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Discounts not available in all states and situations. I'm a fan of a father and son playing together, so that's all I can say. This is the Rich Eisen Show. With the 55th pick, the Los Angeles Lakers select Ronnie James. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
If you can turn him into a point guard, I think there's the possibility he could have a pretty productive NBA career. Earlier on the show, Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeau, actor Oliver Platt. Coming up, Texans linebacker Will Anderson Jr., host of American Ninja Warrior, Akbar Bajabiamila.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number three of this program on the air. Will Anderson of the Texans about to join us. Kayvon Thibodeau of the Giants did join us. So did in studio Oliver Platt of the Bear, which is back on FX and also FX is the Bear on Hulu, which you can see right here on the Roku channel and the Roku platform.
And guess what, folks? If you have missed the first two hours of this program, you missed Terrific List, TJ Jefferson's top five high school teammates of all time in honor of Matthew Kuchuk and Jason Tatum becoming champions from the same high school in St. Louis, the same school bus in St. Louis. And in honor of the Bears, Oliver Platt being here, Chris Brockman just gave us what everybody needed, his power ranking of Bears. So if you missed any of it, we are on the Roku channel. We also are on a podcast version of this program, All Three Hours Cumulus Podcast Network. Please give us a follow there. Also subscribe to our YouTube channel as well. Be part of the soon to be almost 800,000 strong subscribers to that channel. We greatly appreciate it. Akbar Bajab-Biamillah is about to make his umpteenth appearance on this program in support of the one millionth season of American Ninja Warrior.
That thing's on more than law and order. So he's coming out here shortly. Will he do like the Raiders win-loss game? Should we do that?
I know people want to do the win-loss game as well. Okay, you know, we're going to get to the phone lines after we get to right now our friend Will Anderson Jr., who's joining us. He's the Defensive Player of the Year for all rookies last year, otherwise known as the Defensive Rookie of the Year. That's a very long-winded way of me saying welcome to the program, Will Anderson of the Texans. How are you, Will? I'm doing good. Thank you for having me.
I appreciate it. So let's just discuss where I, for the radio audience, where I found you. You're in a, is that a truck you're in? You're in a truck?
What do you got? Yeah, I'm in my old high school truck that my parents got me when I was in high school, but I'm here. It's my niece's birthday and we're celebrating her and they're inside right now and I just stepped out so I can do the Zoom call right quick. Because you're about to hold a football camp in your hometown this weekend, correct? Yes, sold out camp. In Stockbridge, California? Oh, Georgia? Pardon me, Stockbridge, Georgia? That's where you are? Yes, sir.
Okay, so because you're home, the rod you're using is the rod that you had in high school. Is that what I'm to understand? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Look at you. Okay, so you have your old mix tapes in the glove compartment, Will? Is that where it is?
Is it what you got? I think my dad cleaned it out and put all his old stuff back in here now. Okay, any good memories in there, Will, for you in that truck? Yeah, a lot of Friday nights, me and the boys are here after a good game, riding around, getting in the stuff.
I know. Are you still in touch with a lot of those guys now that you're in the process? They'll all be at my camp. How cool is that? What are they going to do with the camp for you? They're going to coach, have fun, man, and just come out and support. Fantastic. So that's June 29th in Stockbridge, Georgia.
And if you're in the area, JP Mosley Park in Stockbridge, Georgia, go hang out with Will Anderson, Jr. So now that you're looking back on last year's campaign, what did you think of your first year in the NFL, Will? I really thought it was a really great learning experience, navigating my way around the league, figuring out things. And sometimes when I watch film, I just be like, what were you even thinking?
What are you even doing right here? And it's just been a great learning experience for me. And this whole off season, all the things that I've seen in my tape talk with my coaches and everything like that, those are the things I've been working on so far this off season.
So give me an example of something you looked at and you're like, what were you thinking, kid? It's a lot of times just finishing on the quarterback and a lot of times just taking the edge instead of just like, I was just stopped at the top of my rush and not get extension at the top of my rush. So those are some of the things that I've been heavily working on this off season and just working on my steps in my pass rush. So those are some things that I was just watching last year. I was like, bro, all you have to do is turn the corner right here and just reach and you probably would have got a sack.
So just those little things to fine tune my game. And you still wound up being defensive rookie of the year anyway. Thank God. So where's that trophy right now? Where's that? My mom has like this whole trophy case of all the trophies I ever gotten from like high school and up. So it's sitting there in the trophy case with all my other stuff. There's still room in the case.
She's making room. That is funny, man. And so the playoff experience, what did you glean from that? Yeah, man, my honest answer is just experience, man, and being healthy and making sure that we're more detailed than ever. To me, those games really count a lot.
They mean a lot more. So really just making sure that everybody's healthy, having the experience, just being detailed on your job and making sure that we're cutting out all the mistakes and making as few mistakes as possible. Well, I mean, you've got some new teammates, Daniil Hunter being one in particular. What's your conversation been like with with that guy? Man, he's unreal.
