Bill Bradley: I Like The Way Jalen Brunson Plays

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See terms at discover.com slash credit card. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Villas. Coming up, former New Jersey senator and two-time NBA champion Bill Bradley. Actor Maki Pfeiffer. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

Oh, all right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. I'm genuinely pumped up to talk to Bill Bradley. If you're from the New York City metropolitan area, you're from New York, New Jersey, and you're my age, this guy is royalty. I mean, this guy is a complete royalty.

I'm talking to you youngins out there. 1964 Olympic champion, Princeton grad, New York Nick, two-time champion, 18-year senator from the state of New Jersey, Bill Bradley, for crying out loud. That's just part of his resume, which is why he's got a film based on a one-man show that he developed. By the way, talk about this film adaptation. This is an interesting trio. Frank Oz. Do you know who Frank Oz is? Okay, director but also voice of Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy. Spike Lee and Mike Toland, who is a legend in the sports entertainment business, they put it all together and they came up with a film adaptation of Rolling Along, an American story.

It's streaming right now on Max, which means it's available right here on Roku. Written and performed by Bill Bradley, who's joining us in about 18 minutes time. I've spoken about this. He's called in before, but I did a SportsCenter commercial. It was me, him and Stu. And we're going to show that before the interview. And I'll never forget it because it's him trying to talk serious tax policy with us and all we wanted to talk about was the Knicks and Clyde Frazier's garb.

And the finishing line is me saying, those short shorts you wore, did they ever give you a wedgie? And the look of derision that he gives me was, I think, real at the time. And it kind of killed me that he would look at me like this and I felt like saying, listen, no, no, no, Senator, I know this is disrespectful. That's the script, but I think he understood it as well. He's a smart man. He went to Princeton. So basically, I'm going to embarrass myself when he joins.

That's what I do. In 17 minutes time. You had Fosse and Miss Piggy for Frank Oz, not Yoda. Oh, he did Yoda too?

Okay, that's right. Of course, he did Yoda. A little more famous than Miss Piggy.

I don't know about that, Chris. I'd put Miss Piggy up against Yoda any day of the week. Wow. Who's more famous, Yoda or Miss Piggy? Paul. There it is. Do not throw Fosse bear in there just to split the Frank Oz vote.

I'm not splitting the vote. Miss Piggy. Dude, do not discount Miss Piggy.

Does Frank Oz have Twitter? Oh my goodness, that's Jim Henson, but don't conflate the Muppets, sir. Yeah, I did go Miss Piggy and Fosse bear.

I went straight Muppets. Gentlemen, it's time for what appears to be Rich Eisen Consulting needing to unite. Adam Chudwin, our call screener, when he takes phone calls, he places into our screen here the subject matter that the caller would like to hit. This does appear to be Rich Eisen Consulting needing to unite to help out.

Because the best thing about us is that it's about us. Andrew in Erie, Pennsylvania, that's our setup for your phone call. What's up, Andrew?

Hey, everybody. Thanks for taking my call. You bet. Thanks for making it. I'm a caller and I've been watching your show for a couple of years now. And I got to thank you guys for really getting me back into sports more so than I was. All right. I think you guys have a really entertaining and, you know, I love the positive energy of the show as well, you know, more so than some of the other shows that are out there. Appreciate that. How can we help, Andrew?

How can we be of service at Rich Eisen Consulting? Andrew? Yeah. So I have a little bit of a crisis of faith with my Dallas Cowboys fandom right now.

Is that right? I am a lifelong Cowboys fan. I'm from western Pennsylvania and I'm 37.

So they were awesome when I was a little kid. But I'm considering walking away. I'm considering heading up to the mall here in Erie, Pennsylvania, and buying myself a Josh Allen jersey. I'm hopping on the Bill's Mafia bandwagon because I'm tired of the Cowboys.

I kind of went off the roller coaster and just wanted to see what you guys thought about it. You know, I know TJ is also a Cowboys fan from Western PA. Who better to talk to you than you guys about it? Now, Andrew, this is not only going to be an important decision made on your behalf, but this is going to test the cohesiveness of Rich Eisen Consulting. Of Rich Eisen Show Consulting because, as you know, the best thing about us is it's about us.

And even though on the screen for our consulting, our coordinating producer, Mike Hoskins, is not on the screen. He is a diehard, dyed in the wool, Buffalo Bills fan. And I'm sure he would welcome you happily into the Mafia. Well, TJ, you are, I guess, the cowboy expert of our consulting firm. How would you counsel Andrew?

Well, I have a question first. TJ, we know where you're going to lean. We know where Mike in the back is going to lean. Rich and I are kind of neutral here. I want to know, you're from Western PA, right? That would lend you to be a Steelers fan.

First off, I lived in Erie when I was a baby. Why are you not a Steelers fan and why did you become a Cowboys fan originally? Okay, well the Steelers, everyone here either absolutely adores the Steelers or absolutely hates them. I'm in the hates them, you know, camp. And I became a Cowboys fan because my dad was a Cowboys fan.

