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Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on the Roku Sports Channel from noon to three Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime.
But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now on the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Live from the Rich Eisen Show Studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford. Coming up, Viking Safety, Harrison Ford.
The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Jalen Hurts has cleared concussion protocol. He's going to start for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon on Fox.
It'll be full compliment. I imagine we're definitely going to, I mean, we're definitely going to see Jordan Love in that game. Marshawn Lattimore is going to be back just in time to take on Mike Evans. Two guys who, to use the old YouTube name, are going to be back.
Mike Evans. Two guys who, to use the old Keith Jackson phrase, plain don't like each other. They're going to be locking horns, if you will, on Sunday Night Football when the Super Wild Card Weekend has a six game docket. We'll talk about all of that with Tom Pelissero when he joins us in the middle of this hour. We chatted with, if you missed the first hour, Matthew Stafford, my conversation with him. We discussed Deshaun Watson blowing out his Achilles. I think that means the Browns are going to go second overall to a quarterback.
Maybe they would have done it anyway, but I think this is absolutely going to happen now. We'll talk about that again with Tom Pelissero. We started the program with me saying into this microphone words I've never said before, which is kind of didn't mind watching Notre Dame win a football game last night. That's how Marcus Freeman's changed my opinion of Notre Dame football. Tonight, it's Texas Longhorns football against the Ohio State Buckeyes for the right to play Notre Dame. Man, I am the Minister of Culture of El Segundo, California right now. I'll tell you that.
Joe Manganiello is strolling in studio on hour number three. It will be a Steelers therapy session, that is for sure. But let's bring in our next guest, truly one of the best at it for quite some time. He's probably happy with what happened in the Orange Bowl last night. In year 13, getting set to take on the Rams in Glendale, Arizona now.
The final game of Super Wild Card Weekend on Monday Night Football is the defensive backs of the Minnesota Vikings, Harrison Smith. How are you doing, Harrison? Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me. You got it first things first. Playing in the national championship game, the Golden Domers, getting it done.
You must be jacked up, Harrison. Yeah, that was a heck of a game last night. I thought it was great. Two traditional powerhouses. It was fun to see them get a win.
It'll be a good matchup in the championship, no matter who it is. How does a kid from Knoxville, Tennessee, is that where you're from originally? Yes. How does that kid wind up with a Golden Dome on top of his head? How did that happen? I actually went to Catholic schools growing up, but that didn't really factor into it. It was the best. It's kind of the best fit for me, football-wise, academically. So yeah, it worked out. Got to play in Michigan quite a bit. Had a couple tough games at the Big House.
Yeah, that was back when Notre Dame didn't mind playing us. You know what I mean? Are we scared now? No, no. I don't know. You run that up your flagpole.
You run that one up your flagpole. I'm just wondering now. All of a sudden, those games went poof. I thought those were... They did go away right around that ACC affiliation time.
I think so, you know what I mean? But I love those. I thought those were great because it was all on the line. Certainly when I went to school there, I'm obviously much older than you. When I went to school there, Lou Holtz, Bo Schembechler, let's go right off the bat. And if you lost that game, national titles hopes went out the window. That game was awesome. And to me, that's an all-time uniform game.
Michigan, the Notre Dame, it always looks incredible. Did Charlie Weiss recruit you? Is that who recruited you?
Yes, yes. I was there with him for about half my time and then Brian Kelly the last two years. The beginning of the Brian Kelly era. And now, before we move on to your pro life right now, your two cents on Marcus Freeman, he's unbelievable. He really is terrific, what he's done.
Under the circumstances in which he got the job and where they are right now on this very day, Harrison, it's unbelievable. I don't want to talk about his age, but he's only a couple years older than I am in the way that he carries himself. You can tell the wisdom that he has about not just coaching, but also developing young men, being a leader for them, and then making it about the team. You can't really ask for a better leader than that. And I don't know him at all.
I'm just watching from the outside. But they seem to have a very tight group that loves to be around each other and loves to play for each other. Well, everything you just said about Marcus Freeman, with the exception of you don't know him very well, could go the same for Kevin O'Connell, right? He's only a few years older than you. And everything else you just said about Marcus Freeman is the same for Kevin O'Connell in your current Vikings life, Harrison, right? Yeah, I think they obviously have their differences, but there's a lot of similarities.
I think speaking about KO, from the day he got here, I thought this guy's like, he knows things a little bit beyond his years. I can just tell by the way he operates. And that's not just, you know, being a good offensive schematic guy.
It's more than that. It's the totality of being a player and a coach and figuring out how to run an organization. So he's been very, I've learned a lot from him and enjoy playing for him. Like he said, we're pretty much peers. I'm only a couple years younger than him too.
Yeah, I know. And again, if there's anybody who I could have on, and I appreciate you doing this Harrison Smith, to talk about the CEO nature of his gig. You know, when I've had Justin Jefferson on or Sam Darnold on or even Kevin on talking about the offensive side of things, you being on the defensive side of things.
