Kevin Burkhardt: I Think Brock Purdy Is Great

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I, I, I want to dive into this. We kind of hit this subject matter with with Scott Van Pelt yesterday. I kind of don't get the Brock Purdy conversation.

And I'm trying to find out where the worm turned for this kid. In the national conversation about his play, his preparedness to be a Super Bowl quarterback. And then obviously the him going against Patrick Mahomes, who is the ultimate game changing quarterback. Doesn't help matters. It only intensifies the conversation about what Brock Purdy doesn't do.

That's against the question. When did this conversation term from what Brock Purdy is doing. Into what Brock Purdy doesn't do or ultimately just can't do. Especially that makes no sense when this sport is all about doing the impossible. Tom Brady won 99th overall to seven times Super Bowl champ. Kurt Warner, who knows about winning a Super Bowl wearing number 13, had a movie about his magic carpet ride made.

And. So why do we look at a player in the NFL and say not only? Is the subject matter what he can't do?

What isn't doing, but what he can't do? So last year, right? We all know the Niners were going to go with Trey Lance. Coming into this season, right?

Or going into that season last year, we all knew it was going to be Trey Lance. And then he hurts himself. And Jimmy Garoppolo is there. And the team decides to hang on to Jimmy Garoppolo, despite everybody saying goodbye to him. After the NFC Championship game loss to the Rams, they decide to come up with a construct to keep him there.

Because they're not going to go into the season with the last overall pick in the draft being their backup and eventually he gets out there because everybody gets hurt. And he goes on an incredible run. And the first team that he beats as a starter is Tom Brady's Buccaneers. With Brady having his whole family in the house, essentially.

Because it was apparent going to be his last run. And Purdy goes on a run. And the conversation about how the Niner season is over because Lance is not coming back. And Garoppolo is out. And there is even a conversation if they make the Super Bowl, Garoppolo could be back. But that even gets pushed to the wayside because of how Purdy kept playing and looking terrific and making throws that the Niners, quite frankly, weren't getting nearly as consistently with Jimmy Garoppolo. And it's an interesting story that you heard Jed York, the principal owner of the San Francisco 49ers tell just this past week at a training camp conversation two summers ago after they draft Brock Purdy. And in training camp he goes up to Kyle Shanahan and asks how the quarterbacks are doing and Shanahan tells him the best one is Brock Purdy. Which is kind of similar to, remember when Tom Brady got in in 2001 after Drew Bledsoe got hurt. And the conversation was, we're cool because we saw what this kid looked like in training camp and Brady, as we all know, went on that remarkable run.

Purdy looked that good from the start and that was a conversation that was had last night when NFL Network's Michael Robinson walked up to the podium Kyle Shanahan was sitting at at the NFL opening media night and asked him about that story. Well, it's funny to hear Jed say that because it wasn't the smartest moment I've ever had. I mean, when an owner comes in after training camp practices and is like, hey, how's the quarterback? And what he means is the starter or the second and you and irritation go, I don't know, but our third guy's the best.

Like, that's not what he wants to hear. So that's why he remembers it very strong. But that was just more Brock was so good right away with every rep he got. He was always the same and he only got a couple of them. So it was easy for me to say, because in his few reps, he was the best. But if you know that for a fact, I mean, then you do what you do right away. But he was the best.

And, but you ease that on. And every time he got a little more reps, it was the same as when he got two. And so when it was all said and done and he got a lot of playing time, I was like, oh, this looks exactly like what I told you when I was irritated.

And he only had three reps. And I said, no, he's the best. But that's what was so real about Brock. That's why after his seven games, his rookie year, even when he got hurt, we knew what we had because he'd been that way in practice every day. And it was the exact same way in the games.

I love that. I rate our third stringers the best one because he was upset with the way Lance. You know, and and Garoppolo were looking right or Garoppolo wasn't even out there. Right.

It's not there. Jimmy was. Jimmy wasn't even. That's correct.

Right. Jimmy. Jimmy didn't even get a playbook told to just stay away.

We'll call you if we need you. And so Purdy looked the best. Now, again, as I mentioned off the top in what the football, Amy Trask tells a Barrett Robbins story I've never heard of before. But Suzy does a deep dive into Purdy because.

I mean, she she and I were talking about it this weekend. This this guy is. This this could be the Brady.

Here. You know, this could be his Brady moment. And normally you'd be all in on that conversation.

If you're in the national media. Right. But instead, it's what Purdy can't do. And you just heard how he looked in the beginning and how every rep that he took looked the same. And how he made the most of it. And then this year. After he gets hurt, as a matter of fact, that's his only playoff loss. He's four and one in playoffs now. Technically, that's his loss because he started the NFC championship game. If you have the metric be, hey, a minimum five pass attempts in a game, he's 4-0. He only threw four pass attempts before the last one was the Hassan Redick blowing up his arm.

