Karl-Anthony Towns: Happy To Be Playing For This Team

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Learn more at Discover.com slash credit card. Limitations apply. This is The Rich Eisen Show. This is going to be in the pantheon of postgame press conference coaches rants. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. They get to win tonight?

If that's the case, just let us know so we don't show up for the game. The Rich Eisen Show. Darko is going to get a beer commercial when he retires. That was great. Earlier on the show, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy.

Coming up, Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. And now it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody, our number three is on the air. 844204 Rich is the number to dial.

All phone lines are lit. That delights me. I'm not going to lie. I do this show so I could talk to people.

Otherwise, I'm sitting there suited and booted on NFL Network all those years on ESPN and I would just talk to the camera and I'd say, who's listening? And I have no idea. And now I'm having a conversation with myself and I don't like it. I mean, we're here. We're literally I understand that. I don't know.

I don't know. I can respond. This has just been my my balance is off. My balance is off. I'm just going to be straight up with my balance is off.

Dogs and cats living together. Space time continuum. I don't know what's up. Pete Carroll gets kicked upstairs and he says he's competing was he tried to compete to stay the coach. And then Nick Saban retires. Like I mentioned, I thought things come in threes.

I thought Chris Christie was the third. It wasn't. Bella check to sold my beer parts ways with the Patriots and vice versa, because that's what they mean by mutually. The hell going on?

Yes. The hell going on? We thought Vrabel getting fired by the title was just the first shot.

It was. And then the coaching carousel saw the whites of our eyes, to use the New England phrase. It's crazy.

The boom is always I don't understand it. I you know, I said to my kids yesterday. I'm like, you love them? Well, that goes without saying. I mean, best dad ever since here. I said to him, I'm like, hey, we saw Nick Saban's last game as head coach in person. I know it's nuts.

That's cool. But Michigan, you put them to bed, retired Nick Saban, we were the national champion. We better win the national championship. It's like Herb Brooks saying you'll take this year.

The graveyard beat Finland. You know, Michigan retired. Nick Saban. And then the Jets beat Bill Belichick in his last game as head coach of the Patriots.

See, if you're looking at anybody, look at me. It's my fault. I'm the only Michigan Jet fan out there. I think I mean, I checked the roster.

There are no Wolverines on the Jets. David Harris played for Michigan and the Jets. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. He also played for New England, too, at the end. Yeah, he did. That's part of that rivalry that started when Bill handed in his cocktail napkin. Well, actually, Curtis Martin, that was the first one.

That's the first shot in that era of the rivalry. Bob Kraft is speaking right now. He's taking questions before it was just reading of statements. We'll get that for you. Phone calls, 844-204-RICH, number to dial here on the show. I've got my top five best available coaching jobs list for you. But joining us right now, I'm seeing right here in an interesting get up on the Rich Eisen Show. Again, I'm told he's an Eagles fan, which is why we want to talk to him before he takes on the Buccaneers. We just talked to Baker Mayfield. He's he's part of the best team in the Western Conference.

In the record department, for sure. And maybe who knows what? Carl Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you, Carl Anthony Towns? I'm doing great.

I'm doing great. It's an honor to be here. It's a thrill to have you here.

So all right, let's just jump into it. Yankee Pinstripes. What's up with that? You know, growing up in Jersey, I remember growing up and being with my grandmother, Dominican grandmother, and I remember fixing the antennas on the TV and everything to watch some Pinstripe games and Yankee games. So the love has just continued on since I was young.

OK, I'm trying to figure out. So when you were a baby is when Jeter was winning all those championships, right? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. I it was I remember I've only I remember when I was young, I went to a Yankee game and I was watching Bernie Williams at center field. And that was the first time I ever got a ball from like anyone on the field. And it's crazy to think about now.

It's like the same thing with giving a jersey or arm sleeve or a towel. You know, the little things mean the most to the fans. And I was there and it meant the world to me.

I still have the baseball to this day. OK. And so let me find out where the connective tissue here, because I'm told your your NFL team is is with the Eagles. The Eagles. OK.

Fly Eagles, fly. OK. So you must be from southern Jersey. Is that where you're from? No, I'm from Central.

I'm from Central. It's a very weird town. Weird situation.

Yeah. What town? What town is your town? It's got away. It's got away in New Jersey, New Jersey.

So home of Greg Ciano, Rutgers, Chop Wood, all that. So wait a minute. How did Calipari come in there and take you?

What happened? Listen, you know, Cal Cal Cal part of that mafia, you know, he go find any talent he needs in Jersey. You know that.

Come on. He found Michael K. Gilchrist right before me. You knew he was going to come back to Jersey to go again. OK, so Rutgers never knocked on your door.

That never. Yes, yes, yes, they did. And I my mother actually worked at Rutgers. So it was it's a lifelong love I have for Rutgers University.

