Mike Tomlin: Starting Quarterback Decision Was Difficult

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USPS Ground Advantage. Simple. Affordable. Reliable. NFL Rules Analyst Walt Anderson. Fox Sports College Football Insider Bruce Feldman. Still to come, Underdog Fantasy Senior NFL Reporter James Palmer. And now, it's Rich Eisen. The Rich Eisen Show is on the air.

If you missed the first two hours, here's what you missed. Walt Anderson, the NFL officiating and rules analyst. He was the head of NFL Refs the last few years, last four seasons. And the NFL said, you know what? We need you to explain stuff to fans and broadcasters and everybody. And he came on and broke down what's going to go down, what he thinks is going to go down with the new kickoff rule. Replay Assist is going to chime in on helping pick up flags on Ruff and the Passer.

If they say a helmet's been contacted and you go under the hood and say that didn't happen, they're going to pick a flag up. There's so much more that you may have missed there. Bruce Feldman came and talked college football. We broke down the NFC South.

We gave those predictions. And our neighbors across the way, Hasbro, is moving everything from Monopoly to Twister into the building. So if you hear any beeping, Del Tufo's trying to work the faders to make sure you didn't hear that construction going on. Legos are the guys out there today talking about Legos. They were just bringing them in right there.

Is that forklift made of Lego? I don't know. Now that would be really weird. Also, Jay Glazer reported, and then the Steelers confirmed on their Twitter account, Russell Wilson's a new starting quarterback.

And guess who's going to join us in 18 minutes time? The head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin. We've been trying to get him for a while and he agreed to appear on the program. And then that news broke.

I was like, how do I get information out of a man who doesn't want to announce something? And they did it. And that's called stepping in it. And he's going to be joining us in about 18 minutes time to hopefully put a more few more meat on the bones.

I'll rain down my judgment and we'll move forward. Yes, that's correct. We got all those jobs. Now, one of the things I love about this business is getting to meet people throughout your entire career and getting to hang with them and become colleagues with them and maybe spend some quality time with them. And when circumstances occur and you're no longer their colleague because management decides to make a move, that doesn't mean we don't talk anymore. And certainly when they land in a new spot, love congratulating them and supporting them, even if his hair makes me feel less than. And joining us now, senior sports reporter for underdog fantasy, my colleague and friend from the NFL media group all those days, James Palmer on the program. How are you doing, James? Good to see you.

I'm good, Rich. With the comment on the hair before you introduced me, it just felt like old times right there. It felt like the last decade, right?

Well, I mean, if it really did, then we could treat this like it's a late November. And I'm just tossing to you to see how you can handle that. Mr. Mr. Scarlet and Gray, James.

True. Those are always the interesting Sundays. Those are the interesting Sundays. The one in Indianapolis was the worst because I went to Indianapolis with such confidence. I left before the game started. I packed only a Scarlet and Gray tie. That's right. That was it. And you won.

And then we lost. And I think I got it for the duration of the show every time we went to Indianapolis. And I begrudgingly was putting the tie on going like, Rich is going to have a field day with this thing.

You try to go open neck and they're like, nope, you can't go open neck. You got to wear a tie. Hey, man, congrats on the gig. Tell everybody what it is.

What do you got? It's awesome, Rich. I think there's something really cool happening over there. And I had a chance to hang out with everybody, actually, on Monday.

We were all in California, Santa Monica, having some dinner. And Colt McCoy and Jake Rudin, A.Q. Shipley and Justin Pugh and the guys from the Around the NFL podcast and Dan Hanzus and Mark Zesser. Now, if he'd the call there, just all of us kind of talking ball and what we want to do in terms of jumping on each other's shows. And Steve Smith and I are going to have a show there. And I don't know if there's many people that I've come across that I enjoy talking ball with more than Steve.

It was like whenever we came into the same city, we'd probably stand in the lobby if we were checking in at the same time, talking for like, Rich, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half before we even checked into our rooms just because it was, wait, where have you been? I've been here. I've talked to this guy.

What do you think? We just love talking ball with him. So that's going to be a blast for him and I to have a show weekly to hopefully inform some fans of, you know, what he sees and then what I've heard around the league. I just still want to still travel around the league, get a chance to do that and do what, you know, I gained from NFL Network for 10 years, like use all of that from going to every facility, every stadium and living on the road. And I think having a second family in Kansas City for several years with Patrick Mahone. So it'll be fun to take all of that and take it to underdog and try to inform some fans on another platform.

It's going to be a blast. Did Belichick pick up the check in absentia or what? You know, the funny thing is I was I kept looking around for Bill and I did not see him.

But you know what? My co-host wasn't there either. Steve was on the golf course somewhere. I think so. Yeah. So, you know, we wanted to get a cardboard cut out of Steve there for to sit next to me.

But, you know, I was solo for a moment, but I won't be during the season. Well, again, underdog fantasy is where you can find James Palmer, who's here on the Rich Eisen show. So what you had a front row seat, certainly in Denver last year for what happened with Russell Wilson. Just moments ago, he was named the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. What went wrong for Russ last year that can inform us about his opportunity for success in this new spot, James? Well, so much of in this league, Rich is about fit and it just it just didn't fit.