On what looked like would have been a touchdown to you. But the point I'm making is this. The guy this year comes back from surgery.

That's normally something you talk about as a positive. And then in terms of what you just heard from Kyle Shanahan there. Making the most of a rep. How about this statistic for Brock Purdy? He this year. This year, fifth in passing yards, 4,280 passing yards.

On just 440 pass attempts. That's 20th in the league. Do you want to know the list of quarterbacks in NFL history to rank top five in passing yards in a season in which he also ranked 20th or lower in pass attempts? You want to hear the list?

Yes. The list is Brock Purdy. That's the list?

That's the list. Oh. No one else has ever done it. He didn't turn the paper over?

No, no, no. There's no other paper. There's just one name on the list.

Invisible ink or something? That's it. The first and only.

Well, that seems good. To ever do it. And by the way, it's not just throwing right at the line of scrimmage and letting his guys do the work. Which sounds like Deebo, right? Sounds like McCaffrey, right? He also led the league in yards per attempt. 9.6 yards per attempt. Now, wait a minute.

Hold on a minute, Rich. That could be just down the line of scrimmage, right? I need air yards. No, I'm giving you that. I've got a next gen stat. I've got a next gen stat.

Throw it deep, baby. In terms of this season, when you throw for 10 or more air yards in the air, his passer rating is 130.3. That's first. His completion percentage, 62.7. That's first. His yards per attempt, when it's over 10 yards, 14.9. That's first.

First. I just had the Alonzo Mourning gift. And in terms of when you are averaging over 9 pass yards per attempt in a season and throwing at least 400 passes, the previous four players, Matt Ryan in 2016, 9.3. Rogers in 2011, 9.2. Manning in 2004, same thing, 9.2. Marino, 9.0 in the 84. The other four, you know what they have in common? They won the Most Valuable Player awards that year.

So, what is it? Oh, I've got one more for you here. In the first two seasons of a playing career in the NFL when you've attempted at least 50 pass attempts, this includes playoffs as well. Patrick Mahomes, 110.4 passer rating in his first two seasons. That's better than Warner and Marino right behind him on the list.

There's only one player with a better passer rating in his first two seasons than Mahomes. Do you want to know his name? It's Brock Purdy. What are we talking about here? So, why is it?

What is it about? I think I've got the answer. Yeah, I've got some answers, sure. The answer is the Niners screwed it up with Trey Lance and Purdy's not the answer because you want the Niners to screw it up.

Honestly, what is it? Oh, wait a minute. It's maybe because Purdy makes it all about himself.

Hold on a minute. I'm told it's the exact opposite. Listen to this answer last night when asked about how he keeps a level head.

Hit it. I mean, the bottom line is life isn't about you. That's what I believe. Being a part of something bigger than yourself. You get wrapped up in getting all the glory and the fame and the status.

I feel like that's a shallow life and that can fade away pretty quickly. So, for me, obviously, we're playing the Super Bowl. I'm very honored and thankful. I want to win a championship for this organization. But more than anything, I'm trying to serve my guys on this team well and love on them well and the whole organization and everyone in my life.

That's how I view it. What is it? Do you want me to tell you?

Sure, because I'm trying to figure it out. He's not the guy that the Niners are going to eventually trip up. We saw what he did last year. And then he doesn't make the Super Bowl because his arm blows up.

He rehabs it. He has a season like the one that we're seeing right now. And he's still cutting his teeth in the playoffs, but well enough for him to have a fourth quarter and second half in the games. Kevin Burkhart is about to join us. Called against Green Bay and the lines of the ages. What's your theory?

Let's see. The Trey Lance thing you mentioned, but he wasn't even the second choice there. He was the third choice. He's the last pick in the draft. I think that really factors into a lot of it. But that's something to root for.

This is a movie. Normally, but a lot of people their perception is that he plays on a super team, so all he has to do is kind of roll the ball out there. So if we had shows like what we see on national TV and sports conversation back in 1999, Kurt Warner would have been a system quarterback? For sure. Because of Marshall and Isaac Bruce and Tori Holt and Azakeem. Super team. And the coach is kind of an offensive genius. Oh sure.

Similar to Brock Purdy. Just roll out the footballs and Kurt Warner. We're going to scheme it up. Screw the bad groceries. Forget it.

Yeah, absolutely. And he looks like a teenager. No, he literally doesn't shave. But why hold that against him?

It's exactly the type of kid that you want to roof. I don't understand it. Also the Niners, a team, they even won a Super Bowl. People forget about this. Longer than the Cowboys. Their drought is longer than Dallas.

No one ever wants to bring that up. They'll always go, well the Niners made it there. But no one ever says the Cowboys haven't made it to a Super Bowl. Everyone just says the Cowboys haven't won. It's literally longer than Dallas' drought. But all we talk about are the Cowboys because they haven't even made it to the conference championship game. Whereas San Francisco has been to the Super Bowl and come up short.