So this is like, you got family dynamics and all kinds of stuff going on here. If I go down this route, you know, it's going to be some interesting conversations there. It's 90 minutes away from me. I can actually go to the games. Pittsburgh and Cleveland are close too. I've been liking some of these other teams. If you do the math, I can actually go to the games. I can go shovel out my own seat. I kind of like that they play like real outdoor football.

I kind of miss that. I'm a Penn State guy, so I like that kind of stuff. Let me hop in here. Let me hop in here. And then I'll tell you where I'm going to land on this.

Is that I'm doing the math in my head. You're 37 when the Cowboys won their last Super Bowl. You were an impressionable young man of about probably seven or eight. You're asking why wasn't he a Steeler fan? Did you see Neil O'Donnell's performance in that Super Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys? So if you're an impressionable seven, eight, nine year old in Erie, PA, and your dad loves the Cowboys.

It's passed down. But now, at this point in time, now he's got to turn his back on him. And we're going to turn it into this. If you're the consulting firm that we are, wouldn't you think the bills are are closer or have a better shot to make Andrew a happier man in the next five years than the Dallas Cowboys? Another great poll question.

Wouldn't you even admit this, TJ? Well, Rich, if I look back, what Super Bowl are we on now? Fifty three. Eight. Fifty eight. Yeah. So we look back over the 58 years of Super Bowls and the previous 40 some years of the NFL before the Super Bowl.

Hold on man, let me dust off the record books. Whatever, man, whatever. The fact of the matter is. And I look, I don't want any beef with Bill's Mafia because Bill's Mafia has been actually very cool to me.

And they're one of the cooler fan bases out there. Yeah, but now you're at odds. Now, now we have to make a choice here. Andrew, as a guy from Western PA who is a Penn State fan, who grew up a Cowboys fan, who didn't like this. I like the Steelers. I just didn't like Steelers fans. Bro.

No, because here's the deal. One day the Dallas Cowboys are going to win a Super Bowl game. That's what I'm saying.

And when that happens, bro, is going to be the most glorious thing of all time. Now with Buffalo, no offense. Buffalo's never sit from the cup, so to speak. They've never held the championship belt above their head at WrestleMania. They've never won a championship. And again, no disrespect because I do like Bill's Mafia. But bro, you're talking eight Super Bowls.

You're talking the premier franchise in sports. Value wise, I would just say stay the course if that was your dad's favorite team and you guys have those memories together. The reason I'm still a wrestling fan was me and my grandpa. That was our thing.

That's why I could never stop being a fan of wrestling. So if that was your dad's squad and you guys have that, is your dad still alive? Can I ask you that, Andrew? Oh, yeah. Okay, bro. Imagine you and your pops getting to sit together and watching the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, bro. Does he come out of the corn, too? Oh my goodness.

Look at you. There ain't nothing better. This is so touching. My dad passed.

I wouldn't give anything to be able to sit and watch a boxing match with my dad because that was our thing. So I'd say stay the course, bro. You know, there's a lot of downs, granted.

But if the tide does turn and they are able to right the ship and win, bro, it's going to be the most glorious thing in the world. Hold on a second, Andrew. From the back, Rich Eisen Show coordinating producer, who's definitely part of R.E.S. Consulting. That was terrific. Well done. Well done. Mike Hoskin says, I have a retort, which is very rare.

Here it is. He's putting it on the screen. Oh, it's Josh Allen just leapfrogging over Justin Reid, basically showing him who's kind of boss, like scraping, you know. Here's what I will say.

Israel Adesanya style, right? I love TJ's passion. I love it. And it made me think about when when the Red Sox finally won the World Series, it was one of the greatest things of all time. But I didn't have 70 years of pain like like a lot of other people. However, the more I think about it, you know, obnoxious Cowboys fans are going to be when they eventually win a Super Bowl.

It's going to be nothing like the great vibes when Buffalo finally wins the first. Oh, my goodness. Andrew, go to Bill's Mafia. OK, OK, OK. So I've got to make a decision here to put it in here. Sure.

Break the tie. I do. TJ, you really tugged at my heartstrings. You know how to talk my language. I'm saying because it's some.

But it's some day, you know, it's going to mean a lot. Father and son sticking together. But Andrew, do you have a you have any kids, son, daughter?

No, I have a brother, but he doesn't care about football or sports in general. OK, nieces, nephews. Little nephew.

He's like one. So imagine you, little nephew and dad. Oh, my goodness gracious. I'm going to tear up now.

Get the camera off me. I'm going to start crying. Just think about how obnoxious Cowboys fans can imagine what it must feel like to root for Josh Allen. Oh, I'd love to. I mean, but but to really like. You wish you had Josh Allen instead of Dak. Be honest. I mean, man, don't put me in that position.

He would, you know, you're in a heartbeat. Seriously, Dak, who? Who's Dak? Who's Dak? Who's Dak?

I don't even know who he is anymore. You stop that. Andrew, I think you're I think you know what the answer is from Arias Consulting. Yes. Stay.

I think so. Thanks, guys. You got Andrew in Erie, Pennsylvania. Andrew, just know, though, if you leave, there's no refunds.

