Albert Breer: Teams Are Happy Marvin Harrison Jr. Is Skipping Pro Day

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Dropping gems on the ones and twos. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Anytime the Cowboys sign a free agent, we should treat it like it's the old Jerry Lewis telethon. Rico Dowdle, add him to the list of Eric Hendricks, Jordan Lewis and the original Trent Sieg.

You know what that looks like to me? It looks like a Super Bowl. Today's guest, baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz, ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., actor Skylar Astin. And now it's Rich Eisen.

OK, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Is there lots going on in the sports world? That's a rhetorical question.

The answer is yes. Baseball is underway. The Dodgers have already won a baseball game in two thousand and twenty four.

That went down in Seoul, Korea, before much of the country actually woke up today. We'll review all of that. Oh, Tony's already got an RBI for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's going to hit 400. That's going to happen. OK. He is on pace.

Yes, indeed. John Smoltz is on this program to talk about that and the rest of the major league baseball season that is up and running. We already have our first committee, the NCAA tournament committee sucks conversation. Wally Zurbiak went off last night. The Virginia Cavaliers did the committee zero favors last night by scoring zero points in the final nine minutes and twenty some odd seconds of the first half and getting bounced by Colorado State.

Staten Island Strong Wagner College. Yeah, baby. Yeah, we're 16 seed. Take that, Howard. Take that, Howard. No, Howard, Howard.

That's how we would pronounce it back at home. Take that, Howard. Get out of here with your basketballs and stuff. We're talking playoff.

They have moved on playoffs and the rest of the first four will play tonight. And we've got that on our brain, our brackets, things of that nature that's going on. And we've got the NFL draft on the brain as well. Mel Kuiper Jr. The genuine article, not the Mad Mel of Pat McAfee fame. He'll be on this program in our number three. Skylar Astin, a friend of ours on this program for quite some time. He and I share the same sort of circle of fandom with the Knicks and the Jets, the Jets making a move with Mike Williams getting signed. Skylar Astin will be here in support of his show.

So help me, Todd. He's been on the show talking pitch perfect and all of his other projects in the last several years. He's here in studio and Albert Breer is going to join us in 18 minutes time to talk about everything going on in the National Football League. Good to see you over there, Chris Brock. What's going on? How's your first full day of being 58, Mike? How's that going? I feel the same. OK, great.

Yeah. I mean, T.J. Jefferson, Candles Lit. Candles Lit, guys, I went out to a show last night. What show? Just a little comedy show.

I haven't been out in a while like that. It's so late. OK. OK. All right.

Tip your waitress. He'll be here all week. Very good. Listen. Bears fans, if there's any of you out there that's wondering if they made the right decision by sending Justin Fields away for a sixth round in next year's draft could be up to a four. All that stuff. Forget the compensation. Just the mere fact that Justin Fields, after three years of meritorious, despite the win loss, service for the Chicago Bears and connecting with you, the Bears fan in the city of Chicago and being first class, any of you out there that's wondering if they made a mistake in sending him away and getting set to draft Caleb Williams?

Well, as of this very moment, 904 a.m. Pacific time, 1204 Eastern time, 1104 right there in the beautiful second city. Most importantly, you have an hour and a half left of wondering because in an hour and a half, Caleb Williams is going to step on a pro day field for the USC Trojans and spin it. And that will be the end of your doubts. End of story. This is the way it works.

The way it works. I've been around the block. You've seen 20 something years. I've seen some things in these NFL draft streets. Yeah, you have.

I've seen a lot on the pro day streets, the combine streets. I've been around. Been in the game for years. Been around the block. I've seen this before. I've seen this movie before. Guy doesn't throw at the combine.

He's the first overall draft choice. And then everybody starts slinging and arrowing. Red flag this. Oh, he cried in his mama's shoulder that. And his dad, you know, he's telling him, don't hire an agent. And all of this business about he wants a piece of whatever agency he might have signed with. He's trying to control the draft, that.

All of this stuff. And then you get to meet him, as a lot of us did at the combine. But most importantly, he'll get out there for his pro day. And that will be the end of that. Now, I'm not saying it won't be bumpy or rocky because the LSU pro day is on the 27th. Okay?

So that's one week from yesterday. And Jayden Daniels is going to get out there. And he's going to spin it.

And there'll be a lot of conversation. Well, maybe the Chicago Bears will take him. Because he's pretty special. And his tape was better than Caleb Williams. And he's more recent collecting a Heisman Trophy than Caleb Williams.

Okay. That may happen. And then the day after that, the day after that, after we're here and J.J. McCarthy might be moving up draft boards to the Washington commanders, who, by the way, are going to be at the pro day today, checking out Caleb Williams, just in case the Bears do decide to go, Jayden Daniels. And they'll be like, we'll take the kid from right around here into mid-Atlantic. Put him in a Washington commander's uniform and go to work.

Got to do your due diligence. Maybe they offer the Godfather trade to Chicago. And they go and take Jayden Daniels at second overall. And the commanders, and I imagine the Bears, are going to fly from Los Angeles to Michigan for Michigan's pro day on Friday.