It's a head shake. I think maybe because people don't like the Niners. Maybe it's also because too, like the stats that I'm saying, you need a college degree times ten to figure out what a passer rating is. Air yards and stuff like that.

EPA, I mean all the kind of advanced metrics. It's not pretty, but neither was Garoppolo. And the kid, he's made the Super Bowl. But Rich Garoppolo is pretty. My bad. I meant purdy. You're right, Rich. He is a kid we all should be behind, judging from where he came from.

I don't get it. As a Cowboy fan, I don't like the Niners, but I like the story. So that's just as a Cowboy fan. No, and the one who's also setting this conversation is a former MVP quarterback in Cam Newton. And he says it's nothing personal.

It sounds completely personal every single time he opens his mouth on the subject matter. The other thing too is this is an underdog story, Brock Purdy, right? The problem is the 49ers have been favorites in every single game this year. And they're favorites against a guy I put on Mount Rushmore, Patrick Mahomes. So it's really not an underdog story.

They're kind of Goliath in this situation. Last quarterback in which a quarterback led the NFL in passing yards per attempt in the regular season against a team that ranked top five in a pass defense in the regular season, as this Super Bowl will be, was Joe Montana against the Denver Broncos in 1989. And he eviscerated that team 55 to 10. I think Jerry Rice just scored another touchdown. Wanted to start the show with that because again, you know, it's kind of, they spoke about it on What the Football and we're bookending as we're heading off to the Super Bowl.

Let's take a break. Kevin Burkhardt is here in studio. He called the divisional comeback win against the Packers and then he called the championship weekend comeback win against the Lions. He called last year's Super Bowl and he is the host of the Legends for charity dinner where the Pat Summerall award is being handed out to Romo, Tony Romo, Kevin Burkhardt of the NFL on Fox.

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America in the morning. The podcast available wherever you listen. Back here on the Roku channel, our radio audience will rejoin in a matter of moments. The first of two times I say hello to the lead voice of the NFL on Fox and the host of the legends for charity dinner, the Pat Sumrall award given out to Tony Romo by this man, Kevin Burkhardt. Good to see you. Great to see you. We have so many friends in common.

It's ridiculous. I know. And I've been told over and over again that we need to meet. So I figured let's do it on television.

I like that where our golf game missed each other like multiple times this year. So this is a story, Rich. And now we just go forward from here. It's my fault. I just need to get out from this chair every now and then.

You do have a job, a daily job. It's fair. You know, it's understandable. Now, where are you from originally? New Jersey. New Jersey. Yeah. OK. Yeah. I got the East Coast.

Is that why you asked where's Del Tufo when you got on the set? You know, we all have to stick together like the East Coast vibe thing. You know, I still have a little the little the accent every once in a while. Don't certain words like what water water tournament. That's a good way to get some of the giveaways.

If you get a you know, you get a couple of drinks and it really comes out. Where in Jersey are you from? I grew up in North Jersey, a town called Bloomfield. I'm from Staten Island, which is practically New Jersey. Yeah, I drove through Staten Island a lot when I worked for the Mets. So I have friends there.

Yeah, it's all kind of in the same area. I just heard all right there. That was it. There's certain words. It's a giveaway. You got to be careful. It's in there. Trust me.

Fantastic. So you didn't take the Verrazano Bridge to work, did you? Well, when I worked at Shea.

Yeah, not Shea, City Field. Well, I should. Well, here here's the deal. At that time, I was living down the Jersey Shore, actually.

So I did. So at that time it was I kind of snuck up through there. So you did the Otter Bridge, the Goethals Bridge all the way. Staten Island Expressway to Verrazano. That was great until the Bell Parkway. Yeah.

OK. Right up to City Field. Oh my God, this is like a three hour commute?

It was a long drive. I'm not going to lie. So here's the deal. Go in there.

I make all the phone calls. It's great. So, you know, you're doing work stuff and then maybe catch up with friends. That was fine. Going home.

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You're talking about New York City traffic back in the day. I'm back here with Kevin Burghardt, the lead voice of the NFL on Fox. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. It's all furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. So much to talk about with you, Kevin Burghardt. Let's let's just jump right into it. When you sat down with Brock Purdy over the last two games for him, walk me through what it's like to sit down with this kid before the biggest games of his life.

You know, I was listening to your monologue and we've had this conversation over dinner, our whole group. I think Brock's great. I love him. And I think the cool thing for him is, you know, coming in last year obviously was an amazing story, what he did, and then he gets hurt.

You know, he's just trying to survive in a way, really, right? He even said like, oh my gosh, there's Deebo Samuel. There's Christian McCaffrey. This year he's got, he's got a little swag to him this year and he's kind of, his personality has come out more like when we meet with him in the production meetings. And I just think he's a nice guy.

He's like, it's to your point, I don't know how you don't root for him. Here he is, the last pick of the draft. He's gone through all this stuff, you know, tears up his arm, comes back way before anyone thought he'd ever be back.

