Xander Schauffele: Drinking champagne from the Wanamaker trophy

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com. Welcome to Now. In Los Angeles, earlier on the show, senior writer for Sports Illustrated, Chris Mannix. Coming up, 2024 PGA Championship winner, Xander Schauffele, Michigan men's basketball head coach, Dusty May.

And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen show is on the air. Just told a heck of a story from my golf outing I just came back from on beautiful Long Island at the National Golf Links of America. The opening night of our two-day foray was a beautiful dinner on Sunday night that we were all late to.

Because we were sitting around watching the finish of the PGA Championship. We were all late to dinner and thankfully this man wasn't late to the Wanamaker Trophy. He is joining us here to kick off hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show. Thrilled that he's making time here on this day after speaking to a whole bunch of folks yesterday.

Xander Schauffele here on the Rich Eisen Show. Congratulations to you, sir. Thanks for having me. Of course. Thanks for bringing the trophy with you. There it is.

It doesn't get too far out of my sight these days. Well, I saw your wife, I think she IG'd out a great video of you celebrating with it. What was this one all about, Xander? Look at this. There's Austin pouring some champagne in there and a few friends and there's Chris and my brother and we had to help my wife there to drink out of it.

So it was nice for some friends to stick around and we ended up spending the night there at the rental Sunday after winning. Yeah, because I'm just imagining what does go through your head when you're standing over a putt to win the PGA Championship, Xander? Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, everything, you know, I've had I've had a lot of close calls in the last couple of years. And in my career, you know, I haven't won a tournament in a couple of years. So I've been, you know, in some tight spots and it was it was a very stressful putt. You know, my hands were shaking. All kinds of stuff were flying through my head.

I really didn't want to go into a playoff and I just kept telling myself to seize the opportunity and let that moment be mine. And it sure was without that lip. And so your hands were shaking as you made that putt. Is that what you're saying? Oh, yeah.

Yeah. When you know when you're nervous, it's hard to control the hands. You know, I know that I get that, you know, when whenever I'm like, say, all in on something, you know, on occasion.

But I mean, I cannot imagine, though, because, you know, obviously it is the most human of games, golf and what goes through your head. But do you envision, like, I'm going to make this? Do you say that to yourself as you're standing over it?

Does that happen? Yeah, I mean, you know, absolutely. You know, I told myself, you know, this is something this is something that I've dreamt of my entire life. This is could be, you know, this is an opportunity that I may not get too many of. So it was the first time I've ever had a putt to win a major championship. And, man, I just kept telling myself to seize it like this is my time. Let this be my time. And I didn't want to spend too much time reading the putt more because I was a little bit confused on what I was doing.

So I didn't call in for any help. And I just committed to it. And like I said, I mean, I've watched that video like seven or eight times now and it looks like it's going to miss pretty much every time. It did catch damn near every piece of the hole, Zander. Good Lord. Honestly, I was watching with a bunch of guys and we're like, you know, screamed because it did look like you were getting the power lip coming your way. It's a it's a it's a tough camera angle.

You know, I'm fully exposed. Right. Right.

And, you know, one of the neat parts about all this as well is who you were able to celebrate with on the spot, not just afterwards with your wife and friends. Well, your caddies, a guy you went to college with, you were on his college team and he's and Austin Kaiser has been on your bag since jump. Right.

Zander. Yep. Yep.

Yeah. I mean, I did one round of Q school my senior year where my dad caddied and that quickly, you know, put that fire out as quickly as possible. So as soon as I graduated, you know, Austin, there he is.

He jumped on my bag and we've never looked back. What was this moment like right here? We were emotional. You know, it's been a big build up. You know, after losing last week at Quail Hollow, we're on the 18th. We walked off that 72nd hole, you know, losing by five or whatever, four or six.

I can't remember. But, you know, I told him that we're going to win. I was like, we're going to win soon.

I was like, I can feel it like I know how well I'm playing. We're going to get it done. And I know how hard he works. And, you know, he wears those losses, you know, not hopefully not as hard as I wear them because I'm the one hitting the shots. But, you know, it's a big team effort. Not only Austin's on my team, but, you know, he gets it. He gets to be in the mix quite often.

Close, close to all action. So awesome to share it with him. And he's over the moon as well. So walk me through who else you were celebrating with that night? Family? Yeah.

Yep. My wife was there. My brother, he's been kind of cooking for me on the road. My uncle's my agent, Chris Como. I just started working with Chris last November. My dad's been my swing coach my whole life.

But Chris is a very new addition to my team. And then a few other caddies that Austin's really close with that I've known growing up on the West Coast with. And then a couple of friends from New York came down as well. So it was a small crew. And, you know, I'm from the West Coast.

And I'm sure this trophy, this lid is going to be popping off and a lot more different kinds of alcohol are reported. Where is your dad? My dad's in Hawaii right now. He's I bought some land out there in twenty nineteen and he loves it out there. And he loves being, you know, it's kind of in nature. And so he's he's literally he's developing a property that I own out there.

And he's putting him to use in a different way these days. So what was the phone call like with him after all this? I mean, yeah, I called him right before I took the podium, the green there on the 18th hole. He was crying. And, you know, I had to hang up. I told him I was like, dude, I you know, I was starting to cry. I was already I just got done and kind of being emotional. And then I call him and he's he's crying on the phone.