And we'll get to Brian Flores in a second. But what can you tell me about how Kevin O'Connell runs the show from top down, Harrison? I mean, without taking too much of your day, I think he sets out every year with a defined philosophy and purpose and clearly communicates that to us as players and to the entire organization.
And then everything kind of triples down from that, how we get those things done and how we go about our business. And then really where I think, and he's not the only guy that does it, a lot of guys do it, but calling plays and being the head coach on game day is a lot. It's just a lot.
You don't really know how much it is until you see somebody try to do it or you do it. So just growing, growing as the head coach in the office coordinator at the same time, I think is something he's always doing and trying to get better. Like he's really hard on himself, but is incredibly prepared and executes well.
Harrison Smith here in advance of the Rams and Vikings, which you can hear on many Westwood One stations, as well as back here on the Rich Eisen Show. So Brian Flores's defense, how does that suit you? How do you perform in it to your liking, Harrison? I'd say it's kind of a multiple defense as far as players go and what's asked of them. Guys have more than just, you're kind of more than just pigeonholed in one role.
You want to be able to kind of be flexible, kind of liquid. We come up with stuff here and there on the spot. It's a lot of fun. It's aggressive. It's logical. And it evolves. It evolves. We don't just sit in one thing.
If it's not working, if it is, we will. It just makes a lot of sense to me. And it's getting to start in it last year, year 12 of my career, year 13 this year.
There's a lot, there's a different ways to play football that I had never done before. Really? Yeah. And it's kind of outside the box in some scenarios. You know, kind of keeps you on edge. Yeah. You talk about you were the opponent.
That's what I'm saying. Because it certainly does keep the opponents on edge. And interestingly enough, it's kind of wild, man. You know, I saw you in London called your game against the Jets, and that was Aaron Rodgers. You picked him off.
And now it's kind of like old school. You're going against Matthew Stafford twice in a season, just like you used to do back in the day. I guess you're one game against Jay Cutler away from having a whole throwback of the NFC north of your history, Harrison.
And so maybe old Cuddy will make a playoff appearance for somebody. Do you ever pick off the current quarterback coach, Josh McCown? Do you ever pick him off in a game?
Do you ever get him? I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think so. Maybe you could ask him when you see him in the hallway.
Maybe. I don't know if he'll share that with you. He still thinks he can. He can route me up out of receiver.
Is that right? Does he do that in practice? He talks to me.
I don't know. He still looks pretty good. Again, I saw him in London. It does look like he can give some snaps. What about Matthew Stafford? Can you tell me your preparation to go against a guy that you've gone against so many times, Harrison?
Yeah, it's obviously different. Both being in different schemes, I should say. But to me, he's always been one of my favorite guys to watch. He's a competitor. He can make some crazy throws. He's very good at moving within the pocket kind of subtly and manipulating defensive players downfield with his eyes, opening up windows. And he's just kind of got that gamer aspect to him where he can buy a little time, throw a little shovel pass downfield or underhand or whatever.
He's like the quintessential football player to me, like backyard football player. But he also knows the game incredibly well. Oftentimes, like we were talking about, we're kind of a wild defense, try to confuse people. We're not going to be able to confuse him every time.
This is the reality of it. He knows the game too much. And we're going to have to execute our assignments and play well and do the things that make good defenses good defenses, no matter what the scheme is. And it's a couple of minutes left with Harrison Smith. What are your two cents on playing this game in Arizona now? I can attest here in Los Angeles, California, I understand why the game's moved. But all that said, now it's like kind of like a neutral site game for you guys. Or what are you guys talking about in terms of playing this in Arizona, Harrison? Yeah, honestly, we haven't got moved after we left yesterday and haven't talked about it yet. But I think the main thing is it's not like I'm happy that we don't have to play in L.A.
I feel bad for the people that are losing their homes and their memories and kind of the places they love and all the people that are suffering and whatever's going on. That's the main thing. So we're going to prepare how we prepare, play where we're supposed to play. But definitely thinking about everybody out in California. Thank you for saying that.
I appreciate that. In terms of the season, 14 wins, a remarkable season. Sam Darnold, the quarterback, has just been a revelation in the position. And you guys are set up, although the first ever 14 win road team in the history of the NFL playoffs right here.
So twofold one. Do you think the NFL should change a rule that just because you didn't win a division, you should get a home game because you won these a significant amount of regular season games? Harrison? I don't.
No, I don't. In our position, I should probably say yes, that we should. But no, I mean, win your division, get a home game like that's just the NFL. The rules don't miss. That's how it's done in the NFL.
That's how that's how it should stay, in my opinion. And then how do you what's your, again, two cents thought process going into these playoffs as a 14 win team? I imagine this is clearly one of the best teams you've played on in your 13 years with a with a sense of purpose and a sense of mission. What what are you thinking about as you have this opportunity to win four more games and hold the trophy you've been dreaming about ever since you were there in Tennessee as a kid?
Harrison? Yeah, it's to me, it's it's about one game. That's it. It's always about one game. It's about one play. Do those things with with the joy that we have throughout the year, like enjoy the moment, be in the moment.
