My instinct right now is awesome. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Yeah, I like Robert Sala's instincts. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
I think the reason why he's leaving any room for changing that is if Roger says to him, my first snaps shouldn't be against Nick Bosa in San Francisco. Today's gasps. Academy Award winner, Matt Damon. Hall of Fame broadcaster, Jim Lampley. NFL Network insider, Tom Pelissero. Actor, John Owen Lowe. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
That's right. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show live on a Wednesday. Final day of July everybody.
How about them apples in 2024. Lots going on over in Paris with the Olympics. Lots going on here back in the United States with the baseball trading deadline. Finally arriving and passing.
And then we also have training camps that are as hot to the touch as possible as the NFL world moves to Canton, Ohio. Coming up on Thursday for the Hall of Fame game. And then there's the jacket ceremony Friday night. Induction ceremony on Saturday.
So on and so forth. 844204 Rich. Number to dial on this program. 20 minutes time. Matt Damon's going to join us. He's got a new film out this Friday in a theater near you.
Selects theater near you as well as on Apple TV, which you can see right here on the Roku portal called The Instigators. That's a fun conversation with him. He's a die-hard Patriot fan as we know. We'll chat with Matt Damon coming up on this show. And then in-studio guest of Palooza once again, Tom Pelissero, who was in this chair a couple weeks ago when I was on Walkabout getting ready for visiting days in Maine. He's across the street back in El Segundo. He's visiting the Chargers today. And once he's done with that, he's going to make his way here.
Can't quit us. That'll be after we say hello and goodbye to one of the best boxing announcers, Hall of Fame broadcaster. Jim Lampley will be here in-studio.
We'll go down memory lane with him. Would it be odd, Chris Brockman, Mike Del Tufo, T.J. Jefferson, if I conduct the entire interview with Jim Lampley as Howard Litterman, the guy who used to score things? Okay, Jim. Okay, Jim. Let me tell you what.
The entire interview. How you doing, Jim? Wouldn't that be weird? Okay, Jim. Let's talk about Mike Thompson. I don't find it weird.
I would literally, every boxing match I watch with my friends, I would do it. Okay, Jim. Wouldn't that be- I scored it. I scored our answer. 10-9, Jim. What else you got?
That would be strange. Arturo Gotti, he's never seen anything like Mickey Board right now, Jim. I got him about 10 rounds to three. I'm into it. Please, let's do it. The entire interview is Howard Litterman.
Please. I did my entire first Nick highlight as a SportsCenter anchor, soup to nuts, beginning to end entirely in Marv Albert's voice. All 60-plus seconds of it, and then the next moment on SportsCenter was an on-camera for Larry Beal, my first SportsCenter, and Larry would look at the camera and go, okay, like that, that's what Larry said. And then Keith gave you dirty looks in the newsroom? No, no, no, no. I never got dirty looks from KO.
I got tough love from him, but I never got dirty looks. That would be the equivalent of me doing an entire interview with Jim Lampley. Okay. Okay, Jim. Okay, Rich.
And then a couple of weeks ago, we had Rob Lowe on the program in support of Unstable, which is available on Netflix right now through the Roku portal, and he's in that show with his son, and John Owen Lowe will be here in studio an hour, number three. What's it like to grow up low? I don't know. Probably different than growing up eyes and, you know. Growing up Del Tufa. Growing up Del Tufa. Probably.
No, way different. So that's what we've got on this program. And then there's you, 844-204, Rich, is the number to dial on the show. We'll get your phone calls in as well. So listen, here's how we're starting.
Just in case everybody's wondering, the headline stack in my old former business, we check it every day. We get to see what other people are talking about, to crowd source to see what we should be talking about. The top story item right now on the new stack there is how the NFL might utilize new technology to spot the football during preseason games, no longer with a chain game. It gives you an idea on that one, right? Okay.
Okay. So we're waiting for football to be played. Yeah, right. And in the meantime, but in the meantime, while we're waiting football to be played in 2024, preseason, exhibition, whatever you want to call it, or not, we're still looking back. We're still searching for answers on the top stories of the National Football League ever since Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs dispatched with the 49ers in overtime in Las Vegas, Nevada on that February Sunday.
We're still waiting. And one of the top stories that we've been searching for answers on, and we want answers, we demand answers, we want the truth, we can't handle the truth, so on and so forth. One of the biggest stories was the Atlanta Falcons drafting Michael Penix, eighth overall in a draft, despite signing the biggest fish in free agency, Kirk Cousins, to a monumental contract that doesn't look so monumental now that Jordan Love and to Otunga Vailoa and Trevor Lawrence and Jared Goff have gotten their contracts, but at the time in free agency, this was a big move, because not only was it the end of the Vikings' tenure of having Kirk Cousins there, but it now was the end of the Falcons' tenure of searching for somebody to play that position expertly with a neck-up veteran presence and calming the waters of a franchise that had been looking for the next Matt Ryan since Matt Ryan had left, which is what the Falcons keep telling you why they drafted Michael Penix, Jr. And that's why it didn't make sense to me and a lot of others at the draft. Well, we had yet to hear from the top of the flowchart, Arthur Blank, who had a press conference after we went off the air yesterday in Atlanta, a lot of membership, those who own franchises, speak with the media when it's time for training camps to open up and start flowing. He had this to say about the decision that left everybody head-scratching, and it is still obviously a very important conversation to be had, and we'll explain why in a moment.
