Every Year There Are Storylines Stranger Than Fiction

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rich Eisen Show with guest host Andrew Siciliano. He is a brilliant, brilliant creator. He's in charge of every detail. He knows what he wants.

It works. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests from Pro Football Focus, Trevor Sikkema, 49ers Radio play-by-play announcer Greg Papa, plus your phone calls, latest news and more. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Andrew Siciliano.

Oh, fair enough. We might have some other guests as well, but hey, we're back. It is a Thursday after the Super Bowl. There is no off season.

We are 70 days until the NFL Draft. Welcome into the show. Happy that you were here. However, you are taking us in, whether it's on the radio, whether it's on the Roku channel, however it is, you are with us today.

We thank you kindly for being here. I would love to talk about mock drafts. We'll do that in an hour.

I would love to talk about pitchers and catchers, now in Arizona and in Florida. Actually, would love to do that. Maybe we will do that later. Well, would love to talk about an NBA player being arrested last night for punching a guy on the other team before the game. Maybe we talk about that. Would love to talk about the fact that I didn't hit mute on my computer right there, and I just got a text live on the air. Maybe we could talk about that.

Who's it from? I don't know. I don't have names here. Business opportunity, I'll get to it later. I would love to talk about the combine. I would love to, Fox Sports 2 has beach volleyball up on my monitor right now. I didn't know there was a Fox Sports 2.

There is? A little baby fox. Little baby? I would love to talk about the fact that Cooper Cup, Mike Del Tufo told me in training camp that every rapper now has a young or a baby in the name.

You just called Fox Sports 2 little baby. Tiger Woods is playing miles away from us right now. Tiger Woods, you and I, Chris Brockman, hope to go tomorrow because he has a late afternoon tea time. Would love to talk about that. Maybe we will. I'll be honest.

We will eventually, but we got to talk about Kansas City as well. Regardless, welcome and hello. Good day. Thank you for having me.

Both Chris Brockman and Mike Del Tufo and TJ Jefferson. Gentlemen, great to be here. What's up, man? What's up, everybody?

How are you? Great. Good. Great. Okay.

I'm really well. Yeah. Look, thoughts are elsewhere.

Yeah, exactly. I don't know how to do this story without doing like three hours of what's wrong with the world today talk, which nobody wants to hear because, because sports is, you know, in newsroom, in journalism parlance, the toy shop, right? Of the entire media business. We're the ones that have the fun. And I think equally as important, that fun is shared with you, the consumer of the media.

You know, this is an escape. At the same time, you'd love it to be a place where we can have reasonable conversations. Just like when we're at a bar watching a game, we're not always talking about the game on the screen. We're talking about our lives, our shared experiences, our families, our kids, that thing that happened at the office today, that thing that happened down the street, right? And I mean, that, that's what we do. It's not always about should Steve Wilks have been fired? I don't think he should have, you know, should Kyle Shanahan have taken the ball?

I don't have a problem with it. You talk about other things in the bar as well. So let's talk about what happened in Kansas City. I was hosting the parade coverage yesterday on NFL network, the studio portion.

We had our great reporters, James Palmer and Sherry Burris. They are, thankfully they are both safe and healthy, and they are back home. They got out of there. They were right near the gunshots. They hid under the stage as police told them to, and then got into Union Station, got into the garage, got in their car and were able to get out safely.

Thankfully. Got off the air at noon, and let's just set the stage. So the final minutes of the parade, they're on stage. Travis Kelce is up there so comically hammered that he could not stand up on his own. He couldn't even read his phone of the lyrics. He was trying to read his phone for friends in low places, and they eventually, like the Oscars, just played him off stage. Like, get out of here, buddy.

Right? Yeah, Mahomes picked him up on that one. Like, let's get out of here. Okay. Chris Jones had been up there seemingly agreeing to a three-year extension and issuing free agency. He was seemingly agreeing to a three-year extension and issuing free agency. His agent had just tweeted, cut them off with beer mug emojis.

Get him off stage. Okay. Everybody is happy. The season's over. Season's over.

Party is on. Like, that's at NFL Network. That's like our last thing. Not that we don't do shows every day. Total Access is on again tonight.

I'll be hosting. Right? But that's like it.

Like, we rap. That's it. Great job, everybody. I got offset, took the mic off, walked back to the newsroom, and then all of a sudden, we have a giant, much like this monitor behind me here, a giant wall of TVs with all the news channels and sports channels. And we also have all our internal feeds where all the cameras are coming from everywhere.

And we have multiple cameras, obviously, at the parade. And all of a sudden, I look up, I go, guys, look, cops with guns drawn, including long guns running into, running into Union Station. And everyone stops and looks up.

