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NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Network insider Tom Pelissero. Coming up, ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes.
Plus, your phone calls, latest news and more. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Andrew Siciliano. Hey there. Hi there. Hi there.
That isn't an impression. It's just something that I say. Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. I hope you're having a great day. What is today? Today is Wednesday, right? I honestly, with the Olympics, lost track of days.
Because with the Olympics, it's not this is Tuesday. No, this is day four. This is day five. This is day six.
When you walk into the NBC facility, there is, well, maybe around the corner, a giant life-size cutout of Snoop. And somebody every day would change it and put a piece of paper in his hands, day eight, day nine. So everybody knew what day it was, and there were legitimate days were on the air.
Like, what's the date? Is it Wednesday? I think it is, because it's Groundhog Day, and you're in a hotel and building and an amazing time.
But like this week also, I've been traveling around a lot. Love being here. Grateful for being here. Thank you, Rich. Thank you, guys. Thank you, everybody.
Thanks for coming, Rich. At the same time, I did kind of wake up this morning not knowing what day it is. Yeah, and I got to go to New York tonight. But it's all fun. Fun and games.
Love it. I'm going to New York on Friday. It's all good. I'll be back here. I'll be back here on Friday.
Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. There is NFL News. Meena Khan is coming onto the show in about 15 minutes. She will be here.
That'll be fantastic. NFL News most notably here. Still no Brandon Aiyuk trade.
Has not happened. Tom Pelissero joined us last hour and said it's kind of in Aiyuk's and the Niners' court here. Like, you can say, yes, I'll stay. I'll take the contract you have on the table. The Niners could just pull the trigger on a trade and say, go somewhere else, like the Steelers, where they have the framework kind of a deal done and extension done with his agency, Athletes First. But the Niners want to keep him. They don't want to trade him.
They are a better team with him. So no matter how many stories you hear about the Steelers, which is the likely destination if something gets done, or the Patriots or the Browns, or I don't care, pick a team. There are 28 other teams other than the four I just listed. Nothing is done. It might be done by the time we get off the air. Right now, I don't know. And I joked earlier, it is, you know, America's long national nightmare.
It isn't. But the Niners do have things to worry about. Trent Williams, not there. I assume he'll be there eventually. He'd like a new contract. If not, he's going to just play golf. He thinks he's good at golf now. He's taking up golf.
I'm sure he's better than me. And then there's Christian McCaffrey's hammy injury. We haven't seen him in a while.
Should be OK. You hope. But they're better with him than they are without. Period.
Full stop. And if the Niners are going to get back to the Super Bowl or make a run, and, you know, it often goes in alternating years with them, with health and success, they need those pieces. The commanders have signed a new quarterback.
No, it's not that big of a deal. It's why am I drawing him blank now? I just told you his name. Trace McSorley. Thank you.
Funny how that works. I report the news to the room here that I get on the air. And I cannot remember the news. There is the Trace McSorley thing as well. And then, gentlemen, and by the way, once again, hi to Chris Brockman and Michael Del Tufo and TJ Jefferson.
Good day to you all. There is the new list of NFL franchise values that Sportico put together. I know who's number one. I know you know who is number one. TJ, you want to wave? You want to get the flag out again? Where's the flag? All right. Not the yellow flag.
We're going to get 15 yards for taunting on you as you wave the Cowboys flag. They are number one. I have had some people, whether it's via text or just looking at comments here on social media, say no way this is true. There's no way that number is legit. Because remember, the commander is the last team to sell to the Josh Harris group before last season began. They sold for just north of six billion.
That is six billion dollars. They are a team, however, without a current stadium solution. They are a team that, to be quite frank, the last 10 to 15 years, it's a house that has kind of fallen into disrepair.
I think that's maybe the nicest way to say it. But it's on a lovely street in a lovely neighborhood, meaning the NFL, and it has a fan base that is eager and willing and has been now reactivated, wants to come back and embrace it. And it has in the last year. To the credit of the Harris ownership group and the new administration here, Adam Peters, Dan Quinn, and Drafting Jayden Daniels, this is where I grew up. Believe me, people are back.
They are back. They have awoken a monster now. I think a lot of that has to do with Jayden Daniels.
A lot of it has to do with Jayden Daniels. Yes, they're not all the way back, but they're excited. Because in Washington, they kind of lost a generation of fans. They lost an entire generation.
Now, that's a broad stroke. And maybe that's a little bit unfair because it's not as if the Dan Snyder team never had success. They did. But there was a lot of alienation in the community with the old school fans. And you had a lot of kids who were born there, born into households where you should be rooting for this team. But this team wasn't any good. Their parents became disillusioned. And it's the fantasy football era where they just took their allegiances elsewhere.
And that's what the new ownership group has to fight. And they have to rebuild trust, much like when the Rams, different. But when L.A. was without a team, the Rams left, right, for about 20 years there. We kind of lost a generation of fan here in Los Angeles. And that fan grew up with Sunday ticket and with fantasy football.