He's been so supportive already. He's so smart. He knows a lot about the game, a lot about pass rush.
Very talented, man. But his character speaks a lot. He's always willing to help the young guys help me. He's been teaching us so much stuff since he's been there. And I'm excited to play alongside of him, man. It's just going to be a really great year. What's your general sense of how that might open things up for you or you for him?
What's your sense of that? Yeah, teams are just going to have to decide. I mean, that's the double digit stat guy every year. So teams are just going to be like, shoot, we got a double this guy. So we all know about this guy. So it's going to be fun. I think we're going to cause a lot of havoc and disrupt a lot of stuff. So I'm excited to go to war with him.
And it's interesting. You got the Colts, you got the Colts first, and then your first home game is going to be against the Chicago Bears. I asked this question of Jeffrey Simmons the other day, because he's got Caleb Williams first up to try and put down on the ground. What's your general sense of welcoming a rookie to the National Football League, Will? Honestly, I'm just going to approach it like I approach every game. I mean, that's my job is to go set quarterbacks and to be disruptive.
And I just want to be able to do that. You know what I'm saying? So I don't really get into all the welcoming. I'm just going to go out there and be who I am. You know what I'm saying?
I do indeed know what you're saying. And what do you say to the folks who have high expectations for the Texans this year? Yeah, I mean, we appreciate that, but I think nobody's expectation is going to be higher than the expectation that we have for ourselves in the building and what Coach D'Amico wants for us and the standard that he has for us. We're just going to keep going out there swarming, attacking, and just building off what we did last year. And we can't worry about the past, and we can't worry about what happened last year.
And this offseason and training camp, we have to really grow together and really take that next step. When did you first realize that CJ Stroud could be particularly special at the quarterback position, Will? Honestly, I've known CJ a long time, but doing training camp and just OTAs and watching him throughout the building, man, I knew he had that it factor to him. He was showing up every day, locked in, connecting with guys. I think that's the biggest thing when you know a guy's going to be really good is how they connect with their teammates.
And the team just latched on to him, man, because he was so personable. And then he was just so competitive on the field and he would get angry at himself. He didn't do something right. He would come back and fix it. And Coach would show highlights of when he did it wrong. And then he would come back and show another highlight when CJ did it right. And CJ just kept building and building off of that.
And that's who he is, man. So I'm looking at your schedule before I let you go back to your family. By the way, you're kind enough to jump in your truck to chat with us and bust out of a family meal. So Christmas Day, you've got a Christmas game taking on the Baltimore Ravens. What do you think that's going to be like for you on a Christmas? Yeah, it's going to be fun, man. It's going to be fun.
I don't know. The Santa and the Grint is going to be there. It's going to be fun. I'm excited. Well, any sense of revenge on your mind since that's the team that kind of sent you guys home sooner than you probably hoped?
Of course. They beat us twice, man. It's going to be a good game. And I think it's a mutual respect between both teams. We both have great teams.
You know what I'm saying? They have great players. We have great players. And honestly, it's just going to come down to who's most disciplined, who's most detailed. And I'm excited for that game.
Okay. And before I let you go, Will, Nico Collins and you after the Rose Bowl, were you guys cool? Were you guys all right after the Rose Bowl, Will?
I seen Nico and I was like, bro. And I was talking crap. I said, they're not going to be able to, y'all are not going to be able to hang with us.
But he got the upper hand right now, man. So we still cool though. Just so you're aware, I'm a Michigan guy too, which is kind of why I asked you, Will. I can't get away from you Michigan guys, man. No, we're everywhere. We're everywhere. But what is your sense of the future of the Alabama program right now, Will, with Nick Saban gone?
What do you have for me there? Honestly, I think the ball's going to keep rolling. I think they're great hands. He comes from a winning culture.
He's won everywhere he's been. I think it allows the players to be a little bit more free and relaxed a little bit, which I think is a good thing nowadays. I think Coach Saban left a really great standard there.
A lot of great discipline, a lot of great people there, a lot of great players he recruited. And I know that the new coach staff, they're going to come in and do their thing. And just talking with the guys, they love it and they're excited about it.
So I can't do nothing but love it too and be excited about it and wish them the best. Okay. What's your goal for this year before I let you go? What's your goal? You have it written down somewhere, Will? I haven't written down my goals yet. I kind of do it right before training camp starts. But my goal and just one word is just to wreak havoc this year. That's it. That's always been like, if I had to tell anybody my goal, that's it. I don't get into my specific goals, but that's just my one word to sum up all my goals.
But you will at some point write down a number on a piece of paper for sacks? Will do. Yes, sir.
Okay. Will you at least tell me what it was for last year? You got it for last year? Last year was like seven to ten.