Give me so many incredible moments. I just when it came down to it. Yeah. Thought Kentucky was the right school for me. My mother also really wanted me to go there. So made sense. I mean, it worked out. Mama knows best. Mama knows best. And so does Coach Cal.

So does Coach Cal. Can't say the results speak for themselves. They did pretty good. The results did speak for themselves.

I mean, so we're talking about college, too. Congrats to you in Michigan. Thank you, Carl Anthony Towns. Thank you. I feel like a champion.

Do I look like one? You look great, man. Thank you. I appreciate that. You got that gleam in your eye. You got you beaming.

I see you. That's a winning attitude right there. That's a winning. That's a winning demeanor right there is that it's also the makeup, you know, the makeup. No, but I'm I am I'm over the moon, man.

I am completely over the moon about about the University of Michigan. And, you know, you play in Big Ten countries. So, you know what it means. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. I have a lot of friends who I got really, really close friends of mine who went to Michigan. So it was that lead up to the game was was big about rooting for Michigan. And shout out to Desmond Howard as well. One of my good friends actually do Social Justice Coalition as well. So that's glad that he got to see that happen.

It does. One of my favorite people. So are you nervous about your Eagles? Are you nervous? I'm always nervous about anything I say.

Are you serious? I'm worried because, you know, we played a great season. I have nothing but faith in my team. I ride or die with the Eagles, but, you know, it's getting tough now. It's the time to win it all. So I'm not nervous for them, I would say, per se. I would say, you know, I'm nervous just how we're going into the playoffs. Yes, exactly. They certainly don't look like the team that went to the Super Bowl last year, you know.

I mean, but just like in basketball, we could say that about anybody that didn't look like they were going to be the championship team and end up winning the championship, whether it be, you know, from record wise, the Lakers or in baseball, the Nationals, you know, it could be anybody, you know, anyone can win at any time. Okay, so have you met Hertz? Have you met any of the Eagles? Any of the other cross-passers? No, I haven't met Hertz. I have not met Hertz personally, but if there was a quarterback I wanted in the league to play for the Eagles and play for the team I root for, I'd definitely be Jalen Hertz. I got nothing but faith in him. He's proven.

He's a great guy. As long as we get to one yard line, it's four for one, or we're at the one yard line, we good. I promise you, Rich, we good. I wonder what the brotherly shove would look like with you having the ball on your center, Karl-Anthony Towns. My knees would not like that. My knees would not like that. You couldn't get down that low? You couldn't get down that?

I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes to get that touchdown, but I don't know if my knees would appreciate that one, but that would be crazy, though. I think it would be better to see Jalen Hertz thrown into me as a tight end. Although, I think with the brotherly shove from Draymond, right? Like Draymond would be out there pushing you, right?

Tell me what that would be. I don't know if it's too soon. Who would be Jason Kelsey? Who would be your Jason Kelsey comparison?

In the NBA you're talking about? Who would be the Jason Kelsey? I don't know. Hold on a minute. Let me think about it. Let me think about it. Uh, Valen Tunis? I don't know.

What do you think? Can we get Boban involved? Boban! You know, I'm trying to go with Hardin. Hardin's got a similar beard, you know what I mean?

I'm just trying to go, I don't know if I'm trying to go facially here, but I don't know. That's a good call. Valen Tunis call. That's a very good call. That's a rich. It's deep, Carl. That was a great, great knowledge. Thank you, sir. I'm trying to get there.

Carl Anthony Towns here on The Rich Eisen Show. So, what a great season you're in the middle of, it appears right now. What does it feel like to you with the Timberwolves?

You know, just good. It just feels, you know, I've been here for nine years. It's awesome to have this kind of moment where we're riding the high winds and finding a lot of success. I'm just happy to be part of it. I'm happy to be playing for this team. Happy to be with these guys in the locker room and doing whatever I can to help us win.

So, what's the difference between this year and last in your... I think discipline. I think it's simply just the discipline. I think that we've done a great job, especially early in the year.

I think Mike Conley is a huge part of it as well with his veteran leadership. Just, you know, just having that discipline, you know, games. We're finding different ways to win a lot of different games, you know, where it's not always just, you know, cookie cutter, clean cut. You know, we're finding different ways in the fourth quarter to win, third quarter to win. Our defense has stepped up.

I think our defense has stepping up this year has helped us win a lot more games. When you're referring to Conley, are you referring to Bite-Bite? Carl Anthony Towns? Is that who you're referring to? Mike Bite.

Bite-Bite. Yeah, he's Mike Conley's special, man. He isn't like that. I don't think he likes that nickname. You don't think so? Cat, nope.

I don't think so. I think that him and Ant are gonna have to talk about it. What planet does he live on? Anthony Edwards. What planet would you say? We haven't figured it out yet.

NASA is working really hard. Somewhere in the Milky Way or somewhere, but he's otherworldly, and he's otherworldly as an athlete and a player. He's special, man. He's so special. What's your favorite story that you can share with us about Anthony Edwards? Carl Anthony Towns, please.