It didn't fit from what Sean was asking of him to what probably Russ's skill set is. And there's been something that's going on during this training camp, honestly from Sean Payton on a pretty semi regular basis that kind of hints at that repeatedly. It's he says over and over again, sacks are on the quarterback, in his opinion. And that was a big issue in Denver. The number of sacks of Russell Wilson took. I think there was only like two or three guys that took more sacks last year, maybe fourth.

And then Russell Wilson. That was a big issue in how this offense was was being played and how it was schemed and how quickly, you know, he wants the ball out of the quarterback's hands and how he wants the quarterback to play the position. We saw a difference in Russ from the year before, which was just atrocious.

And we did see, you know, a difference in him in the right direction. But it just really didn't fit from what, you know, Sean wanted to do. You see what he has in Bo Nix that checks all the boxes, in my opinion, of what Sean's looking for in a quarterback. It was kind of, you know, Sean did take the job, but an arranged marriage in some sense. And fit was number one.

And Sean was looking to move on from it. And we'll see if it fits in Pittsburgh. It's going to be an interesting one. I think week one, name the starter. I think more interesting will be end of the year. Who do we have as the quarterback in Pittsburgh?

I'm looking to keep an eye on that. Well, and again, that is the ultimate question. And because Russ wasn't the starter by the end of the year in Denver last year. And again, the question is, is it diminishing skills or is it fit? And that's going to be the ultimate question here that I'm wondering. You're already nodding your head like you may have an answer to that. I mean, nobody has the answer until we actually see snaps, right?

But I'll give you the floor. Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, I've talked to some people around the league about, you know, this competition. And I was hearing from more than one person, like, I think it might be time to start catering this offense to Justin Fields.

And it was brought up to me by some people that know Arthur really, really well. It was, you know, you could go take all the stuff he ran with Marcus Mariota and just reinsert that back into the playbook. All the stuff that uses Justin Fields as we can call him this, I think, an elite runner, honestly, with the football on his hands, with the size and the speed and the ability to run the football.

And can you lean on that? And some people around the league are like, you do that, you run the football well, you have a really good defense. You limit the time that, you know, other offenses are on the field, Rich, and you have maybe something because these are two pretty similar quarterbacks in their strengths and in their witnesses. The one thing that set Russ apart from Justin Fields we could all agree on is that magic in the fourth quarter that he just has the ability. We saw it actually in Denver this past year, the way he was able to make plays in the fourth quarter. But that's the thing we're keeping our eye on the most. Is that magic still there?

Because I do think we all believe that's somewhat diminishing. If that magic's still there, that's the separating factor really between the two of them because they have a lot of the same flaws. Also, the issue is that, you know, if Russ is going to become a backup quarterback, you've got to give him the opportunity to turn himself into that as opposed to you saying, you know, things are somewhat equal here.

We're going to go with the kid. And then Russ suddenly has an earbud after you gave him, you know, ownership of the team, right, as a leader in the locker room and things of that nature. This way, you give him full ownership. You let him do the Russ thing, the leadership thing, and let him try and play up from there. And maybe you sprinkle in a little bit of Justin Fields, and that's the way you go.

And if it doesn't go that way, it's better to hand the offense over to Justin Fields mid-season rather than the other way around. Exactly. I think the part of Mike Tomlin, you know, addressing the media, Rich, was when he said this was a really difficult decision. So it wasn't like he came out and you see this in some of the other competitions. It's we're naming Russell Wilson the starter. It's because he did like it's a it's a difficult decision. So I think what you're saying is exactly right.

It's easier to make the switch if this is the layout than if it was reversed. So James Palmer here, underdog fantasies. James Palmer. Get used to it, James. Right here. Amen. Took me a while to talk about NFL Network's Rich Eisen, you know, 22 years ago.

James Palmer here on the Rich Eisen Show. So what's your take on the Chiefs and their ability to three-peat here? Having had a front row seat to all of that because it sure, sure as hell looks like they're they've got one of the best three-peat chances in any sport ever right now.

They do. And you're right. I had a front row seat last year and last year was the down year. It was we don't have a whole lot of receivers. I remember talking to Brett Beach at the Combine and it was, Kadarius Toney is going to be our number one.

Let's go. And they thought that they were going to unleash some things that we've never seen from Kadarius Toney and, you know, in the NFL. And we saw what ended up happening in that season. The emergence of Rashee Rice, Pat's just kind of struggling to trust certain receivers. And that was a big part of the offensive struggles and they still win it. And so I think the offense is going to be better this year.

Rich, honestly, talking to people there. They now have the ability in their mind that they've lacked speed the last two seasons, really. And that's the way they've looked at it. And they go and get Hollywood Brown, who, to my understanding, is probably going to miss the first two weeks.

Definitely week one, probably the first two. And you have Xavier Worthy and you have the ability to have both of those guys. And Nicole Hardman, by the way, is also on the team. But you have the ability to go downfield, which was a big emphasis in training camp this year, which also will make life easier on your aging tight end, who's still incredible.