J.J. McCarthy and all of that. And guess what happens one week from today? It's Drake May's pro day. And boy, when he spins it, oh boy.

Because we didn't see him spinning at the combine. Oh, yeah. I'm going to get ready. You know what I mean? Getting ready.

And you are very interested in this in New England. Pro day season. It's here.

Today is when it really hits. And right in the middle of this show is when he's going to be out there spinning it on NFL Plus. I'm not seeking anything else in my extra paycheck from NFL Network. I just know how the media group is all about the Plus these days.

We're plussing stuff up. And you can see that right here on Roku portal as well. And I'm sure that'll be archived.

You can check that out once we're all done talking here. So it's going to end today. You're going to see Caleb Williams throw it. You're going to see him spin it.

It's a beautiful day. So he won't be wearing a hat, which was a red flag for Sam Darnold wearing a hat on the hair in the rain on the parade. Come on. All right. We called it to Sam Darnold.

That's a red flag, sir. Yeah, he laughed. Now he's a Viking. Fourth team? Yes. Fourth team.

Sam had never seen rain before. I'm serious. Various fans. This is the way it works. Thing goes. Thing goes. He is going to look spectacular.

These things are set up so the kids look spectacular. Today is the day. All doubts get put to rest. And as I said, there'll be some moments where you might think it's Jaden Daniels. And if it does turn out to be him, that means I think we can have the conversation about did the Bears make a mistake?

And that will be something that these two kids will be attached at the hip for a very long time. And I believe it will be Caleb Williams at the end of the day anyway. So today's the day is what I'm saying, Bears fans. You get to see your present unwrapped because we didn't see it at the combine. Now, then, if pro days are set up to make the kids at the pro day look spectacular, because that's all good for the school, for the prospects, and for, you know, in this day of NIL and transfer portal, hey, guess what? We make you look good at the pro day and not just when you are going to the NFL. We'll pop you out there for the scouts early.

We'll give them a look-see in advance. That's all part and parcel of what you get when you come to this school and you are part of this program. And we are all about you being successful, not just here, but next level stuff.

That's next level, figuratively. Today, Texas has its pro day. Guess who's supposedly working out there?

Quinn Ewers. I saw that. Spinning it for the scouts a year early. Good move by him. And that is something scouts will take notice of, just like last year when the Ohio State put CJ Stroud out there.

But, of course, he was leaving. The reason why I'm mentioning this is CJ Stroud was thrown on that pro day to Marvin Harrison Jr. And, apparently, on that day that Marvin Harrison Jr. worked out at the Ohio State pro day, he essentially told the scouts that had been gathering to watch the Ohio State pro day, hope you got a good look, because that's all you're going to see from me at a pro day. Apparently, he told the scouts last year, I'm not doing anything else at pro days, even after this day, prior to my final season at the Ohio State University. And after that final game against Michigan, he didn't play in the bowl game, apparently took the opinion of I'm not going to spend a single minute working out to run 40s or jump broadly or vertically or cone drill a thing. As a matter of fact, cone drill this has been his philosophy. So, Rich, are you saying that when they asked him last year about what's going to happen this year, he's like, did the magic?

I have been told... Cone drill this. I'm not going to be there. And Albert Breer is going to join us shortly. And I believe he will confirm that he told scouts last year, I'm not doing another pro day. I'm not going to be there. I'm not going... Well, I mean, he's going to be there, just like he did go to the combine.

Okay. And Albert Breer did say before the combine, he's not working out at the combine, he's not going to do a thing at the combine because he's preparing for playing football, not preparing to try and improve a draft stock that needs zero improvement because there is an eye and there's a sky and neither of them, when put together, lies. And his tape, I believe, speaks volumes. And he's apparently not working out at the pro day today. Man of his word. And Albert, when he joins us shortly, will no doubt say what he has written for Sports Illustrated, that he told or asked every team that interviewed him at the combine, do you need to see more from me at my pro day? And every single team told him, we don't. That's amazing. And so he is not working out at this pro day. Good for him.

And that's a 2024 new wrinkle. We don't. That we... I don't know anymore. I'm unfamiliar with this game. I'm unfamiliar with this. In the same way that I'm very familiar with the way pro days work for quarterbacks who don't spin it at the combine, but spin it at the pro day and work out at the pro day and how that immediately erases any doubt in the minds of scouts until the next guy works out at a pro day and then erases no doubts for them and places some doubt in the guy who didn't work out as recently at his pro day and so on and so forth until the draft finally comes out in the wash.

I'm unfamiliar with this. And I'm just wondering at all, at all, if there is one team sitting at the top of the draft that would ordinarily take Marvin Harrison Jr., that suddenly goes, we'll take Malik Nabors. We'll take the guy who would work out. You know, maybe Malik Nabors will be like, I'm not working out either.