And it's just been sensational. I really, I think he's great. You know, we had him obviously both playoff games. And, you know, he's just so open and honest. He talked about the loss to Baltimore and how, you know, in a way it made him not as aggressive because then he was worried about. Oh, he was seeing ghosts that night. Yeah. And he talked about it. He said, it's something that he, he said, you know what? I finally got the last drive in the Green Bay game. I said, enough of this.

I'm just going to let it rip. And obviously he takes him on the game winning drive. And then it was very similar against Detroit.

I don't understand how you don't laud that performance against the Lions. He was so great in the second half of that game with his legs, with his arms. I just think he's real. Bottom line is he's real. His personality came out this year. He's just really easy to root for. And he is.

And I guess the pushback for people who are critical of him aren't, wouldn't say it's personal. They just see a quarterback who is limited compared to somebody like Mahomes and Lamar and go down the list of people who can beat you with their arms and legs. And yet how many times did he, I think three times in that NFC championship game he ran for first downs and got them in the red zone two out of the three times.

Big times. You know? My thing about the 49ers is this. Who do people want to have the credit? Because.

Great question. Okay, Kyle Shanahan doesn't win coaches of the year. Well, they're expected to win. They've got a ton of talent.

So he doesn't get the credit or enough credit. Then if you talk about Purdy. Well, he's playing for Kyle Shanahan and the offense is so good. Anyone could run the offense. Well, really? Well, not everyone can.

C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullins weren't able to do it, right? Jimmy Garoppolo did. And now Brock Purdy has been able to do it. So who does get the credit?

Well, how about this? You can keep going. McCaffrey, right? For sure. Because McCaffrey gets the credit, but on his own team may not even be the MVP. Purdy does get the MVP vote as well.

And Debo, right? Do you give him do you give him credit? Is he the one? I mean, where do we land here? I think they're just good. And I think Kyle is an incredible coach and he makes it all go. And that's why he's got his own tree across the NFL right now.

I mean, a third of the league is kind of around him in a way. But I don't understand where people want the credit to go to. I don't know what they're watching. That's the bottom line. And, you know, I'm with you.

I can't quite figure out the reason why. I'm not sure because there's so many likable things about him. There's so many big time plays about him. You know, I think Kurt Warner comparison in that situation is fair.

I think the situation is a little bit similar. You know, I know there's always the Brees comparison because he's not a big guy in his processing. But I go back to the Packers game. Last drive, you know, and he even said he didn't have his best game last drive. That throw he made to Juwan Jennings, literally over two guys, and dropped it in the perfect window where Jennings went up to catch it. And then that throw to Chris Conley on the deep out for a guy that doesn't have arm strength, who hit Chris Conley caught two balls the entire year, perfectly gets him going. I mean, you can't make two better throws than that in the biggest time of the game.

So, yeah, it's just a funny deal with them. I don't get it. That was after a highly uncharacteristic drop by Kittle, which could rattle somebody like Purdy, you would think. And then he just hit that back leg and just made two great throws. And you mentioned Warner.

I had one more stat right here, too. Purdy can join Warner as the only quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl within their first five career seasons when you're drafted seventh round or later. Wow. I mean, he's in the realm of a magic carpet ride right here, you know.

And it really is remarkable. He's won four playoff games already. That's true. Guys go their entire careers and don't win four playoff games. And then you saw the other quarterback, if you will, in the Super Bowl in last year's Super Bowl.

Right. You know, and you saw what what he can do as well when you chatted with Mahomes before the Super Bowl last year. What what is that conversation like with Patrick Mahomes before the Super Bowl? I think the cool thing about Mahomes and you know, we've had them enough.

Obviously, we don't have as much as CBS does, but we've had the Chiefs plenty. Yes. He's the same every single time. He's just this really fun, cool cat, doesn't seem to get bothered by anything, I think really enjoys the moment.

You kind of saw that at the media night last night. He's kind of enjoying getting taunted by the 49ers fans and having a little fun with it. He just is really cool. And I think that's how he is every day. I've never met with him where it hasn't been Patrick Mahomes, the same guy. Fun.

You could joke around with him a little bit. Yeah. You know, he gives you a little feel, a little sense for how the team is and what he's feeling and what they're doing and what he's, you know, concerned isn't the right word. But thinking about in the matchup, you know, and he had that he had that quote talking about, yeah, I'm just going to go back to my Super Bowl routine.

Guys, 20 years old, he's been in the Super Bowl a million times already. It's just so it's normalcy for him. Yeah. Which is wild to me.

Yeah. I mean, his Super Bowl routine that that that one did make me sort of chuckle when I heard that because it's legit like he is. He's got this thing already down pat. He's not even twenty eight.

So or he is twenty eight and he's not twenty nine. It really is unbelievable. So, OK, what do you think Super Bowl fifty eight comes down to when you when it all comes?