There's no return tickets. It's marvelous. He says, God, by the way, there's less pie. This guy saying you need to stick with your team. And he's got as a backstop 19 other teams from four different sports. We're talking NFL right now. He has the one NFL team.

I will give one. And by the way, those teams are grandfathered in. It's not like I picked up a new one recently. What does that mean? We're going to add the Spurs. Look, the Mets since 86, the Clippers since 99, Duke since 90, Georgetown since like 82. I will never forget Bomani Jones for the first time saying Duke and Georgetown.

I'm looking at you like, who are you? Yeah, I mean, look, he had issues. All right, look at this. Arias Consulting, we stuck together.

It's 30 plus years with all those teams. Well, normally our votes are not split, though. Another satisfied customer. Well, you knew we were going to get one. Yeah, I mean, obvious.

Descent. Brian in Los Angeles, let's take his call before you get to before you get to Bill Bradley. What's up, Brian? It's always good to talk to you. Thanks for having me on. What's up, Brian? How you been? Congrats. Oh, I appreciate the congrats. Yeah, I've got the day off, so I'm spending it with you guys. I did not know this was the Brian in Los Angeles from our household. This is a man who has coached every single one of my children. OK.

Yes, I was wondering why. And that's actually by the way, the fact that I can. You're the obvious man. You're like one of the only people who could say that, Brian. So there you go. And I'm proud to say that. Thank you.

Anybody that could coach two more police out of Zanderi's and deserves to be coach of the year. Is this Brian Chief's fan brand? Brian in LA. Yes, Brian. Gotcha.

Yeah, I'm the one that litters your Twitter feed, too. I apologize. Please.

All good. So what's up? So it's always good to have a second opinion. And I want to call in and kind of debate R.E.S.

consulting for a second. Andrew, I'm sorry if you're not on anymore, but I do want to talk to you about possibly joining a new kingdom now. Now, I know what you're thinking right now. And TJ, you could think about it, too. Sometimes you just need a fresh start. And as Dallas Cowboy fans will tell you, you are not going to get a fresh start until you leave. And, you know, you've tasted that greatness once in your life.

I think he was 37. Andrew was. So he's tasted that sweetness. It's time to come over to the kingdom and anybody is welcome. All doors are open. You're welcome to jump on. You're welcome to enjoy the ride.

It's been amazing. And there's a DNA. Lamar Hunt was a Dallas Texans owner. Yeah. You know what I mean?

So you got something? Chris? True. Andrew in Erie is not Kevin Durant.

OK. He's not going to join the team that beat him. That's true, too. Think about how much sweeter it's going to be when the Bills finally get over that hump. You know what?

Andrew's got three rings. You know what I mean? You're the best man. We got to run.

We'll chat soon, brother. That's Brian in L.A. There you go. The great the great Chiefs fan of Los Angeles. So that's true. He's not a Bills fan. Yes.

Yes. But still, I love it. Look, any argument that someone's going to give to become a Chiefs fan? Look, I can't argue that with you because you're going to be accused of mobbing on a bandwagon. Well, we got to take we got to take a break because as old school as I assume Bill Bradley is, he's got the Tom Coughlin rule of showing up five minutes early. OK, so let's take a break.

And we're back on the other side with the great two time NBA champion and longtime United States senator and one of my idols growing up, Bill Bradley, coming up next. Looking for an assist with your credit card, but can't get a hold of anyone? Luckily, with twenty four seven U.S. based live customer service from Discover, everyone has the option to talk to a real person any time, day or night.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Back here on the Roku Channel Radio will rejoin in two minutes time, and that's when we'll get Bill Bradley on our Zoom screen. I'll never forget the day when I was at ESPN.

Early on, I was on a sports center for about four or five years, and they come up to me and say, you want to be in a sports in a commercial with Bill Bradley? I'm like, are you serious? Really? Yeah. OK.

It's you, the senator and Stuart Scott. I'm like, really? OK, sure. Of course. Kid from Staten Island.

Nick fan. Totally. So they would give you kind of a heads up. And then they show me the script. And then I read the script and I'm like, I'm going to say that to Bill Bradley.

Really? And they're like, yeah. And I'm like, I don't know. Do you think he'll be finding this funny? They're like, he knows. I'm like, all right. He's trying to explain tax policy to Stuart and I, and we're not buying it.

We were asking him silly questions. Check it out. People think all we care about are sports. That's just not true. The income tax system is a bad joke. It's so complicated and unfair. That's why we need tax reform.

Was Willis Reed really injured? With lower rates and fewer loopholes, you'll be able to keep more of each additional dollar you earn. Those big fur coats that Clyde had, did you ever wear one?

The best tax rate is the lowest possible tax rate for the greatest number of people. So those short shorts, they would give you a wedgie. Tim, like, why are you asking me this? Exactly. The look he gave me, I literally thought to myself, I've been dreaming about meeting Bill Bradley my whole life and hearing him staring a hole through me and they're like, Rich, it's acting. So, that was it. And he did a great one with Keith as well, with Bob Lee, I think for a job interview we won as well. Back in the day. So fun.