And they took their allegiance elsewhere. The Rams came back, Chargers as well. Rams certainly rebuilt it with two trips to the Super Bowl and a Lombardi trophy. And they rebuilt it as well with a beautiful new building, SoFi Stadium and everything there in England.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the franchise values here. The Dallas Cowboys check in at estimated 10 billion dollars. 10.3 billion dollars. And you say, wait a minute, that's 4 billion more than the commanders sold for.
And rough math, 66, 65, whatever percent higher than the commanders sale. There's no way that could be true. I'm telling you, it is true.
I thought we were irrelevant. It is true. Now, as my dad once told me and hi, dad, I think you're watching today. Hi, Mr. Siciliano. Hi, Mr. Siciliano. Hello. Nothing is worth what they claim it is worth until somebody is willing to pay it.
I used to come down all the time. Hey, dad, this Jose Canseco rookie card is worth 50 dollars. This Will Clark rookie card is worth 35 dollars.
And he makes that Nussler face. Will Clark, 35 dollars, right? Because my Becketts baseball card magazine tells me it's worth 50 dollars.
This Ken Griffey Jr. Don Russ rated rookie card is going to buy us a house one day. And he would say to me, that's great, but it's worth 50 dollars if somebody actually pays you 50 dollars. Exactly. It isn't. Wise man.
It's just speculation. Very wise. Right. Wise man also worked at the Federal Reserve. So, hey, talk banking and value.
And anyway, I digress. So the Cowboys aren't worth 10.3 billion unless somebody writes Jerry Jones a check for 10.3 billion. But he'll never sell. So he says he's never going to sell.
Obviously, Stephen, Charlotte. Right. They're never selling either.
They're all there. They're no way. They'll find a way. It'll stay in the family. When someone from overseas whips out that checkbook and writes 11 B's on there, somebody's going to sell.
But here's why this is important. As you saw as well, Stan Kroenke. Don't think he's going to sell. They say the Rams are worth 7.8 billion. The New York Football Giants. Family owned business.
Two families. 7.65 billion dollars. The New England Patriots.
7.31 billion dollars. The Niners. The Jets. These are all big market teams for the most part.
Other than the Raiders on this list. Right. Big money. Big, big money. This is important because as the NFL meets in the coming weeks to discuss private equity investment, you base that investment on the overall valuation of the team. Right. So these numbers, while they are projections from a publication, they are important here.
Because let's say Jerry wants to bring in some private equity money. Hey guys. I have a 10 billion dollar price tag valuation here. So anything that you contribute. Right. These are the numbers here that we are working with.
So you want to give me 2 billion? That's only 20% of the team. Right.
You want to give me. See what I'm saying. And obviously with the Raiders here as well, that was some of the holdup with Tom Brady. Well Tom Brady is going to throw in X and you're going to get what percentage of the team?
And they're like, wait a minute. Does that math work here? Does that math?
Are we? That's why that deal still hasn't gone through yet. Exactly.
Does that math work? So, yeah. I do think if Jerry would have put a for sale sign. And by the way, all the owners love this report. I'm just guessing.
I haven't spoken to one. Yeah. Absolutely. They love all this. Right.
They love all this. They hope that the commanders might get a little bit higher, might get closer to 7. Right. 6.3. That's the latest flag. Question is, where is the next one to come off the board? Where is the next offer? There is a report by Sportico this morning as well, that the Buccaneers recently received an unsolicited offer. Of 6. In the neighborhood of 6. Turned it down.
Turned it down. We're in a family owned business here with other interests, EPL, among other places. So these franchise values will only go up because of the fact that the NFL has 105 billion dollars, I believe, 110 of long term broadcast deals currently signed and locked in. Whether or not they reopen those deals in light of the NBA new contracts. And that has been reported widely. And Roger Goodell, the commissioner, didn't say no when speaking recently to CNBC to that concept.
I'm not reporting anything that hasn't already been said. But yeah, the franchise values will only go up because look everybody at the top 100 or just make the top 50. Make a top 100 if you want of most watched television shows in the United States of America every year. What are they? They are NFL broadcast, usually 90 to 95 of those 100 shows. The others are like states, State of the Union addresses, right?
We're in a campaign year, an election year rather. So debates get massive numbers, whether or not they happen and what network they happen on, not important. They get massive numbers. The Rose Bowl College Football National Championship game, that obviously gets a massive, massive number. And there are certain appointment viewing college football games that will get massive numbers. But there is only one guarantee in American television, one. And I'm not talking, when I say American television, I mean all of live American television. There is one guarantee and that is the NFL will dominate the ratings. What is the most watched show in America on a weekly basis?
Anyone know? Sunday Night Football. Sunday Night Football, they do a great job, by the way, on that broadcast and it's a great game usually.