Thank heavens we don't always listen to the league, and we thank heavens we don't always listen to the media, and thank heavens we don't always do what everybody else thinks we should be doing. We're actually very independent thinkers, and the decision about Penix in this case at number 8, I'll go back a little bit and say that we had made it clear to Kirk and others that we probably were going to draft a quarterback during this draft. As it turned out, Michael Penix, for our coaching staff and our personnel department, graded extraordinarily high. They viewed him as a tremendous player, and that we've been through a situation post-Matt Ryan when we were seeing that movie when we didn't have a franchise quarterback, and we didn't want to repeat that again.
I mean, I certainly didn't, and I'm super sensitive to all forms of succession planning after 60-yard years of business. In any business, that's critical, and at the key position, the quarterback position in the NFL, that's very important. So just listening to our coaching staff and our personnel department, they really made a decision. Michael was going to be available at number 8. They saw an extraordinary talent. Kirk Cousins is our franchise quarterback, is our starting quarterback, and he seems to be doing great from a medical standpoint.
His attitude, his leadership, culturally, personally with our players, the coaching staff has been nothing short of outstanding. So we couldn't be happier with that situation. But I know age does kind of creep up.
I can speak to myself personally on that a little bit. I know what that means, and Kirk will be 36 at the start of the season. So we hope and pray he's got three to four great years in front of him, maybe beyond that.
Who knows? But we also know that at some point there will be a point that we'll need a transition, and we want to make sure we do that smoothly. I mean, that's why I want to play that entire soundbite, because there's no way to cut it up, and that was as carefully thought out and laid out position that we've heard certainly from the guy who's bucks stop right there in Atlanta on the subject matter. And it still stands to reason why it makes no sense, because if you put up their schedule, how Michael Penix Jr.'s presence on this team eighth overall will help matters when Kirk Cousins goes out on the field to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. In one of the more highly anticipated games that nobody's really talking about for week one, because of all the other marquee games, how will it help on the Monday night at Philadelphia, where Kirk Cousins, as we all know, has had bad nights on Monday nights early on in seasons? Vikings fans will tell you that, and then so on and so forth, certainly when the first Sunday night game that they play is week three, Home for the Chiefs, which will be a wild affair, one would think, with the Chiefs. That's their first road game of the year, coming off of home dates with the Ravens and the Bengals. Who knows what their record's going to be going into that game?
So on and so forth and so on and so forth. And it is a testament to Arthur Blank's planning to say, yeah, instead of getting us a stud pass rusher, potentially, or Rome Adunze was sitting out there to potentially give Kirk Cousins a dynamite young new target to go along with Drake London and Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson, and that would be quite something to send into those first three games and everything else for Kirk Cousins to make him succeed as your franchise quarterback. That's just a for instance, but instead they chose to take the long road. And that will be part of the season long storyline arc for the Atlanta Falcons.
And unfortunately, I don't think they care very much, as you heard Arthur Blank talk about independent thinkers. And I am definitely part of the members of the media who were head scratching critical from jump when I heard the name on live NFL Network television that night, the next night, the night after that, appearing on this show the Friday after hearing that name into a microphone in Detroit. And to this present day, wondering what's up with that, because Cousins has no capital in Atlanta. And if he struggles in this first three, four games, it will be incumbent upon Raheem Morris to hold all the fans at the verbal gate there who might be like, what's up with Kirk Cousins in the same way that other quarterbacks who have been at the controls of the franchise when they struggle have a certain sense already built up with the fan base to not have them call for the backup right away in other places.
And that will be part of the season long storyline arc. And unfortunately, if they do consider unfortunate in Atlanta, we in the media can fill the blank of who they could have taken you know, with a whole host of names at any time we choose to fill it with that. Certainly, if they need if they needed a better pass rush in the game that they lose. Well, Dallas Turner would work there if they needed more offense. Well, Roma Dunezay would work there.
Could have had Brock Bowers there in Atlanta. You know what I'm saying? So we could we could fill that blanket. Oh, yeah.
Not to use the word blank with Arthur, but you know what I'm saying? We could we could we could go ahead and and and do that. And that might be low hanging fruit. They would push back. And I guess here is the pushback ripped straight from the headlines.
The name Jordan Love. Because we were seeing the same thing about the Packers. Why would they do that to Aaron Rodgers?
Why would they antagonize their guy? Now, it's different for us to say that. Apples to apples, because as I mentioned, again, Kirk Cousins is right there and had Aaron any time during the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay. If he had a bad game, they would be like, that's Aaron Rodgers.
