IQ. But Jalen Brunson is truly this is a fact. He is one of the greatest Knicks of all time already. Yes.

Yes, he is. You could say Clyde Drexler, Clyde, Clyde Drexler. You could basically say, you know, Clyde is the is the greatest point guard in Nick ever. Right.

Thank you. Walt Frazier is the greatest ever. Yeah. Name me another point guard that even approaches him. Mark Jackson. OK. Listen, I'm a St. John guy and all.

Get out here. Jalen Brunson is dynamite. And R.J. Barrett ain't it?

I know Nick fans love R.J. Barrett. But he was drafted to be Steph Curry type, you know, additive. And I know he's he wasn't number one or number two overall. But he was supposed to be a game changer for the Knicks. A guy will light it up and score way too inconsistent.

Honestly, way too inconsistent to be a guy that you're going to keep counting on. Switch it up. Get OGN and OB in here. Get the change the roster around. It's Brunson's show where it's a Brunson world. Knicks fans, we are revolving around it.

And I kind of dig it. I thought that was a really, you know, gutsy trade. Didn't they just sign R.J. Barrett to a very expensive contract?

Yeah, he was up for an extension. Let's go. Let's go. And I thought, you know, R.J. and IQ for OG. I checkmark that one.

Letters. It was number one on the list. The wildest story we missed on vacation was Brad Allen turning into Phil Luckett 2.0. And it was Phil Luckett. It involved the lines, right? It actually helped the line that helped the line.

But it's just one of those moments where it just let's just slow the game down. It's a simple thing. Heads, tails for luggage. Look, I'm eligible for Brad Allen. OK, and it's not just the wiping of the jersey. It's the words I'm reporting as eligible. It's a little bit more of a mouthy sentence than heads or tails.

Right. Just slow the game down. What are they saying to you?

What is happening here right now? And just like Phil Luckett not, you know, or hearing something else or assuming something else, it left the referee on the business end of a bunch of screaming people saying, what is your malfunction? And him shaking his head no, just like Phil Luckett did, like, nope, nope. And that's the worst part of watching that video back is the screaming at the ref. And the ref just adamantly shaking his head, no, I am I am right.

You are you are wrong. It was Phil Luckett 2.0. And Phil lost his white hat. And, you know, I that that's the wildest story that we that we missed. Well, Rich, the good news is, is Brad Allen is doing the first game on Saturday.

Are you sure he's back on national TV? I don't get the NFL sometimes. I just don't get it. I mean, they're asking for it.

Do you think we need one more? And I understand. OK, all right.

Here we go. Did Tom Brady go on his Instagram account and say that he almost retired last May? I took that as he was kidding. He put out his Instagram post of memories, by the way, beautiful family. I love seeing how he's doing things that he could never do as a football player. Exactly.

And so he's shown all these beautiful photographs in different locations on planet Earth. And and then he has the only downside to twenty twenty three was when I was about to unretire in May. And my friends through a surprise retirement party kind of forced my hand. And then there's like a laugh and the laughing face that kind of made me think they're like, ah, I wasn't going to retire. Chris, why pop that on there? I tried to tell you guys he was coming back this year. I was right. It's like, what did he like? And so that would have meant for who?

Yeah, that's for the box question. Raiders. Could it have meant the Raiders? Do you think? I don't know. Like, what's he talking about?

You guys think the flack of science is talking about and go, hmm. Oh, yeah. By the way, Tom Brady, I picked him up in fantasy just so I could say I had him on my roster for week eighteen. Who's he talking about?

The Raiders. Those are the top five wildest stories we missed on vacation. We'll take a break and we'll talk about the Belichick side of things. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial to wrap up this busy Tuesday show. Welcome to Talkville, the ultimate small rewatch podcast. Karen, what you got? Hi, guys.

Karen from Australia with a quick question for season three talisman. That knife wound was so powerful. Tom, what was it like to do that scene with John as your director? It's great that I was with those people, because when your eyes are closed and someone is supposed to going to stab you in the chest, you have to really trust that they're not going to hurt you. So I was in good hands with John.

Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. All right, we're back here on the program. Everybody. Everybody. So what else can we talk about that we haven't hit just yet?

How about all the teams that regret not signing Lamar Jackson? Yeah, we want to get it. This is this is longer than two minutes. We can talk about that tomorrow. This is this week. We can talk about that tomorrow because I tweeted out something during during the Christmas game that Schefter even popped into my tie line to put back on. Remember, nobody wanted Lamar Jackson.