What do you got? There's a lot. I feel like there's a new story every day. Okay, I like that. Is he really as good at everything as he claims to be? That's a good question, TJ Jefferson. That's a good question, TJ Jefferson. He said anything that there is, he would be good at it. I'm gonna let the myth, I'm gonna let the legend grow.

Let him keep scoring, but yes. I mean, there's many times. I mean, Ant's just funny. I think Ant has to be one of the funniest players I've ever been around.

He makes everyone in the locker room laugh. There's just too many stories. I can't even think of one exact story. Every day there's something new. Is it true he did not know who Alex Rodriguez was? Is it true? Yeah. I mean, it was more funny he said that. It was more funny he said that, but then just said that he would be the best baseball player. And I was like, but you don't know who A-Rod is? Well, I mean, you're wearing the pinstripes. Did you have to, you know, coach him up on who Alex Rodriguez? Oh, for sure, for sure, for sure.

I have to. A-Rod was one of my favorite players growing up, so it's crazy enough now he's my business partner. He's paying the bills, you know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's doing it all. So it's true. Anthony Edwards did not know who Alex Rodriguez was when he came on board. Ant ain't gonna lie. I asked Ant the other day, he was, I mean, simply as this, yesterday after the game, we played the Celtics, he asked our equipment manager where his earrings are. And I was like, come on, man, you know them earrings ain't real. He says, absolutely they not real. And I said, I thought you was lying.

I thought you was just saying that on complaint. He's like, absolutely, they're not real. I got these. I was walking down New York one day and saw the earrings and said, they're mine. So what was like 20 bucks? Is that what you're saying? Like, if we appraise them?

You know, if it's in New York, my way, got to be at least a 20 piece. Oh my gosh. All right. So do you feel like your team can win at all?

Carl Anthony Terrence, let me just throw that one out. Of course, of course, of course. I think we could play defense the way we're playing, especially early in the year, we continue to figure out our offensive flow, continue to grow as a team and even get more continuity. I think the sky's the limit for us, you know? And I'm really excited to see the team we are at game 83 from right now.

And that's what's really exciting. Okay. What can you tell me about your works? You mentioned already social justice, the coalition. What is that for folks who may not know what that is? You serve on the board of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition.

Yeah. For us, it's a bunch of great minds and not only just players for the fans who don't know, it's actually owners as well from Miami Heat to the Kings to a lot of Ballmer on the Clippers. You know, we have a lot of great minds in that room and on these Zooms and everything. And we talk about how can we affect change and even the playing field out. And we've done a really great work.

One of them was the George Floyd act that got passed through Congress. So that was really awesome to be able to be part of that moment in DC. So it's just a lot of ways we can help the world. And that is just, it's amazing what we've already have accomplished. And I have to say, Rich, I have never realized how tough it is to get something passed through Congress or to even have something even be in front of them.

And they look at it and then they have it in front of us. It's extremely tough. So I know we all celebrated a lot when we got the George Floyd act done. Well, I mean, you are not wrong about that. And that is an incredible accomplishment.

And then your local work as well. Hope Kids, what is Hope Kids? Yeah, Hope Kids, we just did, it's been so many years, but it's our annual coat drive. And with this coat drive, we've been able to keep a lot of kids in Minnesota warm who are underprivileged or under-resourced. And this year, Rich, I think we gave, we had to have close to almost over a thousand coats.

And North, shout out to North Face as well and Hy-Vee for being great partners and making all this happen. And being able to just, you know, one of the things when I came to Minnesota, I realized how cold it was. I didn't, I don't know, I should have been more educated on that part, but I was young and I got here and realized how cold it was.

I wanted to see, you know, sometimes you think so grand of ways to affect change. And sometimes it's the simplest things that make a big difference. So being able to provide people who can't afford coats or great coats or good coats, the chance to have a really good coat. And even this year, I have kids who came back three years ago, got coats and are still wearing those same coats. And they thank me tremendously for the coats because without the coat, they don't feel they would be warm and also have some swag as well for themselves. I love that. Beautiful.

Carl Anthony sounds beautiful. As you know, my run that I do every year is for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. So I, um, when I, when I hear about anybody doing anything for kids, and then also when you do something for kids, you help the parents too, right?

Because parents are nonstop worrying about their kids. And so anything you can do on that front is remarkable. And I should mention for my run a few years ago, an individual who helped raise it up in terms of profile in a notch is an, is a, um, a, a, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who was just looking at YouTube, uh, wondering if he could see a charity that would speak out to him or a charitable event that would speak out to him. And he saw my run, um, and then got involved in it. And his name is Mark Lorry, Carl Anthony, who is, as you know, the, the man there, uh, in ownership for, for your team. And I love that guy.

He's from my hometown of Staten Island as well. You have to send him my best. I will.