I got some tape too. And maybe this will be a great new Netflix receiver prospects series. I have no idea. But I just know this. Marvin Harrison Jr. looked unlike virtually every other receiver I've seen come out of college in quite some time. Now he's approaching the draft unlike any receiver I've seen, period. And it's not going to be anything from Marvin Harrison Jr. today. So, of course, Albert Breer's tweet that we're putting up on the screen saying how he's not going to be working out for scouts.

And this is my favorite part about this one, because Albert has to say this. We'll be relatively quiet in Columbus with so many high-end draft prospects choosing to stay in school. No GMs or head coaches scheduled to be there. So I'm waiting to hear, just can you confirm if there was another tweet after how much the Ohio State Collective put in the pockets of those high-end prospects to stay? Did he include that in the follow-up tweet? Hold on a minute. I'm hearing silence in my ears.

Of course, he's got to throw that out there as a little bit of chum in the waters prior to his appearance on this program. Oh, okay. Got it. So nobody's showing up, because there's not much to see, because all the other NFL talent is staying in school.

Maybe they'll do better than the NFL talent that's been suiting up for them the last three Novembers in November. And I had not seen that tweet until Mike Hoskins had just put it on the screen. Oh, that was the first time you saw it?

Yes. And I read it, and I think I took the last line of that tweet with the intention in which it was typed and sent. Do you think Albert had you in mind?

He had you in mind, or left some? Watch this. I know I'm going on with Rich in like an hour. Let me just pop this out there. Let's ask him. Let me just poke the bear a little bit. This is exactly why we tease things before going to break. Because when we come back, we'll ask Albert.

Those questions and more will be answered on the Rich Eisen Show. Here it comes. My eyes. My eyes. Here it comes. My eyes.

Albert Brea. Next on this edition of GMM Choosing. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts, people. They're in the business of keeping your car on the road. And I should know, they kept my car on the road, and they do it with a smile on their face. They offer friendly service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. And so welcome when your car needs to be put back together, and they do it with a smile, so you know you're being taken care of. They've got thousands of parts and accessories in stock, either in-store or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam.

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Full terms at MintMobile.com. Back here on the program, Jim Harbaugh may be in Southern California, but some of his stuff is still in Ann Arbor. I saw this one on Twitter. This is nuts.

God bless this man having a garage sale like it's 1953. I love it. And the thing is, did you zoom in on this phone? Did you zoom in?

Well, I mean, we could try in future, you know, Roku only blocks his snow globes. Is that like water? Well, you take a look. It's the table to the right in the foreground. There's a sewing machine? Yeah, what's on the ground in the front all the way to the to the right? I don't know. It looks like a thermos. Is that a thermos?

I mean, honestly, like it looks like they're that's like an Alexa right there. Oh, yeah. Right up front.

Right up front. So that's as current as you can get. And then snow globes is his old school. Snow globes is just the collection. I do believe if you look between the coat racks in the back, that's that's like a Pokemon squishmallow.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's like a Pokemon squishmallow. It looks like one of one of his young Michigan football T-shirt that she's looking at that the lady's looking at. What's the box? Yeah, there's like a box.

What's in the box? There's like a blanket. I'm zoomed in. Is that is that on the on the ground? Is that like a lantern that you light up?

No, we don't know. It's a thermos. It's a thermos.

And kind of a poor thing to pour. I like to lamp. I'd buy that. I love it. There's a lava lamp in the back.

There's a lava lamp. Yeah, right. That right there in front of the garage. Yeah. Yep. Oh, my God. It's it's incredible. Yeah.

So that's an Alexa in front of a sewing machine in front of a few records. Right. God bless him. Never change coach.

And I believe he's unbelievable. My gosh. It's got to get rid of stuff. Move it.

Move in garage sale. Come on. I mean, why not? The khakis hanging on the. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He's taken. He's taken. Oh, he's taken them back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call click Grainger dot com or just stop by. This is going to be fun. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show from Sports Illustrated senior reporter himself. Albert.

How are you, Albert? Sorry, I'm looking down at the picture when I heard you guys breaking it down. I would. What do you think?

I'd read like I'd read like a I'd read like a three thousand word story on this on this picture. So my garage sale. Right. Isn't that great? I do love it. It's so cool.

That is awesome. Is that is that like is that like an oriental or like a rug there all folded up? Maybe.

I don't know. But he's got a lava lamp and a sewing machine and sewing, you know, and it looks like it's a Pokemon squishmallow in the back. You know, he's got it all working. Does look like the sewing machine. How about that?

It's an old school singer sewing machine. How about that? Right.

It does look like there's some old school vinyl. Right. That's in the container. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like down underneath the table there.

Laser discs. Like is that like Jack's Lawrence Welk albums, you think he and Bo used to listen to when they were scheming it up. What do you think? I think they have a thermos on the ground. It's a thermos. Yeah. Yeah.

Because the bird's not as nervous for soup. The Michigan football t-shirt's a little... Look at you, Albert. It's like it's his approved film. This is the stuff that didn't make the cut to go with him in the RV then. It did. He's coming to Wally's world.