And so I told him, I was like, I got to get going. My man, I can't I can't receive this trophy from the president of the PGA of America in shambles. Yeah, but that's what this is about, though, right?

Honestly, I wouldn't let that out of my sight either. You know, and that's that's what it's about. You with your dad. You're talking about your string coach your whole life. You you helped sort of make his Olympic dream come true as well.

A couple of years ago. I mean, brother, that's what it's about. Congrats. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, thanks. And, you know, now he's you know, he's turning 60 this year. And, you know, I just I really just like they've given me so much. And I'm in such a fortunate position that I try to give them anything that they would want. Or, you know, obviously he wants way more of these. That's what he wants. So I'm trying to deliver on that as a good son. But, you know, he's I just want him to be happy. Both my parents to be happy.

And so this definitely helps. But him being Hawaii is what's making him happy right now. Zander Shafley, few minutes left with the PGA championship winner. What was it like in the clubhouse the day that Scottie Scheffler put, you know, turned in a scorecard after all that? He was. Yeah, he was on the opposite wave of me. So, you know, I caught the news kind of like everyone else did from home. You know, you watch it, you think it's a prank.

You can't you're in disbelief, kind of in shock, kind of like what what the heck happened here. So Scottie is rock solid. We share the same physio. I see Scottie, you know, week in, week out, you know, on the physio table in the private environment. And he's a he's a family man. He is he doesn't harm anyone besides competitors when he beats them all the time.

That's like that's the extent of how harmful Scottie can be. And he's great. Him and Meredith are an awesome couple.

And, you know, I'm really hoping that he comes out unscathed and all these charges get dropped because he's just he's not a criminal at all. So he's he's an awesome dude. Did you ever have did you have one of those dude, what the hell happened moments with him on that day? A little. I mean, when I saw him on Saturday, you know, before, you know, we were able to talk a little bit and, you know, we just discuss a little bit of what. I mean, I don't want to bring it up too much. I'm sure it was he was super annoyed of just talking about it a bunch to everyone. So, you know, we kept it pretty light and we just all let him know that, you know, we're happy that that he's here and that he's OK. And, you know, that no one really got to to hurt in his in his situation. Understood. That said, I just know from my golf buddies or folks of similar social circles, there's no such thing as too soon. Did you start, you know, kind of ribbing him a little bit once we got through all of that?

It was like as light of needling as possible. I mean, we're competing major championships that you're not trying to kick someone down to the floor. That's already been kicked down.

Right. You know, we had a few we had a few knocks on him. We have you know, there's there's six other guys or seven guys in total on on our physio table that come in and out of the room. And that is your room is a funny one. So, of course, people were taking their shots wherever they could. And in a playful way, you got to you got one you can share.

What's the most that you could share? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, someone someone we have a group chat just to schedule our times and, you know, someone someone in our group puts guys mugshot as our group photo.

Come on. So that's the new photo on the on the group text chain. Is that one on the screen right there? That's it. Yeah.

I can't believe. Yeah. Much smaller, though, obviously, in the tech. Right.

There's a much bigger photo. But yeah, I mean, I couldn't believe guys had T-shirts made up like an hour after their own property. I mean, people are nuts these days, even though it was like six forty five in the morning.

I don't know how they had a print press ready. Well, I'm glad again that you're able to be able to share a little bit of levity like that. Hey, listen, congrats on this. I was very happy when I saw that ball, you know, not jump out of the hole, man. I was just jumping off the couch.

But congratulations on that, Xander. And, you know, before we go, I just want to share my own my own near championship moment with you from this past week with me. Since you were kind enough to share with me yours, I was I assume you played national in your in your time. Zander, have you played national in Long Island?

I don't think I have. No kidding. Wow. All right. So let me tell you. Incredible course.

It's great. There's a par three sixth. It's called Short. That's the name of the whole stepped up from one hundred twenty three yards away.

I had a nine iron. That's me. And I I damn near know that's me, man.

For the radio audience, he just kind of winced. Listen, I took a little bit off at any rate. So I damn near hold it out, Xander. There's a shot right there. The ballmark, you could kind of see it to the right.

And here's here's my favorite part of the story. It was my third shot because I topped my first one. I said, screw it.

I'm not going to go out this way on national. That was that was my second shot right there. The question is, was that putt given? Yes, it was.

It was. Would you have not given this pot? Would you know? You know, it depends on the friend circle and then what it's for. You know, there's times where, you know, you had a really good shot in your in your friend group here. I mean, I'm used to playing with tour pros and, you know, you kind of look at each other and you're like that. So you consider that's a meaty bone that's right there still on the on the green? I mean, I don't know what your game looks like if you're a dodgy two foot putter.

I mean, that's never going to be good. Well, you can assume if that was my second shot, because the other one barely got past the red stakes, you know, the red tees, you know, for sure. I'm a dodgy putter, but they did give that to me. And but I thought to myself, how can I go around and tell anybody that I aced six if that was my second attempt at it? You know what I mean? That'd be a terrible story to tell. Right. You just lie. Yeah, you're not doing a very good job, but you just lie about it. You would suggest that, huh?