OK. We're going to name a street after him around here anyway. At some point, that won't be the case for Kirk Cousins in Atlanta if he struggles. My point there.
But their point is look at Jordan Love. He got drafted. He sat around. Rodgers gave the Packers two MVP seasons and then a third season.
And how do you like them now? They're set up. Their succession plan is set up.
I like it. And that's what the Falcons were saying. And that's what Arthur Blank is saying right now. They're set up. Look at the Packers right now. They are set up and they have paid their kid and he is set up. And the difference there is.
That. Michael Pennick's junior right now is 24. Jordan Love after waiting those three seasons, then playing a fourth to prove that he is worth the 200 plus million dollar contract that they are bestowing upon him and thus are now set up. Jordan Love is 25 right now. So if Pennick's does go through the Jordan Love program and the Falcons go through the Aaron Rodgers program of getting MVP type seasons, if not hopefully for them and Cousins, an actual MVP type MVP seasons back to back.
And then Cousins plays a third. And hopefully for Atlanta, they get better results trophy wise than what the Packers did while they were waiting for Rodgers to finish things up. Pennick's will be 28, 29 years old. That's a different story than what's going on in Green Bay right now. But it's a fascinating talk still, I think.
I really think it is. And maybe just maybe Pennick's gets in there. He's we was talking we were talking about him being the most pro ready quarterback right there with Jayden Daniels. Coming out of this year's draft class. Maybe just maybe if Cousins does get hurt, you don't go to Taylor Heineke.
You go to the kid. You know, and then all of a sudden there's youthful energy in the city of Atlanta and Georgia, ripping something else straight from headlines outside of the world of sports over the last 24 hours. Maybe you're getting everybody hyped up there and then you got a true first class problem to have. And the succession starts sooner. And that'll be late at the feet of Raheem Mars. Certainly for a team in Atlanta, they are talented.
They are deep. Both sides of the football, young and veteran. Right. They are they are they are situated with a with a dynamic young coach that a lot of people wanted. And a lot of players swear by who have played. On the side of the football or in the same locker room as Raheem Mars.
So. Atlanta Falcons set up or not, or they're set up long term and short term, man, I can't wait to see how it plays out. Eight, four, four, two or four. Rich is the number to dial phone calls still to come. But when we come back, Matt Damon, did he watch the Brady roast? What's Gronk doing in his new movie, so to speak? So one of our favorites, Matt Damon.
Next, this is the Rich Eisen Show. Sleep Number does that. You want to sleep cooler while they like to feel warm. Sleep Number does that, too.
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That's I B O TTA in the Google Play or App Store and use my code ISEN. Hey, guys, look what I'm doing. What am I doing? What am I doing? You're a blackjack dealer. No, no, no.
No, that would be this. What am I doing? Spirit fingers. I don't know, man. I'm drawing your hands. Hands? Hands across America. No, no, no. Jazz hands. Oh, God.
Oh, jeez. Guys, guys, two good games. Good job, Rich.
That's so stupid. Four home runs in two days. See ya! Jazz Chism Junior. By the way, playing a hot corner, too.
Wearing A-Rod's number, by the way. Fine with that. Whatever. That's fine.
Does he have four home runs the rest of the season? Yeah. Oh, come on. Don't be that guy. Don't be that guy. He has pop.
He's always had pop. Why would I cheer for this person? I'm not saying you should cheer for him. It's being realistic. Yeah, being realistic. Are you really giving this to me right now?
What do you mean? Are you with him on that? No. You won't hit more than four home runs from here to the rest of the season.
No, and that's what I'm saying. Even though you don't like it, you've got to be realistic. Will you take that? Will you really do that?
Can we see what he does tonight? Yeah, yeah. Today, by the way, first pitch is during our program.
I kind of think that. Okay, I'll take it. He's the first Yankee player to do it ever. Well, he's the only other guy to hit three home runs in his first three or four home runs in his first three games with a team was Trevor Story in 2016.
Anywhere for any other team. So what he's doing is rare for anybody to do. Right. Play a slick third base, too. By the way, as someone who knows firsthand, Story's been awesome since then.
So this guy, you know what I mean? Well, he's been he's been unlucky. Very unlucky. He was terrific for the Red Sox until he got hurt both times.
Right now. And he got hurt this year. I know. I know that.
So I'm lucky. See, I can give you what you're looking for. I'm not giving it back 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 one of our favorites here on the Rich Eisen Show. Back on it and back in a theater near you select theaters on Friday. And the film will also be seen on Apple TV coming up on August 9th, The Instigators. And it's from the production company here. Ben Affleck have put together. The last one was air.
This one is called The Instigators. And Matt Damon back here on the Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, Matt? Great. How are you doing, Rich?
Good to see you, brother. How's it going? It's good. It's really good. Yeah, we got this new movie. It's a lot of fun. That's kind of what we set out to do. And the timing seems right with all the craziness in the world.