OK. Dummies real quick. Lamar was announcing did a story about Lamar was never a free agent. He was a restricted free agent. They could have matched with they that cost people two things. First round pick first round picks. So that's two of one thing and 200 million and 200 million dollars.

Yeah. So it's not like he was just on the couch and you could take him and pay him whatever you wanted and it would cost you nothing in draft capital. And also there was a general sense out there that the Ravens couldn't figure out the puzzle with him on his contract.

And you. The reason why they they they put him out there where you could negotiate with him instead of just they could have just made him an unrestricted. You couldn't touch him.

Franchise player. You couldn't approach him. OK, like you or you or he was as restricted as possible.

Gotcha. And instead they put the transition tag on him so you could speak to him. Now, one way is like, hey, here's your market, Lamar. And he found out the market was dead because a lot of people I heard thought they couldn't figure out the problem. So they're allowing me to approach him so we could figure out the problem for them. And all they would have to do is, oh, OK, thanks for doing that.

He stays. Yeah, but the story is better the other way. I understand. But the other way the other way is everybody saying there was collusion.

And people are saying that without having to say that word. Back here on the Rich Eisen show, we're going to talk about that more the Lamar stuff. But I want to finish up this show with Bill Belichick, who I saw on the Saturday of Christmas weekend for a production meeting prior to the Patriots and the Broncos.

And the guy that I saw is a guy who is not tapping out. He is not tapping out of coaching. I would be stunned if he winds up an immediate gig. Not because he's not good at it.

Him and Al would be amazing next year. This guy this guy loves to coach. That was Kurt Warner's first question of him. It's like, what do you know? Like what? He didn't say, why are you still doing it? But what do you love about coaching that you're still doing it? And he gave an answer of like everything.

Game planning, calling a game. He also said, you know, draft. He loves all of that stuff.

And I know that's where you just rolled your eyes because that's where you'd like to take the car keys away from him. Well, it's been frustrating the last few years. So this guy loves to coach. And by the way, just the next half hour, we were talking about his entire career from the fact that he was on the 78 Bronco staff as an assistant. And talking about how he learned watching, you know, from Al Davis and watching John Madden being in the division. And that institutional knowledge is in every decision he makes. And that's why he is the type of coach that you'd want to have. Because he's got 49 years of being a head coach or an assistant in the NFL in a row, which is a record in the history of the NFL. 49 years in a row he's been on a staff either of his own or someone else's.

And it's unbelievable. And I also even asked him, you know, like, hey, this one's for me. What was this Kurt Warner scouting report for the Super Bowl? And the stories he was telling about that Super Bowl, the two of them were going back and forth, play for play. Like, he remembered every moment and uses that as knowledge to get his team ready for this week. This is what he had to say on the Greg Hill show locally in the Boston area today. They kept on pushing him for, why aren't you, you know, about his future? And then he asked him, like, why won't you address it?

And this was his answer. Whatever success I have had, I've tried to go about my job the same way every week. Win, lose, you know, good years, bad years, whatever they are, you know, just each week. Get ready to go for that week, do the best you can to help your team win. And after that game, move on to the next one. And at the end of the season, that's the end of the season.

On a week-to-week basis, I mean, I don't want to spend time or get caught up in, you know, what happened five years ago, or what's going to happen two years from now, or, you know, I mean, a bunch of other random stuff. So, just working on the jets. You know, I'm committed to the team that I'm coaching right now.

The players that are here, they deserve my best every day, and that's what I'm going to give them. I mean, these coaching, just like he wants his team to play, down by down, snap by snap, quarter by quarter, game by game, week by week, year by year. I know it hasn't worked out this year, but that's how you're able to keep a team together to beat the Broncos and put a scare into bills. They're going to smoke the Jets.

They're going to just break them off in three different pieces. Then you'll have a third overall pick and a decision about what to do. And that's going to be fascinating, because this guy is coaching his head off as well as ever. I know the results aren't there, and that might be the GM side of things, but I did not see a guy that didn't want to coach anymore, and certainly not there. I think he wants to stay, which will make it a fascinating conversation. And that's the way we end this Tuesday program. Back to wrap it up on the Roku channel in a moment. Thanks to Charles Woodson for joining today and you. And now he's making money hand over fist. That is a story I love. Eighty three weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.