And Rashee Rice, both of those guys operating in space underneath. They think they can really attack defenses in a more complex way than they did over the last two years, which, in my opinion, is a little scary. They go pick up some Ajay Pirain, who Denver just ended up releasing, and another back into the mix of weapons for Patrick Mahomes that they will use probably in the passing game, which he's really great at. And he made a lot of big plays against the Chiefs over the years. That's why they grabbed him. I just think they might be in a better position than they were a year ago, which is the scary aspect, because when I asked about Mahomes at camp, I just said, how's he looked?

And they were like, otherworldly. So there you go. Yeah, I mean, him saying, you know, it'll get handled when it gets handled about the whole Kermit Gate thing, you know, like it just seems to be about him. Enough of a chip still on his shoulder here, whether it's manufactured or not, fourth best player in the NFL is voted by his peers.

And the guy who he's won back-to-back championships without is number one. You know, like it just seems that there's that. And that just in the same way that Brett Veitch hit the crap out of the line after they lost the Super Bowl, they realized what they had last year is a deficiency, and they won in spite of. It looks like they hit that. I mean, and that's Sky Moore.

Maybe he can actually take a step forward rather than a step back like he did last year. Yeah. Yeah. And I think they've protected themselves, Rich. I think the Juju signing shows, I mean, we're going to probably have a suspension with Rishi Rice at some point. The last I talked to the Chiefs, they had no clue whether it be at the start of the season.

Sometimes those things happen, I don't know, this Friday. It's happened in the league before, but I'm not saying I know anything. But that's that they're protecting themselves.

And that's kind of what Juju would do if they lose Rishi Rice for any stretch of this season. They have multiple deep threats. They think they're better at tackle than they were last year. They didn't think their tackle situation, especially at left tackle, was a really good one last year.

They think they've upgraded that. You mentioned the interior of the line, like some of the best interiors in all of football between center and both guards. I think what we do want to keep an eye on is in December, where they play a boatload of games in a short period of time. And if they can stay healthy through that, that really to me seems like the only deterring factor of their season is I think they play three games in like, what is it, like 10, 11 days?

To me, that's the only really difficult, difficult thing we've got to keep an eye on. When do we see you and Steve Smith do your new show? When the season starts. Steve's going to, Steve's going to, I think, enjoy this this summer of golf. I don't know if you follow his socials, Rich. He's he is on the links repeatedly. You text me this morning. Sorry, I went to bed because I texted him last night. Sorry, I went to bed early. I played nine holes in the heat.

I was exhausted. He's playing golf every day. So we're going to start when the season starts. What's the show called? The Red Ass and the Hair? What's it called, James? Well, no, listen, that's the other part. It's called 89. So your boy's not really getting represented all that much. What's up with that? Yeah, it should be like 89 and something. I don't know. We'll still see if the graphics department's finished working on everything yet.

Maybe we can slide something. If you've got to text me, Richard, you've got to leave that to you. You're in your new spot. You got to take care of your you're you're you handle that how you see fit. There is an eye in Smith and senior. So you've got to be careful.

Palmer has zero of them. We'll send my best to Steve and and everything else that you're doing with underdog fantasy. Congrats on it. I was thrilled to see that news and appreciate you coming on today, James. I appreciate you, Rich. This is awesome.

This felt like old times. Excellent. Terrific. Thanks. Thanks for the zoom here. That's James Palmer. Everybody check it out.

Senior sports reporter for underdog fantasy right here on the Rich Eisen Show. There you go. All right. Let's take a break. And when we come back.

Mike Toman, head coach, the Pittsburgh Steelers. So be fun. Let's go.

All right. Here we go to break. Hey, everybody, you know, we're living in a new age of football with the expanded college football playoff NIL conference realignment and increasing popularity of the draft. The landscape is changing and it's changing quickly and it can be confusing.

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See store for details. What would it mean to you to win an MVP award? What would it mean to you? I know you're about Bill Hawks. I know you're about the team. But what what what would it mean to you, do you think? Well, I think anytime, you know, anytime anybody wants an MVP, the first thing that I think about is that means that team's winning.

Right. I mean, that team's doing a great job of winning and doing everything you can. I think also, too, you know, that's my number one objective is to be the greatest winner of all time. Try to win as many games as possible in the Super Bowls, too. So, you know, that's, you know, if I'm playing my best, I think we got a really great chance to, you know, doing something special this year.

And I think, you know, the rest of the guys, too. And so it's a team effort. This game is so special because it's such a team effort. Everybody making their plays. Guys like David Moore making that amazing catch in the corner, tiptoeing in the sideline, moonwalking into the pylon. That was just, you know, that was the kind of efforts and team moments that allow players to do special things. And I think, you know, I got to credit my teammates on that. I think more than anything else, though. You know, for me, what it means is just that, you know, all the offseason work, all the training, all the time that you spend, all the focus, all the hours upon hours, all the, you know, the flights that, you know, and things that you've done just to, you know, sit down one on one with somebody and talk to them about, you know, the game of football, you know, and just spend some quality time with people. I think that's where those moments really show up, I think.