I will. He's a, he's an amazing guy. And I, um, you know, again, uh, you, a lot of respect for you, what you do every year. That it's such an amazing run. And I know we talked off the air, but I just, I've really, really enjoyed watching it every year.

I've actually gotten my girlfriend into watching it with me every year. Okay. Yeah. So I'm bringing people together. I like that.

Shout out to Rich, man, bringing people together. I had no idea when, uh, you know, I, uh, uh, I'm, I'm playing Cupid in a way. I love that. We got to get you running. How fast can you run a 40? How fast can you run a 40? Listen, I ain't fast, but I'm quick, Rich. I'm quick, Rich. I ain't fast, but I'll definitely, uh, if it's for charity, I'll definitely attempt it.

Okay. I know what you, I want to see you run a, uh, a Tyree kill, like faux faux. Oh yes. I could do that by about, yeah, by about the 25 yard line.

If you stop, if you stop the watch at the 25, I could run a four, four 25. Some training, man. Come on facility. You know, they got the best trainers in the world.

The best stream coaches in the world. You know, you go there. I'll get in that. Okay. I think that's rich. Can you at least give me like a full eight by about the 30 or I'm running in my suit to Carl. Come on now. That's rich.

I seen you running fast. I'm going to hold you to this though. I would love to have you involved. I would love to get your involvement.

That is for sure. Uh, what a, uh, what a pleasure to chat with you. Uh, let's do this, uh, more on the regular. If you're up for it, we'd love to have you. This is fun. This is fun. It's a huge, like I said, it's a huge honor to be here. Uh, it's, it's obviously, it's such an honor to meet you as well. Thank you. If you don't mind, if I could give a shout out, we had some big news here.

What do you have? Uh, shout out to the newly seated historic St. Paul city council. It's all women. It's the youngest council as well. And it's the most racially diverse council of all time here in the city in St. Paul. So it's really, really cool. So I really, uh, I want to give a shout out to them. They've done some great work and I'm really excited to see with that diversity.

How can we affect change here in St. Paul? You're good people, Carl Anthony towns. I appreciate you joining this program and, uh, I look forward to the next time already. You go ball out.

Absolutely. I can't wait. Can't wait. Keep balling out, Carl. Appreciate you. What a delight. That was great. What an absolute delight. Now I feel bad that the Celtics beat them. No, you don't.

No, you don't. What a delightful human. Right.

We got to get them on. That was really cool. Definitely. More often. I love it.

Okay. Take a break. Bob's his lady likes you too.

I mean, I'm sure my lady likes him now too. She's out there watching. What a delight. All right, we'll take a break. Bob Kraft's still talking.

Let's find out what he's saying. And then your phone call is 844-204-RICH. And I got a top five list of coaching jobs that are best available now. 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. Prize Picks Daily Fantasy Sports. The number one daily fantasy sports app. Brockman, tell everybody about prize picks 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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Visit prizepicks.com for restrictions and details. Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. Whoa, he really is an Eagles fan. He's got a lot. Yes. Got a lot of Eagles stuff on. I'm wearing a jersey to the Super Bowl with the Jerome Brown patch. That's what you're going to do? Yes.

Okay. Got the Randall Cunningham jersey, but my jersey has Jerome Brown patch. Well, what will it say on the back? Will it say heart? Will it say your name?

No, it's going to say Cunningham. It's a real jersey. Okay. I can't make it say heart. I'm no longer authentic if I make it say heart. It's got to be a real jersey. This is a real moment. Understand. It's a big moment for me, man. This is it. It's a big game.

What do you think? What do you mean what I think the score will be 80, 83 to 6. I called it. I put my prediction out there a long time ago. Okay. I had a dream.

I saw it. And how many to that? So how many touchdowns then for Nick Foles then out of that? Nick Foles is going to throw for 32 touchdowns.

32. It's going to be a grinding game. And Foles is going into this game with so much confidence. After the last game, he's got so much confidence.

I don't care what you say. You can't beat confidence. You know how much confidence I have? You can't beat my confidence.

I don't care what you tell me. I'm so confident. I'm so confident. Foles has confidence. Our defense has confidence. We are here. This is what we said we will be in the beginning of the season. And we got here as confidence.

They're used to being here. That's cocky. That's this little nonchalant shoulder shrug.

Yeah, we'll do it again. It's not the same type of confidence. It's not the same type of hunger.

It's a different level of hunger. And these dogs got to eat. Get it?

Because they was calling us underdogs. Yes, I know. YouTube.com slash Rich Eyes and Show for our full show archive. So much going. I feel like they had a whole full show archive today. The Rich Eyes and Show radio network is back on the air sitting at the Rich Eyes and Show desk furnished by Grange with supplies and solutions for every industry.

Grange has the right product for you. Call clickranger.com or just stop by. The press conference in New England just ended. Again, Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick read a statement earlier. Robert Kraft just took questions.