Sports center. And now I get to have him on the show as a guest. Very excited about all of that. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, joining us right now on Zoom is an icon in both American sports and of course the United States Senate and so much more.

Rolling Along, an American story is available for streaming right now on Max, which is available on Roku, the autobiographical film that is written and performed by the great Bill Bradley. Look who's joining us now live on the Rich Eisen Show, Bill Bradley. How are you, sir? Great, Rich. Great to be with you.

Good to be with you as well. We just showed our old sports center commercial back in the day. You know, one with Keith, I think actually won an Emmy or something, I forgot. That was the one where you were, yeah, you were in a job interview. Job interview, yeah, yeah. And his line was at the end, no, I mean a really difficult job. Right.

As if, you know, 18 years in the Senate is nothing. So what's, why this story? I know it was something you've been working on for six years, developing and performing and writing it as an on-stage one-man play, but walk me through your decision to do this film. Well, I wanted to tell my story in hopes that in telling my story with great candor that I would encourage other people to tell their stories and that all of our stories is the American story and it under, it emphasizes our common humanity. What I've done is much more human story than a hero's story and it's a performative autobiography.

I did it in the end of 21, we filmed it and now it's a film on max and I feel that I've said what I wanted to say and I hope that in the process of doing that, it encourages other people to tell their stories. Well, I guess writ large, what, what is it that you want to say, obviously at a very crucial part of all of our existences right now? Well, I think the most critical, the most important line in the film is where I say, you know, we're in such a divided country today that maybe we could learn something from what made the Nick team successful so many years ago. Make responsibility for yourself, respect your fellow human being. Disagree with them openly, honestly, civilly, enjoy their humanity and never look down on people you don't understand.

Well, let's take that in a core is the essence of the film. So let's take that one at a time here because the, the civil discourse has essentially disappeared and, and, and many of the reasons why I think, to be honest with you, is that this phone that I have in my hand right here, you know, is that people can fire back at your opinions and your opinions aren't completely thrown out there because there's a certain amount of characters in which you can say it. And then somebody who doesn't have to say something to your face or put their face up on the screen when they say it to you fires back and then you kind of feel like the world is closing in on you on that conversation. I'm wondering if, and then of course it's the demonizing of the others where you ascribe demonic intentions to somebody who is just trying to have a thoughtful conversation. I'm wondering, did you see the development of that in your 18 years in the Senate, Bill?

Did you sense any of that? When I left the Senate, I left in part because I thought there was way too much money in politics and that the extremes began to take over. This is much more today and it's exacerbated by social media, but my grandmother's thought is still relevant. Never look down on people you don't understand. I mean, the rich, the real reality is when we were growing up, our parents or our coach would tell us, if you lose, congratulate the winner.

That's just what it is. And you act out of honor, not out of grievance. And you know that if you work hard and have humility, you can achieve excellence. And that's how you take care of your family. If enough Americans did that, then the whole country would advance.

These are givens. People know that. As long as politics is at a level of R&D or blue and red, you ignore the common humanity that everybody has. And to me, the whole thrust of my effort in the film is to focus on our common humanity as human beings, as Americans, and not on whether we were Republicans or Democrats. Now, will that help? I hope.

I hope that it'll lead to some healing along the way, but we'll see. Rolling Along, an American story available for streaming now on Max, written and performed by the man on whose life it is based. And it is Bill Bradley here on The Rich Eisen Show.

It's available on Max, available right here on Roku. So I imagine the first time you represented the United States in anything was the 1964 Olympic Games, right? In Japan. I was just going down the memory hole, Bill. Larry Brown was a teammate of yours on that 1964 gold medal team? Yeah, Larry Brown was a teammate, played for Goodyear Tire and Rubber, C&P Baffery, and that's when AAU teams had representatives on the Olympic team.

Yeah. When we were there, I thought we'd end up playing the Soviet Union in the final. And you know, I made a, in the Olympic village, you ate, not with your country, but just ate as human beings. And I got to know a Russian who was a guard, and that's when I was an evangelical Christian. So I went into Tokyo and bought a Bible in Russian and gave it to him.

He didn't quite know what it was about, but what was it, why, why did you do this? But that's what I did in those days. And the Olympics was a great experience, you know, standing on the platform, gold medal around your neck and hearing the national anthem played, chills going up and down your spine. It was a unique experience. It wasn't the greatest basketball in the world, but it was a great experience and I'm glad I had it. And Larry Bird was on that team, no question, not Larry Bird, Larry Brown was on that team.

Right. Back in that day. And then, so how did, so when did you first meet Red Holtzman and realize that the Knicks were something special? Well, I think I met Red when I was thinking of becoming a Nick, you know, I basically, I went to college, instead of going into the pros, I went to Oxford for two years.

And then I decided one day I was out shooting baskets alone in the first gym Oxford had in 700 years. And I decided, you know, I really love the game. And so I wanted to come back and play. And so when I came back to deal with the Knicks, that's when I met Red. He was a, he was a scout at that point.