It's obviously a big stage, but football is football. And if you're prepared, go out and execute how you always do at a high level and see what the score is at the end of the game. And then enjoy the moment. Is that your message to Vikings fans, Skoll fans who are a little nervous based on the way the last regular season game ended?
What's your message to Vikings fans right now, Harrison, as I let you go on your Friday? Embrace it. That's what it's about. It's about being nervous. It's about being uncomfortable. That's what the game is. That's why it's that's why it draws so many people to it, because it's it's different than your day to day life. It gets you on edge and makes you feel things you don't always feel like.
Embrace those things. It makes it makes it all worthwhile. It makes it better and normally helps you perform at a higher level. Maybe it'll help you watch the game and some odd comfort of discomfort, I guess. Yeah. And then if if you're uncomfortable, maybe a Skoll of a different kind, right, to help take the edge off.
You know what I mean? That's always available. Hey, Harrison, thanks again for the time. I always appreciate our chats. Congrats on being in this position. And let's do this again soon.
Maybe we'll see you in New Orleans. You're the man, Rich. Thank you.
Right back at you. That's Harrison Smith, the Golden Domer, as well as the man patrolling the secondary of Minnesota's defense right here on the Rich Eisen Show. I appreciate Harrison saying that what's going on here in Los Angeles certainly was at top of his mind as opposed to, hey, now now they could play whose house Rams house in the house, the Cardinals all they want. But I mean, that's a decided home field advantage for the Rams. I know there'll be there would be a lot of Vikings fans here, too, but this game is going to be in Arizona on Monday.
But the real life aspect of it is the most important thing that needs to be addressed. And kudos to a greatly appreciative, certainly here in Los Angeles, the Will family who owns the Vikings, donating a million dollars to support on the ground relief efforts here. And thank you. That's all I want to say. Yeah, I've seen a few teams do this. Houston did it as well.
I think the league is doing five million. Thank you. Every everything. Absolutely. Everything matters.
Let's take a break here on the Rich Eisen Show. And before we do, just tell you about our friends at Hyundai that the folks at Hyundai, you can now get a car, a Hyundai on Amazon. And the best part about it, you don't have to break down a car sized Amazon box because you can pick up the Hyundai at the dealer. You can get a Hyundai through Amazon. Pick up the car at your dealer. Hyundai now available on Amazon. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Limited availability.
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See store or sleepnumber.com for details. Back here on the Roku Sports Channel, our terrestrial radio audience will rejoin shortly. Man, there's so much to talk about with Tommy P., right? Always. Did you see the Carl Anthony Towns mariachi band got picked up by a lot of blogs and things like that? No, I didn't.
It did. Eagles fans are very happy about that. Yeah. Right?
Very, very happy. I mean, I'm just saying I missed it. Yeah, you missed it. It was like I told the... The cool thing is that, you know, only a very small circle of... Well, it's not like we got a large circle of people here. But even a small circle of people knew that this was happening. Brockman didn't know. I didn't know it was happening, yeah. I was shocked.
I mean, just the great... Here we go. Can we play this? Let's hear it. Yeah, we played it three times.
He particularly appreciated that, by the way. Carl. We don't have to play it right now. By gosh. God, I can't wait till they lose. Fly, eagles, fly. Didn't they spell that? E-A-G-L-E-S. Oh my God, that was so good.
Carl Anthony Towns, he's the best dude. Mike, when they were there, I was like, I went up and shook their hands. I'm like, I love it, but I hate it. Yeah.
I love it, but I hate it. And they got it. They could have played How About Them Cowboys for a year. I should have slipped them a 50 and had them play some Biggie or something about it. You didn't know they were coming, though. Well, you and I kind of one day a couple weeks ago said, he's going to do something weird. And you mentioned, like, we were just mariachi bands. His first thought was a choir. It's just that we don't have the space for like 20 people, like parking. Right, exactly.
You know what I mean? His first thought was a choir. Oh, my God. Hallelujah. But there's still 2025 football season.
Man, you got to pray they don't win the Super Bowl. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Tom Pellicero back here on the Rich Eisen Show and so much to talk about with you, Tommy P, NFL Network insider. Let's start off with your tweet you sent out about Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys. They're going to start talking to each other about staying together. Is that what you're saying, Tom? They've been talking about staying together. And by the way, what's up to my boys in the studio? They've been talking really. Jerry Jones, Mike McCarthy met extensively over the past three days and talked about everything that happened in 2024 and also about the future.
How do they do better in 2025? What they have not gotten to yet are the financials. And that goes beyond a contract for Mike McCarthy. It's also about bringing back his resistance, because remember, basically the entire staff has their contracts up. They also, just like Mike McCarthy, if they don't have contracts by next Tuesday, can accept jobs elsewhere. What I am told is that Jerry plans to call McCarthy's agent Don Yee today and launch things in terms of at least talking, if not negotiating. About what a new contract looks like here. It's not a guarantee that this gets done by Tuesday.
There's different ways that this can go. We know that Jerry Jones likes to take contract matters in many cases down to the wire. I would fully anticipate that this could go all the way up until McCarthy's contract is due to expire on Tuesday.