And it's usually a great game or at least two teams where you think it's going to be a great game and you want to watch and it is the number one show in America, year in, year out, period. So yeah, these franchise values, they will go up. And for those of you that don't think Jerry or Stan could get that number, they could. Jerry would get 12. Yeah, let's keep it real. Let's keep it real.
Do you know what? The stadium cost alone, close, no, I'm talking in LA close to six. So if you buy that, I mean, that's a nice house, okay?
That's a nice house. Andrew, let me ask you this, because I've said this on the show before, because we talk so much Cowboys and I've said, I maybe even have jokingly that because they're worth so much and they're so successful at every other aspect of the business that I kind of question of winning football games is the top priority of this organization. It absolutely is.
You would think it absolutely is, but I don't know, man, when you're making that much money and you're worth that much money. Listen, there are some organizations that people question and say, could more be done? Let's put it that way, right? They care.
They want to win, but could more be done, right? With the Cowboys, listen, Jerry has his own unique way of negotiating in the media with guys on his roster that want new contracts. Sometimes I agree with it. Sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I scratch my head. Like I'll never forget last year when Jerry, the first week it was back together Saturday, said something along the lines of, yeah, I'm not paying Zach Martin because I got to pay Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb next year. And you go, whoa, like that's not, locker room don't want to hear that.
Like you rarely say, Hey, you, I'm sorry, pal. I can't pay you because I got to pay him out loud. You don't, you don't say that.
That one, I remember I was sitting at Rams camp in Irvine that day and we all, MJD and I looked at each other and went, okay, wow, that's the take. Got it. That was a hot take, but Hey, he's the owner.
It works out. Jerry wants to win, badly wants to win. He wants another one. He knows, I mean, Jerry is, let me, I don't want to, I don't want to come Jerry's 81. He has not yet turned 82. I was going to call him 82 and quick Google right there. He turns 82, like week five, week six, something like that. He knows I'm not 82, thankfully, but when you're 82, you, you, you realize windows only open so much longer, right? I mean, that guy's going to live until he's a hundred. I think he's older than Joe Biden. There you go.
Yeah. He, he is older than one guy lost his job. The other guy lost his job. Stop. Stop.
Take it back. He has not lost his job. You were wrong with that.
I just repeated what you said. He still very much has his job only for, only for a little longer, a few more months. Yeah.
Yes. Just a few more months, don't get me in trouble today, please, man. We're just talking football understands that the windows closing, he wants to win.
Now we can go. What did he mean by all in a couple of months ago? And let me just say this. I'll just say that Jerry doesn't know what he's saying half the time. Like when he starts his sentence and he would admit this to you, I think he doesn't know where the finish line is. He doesn't know where it's going to be. Where the finish line is. I went to high school. Yeah.
And then sometimes, and like there are people in that building that's that say not angrily, but just like, I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means, but anyway, I digress. Meena Kime's right around the corner. I think we have to text her the link. I don't know that she has it. She's checking in. Oh, she's checking in right now.
You guys are awesome. Stop talking. Let's go to break. Let's break. I'll stop talking.
Meena Kime's. Ramley. Next on the Rich Eisen Show. Not today.
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That's OReillyAuto.com slash E-I-S-E-N, O-O-O-Reilly Auto Parts. What goes through your mind when you hear everybody wants one of you? You know, it's flattering and humbling, Rich, but it's a result of the success we've had as a team.
And you know, it's just like, but you know what though, it is true though, like we got great coaches on our staff, we got good players, it's a great reflection of our organization and what we've done, and I think, you know, that's the biggest thing, and to see guys that we've worked with over the last couple of years get opportunities with Matt and with Zach Taylor, you know, they're deserving of it because of what they've done on their own merit, and when they go in and compete for jobs, people say, man, we can see this guy leading our organization, and you know, I'm looking forward to seeing those guys thrive. Have you told Kingsbury that he has a job because of you too? No, that's the, Cliff got his deal on his own. Okay, no, I'm sure he did. I know you had it, you know, you were knocking on his door too to join your staff, I know that.
You know, you passed him, of course, I think you told that to Schefter, that you totally, what did you do to him? Well, basically, you know, he obviously has a pre-existing relationship with Patrick Mahomes, he was out here doing some things and Cliff was having dinner with him and a group of people and we have a mutual friend and I tricked him into thinking that, you know, he was tampering and that he was going to lose some picks. That's what, you changed somebody's name in your phone to Roger Goodell, is that what you did? I did, our mutual friend, he, yeah, I could have let this go on too long, so our mutual friend, a guy named Chaz Gessner, I put his number in my phone as Roger Goodell and had him send me a text that said, you know, hey, this is tampering, you know better than this, you guys are both, you know, and I showed it to Kingsbury and I said, you know, Mr. Goodell, he never texted me, I said, you better call Steve Kahn right now and his face, he was like, he said, I thought I was going to throw up, he's like, that's wrong, I mean, I couldn't let it go on for more than 30 seconds, it was, it was a good but a bad joke, man, I mean, he's like, you ruined dinner, man. Good times. For those of you watching on Roku, the Roku channel, the Roku sports channel, that was Sean McVay circa 2019 with his, telling a story about his buddy named Chaz, Chaz, interesting name, we can do a whole hour on that, but we won't, it's the Rich Eisen Show here, I am sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, it is furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry, Grainger has the right product for you, call or click Grainger.com or just stop by, Sean McVay also on the headset during the game, coaches cam calling me a jerk, this past Sunday as the Rams eked out a 13-12 thriller over the Cowboys in the booth with me, Andrew Whitworth and the wonderful Mina Kimes who joins us now from ESPN, Mina did not however get called a jerk by Sean, good morning.