I just wanted to get like somewhere right there. But like next year, I really want to get double digit sacks. Okay. So ten plus.
That's what we got. Ten plus is the number that's good. Okay.
But there will be a specific number. Yeah. No, I'm just gonna put ten plus. Okay.
Ten plus. Well, we just worked it out. I appreciate you letting me workshop that with you. Hey, Will, thanks again for joining us here today. The youth football camp with you and so many of your friends and family members will be going down Saturday in Stockbridge, Georgia at JP Mosley Park.
If you're in the area, stop by. I appreciate the time here. Thank you. I appreciate you for having me and have a nice day. You right back at you. That's Will Anderson Jr. of the Houston Texans right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
What a nice guy. Seems like and then you don't want any piece of him on the field. Till the ball gets snapped. Right? You're holding it. Right? Aren't the baddest of asses, the quiet ones and the nice ones?
Tends to be, you know. Fill the grill and fire up the party, folks. Get the Weber Seaward Pellet Grill. Smoke, roast and sear on the same grill. Go from low and slow on smoke boost mode at 180 degrees all the way to high heat sear at 600. It's got a full great sear zone so you could put more food on the flame and food will look as good as it tastes. The grill's hot. In 15 minutes, cleanup is simple. You're cooking on two levels at the same time so you can make enough for everyone on top of it.
You can add a heavy duty rotisserie, a rust resistant griddle insert. So get fired up for your new Weber Seaward Pellet Grill. Joe in Buffalo, New York's been hanging on for darn near two hours. Let's get Joe on the phone. What's up, Joe?
Hey, Rich, how's it going? Is this Joe Ferguson? No, it is not, sir. Okay, so then it's just another Joe from Western New York. Right, right. Another Joe. There's lots of them.
What's going on? Listen, I want to play the win-loss game for the Bills. For the Buffalo Bills.
I need music. I need a schedule. And I need you to beat Matt in, what is that? Matt in Oklahoma. He's a die-hard Bills fan. He's a little irascible sometimes. So let's see what you have to say about your Bills when they play the Arizona Cardinals to start the season, Joe in Buffalo.
I'm very rational. We're starting with the W. At the Dolphins on a Thursday night. Quick turnaround. That's a win. Home for the Jaguars on a Monday night.
Nice long week off. Another win. 3-0 at the Ravens.
That one's going to be close. I'll take another win. That's 4-0 to start the season going into Houston.
I'll take it out. Ah, 4-1 at the Jets on a Monday night. Listen, every year we got to lose to the Jets once.
I think Josh is going to have four picks. I think that's going to be a Jets dub. Two games in a row they've lost now. Home for the Titans. At the win. 5-2 at the Seahawks. At the win.
Home for the Dolphins. At the win. 7-2 at the Colts.
That's a win. 8-2, home for the Chiefs. That's going to be a loss. 8-3 off the bye. Home for the Niners.
Oh, that's a loss. 8-4 at the Rams. That's a win. 9-4 at the Lions. Win. 10-4, home for the Patriots. Win. Home for the Jets. Win.
At the Patriots. Win for the end of the season. 13-4, says Joe and Buffalo, like nothing ever happened. Thanks for the call, Joe and Buffalo. Like nothing ever happened.
They got rid of all these name players and they're better. I will be shocked if they're 13-4. What's crazy is Cowboy fans know that we're the most crazy and irrational. I've been the most rational with my schedule picking out of all these teams.
I mean, good luck. Who has called in for the win-loss game and given their team a loss to the Titans? Has that happened yet?
That's how you and I both laughed at the same time with that. Honestly. Titans and Patriots are just automatic wins. They're not just wins. Some of them are like, oh, please win.
You know, some of them give out answers like they're on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Well, that's gonna be a tough one. I mean, we've lost there before, but I think we can win there. But let me just think about it.
I might phone a friend. Let me go 50-50 and I'll go win. Patriots win. Titans win.
I'm telling you, do not sleep. The Titans are not gonna be homecoming this year. They will not be homecoming. That's why we should have Jeffrey Simmons' picture pop up when it's time for them to... Now what you gonna say?
So there's that. Jeff in Detroit. Let's take his call before bringing Akbar out. What's up, Jeff? How you been? What's going on, Sean? What's up, man?
What'd he say? Oh, guys, been loving the show. You know, been driving, doing my thing. Yes, sir.
You know what? Do you got time to do the win-loss game for the Lions? Sure.
Why not? Let's do that. Jeff in Detroit. I hit it last year on the nose, so let's go ahead and see what we got.
All right, let's do that, and then we'll bring out Akbar Bajab-Biamillah, one of our favorites. Jeff in Detroit, here on the Rich Eisen Show, once again doing a Detroit Lions win-loss game. Home for the Rams.
What happens? Home for the Rams. We're going to start that off with a win. Home for the Bucks.