Two hours later, we're turning that around right now in an edit base. But the headline is Robert Kraft said he wanted to get somebody in who would take the team back to the playoffs. And win. And win.

And that guy wasn't Belichick anymore, it seemed. It's tough to wrap your arms around. Let's get to the phone lines here in the Rich Eyes and Show. Let's go to phone line, phone bank. Tyler in Ohio. We'll take your call. What's up, Tyler?

Waiting the longest. Hey, Rich. How are you guys doing? It's on your mind. How are you guys doing this morning? We're well.

What's on your mind, Tyler? Oh, first off, I want to say congratulations to the Michigan Wolverine. I will accept it on behalf of them. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you, Tyler.

Very classy. And we are truly in a different age of the NFL. We are in football in general. We just watched, in my eyes, two of the best generals we've ever had in football step down. And it's just insane to wrap my head around. I'm with you.

I'm with you. It just seems crazy to me that we're going to see, and thanks to the call, Tyler, we're going to see an NFL season where Belichick's on somebody else's sideline. That's going to happen. And Kraft basically said, I'm preparing myself for it.

And the question is, is where? And then Nick Saban's going to be, what, on TV? I'd imagine so. Right. We don't know who's going to be in Alabama. Dan Lanning had an opportunity, it seems, and said, no, I'm staying in Oregon.

Bruce Feldman, our weekly Wednesday guest, just tweeted out something about Mike Norvell at Florida State. Perhaps he leaves the ACC before his school does. That's one way to guarantee a playoff spot. Be the Alabama coach. So that works. Certainly since Alabama, in his mind, took his spot.

Right, exactly. Just when there's eight more spots available, you'll take the one that will definitely get you in the bye week. Better shot at a bye week.

There you go. Other piece of college football news, Quinn Ewers announced he is coming back to Texas this year. Does Arch Manning go to Alabama? I don't know. Everything I hear is the Mannings love Texas and love Sarkeesian.

Back to Ole Miss. That's everything I hear. Yeah. That they're happy, the kid's happy. Kid likes it there. I don't know.

I have no idea. Also, as you can see, I got this Arch Manning card right there. This boat that I'm preparing to buy is not going to buy itself, all right? I need Arch to get on the field.

Okay, so how do you... Just let me ask. Since Belichick's heading to his boat right now, waiting for the offers to come flowing in. I bought a second one. You've got a second boat?

Like, what has to happen for the boat? Heisman? Well, he needs a Heisman. Right now.

Right now. And then he needs to go the NFL. And as I predicted, he was going to win four Super Bowls, get a bus and a gold jacket, be in shrine forever and ever and ever. And then I'll be able to sell these cards and then purchase a boat.

But this process has to get started, though. But what uniform is he in? His high school uniform? This is him in high school. You don't even know the name of the school, do you? Newman.

Come on, don't play with me. It's Adore Newman, isn't it? Yeah, it's Adore Newman. Yeah, but nobody calls it as Adore Newman. It's Newman. I think that... Yeah, whatever.

What about Isadore? Yeah. They know my name. I'm holding gold here. Jerry Gold. My friend Izzy. Are you really?

Do you really sit there? I hope. That's right. Now it's worth more than his Packers share of ownership.

By the way, that'll improve with the win over his Cowboys over the weekend. Oh, yeah. Do you just...

I might buy another boat. You claim you're not in this for cowboy clicks and like... Excuse me, I'm not in for... Anything you say is like you're poking, man. I'm going to go full Dan Patrick here. I'm going to go full Dan Patrick because that's what he pulled on me when I was on his show yesterday.

It was marvelous. It is that I'm... You know, I'm a journalist. I have no rooting interest and I root for stories.

Okay. What's a better story? Than the Dallas Cowboys winning? Nothing. The Packers won in Dunningham and now we're certainly talking about what's Mike McCarthy's future and it's Bill Belichick, the next coach and Dan Quinn can just stay put and then Seattle is out on Dan Quinn and Tennessee's out on Dan Quinn or we'll talk about the Cowboys getting set for the divisional playoffs.

You tell me which is better. Chris, go. Just settle down just a little bit.

That's better if the Cowboys lose. You know what your problem is, Rich? I have no rooting interest. I'm a journalist. I root for stories.

That's what Dan told me. I'll tell you what your problem is. Now, you put me on this show three years ago. All right, TJ. The Michigan Wolverines had lost eight straight to the V Ohio State University.

You put me here, all of a sudden I was like a good luck charm. You've never lost to Ohio State. Excuse me. First of all, I've been rooting for you. Outwardly.

Michigan. Sure. I'm not like these guys.

I've been rooting for you. So now you won and you're saying what's your chest? Two things. Two things for me to be happy. Two things.

First of all, you put yourself here. Number one. Number two. Number two. Number two.

Number two is I'm not like those Ohio State people that's looking for reasons why Michigan turned it around when I could just see it with my own two eyes. They're better. They're stouter. They coach better.