That's what I would do. Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't have known any different. I'm just an honest guy. How many aces have you had in your life to where was the first? The first was I was playing field during covid in a heads up money game in San Diego. And he pressed and he actually jumped my turn like it was a part three, obviously. And yeah, up to the tee box wasn't his honor, pressed me and then hit his shot to like 10 feet on like like one hundred ninety five yards. And then I I just hit a six iron like I drew it in. It was like water all left of the hole and I kind of pulled it a little bit and it kind of took a nice bounce to the left and then went in.

And he just after being down in the match, he literally sat on the box and looked like someone kicked him in the nuts. That's amazing. That really happened. And then the second one was that he's like playing with Rory in the tour championship and I made a hole in one on the ninth hole. So I've had some to really I had to wait a really long time to make a hole in one. But two that I have are very meaningful.

Yes, they are great stories. One on Phil Post Press and one on Rory in the players championship. Oh, the tour championship championship. OK, fantastic, man. Hey, congratulations. And like I said, it was great to watch that. And I'm just wondering, my last question for you is now that this is now removed from the conversation about majors for you, a major.

What do you think this is going to do for you this win? Xander? Yeah, I mean, the door is open. You know, I think in the past when I've when I've just been really close and then having been able to get it done, you know, this is super validating. I always believed in myself. Obviously, that's why this is sitting next to me.

But definitely just. If there's ever a tight spot or a tough moment, you know, I'm always going to have this thing to fall back on. But, you know, my biggest goal now is actually just to get back to sort of what made me, you know, good enough to win one of these and not let my expectations go through the roof and just get back to. You know, I stayed in my lane to win this and I'm going to stay in my lane even more to win more of these. OK, Xander, appreciate that.

Congratulations on that. And I would avoid using that phrase with Scottie Scheffler the next time you see him. OK. You know, it's staying in your lane.

Or use it in the text chain. That might be, you know, the name of the we'll just name the group that you're welcome. I wanted to leave you in a better spot than I found you. And now it's tough to do, but I think I've achieved it. Nice work. Xander, thanks again, brother. Congrats. Xander Schauffele, everybody.

The PGA Championship winner. All of it is fantastic. Tremendous stuff there. That was fun.

What a story. Phil presses, puts it within 10 feet. Well, we know Phil likes to, you know, have some action. Oh, my God. Many aces.

How do you like me now? 195, by the way. Jeez. What a story. Wow. That's awesome. Fun stuff. So cool.

So happy for him, Rich. I don't know if you thought with your buddies while you were watching that I was at the airport gate waiting to board, leaving Florida. And so I'm watching on my phone. I thought he missed it. I thought I thought he pulled it. I thought it was going to be popped straight out. I thought he pulled it, man. And to see that full 360. But it did like a 120 guy.

Yeah, it did. And to see that drop just so happy for him. He's waited so long. Even just last week's tournament, Rory came from way behind to beat him. And that's kind of been the knock on him.

Can't finish, can't close. And to see him get it done on a big stage like that. So cool. It is cool. And calls dad and basically said, I got to hang up because I don't want to be a complete mess.

And then to drink and just get hammered out of a giant trophy. It's so awesome. That's the life, man. That is the life. All right.

It's a what's more likely Wednesday. We're going to do that. And phone calls. 844-204-RICH. Number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

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Power dot com slash awards only at a sleep number store or sleep number dot com. What's up, everyone? It's reality. Steve, your number one source for all things Bachelor Nation and reality TV. Every day I'm giving you the behind the scenes juice and your info on all your Bachelor Nation stories and also interviewing some of your favorite reality stars.

My name has been synonymous with spoilers, but I'm so much more than that. Give me a listen. The Reality Steve podcast, part of the Believe Network.

Just search BL EAV on YouTube or wherever you listen. What is your best sports memorabilia that you have that you're you're most proud of or something that you love? Oh, it's I've got a bunch of things that I love, but the one that I would have to say is that is the coolest simply because it's not because I was a baseball player. So baseball stuff means a lot to me. One year, a girlfriend of mine said, if you could have anything for Christmas this year, what would it be? And I said, an autographed baseball glove from Brooks Robinson because Brooks was from Arkansas. He grew up in Little Rock, North Little Rock, and I just loved him. You know, when he played with the Orioles.

And so I thought that's never going to happen. But if I could have anything, that's what it would be. And she chased him down. She got all the publicists and everybody else on the case. And Christmas morning, I opened it up and there was an autographed book, a Brooks Robinson glove. And it said, and of course, the glove from him, that's the thing because it was fielding, you know, and it said from a huge fan, Brooks Robinson. I'm like, Brooks Robinson knows who I am. I'm done.

This is this is all fine. Did you ever put on the Brooks Robinson glove, like literally put your hand in it? Oh, I put it on. But boy, do I protect it. I finally put it in plexiglass because it's, you know, the name might rub off, you know.

Yeah, you don't want to do that. Boy, that's a that's a real dandy thing. McGuire also gave me a bat right after he broke it, you know. Right after he broke the Marist? No, no, after he broke his bat.