That's right. With the whole family. How are you doing Albert? Good to see you, buddy. I'm good. I'm good.

How are you doing? Oh, man. I saw this tweet earlier too. Honestly, this was shown to me live. Get ready, Albert.

This was shown to me live. I had not seen this tweet until about five minutes ago, and you're reporting that the Ohio State Pro Day teams have informed that all everything wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will not be working out for scouts, and then couldn't help but notice the last line here, about how relatively quiet it's going to be, Columbus with so many high-end draft prospects choosing to stay in school. Do you want me to take you through them? No GMs. Because there's like nine top 100 prospects. This is bad news for you, because these guys are all coming back. The whole squad's coming to get revenge, JT Tumalau, Jack Sawyer, Denzel Burke. I can go through all of them if you want, Jordan Hancock. All these guys would have been top 100 prospects, Treveon Henderson, Emeka Ibuka, Donovan Jackson.

There's a lot of them, Rich. That's the $13 million crew, right? Is that what that is?

Is that the $13 million crew? That's how I know we've got a shot to be back now, is when he starts accusing us of paying players, which is legal now. It's totally good. By the way, I'm not accusing you of a thing, because it's all within the rights of 100% to do that. Go ahead and ask him the question, Chris. You wanted to ask. Yeah, Albert. When you composed this tweet a few hours ago, did you write that line with Rich in mind? Was it a direct shot?

Yeah, I had to protect myself. For the record, and Rich can back this up, I did not know I was coming on the show today at that point when that was crafted, right? You can verify that. But that's not the point, like you knew you were coming on the show.

It's a way of me wondering if I'm living rent-free, basically. After the last three years, yes, you are. I can confirm. Okay.

I'd take three before 20, though. Very good. Okay. Hey, listen. The decision for Marvin Harrison Jr. to not work out at this pro day, you've been talking about it for a while. Lay it out for me and how this was set up and how folks didn't know in advance that this was happening?

Sure. So go back to the beginning of the pre-draft process for him, and he made the decision he wasn't going to hire an agent. That means there's nobody there to just bankroll a $150,000 combine training process, all of that different stuff for him. So he's weighing all of that, and whether it's worth it or not to go through the process of training to run a 40, to do the vertical jump, to do the short shuttle, all of that different stuff in Indianapolis and at this pro day.

And logically, I think he looked at it and said, well, I've heard stories of players going through all of that and then having to retrain themselves to get ready to play an NFL season. So why don't I just, instead of going through all of that, get ready for the NFL season now and go through my normal football training at Ohio State, what I've done for the last three years, to get myself in position to perform as a rookie? Because I don't need the 40 the way a guy who goes in the second or third or fourth round does. I don't need the vertical jump. I don't need the short shuttle.

I don't need all that stuff the same way somebody who isn't in my position might. And I think it's actually a logical decision, and the teams I talk to that would be in position to draft him were actually happy about it, because that means you're going to get a guy at the rookie minicamp and at OTAs who's going to be in football shape rather than being in shape to run a 40 or to do the vertical jump or to do the bench press. And so I think it positions him to go out there and have a big rookie year.

And here's the really interesting thing, because I think you can tie Caleb into this too. Caleb Williams has his pro day-to-day as well. And Rich, these guys are part of the high school graduating class of 2021. Do you guys know why that's significant?

Please. It's the first high school graduating class to go into college in the NIL era. So this group of players that Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison are a part of, Drake May is a part of that class, JJ McCarthy is part of that class, they're the first players to have their entire college experience be in the NIL era. So these guys have been making business decisions since the day they set foot on campus in Ann Arbor, in Columbus, in Los Angeles, or in Caleb Williams' case, I guess it would have been Norman, Oklahoma, right? They've been making business decisions since the day they stepped foot on campus. So should it surprise anybody that now they're treating these as business decisions? I just think it's an interesting twist to the whole thing. It is. It's all new.

That's what I was saying before throwing a break to bring you on, Albert, is I'm unfamiliar with this. I'm familiar with the, well, Caleb Williams is going to spin it and everybody's going to ooh and ah, and suddenly any doubts that anybody had about what the Bears are doing for Caleb Williams will be totally removed until Jayden Daniels works out, until Drake May works out, and then JJ McCarthy's going to work out in between and it's just going to spin everything up, right? And everybody's going to do the throw where you roll to your right and then throw to the left corner of the end zone, right?

The Zach Wilson throw, which has obviously a lot of caveat emptor to it, but in all seriousness though, I'm unfamiliar with this version of events, which is not working out at the Pro Day. Is it true that Marvin Harrison kind of cleared this with any teams that interviewed him at the Combine? So he met with nine teams at the Combine. He asked each of them, do you need to see anything from me at Pro Day?

And they said, no. So that's a piece of this story too, which I think is really interesting. So like he, you know, and, and look like he could have private workouts with those teams too. He is training to play football, you know? So he worked out at the Pro Day last year at Ohio State and you know, that got a lot of attention if you remember, right?