We're just putting out a piece of fun that hopefully will make a lot of people laugh. Yeah, you and Casey Affleck. And I don't know if that was part of it, but there and also an outstanding cast that frequently just shows up out of nowhere. There's an Ocean's vibe to this movie. Matt, I'll be honest with you, is what were you going for that sort of thing here?
Well, it's like it's like Ocean's like neither Casey nor my character would ever make it into the Ocean's crew. And that's kind of the fun of the movie. It's like trying to pull off a heist.
So they're kind of knuckleheads. And my character is doing it out of desperation. He's trying to settle a debt. He's never committed a crime. He doesn't know what he's doing. And Casey's like a career criminal, kind of petty criminal who just who's just really ultimately just wants to have a friend.
And so they're kind of the last guys you'd want to try to pull off a heist. And it goes about as well as you would think. Yes. And the conversation frequently in the middle of all the madness and the craziness does vibe like like that, too, where you just want he just wants a friend.
He just wants to chit chat and you're in you kind of don't know what to say or what to do because you're not frequently your character in these positions. It's fun. It really is.
Matt, you know. Thanks. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, that's what we were going for. And we have a third kind of lead character who's my therapist who ends up coming along just in an attempt to try to save our lives or so we don't do anything stupid or even more stupid. And that's Hong Chow, who's amazing. But then Casey's character obviously is really excited about this idea of the therapy because he's basically just realizes that all he's ever wanted was a therapist, was somebody that he can talk to. And so is there a lot of fun with the dynamic between Casey and Hong's characters that that that photograph, the first one that we just popped up there, he's wearing a Dartmouth sweatshirt. That one made me laugh out loud when his character put on a Dartmouth sweatshirt. Matt.
Yeah, he's he gets shot. And so she she gives them her sweatshirt because her character went to Dartmouth. So it's pretty incongruous that Casey's character is running around with this Dartmouth sweatshirt for the whole movie. So how did these ideas come to you guys? I know Casey co-wrote this. But how do you how do you decide what you want to do? You and Ben and Casey and all together. How does that happen?
Yeah, good question. It's just really about I mean, we're always looking for ways to work together. We love each other. We grew up together. We have a lot of fun together. But in this case, Casey wrote this script with Chuck McClain, who's another Boston guy, and he's actually sent it. He gave up on sending it to me and he sent it to my wife, who read it. And and Lucy then said, this is great.
You guys should do this. And so so we I you know, I read it. I loved it. I love the characters. I love the whole the whole vibe of the movie.
It seemed like a lot of fun. And and and so we contacted Doug Liman, who directed The Bourne Identity. I worked with him 20 something years ago, but all of his movies like Swingers and Go and Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Edge of Tomorrow, they're all really great and all have this really wonderful tone. And this movie has kind of a very unique tone.
It's a big comedy, like an action comedy. And and so he was our first choice. And and he signed up. And then, as you alluded to, we got this incredible cast and that's really down to Doug. I mean, everybody wants to work with them. So all of these incredible actors showed up for like one or two scenes and just elevated everything. And and it's a fun ride, ultimately.
That's what we're going. Yeah, man, I'll be honest, but every single time the cast members you're referring to and I'll just throw some names out here. Michael Stolberg, Alfred Molina, Ving Rhames, just to name three every single time they when they showed up on the screen. I I burst out into a smile. You know what I mean? Like I'm I'm psyched, like, OK, it's great to see this guy. Have you ever worked with Ving Rhames before, Matt?
Yes. In fact, I worked with Ving. The first kind of lead role I got in 1990 in the cable TV movie Ving was in that movie. And that was the first time I met him and hung out with him in Atlanta in like 1990. So 34 years ago, I've been a massive fan of his. He's so great. You know, I mean, he's he's that he's like that full package. You know, he's Juilliard trained and all of that. You know, I mean, he's a classically trained actor, but he's just he's just great. And and he makes everything better that he's in. And that's how we felt about all these people who showed up.
Soobard, Molina and Ving. It's like it really was kind of an embarrassment of riches for us. And and if you felt that smile, like when they came on screen, like imagine, you know, when they showed up for work, we you know, we were just beaming because we just knew the movie was going to going to it was going to make the movie. It was going to elevate the whole thing.
It was going to make it a lot more fun. Well, and again, I know Matt Damon, this is going to be a surprise to some. And I don't know.
Obviously, I'll be spoiling it, but I'm not going to say when he shows up in the movie. But you want to talk about elevating a cast and an actor. Rob Gronkowski feels that.
Yes. So he elevates everything, I would say. And and so I ask you, where did the casting of Gronk in The Instigators come from that? Well, we just we just had the idea and he shows up for a moment.
He's Ron Ron Pearlman plays a corrupt Boston mayor who's going for reelection. And so Gronk is one of his boosters on election night firing up the crowd. And and and we just had the idea. You know, we were there. We just took a shot. We were like, Gronk, are you around?