And I think that all that hard work and all the time trying to throw in a bucket when you're a young kid, you know, it all makes a difference. I think more importantly, though, I want to win this week and I'll take it on, you know, and just stay focused and do that. I know that's what it takes to be great is to stay in the moment, stay neutral, not to get too high. You know, I have high expectations, so I already know what those expectations are. So it's nothing new.

I'm just going to stay neutral and stay in the moment. Multiple appearances by Russ in the history of this show. Check it out on our YouTube channel. 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 clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Mike Tomlin getting set to sit down. Looks like they're blurring his background too, guys.

Like, I'm just trying to set the screen, set the screen, set the scene. I can see the check-in. You can see the check-in also. He has not sat down yet. So the Patriots are saying, the news out of Boston is that tomorrow is when Jerod Mayo will? Yeah, Jerod Mayo has said he's made the decision. Oh, he's made the decision.

But he has not informed the players yet, and that will come tomorrow. Okay, so there's that, and we'll hit that later on on our program. So Jerod Mayo has said this, okay? Yes. All right, you've got that.

Coach has taken his hat off. Okay, is he really? Yeah. Well, that's fine. They're getting the hat. You know what? I'm fine.

No hats are required. They're getting all the settings. You know, on the Rich Eisen Show.

You know that? So he's sitting down. His background's blurred. He's smiling.

We're going to get this thing framed up properly. We're going to bring him on in a second right here. Is he ready?

Is he ready? The news out of Pittsburgh Steelers put on their Twitter account that the new head coach, pardon me, the new quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers is Russell Wilson. And you know the old saying, as Coach Tomlin has said over and over again, if it's on Twitter, it must be true. And joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin. Did I quote you accurately, coach?

Yeah? Hey, you always quote me accurately, Rich. I appreciate you. So if the Steelers, if at Steelers has tweeted it out, it's got to be factual, right?

It is gospel, brother. I promise you. Okay.

So confirmed. Walk me through your decision making process that led to Russell Wilson being your week one starter. You know, it's been a challenging and good experience for me and for us to be quite honest with you.

Going through it and really, as we got into camp and really got competitive, it became evident that the decision was going to be difficult. You know, Justin's talents are more than I anticipated, particularly his mobility, the things that he can do and create. That was really exciting. Russ's deep ball is even more impressive than his reputation.

And I've seen it for 10 plus years or more toward 15 years in the National Football League to be around it every day was really exciting. And I think that those are two examples about what made it challenging. It was challenging because of the things that they're capable of doing and how they conducted themselves in a positive way, as opposed to being challenging because of the things that they lack. Sometimes you're dealing with two candidates, man, and you're choosing the best of two unattractive options, if you will. It became very evident early in this process that it wasn't going to be that.

And when you're in my position, man, that's a good problem. We had two capable guys, two guys that we're excited about their skill sets, two guys that we're excited about how they conduct themselves as professionals and as men. And it played out in that way.

And so I'm really comfortable. How much did Russ's resume and also his years of being a veteran put a thumb on the scale here for you? You know, I think it I think it does, but I think it does in terms of him, not in terms of the decision maker. I don't think that you can have the experiences that he's had in it not showing how you play. The moments can't be too big for a guy that's been at it as long as he has seen the things that he's seen. He's had that confetti rain down on him.

It's not speculation. It's not dreaming for him. He's lived it. And I think that when you experience things in this game, be it a player or coach or quarterback or head coach, I just think it's benefit in having lived and have seen it. And certainly the high floor component of it puts you at ease from a decision maker standpoint. But I think the real significant advantage of his resume is probably in him. And do you have conversations with him about where he wants to go to fill out his resume here?

I mean, you don't have to have our heads in the sand here. There's a place in Canton that he had a charted course for with his years in Seattle. And this opportunity certainly for your vaunted franchise and fan base for him to succeed with you here, he can put himself back on that track. Do you have those conversations with him openly with this opportunity? Certainly.

And it was a real component of us getting to know one another. To be quite honest with you, man, I want to be around guys that are driven. I fear satisfaction. And so like that was the first question that I had. Guys like him aren't hungry. You know, hunger has been has been has been met. You better be driven.

You better be in search of something. And he is. And I quickly got comfortable with that understanding as I've gotten to know him. How much of that conversation are you willing to share with me right now?

Coach? Man, we can talk about Rich, whatever you want to talk about, because I'm fascinated by it, because it's serious. Like this is this is this is his livelihood and his legacy.

Like this is a legacy question we have right here. I think for me, it may have come from me first. Like, you know, what's your motivation? What drives you? What brings you here?

What are you trying to get done here? Like, I don't have time to beat around the bush in terms of getting to know him professionally or get to know any of these guys professionally. I just think in order to lead somebody, man, you got to kind of understand what motivates them, what drives them, where they add in the short term and the long term. And so those are some questions that I got to immediately in our first conversation.

And he was not resistant to him at all. His answers, quite frankly, were music to my ears. He talked about a guy whose whose better days lie ahead, who's excited about the challenges that lie ahead as opposed to his resume. You know, that resonates with me. I can relate to that.