I think there's a couple of things. I think I think from the Chiefs having the ball side of things like they're obviously going to Mahomes is incredible. We know that 49ers have had an issue stopping the run and they've been exploited the last two games. And it's because they're so aggressive the way they go up the field. And I think Isaiah Bacheco is going to be a focal point.

Right. I mean, and they've kind of gotten more towards that, like in these playoffs and more condensed formations and running the ball and two tight ends and that type of thing. And that's been the thing for the 49ers. You know, it's a minor thing.

People don't really pay attention. But a guy like Cleland Furl, who got hurt for them, who is an excellent edge run setter, they've missed him in the playoffs because both Green Bay and Detroit have kind of gassed them with these different run styles. So I think that's going to be an issue for them. I think they're going to have to do that. And then obviously you're going to have to figure out a way to get to Mahomes. Right.

You think about when he lost to the Bucks. It was the pass rush and it still almost didn't do what I'm doing. But they've got to get home. The Niners send four guys. They don't blitz very often at all. They haven't been able to get home all that often with four guys the last month, month and a half of the season.

So I think that is going to be critical for them. From a 49er standpoint, I think the fascinating thing is we know McCaffrey, Debo, great. I just think it's Kyle Shanahan's confidence in Brock. And he'll go back there in shotgun and let him throw the ball all game if he feels like that's the way to win. And that Packers game is a perfect example, Rich, because he did not play particularly great in that game. But Kyle stuck with him and he kept throwing the football.

And I think in years past, he would have never done that. You know, I mean, you go back to the championship game against the Niners when Mostert ran for 300 yards, Jimmy G threw the ball eight times. He's not doing that with Brock Purdy. So I think the game, as great as all their weapons are, I think the game is going to be on Brock Purdy's shoulders. And I think he'll be up to it. Well, I mean, he certainly has in the playoffs so far. And then the fourth quarter, that's I mean, I'm not going on a very thick, you know, very thin limb here when I'm saying the fourth quarter is going to be the moment, but it is for Kyle.

Where is the OC in Atlanta? Zero points in the fourth quarter as the HC with the Niners when these two teams played four Super Bowls ago, zero points in the fourth quarter. And I'm just wondering if in the same way that Purdy was like, screw it, I'm sitting here against Green Bay. Like, I got nothing to lose other than everything. So I'm just going to let it rip.

I'm just wondering if Kyle will do that, too. You know, like dialing it up and just just I think it's a big part of it going against type. You know, I think it's a big part of it. And that's why I think they're in a better position this Super Bowl than maybe they were the last one. I don't know that they're a better team overall. They're they're loaded 49ers, that is. But the last two weeks were big for them, especially that Green Bay game. You know, we all saw the stats.

They were, you know, 0 and 30 when, you know, they were trailing by, was it four points or five points going into the fourth quarter. That's hard to believe, considering all the success that Kyle Shannon has. You know, we talked to Kyle that week. He's like, we've never won a game like that here. Never, never. He's like, not even close.

All of our games are the same. We blow people out or the same script. He's like, so he's like, it was big. It was not he was not overselling it.

It was not hyperbole. It was a big deal. And then they did it again. So they do it in the divisional last minute.

And bigger 17, even bigger. They look listless at times. Same thing. So they go from a team that had no ability to do that to then the coach saying, OK, kid, drop back and put it on your shoulders.

And he does it. I just I don't think you can I don't think you can overhype how big that is for them as a team. They had never won any games like that ever. And now they've won back to back games like that. Exactly.

Yeah. Certainly in the fourth quarter when they were trailing Green Bay, going to the fourth quarter and you pop up that stat that they've never come back from this large of a deficit in the fourth quarter. They did. And then they had an even bigger deficit at halftime with the NFC champion. You and also must have looked at each other when that thing was all lions and just looked at each other going, what the heck is happening in this game? You know, it was I mean, we did you know, we kind of thought it would be a fun game. Greg hit it.

He's like first team to 30 kind of felt shootout. But the way that was going, they're doing what they want. 49ers can't get anything going like it was surprising. It was surprising, you know, and then you get to just catch a 50 yard ball, somebody's face and the whole momentum changes of the game, right? You just that's what it is that I you catch was wild.

That was one of those moments. So let me take a break here. We'll come back. I'd like to talk about the legends for charity dinner and obviously your ascent to the spot where you are currently calling games for Fox. I've got Kevin Burkhardt here on the Rich Eisen show with to follow Andrew Whitworth and Jim Nantz, who's calling the game from Vegas. That's how we're rolling here on this Tuesday before Super Bowl 58 on the Rich Eisen show.

So speaking of staying in your lane, your lane was not supposed to be between the tackles as a professional football player. What do you think you have proven so far, Christian? I don't know. You know, I used to be a little bitter about, you know, what people would say about me coming out of college and if I could play or not. I've kind of kind of pushed that to the side. I have a new new attitude about everything. And I realize that everybody in the league has had somebody doubt him at some point. So I try to, you know, focus on myself and good or bad.