Like he, he was, he was catching the ball from CJ Stroud at that Pro Day with Jackson Smith and Jigba. And you know, I, I think, you know, he feels like he's put everything out there that he needs to put out there at this point. Will it hurt him?

I don't think so. You know, I, I think ultimately, you know, he is, you know, looking at these as individual business decisions and you know, the same way I think Caleb Williams looked at it and said, why do I need to give any new medical information that a doctor might find on me to the other 31 teams when I'm probably just in play for one? You know, Marvin Harrison I think is, is saying, is thinking the same, you know, why do I have to go and do this for 32 teams when there's such a small group of teams that actually have a shot at me?

And those teams told me specifically that I don't need to do this. What about another team that might not have been asked that question by Marvin Harrison Jr. that would be interested in moving up? I don't know. I'm just, you know how this crazy ass business works, Albert? Our buddy DJ really stirred the pot on that one, huh?

Well, I mean, yeah, that was, I mean, why not though? I mean, I look at like, I look at like what the Jets have done, like, and I think what, and I give Joe Douglas a lot of credit for this because they didn't whistle by the graveyard on the offensive line issue and to get Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses and John Simpson in there as three potential starting offensive linemen and guys with a lot of experience, right? I mean, they've taken those three guys in and two of them coming over from a program he knows really well in Baltimore for a base of $18 million. I think that was a good acknowledgement of what the problem was last year for the Jets, but it also, I think, frees them up to do this sort of thing.

Don't you, Rich? Like, you know, I mean, a month ago we said, yeah, they have to take a tackle at 10. They still might take a tackle at 10 because Morgan Moses and Tyron Smith, they're both in contract years, but they don't have to anymore. It opens up the possibility that they could do something like this, which I think should be really exciting for Jets fans like yourself. Well, I mean, Albert, no doubt that all the moves that Joe Douglas has conducted in free agency opens up a whole host of options at 10th overall, whether it's Brock Bowers, who would be an incredible piece to throw at tight end, or if you really want to go totally off the reservation, although not like Daniel Jeremiah saying move up for Marvin Harrison at five because the Vikings have moved up for a quarterback at four.

But let's just say there is no movement, right? Why not maybe take a crack at McCarthy or if you like, Pennix or anything like that at 10? Use that pick there, and I know what that might do for Rodgers because we all understand what happened when the Packers started setting a clock on the future at his position. I don't know. I'm just throwing out there. What do you think the Jets might do at 10?

I don't think, but you know what, though? I would say in Aaron's defense, like on that one, I think Aaron's problem wasn't selecting Jordan Love. It was more of the communication piece of it, that Aaron didn't hear about it until they were on the clock, which I think really bugged him, and he obviously held on to. If you communicate to Aaron in this spot and say, hey, look, we're going to kick the tires on JJ McCarthy, or we may trade up for Drake May, whatever it is, I actually think he'd be okay with it. That's based on the way he treated Jordan Love.

He has a really strong relationship with Jordan Love, so I think that could be in play. I certainly think the idea of adding another receiver, be it a tight end or a wide out, whether it's Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabors, Roma Dunze, or Brock Bowers, that could be in play. Taking a tackle, like I said, something that I think they'd have to consider there, in that Moses and Smith are sort of band-aids at the position. They're not probably going to be your tackle combo in 2026 if we're being realistic about it.

Even a pass rusher. You lose Bryce Huff, what if Dallas Turner or Jared Vers is there for you? Again, I think what the smart teams do in free agency is they get themselves to a point where they can play a game tomorrow if they need to. If you're at that point, then you can be flexible in going after the best available player. I think that's the position Joe Douglas has put the Jets in.

Albert Breer here on the Rich Eisen Show. What do you think the Vikings are up to by getting that second first round draft choice from the Texans? What do you think their intentions are and what might actually be happening? Their intentions are to trade up and to at least have the flexibility to do that and go get a quarterback if the right opportunity is there.

I can tell you, I can give you a smoking gun on this if you want. They talked about that trade with Houston before Kirk Cousins signed in Atlanta. That deal with Houston does not happen if Kirk Cousins re-signs in Minnesota.

I feel pretty confident saying that. I think what Minnesota is doing then is using those picks on defense. Sitting at 11, I think it was 42, was the second of those picks. Going forward and saying, okay, we would have spent that money on defense had Kirk Cousins not signed here, which is what they wound up doing with guys like Jonathan Garnard. Now we're going to use those picks on defense rather than moving the 42nd pick up to 23. Every indication I've gotten is that this isn't 100% that they're going to trade up for a quarterback now, but in the case that they lost Kirk Cousins, they wanted to have the flexibility to trade up to go and get a quarterback, which is why they did what they did.

Albert Brie here on the Rich Eisen Show. Cousins signing with Atlanta, not a surprise. There's even conversations or investigation of tampering and things of that nature, but not a surprise. Obviously, Cousins going to Atlanta. The surprise, I think, is not only Russell Wilson finding a landing spot in Pittsburgh, but being given, from what it appears, assurances that are normally afforded somebody who's been with the franchise seven years rather than seven days. The clearing out of the previous first round draft choice for whatever reason, but the clearing out of him and then the addition of Justin Fields, and then again, appearing to be given the reigns despite Fields' arrival 10 years younger. Are the Steelers Russell Wilson's team right now, Albert?