I don't care about my resume and the ground that I've covered. I'm excited about twenty, twenty four. And he made that really evident that he is as well. All that said, and again, I don't mean to telegraph anything to your friend, Raheem Morris, who you're seeing in a couple of Sundays from now. Is there a Justin Fields package still, do you think? My friend Raheem Morris better be ready for Justin Fields package. I'll just say that, OK, so so Fields won't just have an earbud and a clipboard is what you're saying here. You know, I don't want to disclose any strategic approaches, but it's probably too much talent to be sitting around watching all day.

You know what I mean? I do like Tomlin here on the Rich Eisen show. What about up front again? You know, you you had Nate Herbert come down with a season ending injury. And, you know, when you draft somebody like Zach Frazier in the second round, you might not be sitting here thinking that's my starting quarter, my my my starting center for Russell Wilson in week one.

But sure enough, that's the way it is working. What about his readiness, coach? I feel really comfortable with Zach. Zach is not a young guy. Zach had an extended career at West Virginia.

I think Zach is older than Broderick Jones, for instance, who is our second year tackle. And I think it's reflected in how he conducts himself and how he plays. He hasn't performed or behaved like a rookie. I'm getting a solid level of comfort with what he's capable of doing.

Obviously, you don't get a chance to do it until you do. And so I'll say final analysis for when we come out of Atlanta. But I have no fear regarding his capabilities or or how he's going to behave in those circumstances. I've seen enough of him in this process that that's not on my radar in terms of angst or anxiety. Well, and as you know, in terms of angst and anxiety amongst your fan base, the offensive coordinator has been certainly front and center.

Arthur Smith has been brought in here. Why him? What what spoke to you about him, coach? You know, just how competitive it was when when we played against him over the years.

You know, in Tennessee, man, we had some knockdown drag outs with with that group. I just always respected his approach to business, his utilization of personnel, his diversity of schematics. You know, and then when I met him after he became head coach in Atlanta, we had an opportunity to come across each other at various league functions, owners meetings and so forth and just the brand of ball that we desire to play here in Pittsburgh is aligned with with his philosophical approach. And so we don't have to sell them on anything. He doesn't have to buy into anything. It just is the brand of ball that we desire to play as a lot in line with the brand of ball that he has played and he aspires to play.

And so it made it really comfortable. And so basically what we saw in Tennessee is that similar to what we're going to basically I mean, it hasn't changed, obviously, in Atlanta as well. I'm just trying to give Steeler fans a little frame of reference how this might look for you.

You know, I think regardless of your coaching approach, you better utilize your people. And so it's not going to look exactly the same. It's not going to be the same as it was in Tennessee or Atlanta, for that matter, because the tools that he has to work with are different. And that's something that I expect to be quite honest with you. You know, we've got a skill set here, whether it's individually or collectively, and I expect them to maximize it, to lean on our strengths, to work to minimize our weaknesses in all the situations and scenarios a little bit different. And so, no, it's not going to look like Tennessee, man. Derrick Henry plays for Baltimore, not for us, but we got a pretty good running back group.

And so I expect it to be to be effective, certainly. And you got a pretty good former Ravens sitting there in the middle of your defense to try and stop it. You're already smiling about Patrick Queen. I could see he's your type of player, coach. Man, I love Patrick Queen. I can't believe Patrick Queen plays for us. I smile every time I hear his name, because I've seen firsthand what he's capable of as a young, talented player. He's got the combination of youth and experience.

I mean, this guy just turned 25 here a couple of weeks ago. He's never missed a game in the NFL. He's got youth and experience. Man, he can do a lot of things. He can run and cover and blitz. I mean, it's just it's really exciting to have a defensive quarterback of his caliber with his experience, but also his youth. And T.J. Watt, can you tell me your favorite story about him?

What what is it? Was it the first time you laid eyes on him or the first time he started doing Watt-like things? I just want to give you the floor on on somebody as special as T.J., coach.

Man, I could talk all day about T.J. Watt. You know, probably a story that's kind of indicative of him is we we flew into Madison, Wisconsin the night before his pro day in an effort to get to know him. You know, you take him out to eat. You know, we had some other people there, but really, you know, I was there to kind of get a feel for him. And it was really fun and cool that that he was really annoyed by the whole process. You know, he didn't want to chit chat. He wasn't interested in getting to know me or me getting to know him, man.

He just wanted to go to work. And that's kind of indicative of T.J., man. He is blue collar in every way.

What you see is what you get. He does not have time for chit chat, man. There's an urgency in that guy that's really contagious, man, and fun to be around. You know, sometimes somebody can show you a lack of personality and it becomes personality.

T.J. was not interested in getting to know us and us getting to know him. But having gotten to know him, obviously over the last seven years, man, I just really appreciate that about him. He's on go as it pertains to football, his level of intensity and urgency in all football settings is unimaginable. Those of us that are around him day to day, we're not surprised by the things that we see in stadium because we know the approach. Well, Mike Tomlin here on the Rich Eisen Show.