He ground it out to third. No, you should say it was home run number 67, home run 62. But it was that year.

OK. It was that year. And yeah, he ground it out to third against the Dodgers. And he gave me the bat and his batting glove, which had dirt all over it and everything. So I've got that. And yeah, I got some good stuff over the years. Love Billy Bob, man. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, 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 clickgranger.com or just stop by. Mike in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, is chiming in here. 844-204 Rich, number to dial. What's up, Mike? Hey, Rich, how are you doing today? I'm doing well. What's on your mind?

Thanks for taking my call. I'd like to do some win-loss Washington commanders. OK. All right. You got it?

I have it here. We did not do the commanders yesterday. You did not. So you said Susie did about 15, 20 of these?

We did like 15 over the last couple of days. Wow. But none for the Washington commanders. No commanders. Because when you were gone last week after the schedule came out, there were no Washington commanders. So Mike in Washington, D.C., you were breaking new ground.

All right. First up, the Washington commanders will be at Tampa. Lost. Home for the Giants. Win.

At the Cincinnati Bengals on a Monday night. Lost. One and two at the Cardinals. Lost. One and three, home for the Browns. Lost. One and four at the Baltimore Ravens. Lost.

This is going to be a long season. One and five, clearly. One and five, home for the Panthers. Win.

Two and five with fellow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams coming in. Lost. Two and six at the Giants. Win. Three and six, home for the Steelers. Lost. Three and seven at the Eagles on a Thursday night. Sneaky win.

All right. Four and seven, home for the Cowboys. Lost. Four and eight, home for the Titans. Win.

Then there's a bye. Five and eight at the Saints. Win. Six and eight, home for the Eagles. Lost. Six and nine, home for the Falcons. Lost. Six and ten at the Dallas Cowboys.

Win. Thank you, sir. Seven and ten, Mike and D.C. Ooh, seven and ten. I'm going to push back a little bit, Mike. I think you're going to have a better season than seven and ten. I think Jayden Daniels is going to be... Oh, interesting. I think he's going to be particularly, surprisingly good for you.

I don't know if he's got a... C.J. Stroud, I think, set the bar way too high for... Agreed.

... rookie quarterbacks, let alone second overall chosen quarterbacks. I just have a feeling this is going to be better, and Dan Quinn's going to get them a little bit better on defense, too. I really want to believe you.

I've just been bitten one too many times. So we'll see what happens. I hope you're right. I hope I'm wrong.

But, you know, we'll see what happens. Thanks for the call. Mike in Washington, D.C. Anybody else want to play win-loss, you call us.

844-204-RICH being the number to dial. I think seven's a little optimistic. Okay.

Or Washington. Yes. How about, how about, what would EMJSPN have to say about that, T.J.? That'd be a lot of tweets. Yeah, right?

That'd be a lot of posts. Urban Magic Johnson, S.P.N. I haven't checked his Twitter in a while. That's sort of like when you said it, I just had to pause him.

Magic? Man, I haven't looked up his tweets in a minute. Wait, did he, I wonder if he talked about the game last night. Oh, yeah.

That's like my, that's what I was thinking about. Like, I haven't seen him. LeBron did. LeBron was very critical of the Pacers not fouling at the end of the game last night.

Well, he should. How about LeBron the podcaster now with the, maybe the future head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers? Yeah, that's not weird or anything.

That's not going to rub teammates the wrong way. What a 21st century thing that would be, is a player doing, an all-world player, if not the greatest of all time, doing a podcast with his head coach every single week, breaking stuff down? I'd have to think that podcast.

I'd take a little pause. You think so? I don't know.

I would think so. In the podcast world, a player like Magic, like, we just had Magic on the brain, a player like LeBron, having a weekly pod with his head coach. I mean, it's never been done before, right? Would be off the charts, and that's what you want to do, is be off the charts podcast-wise. Now, obviously, that shouldn't be the goal of a player-coach relationship, it would be to bring another trophy here to Los Angeles. I would push back on the... They wouldn't be able to do that anymore. What happens when LeBron ultimately gets mad at his coach because things aren't going well?

That's going to make the pod very awkward. By the way, what always happens? LeBron gets his coach fired after two seasons, or less. Don't this guy.

Those are just the facts of the case, man. It didn't happen with Spoelstra, did it? No, he left. Mm-hmm. Because he wanted Spoelstra fired, and Pat Riley wouldn't do it. It would be highly doubtful.

And that's why, again, in this day and age, I don't put anything past anybody anymore. LeBron and coach would be the name of the pod. It looks like, by the way, according to Sports Business Journal, the NBA is going to award its third game package to NBC, and that would be all she wrote for Turner after 35 years, and what we were talking about the other day, of inside the NBA no longer existing after next year. I'm telling you guys, I would be stunned if they all are a package deal going somewhere else.

I would be stunned. I think Ernie has said that he's sticking with Turner. Yeah, he already said it.

Because they have playoff baseball and Saturday games and all that. That doesn't matter. Yeah, you could do. You could crust.

Network. I think if Ernie Johnson asked Turner for an out in his contract, I think they would award it. Or they'd be considerate of Ernie's desires to do all of it after 30-something years.