You're like, oh my God. All right. Hurry up. Get back on air. And I'll just fast forward to the part where you know now that people have been shot. You, you know, now that people are hurt, you know, now that one person has died.

This is maybe 90 minutes in. And I get a card printed for me. And I'm reading it for the first time on air. And you're holding it and you read it and you look up and you say that the Children's Hospital is treating 10, nine of whom are children, eight of whom suffered gunshot wounds. You look down, you make sure you read the right. And you look back up again, say eight of them have suffered gunshot wounds. Kids who had off from school, went to a parade and were shot.

Like, how do you, how do you begin to wrap your head around that? I got a text during the parade because we had this wide shot of the massive crowd. And then we zoomed in and you see all these kids wearing Mahomes jerseys.

And listen, I, I'm still a kid inside. We all are. Like, I want that parade from my team.

Okay. Like, I didn't get it in 2016 with the Guardians. I have never gotten it for the Browns. Like, I want that parade. I will be a little kid no matter how old I am when it happens. But you see all the little kids there. And I said, these kids are going to carry this is still during the parade. I said on air, these kids are going to carry these memories for the rest of their lives. They are going to tell their kids one day, Hey, grandma and grandpa took me down to the parade. And I was there and Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes got off the float and signed my jersey or took a selfie with me.

I was there and I'm going to show my kids one day, said that on the air. And I got a text from a friend. I hadn't, hadn't heard from it a decade, literally a decade.

One of those ones where you don't even have a, a text thread above the text. Cause it had been so long. And I probably had an Android, like, I mean so long ago.

And it said, Hey Andrew, you don't remember me. Worked years ago at Fox with you. I'm such a huge Chiefs fan. Thank you for saying that because I'm still a little kid watching this. And for years, all I wanted was a parade. And now I get it every year. And I'm still a little kid watching this. Like I get chills just watching this.

That is awesome. And then a couple of hours later, those kids are shot and they're in children's hospital and their memories are now I went to a parade and I got shot. Now there are far bigger conversations and societal issues to talk about, about what happened yesterday. Gang violence, which is what it seems like it was. Accessibility to guns, public carry laws.

The idea that we in this country decide that any dispute we have now has to go to a gun, but we could go on and on about this, but just boil it down to this for me, kids got shot like on what should have been the greatest day, period for them. Trey Smith. This went viral yesterday.

Our friend Albert Breer tweeted a story that he had spoken to some people with the chiefs and pointed out Trey Smith, among others, the offensive lineman was so great in trying to calm the kids that were in the chiefs party. He was on Good Morning America this morning. Take a listen.

Before I was on Good Morning America, this morning, take a listen. Before I run in there, there's like a little kid in front of me, so I just grab him and just yank him and just tell him, you're hopping in here with me, buddy. So I don't know how many people there were in the closet, maybe 20 plus. One of my teammates, my long snapper, James Winchester is very instrumental in helping keep people calm. We ended up getting the green light to be able to get out of there.

We ended up walking to the bus. This little boy was with his father. He's just a little hysterical. He just panicked. He's scared. He doesn't know what's going on. I had the WWE belt, calmed the entire parade.

What can I do to help him out? I just handed him the belt. Hey, buddy, you're the champion. No one's going to hurt you. No one's going to hurt you, man.

We got your back. We just started talking about wrestling. Who's your favorite wrestler?

What was your favorite wrestling match? Just little things like that, just to take his mind off. He was looking out the window and he was seeing people just reacting away.

They're trying to get out of that situation. So I'm like, here you go, buddy. This is yours. So again, no one's going to hurt you. You're here with us. Reggie, you're protected, buddy. You're going to be okay.

You're going to be all right. Imagine going there and then you're running for your lives, trying to protect your kids. This wasn't like a single gunshot. I mean, 22 people got shot. How many bullets didn't hit somebody?

Think about that. Update this morning from Children's Mercy. 11 of those patients, ages six to 15, nine kids shot. Three of them are now inpatient to the hospital. All others have been released. So that is promising. They say all of the kids should be able to recover physically.

Mentally, however, that's another conversation. 23 victims in all. Three people have been detained and are under investigation. Two of those detained are juveniles. So it's not only kids getting shot, it's kids with guns.

Those kids, those juveniles can be detained and all three up to 24 hours without being charged. Multiple firearms recovered from the scene. Police chief in Kansas City this morning says, quote, this appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire. Who the hell brings a machine gun to a parade?

Seriously. Who brings a weapon of war to a parade? A weapon of war to a parade.