Good morning to you too, you're, you're, you're not a jerk. He was, well, sometimes I can be, he was, he was having fun because he was down to the sideline and Brandon Aubrey was lining up for a field goal, kick was up in the air and he said, oh, oh, oh, I think he missed it and you and I look at the monitor, he didn't miss it and I said, nope, it's good, he goes, got a better angle than me, you jerk, like, okay, did I need that? But no, he is awesome, he's great, yeah and the game was, I mean, let's, let's call it like it was, yeah, see, there was us up at the booth with Whit, just so you know, Whit is sitting on the desk and I am standing up, but TJ, see, this is how you do it, you look at the camera and you smile for the photo, you don't like stare off into the distance like you're some IG model. Well then, let's ask Mina, we could pop my picture up and then Mina can say if she approves of it or not and I'll take her, I'll take her word for it, okay, if it's possible, yeah, the flag wrapped around you, Mina, TJ's a big Cowboys fan there, we're waiting for it, we're getting the switch right, there it is, Mina, what do you think of this, I mean, that looks like a book cover, you're about to drop an album or something, right, it's dropping the 15th of Neverary, it's gonna be the hottest mixtape of all time, I'm telling you, right, was that a candid or did you just, that's what I asked, I was candid, Mina, I was in my thoughts, I was in my feelings, yeah, you know, the Cowboys were there, I mean, I had my flag and my friend Dylan just happened to capture it, just a tremendous moment of self-reflection, it was good to have an art director, were you thinking, man, try Lance, when Dak Price got the Raider next year, this is it for me, this is where this is going, well, this was pre-game, so I hadn't had those thoughts yet, it was more like, what is Roger Staubach doing right now, oh boy, oh boy, all right, let's get to the football here with Mina Kimes and I know you guys talk about this on ESPN Daily here on NFL Live, the, the Brandon Aiyuk situation, I think you and I, and Tom Pelsera was on earlier and I think he kind of agrees here as well, are of like mind and that is if the Niners are to trade Brandon Aiyuk, there is very little chance that they will get something in return that will maintain their level of excellence this year that they would have had with him, now granted there are other stories here, Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey's hamstring, but you're not a better team if you get rid of him, Mina, what is going on here?
Andrew, I agree with you, I have said from the beginning of this drama, it did not make sense to me that the 49ers would move on from Brandon Aiyuk, not just because I think he's an underrated talent who's in a different offense, I think we would probably see him as a more obvious number one wide receiver, he'd have that kind of production, all those efficiency numbers are insane, not also of course because the Niners are in it to win a Super Bowl this year as they should be, so it has never made sense to me that they would move on from a player this season after the draft and not be able to help the team in the short term, certainly not to the extent that Brandon Aiyuk does, where I think he adds such a different dimension to this offense in terms of stretching the field vertically, his ability to get hauling catches outside the numbers at all three levels, so it does not surprise me that we are now in August and then after all of this drama, all of these rumors, all of the requests and Instagrams and whatnot, there's reports that it's possible that Aiyuk and the Niners are just going to stay together after all, however, I have reached a point with this story where I just don't want to hear it anymore, it is, he in this story is your friend who has been saying they're going to leave their ex for months, right? It's like, oh man, this time, and you know, as a friend, you get to a point where you're like, yeah man, and then you just don't give them anything back because you don't want to talk about it anymore, that's where I am with Aiyuk and the Niners, you aren't going to leave him or them or whoever the Niners are, you're not going to, so I don't want to hear about it anymore because it feels like this was just a gigantic waste of everybody's time. Where they're talking and you let them go, but you're in your car and you're on Bluetooth and your mind's elsewhere, you're focusing on your driving perhaps, and then it's one of those ones where you hear, oh, they just stopped talking and they go, oh yeah, and you go, I know it's frustrating, it's rough.
That's wild, man, that's my, that's wild. I know, but hey, this is kind of, kind of how it's been for a while, right? No, it's like this is me talking to my friend, like yeah, kind of how it's been for a while, so yeah, you're going to have to make a decision. The first time you're like, yeah, wow, I agree with you, points are made, let's do a list of pros and cons, we thought about this person, but like the 11th time, that's wild, that's wild. Talking to me two times, we saw, I don't know, we saw a couple of returns, I don't know that we saw anything too exciting with the new dynamic return.