But the sides are definitely, from what I'm told, on the same page about this in terms of seeing if there's a path to move forward together here. If they're able to get the contract done, Mike McCarthy's going to be back in 2025 with the Cowboys. If they can't, by the time his contract expires on Tuesday, then I anticipate there's going to be other teams that still have an interest in potentially bringing in McCarthy for an interview for their head coaching job.
So a critical 72 hours or so ahead. Okay, let's talk about the Raiders firing Tom Telesco after firing Antonio Pierce. The general sense is there is the Tom Brady fingerprints on this because he is now a member of ownership and is going to have a large say on what to do next. And that this is Tom Brady's ship to run. That Mark Davis has essentially turned to one of the most decorated football players ever on the Mount Rushmore and say, welcome to ownership.
Now run it. Is that oversimplifying things or is that really what's happening in Las Vegas right now, Tom? I would say, Rich, that is pretty close to reality right now. This is the Tom Brady show in Las Vegas. And really, you know, Tom Brady throughout the course of this season, even though, you know, he's traveling around doing games every Sunday for Fox. He's got a million different businesses that he's involved with.
His kids are in Florida. He's got a lot going on in his life. But he's also, even though he's not allowed in the production meetings, he's talked to it, interfaced with a lot of different coaches throughout the course of the season. He reached out recently to his old coach Bill Belichick about what it would take for Belichick to come to Las Vegas. And in recent days, he's been reaching out and being directly involved in terms of who exactly is going to be coming in for interviews for the Raiders head coaching job. With specific regard to Tom Telesco, I can't entirely say why there was a two-day gap between the firing of Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco. I know that on Monday night, there were meetings with Mark Davis and his advisors. Tom Brady was weighing in there as well, in which it seemed like there was a good chance both were going to be out. But, you know, Mark Davis went into Antonio Pierce's office around noon on Tuesday and fired him.
Telesco was still in the building. He met with the coaches. He was a part of setting up, you know, some of the logistical things in terms of setting up a coaching search.
And then Mark Davis came to him yesterday and said, actually, you're going to be out too. And everything I'm told is this is because Tom Brady believes that to have a chance to set up the right culture, a chance to have success in the football operation, you can have a new head coach coming in and inheriting a general manager from the prior regime. If we know one thing, Rich, about Mark Davis, it's that he is a fan. He wants to win. You know, it's the same guy who, after a three-month-long losing streak, they win those games weeks 16 and 17. And, you know, he's running around the locker room going, Raiders, Raiders. Like, he just really wants to win. And he trusts different people.
There's different people in his ear. In this case, it's Tom Brady who's taken over. You know, if history were any guide, you'd say there's also a possibility that a couple of years from now, Tom Brady will be out of favor and whoever he brings in will be out too.
But, you know, the hope is always that they're going to get it right this time. If you're going to trust anybody, why not a seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who, you know, has a lot of contacts within the league, has a really good feel for football, and by all accounts, Rich is embracing this opportunity to remake an organization that he just bought into on a minority stake a couple months ago. Well, and a follow-up here on that, Tom, is the Belichick portion of it. And, you know, your report saying that many have reached out to Bill and Tom is one of them about, you know, how committed are you?
You know, can you grab a cocktail napkin in Chapel Hill and write a resignation as the HC of UNC on it? You know, and, you know, immediately what comes out is here he is on the recruiting trail in Oradell, New Jersey with this kid. And his Twitter account's filled with photographs of kids that he's recruiting. And he has no plans. You know, I mean, his commitment is to what he's doing.
You hear those phrases all the time in our world and then all of a sudden it switches. Is there a possibility that somebody coughs up 10 million bucks and buys out Bill and he is a head coach in the NFL by the end of this month? Tom?
Here's where I would start with this, Rich. I would say, you know, Michael Marty is a very entertaining guy. He did a publicity tour yesterday in which I believe he called my report a 100% falsehood and then followed it up by confirming virtually every detail in that report. I never said Bill Belichick was leading, that anything was imminent. I've said there have been calls. And in fact, other outlets also have since confirmed that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick did speak about the job. So that's real. Bill Belichick, having heard from other organizations, is real.
Does anything end up happening? That's still to be determined. Right now we have six head coaching vacancies in the NFL. We potentially could have another one or two that pop up here in the coming weeks.
Again, depending on things like what happens with Mike McCarthy in Dallas, what potentially happens with any of the playoff games, and if anybody decides to make a later move in this cycle. There's only a few surefire candidates. It's really, in talking to league people for weeks, it's Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
And then he kind of draw a line. I would also put Aaron Glenn into that category. I know that he interviewed really well with the Jets. He's really sharp, and he's obviously coming from a good program. He's a former player.
He's an energy guy and a culture guy. I do think that Aaron Glenn's got a really good chance, whether that's the Jets, the Saints. I mean, every team requested him. The only team he turned down was New England, based upon a variety of different factors, without the Patriots are operating in their search here. But once you get past those two or three guys, who are you hiring? Are you going into the older bucket of Pete Carroll and John Gruden? Pete's had a couple of interviews. John Gruden, I would still anticipate his name is going to come up here. Are you taking a swing at one of the younger guys, the Liam Cohens of the world? Or do you call a guy who's got eight Super Bowl rings and is currently driving around and wearing a black suit, taking photos with a bunch of 16-year-olds at high schools around North Carolina? It's a picture that still is unusual. I don't want to say disconcerting, but it's definitely, you just see it and it still is weird to see Bill doing this here.