I'm all for the second amendment, but if you bring a machine gun to a parade, you never deserve to see the light of day again. Hey, I'm an anxious human being. I'm not afraid of crowds, but I'll be honest, I've been afraid of this stuff for years.

For years. I don't get panicky, but like when I'm shoulder to shoulder in a crowd trying to get out, my first thought is what happens if the you know what hits the fan? I don't know that I want to go to parade anytime soon. Do you? Doesn't seem like I will be.

No, no, I don't. And I don't know that I have an answer because I live in California with the strictest gun laws in America. This could happen here too. It could happen anywhere. And it's when do you feel safe in a movie theater at a game? I generally feel safe at a game.

I do. There's metal detectors. There's all kinds of layers of security. Now we've all walked through stadium metal detectors and I'm like, is that thing really on? You know, but still like, you know, I don't know anymore, guys.

Like you want to take phone calls on this? I wish I had something deep to say. It's like, I'm at a loss for words.

It's just like, it makes me sick. And I don't know that there is an answer because we're not banning guns. And I'm not saying we should don't don't don't come at me because that's not what I'm saying. You can't ban idiots. You can crack down on organized crime. Hey, since the dawn of time, gangs and organized crime have found a way to get guns, including in societies and countries with the strictest of gun laws.

Idiots still get them. I don't know what to do. I would love to shrug my shoulders and say, nothing you can do move on. It won't happen again, but it will happen again.

And then we're going to sit here like a dog chasing our tail, trying to find an answer. What's the phone number? 844-204-RICH. 844-204-RICH. I don't even know what the question is.

I don't know what the answer is. Maybe if you just want to have a conversation, God forbid you were there and want to share your story. Well, we're here for you. That works. Listen, we will get to talking sports. I promise.

You know, say right now, if any of you idiots at the Brown Super Bowl parade brings a gun next year. Anyway, I digress. We need that little lightheartedness at the end there, I think. What?

The I digress? No, the Brown Super Bowl parade. Oh, that's not lighthearted. No, the Super Bowl parade is going to be in Cleveland. You're the idiot for thinking that the Browns could win the Super Bowl.

Oh, no, no, I'm not the idiot. It's not going to be in Dallas. So no matter who wins the Super Bowl, the parade is going to be held in Cleveland.

Is that what you're saying? The parade is going to be in Cleveland because... Are the Chiefs moving the parade next year to Cleveland? Or are you saying the Browns are... How about they're more likely to win the Super Bowl next year? Browns, Cowboys. They keep us out of the Patriots. If we're ranking them, the Patriots are clearly the last.

Greg May, baby, let's go. No? If you get them, you're not winning the Super Bowl next year. Oh, you can't say that.

Yes, I can. 100%? Like 99%. 100%.

You will not win the Super Bowl next year. CJ Stroud won a playoff game. Game singular. Yeah.

Not plural. Weird things have happened. I don't know that anything... Yeah, no. Andrew, Brockman met Matthew Judon during the Super Bowl experience. He's tall. And they assured each other that they were going to win the Super Bowl. Judon guaranteed a championship in like three years. Okay.

Three years. I'm just saying, he told me. I expect him to be truthful and back this up.

And Brockman and Sully completely believe that this is going to happen. All right, Brockman, throw the phone number out again. We're here for you guys. If you want to talk today, let's take some calls.

844-204-RICH. Hit us on Twitter at Rich Eisen Show. And let's have a conversation today.

Yeah. And listen, we will get to sports. Trevor Sikkema is going to be here as well. The new top 10 out on PFF.

The quarterback rankings are going to surprise you. I'll tell you that right now. And again, back to yesterday. There is no answer because if you are in the ban all guns camp. Okay. That's not going to happen. Let's just cut the nonsense. It won't happen. Period.

Full stop. Like I get it when people want to sit here and pound the table for that, but it won't happen. So, you know, you could ask for stricter gun laws, stricter gun laws.

It's me, me speaking only. That's still going to happen because it happens here in California. We have the strictest laws, period, period. Idiots will still get guns. Now I'm all for making it harder for idiots to get them, but you're still going to get them. So I don't have an answer. I don't. I don't.

Other than 844-204 Rich. All right. There will be football coming up. I promise. Don't go anywhere. Let's talk about DoorDash people. We are a huge DoorDash family in my household. As a matter of fact, my wife loves DoorDash so much. She almost named one of our kids Door and the other one Dash.

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Get dinner for tonight, groceries for the week, or a consolation prize for your sad friends in San Francisco. All on DoorDash. DoorDash, your door to more. Head to the DoorDash app to get everything you need delivered.

