Share This Episode
The Rich Eisen Show Rich Eisen Logo

Riley Leonard: I Hope The National Championship Is Just Another Game

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen
The Truth Network Radio
January 14, 2025 2:07 pm

Riley Leonard: I Hope The National Championship Is Just Another Game

The Rich Eisen Show / Rich Eisen

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 2329 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


January 14, 2025 2:07 pm

1/14/25 - Hour 2

Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard and Rich discuss his journey from transferring to Duke to playing in the College Football Playoff National Championship game against Ohio State, reveals what he learned from former Pro Bowl QB Philip Rivers and participating in the Manning Passing Academy, and more.

 

Rich and the guys debate what the Minnesota Vikings’ back-to-back bad games to end their season means for Sam Darnold’s next NFL contract. 

 

Rich lists his top 5 most memorable plays from the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend games.

Please check out other RES productions:

Overreaction Monday: http://apple.co/overreactionmonday 

What the Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask: http://apple.co/whatthefootball

The Jim Jackson Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jim-jackson-show/id1770609432

No-Contest Wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-contest-wrestling/id1771450708

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you should know you should check your draft stats first before you put them on your fantasy team.

Or, you should definitely check the expiration date on that can of bean dip you picked up at the gas station first before you dive in. Yeah, checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.

Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. See Allstate.com for details. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. As a business owner, you're always going that extra mile to pursue your passions, so you deserve partners who can help you go further with premium benefits and rewards. The American Express Business Platinum Card offers world-class business and travel benefits, so you can get more for your business wherever it takes you. With the Amex Business Platinum Card, you can earn 1.5 times membership rewards points on select business purchases. And you can get complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge, so you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum Card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Terms and points can't apply.

Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. This is the Rich Eisen Show, and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show.

This is the Rich Eisen Show. You know, it's on from here. Here we go.

Matthew fires middle. Touchdown L.A. Donald against the rush. Blitz coming. He's hit. Ball down. Scooped.

Scooped up. Touchdown L.A. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Touchdown David Allen. Touchdown L.A. The Rich Eisen Show.

Earlier on the show. Cowboys writer for the athletic John Machoda. Coming up, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard. Commander's cornerback Mike Sanristo. And now it's Rich Eisen.

All right. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. We talked about the wild card finale last night to kick off the program.

The Dallas Cowboys job. The phone lines are lit. 844-204-rich number to dial. If you're on hold, stay on hold.

We will take your calls after our chat to kick off our number two with somebody I wanted to talk to. I wanted to talk to this man because I've enjoyed watching him play the game of football. And he's had quite the journey. Born in South Carolina, moved to Alabama, wound up at Duke. Now he's the quarterback of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish getting set to take on the Ohio State University in the national championship game next Monday night. Joining us now here on the Rich Eisen Show who one week from today could be a national champion or just Riley Leonard playing his ass off.

Back here on the Rich Eisen Show from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Good to see you, Riley Leonard. Nice to meet you.

Yes, sir. Nice to meet you. Thank you for having me. What a pleasure. What a pleasure to chat with you.

Let's talk about your journey. Who was your guy growing up there in the state of Alabama? Would it be Philip Rivers?

I'm just taking a shot here. What do you think, Riley? Yeah, so Philip Rivers, he actually lives right down the road from me now. I was a big fan of his, but Drew Brees was another guy I liked.

And then Tim Tebow and RG3 were my college dudes that I just looked up to and wanted to be like one day. Well, I mean, you're doing a pretty darn good job of it, Riley. And so those are your guys. So Philip lives down the street from you. Do you chitchat with him every now and then?

Yes, sir. Yeah, I actually brought like eight receivers down home and he's got a football field in his backyard. So we train with him and we were able to like watch his films. We train with him for three days this summer, me and like eight of the receivers. So we took a little retreat down to Alabama. It was hot, but we had a good time. What do you learn from somebody like him?

Pick up. Well, that's a loaded question, but I think the biggest thing is, you know, the way he attacks anything is the way he attacks football. He said one time, like how you do anything is how you do everything. And like the way he approaches swimming in the swimming pool is the same way he approaches a game. Like it's just a competition. Anyway, he can make it a competition. Anyway, he can be the best. He's going to do everything he can to win.

So there are a lot of lessons, but he's wired differently. So you've been in the Philip Rivers family swimming pool? Is that what I'm going to gather right here? Yes, sir. You have? Yes, sir. Oh, OK. Have you babysat for the Rivers?