Yeah, sure. Is he committed as much as any head coach in college football has ever committed? I'm sure that, you know, when it comes down to it and if Bill's the head coach of North Carolina in September, he's going to be doing everything he can to go out there and win those football games. We're still early in the search process and if anything were to happen, if Bill were to listen, and by the way, again, he took Tom Brady's call, he has listened, then that might still be a couple of weeks away here. So we continue to stay tuned on exactly what the future is going to hold for Bill Belichick. You would say at the moment he does not have an NFL offer and so the odds are good that he stays in North Carolina. If somebody reaches out and decides to bring him in for an interview and makes an offer, we'll see how committed he truly is. Tom Pelissero here on the Rich Eisen Show. Deshaun Watson having surgery to repair an already surgically repaired Achilles.
His availability for 2025 is now completely in doubt. Brown's second overall on the clock. Does this increase the likelihood we see quarterback quarterback in April to start the draft, Tom?
Let's get a pin on a lot of factors, Rich, and part of it is something that I talked about on this show last week that seemed to have become a bit of a viral sensation thanks to various aggregators taking one sentence of it out of context. There's real questions about how high those top quarterbacks are ultimately going to go in the draft between Shidoor Sanders, between Cam Ward. If Doolar decides to come out, obviously a really rough ending for him last night with Penn State. We're so early. There's very few times, there's very few Andrew Lux, Trevor Lawrence's where at this stage in the process you know that guy's going number one. Caleb Williams even was pretty clear, probably going to be the number one pick.
He ended up being that. But Jayden Daniels, in some scouts' minds, people liked him a lot too. It's very early. It's January, we're not through all-star season, combine meetings, school visits, pro days, all that stuff. I would say from the Browns' perspective, they were always going to have to get a quarterback if not more than one quarterback. That could come through the draft, free agency, or both. They have been doing work for months on the quarterbacks, as every team does, but the Browns certainly have known that this has to be a focus based on the level of play they've gotten out of Deshaun Watson. I also think it's notable that they made the offensive coordinator change, Rich, for a second consecutive offseason. And people can look at that and say, well, why are you moving on from Ken Dorsey? He only called plays the second half of the season after Watson got hurt. And that part was unusual because the idea of it was, Dorsey was going to come in with some of the things you see from Buffalo, spread principles. He was going to help Deshaun Watson get back to doing some things he did really well in Houston and in college.
It just never fit. And so this is very much Kevin Stefanski, who two years ago won 11 games, went to the playoffs with five different starting quarterbacks, including Deshaun Watson playing prior to his injury, the best football we had seen him play in his time in Cleveland. They're going to double down going back to what Stefanski's offensive philosophy is. He's going to bring in people who know that system, you know, and there's going to be whether Deshaun Watson's a factor or not. I think it's fair to say with an Achilles revision in January, there's very little possibility that Deshaun Watson is the week one starting quarterback here. So you're probably adding multiple quarterbacks in the offseason and they feel the value is there at number two.
They're going to go that direction. Tom Pelissero here on the Rich Ozzin show. Injuries for this weekend. Zay Flowers is out. Hertz is back. Marshawn Lattimore is back, right? Do you want to run down anything that's in your notebook as to who's going to be playing this weekend that was questionable or anything of that nature?
Tom, what do you have for me? I'd say the only things beyond that is both the Eagles receivers have been banged up in recent weeks. A.J. Brown's had that, you know, that knee issue that's been ongoing for years now, but it flares up at various times. The fact that they rested him during a week of a playoff game would indicate that they really want to be careful making sure he's 100 percent for Sunday. And then Devante Smith also did not practice today. He's been dealing with back tightness.
He got banged up in the in the final game that he played in the regular season. So just something to keep an eye on here. All those guys are expected to go. But, you know, listen, things like back tightness that can pop up in the game as well.
So that would certainly be one thing to keep an eye on as we get to the weekend. You know, Green Bay is the other one. Christian Watson suffering an injury. I mean, Watson's been their best receiver when he's been healthy. But the issue has been he's very, very rarely healthy. You know, that was a serious injury season ending and then beyond. We'll see where he's at for 2025, but it's an ACL and more, you know. So Jordan Love now not going to have one of his top receivers, Romeo Dobbs, who didn't play last week because of an illness. He's been a full participant, so seems like he's going to be back. But, you know, for Jordan Love, you got a tough enough task going on the road to face a really tough and physical Philly team.
You're doing that with, you know, you banged your funny bone last week, which that can that can last a few days. He was full going practice yesterday. No issues about him playing. But you take away the biggest speed threat, the biggest downfield threat they have. I'll be really interested to see how Matt Leflore tries to play this game.