Did you say they're stouter? Has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry to say. I'm not some sort of superstitious person, even though I wore the same garment for the last four Michigan games this year. Did you say I changed my undershirt? Is that what you said, Chris? What? Stouter or stally in there?

Stouter. I'm sorry. I can't hear you over Charlie Baker. I can't hear you over the NCAA president saying Michigan won fair and square.

How do you think his investigators feel when the president goes, I think they've won fair and square. I just saw. What are you taking?

What are you doing with your camera? We're just recording your comments so I can look back later on this day. On this day, I let him talk about his Patriots and don't go. We didn't mention once. We didn't mention you once. We didn't let once the forfeited draft picks any of that. We're not talking about that at all today, which is actually really good.

Why would we? Well, I'm not. I didn't. That's for tomorrow. Why are you taking video of me with your phone?

I just wanted to save it for later. Okay. Are you holding up a docket? Great, great, great. I've been on your side. All right, just can you? I wanted to see you happy.

Can you not want to see me happy? Is that what it means? I run in the ball, Chris. Oh, by the way, the NBA just announced it's fine for Darko.

What is it? Only 25,000 because he had every leg to stand on. He had every leg to stand on. Outrageous. This is some BS. This is completely BS. This is shame. Dude, first of all, $25,000 is just for the spirit of we've got to do this.

The $75,000 discount has to be. You're right, Darko. He has a point. It was outrageous. This is completely BS. This is shame. It was shame. That's my new favorite drop. I think it was shame.

Yeah, it was. So Darko was right. Hashtag free Darko. And let's see how Earth responds to it. And Earth responds to it by saying, yeah, $25,000 sounds a bit light, but it makes sense. That was a bit light.

Don't you think? It sounds a bit light. I mean, I was expecting, you know, 75 hundo. Outrageous.

It is a new great drop. That is actually no, this is the best one. This is completely BS.

This is shame. It's not wrong. He's not wrong. I should have asked Karl-Anthony Towns about Scotty Barnes being the face of the NBA. By the way, did you see the free throw disparity last night? It wasn't too bad. It wasn't at all.

It wasn't too bad at all. Yeah. What was it?

What was the final hold on? I'm going to get it up right here. I got it.

I got I got it. Here it comes. Here it comes. Clippers beat the Patriots.

Here it comes. Clippers beat the Raptors. 126-120. Final disparity. The Raptors got 18 free throws. The Clippers had 13. No. So Darko got extra free throws and $75,000 off. I thought that was a six-figure fine. Yeah, totally. So Tyloo should be complaining then. This is a move.

He was a Tyloo rat. Jordan in Michigan. You're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Jordan? Hey, Rich. Congratulations to Michigan.

Thank you. Unfortunately, I can't celebrate with you. But why? I'm but hey, you're free to celebrate with me. It's not it's not a me thing.

It must be a you thing. Why? Unfortunately, as a what is one Notre Dame fan?

A Notre Dame grad. I can't celebrate with you. Jordan, I love you. Okay. Okay. Too bad.

Thank you though, Jordan. I'll take it. Is it is the highlight is the highlight of of Kraft press conference. He wants a coach that can get them back to the playoffs and win. If so, he feels like I feel like he's starting to finish his full transformation into that which he hated the most before he became an owner.

And that would be the Cayam's, would it not? Well, no, he's not. No, no, no, no, no, no. Wow, Jordan. If he's prepared, look, he's looking at five years before he gets back to the playoffs and wins without without the head. No, well, here's the deal, Jordan, and thank you for the call, by the way.

And thank you. The Texans just proved they can be back in the playoffs. No, no, dude, get the quarterback right. Exactly. And plus, and we'll play that soundbite, I think, in the in the final hour, final segment of the show coming up. It just he didn't want Bill shopping for the groceries anymore. And he knew that that wasn't a proper construct to set up for Bill Belichick. And Bill probably sat there in the meetings going, yeah, that ain't that ain't working. Yeah, you know, then honestly, Belichick, you know, if with a better roster, would get the team to the playoffs. The problem is, is Belichick put the roster on the field? There you go. Victor Cayam.

But that is that is that shouldn't even be the same sentence as Kraft. Bridge too far. OK, I've got a top five.

You ready? That's the sound of a top five. High five.

One, two, three, four, five. Rich's top five. Top five best available coaching jobs in football. Notice I didn't say National Football League because five on the list is University of Alabama football. I mean, they got money. They have facilities.

They've got history and and they've got they've got they've got, you know, all of that. How do you not want the Alabama Crimson Tide job? If you want to go into the level of football in which there are no rules for free agency, that's the problem. Greg McElroy came on the show earlier and interestingly enough said it was just it's a 14 hour day.

Nick Saban, 72 years old, and he just it's the recovery of the 14 hour days and how you can do it again and again and again and have the energy and give that energy to your program and to your kids. And after a while, I thought it was, you know, he just doesn't want to stick around in a sport that has no rules anymore. There's no rules. If you put in rules in place and everybody knows how you play them, then then, you know, then that's good. But now how do you know?