Dynamic has a lot of different meanings, dynamic, some people like think of like, oh, awesome, like no, it means change for the most part, but like there was nothing that was too exciting there. We did have a long return in Jacksonville, I think one other return in another game that seems somewhat exciting. I know this is something that you've talked a lot of people on, and I think you and I are hearing the same thing, which is no one really wants to show anything now, but Mina, I'm to the point where when we get to the regular season, I think there are a bunch of coaches that still aren't going to show anything, and they're going to let other people figure it out.
Yeah, here's what I found interesting from this weekend, and I'm kind of interested in going forward. So to your point, a lot of teams haven't showed a lot of stuff, and we've been thinking about that from the receiving side, but also from the kicking side, you're seeing teams, this happened in our game, it was McVeigh's approach, we're just kicking it out and saying, let's take the touchback, it's the 30-yard line. And what I found interesting about the first weekend is the average starting position, I saw Michael Lopez put this information out, was I believe 28 yards around there, which is up from, I think the average last year in the NFL was like 22 and something changed. If the touchback goes to the 30, that two-yard difference of the average, and obviously that's impacted by all the touchbacks too, but I think most coaches will look at, a lot of coaches will look at that difference being so small and say, yeah, it's not worth the risk in case they break something off. So what I'm curious to see if the NFL considers moving the touchback to the 35-yard line perhaps, just to incentivize more actual returns, which is the point of the whole thing.
And I think that's going to happen, some people have suggested that, Sean Payton in an open microphone a couple of weeks ago suggested that as well. I'll pull back the curtain, there was a conference call, a seminar where people could ask Walt Anderson, head of officiating, some questions that I was on two weeks ago, I've lost track of time, and someone brought that up, hey Walt, could you see it move to the 35 by the time we get to the regular season? We're talking special teams, I'll say he punted, he didn't say no, he didn't say yes, he gave the standard company line, which is, look, it's a work in progress here and blah, blah, blah.
Okay, I get it, but I think there is a slight possibility, maybe more than slight that yes, that happens and we do see it on the 35 because look, they want to see returns and the numbers for those who don't know, I have the numbers up here, let me get them, last year, it was the lowest rate of return we have ever seen, ever seen, it was like 22.1% and that's not good for anybody, it is safer, you're not getting any returns, but it's not good viewing and the play is meaningless. They need to find the sweet spot where A, you get more returns and you bring excitement back to the game, but B, you do it safely and it is very much a work in progress, but look, Mina and I will both tell you, Mina, you've had these conversations, I know you have, there are a lot of coaches that just go to heck with this, I don't want to do this. The difference, and we see this all the time in the NFL where the margins are so thin, potentially in the playoffs, potentially in these games that could decide, division could be between teams, staffs who take this seriously and ones who don't because you're right, absolutely right, there's some coaches who don't want to deal with it, but I've also heard from not just special teams coordinators, but coaches across the league and people who work with them that some teams are incited about it, intrigued by it and feel like this is an opportunity for them to gain on the margins, the Chiefs being a team that come to mind and it's like okay, well if it's, and they have one of the better special team coordinators in the NFL and Dave too, but if the Super Bowl winner is taking this seriously, that I feel like says something. Yeah, it does, and I think this will separate the good special teams coaches from just the guys, right, and show me some creativity, anyway I digress, talking to Mina Kimes here, let's hit your Seahawks real quick, I was up there on Monday and sitting there with John Schneider on Sirius XM NFL radio, I said, are you comfortable with your O line? This is after Connor Williams was getting on the field for the very first time, he was on the field on Monday, he's not doing anything, but they do say that the goal is week one to have him ready for that game in Seattle against the Broncos, I said John are you comfortable with your O line, are they Lucas still working back for the injury? He made a face, and he's like mmm, mmm, and then he gave his answer and talked about all the players he's happy with, are you happy with the Seahawks O line? Well I will say, I think just about every GM across the NFL, if you ask them are you comfortable with the O line, I think 80% would make the same face probably, but I actually I echo that mmm sentiment, which is to say I think that it's in all right condition, I really liked the addition of Williams to shore up that interior, which by the way that was such a problem for Genos, I've ranted about this a lot, but I think last season it was maybe underestimated how bad his pass protection was, and it was such an issue for this team on third down, it was probably the run blocking as well, so the hope is that it'll be better this year, but that hope hinges on Williams coming in and he's coming off of the injury and contributing immediately, and then I think the tackle position was one that was two years ago looked like it was going to be this incredible strength of this team with Charles Cross coming in at left tackle, first round draft pick playing so well out the gate, and then Abe Lucas on the right side, I think Charles Cross is going to have a great year, but I'm a little bit apprehensive about Lucas's injury just because there's been issues for him throughout his career, and you're going into the season with it being question mark yet again. As the Seahawks have obviously a new head coach at Mike McDonald, coordinators on both sides of the ball, it's Mike McDonald's defense here, I'm fascinated to see what Ryan Grubb does with that offense, here's a hint, they are going to run the football, this is not just going to be Michael Panekstone for 9,500 yards over the last two seasons at UW, they do have the weapons there, but they do want to run the football, certainly, which of course every offense and every coach says before the season begins. Real quick, Sam Darnold, because it looks like it is obviously going to be Sam, no matter how well JJ McCarthy did play in the preseason, he needed three more games like we saw this past weekend, I think to get that job, week number one. I am not a Sam Darnold truther, okay, but I am mildly interested to see what an extended, you're laughing, an extended Sam Darnold residency looks like.