I have not. I have not yet babysat for him. He's got like 11 kids. That's why he's got a football field in his backyard, Riley.

That's why he can do an 11 on 11 drill sometimes, maybe with you guys and his own children. But that's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. And then your journey. How did you wind up at Duke?

That's another great question. I never took an official or an unofficial visit to any school. Wasn't really heavily recruited. Was going to go play basketball. Had probably a nine to one ratio basketball to football coaches in my contacts.

Then COVID hit and I wasn't able to, you know, play AAU, play in the EYBL like I had wanted to. And, you know, luckily, my quarterback coach David Morris out of Mobile played for Coach Cutcliffe, who was the Duke coach at the time. He played for him at Ole Miss with Eli Manning.

So he knew him pretty much just doing doing him a favor and wound up getting lucky with me. Well, you mentioned Eli Manning. I'm sure you're aware you wound up in his Twitter feed in the past week. Riley, did you see this one where it's a text from Archie Manning saying, FYI, Riley Leonard and Will Howard were roommates at Manning Passing Academy last summer. Archie and Eli tweeted out that text with a screen grab saying, thank goodness my dad writes his name after he sends me a text. He cited Eli. Pretty funny stuff, man. Pretty funny.

It is. And Archie is a great guy. We've actually been texting every day since the Sugar Bowl, which is down there in New Orleans. And he's just a great guy after every text. He does, in fact, do that. You can confirm that, huh? He signs it every time? Every single time. Yeah.

Even if it's like a two minute separation from text to text. Now, I'm just wondering, I know Archie is an Aces human being. I don't know. Would he have texted you if his grandson had made it to the national championship game rally?

I don't know. Would he have suddenly lost your number? What do you think? Yeah, I'm thinking he might have. He's been he's been sending me pictures of like me and Will Howard at the Manning camp for a while.

But I'm sure if it was his grandson, it'd be a little different. So, yeah. So your roommates at the Manning passing camp with the quarterback that you're going to try and go point for point with next Monday night. What's your relationship with with Will like?

Riley? Yes, we've known each other the past two years. Got to know him at the Manning Passing Academy. And, you know, first and foremost, he's an extremely competitive guy, but a God fearing man. Like he's he's he's a person I really respected for a long time. And to see all the success that he's had is is really cool. I'm always a fan of other college quarterbacks. You know, I understand the the pressures that's, you know, put on us. So I always try to cheer for other quarterbacks. I'm glad he's having a good season.

What's your favorite story from the Manning passing camp involving Eli or Peyton or Archie? What do you got for me here? That's a great question. I can't share like the first. Oh, my. Oh, that's a really good question.

We we have we have a really good time together. I don't know. I'd have to think about that one. So what did you pick up then as a quarterback? How are you improved as a quarterback from the passing camp?

There's one I'm sure you can just fire away and answer. I did ask a question about, like, I discipline and pre snap things. And where do you put your eyes whenever you break a huddle? And obviously, you know, we're not huddling too much, but pre snap where your eyes go.

And they they kind of, you know, had me learn a few things there. You know, Peyton like to start with the front. And it kind of depends on certain teams. Eli was a Mike Point team, so he would always identify the mic and then kind of build off there. So I was able to kind of do both of those things this year, just depending on the play call.

But those were two things that I learned. And then Eli and Peyton, like, it doesn't matter if you're the worst quarterback at the camp of 2000 kids or, you know, you're the best one. They're going to treat everybody the same. And that's probably the biggest life lesson that I learned is every single kid is going to get coached up.

Like, you know, they're about to go start in the Super Bowl. So it's really cool to see them and how they approach the game and the little kids that want to be like them one day. No kidding. That's pretty cool to hear. I'm not surprised, obviously. But that's that's pretty neat to hear that you took that life lesson away, which is treat everybody the same.

Doesn't matter your status. Riley. Yes, sir. Yeah. I mean, you know, I always live by, you know, Jesus would wash the feet of his disciples.

So who do you think you are? Not to treat everybody with respect. And Peyton and Eli, man. I'm telling you, they do that like they bring more energy out there than any of us college kids. I mean, they got juice now and they just love every single kid. And they even get on to us like, hey, you know, let's go, man. Why are we lollygagging around? We got work to do. We got coaching to do.