And so that's what I thought. If you have no problem with that and you're ready to jump into college football, this job's for you, don't you think? Number four on the list back in the National Football League. How do you not put the New England Patriots on this list? I mean, they've got the third overall pick. They've got Bob Kraft wanting to win right now. Oh, by the way, great choice.

Great photo. There's the picture that fractured apparently the relationship between Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans. And this is why, Chris, Mike, Chris, hose yourself down, hose yourself down.

You're on live radio and television walk outside. I mean, there's Vrabel. Come back. There's Vrabel in his there's Vrabel in his red Hall of Fame Patriots jacket. That's what he wants. I mean, and part of the reason why I almost didn't put the Patriots on this list is because I think it is such a no brainer that Vrabel's out there and you bring Vrabel back and the Patriot way stays intact because he knows the Patriot way and and he speaks the language up there in New England. He speaks.

He's fluent in Patriot. And of course, the Kraft family is an organization. I mean, that hasn't hired a coach in 24 years.

They're ready to bring in some new blood and treat that individual. Like royalty. I what a spot that would be in a great new New England sports town of Boston. Patriots number four in the list.

Number three on the list. Seattle. I mean, you go up to the Pacific Northwest, you get to live in in the Puget Sound, right? You get to look at all that beautiful territory. Traffic's nuts. And they always tell you, don't come here because the weather stinks. And then you get there and the beautiful weather actually hits.

And they're like, OK, they don't want you living there is basically what I'm saying, because they don't want more traffic up there in Seattle. Bottom line is the roster has talent on it. The 12s are a great fan base.

Jody Allen is going to give you the tools that you need. John Schneider is an outstanding general manager. And plus, there's there's not the pressure like the Northeast in the NFL, right? Or the Metroplex. It's just a different spot up there in Seattle. NFC West is just a great division to work in.

I I think this is Dan Quinn's gig, but I'd want it if I was out there. Number two on the list. You know, ding dong, the witch is dead. The worst owner maybe in the history of the National Football League is gone. The fan base is regenerated. The town is ready to roll out the red carpet. Josh Harris is hiring everyone under the sun to make sure everything is set up for the next head coach.

Magic Johnson, for crying out loud, is tweeting about your final score like he's sports phone of 1983, you know? And so, you know, everything's on the table about being reimagined about Washington. The NFC East is ready to roll for all these rivalries to get reignited. They've got the second overall pick.

I mean, how could the Washington commanders not be an enticing job? But number one, it's just up the road because Justin Herbert's ready to be coached. And SoFi Stadium's an incredible facility. And the Chargers are opening up a new spot down the street. We're going to be neighbors with the Chargers and the Lakers, right? And the Los Angeles Kings and the Clippers.

El Segundo is the home of training facilities, I guess, and home offices. You know, Englewood's the city of champions. You're hoping for the Clippers, you know? So, hey, I know there's some salary cap issues and they've got a top five pick, right? The Chargers are five overall, I believe. And there's Herbert saying, please coach me. You know, like I said, I know there's some roster issues and you might be concerned, is ownership willing to spend?

But how do you how do you not want to come live out here and look at the Pacific Coast and watch the sunset and coach the Chargers and be co-tenants with Rams and say, this is our house, too. So that's number one. All right, we'll get one more. It's one that's not open yet.

And we're assuming somebody is going to fill roll number one. And thus, the one more is my alma mater. You know what's great about Michigan?

Because you listen to me every day, hopefully. You know what? Well, take over Michigan. I mean, I think this might be Sharon Moore's job, but you want to get into college?

Join the institution of higher learning that's the greatest on planet Earth that just retired, Nick Saban. Why not doing that? Why not jump on board the good ship Maize and Blue as we sail off into the land of repeating? Go Blue.

This is completely BS. I don't need Darko. I don't need your drafts. That's my top five list. Best available coaching jobs in the National Football League. We will take a break and we'll find out what Robert Kraft had to say. Oh, we've got one last Bill Belichick Patriot press conference moment of all time.

We'll pour one out for that franchise coming up next. A lot of all the feels comments from the 12s in the Pacific Northwest. Russell Wilson, did you see these photographs he tweeted out?

Yeah, I did. And he was with Pete the night that Pete said farewell from the podium of his head coach of the Seahawks. Look at that. That's cool. That on the right. That's a nice reunion. B-Wags there. That's awesome. Look at that. All the feels. Look at Russ with Pete.

Love it. So does that mean he does he still live up there? Have a place up there? Or did he fly in? Probably just, you know, I mean, he could just hop on a plane. Yeah. I don't know if it was out of what is he? 1C on Alaska Air. What do you think? Is it fly direct from Denver to Seattle?

He probably gets around the same way you do. From the first class? From a PJ.