I just need it out of my system. You're conducting your own Sam Darnold research, is what it sounds like. Sure, yeah.
But you know what, for me to label you a member of a conspiracy, there would be hypocritical for me because I am also Sam curious, let's put it that way, I'm Sam curious, yeah, I'm a sampathizer. Oh god, anyways. Keep going, keep going, you've got one more. Keep going.
Oh god, let me think about that one. Here's the thing about Darnold, he has been failed by so many situations, not so many situations, but he has not really had a great shot. I do think in Carolina in 2022, he showed some stuff, there are a few games, including against the Seahawks by the way, where I thought he played excellent, but, and this, you saw the inconsistent play, some of the turnovers, he was a bit streaky, he was streaky, pardon me, in a way that obviously he was throughout his time with the Jets. In Minneapolis, he walks into one of the best situations for any quarterback in the NFL. Forget rookie quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, forget backup, this is an incredible situation. It's an above average offensive line when it comes to pass protection, one of the better groups of weapons in the NFL, and obviously Jefferson, Addison, and Hawkeson, but boy they look like they got some in Jalen Naylor too.
And you had Aaron Jones, who I think is just a perfect mix, perfect, pardon me, addition for that under center outside zone rushing attack that Kevin O'Connell likes. This is it. This is shut up, or shut up time for us who are, you know, us sympathizers out there because I think the more I say it, the more confidence I'm gaining in it, because, you know, we'll know now. I don't think after this season or after his start with the Vikings, and by the way, Kevin O'Connell, who I didn't even know that, I think is such a good play caller, Andrew. If he doesn't succeed now, we will shut up and forever hold our peace. There you go.
Brockman, get in here. Real quick, Mita, a big picture, every year there's four, five, six new playoff teams, but if you look at the 14 from last year, you kind of say, yes, I think they're all going to make it again. Who among the 14 from last year do you have the biggest concern about? The four teams, the 14 that made the playoffs last year.
Oh, sorry. Every year there is turnover, so inevitably four or five of them are not going to make it. Who are those teams, you think? You want me to list them? Yeah, why don't you list them? I have one in mind.
Okay, here we go. Last year, Philly, Tampa, Rams, Lions, Packers, Cowboys, Niners. That's your NFC. Yeah.
I'll do one. I mean, I'll say the Bucks come to mind for me in the NFC just because that division was obviously so close because it was so bad until the end, and I think there's reason to believe that the Falcons, obviously the reason being that they have a quarterback now, Kirk Cousins, the Falcons could give them a run for their money this year. I will say, though, I still think that anybody could probably win the NFC South, and I wouldn't be surprised. And then on the AFC side... Ravens, Bills, Chiefs, Texans, Browns, Dolphins, Steelers. The Steelers are the easy answer. It's probably the obvious one given the uncertainty at the quarterback position. The Browns are interesting to me, Andrew, because they had such an incredible defense, obviously it's one or two, depending on how you rank them in the Ravens, and it is typically hard for great defense to repeat year to year. But I do think that if any defense can do it, it is probably this one, we just talked about them on my podcast, the meantime show featuring Lenny, previewing the AFC North this week, because one, they're unbelievably deep at every level, frankly, and you saw that depth get experienced last year. So a guy like Grant Delpit going out of line, that was so amazing for them, and I have such high hopes for this year. Then you have these young safeties stepping up, and suddenly now you're incredibly deep and stacked at safety, and I think they're going to learn from the lessons of the playoff loss and that defenses could be just as good this season.
Yeah, I hope so as well. I also hope that the injuries that are mounting on the defensive and actually offensive side of the ball as well are just camp things that they can get through and they can get healthy. To week one, as we were saying before, before you came on, really, you're at the point of the season, the preseason and camp now where it's, let's just get to week one healthy and the Rams certainly are like that with the injury to Puca, which is not serious. He'd be probably, if there was a playoff game tomorrow, he could play, I'm guessing.
And the Rams O-line, which is a major issue with their three starters out right now with injuries. Mina and yours truly, and Andrew Whitworth, if you're here in LA, ABC 7 playing the Chargers coming up on Saturday, appreciate your time with your busy schedule. Say hi to Lenny for us, please. I will. I will see you this weekend, Andrew.