Those guys need to be kept together. Yeah, my thing is, why would you change? I get it. You said it, Rich, and I understand it. But that show, that's the...

Platinum standard. I get it. I've got to be honest, Rich, there's other guys that sit in with him, Mike, and it doesn't do it for me. Yeah, it's... I just turn.

I don't watch it. It's just not the same. In today's world, you have to bring them. But if you, again, every network wants to put its own stamp on that.

No, I get that. It's not like you love them for 35 years somewhere else. We outbid them or their parent company decided to not spend the money to match it or whatever. And suddenly you're saying, we are going to take somebody else's show.

And because you loved it so much, we're going to bring it on our spot. Would require a certain sensibility in the management suite of this particular organization that I don't think exists in our world. Yeah. You know, and I...

It used to. Because Pat and John... Well, Mike, it's different, as you know, to put two guys in a booth in someone else's booth. I know.

I mean, take a look. ESPN just said, we'll take Fox's booth and put it on Monday Night Football. We haven't batted an eyelash and there's nobody there in the management suite, I imagine, of ESPN that has an issue with having Joe and Troy to the case. And he stretches the imagination. But that's what I'm thinking with this show. But that's different. It's different to take four guys on a studio show than it is to have somebody call a game.

It's a totally different endeavor in terms of what I've seen in our business. Now, I think, you know, again, if you're, say, Amazon, which has no NBA of which to speak ever or any history with the NBA at all, we're obviously NBA on NBC, everybody's already saying, you know, like, John Tesh is doing like media hits now. Oh, yeah. Well, it's back.

It was on Lebron. So I saw some video of him, you know, and so... It said he's kind of revamping and kind of updating the song for NBC. Great.

No version. Fine. That's one thing for NBC to say, we're just going to take Turner's show writ large. I don't see NBC doing it. I see Amazon. Amazon's a different story. I see Amazon more than...

I see Amazon doing it more than NBC. But I don't know. Again, if you're saying that Ernie says that he... If you're saying that Ernie would not... Ernie is saying that he's not going to leave Turner, yeah. Well, and I understand that completely. I mean, he just won the Emmy for best studio host again last night.

A large part... I mean, all of it is from everything that he does for Turner. But it doesn't mean that he can't do a studio show once a week with those guys for another spot. I mean, crazier things have happened. You've got to think ESPN is going to throw so much money at Charles Barkley, right? Who also just won the Emmy last night?

I mean, I don't know. They have one more year together. And that'll be something. Because it is must-see television. It always is. Whether it's Shaq talking about the price of gas, or Charles talking about the water in Galveston, or... You know what I mean? It's the truth. They really are funny as hell. And hey, the NBA has to...

I don't know if they considered that at all. But when it all comes down to dollars and cents, you've got to be... Was that the line from The Godfather? You've got to be all hard-hearted and dollars and cents. But that's it. There have been times where I have not cared about the game that was played. And I'll tune in after the game's over to watch them. And I won't even watch the game that's on. Like you said, it's must-see TV.

It sure is. And the league is the association. I think I saw the numbers that if they are getting the amount of money from all three television packages, that the new supermax contract for a player would be $415 million.

Perfect time. Because you take the revenues and you put it through the percentages and the cap number goes up. And obviously the supermaxes are tied to that sort of financial metric. That's a considerable amount of money.

And so obviously the NBA might be like, yeah, well, an institution that causes people to talk about our game when they don't watch the game that precedes it. That's a very rare thing to have on your television partner. So, again, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the program. Who's on line one right there that didn't show up on my sheet right here? I don't have it either, actually.

It just kind of disappeared. Okay, 844-204-RICH, number to dial here. Anders in Minnesota. All right, line one. Anders, you there? Yes, I am. How are you doing? I am well.

What's on your mind? I wanted to ask your guys' opinion to see. I think my Minnesota Vikings are going to do a lot better this year than a lot of people think. Last time I looked, I think the Vegas line was six and a half wins.

I just think that with how we competed with four different quarterbacks last year and what we added in the draft, I think we can beat a lot more. There's really only one way to figure this out, Anders. You know how to figure that out? By the win-loss game? Wait.

That's what I'm doing. No, no, no. You've got to play the win-loss game because we haven't had one for the Minnesota Vikings yet. Are you ready? Here we go.

I mean, seriously, if you're going to call up and say, I think we're going to do better than six wins, let's see it, win by win. Let's do it. Did you have one over the last couple of days?

I didn't have one last week. I think somebody called and said 11 and six. Okay, here we go. Anders in Minnesota. Here we go.

Starting off at the New York Giants. What happens there? I think that's a win. Home for the San Francisco 49ers. It's going to be a close loss.

Okay. Home for the Houston Texans. I think that's a win. At the Green Bay Packers.

That's a loss. They're in London against the Jets. Win.

We'll do good in London. Three and two after a bye versus the Lions at home. That's going to be a loss. Three at the Rams on a Thursday night. Win. Four and three home for the Colts. Win. Five and three at the Jaguars.

We're going to lose that one. Five and four at the Titans. Win.

Six and four at the Bears. Win. Seven and four home for the Cardinals.