And then in my first year, there was the change made. He came as coach, he was a great coach. He had only three rules, hit the old man on offense, help out on defense, and the hotel bar belongs to me. Did you follow those rules? I certainly did.

All three of them. What's your favorite Clyde story, your favorite Walt Frazier story that might either sum up your relationship with him or just his greatness and personality altogether? Well, I was introducing him at some event, I forget where it was.

And it wasn't a big event, but you know, there were people there. And so I said, there's no question that the greatest seventh game in the NBA Finals ever played was played by Walt Frazier. He had 36 points and 19 assists. And then he interjects and 13 rebounds.

That's right. That's a nice triple-double. He also had four or five steals. So Clyde is just a wonderful human being. He was a health food person before it was popular, he was eating seeds when everybody else was eating hot dogs.

And he always took care of himself, always slept. And I think I'm so glad that he's in two Hall of Fames, right? He's in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He deserves it. He's worked hard for it. And he's a good man.

He sure is. Did Phil Jackson evince the greatness of a future coach when you were playing with him? I never thought of Phil as a coach when I played with him. But as I look back, he looked at the game analytically.

He was totally unselfish. He was somebody who was very disciplined, and all those things went into becoming perhaps the greatest coach in the NBA history. Bill Bradley here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Let's talk a little bit about the here and now, if you don't mind. Jalen Brunson, what do you think of when you watch him play and just hear his name right now, Bill? I like the way he plays. He is learning to make the worst player on the team better. He's making each of his teammates maximize their abilities. And the more he does that, and the more he has a team that hustles and has a commitment of unselfishness, the better he's going to be.

I mean, the name of the game is the maximum player movement and ball movement that rewards unselfishness. And as long as the Knicks do those things, move the ball and play unselfishly, and he is the guy, the point guy that starts that, they're going to do well. He also seems to have raised the level of his game, though, considerably. I mean, he is just, ascending isn't even the proper word for him.

Yes, he can set a critical path. He can take the path of his considerable individual skills, average a lot of points, or he can be a champion, and I think he'll score less points, but his teammates will be better, and then they have a chance of being a great team. I like him because he seems to be the leader on the team, too, which is really good for one of the best players. Well, and if you've been in that building for decades, it's rare to see a player do what he's doing and plug into the fans and have that building plug into him. There's an it factor that is so rare to be seen in Madison Square Garden right now with him. I think that's true, but I think we have to be careful about the it factor being only to Jalen. I think Jalen would be the first one to say, and Thibodeau, it's to the team, the way the team plays, because one player is not going to win the championship. And I think that the fans, since there's something going on there, when you win 13 and 2 in January, that's great. That's great. That's certainly as good as we ever did, except when we win 19 in a row. But I think that they have to do that in February and in March, and then we'll see where they go from there.

But the potential is enormous. So in your multiple All-Star games that you played in, how competitive were those All-Star games, Bill? I was only in one, so I didn't play the multiples. Okay. So I played in one.

Only one? Okay. But the All-Star games were competitive. It was always seen as a different kind of game. You wanted to win for your team, but it wasn't like winning for your team, if you know what I mean. It was a group of guys who had a certain pride, and their pride now was they were against other really great players, and they wanted to win. So people wanted to win. It wasn't some exhibition of shooting. It was they want to win.

So they played defense, they passed the ball, and they scored. And the most valuable player usually deserved it, but it was always seen as a break between what was really important, which was your season. So in the few minutes I have left with you, who's the best player that you've played against? The best player I played against was John Habelcek. He was the man I guarded. There were other great players, obviously Kareem, or Wilt, or Jerry West, but I didn't guard them. And so it was John Habelcek, because he always moved without the ball.

The Celtics got him the ball at just the right time, and he never stopped. And so he was the most difficult player for me to guard. So then who was the best player not on your team that you stepped on the floor with?

How about that one? You just named some others. Not in my team.

That's a good question. I never played with Michael Jordan. He would be my first pick. He would. But the best player would be probably either Oscar or Jerry West, one of the two. I think I saw Oscar at the All-Star Game in Indianapolis just the other day, as a matter of fact.

That's real old school. No doubt. Why would you choose Jordan, number one? Obviously you know LeBron, and there's a whole conversation that involves the two of them. I don't get into these comparisons over eras, because it used to be when the Bulls were good, they would say, how would your Knicks do against the Bulls, right? I said, I don't know, let's just go down in the matchups. Okay, Frazier versus BJ Armsong, Frazier.

I go right in and listen. And now it's Bradley versus Pippen, and Bradley saying, help! But the Knicks would have the advantage of taking the Bulls' coach off their team and throwing it on the bench, right? Yeah, right. Let's see how the assistants do, because Phil's suiting up with you, I'd imagine.

That would have happened back in that day. But what did you like about Jordan when you saw him play, Bill? His absolute competitiveness and his ability to make the worst player on his team good. And his dedication to the team.