See you Saturday. Mina Kimes, everybody. And of course, listen to her podcast.
The hold on. Give me the name. Is the Mina Kimes show with Lenny. I always want to say it's the Lenny show with Mina Kimes. No, no.
It's the Mina Kimes show with Lenny. If you check out the latest, the latest we talked about the rookie quarterbacks, he actually popped on, which he often doesn't. He's not here right now. He jumped into my lap when I was talking about Caleb Williams, which if you needed a sign that Caleb Williams is the chosen one, take that as one. There you go.
And if you need great feed cleansing videos, look at videos of Lenny jumping up and down behind the puppy gate. It's awesome. Thank you, Mina.
Mina Kimes, everybody. All right. Oh, we didn't get to the flag football thing. We should do that next hour. Okay. Let's do it. Coming up. I want you to think in your mind. All right. If we're drafting a flag football team, who's on your team.
Oh, I'm ready. All right. I'm so ready for LA 2028.
And you could pick college players if you want to. Right. We don't know why not.
Cause there'll be in the NFL by then. Yeah. I don't know. Like two. Okay.
Good. Let's talk about sleep number people. We all know in the NFL, there's no margin for error.
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See store for details. Are you tired of losing your fantasy football league year after year? Lindsay Rhodes, Emmy winning sportscaster and football analyst is your new secret weapon on the believe fantasy football show. Watch the quarterbacks and his ADP. I think he has massive high end upside. Get expert analysis on player rankings, wide receiver, 22 in fantasy Cecil shorts.
That kid can run. So I'm thinking he can have a breakout season this year and you can too by searching the believe fantasy football show that's BLEAV wherever you listen. My friend, my long time friend, my diehard chief's friend, a man who has told me so many times, I would love to come to the super bowl and hang with you, but I will not until the chiefs make it. And the chiefs have made it. And Eric stone street is here on the show. I will tell you this chief's fans, football fans, Brett Beach was on Patrick Mahomes from the very beginning. And Brett Beach told me this year that we would take a picture with the Lamar hunt trophy in the locker room of arrowhead.
And we did that. And he said that from the beginning, multiple times. And now that is what we call an insider, an insider, that's an insider, but I look, I've known you for a long time. If I'm not, if I'm not mistaken, you are a mixture of ecstatic excitement and profound nervousness, right?
Yeah. I call it measured. I am measured.
I am, I am a, I am a volcano of emotions inside right now. I can see right now, like you are, you know, because I don't, I don't like to get the cart, you know, before the horses type of guy, I'm not, I know the 49ers are a good team. I also know we're a good team. I love that about the super bowl.
That's a great matchup. We each have things we have to do to win the ball game. We have to stop their run and Patrick Mahomes has to be Patrick Mahomes.
There's no doubt about it. It is just amazing seeing, you know, this moment for you, knowing how much it means to you that you're actually here at a super bowl. This is actually, I couldn't believe it going down there on the field after that and high five and those guys and them, and just, just the fact that beach told me, you're going to come down on the sidelines and you're going to go in the locker room and you're going to kiss the Lamar Hunt trophy with me and that happening and he said, brother, the next trophy we're going to kiss is the Vinnie. We kissed the Lamar. Let's get the Vinnie. Kiss the Vinnie. Kiss the Vinnie. I like that.
And we are back on the Rich Eisen Show here. Have you used the game time app yet? Okay. Yeah. Why not? Okay.
If you haven't and if you, and if you have, I know you love it. Game time is how you should be getting your tickets. Baseball season's winding down. My boys won again last night. Emmanuel Classe saves in four consecutive games. His ERA is 0.65. Carrying my fantasy team.
0.65. Actually, that was before last night, but I digress. Game time is how you go in to see him or anyone else playing in your backyard. It is the best place to buy your tickets.
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There's an app store. Download the game time app and go see the pennant chase. Go see your team. Try to make it because the wild card is going crazy. And there's also football coming up. I don't know if you know that.
Okay. A lot of football. You can go to any game and it's great for a last second ticket buying experience. If you download the game time app and when you do it, I have a promo code for you. When you need that last second ticket and you're using game time, go in there and set up an account, scroll through it. You'll see how easy it is to use.
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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We have news for you. News that came down just as Mina and I were saying goodbye and signing off.
And then I look at the computer and it just hit. Kevin O'Connell took the podium and announced that J.J. McCarthy indeed had the surgery and it's not good news. An update on J.J. McCarthy, he did undergo surgery actually this morning on that meniscus. It was led by our team doctor, Dr. Chris Larson at TCO. Was a successful procedure but it did reveal that a repair was necessary which will end J.J.'s 2024 season.