Win. Eight and four home for Kirk Cousins. I think we lose that. You lose to Kirk Cousins. Eight and five home for the Bears on a Monday night.

I think we lose that. Eight and six at the Seahawks. Win. Nine and six home for the Packers. Win. Ten and six at the Lions. I think we'll lose that one. Ten and seven.

Andrew's in Minnesota. Alright. You proved your point. We'll see if it happens. Thank you for the call. Greatly appreciate it. There you go.

Yeah, Rich. So we had on Monday. By the way, Sam Darnold against the 49ers for the home opener. Right. On Monday, Jason in New Mexico did the Vikings. Said 11 and six. Predicted J.J. McCarthy starts after the bye week.

And then that Cousins would be benched in the Falcons game. That is, let's just put it this way. Hold on a second. Because there are so many scenarios coming up. I was even thinking of doing a top five list of the wildest scenarios that could happen this year. Okay. One of them is Russell Wilson takes the Steelers to a Super Bowl.

Alright. That would be wild. Okay, that's what I'm saying. That would be really wild. Kirk Cousins getting benched is at the top of that list. If you're talking about Kirk Cousins getting benched would have to be particularly brutal. I mean, how bad would he have to play? Incredibly bad. Like, beyond bad. Like, couldn't tie his shoes bad. Yeah.

For him to not play this year at all for the Atlanta Falcons would have to be injury related. Period. End of story. I think you're right. I think you're right. It cannot be a benching due to lack of quality play.

In year one of a deal that he has to play two years on, for them to in any way, shape or form, make sure that they aren't held over a complete cap-hell barrel. I think. That said, if it is J.J. McCarthy versus Michael Pennix in a rematch of the national championship game on that day, that would be insane. That's getting flexed, right? Not if both teams are hot garbage.

It's not getting flexed. Just because two rookies are starting against each other. And don't forget, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are the ultimate marquee matchup between rookie quarterbacks. And that'll have happened a month before.

So it's not like it'll be such a wild concept or a novel concept here. Both teams in the playoff hunt, it might get flexed. But just in terms of, again, because this is the conversation for the year here, certainly involving these two rookie quarterbacks being the ones that have the best chance to eventually start. There's no Knicks there in Denver as well. But it's like he's going to start, right? Our friend in Minnesota who did this win-loss game last week, what does he have the Vikings doing in the first five games where a post-buy week benching of Sam Donald is considered necessary?

So this is Jason. He was actually in New Mexico. So yeah, he had them starting one and three and then McCarthy starts week five.

In London? That's crazy. I don't think that'll happen at all.

And then they go on a massive run, actually. He has them winning like nine out of 10. No.

And again, everybody that I've spoken to or has been talking about the situation all say, whereas the Falcons told Kirk Cousins while they were on the clock, hey, we're taking a rookie now. Eighth overall. How you doing? Everything else okay over there? How's the misses?

All good? That conversation happened in Atlanta. I was told that the Vikings told Sam Donald straight up that if one of these guys can be gotten in the draft, we're going to get them. They may not have named them, but they're like, we've identified a couple of quarterbacks.

And one of them clearly was Drake. And one of the things I want to see in the Giants off season hard knocks is, is there a phone call from Minnesota that we'll hear? Joe Shane took the general manager of the Giants. I mean, how close were they to trading, you know, with the Patriots as well? Is there be a conversation at all that Joe Shane had with New England?

Because you know, the Vikings did. That's what I'm looking forward to hearing. But that said, you know, I heard they told Sam Donald, you're the guy this year. Like we'd like you to have a Baker Mayfield type year for us. And they truly want the JJ McCarthy, Sam Donald relationship to be similar to Mahomes and Alex Smith, where they can legitimately go through the entire season with the veterans starting.

Fully knowledgeable that the rookie's getting the start next year. That's it. That's what I want in New England.

And that they're ready to roll. But the Vikings do have a, just to bring this all full circle, Vikings do have an absolute lot at winning their division in making the playoffs. Hardest division in football.

It is that. And I know that they are considered maybe the third, if not fourth best in their division, but they still have pieces remaining, despite the fact that Kirk goes to Atlanta and Daniella Hunter goes to Houston. I mean, they can win games. Two years ago, they won 13 games. I'm just saying.

So good stuff. 844-204 Rich, number to dial on the program. It's a what's more likely Wednesday that is still to come. And Justin Fields has spoken. The commissioner of the NFL has spoken today.

There's a whole new way of trying to figure out who gets a first down or not in the national football league. That's coming up. 844-204 Rich is the number to dial. Afford Anything talks about how to avoid common pitfalls, how to refine your mental models, and how to think about how to think. Paula, while certainly you can mess up on a million dollars a year, it is far less likely than it is on $30,000 a year, right? I would meet wonderful people that were struggling with a budget that was super tight.

It was a hundred percent. You need to make more money, make smarter choices and build a better life. Afford Anything wherever you listen. Back here on our program phone lines, lighten up. There's lots to talk about here. You know what's going on with a lot of NFL news happening today. Yeah.

What was the thing, and maybe we'll get to it, about the electronic laser they're doing the pre-season for first downs? Yeah, baby. That's coming up.