So I think you have to go through the whole timeline here to really just kind of break down how this happened. Russell Wilson was not given any assurances when he signed. On the Saturday night before they signed, Tomlin and Kenny Pickett talked, and Kenny Pickett was told, it's going to be an open competition, and let the best man win. I don't know if we're going to sign Russell Wilson, and at that point it looked like they might not. It's like, but if Russell Wilson's coming in here, then we're going to open up the competition, and we're going to let the best player play. On Sunday, Russell Wilson signs.

On Monday, Pickett and Tomlin talk again. Tomlin basically says Ty goes to the veteran, and Russell Wilson's going to have what they called pole position here, which means he gets the first snap in the spring, and he gets the early reps with the first team. Doesn't mean that Kenny Pickett can't compete, but it does mean that Russell Wilson's going to get the first reps with the first team.

Now, Kenny Pickett has every reason not to trust that because of the way certain things were handled over the last couple of years, the way he was benched last year, and that was when he asked for a trade. So then they trade him out of town because Mike Tomlin, as he's famously said, wants volunteers, not hostages, so they trade him out of town. That basically elevates Russell Wilson into a position where now he is the Steelers starter. And then they go and they bring in Justin Fields, and they have a discussion with Justin Fields and say, you're coming in here as the backup, and could that change? Maybe, but I think through the spring at least it's going to be Russell Wilson's team. So Russell Wilson will be the starter through the spring. If Justin balls out in the spring and Russell doesn't look very good, could that change in the summer? It certainly could because this is a team that had Kenny Pickett remember working with the third team in the summer of 2022, and in week five he wound up being their starter. So things can change, but because of the circumstances and the way all of this went down, Russell will get to work with the 1s in the spring, and Justin Fields will be with the 2s. And obviously the setup for Russell is perfect, right? I mean from- If he plays well, yeah. Exactly. If he plays well. But how does Justin Fields not ball out in the spring?

I mean, he played some of his best football towards the end of his tenure there in Chicago, and I'm just stunned. I'll be straight up. I would think you'd want to see the 25-year-old in this mix.

I don't know. I would not- Not just like say, you're the backup. I would not underrate Arthur Smith's role in all of this. I think one of the things, if Kennedy Pickett was being honest, I think one of the things that was so problematic was how the Steelers had sort of lost their way offensively from a scheme standpoint, really going back to when they fired Todd Haley. And I mean, for whatever anybody thinks of Todd Haley, the production there was fantastic.

Top 10 in total offense every year, top 10 in scoring every year. They were one of the best offenses in football while he was there. And remember, Haley succeeded Bruce Arians, who, BA did a really good job there. So they had been, over Tomlin's time, really good offensively. And then they hire Ben's buddy, Randy Fickner, to be the OC.

That doesn't work out. And then they promote Fickner's quarterbacks coach, Matt Canada, up. So that's what they've been dealing with the last five years. Now they bring in Arthur Smith, who's as accomplished an offensive coordinator as there is in football. And I think the thing that's really interesting about what Art brings to the table is the amount of different types of quarterbacks he's worked with, right? He built an offense for Marcus Mariota. He built an offense for Ryan Tannehill. I think his ability to do that, his confidence in himself to do that sort of thing actually kind of bit him in Atlanta. And he was confident that he could do it for Mariota, for Desmond Ritter, for Taylor Heinecky, for all those different guys in Atlanta, it wound up biting him. But there's no question about his ability to retrofit his offense for whatever his quarterback skill set is. So that's good news for Russell Wilson on the surface, at least, right? Because Russell will have a guy building an offense for him. But if there's one inkling that he's not buying into what Arthur's building for him, well, Arthur can build an offense for Justin Fields, too. So I think Arthur Smith becomes a really valuable piece here for Mike Tomlin, where when they get to July and August, they'll have an idea of how to maximize Russell Wilson, but also an idea of how to maximize Justin Fields. And I don't think it'll be until then that they really have a clear idea of the landscape, which I think is an advantage to have, because in this case, it gives you the chance to turn over every rock and getting the most out of the quarterback position.

No doubt. They're going to pick up his fifth-year option? What do you think? I don't think so.

It's too expensive. $25 million fully guaranteed for 2025, I would say no. I would say you let this thing play out. You have the franchise tag if Justin were to come out and kill it.

But I think for right now, they declined that option, and they go forward with Russell Wilson in a contract year and with Justin Fields in a contract year and just let the whole thing play out. Albert, thanks for the time, brother. Appreciate it. You got it, Rich. You got it. Absolutely. You got it.

And I appreciate you running through the returning players for me in Columbus. I might have missed one or two. I'm not sure. You know Caleb Downs is there, too, right? No, I know that. Just add him to the collective. That's all.