Do you want to come do this? And he was generous enough to come do it. I heard subsequently he was upset with the size of his role. And we were like, dude, you only ever had one line. How do you think it was going to get bigger?
You were only there for one night. But but I think he's he's an impact player. You know, he's used to having a massive impact. And he did. He is an impact player.
He's a five tool guy who usually only uses one tool. You know what I mean? And he he was he was fun to just see pop up. I literally had to pause it. And again, if people see it in theaters this Friday, they won't have the benefit.
I did have to pause it and rack it back. I'm like, that was Gronk, was it not? We put him in the trailer. He's in the trailer of the movie.
If you if you go watch the trailer online, you can see it. Fantastic. Did you see the Brady roast, Matt? Did you see that? I did.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw it. In fact, I did an opening voiceover for him. I couldn't go to the roast because I had a conflict. But I did a I did the voiceover at the beginning just because I wanted to be a part of it. Well, you know, it's funny, I was the one who kind of with the mic to start the whole thing off, Michael Buffer style.
So I did not hear the voiceover at the start, but I certainly heard every last damn syllable after that live. And what what did you think is your what is what does Matt Damon think watching the Brady roast sitting at home on Netflix there, Matt? I don't the roasting culture. You know, it's as fun as it is to watch. I never understand why people do it.
You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to hear my you know, a bunch of my friends get up and like rip me apart in public, you know. But it was it was a lot of fun.
Kevin was unbelievable, as always. And all the comedians I thought were great. But it's you know, it's it's kind of a blue room. You know, you it touches on stuff that you're like, oof, you know, it kind of it can get a little cringy.
But but I had a lot of fun with it. But it's also like those like what do you think you put those guys together and give them free tequila? Well, that moment right there, that moment right there, a lot of people thought Belichick didn't want to drink with Kraft because of, you know, the fact that they've split ways professionally a few months ago. But I was told that look on Belichick's face was because he's a wine drinker and he had just done a shot of tequila with Gronk five minutes before. He's like, really?
Like, I can't I don't want another shot of tequila. Like that was that moment right there. That's great.
That's great. It's always, you know, we all think in terms of conspiracies and deeper meanings. And sometimes it's just the guy didn't want another shot. That's Belichick just like, I don't want another shot of tequila. That's really what it was. But but as a Patriot fan and as a guy sitting, you know, you were just talking about, you know, the personal stuff and how that's kind of wild to hear that the football stuff, like the stuff that Bledsoe was saying and the stuff that, you know, Edelman was saying and Gronk was saying about Belichick, who's sitting right there.
I kind of felt like I was in a Patriots therapy session, Matt. Right. Right. Yeah.
I mean, look, I think it's complicated. I think I think Belichick I mean, he's a historically incredible coach and and any time you see those guys who who win like that, it is always I mean, you think about Michael Jordan or Tommy. Like there is a there is a part of their character that is probably technically antisocial, ultimately, like in the wider general population. But it works really well in like highly competitive environments. And so I think it's just hard to you know, it's taxing to play for somebody like that. But if you all those players always talk about like their love for him and their and their gratitude for having been in his system and as hard as it was. You know, I mean, Tom said that so many times about, you know, this is something that we did together. And and it was it required buy in from every single person in the organization. And that's and when you see that, that's you know, that's really the pinnacle of professional sports, I would think.
Yeah. And if you saw the Brady retirement ceremony in Gillette a few weeks later, I kind of think like the roast cleared the air in advance of that and made it a much more joyous, less awkward, less intense, more celebratory affair. It's kind of crazy how that worked. But that's the way it looked like to me. It's funny you say it's like a therapy session because ultimately I think that's the purpose it served.
Right. It's like it did it kind of it kind of cleansed the palette. And these guys actually got to go and look back on what they did and celebrate what they did together and celebrate Tom. And yeah, it was it was awesome. If you're a if you're a Patriots fan, I think he's going to be great as a broadcaster to Matt.
What do you think the TV is going to do? I mean, I just think of, you know, Romo the year that he came right off of the field and into the booth. And just their their knowledge is so I remember a call Romo made where he just goes, it was the end of the Patriots game and we were winning by three scores. And and the other team was driving and they scored. And Romo started laughing and he just goes, oh, that's so gross.
And I'm like, what's he going to say? And he goes, Belichick is messing with the analytics. He's never in that package on the goal line.
He just put that package in because it's a meaningless score and he wants to screw up the other guy's analytics when they're looking at what packages they use in goal line situations. And like that level of, you know, kind of understanding of the game and the ways that, you know, that the moves people are putting on each other. That's, you know, and Tom understands every every single defense. I mean, he's just played against everything for decades.