Home for the Bucks. You know what? I can say a loss on that one. Oh, that's interesting. I'm gonna get the loss out of the way first.
Very M. Night Shyamalan twist to start. At the Cardinals. At the Cardinals. That's gonna be a win. Home for the Seahawks on a Monday night. Home for the Seahawks. Home for the Seahawks. That's gonna be a win. Three and one off a bye at the Cowboys. Three and one off the Cowboys. You know what?
I have an ill feeling that we're gonna lose to the Cowboys. Oh, I thought you were reporting as eligible, Jeff. I know, right? Three and two. You know what? That ends that game. You know what?
No. Give us a win on that one. There you go. And you're gonna go forward on fourth down every time, and it's gonna work. Four and one.
By the way, I just talked him into four and one. At the Vikings. At the Vikings. At the Vikings.
The first person with the Vikings is gonna be a win. Five and one. Home for the Titans. Home for the Titans.
Win. Six and one at the Packers. Six and one.
That's gonna be a loss. Six and two at the Texans. For some reason, I think we're gonna have two losses in a row right there.
It's gonna be a little stumbling block. Six and three. Home for the Jaguars. That's gonna be a win. Seven and three at the Colts. Seven and three at the Colts. That's gonna be a win. Eight and three. Home for the Bears on Thanksgiving. Home for the Bears on Thanksgiving. That's gonna be a win right there. Nine and three.
Turning around. You got the Packers a week later on a Thursday night. We're gonna avenge the loss that we took earlier.
That is now, wait, why don't we either one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and three. Home for the Bills. Home for the Bills. That's gonna be a loss. Ten and four at the Bears. Ten and four. That's gonna be a win. Eleven and four at the Niners on a Monday night. Oh, that's gonna be the revisionist game right there. We're gonna win that one. Twelve and four. Home for the Vikings. That's not.
That last one, for some reason, I just, I think they're probably, you know, they might be in a position to, you know, put their players up and. Twelve and five. Jeff and Detroit. Great to chat with you, Jeffrey. You be well.
Okay, you do the same, huh? Adios. All right, Jeff. Jeff and Detroit.
Now, that I buy. I just love, again, how people just say, you know what, that's too many wins in a row. I caught myself on a bender.
I need to stop drinking. And then they go cold turkey. The win-loss game. But the one thing that is consistent throughout, other than that, in a win-loss game, is somebody hears the Titans and they go, win. Somebody hears the Titans and they go, win. Right off the bat. Titans aren't going 0-17, people.
They will not maybe even finish under.500. How about them apples? Wait, what? Yeah, you heard me right. Let's take a break.
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That's greenlight.com slash R I C H to try Greenlight for free greenlight.com slash rich. 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Good friend of the program and friend of mine Akbar Baja Biamila back here on the program talking American Ninja Warrior season 16. Good to see you man.
Good to see you too. You know, I was thinking all this news about LeBron James and Bronny James. First off, I'm so happy for Bronny James. I kept hearing announcers say this is the first time in sports history.
I'm going whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We have our own father and son duo on American Ninja Warrior. We're a legitimate sport. We've got Brian and Kai Beckstrand. These guys have been doing it for a while, but it makes me excited though to see what Bronny and LeBron James can do.
These two are an amazing duo on Ninja Warrior. Can you imagine father and son in the NBA winning a championship together, celebrate? I mean, like first off, does Bronny James stay at home? Does he get his own place?
Like that's- Ah, great question. I think he's probably getting it. Don't you think he's in his own place right now? No, he's not in his own place.
Hell yeah, he's got to be. Don't you think? He was in the dorms. What do you think? He's sitting downstairs- He was in the dorms? Yeah, right. This guy.
Chelsea Clinton was in, I know I'm going way back, but she went to Stanford and she was staying in the dorms at Stanford when her father was the president of the United States. What do you think? He's down in the James basement screaming for the meatloaf? I mean, come on now. What do you think?
You don't think he was at home? First of all, hold on a second. Akbar Bajabiamila, I just have to stop here and say very impressive to take something ripped straight from the headlines and make it about your show. That's really impressive. That was almost as impressive as the physical feats on American Joy. You almost hurt yourself making that leap. Making that leap. Making that leap, that tumble.
But I did it though, like the ring chaser. Very impressive. So I'm just wondering again, behind the scenes, take me behind the scenes. The people who come up with the course ideas, the new course ideas, did they not get enough attention as a child or something like that?
Who are these people? These people are the same people who coach football and have never played the game of football, right? And they say, you got to make this tackle, you got to do this play, you got to run through this gap. And I'm like, coach, it doesn't actually work like that. Wait, coach, I got a question. Have you ever played football before?
No. So they designed stuff that doesn't even make sense. So I think it's the same people who are designing the Ninja Warrior course, hoping and wishing that these ninjas just fail miserably. And it makes for some spectacular television. Yeah, they got bullied in high school by the athletes and they're like, we'll show them. We're going to get in a position with the athletes and we'll show them how we're going to handle business.