I've never seen a competitor that was as intense as he was at the right moments. And I'm not a player, I'm a fan watching. So that was my conclusion. Bill Bradley here on the Rich Eisen Show. Okay, so before I send you on onto your Tuesday, you mentioned the message that you'd want Rolling Along, an American story to give. What message would you give to all of us at this juncture of our lives in this election year, Bill Bradley? What message would you like to tell everybody, get off your chest, use maybe this platform to communicate?

I would say don't tune out, reach out. If you're a citizen, it's hard work. And part of the work is voting, part of the work is getting other people to vote, part of the work is paying attention.

And we get what we ultimately select. And so I would say to the people, your role in the democracy is about to go into high gear, perform it conscientiously well, and make your judgment based on knowledge and your own set of values. But go out and definitely use your vote, clearly.

Go out and not only use your vote, but get involved and work for other people, other candidates. Bill, I really appreciate the time here. And congrats on your film, Rolling Along, an American Story.

You could see it on Max through this Roku portal. And I don't care. I always will say these things to people who I admire and grow up admiring. You were an icon in my world, sir, and this is an honor to have you here.

Thank you, Rich. I really appreciate it. And let me know what you think of the film. Absolutely, sir. I cannot wait for everybody to check it out.

Right here on the Roku portal, Bill Bradley, Rolling Along, an American Story is available for streaming right now on Max right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Thank you for joining. I'm happy to join you and it might surprise you. Okay.

I look forward to it. Very good. Bill Bradley right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Stuff right there.

Applejack, I looked over at you. One of the most underappreciated superstars of all time, TJ, I see that. That is a fact. Time and time again. That is a fact.

Look at Hondo's numbers. He was a beast. One of the best.

He's the one who had to guard him. That had to be amazing for you. What? For me? Right there? Just right there. I mean, even though you did the commercial and stuff, anytime you can talk to like a child and the hero. Oh, yeah. Of course.

It's great. Although I should have been more prepared. I'm stunned you played in only one All-Star game. 1973, that's it. Wow.

There was a lot of competition in the guard position back in those days. 1973, you think? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. His number 24 is retired.

Yep. I was also kind of, I was looking at that this morning. Kind of shocked he's not in the Hall of Fame. Not in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He's a player. He is? Yep.

Mm-hmm. I'm looking at it right here. Yeah.

I didn't see that this morning. No, he's in the College. College Basketball Hall of Fame. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's in the...

He's in the... Oh, Basketball Hall of Fame as a player. Got it. Yep. And Chris, you're speaking of... I didn't scroll down far enough.

Hondo, habble check. 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, 8-time All-Defensive Team, 8-time NBA Champion. And I just love it. You saw him dribbling in the gym in Oxford. And I'm thinking, you know what?

I kind of like this game. It's 700 years. He said this was the first gym in 700 years. I was like, whoa.

Yeah, the court's kind of... You don't have to sign up for court time in Oxford, I guess. Back in the mid-60s. So they're shooting. Oh, my goodness.

He wasn't with me when I was shooting in the gym. All right, we'll take a break. 844-204 Rich, number to dial, still to come. Top five NFL Springs storylines.

And Daniel Jeremiah, when we come back, his mock draft is 2.0. Chris Brockman, you're going to like it, I think. This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Wild Cherry. Pepsi Wild Cherry is bursting with delicious cherry flavor and a sweet, crisp taste that gives you more to go wild for. Getting wild may look different these days, but whether it's opting for a solo Friday binge watch or a big night out, everyone can indulge in their wild side with Pepsi Wild Cherry, also available in zero sugar.

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America in the morning, the podcast available wherever you listen. We have a game that we play here called start bench cut. Okay.

Sort of like the, you know what, marry kill game. Okay. Where you, we give it clean. We try. Yeah. Well, start bench.

Well, we make the, of that, you know, the marry part is the bench part. Okay. Okay. So we give you three. Here we go. We're going to sit down and be quiet. All right.

Start bench cut here with Kevin Hart. Here are your three choices to play basketball at happens a teammate. Okay.

The rock cube or Will Ferrell. You have to start one of them. All right. Well, I'm going to start one or if you've been in movies with all of these guys.

Yeah, I have. I'm a start. Will Ferrell. You start. Will Ferrell.

Jackie moon gets to start. Uh, just because I know that he's got the passion behind the game, his spirit is always high. Uh, I'm a cut the rock. I'm a cutting. Wow. He's out. Why? His attitude. Is that too?

I don't like that too. And you're going to bench cube. You're going to bring cube off the bench cube off the bench. I'm bringing cube off the bench because cube cube is too cool to play the whole game. So there's going to be moments with cube. Look at his sneaks.

I just realized I'm messing these up and I'm like, you write cute, you sit out for a second and get your new pair of sneaks. You got to keep him. You got to keep him calm.

You know, you don't want him giving you. Yeah. Yeah.

You like just getting upset. I got to make sure that tomorrow's going to be a good day. He'll have sunglasses on.

It's too dark. Yeah. Plus it's a smart move here with Will's the tallest of them all nice inside out game with you. Yeah. Me and Will are going to dominate. I got to start with, but the rock's out of here. He's good.