And so I can't wait to hear him. I mean, I think he's going to be just great. Yeah, I'm with you, especially since to like how many broadcasters will be able to speak from the the personal knowledge of being a late draft choice and overlooked draft choice. Somebody who had to wait till the starter was injured to start made the most of his opportunity. Got instant fame, won multiple Super Bowls, then went 10 years without winning one, then did it again, you know, then blew out his knee in between.
I could go on and then switched teams, then won again, then played deep into their 40s. Like he could sit there and pretty much break down any situation there is. You know what I mean? Yeah.
What it's like to be a free agent? I mean, all of that. That's right.
From a first person perspective. And he can he knows what all of those things feel like. And he's just I think for anybody who knows him, I mean, you know him off the field.
He is the nicest guy. And that's what, you know, people have been rooting against him. You know, the majority of people who are going to be watching him were rooting against him for years.
They're going to see that, too. And it's impossible not to love that guy once you once you spend a little time with him. He's just a great person, but he's so knowledgeable that I think I can't wait to I'm going to watch whatever games he's broadcasting because because it's going to be fun. Few minutes left with Matt Damon, The Instigators, premiering globally on Apple TV August 9th. You could see it in select theaters.
This very Friday fun movie with him and Casey Affleck and a great cast right here on The Rich Eisen Show. Did you take some cuts in Fenway Park? Oh, God, it was so brutal. Yeah, I hadn't swung a bat in 20 years.
And what happened? Where was it this night against the when the Yankees were in town? Yeah, they let they let Casey and I go in and take a couple cuts. I got like 10 swings, but I look I couldn't see the ball. I was I was I couldn't believe how bad my eyesight was. It was like I was I couldn't pick it up. And I got I never really got the barrel. I got one to the warning track, but I didn't really hit it.
The last time I was there and did that was when I was in my thirties and I put a couple off the wall. But man, I was just I was it was sad. I got to go I got to get back to the cages. Did I did I see what was Cora? Was that Alex Cora kind of rail birding you there?
Is that what? Yeah, yeah. Cora was there and we were hanging out watching the team take BP and we were talking to Alex and and some of the guys and and then they just say, hey, jump in and get in and take a few cuts. But sadly, Casey got a hold of one. He took one to kind of deep left center. But but no, it was we were we were hanging our heads after that.
Oh, my gosh. So you didn't go in the cage in advance. You just went cold and just with no no glasses. No, no contacts.
No, nothing. You just know that's why I wish I had brought my glasses to watch the game because we were going to be up in a box. Right.
And they were up in the box. And I was like, oh, man. But but what was I mean, it's like I got to take the shot. I have a you know, I got a chance to take a couple cuts.
So yeah, okay. I had a couple I had a couple solid base hits back up the middle. Oh, you went with the pitch, man. Is that what you're saying?
I said just drive it right back towards the mountains to work. So before I let you go, I'm sure again, you you and Ben must get scripts, ideas. Did anybody come to you with sequel ideas at all?
Anybody come to you? Hey, you should do this with the characters. Good will hunting anything like that.
People constantly knocking on your door saying you should do that. Actually, well, Ben just did the accountant, too. And we did that through our company with Warner Brothers through our company. And and the one that we've been talking about for years and we're trying to and I just saw Edward Norton a few weeks ago, like all of us want to do it is is a second rounders movie, because so much has happened in that poker world in the last 25 years.
It would be fun to catch those guys. But it's there's a whole you know, you got to figure out who the chain of title and who owns it. And, you know, and everybody's got their hand in the pot. And so we got to figure out a way to make a deal that makes sense for everybody, particularly the people who are going to make the movie, because that's an artist's equity. That's what that's who we care about are the cast and crew.
And so we're trying to figure that out, because I think we'd all like to do that. So you have a general sense of what it would be about or look like once you can clear the the business deck here. Well, it's funny, you know, we talked about it, I want to say 10 or 15 years ago, and Brian and David, you know, wrote the routers and then went on to do billions and, you know, very successful guys. They had a whole movie ready to go then. But now there's been a whole nother kind of change in the poker world since then. So I haven't talked to them about what it would be, but I know they they come I mean, what they had 10 years ago, I thought was fantastic.
And I'm sure they've, you know, that they can augment and kind of roll with the times and update it to to where we are today and make something great. Yeah, you know, we have many drops that we do on this program, Matt, to use a radio term, because we're being simulcast on the radio, that whenever there's an argument over whether somebody is worth the money or not, we use this drop. That's me and his money. That's it right there. We use it all the time, man. That's great. So we're ready.
You know, we're ready. And I'm not the only one, man, where I think a lot of people would love to see a rounders to. Yeah, I think because I think that's one of those movies that, you know, it came out and didn't do well when it came out, it kind of bombed and then it got it got discovered by people later. So when that happens, you know, people feel a sense of ownership like that's a that's my movie. You know, like I was a champion of that movie even when no one else was.