I'd be remiss if I didn't use my remaining time with you for a couple of Competition Committee questions. The conversation about the kickoff rule, the new kickoff rule and the, I guess, closeness to the vest that we saw in the preseason. A lot of folks are wondering if the 30 yard line for a touchback is not punitive enough. There's been a conversation about moving that ball up to the 35. Folks like you in a game situation, you're up by four after you score a touchdown, two minutes to go, certainly with your defense as stout as it is. Screw it. Just kick it through the end zone.

I'll play 70 yards and that's not as punitive. So what do you think? What do you think of the subject matter?

Yeah, that is a legitimate discussion. I see all sides of the argument, but I think in terms of the concept and how new and dramatically new it is, I don't think an out such as that is necessarily a negative thing. We all moved it in this thing and we moved into it rather quickly, into some uncharted territory.

And to me, that touchback with the ball spotted at a 30 yard line is probably an appropriate out, if we at all are uncomfortable with the trajectory of this thing or we don't have enough familiarity with it in the most significant moments. And so that's my attitude regarding it. I'm excited about the new concept. I don't live in my fear.

I live in my hopes. And so we've stacked our chips appropriately in that regard, man. I'm excited about C. Patterson, man. We went out there and signed him about 10 minutes after that rule passed, for example. Yeah. Because that's got court Darryl Patterson written all over it. You know, he just increases one spot and off he goes one on one with the kicker.

And that's a wrap. I'd like to be a part of that history. You know what I mean? I've seen that from afar over the course of his career.

I'd like to be a component of it, to be a part of it. But in terms of spotting the ball at the 30 or 35, I think all of those things are debatable in terms of where we are right now. I see the rationale behind it because this is an unfamiliar play and that's probably an appropriate way to get out of an unfamiliar play largely for all of us if it gets uncomfortable in any way. You'd hate something new and dramatic to decide the outcome of significant games without giving those in charge an appropriate out to maybe avoid that if they so choose. And would you be up for if it's touch back a palooza through the first two months of the season, switch the rule middle of the season or no? That doesn't happen. I'm not into switching rules midstream just philosophically speaking. I think it messes with the competitive fairness of the game.

Some people have five weeks early, some people don't. You know, I just think that mid-season rule changes, man, are taboo from my perspective. Okay. And then let's talk about you a little bit here. If you don't mind, did you get anybody knocking on your door during the playing season and when you sign your contract to extend in Pittsburgh for TV, media? Anybody knocking on your door for that, coach? Hey, people knock on my door all the time, man, but believe me, if they knew me, they probably wouldn't.

I am no threat to you, Rich, I promise you that. No, my heart's not on a swivel, you know, I'm fine. But I'm just wondering, you know, if that doesn't interest you at all, right? At all, that keeps that for you. It does not because my takes and outlook on things is probably not most people's cup of tea. I have no interest in being entertaining or boom-basting. Oh, no, it could be straightforward information like that may, you know, the grind of coaching. I mean, you've been at this a while, despite your boyish looks, Mike, you know, so you know how you know how your space is trending, man, you got to you got to be controversial. You got to have hot takes. You got to be boom-bastic. And I just refuse to play play ball in that way. That's that's not my style.

And you still wake up the same day, wanted a coach, same day, just like every day, just like we week one, year one, day one for you right now. I'll tell you, I'll tell you, Richmond, I got better clarity, man. I'm a first time empty nester.

My daughter is a freshman in Athens, Georgia. And so, man, I feel I feel more hyper focused than ever before, man. I'm fathering from a distance now.

And that's not as intense as the daily routine of having kids in house. OK, so then if you don't mind, I'm going to utilize my last minute with you for help on a disciplinary issue I have in my current house right now. Coach Tomlin. Oh, I love it.

OK, let's get it. So on yesterday's program, the great Karl Anthony Towns was here. He's an Eagles fan. So he's wearing a Jalen Hurts jersey and showing you this photograph of him with. That's me, obviously.

And that's Chris Brockman, my colleague to my to my left. What are we doing here? That's what we're doing. And Chris is on his tippy toes to look taller than he is and to look taller than me and closer to Karl Anthony Towns. How do I handle this situation, coach?

How would I handle this? You know, so sometimes you just got to let them live and let them fail to better learn the lesson. And so I give him a mulligan on that one. He'll run into something down the road that educates him that he just needs to be himself. Right. I mean, you are who you are, right?

You're as tall as you are. Like, that's it. You have to be yourself, coach, right? There's no doubt. But I think I think if he keeps living, he's going to learn that you don't have to educate him.

Let him let him figure that out. OK, rich. So this is not a disciplinary situation, no warnings, no calling into the office, no nothing like that. I don't do that. I mean, it certainly could be if you so choose, man.

Sometimes I thoughtfully kill a mosquito with an ax for no reason, you know, but I don't certainly think it's required. I just think it's funny. OK, very good. Very good. I just want to again, because I'm as tall as I am, I'm fine with how tall I am.

It doesn't matter that, you know, Karl-Anthony Towns is damn near seven feet. But OK, I just want to make sure I'm handling this properly and I just wanted to have a lead pipe wielding professional such as yourself give me some sort of insight. So I greatly appreciate that, coach. Thank you. And always here for you, sir. Oh, and by the way, before I let you go, how's my Wolverine? How's Roman Wilson looking? How's my Wolverine? Coach? He's doing he's doing great, man.