Bye. Oh yeah, man. Kevin Hart's appearances plural on this show can be found on our YouTube page, youtube.com slash rich eyes and show back here on the rich eyes and show right here on the Roku channel. And guess what?

Our radio audience is back on the Roku channel feed. I'm sitting at the rich eyes and show desk furnished by Grange with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call click Grainger.com or just stop by Mackay Pfeiffer in studio. Our number three, a great, I refer great celebrity, true or false coming up with it will be a lot of fun. Uh, that's an hour. Number three. I got a top five list as well. Uh, let's go to rich and Temecula, California. What's up rich. How are you sir? Great name.

Rich man. How are you doing? I'm glad you're back and feeling better. I appreciate that. Me too.

I'm down. I'm doing fine. What's on your mind?

Rich. Not much, man. I was, I was talking, I was talking earlier. I was thinking about that whole wash because I went to Washington state. I had a little feeling about the Cougs and Oregon state and how the old PAC 12 thing went down. And I was kind of complaining a little bit how Texas and Texas have raised 170 million. And there's a bunch of schools at 70 to 80, you know, we're sitting like 20 or 30, it's kind of like the Yankees versus the Royals. And we kind of get pushed into the mountain West, which is all right. There's a lot of competition there. We'll vie for that five plus seven.

And you know, I just wanted to comment on that. I think that there should be some form of a collective bargaining. I mean, if you're going to pay all the athletes, whether it's a girl on the golf team or a football player, although football brings in what, 50, 60% of the revenue, I think basketball's 20 and the rest is the rest, right? I don't know those numbers, but yes, football usually is driving the proverbial monetary pass.

The proverbial dollar. But what's in that context is still your student athlete. You're still within the context of that team. Let's call it a team, your athletic department, every like Oklahoma, I believe they're paying all their guys, everybody gets 50,000 a year or something like that at the University of Oklahoma.

Everybody else is kind of all over the map. Give it a level playing around here. And then let's say if you're all American, you get a bonus of 50 or a hundred grand, or if you're, you know, all academic or something like that, if I could put it in trust when they graduate, get them another little bonus and then they can have some form of a real estate deal or some, some form of a start in life as a student athlete, I've been there.

It's hard to even play in college. So I just want to throw that out to you guys and welcome back. Thank you, Rich.

I appreciate it. Well, my idea, and thanks for the call, brother, um, listen, money is, is absolutely what's going to separate the wheat from the chaff for the lack of a better analogy and phrase between who's going to be in and who's going to be out in a college football world. We called it the minute the super league exploded and then imploded across the pond.

It happened right around NIL happening. If I'm not mistaken, I think it did three years ago, as soon as the super league hit on this show, I'm like the only way the super, because there was a conversation about what, what if the NFL did that? What if baseball did that? What if basketball did that? And I'm like, the only way, the only spot where it could happen is college football, period, college athletics.

You can make the case. I think Chip Kelly, before he, he, um, took the job in Ohio state, just think about again, a head coach of UCLA football says, I'd rather be an offensive coordinator in this universe. I'd rather just focus on a scheme. I'd rather sit in a meeting room than make sure I'm dealing with collectives. I'm dealing with transfer portals that I'm having meetings about who's coming in, who might be leaving us. I'd much rather just be an X's and O's guy and leave that to someone else. Chip Kelly made that conscious decision that just happened.

And he's reading some writing on the wall. So the way it's going to work is at some point we're going to see enough of the, I guess, we've already seen the expansion of multiple conferences and the destruction of another that's happened. And at some point the like-minded revenue schools are going to get together and say, this is our league. And these are the rules with paying players. The contracts are going to be this.

The union is going to be that, yes, this is the way it's going to go. And the only question would be, is there some sort of totally making it like overseas football? Is there a relegation? If you don't do well enough, you go to another conference, another setup, what FBS2, and you fall there.

And if you win enough, you get to get back into the main one. And then like Chip Kelly suggested before he took the gig in Ohio State, that's just football. Everybody else can go back to the way it all used to be because the so-called lesser revenue sports. I mean, when are you going to send a golf team all the way across the country, a lacrosse team all the way across the country? Because the Big Ten now goes from sea to shining sea. I mean, that's the way it's going to go.

Period. Let's go to Matt in Oklahoma. What's up, Matt? How you been, brother?

How you doing, Rich? Are you welcoming a Cowboy fan into Bill's Mafia? Every day of the week and twice on Sunday, I hate that team. God, I live in Oklahoma, Rich, so this is maybe a little bit of a counseling session.

I live in Oklahoma. We have a bunch of bandwagon Cowboys fans who make me want to barf. And now we have a bunch of Chiefs fans.

And I know the Chiefs are the best team in the NFL, and Patrick Holmes is the best quarterback, whatever. The fans are horrible. I live in the middle of sports hell, basically, when it comes to the NFL. And I'm here with my Bill's hat on.

On my mountain. I can't take it. He needs to... And then you had a Chiefs fan calling right after, I'm like, you've got everything.