Stay pretty poised and go from there. Well, I remember when you were coming out and my buddy on the air and my buddy in life, Marshall Faulk, would scoff at the notion that you, Christian McCaffrey, would not be able to run between the tackles. That you would be more of an elite sort of weapon in the NFL that can come in every now and then and gain the edge and run. He was basically like, that's nonsense. And he said this week that you are, quote unquote, a better version of him. He's a better version of me is what he said.

What did you hear him say? Yeah. Yeah.

I know that. I mean, that's a huge honor. Huge honor. It's a guy I watched. I've seen every clip of his. Obviously somebody who was in the thousand thousand category as well. And so for me, hearing that from a guy like that is a big honor.

I don't know. You know, he did one thing that I respect and I heard this, you know, from a lot of different players in the league is it's really good when you have one or two really good years. But but the greats do it over their entire career. And when you talk about Marshall, you know, I got a lot of work to do as far as I'm going into year four. That's an unbelievable honor that he even mentioned that. But I'm excited to try to try to continue to do it and do it throughout my entire career update.

He's still doing it. Back here on The Rich Eisen Show, Roku and TCL have teamed up for an awesome sweepstakes this week. One lucky winner will walk away from the big game with a brand new 85 inch TCL Roku TV to enter. Head to Roku's official account at Roku on X, formerly known as Twitter, and reply to their pinned tweet with who you think is going to win the game. Plus the hashtag TCL Roku TV.

That's TCL Roku TV between now and Sunday. Back here on our simulcast with Kevin Burkhardt, the lead voice of the NFL on Fox, and you're going to be the host on Thursday night for the Legends for Charity Dinner in honor of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, raising as much money as possible. Tony Romo's getting the Pat Summerall award. And it's pretty cool because you currently occupy Pat's seat, right?

And the booth for Fox. Yeah, it means a lot to me, too. You know, I met Cherry, Pat's wife, a few years ago, and it was just like so special for me because, you know, as a kid, you know, growing up in New Jersey, like Sundays, we just love football, right? Like as a little kid, we go to church, we go to the deli, we get, you know, cold cuts, the whole situation.

Yes. And then we go and watch football. So like Pat and John, like, I always wanted to do the NFL because of them.

And I just, Pat's voice just, it just felt so big and I just revered him. So it's pretty awesome. I don't take that lately. It's pretty cool. Yeah.

It's funny. Like even getting into this, like I always, I am not saying that, you know, I'm trying to be Pat because I can't, no one could be him. But I always think of like situations that come up, like how would Summerall handle this? Or like, especially when I was getting started, like what would he do or what would he say?

Or I don't know, like just different things. He's a big inspiration. He was. Well, a few things. First of all, I think the same thing when I'm at the mic calling some of these games on NFL Network internationally, more Summerall is all I keep thinking is myself in my head, which means say nothing. Shut up. That's so true. Yeah.

I mean, don't say too much. Sometimes it's like touchdown. That suffices, you know, and that's, that's Summerall. And I'm the same way as you growing up where football meant a lot, no church, lot of deli. That's me.

But I do remember, though, watching Summerall and Brookshire on CBS do a lot of those Cowboys games where the offensive lineman would stand up and then get down Landry. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean?

Like, that was my upbringing as well. And so, yeah, when you're at an event where the award given out as the Summerall award and obviously the charity is for St. Jude. And this is this is pretty big, man. It's pretty cool. I'm excited. You know, and I'm so lucky to follow in your footsteps, all the great work you've done for St. Jude. And, you know, when they asked me, it's it's obviously an honor. It's a great thing. And it's it's a it's a little home, too, because it was my late mother in law's favorite charity.

She battled cancer for over 20 years, multiple kinds, and she just loved St. Jude. So, you know, pretty cool for us as a family for me to be able to host the dinner. And yeah, for the Pat Summerall Award is a lot of good symmetry for me. So it means a lot to me personally.

That's Thursday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. I've got Kevin Burkhardt here on the program. And listen, I enjoy the games and I think you and Olson are phenomenal together. Now, I've had these conversations on live TV and radio when I'm asked about decisions my bosses are going to make.

And it's not your choice, right? I mean, you you are calling these games. But obviously it looks like Greg's out and Tom Brady is going to be in. And Brady is Brady.

There's no question about it. What what can you reveal about your your rehearsals? Have you you've done some games with Brady off air? Yeah, we've had a couple. You know, I mean, the bulk of the work is going to be now right now that you know, because it's kind of hard.

I mean, as you know, Rich, like you're in the middle of the season, you're you're bouncing all over the place, all over the country. So, you know, we've obviously talked and about different things. And we've had we've had a couple rehearsals to kind of get going, which has been great. And as you well know, because I know I take a lot of pride in this as I know you do, right? Because I do studio and play by play.