Albert, just tweet it out and tag us. The best running back in the SEC also, Quitshot-Jutkins is there. No, I know. There's a good list. No, I know.

Guys do very well there running the football, which is why their coach is now coaching at Michigan. It's all good, Albert. We're good. You and I... Let's let that play out, too.

You and I... Let's see what happens with our running back coach position. I think we might have a little something for you there. Wow. It's March.

That's great. It's already started. And this is the conversation.

Best rivalry in sports, Rich. No question about it. Take care of yourself, Albert. Thanks for the time. All right.

Thanks, Rich. All right. All right. All right. We're good. Must follow. Must everything.

He just touched on something I want to hit on after the break. Okay. All right.

It's your prerogative. Thank you. Here it comes. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet.

It's your prerogative. We're going to take our break. John Smoltz is going to be joining us next hour as well. Mel Kuyper, Jr., our number 3 scholar, Astin and Studio, and you at 844-204-Rich, number Hey, it's Kaley Cuoco for Priceline. Ready to go to your happy place for a happy price?

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Go to your happy price, Priceline. 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. So grab a Pepsi Wild Cherry and get wild. The first quarterback of my Michigan fandom, the coach of my team, the man who gave me the honor of representing the team as an honorary captain and a man who would tell me to attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to man, a common man. Who's got it better than me? Jim Harbaugh's on the Rich Eisen Show, aren't you? You there, Jim?

I'm here, Rich. Happy birthday. Monday. 50th. Big 5-0. Wow. Awesome.

Big 5-0. I was supposed to be at your surprise party last Saturday night. I heard that story, but you got caught up with being a family man, which is... Yeah. I was at my daughter's graduation party was that Saturday night.

Her graduation was Thursday. It's all good. The party was Saturday, so... Are you going to have more honorary captains? Are you still doing that? Yeah. We're still doing that.

We're going to honor the 69 team. Okay. So that means Deardorff comes back?

Deardorff, she's back. Well, he's already there. He'll be in the radio booth, so... Okay. Yeah. Ty Law.

Ty Law is going into the Hall of Fame. Oh, yes. Do you need me to let them know how high the bar is set in terms of speechifying? Just give them my number.

I'll tell them how high the bar is set, Jim, you know? I will tell them that. I will let them know that. I'm going to let them know. That's what we do. That's how we do it, you know? Listen, you're going to be honorary captains.

You got to talk to the team. Yes. You got to watch this clip from Rich Eisen. That's it. This is how it's done.

This is how you do it. Hey, Jim, thanks for calling in. Really means a lot. You're one of my all-time favorites for many, many reasons, so thanks for taking the time here in June.

Well, enjoy your continued 50th. It doesn't sound like it's just one day. It sounds like it's an Eisenpalooza. Yes. It goes on for weeks. Fun stuff, man.

Back in our day. Back here on The Rich Man. The Game Time app, get it on your phone right away because you can start buying tickets, and it's so easy when you just take a look at the app. It's so simple to just look at the layout of the arena or the theater that you're looking to buy your tickets for the big event that's in that arena or theater, sports, music, comedy, theater events near you. The prices pop up over the seats in different sections. You just click on it, and not only do you see the all-in price and what it would cost to buy that ticket for yourself or your family or your friends or what have you, but you can also see the view from the seat. It's so simple, and it takes the guesswork right out of buying tickets with Game Time.

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Last-minute tickets, lowest price. Guarantee. All right, Chris. You said Albert Breer said something that causes you to wonder something, and now it's time to hear it. Yeah, and it makes me think about this time of year, too.

It's March. We always talk about rivalries, Duke North Carolina, baseball season starting, Dodgers, Padres just started, obviously Red Sox, Yankees. He said Ohio State Michigan football is the best rivalry in sports right now.

Is that true? Name me another. Oh, I'm just I just I just listed you some Red Sox, Yankees, Duke, UNC basketball, Steelers, Ravens football, NFL.

I don't know. What are some what is the women's college biggest rivalry right now? LSU, somebody dude, I'm just saying, like, it seems like when in the 2000s, it was Red Sox, Yankees.

That was everywhere. And then in the 90s, it was UNC Duke basketball has Ohio State Michigan football. Kind of taken the mantle as the best sports rivalry. Well, I would say to you, it's been that way for a long time, even in the aughts. When we were talking Red Sox, Yankees, you know, Michigan and Ohio State, when I believe Troy Smith was the quarterback to totally undefeated one versus two. And Michigan was winning that game until there was an awful 15 yard penalty called against Michigan that had no right being called. But that's for another day on sportsmen like conduct. It seems like Red Sox, Yankees is falling off Duke, North Carolina. Nobody really knows.

No casuals know who the kids are anymore. So that's straight up Michigan. Ohio State fell off, too, because Michigan couldn't beat Ohio State. Yeah. Now that you guys have won a couple in a row, it's got your attention again.