And so it's got it feels like there's a lot of goodwill behind it. But we got to figure out if we can make it happen, brother. And in the meantime, again, I know your character in the instigators is as far from Jason Bourne as possibly can be. But you in the chair of a car and Doug Liman at the controls of a director's seat. And there's a bona fide real deal big time car chase in the instigators. That's as close as we'll get to, I guess, a Bourne sequel at this point in time. Yeah, the fun for for Doug and me was that was that Bourne, you know, always knows where he's going. He's always got a plan.
He's hyper aggressive. And, you know, the character I play in this movie has never been in a car chase and doesn't know what he's doing at all. So it was a new it was a new way to shoot a car chase for us. But but it's got all those bells and whistles and crashes and all that fun stuff.
But it's it's a novice behind the wheel. Did you did you clear the decks, though? Did did you clear the actual roadways? Like because that looks like you're using the actual real roadways in Boston for this, Matt?
Yeah, I couldn't believe the access they gave us was amazing like that. We go down Storoe Drive and we take them over the footbridge onto the esplanade like to anybody who's ever been to Boston, you know, cars aren't allowed to go there. And so they were great letting us letting us do that, you know, and and so we did have to shut down some roads briefly, but we had this awesome second unit team and amazing stunt drivers. And, you know, it went off without a hitch. I don't know if it's a New Yorker in me, Matt, saying this, but I've seen people drive that way and Storoe Drive regularly, sir. You know, I've seen that sort of behavior. Come on.
You know, we're kind of known for that. Hey, Matt, a great catching up with you. Always love chit chat with you. You know, if you're ever in L.A., obviously, this chair is here and I love seeing you and I love seeing what you what you want to put on the screen. Air again was outstanding.
The instigators is a lot of fun. And congrats on that. Awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it.
We'll be right back at you, brother. Matt Damon, the instigators on Apple TV Plus on August 9th. However, check it out in the theater this Friday. It's a lot of fun with Casey Affleck right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Yep. Fun stuff with Matt Damon.
Rounders, too. Count me in, dude. Please. If there's a poker movie, God, please let this happen. As he said, as he said it, it bombed when it came out is what he said. Yeah. It was only in theaters for a couple of weeks and then it hit big on cable and cable VHS. And then also ESPN started showing poker on TV. Right.
And then it got super popular. You know, where are these guys now? You know, or just like what have they been going through the last because I don't know. Could you just pick up a script that was there 15 years ago and use it now? Because. Probably not. You know, these guys are older. Well, I hope they figure it out.
And like Matt has said, just the poker world is different now than it was 15 years ago. Right, right, right. All right. Well, we'll come back. Eight, four, four, two or four rich number to dial.
And speaking of Belichick, there's news involving him. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Buyers into buyers with the Internet's best converting checkout. Thirty six percent better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms and sell more with less effort. Thanks to Shopify Magic, your A.I.
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He wanted to change the culture and he wanted me to be a part of that. With Believe, you get immediate reactions, game previews and expert analysis from all 32 teams, plus all of your favorite college teams. He's just rare in just about everything he does. Sideline to sideline, end zone to end zone. This was good for everybody. Just search Believe.
That's BLEAV podcast wherever you listen. You played in the World Series of Poker with Matt Damon to prep for the role of Worm and Rounders. We played in the World Series, Matt and I, not to prep after the shoot. We were done with the film. No kidding.
It was part of the run up promoting the film. We both played along well. And the coaching we'd gotten from Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth and a lot of these other guys stood us in good stead. And I got some good cards and won a few hands and everything. We both had very dramatic exits. I actually played a Johnny Chan tip. I played pocket nines when I was on the button and ended up with kind of I bet it as though it was an ace king or something like that. I got a middle flop.
I got a nine and a 10 and then I got a second 10. So I had I had a pretty much unreadable full house. And I got beat by four tens.
Get out of here by a guy named Surinder Singh. He quadded tens against tens against an unreadable full house. And when I called and I had more tips than him when I flipped the boat, the whole table exploded.
They were like, he's going to take Surinder Singh out of the tournament. And he flipped quad tens. Unbelievable.
Yep. It was it was incredible. I was going to say, do you remember the hand? I remember every day.
How could you not remember the details of it, too? But but he said to me later, he goes, he goes on ninety nine out of one hundred times. He goes, you know, he could say I had no idea that you had that hand. I'm blown away.
That makes it worse though, doesn't it? As we're talking about it, we're talking about it. And I'm having the Saving Private Ryan moment where everything goes silent again. And, you know, I was trying to play it off, but I just got shot when they talk about being gut shot. I was gut shot.
That is the definition. Well, you got to get rounders, too. It's just that simple. Game time tickets. Get the app on a mobile device near you and start buying tickets to anything in your area.