I love doing both. But I think the one thing that's the same is that you have to have the relationships for it to work. Now, I'm not saying you have to be best friends and best man in somebody's wedding for it to work, but you have to have a friendship, a relationship, a trust, all of that in both avenues. Otherwise, it just doesn't fly like, you know, when I'm doing the the MLB stuff with all of our guys, you know, I'm sitting with Hall of Fame legend players, just like you are in game day. And they let me rip them and bust it.

Who am I? But they don't, you know, but it's because there's a relationship there. And so the same thing when you're in the booth, it's just building the trust where, you know, Greg knows that I'm going to do this for him. And then I know, you know, it's it's that back and forth. So I think of all the things we've had a couple of rehearsals, it's it's been fun. And now it's going to be about just spending time together and, you know, yeah, working on the crap, but also just getting to know, you know, I know Tom, the football player, but getting to know what makes him tick off the field, I think is going to be important for us. Twist your arm, right? Tough. Listen, you know, it's literally it's very it's what everybody would want to do is you've got to spend time with Tom.

It's just like what I thought when I was roaming the playground at Franklin School in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Oh, you're going to hang out with like Tom Brady and Jeter and like, sure, that'll happen at some point. So it's it doesn't make any sense. Right. But I'll take it. So I and again, I set it up this way because I'm I know if you're going to talk about Brady, this is nothing against Greg. You know what I'm saying? He's phenomenal at this and has a humongous career at Fox or wherever he's going to call these games.

So that's my long list. And Greg and I are as tight as can be. I've known him forever. So he's just a phenomenal human and whatever. Great. But like, what does Brady sound like calling a game?

I mean, can you tell me what it what it sounds like? I think I think it's going to be fascinating because of obviously who he is and what he knows. Right. And so in a couple of rehearsals, again, we're just like we're just like hitting the ground running it. So but he just had a couple of things that he said and we're like, oh, that was really interesting. Oh, that, you know, so it's like that. So I think the more we do it and the more that he finds his voice and just sort of, you know, I think a lot of this, you know, when you work with all time great players, I think it's sometimes like the common stuff for them. They don't think it's interesting where maybe you and I are like, oh, my gosh, that's so fascinating. And then you come out to dinners like you haven't like, wait, tell me, what do you mean by that? And it's so interesting. So it's almost making them realize, like, that is awesome to everyone at home, maybe to you.

It's common, but not to me. No question. Right. And you have to and your role is to tell somebody, you know, with seven Super Bowl rings and all these accomplishments, what you think is just matter of fact is exactly the sort of stuff that you need to say for sure. And you must say it.

And you must say it with a certain, you know, energy as well that it has to come across. And some some people can get it just like that, including, you know, Greg and who's the the individual getting the summer all award on Thursday night, Romo, where it just, you know, it turns on. And and I think, you know, just in terms of Tom's experiences, how many people can put on a microphone, go into a game and have and bring into the experience of being a sixth round draft choice, being overlooked, having an opportunity placed directly in front of you and making the most of it, then going on a ride that nobody sees coming, then take that opportunity, turn it into three Super Bowls in four years, then have a 10 year drought of winning it, then becoming a 40 year old and having the greatest career that many anybody's ever had. But you're also 40.

And you're thinking about your own football mortality, and you're also switching teams, you become a free agent, I mean, all in one human being. That is an unbelievable wealth of experiences somebody can bring into the booth. It's it's a lot to draw from. And there's a lot to relate to. And I just I'm going to be interested to see how how he sees it in real time, because that's the one thing that we've never seen is, OK, like, you know, talk to him pregame, postgame, spend a lot of time and obviously production meetings with him.

But how does he see it in real time as it's as it's happening? That's going to be fast and being critical of stuff. Well, that's obviously a big part of it. Right.

That's obviously a big part of it. Like I said, it's been so interesting for me, you know, this past year, getting to know and work with Derek Jeter, it was the same thing. Like people, obviously, he's one of the biggest superstars on the planet. But Derek was so good in New York, as you know, about just, you know, not saying anything, shutting it down. He was perfect. He knew how to do it. And getting to know him like I was fortunate to do and just the things that he would say and the stories he would tell, I was like, tell me more.

Tell me more. And it was just so so it's that part is the coolest thing of what we do, like being being coached by Belichick, being able to tell these stories. And that's the other thing is I'm sure you've experienced this, too, is like everyone that I've ever worked with, you know, that I've been lucky enough to be next to in this job, they all want to be coached.

So it's not like you would think like, oh, my gosh, you don't want to step on toes, right? You're next to these all time great players, but they want to be told how to be better. They want to like help help me get better type thing. And that's to me, like the coolest part is just, you know, they want the help. They want to get better.

So tell me how to do it. I love that. Well, and then the way to help him get better is just to hang. Just let's hang out. Absolutely. Yeah, rough. I know you want to be in on this meeting, hanging with Tom Brady thing.