He ran on land today, man. And so, you know, he's pushing back closer toward health. I like him a lot more once he starts making plays. OK, I look forward to that, coach. Thanks for the time. Always appreciate it. And and good luck week one and look for more of my calls.

I'll see you soon. Thank you, Rich. Sincerely, man. Just got a lot of respect and appreciation for what you do. All the best to you guys. Thanks. Right back at you. That's Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving us insight and for me, a little bit of advice on how to deal with somebody who's faking. He's heightening right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

I don't know why you're concerned with it whatsoever. I actually use real estate with Mike Tomlin on that. I mean, you really did. Yeah, he did. That was a choice.

I think I think it probably at the middle of the night, you're going to wake up and go, what? I do that. He's still he's still offered respect to me after I had a respect. I'm just you know, I love I love stuff like that as much as the X's and O's just to kind of get the aspects of, you know, he's not bombastic, bombastic, doesn't want to be entertaining or bombastic twice to bombastic me, Mr. Bombastic Shaggy in my head. It's Russell Wilson, man. We kind of knew. Right. But the most important.

So it's not interesting. We're going to see Justin Field. How about that? Yeah, I tweeted.

I will tell my friend Rahim. Yeah, I tweeted that quote out right away. Be ready. And I love that.

I love that. You know what? We're going to let the chips fall with a May on this kickoff rule, you know, and and we'll see how it goes. You know, if there's a bunch of touchbacks, we'll see. But we signed Cordarrel Patterson within 10 minutes of the competition committee forwarding it and the ownership passed it. We signed Cordarrel Patterson on the spot, because that is exactly, that's pretty funny, the guy that teams will kick right over the head.

Seriously, man, you take a four point lead on the Pittsburgh Steelers with two minutes to go. And Cordarrel Patterson is standing in that zone. That's going to the two groups of men that are only five yards apart, just 15 yards in front of him. And there's a kicker behind these groups of men.

And that's all that's left. End zone. You're going to kick it to Cordarrel Patterson? Nope.

Hell no. End zone. You'll say, I'll play 70 yards on this team. Let Russ go 70 yards, which is why, you know, would it be more punitive to say 65 yards? I don't know.

60? Make it the penalty for kicking it sideways out of bounds? Do you hear the penalty for kicking it short is the 40? You got to kick it in that zone.

And I love that. It came on earlier and said, you declare onside kick. You need to onside kick it. That would be a massive penalty. I just don't like that. The onside kick is dead. No one's going to onside kick this year. I disagree.

I think they will. It's dead. You still have to do it.

And if they do do it, no one's going to recover it. It's the same thing. Make it a play. The fact that the onside kick has not worked. Has nothing to do with the surprise factor. Because they changed the rule.

You can't load up on one side. It has to be even now. They killed it slowly over time. Good chatting with Mike Tillman on a day that they made news. Here we go.

Hashtag. 844-204-rich-number2dell. We'll wrap up this show and let you know what's going on. Listeners please welcome a real finance nerd from our sponsor, NerdWallet. Hey Sean. Hey Rich.

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These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. So you guys don't have unique names. What do you mean you guys?

What do you mean by that? I'm not saying. There's no one saying, oh, Tom Brady won the Super Bowl. I'm going to name my baby Tom.

That's not how it works. Tom is too simple. Shaquille, Alsan.

These are unique names that people will name their kids. I promise you. Steve, am I right? Steve is not laughing. He's not looking at you.

And he is leaning as far from the mic as possible. Steve is a regular name. Steve is a regular name. Steve is the name that folks can pronounce. Now Steve has another name.

Wow. Steve, what's your other name? My real name, which is three people called me, my mom and my grandma, and my wife, is actually Stevone.

Now. S-T-E-V-O-N-N-E. Now, Stevone. Stevone.

They say Stevone. Had you used that name. Had you used that name, right?

No. You're the legend. You're the legend you are. Had you used that name, do you know what would have happened? Any city you played in, everybody who had a baby would have named their baby Stevone. You know what would have happened.

You know what's up. I don't care what city you played in. Carolina, Baltimore, whoever city you played in, that city would have had babies with that name.

Santa Monica. Every time you score a touchdown, they'd be like, I'm naming my baby Stevone. Right? You know him, right? Well, Stevone, thanks for coming on, Stevone. Thanks for coming on, Stevone. You got a rich man. Hey, he been mentioning that name right now.

A few light bulbs went off. This baby due tomorrow is perfect. This baby due tomorrow is perfect. You on some dirt, man. That cracks me up every time you play that video. Every time. Great show.

Fantastic show. I want to thank Mike Tomlin for coming on like that and James Palmer and his hair and Bruce Feldman in studio and Walt Anderson. We were all over the map.

We were really all over the map. And to wrap up this program, if you're trying to call in right now, nobody's answering. Because our call screener, Adam Chudwin, is out here on the floor and he's been wanting to do this. Good to see you, Adam. How are you, sir?

Good to see you, Rich. I remember last year at this point I said I was cautiously optimistic. This year, all caution thrown to the wind.