Because honestly, I do not know. I mean, we just saw the ring chaser. Explain to people what the ring chaser is. As soon as you get on the apparatus, you hit the bar, that ring starts going through. Now you got to hustle through the bars and then catch that ring before it drops. If you don't catch it before it drops, then you are left with a little small ring that you can pick up and try to get it on top of that peg, which is almost impossible, right? Like you got to have great optical discipline to be able to see it and land it.
That's a hard one. Yeah, that sounds like trying to make those free throws at a carnival. That's right. Or one of those lethal shooters type of shots. Right, where the ring isn't actually the circumference of the basketball, right?
Like you've just got to hit it in the right spot. Right. And I mean, but these ninjas find a way, I tell you, it has become so massive, like to the point now, there's American Ninja Warrior Adventure Parks that are opening up. They have a couple opening up here already.
We already have one in Orange County. So we're going to see another generation of athletes on Ninja Warrior. I think AI won't even be able to touch it.
We're going to see kids flying through the course, like at least for like four or five seconds flying. That's so cool. Yeah, I know. It's on somewhere right now. You know what I mean?
You know what it is too? It's great family viewing. Oh, it is no question about it. It is great family view.
We don't get that. I don't know about you guys, but like it has become harder and harder to get the family together to watch shows. And it's one thing. I don't think it's because dad's on Ninja Warrior, but it's the one thing my kids will sit and watch.
We'll watch together as a family. Yeah, I'm with you. There's that you're not wrong. You know, Chris is just the one boy at present.
I've got three kids, 15, 13, and 10. And as they get older, their, their likes get further and further apart. Right. And they're on their phones too. Right. Exactly.
They're on their screens. But American Ninja Warrior is absolutely something that all three of them will be like, okay. Yeah. Shark Tank's another one. Yep. To be honest with you, like they're like Shark Tank will stop all of them.
What else? Like Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy will stop them. And anything we suggest will just, they'll be repelled by. Right. Right. You're talking about like, if you're at home, say, Hey, let's watch this. Right. And like, I feel I'm like, you know, I make good decisions.
My kids, first of all, call me, dad, what is it going to be? A documentary? I'm like, Oh, come on. But this is a good document. Right. Okay. What documentary are you forcing your children to watch?
Just anything and everything. I just, I love, I'm a, I'm a documentary guy. Yeah. You're, you're, you're, you're more than just a, an, a, a Ninja Warrior. Right. You got the neck up.
Akbar Bajabiamila here on the Rich Eisen Show again, four times Emmy nominated for outstanding reality competition program, American Ninja Warrior season 16, airing Mondays, eight Eastern on NBC and the next day on Peacock. I give you the chief's three peating of the field. What do you do? I'm going to go three feet. You do? Yeah.
I'm going to go three feet. It's very, it's very, it's very likely that these guys, they, they've got, they just drafted speed again. You know, we didn't see that a lot last season with, you know, with what they had going now that they got this deep threat. Of course, he's a rookie. We'll see what that looks like down the road, but Patrick Mahomes just makes me excited.
I mean, I know that sounds weird. I'm not trying to be weird, but like, think about what he's done in just a short span in the NFL. I mean, we're, we're witnessing greatness.
And then of course, Andy Reid as well. They're going to go for a three-peat. I know they're gonna, it's just, and, and I, I'm.
Why are you hating on them? I'm not, I would never do that. So you're saying they're going to three-peat? I'm, I'm.
You would never do that except for the last couple of years. Excuse me. Two years ago, I made the 100% fully owned absurd mistake of saying the Josh McDaniels coached and then middle of the season fired version of the Raiders were going to win the AFC West. I was with you on that one. You weren't far off.
Okay. I thought it exploded for some reason. I thought Devontae Adams coming in, I, I'm a huge Max Crosby fan.
And I just thought that it was going to come together. My bad. Last year, I did in fact, take the cheese like everyone else did all the way up through Christmas when they lost to the Raiders in Arrowhead on Christmas day. Then they didn't lose a game the rest of the year, middle of the playoffs prior to their game against the bills. I said, I'm on the chiefs now. I jumped, I started the season being on the chiefs, got off them to take the Ravens on the NFL game day morning Mulligan given out on Thanksgiving, then got back on them wildcard weekend.
And I'm like, I'm not going to, I cannot get off them again. And then I didn't. So for this season, what are you doing? I still have time. I still have time.
No, no, no, no. I asked you the question. I don't want to see you next. So I asked you now. Okay.
Well, I will tell you, I've got time. Okay. I will tell you though, there's one team that has the ability to maybe punch them in the mouth and stop them from three peating.
Okay. Before you answer that question, AFC or NFC? AFC. AFC team that has a chance to punch them in the mouth and keep them from three peating.