Yeah. I'll just get coffee. I'll just get snacks. Whatever you need.

That's what he wants. I've had my I've had my coffee. He's a great coffee and snacks guy. Because we're good.

I've had my Boston friends being like, seriously, Ortiz. And now Brady, like, what do you do if you're telling me, I was like, hey, right. He's a gem. They're all it's great. Yeah.

It's it'll be it's been fun. Who's next? Yes. Who would be next? Who's next?

What do you got? KG Pierce run. Who's next? Let's see. I don't know. I don't know if they're going to be on the Fox College basketball set.

We don't have NBA. So that might be tough. Not yet.

You never know. It's fair. Who the heck knows?

In this day. Wow. OK. Well, that's yeah. I mean, I'm keen to to see what you guys look like and sound like. And and and we'll get that week one, I imagine, right? Yeah, I guess we'll find out, Rich. You know, we yeah, it'll be it'll be that one. I don't know exactly what it'll lead up till then. But you know, yeah, we'll we'll be in the lab for sure.

Maybe it'll be in Brazil. Who knows? Maybe you get that game. Who has a game? I don't know. It's just it's like I just got announced yesterday that it's going to be the Friday of kickoff.

I saw that. But no one knows who has it. Nope. So we just we go into a lottery wheel and like, I don't know. I don't know. If you see Murdoch strolling around Vegas, maybe you're going to get it. I have no idea. I don't think I'm going to see him strolling around at the nickel slots.

That's not the guy like Rupert's at the nickel slots is the one on the blackjack table. I don't I don't think that's going to happen. So in the couple minutes I've left, you want to take a crack at who wins or you want to stay away from that because you call these games. Well, yeah, I mean, I'm not really I gosh, I'm never really good with predictions. You don't usually put this hat on. I don't put this hat on.

I don't get asked to put it on. That's why I sit with a host of experts. It's so hard to pick against my homes. But I think there's also the there is the unfinished business for the 49ers in the Shanahan.

They've been here so many times before. And I'm not a betting person. But the line's weird to me.

The line, the line, the line's weird to me. It's almost like it's almost like it's it's begging the world to pick the Chiefs. And I just think Brock Purdy is up to the task. I'll just leave it at that. K.B. with a OK. All right.

So where have we gotten so far? We got Chris Long is taking the Chiefs. Van Pelt says he's taking the Niners and he doesn't like it. He doesn't like taking them.

He doesn't like it because it's like the line, the same thing lines weird, but everyone's taking it. You're going to see everyone's going to take Casey this week. Can't bet against my homes.

Well, Stone Street took Kansas City. That's a shocker. I know. Shocking.

We caught him on a good day. You know. All right.

All right. Yeah, we got that's well, I won't ask Nance that question, but that's tough when you're calling the game, at least like everyone thinks you're rooting against their team anyway. It's like it's truly unbelievable. Just ask your predecessor, who once upon a time looks on Twitter and saying he's being biased against the Red Sox and the Yankees, and he's like, I'm not calling the game. That was the all time. That's all you need to know, right, Joe, all you do is against my team while I'm in Cabo right now.

I'm not calling that game hard to do. Unbelievable. Kevin Burkhardt here on the Rich Eisen Show. Thank you for coming on.

Have a great dinner on Thursday night, Rich and Andrew Whitworth and Jim Nance coming up in our number two, although we're still here on Roku. You got a score, maybe? Don't. I mean, you want to give a score? Oh, what are you trying to get help on the record's purposes? I mean, I sure we are asking everyone for a score. I'm recording it. OK. Oh, gosh.

I'll never make predictions, but I think you're going to win. Yeah. I mean, I kind of gave you the hint there. I'll say twenty seven. Twenty four. How about that? There you go. Love it. What does that mean for you?

That's over with the Niners cover. Yes. Yeah. I have no concept of the. Yeah. As an NFL employee who must walk through the casinos all weekend long and just go straight to the elevator.

Oh, I'm like the unfrozen caveman lawyer when this time. The terms confuse me. I do not know what you mean by over and under. What is this? Partly line.

I thought you said lions for a second. I don't know. Do you mean?

Listen, not not everyone could be Al and just or Brent just snake it in. You know, that's right at the end. That's above my that's above my talent level, right? Right at the end. Right at the end.

He goes over the goal. It's unbelievable. It really is. I can't do it. I'm just burgers. We're seeing him Wednesday. We're seeing him now. Oh, awesome. Brent, we are looking live with him. That is going to be all.

And I mean, he was poolside with Namath when Namath gave the guarantee. How does that sound? Pretty great, right? Thank you for coming on here, Kevin. You're you're local. So anytime. Thanks for having me. It was fun. It's been too long. Kevin Burkhardt here on the Rich Eisen Show.

We'll talk to wit as the friends call him next. And here's Lil Yachty with Tierra Whack. I've never been to a fashion show.

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