Why not? I'm all in. We're the preseason champs. We've suffered so many years. We have the team. We have the quarterback.

We've only had so many bad quarterbacks where you can lose your mind. The Craig Krenzels of the world. Craig Krenzels. Wow. We're here now.

Okay. By the way, first Craig Krenzels drop. Ever. Ever. In the history show. You're rocking your Chicago Bears shirt. How old is this shirt?

I just bought it on Fanatics. Hey. Okay. Fantastic.

Hey, we're back. If you should have let us know, we would have gotten one for nothing. I don't know.

Maybe. All right. All right. Here we go. The Chicago Bears win-loss game with Adam, our call screener, starting with the home day for the Tennessee Titans. What happens?

What happens? Well, the tickets are very, very expensive for this game. I will be in Chicago. If any fans have an extra ticket, let me know, at hudwin, c-h-u-d-w-i-n. I will be there.

I can't help you. We get the win. Big first game.

You saying over and over again you want to play the win-loss game, was it just purely so you could give out your email address to get a free ticket to this game? Instagram. At hudwin. Instagram.

I'll bring a cup from the back for somebody. Got it. At the Texans. That's a tough game.

CJ Stroud is who we want Caleb Williams to become. We lose that game, though. One and one at the Colts. I don't respect the Colts, just like the caller yesterday. We get the big win. Let's go. The caller complained about the disrespect for the Colts, and then said they went 5-12.

Then he disrespected them. Two and one home for the Rams. Ooh, another tough game. I love the Rams receiving core, but I think the Bears get a big win here. Three and one home for the Panthers. This is the game where you really, really feel bad for the Panthers fans.

Oh, wow. They see what they could have had that they don't have. The Bears get a blowout win. That the Bears have because they had who they have. Yeah.

Something like that. Four and one in Tottenham against the Jaguars in London. Rich, I know you're an NFL employee. I'll be calling that game. I want a close game. We have to grow the game. Yes.

I'm not a big fan of these European games, though. You have to wake up so early, 6.30 in the morning. This guy.

Oh, poor Adam. I don't get my beauty rash. It's unbelievable. It's not the bitch about your wake-up call game. It's the win-loss game.

What is it? It's a totally home game for us. We get the win. All right.

Then you go into the buy. Five and one. Wow.

Come out at the commanders. Five and one. Great matchup.

You have the number one pick versus the number two pick in James Daniels. Right. We get the win at Washington.

Okay. That's five wins in a row. Six and one at the Cardinals. This is the key game where we need to have Jalen Johnson turn Maserati Marv into Mazda Marv, and we blow out the Cardinals.

Mazda Marv. Geez. Oh, my God. Seven and one home for the Patriots. So far.

Rockman. Let's watch the game together. We'll watch the game together. We'll move on.

Yeah. Seven wins in a row. Eight and one home for the Packers. What happens now?

Oh, God. Ten straight losses against the Packers. We have to win this game. I think we finally do.

Okay. Nine and one. That's eight wins in a row. Home for the Vikings. That's another win. Nine wins in a row at the Lions to kick off Thanksgiving. This is a very difficult game.

The Lions are going to be a great team this year. We get the loss. All right. The nine-game win streak is over, but you're still ten. Geez.

That's unbelievable. You got caught up. Ten and two at the Niners. You've been caught up.

This is a really hard stretch. Another loss for the Bears. Ten and three at the Vikings on a Monday night. Ooh. Sam Darnold gets the best of us here. Another loss.

Wow. Three losses after nine wins in a row. Home for the Lions. Revenge game. We get the win at home.

Okay. Ten and four. Eleven and four. Home for the Seahawks. That's a win.

Twelve and four at the Packers. Do you sweep them? No.

I don't know. I still think we make the playoffs, though. And we have a trade here.

Twelve and five. And you make the playoffs. Yeah.

Now I'm your number one seed. Yeah. I'm so excited. I watched Hard Knocks. Shout out to Badgin's dad, who's unbelievable, the arm wrestling champ. Yes. And I loved Hard Knocks this year. And yeah. I'm excited for the season, Rich.

I really like it. Go Bears! Go Bears! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.

With a nine game win streak in the middle. Five. Oh, baby. Adam. Slow down. Alright.

Good thing you revealed to me that my gummy jokes for the year were way off. Is Adam getting drug tested after the show? No, he's not. He's not. As you know, Mike Tomlin just said, I've got to let you guys be yourselves and learn yourselves about your own missteps. That's okay. That's it.

I'm rich, Adam. It's my record, kind of like Brockman standing on his toes, essentially. Brockman, you haven't played this game yet, have you? This is the, this is the, by the way, that's the fifth twelve and five prediction from a Bears fan. And the wins are high.

Wow. Two eleven and six. Two eleven and six is a thirteen and four. That was Kyle Brandt.

Bears vibes are high. And Sean and Wes Palm is the only Debbie Downer, eight and nine. Alright, brother. Thanks again. Good stuff. That's Adam Chudwin. Adam. I want to thank everybody for appearing on today's program.

We'll be back to wrap it up on the Roku channel in a second. 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.