The podcast available wherever you listen. But people used to say, man, you got a heavy ball. So when we're watching you swing in major league, it's Pedro Serrano.

Yeah. Is that your swing? That's my swing. Oh, and I don't know if we ever talked about this, but every ball I hit out, I hit out, except not as far as they shot it out because they have to reverse the camera.

Hold on a second, Dennis. How many home runs did you hit? Well, I hit three in the movie, right? I think I hit three in the movie. I hit every one of them I hit out.

Okay. And all the batting practice? Oh, yeah. I used to hit routinely. So were you the best hitter of all the actors? I would say so.

I would say so. Charlie and I were the only guys that could really play baseball. Wesley was really athletic and could run, but wasn't much of a hitter. He couldn't hit, but could Charlie hit or he was just... Charlie could hit, and Charlie could pitch. But you went yard more than anybody else in the cast of Major League. Except for the guy, the baseball guys that were out there. Actual. So who was the worst? Oh, I can't.

I won't say. Yes, you can. You absolutely can. That microphone works. Corbin Bernsen, could he... Corbin was okay. I think Tom Barington was maybe the worst. No kidding. I love you, Tom.

He forced it out of me, man. Back of the Rich Eisen Show. Andrew, you're a Cleveland fan. And in the break, we just played a clip from Dennis Haysburg about six years ago. As we transitioned to sports. Yeah, talking about the Major League stuff. And was he really hitting the balls for home runs? President Palmer, also in Major League as Pedro Serrano, one of the greatest characters ever created for the American screen. And you're one of the biggest Cleveland fans that I know.

Thank you, Mike. Biggest Cleveland fans that I know in all sports. How did you take Major League back in the day? And do you still enjoy it now? Oh, I mean, it's the greatest American film ever made. It's up there with On the Waterfront and Raging Bull.

On the Waterfront? Yeah, seriously. I firmly believe that.

Yeah, I saw it in the theater opening night when I was in high school. Yeah, greatest American. Yeah, I mean, to hell with Scorsese or... Yeah, it is it. Period.

Full stop. Okay. Now, along those lines, Major League Two, Major League Three, among the worst films ever made. But you understand they had to make sequels.

Oh, I get it. They're awful. Shouldn't watch them. Yeah, like the end of the Star Wars trilogy. Just don't watch.

Or trilogy, The Nine, whatever the hell they are. Yeah, but Dennis Haysbert there, Pedro Serrano, revealed in that clip you guys just played for the TV audience that Tom Berenger was the worst of the crew in actually playing baseball. I thought he pulled it off better than anyone other than Charlie Sheen as the veteran catcher and the gear and blocking balls in the dirt. Who knew?

Okay. I've always heard about that movie Wesley Snipes, obviously jacked in a physical specimen, but not a great athlete. So whenever he's running in the movie, it's always in slow motion. Have you noticed that?

Yes. So they're trying to hide all of the things that he couldn't do. He couldn't run? Well, it just kind of looked awkward. It didn't look like a baseball player. So they tried to hide it all with the slow motion and the movie tricks. Wow.

I didn't know Nino Brown couldn't actually run. All right. Moving on here. Yeah. So sorry.

Trying to compute football in my head here. Let's talk about what happened yesterday in San Francisco. This happened as chaos was breaking out in Kansas City. Actually, at that very moment, Kyle Shanahan was having here at noon Eastern, a teleconference with reporters in which, after already doing his day after the Super Bowl presser, he now came back, actually it was Tuesday, came back on Wednesday to say that Steve Wilks is out after one year as defensive coordinator of the 49ers. Steve Wilks is a damn good coach.

The Panthers made deep down inside regret not keeping Steve Wilks after he almost took them into the playoffs in 2022 after Matt Ruhle was fired and they got hot playing defense and running the football down the stretch. Steve Wilks was brought in to run a different system. He's not necessarily a 3-4 cover three guy, but that's what they ran there. That's what they ran with D'Amico Ryans. That's what they ran with Robert Sala.

It goes back to the whole Seattle Pete Carroll tree. That's what they ran. So they brought him in and said, hey, can you run this? And he said, yes, because he was the best defensive coordinator available.

Just different system. We had something similar here with the Rams a few years ago. Brandon Staley from the Vic Fangio tree, a 3-4 tree, left to become head coach of the Chargers. Sean McVay brought in Rahim Morris and said, Rahim, run what we've been running, even though that's not what you know. He adapted. They won a Super Bowl.

In this case, Steve Wilks adapted. They had, and I'm mixing these numbers up in terms of total and scoring. Total means yardage, scoring, obviously how many points? They were either three and eight or eight and three. But both of those numbers were in the top eight. So they had a damn good defense.