You saying this means it's not the obvious. Are you saying it's the Texans? Nope.
Okay. Is it a division team? It is a division team.
Are you going to go the chargers? Yes. You are. That's good. Okay.
I see you little Richard Thomas there. Yeah. I was thinking chargers also. You were thinking the chargers?
Because you said punch them in the mouth. Oh, that's like a Harbaugh statement, huh? Right. Yeah. I like Harbaugh, man. I really do. Well, you know what?
You had to meet hello with that one, as you might imagine. And we've mentioned it here over and over again. Last time Harbaugh joined the NFL as an HC, he plussed up the nine or seven wins. Yeah. And if he does that to the chargers, that's 12 wins. Right. Which gives them a shot at the division. Certainly, if possibly two of those 12 wins would be against the Chiefs and they'd have a tie break to put on the table. You never know.
But why do you think that? I just think wherever he's gone for me, you know, it's more personal. I remember, you know, my rookie year, he was just, you know, like an assistant coach, you know, with the Raiders. And then when I did my very first game as, you know, a color commentator, it was a USD game against Moorhead, I believe. And I remember sitting down and spending time with Coach Harbaugh. He won there at USD, left to Stanford, won at Stanford, left there, went to, you know, to the Niners, left there.
I mean, he wins everywhere. And not to mention, he went to give a little powwow speech to my son's tackle football team, Peewee football team. When did he do that? Last week. Well, last week. So, and the way he got them kids riled up, I was like, oh, let's let's unpack this a little.
What do you mean? Did you get him there? Who got him there?
No, no, no, no. The one of the heads at the on the team got him there. And Coach Roman was there. Coach Harbaugh was there for a Peewee football team or a Peewee football team. What do you say to the kids? Oh, man. Well, he said some things and got the kids riled up.
But I will say this. The funniest question that popped up was one of the kids asked his first year playing football. He goes, hey, does wearing a nut cup hurt?
And Coach Harbaugh was stuck on stupid. He was like, oh, that's the first time I've ever heard that question. Those are his exact words.
He said, does wearing a nut cup really hurt? And did he answer the question? He did not answer. He dodged that one. Next question. That was so funny.
The kid was innocent. He just wanted to know, did he think for a second a nut cup was a candy bar or something like that? You never know. You never know.
Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. OK, so you think the Chargers more than any team is standing in the way of the Chiefs potentially not an NFC team? You don't think the Niners see him again? You're not a believer in the ascension of the Lions or Green Bay?
No, I do believe in the Lions. You know, just on a side note, I was at the draft and I just felt the energy. That was my first time in Detroit and that city is, I mean, dumb excited about what they can do.
700,000 people showing up. It was crazy. I know. Crazy.
And many of them wearing some form of Honolulu blue. Yeah. Yeah.
I'm with you. Yeah. So Detroit could be, you know, obviously, you know, that, you know, on the NFC side. But in order for them to even play in the Super Bowl against an NFC team, they got to they got to win out, obviously, on the AFC side.
And I think their biggest hurdle will be. The Los Angeles Chargers, Akbar Baja, Bea Miller here on the Rich Eisen Show, you and Matt Eisman are going to be doing the gold zone for Peacock? The gold zone, yes.
Our equivalent of the red zone. Right. And it's exciting.
So you're going to be essentially doing because I know Siciliano is doing it too. Is Hanson doing it? Hanson. I believe Hanson is going to be doing it as well. So nobody's ever zoned. We'll be we'll be doing the gold zone.
But we won't be in France, though. Oh, trust me, I did. I did Tokyo gold from I covered the entire Olympics, did an entire hour long everyday SportsCenter type highlight show right from beautiful Stanford, Connecticut. That was that was tough. That's where I do all my highlights is the state of Connecticut professionally. Is that right?
I hope there's better taxes over there. Seven years at ESPN and then went back to the state of Connecticut and did a very ESPN like show. So I know that this is the first time I can honestly say I'm going to one up Rich Eisen. How so? I actually did the the 2020 Tokyo games in Tokyo in Tokyo. I won. Was that a good one up or not? That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Pretty good.
I know, especially since it was the summer of 2021. That was cool. What did you do?
What did you do? Which which sport did you cover there? It was kind of like the gold zone.
They just rebranded as the gold zone. But it was kind of same thing. It was a great experience. It's my first time actually experiencing the Olympics in that manner.
So to come back and do it again three years later for 2024 is amazing. That's great. Yeah, that's awesome. Yep. So the goal is if somebody wins a silver or bronze not covered in the gold zone?
Is it only gold in the zone? No, it's everybody. Anybody, especially, you know, U.S. we're going to be U.S. focused. You get a medal, we're talking about you. We are talking.
We're talking about you. And then in the 2028 games, believe it or not, we're going to have a form right here in Los Angeles. We're going to have a version of Ninja Warrior in the Olympics.