Oh, yeah. PJ. Pajamas?

Coach, your pajamas. Look at Mike turning phrases. I'm here all week.

Well, not really. That's how he gets. He's never here. Are you here tomorrow?

No, he's not here this Friday. That's the whole point of this. Again, that's why it was important for Kraft for Belichick to be there today. You know what I mean? Like at some point, everyone's got to come together at the end and remember the great times that they built together. It's going to be hard to duplicate, replicate what your team has done.

You know what I'm saying? That was a 14-year run for Pete. I remember when Pete first came in and we did a Thursday night game there and Marshawn Lynch wouldn't come to our set on Thursday night football afterwards because he wasn't there to go get interviewed after a game. We're wondering like, who do we get? And we got Pete Carroll because there was nobody else on the team that identified with the Seahawks or the identity at all with the Seahawks and Pete was the identity. And then he built players that created the identity.

Neat stuff. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show, 844204 Rich number to dial. All right, so Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick read statements at noon Eastern. According to Tom Kern of NBC Sports Boston, that was the arrangement that Bill was comfortable with in which he would be part of today's announcement in which the mutually parting of ways between the coach slash GM slash whatever his roles that we never know what they really were titles of and the owner of the Patriots mutually parting ways. This was Bob Kraft on what he's looking for in his next head coach today. You know, we're looking for someone who can help us get back to the playoffs and win. And that's believe me, after my family, this is really one of the two most important assets in my life, and I am very upset when we don't win games and it carries the whole week.

So I promise you I'll be focused to do what I can, the best I can do to make sure we're putting ourselves in the best long-term position to win for many years. And so in case anybody's out there saying, well, how can that not be Bill Belichick? How can Bill Belichick not get you back to the playoffs? It's because, again, with Bill staying there in the role in which he's been currently serving, that apparently turned to be untenable from soup to nuts. Again, Kraft speaking two hours after the statement because Belichick wanted to have the statement, no questions, and then Kraft statement, no questions. And then Bob came back two hours later to answer this very important question.

This is an important exchange, asking the compromise that we were talking about, Chris, on this show quite a bit. It's like, what if he stays as the coach? Because there's no question in terms of getting ready, game day itself, who's better than him? And so what about maybe changing the way in which the roster is built and Bill just coaches that roster? And this is how Kraft answered that question.

I've had experience running different businesses and trying to develop a team. And think about it, when you have someone like Bill who's had control over every decision, every coach we hire, every, the organization reports to him on the draft and how much money we spend or what we, every decision has been his, and we've always supported him. To then take some of that power away and give it to someone else, accountability is important to me in every one of our companies and where he had the responsibility and then someone else takes it, it's going to set up confusion and, well, it was his pick and that was a bad pick, or he didn't play him right, or it just, it wouldn't work in my opinion.

And I bet you it wouldn't have worked in Bill's opinion also, but that's the mutual parting of ways right there. I think that's the drill down right there and it makes sense, doesn't it? Makes total sense. Right? I mean, we get it totally.

So it didn't work for Kraft either. Yep. I bet you didn't even bring it up, right? That soundbite, that kind of thing.

That soundbite, that quote made me think it wasn't even talked about. Yeah, that's it right there. The mutual parting of ways comes from right there. And the mutual parting of ways for us, for the Bill Belichick press conference moments that we've had for so long now, Bill, I think he's going to still coach. So we'll still have some of these, but never from a podium in New England.

Wow. And we kind of stopped doing it this year because it's not very much funny in New England this year. And I also don't want to be disrespectful to Bill, but some of the press conference moments over the years, we would just show you and like, you know, we'll just cut it down and have a nice Bill Belichick press conference moment, a little bit of yucks. So in the spirit of today being a celebration. Oh, right. Instead of a sad parting of the ways, here comes the last New England version of a Bill Belichick press conference moment. Hit it. Today's Bill Belichick press conference moment.

Oh, we prefer to win. All right. Morning.

It's seen as many cameras since we signed Tebow. It's a great line. What an opening line.

It's the go, Mikey. Come on. I told you guys he'd be the permanent press secretary for the White House. Just hire him now. Bring him in there for every president. That's the put him on the podium.

Cameras since we signed Tebow. It's a great line. It's a great line.

Just put him in there. It's funny that Jets could use the same damn line one day. Remember that? Well, Tebow was by himself that day. I know because Woody and Rex Ryan were at the owner's meeting and they still used that day to go out and still introduce him. And he walked out himself. It was weird.

All right. That's the final Patriots edition of Bill Belichick press conference moment. I cannot believe that Belichick says farewell to New England and vice versa a day after Nick Saban announces his retirement. And they go way back, man. There they are celebrating in Cleveland years ago. Where are those glasses and sweatshirts and haircuts? We know where the friendship is that still lives. We'll chat again on Friday on The Rich Eisen Show. Until I see that. Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube or search for Give Them Lala wherever you listen.