But he got fired. Go back to the Minnesota game during their three game mid-season losing streak. When Trent Williams and Deebo Samuel were banged up, Drake Greenlaw banged up in that stretch as well. If you remember, the deep ball against a cover zero late in the game in which Steve Wilks took serious fire for calling the blitz. And then Shanahan called him out after the game for the zero blitz. They lost that game. They then lost the next week on Sunday on a short week to the Bengals. So it had been brewing.

It had been brewing. You hear Nick Bosa and you see Nick Bosa. If you watch the fourth and one where Mahomes had the keeper on the final drive, where they could have won the game right then and there, there's a shot from the sideline where Bosa on the field as Mahomes is turning the corner and you know he has the first, throws his hands up.

Like, how'd that happen? So that defense blew it down the stretch. There was a timeout that they called late in the game as well.

Why? Well, it seems like they called the time out because Wilks was going to bring a blitz and Shanahan was like, you're not doing that Minnesota stuff again. It's Mahomes. So this has been brewing, but just think about it. If they did stop the fourth and one, they didn't, but let's say they did. I mean, they're one yard from winning a super bowl. Have you seen inside the NFL yet?

Not yet. Okay, watch it. It's on the CW. You can download it. You can watch it streaming.

I watch it over the TVs here on Tuesday night. There is a shot of Kyle on the sideline, head down, talking into his headset, talking to the people upstairs, going before the fourth and one. All right, stop this. We're in the Super Bowl. And it was almost like he was trying to convince himself, not like, come on, guys.

Now that's not necessarily Kyle, but hey, stop this. We're in the Super Bowl. You knew they weren't going to stop them. You knew it. This is a top 10 defense against, by the way, the killer of dreams and the snatcher of souls in Patrick Mahomes that couldn't get off the field.

So he takes the fall. We have seen this movie before. Does anyone know where we saw it?

Anybody? TJ Del Tufo, Chris Brockman. I would say, do you know where we have seen this movie before in terms of this firing the defensive coordinator immediately after a late game Super Bowl meltdown? Did the Falcons do that? The Falcons, TJ, did it after Kyle Shanahan's offense. And to be fair, Dan Quinn's defense, it was a collective effort. But Kyle, to this day, has taken heat for his play calling in that game. After they couldn't protect the 28 to 3 lead the day after or two days after Richard Smith was relieved as defensive coordinator.

We have seen this blueprint before. Now, Dan Quinn did the firing, not Kyle Shanahan, but Shanahan here is the common thread. Now, to be fair, the Falcons that year had the number 25 total defense. They were not good, right? They got to the Super Bowl largely because of Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan, who won the MVP that year and their excellence on offense.

But the connection is there. Kyle Shanahan's team can't close the Super Bowl. Defensive coordinator is fired within 48 hours and takes the blame. So who do you get? Do you get Brandon Staley? He runs a 3-4.

Yeah, I've been seeing that out there. You run a 4-3, you're gonna stand up Nick Bosa? Play an entirely different system? Do you go get Marquand Manuel, who was with you in Atlanta and was under consideration to be the guy after Richard Smith was fired? What do you do? Do you call... Yes. Wait for it.

Pete Carroll, the father of that system. That's not where Brockman thought you were going. Think about that. I know where you're going.

I'll get there in a second. Do you bring Pete Carroll back to sunny California? Would Pete Carroll be Kyle Shanahan's defensive coordinator?

Seems unlikely. Because if you look at how the NFC West has generally gone, okay, with these coaches the last few years, Sean McVay beats Pete Carroll, has his number. Kyle Shanahan beat Sean McVay, has his number. Sean McVay has his number. Seahawks have certainly beaten the 49ers plenty. Everybody beats the Cardinals. Although the Cardinals occasionally give the Seahawks some trouble, more than they expect. Would Sean Mc...

I'm sorry. Would Kyle Shanahan hire Pete Carroll? And then obviously the one that you want to get to, and he is more of a 3-4 guy. Yes. Do you call... Yes. Bill Belichick.

Yes. To take over. Like Shanahan, see ya. No, to run the defense.

Oh, okay, that works. Kyle's not getting fired. Nah, Kyle's not getting fired. He doesn't deserve to be fired, in my eyes.

You think he should? No, but it's fun to say. Okay.

Is it fair to ask, will there come a time where they decide it's time to move on and maybe he wants to go try somewhere else? Well, if they keep blowing 10-point leads in the Super Bowl, then yeah. Yes. Maybe. Totally.

He should have three rings. Let's be honest. I mean, come on. There also comes a time... Let's talk about 28-3. That's not all on him. All right. He wasn't the head coach.