It seems like it's kind of back. No, I, I, I just proffer to ask any anybody else what what rivalry is different because UNC and Duke play each other twice in the in the season. In regular season, college basketball doesn't have the same stakes as college football did. I mean, it might change now that there's a 12 and then a 14 team playoff that's coming. We'll see how that plays out. But Duke and North Carolina playing each other in the Final Four in Coach K's last game was immense.

That was pretty cool. Yeah. Immense theater. There will never be another bigger Duke, North Carolina basketball game. The only one that would be is if it is in the finals for the ultimate prize. And you know, if Hubert Davis sticks around for another 30 years and has as many wins as Coach K and in his last game, Duke does him that way. Right. Like that's what I'm saying. I mean, and Michigan, Ohio State, the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is going to change because the way the new Big Ten layout is, there's no more divisions. It's just one big, huge mosh pit and the top two advance.

So they could conceive it. We played three times in a year. Yes, sir.

Yeah. They could play regular season fully knowing that the loser, the winner is just gets to choose which color uniforms they're wearing in the Big Ten championship game that they're playing against each other in the following week. And then the third time could be a playoff, depending on the bracket. So that's the new world we're going to be in college football. It's going to be like great.

But I am biased. I mean, Bears Packers is a nasty rivalry, but I mean, again, they play each other twice a year in the regular season. Giants, Eagles, you know, Dallas versus everybody. I'm sure those are nasty rivalries that mean a lot to the fans, but nothing, nothing beats the you play once a year.

There's bragging rights for three hundred and sixty four more days after that. Or in the case of Michigan, Ohio State, about a thousand plus now. Oh, you see.

So you can. But that just means more to people who went to those schools, though, right? Like, I don't know. The ratings for Michigan, Ohio State last few years have been off the charts. And I think people kind of just tune in to see and they know what it means to do with that. And they know.

No, I say, you know, Rich has a finger on the come on, man, that they're there. There's people who tune in just to see the hatred spill out. And then the intensity of the football is plainly apparent each snap. And I think people kind of view it in a way of they'll tune into a World Cup match because they know how much it means to both sides.

Maybe that's the the interest in not having, if you will, any skin in the game that you're tuning. Auburn, Alabama. Is there I'm sure there's a huge soccer rivalry we're missing. Oh, I'm sure there's no England against whoever.

You know, I don't know. But it seems like Ohio State, Michigan is kind of. You guys are back. The rivalry is back. I don't it's first of all, it's never gone away. It's just, you know, it went away for about, what, 17 years. No, no, no, no, no, no. I was still very important to me.

Still very important to me. Hmm. Yep. What's your biggest rivalry? Yeah.

Red Sox. Is that it? No, it doesn't matter much anymore.

Really? It feels like it feels like it's not a really big deal anymore. I think it's like teams don't hate each other.

The rivalries mean more when there's a severe dislike, not only among the fan bases, but among the players. It's the the era of the jersey swap. Is that what it is? Yeah. You know, it's kind of lame, actually. Well, unless there's two guys with certain names that when they hold up the jerseys next to each other, it creates a meme that had to have been a bit right. I don't think so.

There's no way that was organic. Can I can I say Cody Rhodes versus the bloodline is my favorite. There you go. That's what I'm talking about. John Smoltz is going to join us in a moment.

I wonder if he'll bring up my school first small. You know, it's funny, I saw Michigan State's in the NCAA tournament again. Yeah. Eight versus nine. I think I'm the one because how are you going to pick?

Oh, I picked I 100 percent picked Izzo to beat Mississippi State. Yeah, of course. So back to that dress, if we know the X's and O's of this at all, I think it's very good. Back to the jersey swap. I watched the video someone made and they were filming those two players at that moment. And the caption was, you can see the moment it clicked and both when they realized what was happening, what the one guy went over the Grady Dick and then Grady Dick kind of was just like, OK, so homeboy. I forget the guy's first name who I don't even want to say the names together, but he runs over to get a photographer to say, take a picture, and then they take it. So they definitely I think I sent you the the tweet that I saw of all the other players that are not allowed to swap jerseys with Grady Dick. Anthony Black.

Anthony Black. Yes. OK, so. And so it looked like he goes up the Grady Grady kind of shakes his head and he runs and grabs a photographer, pulls them back and then they position themselves like it was.

It was a little fun, but they weren't like smirking or anything. They were just kind of like, how did we get on the subject matter again? I don't know. Jersey. Jersey.

Jersey. Very good. All right.

And Brockman hates Jersey swap. All right. In the next hour, Caleb Williams pro day is going to go down. We'll keep an eye on that as we talk to John Smoltz and so much more to come with Mel Kiper Jr. in hour number three and Skylar Astin in studio at that point. One hour in the books right here on this busy Wednesday, movies, TV shows, books, podcasts and more. It's what women binge with Melissa Joan Hart and her friend Amanda Lee. We have Lauren Bosworth with the hills. So what is like your number one question from fans? The primary question I still get asked was, what is it real in 2024 to me is a surprising question to get because I feel like everybody has been through the reality TV gauntlet at this point. Women Binge, wherever you listen.