We'll talk about that on our show here. RIP to the chain guys. No, they'll still be necessary. Yeah, they'll be there. I don't know.

They said if it goes well, they're going to do it during the season. It's a backup. They're there for a backup. They'll always be chains, sir. Please.

They will always be chains. You know what I mean? It's their gig.

It's their gig. Very good. What else?

What else? You tell me. You guys were here for two days. That wasn't... No, get ready. Get ready for the pod today, Rich.

Oh, that's right. We got what's more likely, pardon me, an overreaction Monday pod. We're taping that today.

Speaking of which as well, Susie and Amy's new pod is out with Mike Torrico as their guest. We'll get you some out of that still to come on our program right here. Very good. You know what I've been watching on the flight back and forth? The Jinx part two.

Now, is that good? Really? What else? What else is there?

A documentary. What do you mean what else is there? That's what I mean. I don't know.

You tell me. Did you see the original Jinx? I did. I did.

And it ended with him going into the bathroom with his mic, hot mic, saying, killed them all, of course. But he's passed away now, right? Well, spoiler alert. Oh. Yeah.

Everyone does know that, I guess. This is about how they took him to trial. Oh, okay. And there is some stuff that they've learned that they didn't make the original documentary and also wasn't introduced to trial.

That's what I was curious about. Oh, my goodness. Okay.

There's one more episode that's left. Okay, great. I'm watching it on Max, by the way. You can see it right here on Roku portal. Got it. Okay, cool. Look at me just tying it all together. Look at you.

Back here on The Rich Eisen Show. Ready, set, griddle this grilling season. People get the Weber Slate Rust Resistant Griddle with a carbon steel cooktop that's safe for metal tools. It's pre-seasoned and ready to cook on right out of the box. It's the griddle that stays ready, not rusty. This griddle heats evenly edge to edge. It reaches up to 500 degrees. The Weber works prep, cook, and store system keeps cooking supplies handy.

You can carry all the fluid, condiments, and utensils you need. Get fired up for your new Weber Slate Rust Resistant Griddle. Tell you all about that stuff right here on our show. News out of Western PA. Ready to go to the draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sir? You know it. Yes. Yeah.

Let's go. Awesome. We could go do our shows from there and maybe make a pilgrimage to the footlocker. We're used to work out, right?

Yes. Yeah, we're definitely going to the footlocker. Now we're talking.

I mean, we're going to get to meet the entire Jefferson family and see his whole history because he's so open with things. You know? We're going to get to know the whole situation.

Hey, maybe your mom will tell us how old you are. Yeah. Probably not. We're going to get the above the fold news, okay, from Altoona. Can you imagine? A lot of mouths between the two. It'll be the first ever booze at a draft when the Baltimore Ravens go on the clock. It'll be the first ever, I imagine, an absolute, total, complete, hot fire mess when the Browns go on the clock in Pittsburgh, PA.

Exactly. I mean, in a way that we've never ever witnessed because that didn't happen in Radio City Music Hall. It didn't happen in Philadelphia.

It didn't happen in Chicago. I don't know who's going to get more booze. I think it might be the... Oh, I think Browns, right? I think it's the Ravens, to be honest with you.

You think so? Steeler fans are... Oh, no. Steelers have pretty much owned the Browns the last few years. Yeah, I think Ben owned the Browns. You know what I mean? I get it, but... It hasn't really been that tight. But the Ravens, Steelers, that's a... Dude, do you remember... Do you remember...

I don't know if it's the reverse. When Joe Thomas had his jacket put on by Jerome Bettis and people were like, what's up with that? But that was in Ohio. You think Steeler fans just don't even pay attention to the Browns and they just want to get all over the Ravens? I think... Okay, you think so? Steeler fans...

Okay. Because the Browns never really posed much of a threat to the Steelers for years. They haven't been in a long time. But the Ravens now, that's some... Those games are hard-hitting, they're nasty. That's in 2026, next year's draft is in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Correct. So we're coming to Pittsburgh in 2026 for the draft, that'll be exciting. And maybe at that point in time, there'll be a new banner or a trophy in the case courtesy of Justin Fields. You never know. Or...

They're not? Or Justin Fields might not even be there anymore because he gets acquired from the... By the Steelers for draft consideration in next year's draft, the one in Green Bay. It wasn't even for this past year's draft.

Or maybe West leads him to the top. And they don't even pick up his fifth year option. Justin Fields, we have not heard from him since this trade went down. And he said yesterday when he spoke, after we went off the air yesterday, that he asked for this location. He asked for this location. He wanted to go here.

I wonder why that is. And the door opened up for that post Russ's signing when he heard that Kenny Pickett was no longer there. This is what he had to say on that front.

Yeah. I mean, shout out to Pose, he would communicate it to him through my agent and I told him where I wanted to be and this was the place I wanted to be. So he honored that and I appreciate him for that.

And I'm glad he was able to put me in the spot where I wanted to be at. Pose being the general manager of the Bears gave a shout out to him for sending him where he wanted to go. That when Russ signed, he thought, well, that's the way that one went. And then he heard Pickett was gone and he's like, that's where you want to, that's where I want to go. And your answer to that might be, well, why would he do that after Russ just went there?