Yes, his play calling will be picked apart. Just call one running play in that game. Yeah, sure. I get it. Tom Brady also played the most perfect half ever. You were in the building.

Not even half, just like a quarter and a half. Yeah. You were in the building. I was not. Sarah was.

It was the worst day of her life. My apologies. Thanks for bringing it up. Okay. Hey, I was texting in the fourth quarter with friends in the Falcons front office going, where's the party? And like, we're about to bolt. I get it.

See you over there. Yeah. Anyway, it's not all his fault.

28-3 is not all. No, I know it's okay. It's fun to say. Sure. If Jimmy Garoppolo hit some annual Sanders. Right. And if Brock Purdy hits a Deebo, I mean, it's the same thing.

Sure. There are so many ifs. If you stop them on fourth and one. Stop them on fourth and one. Why is Bosa crashing on the running back? Patrick Mahomes isn't giving that ball up.

Nope. Talking on the fourth and one or on the game winning touchdown. Fourth and one. Oh, in the fourth and one. He crashed hard. Patrick Mahomes isn't giving that ball up.

Come on now. So also on the NFL films thing on the inside of the NFL, you'll see Trent Williams on the sideline before the play going. Watch the keeper. He's going to keep it. Watch the keeper.

Watch the keeper. And then they cut to him after the play. And he's like, Oh, I mean, you knew he was like, clear as day, clear as day, clear as day. And you could see Kyle Shanahan as well after Brock Pretty. And then they didn't pick up a blitz.

Like, I'm like, what the? Yeah. When McDuffie's coming clean there on third down. Well, Trent Williams got beat bad on one of those plays late too. So sure.

Chris Jones is unblocked. I don't think Bill Belichick would take it. I don't. I don't think he would. Because Bill Belichick wants to be a head coach. Clearly, Bill Belichick wants back in to get to Don Shula.

This, going to California, giving up a year off to breathe and to relax and maybe dabble in some television. I don't think. And again, I haven't had a conversation in person with Bill Belichick in 15 years.

So, full disclosure, I don't think he would do it, but don't you have to make the call? Don't you have to? Too diligent, right? Like, I love Brandon Staley. But Brandon Staley's defenses with the Chargers, I hate to tell you, were not good. Real bad. Not good. Real bad.

Suffer from lack of communication. The numbers were just bad. Yes, they had a lot of injuries, but they just weren't good. Belichick's defenses are good. Pfft.

Like you need me to tell you that. They were really good last year, even though they won four games. Really good last year. With Christian Gonzalez-Hert. With Judon Hert. Right?

They were really good. Don't you have to make the call? Now, you could just give it to Chris Kiseric. All right? Or Chris Kiffin.

You could do it. I mean, those make sense as well. Those are in-house or in-system guys. Guys you know.

Guys you've worked with. That makes sense. But Brandon Staley's in the system as well. I mean, your little Shanahan tree thing. Right.

In there as well. I call Belichick. Even if it's... Hey, this is Bill. Bill, it's Kyle Shanahan. Nope.

Even if it's four seconds, make the call. Hey, what do you think about... Nope. Great.

Had to check. Okay, bye. I'm gonna do the ESPN 30 for 30 thing. What if I told you... What if I told you... What if I told you... That a phone rang? What if I told you that walking out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the 28 to 3, that one day in San Francisco, Bill Belichick would work for Kyle Shanahan? Bill looks down, sees 4-1-5. Huh? What if I told you that Bill Belichick declined to call from the 4-1-5? He's just like, hey, voicemail spam. Think about that.

I don't need any more gold bars. How does Rich describe the NFL like a never-ending storyline... Narrative generating machine. Narrative generating machine.

And he's dead on, right? It is always stranger than fiction. Every year.

Never know. Every year, there are storylines that are stranger than fiction. The weirdest season ever.

Come on. So, and we will get this, free agency opens on Wednesday the 13th. Now the window is going to open three days earlier. Talk in March, next month, a few weeks away. Four weeks. The stuff that will happen between now and March 13th, right now, we cannot even begin to conceive. Like Russell Wilson. We can conceive it. Russell Wilson, who I ran into Friday in Vegas with Sierra.

They were lovely. He cut his hair down really, like really, really short. Could be cut. Could be traded. Highly unlikely. Cut, most likely. Could be cut. What else could we see happen? We could still see a coaching move. I highly doubt it. Kyle's not going anywhere.