What do you mean? Yeah, there's going to be aspects of Ninja Warrior going to be a part of the 2028 games. Like as an official sport?
As an official sport. That's like we're getting big time. We are getting big time.
We're there. Is that right? Is it the same people with the show who's going to create the course? No, I think there's going to be a different governing body on top of that.
I don't have all the... Oh, so they haven't paid the right people off, is what you're saying. Right. Is this thing on? Yeah, I will tell you though, it would be cool if Matt and I could call some of those. That would be pretty official.
Let's speak that into existence. How would you not? If it's on NBC, who are they going to get? I don't know. Is it going to be Tariqo and Collinsworth? They better not.
Let them stay in their lane. Who? Dan Hicks. No, he's doing swimming. Tariqo and Collinsworth will probably... Is that the first year of flag football? If it is, then you got to get the Sunday night guys calling Olympic flag football. Yeah, that would be cool. That would be cool.
It was cool to see Phelps up in there. Is it this year? Is it this year? Oh, wait. 28. You're right.
28. There you go. I think you're in. We'll make sure it happens for you.
I could see them trying to get Roddy Gaines kind of come in over the night. He's going to stay in his lane. Stay in the butterfly lane. I see what you did there. See what I did there.
All right. Akbar, Baja, Biamillah, say hi to Matt Iseman for me. You said he's getting married? He's getting married. Yes. Yes, he is getting married.
I am so happy for my boy. Getting married. What's the name of that new... Oh, Put A Ring On It is what it's called. We're renaming it. Put A Ring On It. That's a different type of warrior ring game. Oh, he's going to have to be nimble.
I've been married for 15 years. So this is the first time I think Matt's going to be coming to me asking me for advice. I'm like, oh, trust me. I got you, bro. So season 16, we're already in the middle of it. It's airing Mondays at 8 Eastern on NBC. The next day on Peacock, you can watch that right here on Roku through Peacock.
And then of course, keep an eye out for Matt and Akbar announcing the Paris Olympics for NBC Sports Peacock's Gold Zone streaming live daily from July 27th all the way through to the end on August 10th. Say hi to everybody for me. I will. Thanks for coming on here.
Absolutely. Akbar, Baja, Bia Miller here on The Rich Eisen Show will be back to wrap up the show with your phone calls and more in a moment. It's that time of year, people.
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Just go to linkedin.com slash direct and get started. I mean, the ending has been very talked about, you know, often and controversial, but I always thought it was an appropriate way to end that show. I think anything really concrete would have been out of character for the show because David Chase didn't like to wrap things up in tidy little knots and bows and stuff, you know.
Everything had a very open-ended, ambiguous kind of quality, which I think is more interesting in a way. It was airtime Sunday night when it really aired, and we went into a private room to watch it. None of us had seen it.
Nobody had seen it yet. No, we all watched it together for the first time. Did you not know how it was going to end at all? I had an inkling because I remember David mentioning something about everything going to black like a year before, but I didn't really know what he meant. So we're watching it, and you know, it's getting close to an hour, so you know that it's ending. And then the song came on, and I'm looking at the guys, and it was, you know, it was very emotional because I'm like, this is the end of a lot of things because this is, you know, this is the end of, you know, 10 years. It was really a 10-year span that we collaborated and spent all this time together, and you know, it went beyond just the show and became about our relationship as actors and as friends.
So it was a really big moment, and then it went to black, and we were all, some of us were more shocked than others, but we were all kind of, you know. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Game time tickets. Make sure that you get this on your mobile device immediately and start buying tickets to any event near you, especially if you want to go to a baseball game.
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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Let's go to Mr. and Puerto Rico here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, sir? How you doing, Rich? What's going on in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico. I'm out here representing my Niners. I wanted to do the win-loss game. Okay, very good.
Let's get some music here. Mr. from Puerto Rico wants to talk about the San Francisco 49ers, and we start with the week one Monday night against the New York Jets. What happens? The Jets make the playoffs, but they lose this game.
Thank you very much for that piece of information. At the Minnesota Vikings. JJ goes for 250 plus and a loss. All right. At the Rams. The Lions win with a healthy puka and cup. Oh, really?
Okay. The Niners home for the Patriots. Patriots. Brockman, I'm glad you got to see a parade.
I love them. Been to a lot of them that live coming from the bay, but this is a loss. It's a win for the Niners.
Shots fired from Puerto Rico, sir. Home for the Cardinals. That's a W. At the Seahawks.
A big W. Okay, I wrote a very large W. Five and one. Home for the Chiefs. A very emotional win. Just wish it was at Levi's Stadium. Six and one. Home for the Cowboys.
It is. You are home against the Chiefs, so there you go. Six and one. Home for the Cowboys. Our fans deserve it.