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Lowest price guaranteed. If you had told me on the Christmas weekend, just walking out of the broadcast meeting with Bill Belichick and Kurt Warner and the rest of the NFL Network crew that was there in Denver, Colorado in advance of the Patriots versus Broncos on NFL Network, I believe it was Christmas night, or Christmas Eve night, pardon me, because we were showing updates of Santa flying across the United States during the ballgame. If you had told me as we were leaving that room that this would be Bill Belichick's final victory as a head coach in the NFL, I would have been like, okay, I kind of believe that. We're sensing that he's not going to be with the Patriots anymore. But if you had told me that he wasn't going to be coaching the next year, I'd have been like, well, that's kind of a surprise.
No one would want Bill Belichick. If you had told me he'd be in the media, I'd be like, that I believe, because he's outstanding at it, at a front row seat. If you had told me he would be spending the next season, in part, in the media, doing a show for a fantasy site as well as the CW, I'd have been like, you're out of your minds. But Bill's on the CW inside the NFL. He's going to be doing stuff with the Manning cast, right?
Manning cast, yeah. And now, what is he doing, Christopher? What's Bill going to be doing next year? Bill is signed on. Underdog Fantasy is going to be doing stuff with Bill on a YouTube channel every week, breaking down every team, breaking down every game, simply called Coach. He's going to be great at it.
It's going to be awesome. And kudos to this organization for ponying up. I'm sure it's a pretty penny.
It's worth it in gold. Yeah. You know? It's a daily fantasy site, I guess. I've never used it.
Don't know much about it. Now you do. But now Bill also has a Twitter handle, at Bill Bellacheck. What? At Bill Bellacheck UD.
I tried to tell you guys this was coming. I had the inside scoop. He's got a Twitter account. Bill's on Twitter. Three words I didn't think we'd use.
At Bill Bellacheck UD. And here's four words. Underdog. Underdog, yeah. Here's four words I never thought I'd put together.
Bill Bellacheck, YouTube influencer. Coming, man. Right? It is coming. Is he going to start making Instagram reels on how to cut up your hoodie? Is that what's coming?
I don't know. What's next? You know the end is there when he has a TikTok. He's all in. He's all in at that point. He's all in. You know he's going to be on Snapface.
We've proven Bill is pulling the hoodie over our eyes all those years. By the way, I went ahead and followed Coach with Bill Bellacheck from the show account. There we go. Well done.
Words I never thought I would say. Are you going to slide into Bill's DMs? I mean, should we? Ask him for a follow back? Follow back?
Follow back. He's in charge. Yeah.
Oh yeah, he's definitely right. I'm sure he's in charge of his social media. He's right now going through his DMs. He's out fishing a little TikTok on a boat.
Oh, he's got. Yeah, now he's going to be like, I'm moving on to Twitch. That's the new one.
That's the new phrase. He's going to game on Twitch? Look, let's be honest. His lady friend is like the devil. It gives him some time to play on social media, right?
He's an Instagram boyfriend already, so why not go on the way? Let's go. Come on, Coach. Guys, this is happening. We're going to get that follow back. Watch. This is happening. There it is. Look at that. Oh, who is he following?
He is following. Gronk. Please tell me it's Gronk. Underdog Fantasy.
Yeah, OK, Underdog. Yeah, so he's in charge. And he's following us, which is coming, I'm sure. He's got the blue check mark already.
Please tell me it's Gronk. Look at that. Look at this.
By the way, it says join January 24th. Yeah, but they hide the account. Which is kind of interesting.
They're going to hang it out. They probably just renamed it. Yeah. Or Bill did. Yeah. Bill's on it. Jim Lently coming up. They probably just had an account and renamed it.
Oh, baby. YouTube influencer Bill Belichick. Who would have thought? Go figure that. But good for him. So he's on. He'll be on cable. Yep. He'll be on broadcast.
Yep. He'll be on digital. Bill can't be contained, man. And and he'll be great in every single one of them. He used to do this locally on the Patriots. His coaches clicker segment with Zolack was incredible, which is why the NFL 100 had a coaches clicker segment in it for all of the, you know, leather helmet era guys that are on the NFL 100 all time team list. He would be the one going through their video and explaining, you know, 50s, 60s guys who they were and why they were good. And the only one that made his coaches clicker segment from the like modern days was Ed Reed because he wanted to break down Ed Reed's film with Ed there because he adores Ed Reed.
Oh, he wanted to coach Ed so bad. I know. I know. He's going to be great at it. And you know, you know, who's going to love it?
Those tick tock kids. They're going to love it. They're going to eat it up. Everybody's going to love. They're going to eat it up. It's going to be amazing. Belichick, the stallion.
Oh, right. Kids are going to love him, Cardi B, Cardi B squared. Someone from, uh, you know, underdog's got to give him those references, but Jim Lampley coming up in studio.
Okay, Jim. Welcome to talk about the ultimate smallville rewatch podcast for season four. I'm glad that it's over. Um, as, as we know now that season five is supposed to be one of our better seasons, obviously the tattoo storyline, you know, how I feel about that. You hating that storyline probably a lot of joy because I kept waiting to see how it was going to keep going and then how they would somehow settle it in seasons one through four of talk bill before season five begins, wherever you listen.