Educated guess when in doubt, when you've got a team that's going to take the physical fight to you and you're going on the road, Rich. I think what you're going to see is Matt Leflore trying to combat that. Run Josh Jacobs, get the ball to Tucker Craft. Use your physical guys. Try to win the line of scrimmage.
Just make it a dogfight type of a game. You know, we'll see who comes out on top of that. And then I guess last one for you. Back to the coaching carousel. I mean, Ben Johnson chatting with the Patriots today. Mike Locksley of Maryland football interviewing with the Jets today. The Bears putting out a list of 13 people that they are speaking to. We're taking a look at the Raiders who are going to bring in former Jets head coach Robert Sala, who's going to be chatting with the Jaguars as well. I mean, I'm just throwing names on my guy, David Shaw, chatting with the Bears.
Put it all together. You know, and Marcus Freeman is killing it right now in Notre Dame. He, you know, will be done with his season January 20th.
That's one long wind up for saying, what's the timeline on all this stuff? Like championship weekend is when stuff's going to begin to actually settle down and coaches hired. I mean, we're going to see you're going to be out there on the sideline of the Senior Bowl. Will pretty much every job still be open at that point in time? I hope not, man, because that was stressful last year when Dan Quinn and Mike McDonald both got hired while I'm standing on the practice field.
My thumbs are numb from being out in the cold and I'm trying to type those tweets. Here's what I would say. So you got six openings. You just ran through them. New England is the only one that appears to be at a point where maybe we can get a decision sooner than later.
Why is that? They've only done, they finished Ben Johnson's interview. That's over this morning in New England. They've only done three others, which was Byron Leftwich, Pep Hamilton, and then, of course, Mike Vrabel. And they have no other interviews scheduled. That's not to say that we're going to get Mike Vrabel, Patriots head coach, announcement today. But they are in a position, they fulfilled the Rooney Rule requirements. We've all known that Vrabel to New England has been the logical outcome in all of this, even before the Patriots fired Jerrod Mayo. And so we'll see.
But they are in a position that if they want to, they can strike quickly. And they've really, frankly, shown no interest in interviewing other people other than putting in a slip two days later for Aaron Glenn, who already had five of their interviews lined up. And he basically told them thanks, but no thanks, and declined. Well, usually when that happens, Tom, as you know, is that there's word on the NFL streets, you know, that Aaron Glenn and his representation know which way the wind is blowing in New England. And the fact that, you know, one team's got 13 names and another team's got another head coach, that they have a negotiating window that lasts all the way to next Tuesday and that they're opening up right now, I guess, with McCarthy. And Glenn's like, why am I going there? You know, I know which way they're going. So does it look like it's either Ben Johnson or it's Vrabel or Leftwich or whomever they've spoken to? Tom, is that it?
Is that what you're saying? They wrapped up the Ben Johnson interview, I think, like an hour ago. So, you know, I'm sure that there are conversations to be had. The logical outcome in this, the most likely outcome has always been Mike Vrabel as Patriots head coach. We don't have that announcement just yet. So the Jets also got into Rooney Rule compliance today by interviewing Mike Locksley. They previously interviewed Ron Rivera. Their interviews, to my understanding, are scheduled to go all the way through the early portion of next week. They've been running through people, bringing them down to Palm Beach for the guys who are available to interview in person. They've done other ones because coaches, if you're currently employed, you can't even interview in person until another, what, 10 days from now. It's after the divisional playoff week.
That's normally the window where you get the hires. That's last year. That's when Ricky Morris got hired.
That's when Brian Callahan got hired. But again, you got two teams right now that are in Rooney Rule compliance. If they want to strike quickly, they can.
And all the other ones, you know, listen, I get a lot of texts and calls about what's happening in these places. The Jets, like you said, are interviewing everybody, and they're going to have, you know, roughly 15 head coaching candidates and 15 GM candidates. They'll probably whittle that down to five and do a second round before making a decision. The Bears were working off a list of about two dozen coaches. Some of those, the Marcus Freeman's, like you mentioned, not entirely available just yet. There are other coaches that are popping up as part of their process here.
That one may take a while. The Jaguars just put out their slips a few days ago. They're continuing to add, you know, some more names there. Ben Johnson is certainly a name to watch in Jacksonville, but he won't be the only one. And with the Raiders, you know, the only slips they've put in, I believe, are Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, and Steve Spagnuolo, plus setting up the interviews with Sala and with Pete Carroll.
That's, like we talked about, that's a Tom Brady production there. I don't know necessarily that that's the entire list. I would anticipate that there are more requests that go in. But the big dominoes, the big dogs in all this are Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
Keep an eye on those and on different timelines. Vrabel can be hired the moment I get off this show. Hopefully not before. Ben Johnson, he technically can't be hired until after the Lions are eliminated from the playoffs, although there's plenty of precedent of agents and teams being in a good place to know, hey, this is going to be the guy we're going to work out the contract once you're eliminated from the playoffs here. I would anticipate, you know, Ben Johnson, even if the Lions are still alive, he would have a window to do a second interview after the conference championship games.