I mean brutal. J.J. McCarthy, your first round pick, the player for whom you traded up. The player, I know you got Sam Darnold, but the player that after letting Kirk Cousins go, you're going to toss the keys to eventually. And above all else, the player who went out there in his first effort on Saturday and threw an early pick to Jack Jones and then bounced back, got back on the horse and lit it up. That guy was fun. He was fun to watch. He got you excited if you're a Vikings fan. He got you excited if you're a Vikings player. That energy and excitement from Justin Jefferson. He was on the headset with Paul Allen calling the game on local TV in Minnesota.
That was legit. Like, hey, we got us a quarterback here, right? And he's done for the year.
I think Sam Darnold is going to play well this year, but I also think that no matter how well Sam played, obviously eventually J.J. would have taken over this season. It's inevitable. Quarterbacks have bad days and then teams and organizations collectively go, eh, let's just get it over with and give the kid the keys. It is not going to happen this year. Man, that is just devastating.
It is just devastating. We mentioned this name yesterday. Should the Vikings call Ryan Tannehill for some insurance? No, I don't think they're the team. I don't think they're the team.
I think. Remember, they drafted Jaron Hall last year at a BYU. He had five minutes and then he got hurt. I would say they got Sam Darnold to be the bridge starter. He's going to do the job this year. Like there was some thought a few months ago, like, hey, J.J. is going to need a full red shirt year. This is a full Sam Darnold year and maybe McCarthy gets in in December. Then J.J. came in and look, he had his rough moments in camp. It's not as if this guy looked like Joe Montana from day one, but yeah, I would not, and as for Ryan Tannehill, I was having this conversation again yesterday with somebody else. I think he's the guy that sits there and and chills and waits for the phone to ring mid mid to late season and be this year's Joe Flacco if he's ready and if he wants to do it. I don't know if his phone rang in the off season and he didn't like any of the offers or if he just intentionally decided to play it this way. I don't know if he even wants to play. I think he does. But to me, he would be my first call if it all goes bad. All right, let's go super positive then. What percent chance do you give Sam Darnold of being former Jets quarterback, the new Geno Smith, absolute resurgence out of nowhere, great, great season.
Suddenly he's back. I think he has the ability to do it. I do.
And with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for now, pending potential league discipline and the adjudication of his case that literally, I mean, you guys have said this right here, right, the Jordan Addison and lucky nobody was killed or hurt. That situation here in L.A., you can walk to from where we sit right now. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, right there.
You can practically see it out the window with those weapons there. I I think Sam Darnold is going to play well, not telling him or you to take him in the first round of fantasy here, but I think he's going to be OK. So there there's that coming up, we'll draft a flag football team for twenty twenty eight and also coming up, you won't believe who just walked in to the joint practice in Oxnard Cowboys Rams. Am I going to have to get in the car after the show? A professional tease.
Something going on. You've done this before. Andrew, are we hopping in the car right after the show?
Do I have to head up to Oxnard? Don't call it a comeback. Hello, Cool Jack. I don't have the patience to jack with you today.
That would be something. All right. All right. All right. We'll wait.
That's a tease. We'll wait a few minutes. We'll wait a few minutes and find out. Yeah. All right. Wait, are we still on? Yeah.
I thought we were fifty five twenty. Yeah. We're on Roku now. Oh yeah. OK.
But it's the quick turnaround. Yeah. OK. I got my end of it.
I thought we had a break there. Hi guys. Set up the tease for the radio. The radio audience is just sitting around going, who is in Oxnard? It's Aaron Donald.
Oh. Aaron Donald just walked into the Andrew Whitworth. Well, I was going to say, is he going NWO? Is he going Hogan here?
He's going to play for the Cowboys. Ha. Oh, please. Please. Can I give up my frustration here? So I'm very happy to be here. I said yes.
Yes. Do the show. Obviously want to do it, but I had it in my head because the Chargers are five minutes away here. Ramson Chargers were supposed to join practice, so I'm like, bam, I'm here and then I'm going there. Bam. It's perfect. It's like two miles down the road. Perfect.
I'm going to go to the Chargers facility from here. Yes. Yes. Quite literally. From where we sit right now.
My perfect. And then Sean had to mess it up and take the joint practice with the Cowboys that is starting right now and is an hour and a half drive away. And I can't make it. And I am angry.
Not that I'm here, but I could be right now asking Aaron Donald in an hour. Hey, dude, you coming back or not, but I can't right now. Well, text wit right now. Text wit. Anyway.
All right. Rich Isenship continues coming up. Former Navy SEAL Sean Ryan shares real stories from real people from all walks of life on the Sean Ryan Show. Tucker Carlson.
What is it that you think that people gravitate towards? I'm not self-aware. I refuse to be self-aware.
I don't even like mirrors at all, which you can probably tell from my appearance. I don't have a crazy high IQ or I really don't have that many skills. I would say my main skill is I believe my instincts. I don't hesitate to follow my instincts ever. The extent that I have, I've gotten in trouble. The Sean Ryan Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.