Because Pickett left clearly miffed about Russ's appearance there, does that not indicate to you that they told Russ it's his gig? Well, even if that's the case, Justin Fields says he intends to compete for it. To be honest, I'm taking it day by day. I'm definitely competing.

I think Russ knows that. We're competing against each other every day. Getting out there for me, that helps me get better, us pushing each other. I mean, I definitely don't have the mindset of me just sitting all year. So I'm coming in every day, giving it all I got and pushing him to be his best. And he's pushing me to be my best each and every day.

So I appreciate that. Over under on the number of days into training camp, Mike Tomlin will stare down somebody who asks him for an update on the quarterback competition, right? For Tomlin to essentially begin to chafe at the daily requests for an update from the media. First day.

No, it won't be first day. Come on now. Let's give Tomlin knows what time it is. Tomlin knows what time it is and what's happening, what's going to be asked of him.

And I think you'll get a lot of, and I appreciate, you'll get a lot of, I appreciate the questions type answers. You think after the first preseason game? I think it's going to be, if I had to guess, it'll be after preseason game two. Well, cause Russ probably won't play one. Well, no, they're going to have to play one. There's only three of these, sir. After all. Well, they have to.

Yeah. There's only three of these. I'm looking forward to the Steelers beat writers posting how the quarterbacks are doing in practice. Russ was 11 of 13 with a touchdown. How many footballs have hit the ground? Justin Fields was 10 of 14, had an interception in the day two. Well, dude, these are all metrics.

These are all metrics. Cause I'll tell you this too, guys. If Russ wins this battle, there's gotta be a Justin Fields package. There has to be. Don't you think? Like the Tebow package?

Absolutely. Why wouldn't he? He is truly one of the most lethal packages that ever out there. Russell Wilson didn't sign with Pittsburgh to have a package where he comes off the field. But it's too, but again, again, this is not like something again, when this whole thing came out where Russ is going to get the first team snaps and Kenny Pickett's who he didn't address this when he showed up in Philadelphia and Pickett was basically saying, I am a hostage now.

I'm no longer a volunteer. And they said, we will volunteer to send you across the state that we were all saying how remarkable this was that Russ was getting the treatment of a veteran quarterback that had been with an organization for 10 years, like not 10 days, 10 hours. So I think everything is on the table here. Remember, this is the franchise that bought a slash, Cordell Stewart. So of course.

No, I understand. So there is some Rooney family DNA and that sort of concept. But when I say lethal, I mean, and I know folks might be like, well, that's how is he lethal because they traded him to Pittsburgh for a bag of footballs, essentially. It's because he, with the ball in his hands after you've been potentially tenderized by Najee and have some weapons on the outside that we're assuming are going to be much better than before.

I don't know, man, him coming downhill at you and then stopping and throwing a one of them. Then why not start? Why isn't he the number one? I don't know. Here we go. I think that this is going to be part of the mix, don't you? You think it's just going to be Russ and he'll just be standing there with an earbud in his ear with a thousand yard rushing season behind him.

And they might be they might be points challenged and he's just going to stand there in an Arthur Smith system where Ryan Tannehill was terrific. Really? OK. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why Mike Tomlin would want to take this on.

So it's like day 12, day 15 of. Because he wants to give himself the best possible chance to win a football game. If you have two quarterbacks, you have zero. I don't know that anymore, sir. I don't know if you could say that anymore in the NFL at all.

Our three Dusty May of Michigan basketball coming up. I don't know. You know, now it's like if you don't have two, you have none. You're in trouble. Yeah.

If you don't have three. I don't know. That's the way it is right now in certain places. They are asking for trouble. They're asking for this to go on all season long. Controversy, questions, questions, questions.

I'm not saying that it's just it feels going to start this week. Yeah. I don't know.

And so what? You think Mike Tomlin is going to adjust his just his roster management based on the chatter? I don't think so. That's really the chatter in the locker room, and I'm you know, he's going to be stubborn like he's been for a long time. And that's why Steelers fans are pissed and want him out. I think it's a better quarterback room to be stubborn with. Then previous years, don't you?

I don't know. It's yet to be seen how I just I don't know why I find it hard to believe that Justin Fielder is going to be standing there with an earbud and his cap on watching no matter what, like no, no helmet on, no, no, no, not looking alive, you know? And I understand that your backup quarterback you're putting in there and in harm's way technically for running the football, but he is really imagine him and Jalen Warren just to even a few snaps a game. Russ does the rest or Russ is going to be so good that Justin Fields won't see the field again, just going back again. Like I got to make this top five list of the wildest storylines that could be entirely possible for the season.

And it's Russ returning to form in Pittsburgh. Could you imagine? Oh, baby, oh, boy, hour three coming up. John brings his skewed sense of humor. Jeff brings tips to cut strokes off your next round together.

It's those weekend golf guys. They'll pay a lot of money to PXG and Tylus and Callaway and how many yards you think you're going to pick up with that extra? I think I can get an extra five to ten. What if I give you fifteen to twenty? You pay me more. It teaches on a sliding scale, those weekend golf guys, the podcast part of the Believe Network. You can search BLEAV on YouTube or wherever you listen.