At that point, by like the Monday or Tuesday of that week after conference championships, you'll have a pretty good idea of where he and Aaron Glenn are going to end up if the Lions are still in it. Tom, you're the man. As always, you know, I can I can help with the virality. You know, my platform is the platform. After that, the way you're aggregated, I can't do anything.
I can't I can't I can't do anything. The way you're aggregated, I cannot be held responsible. You know what I mean? No, I did appreciate that you posted the actual video of my more extended comments, as opposed to the three word out of context version that made the rounds initially here.
So you're always doing it. You're doing your part, Rich. Whatever. I really appreciate it. Attaboy. We'll see you over the weekend for NFL Game Day morning.
That's Tom Pelissero. Stay safe. Thank you. Right back at you.
So much to get to. But when we come back, I got to hit the Brady stuff with the Raiders. Eight four four tool for Rich is the number to dial. Joe Manganiello coming up in our number three. It's a what's more likely Friday right now, though, on the Infinity Sports Network. Time for a sports update with Rich Ackerman. Thanks to Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon One Medical.
Health care just got less painful. Big set of ovaries. And then we obsess.
Follow and listen on your favorite platform. I played flag football with Michael Irvin one year for Madden. OK. And it was Michael Irvin was on the other team, Kurt Warner. It's how I met Kurt. Kurt was quarterbacking with Michael Irvin, Rod Woodson and Shannon Sharp.
And Michael Irvin popped his Achilles in the first quarter. That was here in Southern California, right? I was there to work. Yes, I was calling the action with Marshall Marshall. Yeah, I caught a touchdown from Joe Montana that game.
I mean, do you imagine? Like, seriously, I mean, I go into the huddle of this flag football game and we're in the huddle. And Joe Montana looks at me and goes, it's coming to you like pinch me. Right.
Western. Yeah. I mean, my last my last football game in high school was against Joe's high school wrinkle. He's like, it's coming to you. I come out of yours, run a post pattern. I'm going to hit you back in the end.
How nervous were you? Great. Well, we come out. Dion comes up to me and he goes, hey, he goes, great. He goes, break for your post at the five yard line.
I'm going to take your guy out. Like, Dion was that competitive. So he was running. He was running the route with you. So I hit the five yard line, broke into my post pattern and just jacked whoever was guarding me.
And Joe put it right there for a session. That's amazing. Where does that compare to doing what you do professionally, what you have done professionally? Oh, where does that compare? I mean, you know, there are comparisons. I mean, like doing a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was another one of those.
You know, being in like hair and makeup in the morning and talking to Arnold and realizing we're going to go shoot a movie together as peers. You know, that was a big deal. You know, getting a call from Paul Reuben saying, do you want to play Pee Wee Herman's best friend? Wait a minute.
That's another one. Paul Reubens and Joe Montana are on the are on a similar level. You look at it now. It's like you mean, you know, because then you get to set and he's in his Pee Wee suit and you're there and you have to you have to play the scene. And you're this. I can't believe I'm talking to Pee Wee. Pee Wee is talking to me like Pee Wee. You know, anyway, yeah, it's in a bizarre, bizarro universe.
I think they're very equivalent. Fun. Check out all of our YouTube. Archive YouTube dot com slash Rich has its show, Joe Manganiello. That was one of the first times he appeared in twenty eighteen. Now he's coming back here in twenty twenty five.
Let's take a quick call. Garrett in Brick, New Jersey. You're here on the Rich has what's up, Garrett? Garrett. Garrett. You there, Garrett? Oh, Garrett.
Oh, no. He's dropped. Oh, he waited the whole time. He sent him out.
Brick Johnson, New Jersey. No. Oh, you're right next to him. Was that a was that a mike thing? Did Mike hit the wrong thing?
No, no, no, no. I think Garrett got disconnected. That was a disconnection. Garrett, call back.
I can't click them off like that. Robert in San Antonio. Let's take this call. What's up, Robert? Robert's here. Hey, Rich, can you hear me? I can. You're on the air. What's up, Robert?
I have a question and I need some insight from our consultant. Oh, here we go. Here's the deal, Robert. Here's what's going to happen. We're going to be back on the radio side of things in about 40 seconds.
So hit me with the question first. OK. A question is, I just want to know if you can provide some insight as to how my Vikings are favored on the road originally and even more favorites now that they moved the game to Arizona against the Rams. Well, I don't know.
I mean, it's a significant let's be honest here to, you know, just removing life from it, which is so tough to do. I mean, the Vikings are going to Arizona where I don't know how many Rams fans live in Arizona. Right.
You know what I mean? So the and I don't know how many Rams fans are going to be. I know the Rams are going to provide transportation.
I don't know how many Rams fans are going to make it. So there's that back on the Rich Eisen show radio network on the Infinity Sports Network. Robert in San Antonio, you're here on the show. You have something for Ari consulting, Robert?
Ari consulting was the favorite question that we were just talking about. I don't understand how my Vikings are favored by three. I believe it moved to three after they moved the game to Arizona.
They even opened up as one and a half point favorites on the road. I know that we were talking about the Rams fans travel, but let's be honest, there isn't that really many Rams fans in L.A. to begin with. Oh, now hold on a second, sir.