I think we're totally, totally, totally done with that. It was during this window a couple of years ago. Tyreek Hill. We're driving to work. Tyreek Hill. Tyreek Hill got traded. We are going to see bonkers stuff like that in the next month. I guarantee you there are going to be headlines that make you drive off the road. I guarantee you. What if Kyler got traded? He's not gonna get traded, but you could see that. What if, remember where I was.

I was in Hawaii last year. Got the call. Oh yeah. Bears and Panthers just made a deal.

Yeah, exactly. Now I don't think the Bears are going to do that, but here's what I would do with the Bears. Let's just say hypothetically, you're happy with Drake May. I would still want Caleb, but everyone thinks that it's a binary decision here. Caleb Williams or Justin Fields.

It isn't a binary decision. You could make the, you could jump to this. You could say I'm happy with Drake May or Jayden Daniels. Trade Justin Fields and trade the number one. Go down to two or three and take one of the other quarterbacks. You could still do that. Do you imagine what you could get if you trade one, even if you're moving out only two spots or one spot and Justin Fields?

I never even thought of that. You could get everyone's draft picks. That's really fun. Bears fans should be rooting for that. It's not a binary decision.

Anyway, that's fun. I want Bill Belichick and Kyle Shanahan together. I want two of the not angriest, least personable in the building people working together. I want that to happen. And I want it to be on hard knocks. Hard knocks with Kyle Shanahan and Bill Belichick, defensive coordinator would be the greatest American reality program of all time.

That's insane. I don't need Real Housewives throwing things at each other. I need Belichick and Shanahan together. Give it to me. Pump it into my veins. And then after hard knocks, I want all or nothing. I want in season hard knocks as well.

April four, two or four. Rich Hoskins is yelling at me back after this on the Rich Eisen Show on the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Podcast. Co-host David Green and Rob Abasolo interview real estate investors and entrepreneurs about successes, failures and hard earned lessons. Joined by author Dave Meyer, who wrote a book. I did write a book. It seems like you're coming out with a book every four minutes. You are one to talk. You've released two books this year.

I've done half as many as you. It is more about strategy than it is about just finding whatever the new buzzword happens to be. Bigger Pockets Real Estate Podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen. Hi there. Sorry for the interruption, but are you enjoying this show on Google Podcasts? You should know that the Google Podcasts app is going away this spring.

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Try out Spotify or Amazon Music or maybe TuneIn is more your style. Whatever app you switch to. Be sure to follow so you never miss the next episode. And thanks for listening wherever you listen.

I did not approve this, but that's part of me delegating to you, our social media Grand Maester. You put out on Instagram a photograph. It says Breaking Bears Trading for Russell Wilson. And what's today's date? What's today's date? It is April 1st, Rich. And that is what? It is April Fool's Day.

So it's five minutes to air. My phone's on the desk and it's buzzing. And I still have the phone on the desk. My phone's on the desk and it's buzzing, and I see it as, you know, it's Jeff Garland. Is the caller there? Is the caller there on the rich app?

Jeff from Chicago. What's funny about it? Nothing's funny about it.

Nothing is funny about it. Our friend, Doug Robinson, texts me. Yes.

The Capitol, Russell Wilson. Says, you know, Rich doesn't usually get the scoop. Adam Chester should be on this. Well, that should have made me suspicious. But no, I have so much respect for the Rich Eisen show that I know that they have connections that nobody else has.

That's true. Well, you know what, Rich, I'm not going to swear, but I got to tell you, you're a little social media boy. He's going to get his. TJ, do you have anything to say to Jeff Garland?

Yeah, happy and full day. All right. Hey, TJ, you don't know what you've brought down on yourself. You don't even have a clue the power that I have, especially in practical jokes. I'm going to nail you so hard. You know what? I hope you enjoy your testicles right now because they're going to disappear. No, but I need them. It's the Rich Eisen show.

Andrew Siciliano sitting in for Rich. You okay over there, TJ? Yeah, I'm good. Okay, good. Seriously, I'm concerned.

I got the whole Sinus thing happening right now as well, so I want to make sure you're okay. The drink that went down in the road. Down in the road? Down in the road. Down in the road.

Down in the road. Yeah. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. So I want to make sure you're okay down the wrong tube.

I hate when that happens. I'm fueled right now by four cups of coffee, Sudafed, and sugar. Because Susie yesterday has a box of donuts over there. RJ brought in like 50 cookies from Dee Dee Reese. So many.

Dee Dee Reese, by the way, Westwood legend, legendary place here in LA, right off the UCLA campus. One right here. Um, yeah, no, not four. I had a cup at home, and then I have, like, Liz got me a nice tamericano here, a grande, which is like two or three shots. So maybe two, maybe three cups. Yeah.