TJ, enjoy this. Y'all are going to get a W. Oh, six and two. Off the bye at Tampa. We're going to take a win. Seven and two. Home for the Seahawks.
That's another victory. Eight and two at the Packers. Jordan Love goes off, but we win. Nine and two at the Bills.
Josh Allen either throws four picks or four TVs, but we still win. Ten and two. Home for the Bears.
Deomindor Lenoir coming out party. W. Eleven and two. Home for the Rams on a Thursday night. Congratulations, McVay. First time sweeping us ever. Congratulations, McVay. First time sweeping us ever.
Whoa. Eleven and three at the Dolphins. We get a long break. We get a win.
Twelve and three. Home for the Lions on a Monday night. Lions are going to be the number two seed, and they're going to get their revenge. We take an L. Wow. Lastly, at the Arizona Cardinals. We're playing for the number one seed. That's the reason why we win the game, and we go 13 and four.
13 and four. Mr. in Puerto Rico. You forgot on your French list, you forgot the stethoscope, you know? I know. Listen, I kept up.
One thing that keeps us alive that helps us out so much. Okay, thanks very much, Mr. You're not wrong. There you go, Mr. in Puerto Rico.
Is he in a very Namath type lilt to his voice? Yeah, right? Yeah, the stethoscope. Rich, you forgot it.
It keeps us alive. But if he's in Puerto Rico, shouldn't his name be Señor, not Mr.? Well done. Okay. No? Maybe? It was spelled with a Y.
It was spelled with a Y, I think. Yeah. At any rate, long story short, 13 and four. Let me tell you this, man. Tell you what, man. I'll tell you what, man.
Let me tell you, man. If the Cowboys beat the Niners. Oh, baby. Super Bowl. Oh, it will be, honestly. No, no, no, no.
It will be on. The fact that if that, that would be viewed by everybody as the Harbinger. Remember the Harbinger that your English teacher taught you about a Harbinger? Which was basically a foreshadowing. You remember what foreshadowing was? Predicting the future. Sign of things to come.
That would say now if they beat the Niners, that's what shows you the Cowboys are for real. We're pulling for you, TJ. Yeah, but as I don't think you really are.
Well, he, I mean, he don't really have any skin in this game. Well, you, we just, I just took some criticism for my power rankings list for best French contributions. Jimmy in San Antonio, I think, has once chime in about your power rankings of Bears. What's up, Jimmy? A lot of Bears. I'm really tired after last night's debacle. I mean, debate. What's on your mind?
Well, I could talk about my Aggie, but I Aggie baseball team in that debacle with their coach. But more importantly, I have a two-part question regarding Brockman's top 10 Bears. The Bearstain Bears.
Yeah. One, are they Jewish? And two, do they like felt a fish or locks and bagels?
I'll answer this question for you. I think it's bearish. It's Bearstain. Yeah.
Not Bearstain. Correct. So I know I'm Mexican.
I tried my best. Yes. What else, Jimmy?
That's why those Mandela effects though. People not sure if it was stain or steam. Okay. TJ, I agree with you. So is it gefilte fish or locks and bagels? I think it's, I think it's neither. Neither. I think it's just whatever. I think they're just foraging for anything. I have had gefilte fish.
That's why I had money. Never. I've never have. Never.
Will it ever, ever. Catfish. I love it. Dude. Well, that's why you're the, that's why you're the Bear Jew of the Rich Eisen Show and I am not.
Y'all have a great weekend. All right, Jimmy. That's why you are and I am not, sir.
Bears like salmon. Dude. One of the things I can't, that's why I didn't try mayonnaise till I was a 20 year old man. Cause it's, I have, I have issues with texture. Texture. Yeah. All right.
And gefilte fish. It's just no way. I don't even know what that means. Dude. It's. What is it? On the Seder. Like just you try it once a year and I just wanted to pretend I liked it.
Eventually I believed it. You have it. But you, but you like it so much you couldn't even describe it.
That's true. A poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish or pike. Yeah. So let's, let's debone fish, put it in some sort of a, the cat of a mix.
And then, and then, and then, and then you put it, it's like a spread, then you put it. Oh, no, dude, no way. It's amazing. No way. Try it, Chris.
No, thank you. That'll wrap it up. We are off next week.
Oh yes. We are in a dark week. So we're not even on the Roku channel with regular shows though. Obviously you can watch our show from the archives on next week on the Roku channel. So you can keep the fires burning there, but we'll be back with a fresh new simulcast program on Monday the 8th. So everybody have a safe 4th of July. Keep all your fingers. Please do that. I think it goes without saying. Every story eventually comes to an end this June here, the final episode of season two of the hit podcast series in the red clay Durham in the red clay tells the unbelievable true story of Billy Sunday, Bert, the most dangerous man in Georgia history in the podcast that people are calling riveting, incredibly moving, captivating, and addicting binge seasons one and two of in the red clay. Now, wherever you listen.