So it's a lot of fun with them. Riley Leonard here. Notre Dame quarterback getting set to bring a national championship to South Bend, Indiana, right here on the Rich Eisen show. How did you get on Marcus Freeman's radar screen? Walk me through that process going from Duke to your current place of hanging. Right.

Yeah. I mean, you break it, you buy it. They broke my leg and had to pay for the surgery. OK, how did I end up here? Man, I ended up entering the portal.

And, you know, I like I said, I never took an official or unofficial visit anywhere. So when I came up here, it was my first ever visit and I was just kind of blown away. Kind of just made sense. And like I said this in an interview after last game, but I really had a lot of different answers on why I came here and there were some personal ones and and things like that. But I really came here to win a national championship.

And, you know, I just wanted to go to a team that could really compete for it. And sure enough, here we are. Now, I saw the other day when Coach Freeman was being humble and you jumped in at a press conference to basically say he's being humble. Let me tell you how great he is. And, you know, what did he say to you after that? Did he say anything to you or you just let it slide? Yeah, no, he'll like slap me on the side of the head and be like, dude, don't be saying all that. Like, this is a team like the same person you get in the interviews is the same person he's going to be behind closed doors. Like, he's not sliding me five bucks. Hey, thanks for saying that. You know, he's like, dude, don't say that.

Like, this is a team effort. So like the same person you see is exactly who he is. So what can you tell me about him?

Give me a good story about him that does, in fact, encapsulate who he is as a coach and a leader of men for Notre Dame football. Yeah, I think I think one in particular is he always has the janitors come and introduce themselves during fall camp. And he knows like every single one of them by name and treats them all with a lot of respect. And I see that like walking around the facility, the janitors who are walking around, he's always just talking to him, saying hello and knows them on a personal and a friendship level. So it's it's pretty cool to see him operate like that. And, you know, he's also very charitable. So like we do a lot of charity work that nobody really sees, like without cameras. So like he'll move practice to the morning and then cancel like the night, walk through and say like, all right, you guys got to go out to the South Bend area and give back and do community service, however that may be.

So, you know, then we'll end up scheduling like four different events that we can go to. And this happens probably more often than you think. So I think those are some examples of kind of who he is. And how do you view yourself and your responsibility as being an extension of him and what message he's trying to send to the rest? Riley, I think I think I'm probably just like a product of my environment. So now not only him, but for me to be a new guy, to come into a system, I kind of just. Am who everybody else is around me, so I take a lot of pride in giving back to, but that's only because everybody else does.

And, you know, they've been great examples to me. I was a little overwhelmed when I came in. I thought this was going to be like, you know, you hear Notre Dame, like I was overwhelmed, but you get here and it's like a super small family type atmosphere, which is pretty cool.

Riley Leonard, a few minutes left with the quarterback of Notre Dame. What do you think it's going to be like in the tunnel Monday night in Atlanta for you? That's a good question. I've thought about that a lot and I've tried not to think about it, but how can you not? I don't I don't know how to answer that. I I hope that it's like any other game. But I also hope that there's something in me that, you know, won't take a loss for an answer and is going to go out there and give everything you can, you know, out on the field.

Then you'd mentioned Will Howard's competitive. How about you? How about you? I think my play style speaks for itself.

Attaboy. Look at you. I'm just I'm just I'm just poking around here, Riley, for a couple of reasons. I'm about to get unprofessional. OK, I'm just I'm getting that heads up. I'm about to get unprofessional. Get ready, Riley.

Here it comes. I'm sure you might have gotten a heads up. You know what school I went to. Are you aware of what school I went to, Riley? I am pretty sure it starts with an M. That's correct. That's the school.

And your previous institution and your current institution are on my top five least favorite institutions. Absolutely. You understand that. OK.

I mean, basketball for one, football for another. Right. That's one of those things. But you've heard of it. And again, I know you mentioned a proverb and you you you live your life in a very Christian manner, Riley. But you've heard of the phrase and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Riley, have you heard that one before? I have, of course. And I know where this is going. I have taught my children two things.

Three sweet individuals who are are upstanding future community members. You root for Michigan and whoever is playing Ohio State. So, Riley, are you aware of just the fact that I'm even sitting here and consent, liking you and your coach and everything that you're doing? I don't even know what's going on in my skull right now. It's freaking me out. I'm freaking out, Riley. But I'm I'm there for you on Monday night.

I appreciate you, man. I I'm very well aware that the entire state of Michigan is wearing navy blue and gold for the first time ever. I can't even believe I'm saying that.