In the grand scheme of things. Anyway, I'm two snickerdoodles in. So yeah, I have one snickerdoodle. The Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen Show Radio Network at the Rich Eisen Show desk, which is furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call or click Grainger.com or just stop by. Do I sound congested? I do, don't I? Yeah, but you always have a deep voice, so it sounds even better today. When I'm congested, it sounds better. Yeah, I think so. I don't think it gets a little deep. No, I definitely sound congested. It does get a little deeper.

Well, I think you can do those. Get the cans on over there. Listen to the deep voice. Trevor Sikkema is going to join us coming up shortly. Next hour here, we're going to go through the PFF Big Board here because it is officially draft season, shipping off, all of us are, in a couple of weeks to Indianapolis for the scouting combine.

Let's just have the quarterback conversation right now. It is going to be Caleb Williams, number one, okay? If it's the Bears or somebody else, Caleb Williams is going number one in this draft. We have two months to listen to noise. I mean, the draft is August, I'm sorry, April 25th. So really, it's three months, no, two and a half months to try to hype up someone else. It's not going to be anyone other than Caleb Williams.

And I'm sorry for ruining the surprise. The question becomes, does anyone trade to number one to take Caleb Williams? And the question beyond that is where do the quarterback stack behind him?

And does somebody like Joe Ault, the Notre Dame tackle or Marvin Harrison Jr., the Ohio statewide receiver, get in between the quarterbacks after Caleb Williams in the top five? I am sorry, Bears fans. It's not going to be Justin Fields next year. And I'm not anti Justin Fields. I just don't see it.

It can't. Organizationally, even though the president of the Bears just came out, Kevin Warren, who's the former commissioner of the big 10, when Justin Fields was playing quarterback at Ohio State in the big 10, said a lot of really nice things about Justin Fields. I don't doubt his sincerity, but organizationally, it makes, look at me, if you're on camera, if you're looking at the TV, zero cents, zero to keep Justin Fields, zero. Unless you believe that he is your quarterback for the next five years and is worthy right now of upwards of $42 million a year. The Justin Fields contract negotiation, if I'm representing him, begins at Daniel Jones. And the Giants are already regretting that deal. It begins at Daniel Jones.

It begins at Daniel Jones. If you are willing to guarantee Justin Fields right now, north of 40 to $42 million a year, and guarantee at least those first two and really make it hard to get out unless you're there for three. So we're talking $120 million. If you're ready to do that right now, then do it. But if you're not, move on. Reset your financial clock and take the one that everyone agrees is a generational talent. If you don't think he wants to play for her or his dad's gonna mess everything up, I don't buy that necessarily, who cares? Take him, deal with that later.

Just deal with it. Trade Justin Fields, get something. Both can be true. Justin Fields is a good player and a good kid with a bright future.

And it makes more sense to trade him. Both can be, and in my opinion are true. They're true. Just move on. I'm sorry. Like I found somebody younger and hotter and cheaper. And that sounds so dehumanizing, but it's unfortunately the business. It's just the way it works. It's never personal.

In this case, it truly is business. Now, could you do the two a thing and pick up his fifth year, but punt on the extension? You could. Why?

That just is kind of awkward. Either way, radio listeners, Trevor Sikkema, right around the corner will continue this conversation. Yeah, I think you're just do feels a solid, send him to a good situation, whether it's Pittsburgh, which is the kind of the betting favorite, or Atlanta. I like Atlanta. Which is where he's from. And then you just hit reset on your franchise and on the pay scale for your quarterback. And that's the big thing.

It's hitting reset on the pay scale. Now, as for Atlanta, I spoke to Arthur Blank on NFL Network on Friday, the owner of the Falcons. And among other things, he said with Bill Belichick, there was no offering and never came out of control. There was never a conversation. Never a conversation.

I need this control. Therefore, you're not the guy. What he also said, and he just kind of followed on how I led him there. I said, the conversation with Belichick is, well, it's okay, let's say he's there, but who's going to be the quarterback, Mr. Blank? And I said, and now, and then he kind of jumped in. Yeah, now it's the same conversation.

I get it. He goes, because he didn't say we need to find a quarterback, but he agreed. Yeah, that is the big issue.

And we are working through those options. So the Falcons, again, picking eighth, a tradition, because it's almost faster season, a tradition truly unlike any other, the Falcons picking eighth. It happens every year.

They've got to figure out what to do. Is Jayden Daniels there at eight? That would be awesome if it were. No way, though, right? Or can I flip a two to the Bears and get Georgia native Justin Fields? This is me flipping a two to the Bears, huh? How about that? Forever Sycamore is coming up next.