That's them's fighting words, certainly to two guys who are Rams season ticket holders on the Rich Eisen show set. But how can the Rich Eisen consulting help you, Robert? How can we help you? Well, that's all I want. That's the help that I need.
I need to understand how that's possible. OK, very good. I appreciate the call, Robert.
Thanks so much. It's just possible because the Vikings had 14 wins and everyone just keeps overlooking the Rams, keep overlooking them. I don't know about overlooking.
The offense didn't play up to snuff the last couple of games with the full starters. They overlook them. And now you're going to neutral site. So, yeah, that's another point there.
No doubt. Life insurance, you know you need it, but maybe you think you can't afford it or it's too complicated or you don't want to deal with medical exams. Well, that has all changed with Ethos. With Ethos, you just go online, answer a few simple health questions and in as little as 10 minutes, you can get up to two million dollars in term life coverage with plans starting at around two dollars a day. No doctor's visits, no complicated forms. It's all online. Don't let the unexpected leave your family without the financial security they need. Get your free quote at tryethos.com.
That's tryethos.com. Not much movement on the line front. Philly was minus five and a half. They're now minus four and a half. That's just one point is because now it's official that why would they be why would the line go down? I mean, Jalen Hurts is now back. Packers are a pretty big public team.
So that the price of money coming in at Green Bay and then as as Robert just mentioned, Vikings now minus two and a half. Because they moved the game to a neutral site. Yeah. And it is neutral. I mean, the only ram I know that this now is a home game for is Kurt Warner, who's calling the game on Westwood. Right. You know what I mean?
So, yeah, everything else say the same. Chargers minus three bucks minus three bills are still eight and a half. Ravens still nine and a half. Well, our number three, what's more likely?
I definitely need to hit top of our number three. My two cents again, Tom Pelissero just basically confirmed that it's Tom Brady's show in Las Vegas. We're all assuming, hey, you know, Tom's got this move, that move. He just basically confirmed Mark Davis is handing the franchise over to Tom Brady. And, you know, to be honest with you, too.
No, I'm going to hit that coming up in the next hour. And the fact that Tom definitely called Bill Belichick. Right.
Wow. And maybe the fact that the Patriots are going to maybe hire Vrabel is why Vrabel hasn't even shown up on the list there in Vegas. And New England has only scheduled four interviews, which they've all completed. That and the reason why Aaron Glenn would turn down an interview with the New England Patriots. It's not personal.
It's not anything. It's just I'm sure word has gotten out that they made the interviews that they made because they like the guys that they like. There are two minority candidates that they hired to. I'm not saying that they were box checkers, but again, that's why everyone pushes back on the Rooney Rule, is it appears like you're just checking a box just to interview these guys. They have Ben Johnson in today and Vrabel's.
You may get your guy. Yeah, the report was that Vrabel went to went to Bob Kraft's house and Ben Johnson is virtual was virtual. Well, Ben Johnson is virtual because that's what he has to be. Right.
He's not allowed to go visit in person because he still has a job in the playoffs. Right. Vrabel can go to Bob's house, sit down, put his feet up, you know, he's got the red jacket already. Do you think he wore the red jacket to the interview? No. Let me just say this. I don't think so.
OK, I would have. Oh, this old thing? The first year NFL Network's Thursday Night Football was partnered up with CBS Sports. We did our annual symposium. Every network has an annual symposium with the with the league that comes in and someone from the league comes and walks them through the new rules changes.
And then everyone from CBS comes in and talks about the different network priorities for the NFL season and things of that nature. One year at CBS and NFL Network, we did it together in New York City. I wore my CBS sports jacket to it.
The one from the U.S. Open days. Wow. I walked around in a CBS sports jacket. It's funny. I don't know if the NFL Network people appreciated it.
I mean, they could make their own jackets then. That's it. I walked her.
I thought it was a flex. They're cool. I walked up. They are cool.
I walked up to Nancy. I'm like, where's your jacket? What do you mean? You don't wear them to this thing? I thought you wore them to these things. But I still have it. I think I have it in the closet here. I have it here. Oh, I'm going to wear that.
I'm going to go. It's one of the many items that Suzy Schuster has looked at. You know where that would look better?
Not here. Why don't you just take that to work? Oh, OK. Yeah. So a lot of people were like, because when we bugged out for 24 hours, they're like, you know, what memorabilia did you take from the house?
And I'm like, I don't have to. It's all at the show studio. Right. They're all here.
Because they're not there. That's our number three coming up. Joe Manganiello in studio.
What's more likely and more. Actor Michael Rosenbaum, you know, some of the most talented people in the business, and now he's getting the inside story. Let's get inside of Heather Graham. I can't look at like boogie nights and think that you are a nerd. Johnny Knox will figure to do another Jackass movie.
What do your kids want? Dad's not going to do that. You got to be careful how you choose your hero here from some of the most fascinating people in pop culture today. Danny Trejo, you're a legend. Do you know you're a legend? You can't be a legend having this much fun. The Inside of You podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
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