You've got everything. Leave us alone. We don't need your comments.

Okay? Well, I mean, how are Chiefs fans? So what is the interaction between you and an Oklahoma-based Chiefs fan?

Oh my God, they're horrible. They're bandwagon fans. Before Patrick Holmes got there, they bounced from Chiefs to Cowboys, and they were Chiefs.

It was in the back of the closet. Now the Chiefs are winning because of my Holmes, and they're just, they're unbearable. So you're saying the Oklahoma Chiefs-based Chiefs fans weren't like into the Steve DeBerg, Steve Bono? No, they can't name... I have a little quiz I give them, Rich, when I ask them, when I walk up to them, and they say, oh, I'm a lifelong Chiefs fan. I say, yeah, name me, two of the players not named my Holmes, Kelsey or Andrew, anybody.

Most of them can't do it. I'm like, just don't be a poser, man. Matt, I'll give you a hug through. Here we go.

Everybody, here comes the hug from Matt. Here he comes in. One more thing. One more thing, Rich. Yes, sir. You can tell Andrew that he can keep those 95 Cowboys championship shirts, because they're never going to win in a championship in his lifetime, from the second.

Matt in Oklahoma. I love how you're like talking about the decorum in your direction, then you give the lights a little part and shot to T.J. Yeah, you got to. You got to do it. Thanks, Matt. They'll be okay.

He'll be okay with his daddy with those, for nostalgia. There you go. Always Yoda.

Always Yoda. Thank you. There you go. There you go. Okay. Matt in Oklahoma said always Yoda.

Always. What do you got for the poll question results? It's not even close. Who's more famous, Miss Piggy or Yoda? Mm hmm.

Eighty one percent. Yoda? Yoda. Okay. You know, just two things about what Matt said. First of all, he said he's surrounded by bandwagon Cowboys fans. Like where are there bandwagon Cowboys fans? Like where are people who are like- It's a very old bandwagon.

Usually jumping on this wagon recently, that does not exist. And two, he's like, they're never going to win a championship. Matt, I got news for you. Uh oh. Uh oh.

Your team- Oh, geez. Has never- Oh, be careful. Won before. Never. Oh boy. Oh boy. Okay. Hey, facts.

Where's that poll question land? Should Andrew and Erie switch his NFL allegiance from Cowboys to Bill's Mafia, 73 percent go to Buffalo. Go to Buffalo. Okay. Yeah.

Well, see him. Wouldn't want to be here. ABC. I thought the poll question was, who's more likely to win a championship in the next five years? Cowboys and Bills. We can do that too.

Because that's the most important question. Let's see. Who's more likely- You know, Rich, as I talked with should be Hall of Famer, Darryl Moose Johnston in the airport a few weeks ago, I told him, look, I don't care how long it's been since Dallas has won. Just for me personally, the fact that I got to witness in my prime years of youth three Super Bowls and the fact that I got a 1-1 while I lived in Pittsburgh, watched the game with Steeler fans while we were good. I mean, I will take that.

If I never win again, it's fine. We got three. You know what?

We got three. I witnessed that interaction from afar. I was trying to live for you, you know, the Kai-Fi for an hour or three coming up. So you know, here's the problem though, TJ. How old were you in those mid-90s years?

Like I was my late teens. Okay. So people who are that age right now have never seen the Cowboys go any further than the divisional round. But this ain't about them. It's about me. No, what I'm talking about somebody like Andrew in Erie, Pennsylvania, for those who might be chiming in right now, he was searching for R.E.S.

consulting help. He's done with the Cowboys. He grew up with the Cowboys because his dad was a Cowboy fan. He lives in Erie, PA. It's only an hour and a half from Buffalo.

Buffalo is doing well. Maybe he's interested in that. And we told him, go north young man. No, you told him.

I did. How old was he? 37. So he's 38.

I remember them winning. Yeah. Thank you. No, I'm saying young. No, no, no. 18 year olds. 18. Yeah. People who are currently the age that TJ was when the Cowboys were tripleting.

Well, then become a Chiefs fan. They have not. And by the way, I do not, could you blame somebody who has no allegiance in the area of Missouri or Kansas? No. In the United States?

You should have became one four years ago. Well, I'm saying, what took you so long, right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, the Holmes is one to root for.

Kelsey, all of Mandy Reeves. Absolutely. You know, talking about winning and eating cheeseburgers and whatever. I mean, honestly. Yeah. Oh, man. Cheeseburgers. So what, but that, that's a, that bandwagon looks like it runs on electric.

Yours runs on like leaded gas. I know you ain't talking. Cole.

I know you ain't talking. Cole has been mentioned. Cole has entered the chat. The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone's senior writer, Brian Hyatt. And here's Lil Yachty with Tierra Whack. I've never been to a fashion show, I never did any Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and I'll tell you why. Because I would always go to events and people would say to me, oh, man, Yachty, man, I love your music, bro. And I should be like, what song? I didn't even, at the time, I didn't love my music. I would feel like I'm in a room with all these artists and they all respect each other. And I feel like no one respects me. Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.