I can't even believe I'm saying it. But, you know, I wouldn't mind if Michigan wasn't the last team to beat Ohio State this year. I wouldn't mind it one bit. Yeah, that's also that's also a good point. I remember I saw something that all of Michigan's just rooting for the game to somehow magically get postponed and never play or end up in a tie. Yeah. No, the rules will not allow such things.

The game will be played and it's going to have to have a winner and a loser. And, you know, I have really enjoyed chatting with you and meeting your coach, too. And honestly, the way you you guys conduct yourselves and play football is it's neat to watch, man. That really, really is. And I'm sure you you you wear that with pride, Riley. I'm sure you do. I do.

I do. And like I said, I'm just a reflection of the guys around me. So I appreciate you saying those things. And thank you for having me. Oh, my gosh. Riley, let's let's do this thing. OK. And I can't. But Bettis is going to give me grief for just hopping on this bandwagon.

But it is what it is, as they say, Riley. Best of luck to you. Enjoy the experience, obviously. And let's chat again afterwards. How does that sound?

Sounds great. Thank you. Jesus blessed. That's Riley Leonard right here on the Rich Eisen Show, Notre Dame and Ohio State. He handled my unprofessionalism in the high class manner, as you might imagine you would, you know, as the quarterback of Notre Dame football, which has a terrific defense and a kid who's going to lead them down the path. The fact that he's happy. Don't ruin it, Mike. I'm almost I'm almost there. Seeing you happy doesn't make me happy.

No, no, definitely not. He's got to get a call from Philip Rivers, right away. By the way, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Archie Manning and his head.

Clear eyes, full heart. Come on. Touchdown, Jesus. Come on. Touchdown, Jesus.

I mean, that's the most important one, I think, Mike. It's unbelievable that I'm saying these things. I mean, this is I don't even know how you're going to watch this game.

This is amazing. How will I watch the game? I'll tell you how I'm going to watch the game. Fully medicated. I got some Notre Dame gear. No, no, no, no.

I got a lot of Notre Dame. That's a bridge too far, man. I am going to go get a full prescription of Cabernet. Oh, do you need more cowbell?

Do you need a doctor's note for that? Oh, it's going to be it's going to it's it's going to have an undertow in it. Watching that one that it's going to be a carafe. I might drink straight from a carafe.

Let's just take it straight to the head from the bottom. People are like texting me like, what would be worse? Is it Ohio State versus Michigan State? What would be worse? Oh, that's got to be worse. And I'm I'm like, yeah, that's worse. That's got to be worse.

Ohio State, Penn State would have been would have been would have been worse ish. But honestly, it's been so long since Notre Dame, you know, played Michigan. You got to go. It's been a while.

This is my. Of course, I do have to go there. They should we should be playing each other every year. Yeah. Every in like years. Yeah. When Sean McVeigh's getting his ARPCARD.

You're your family's biggest support. You like that one, right? That went down. Sean McVeigh's ARPCARD.

Is that a is that a fantasy team name or not? No, no. OK, good.

You're your family's biggest supporter. So make sure they're protected today with affordable online life insurance through Ethos. Up to two million dollars of same day term life insurance coverage in as little as 10 minutes for as little as two dollars a day. It's 100 percent online and there's no med exams.

Only a few online health questions. The mortgage, kids education and other costs could all be covered through Ethos. Straightforward protection for the people who matter most.

Get a free quote at try Ethos dot com. That's T-R-Y-E-T-H-O-S dot com. Guys. I like the Notre Dame quarterback. I just said the words. I like him. Good kid.

And I like the coach. What's happening? We revolve. I'm going to take a break. And when we come when we come back, I will report. I'm going to walk outside and see if the cats and dogs and also going to are playing together.

Cats and dogs living together. This is a mini meditation guided by Bombas. Repeat after me. I'm comfy. I'm cozy.

I have zero blisters on my toes. And that's because I wear Bombas. The softest socks, underwear and T-shirts that give back. One purchased equals one donated. Now go to Bombas dot com slash listen and use code listen for 20 percent off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash listen and use code listen at checkout.

Big set of ovaries. And then we obsess, follow and listen on your favorite platform. Let's freaking go. The Jim Romes show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Can you tell me the story, the famous story of you noticing John Candy in the crowd before that two minute drill?

The Bengals. Harris Barton was a people person, so we were free for dinner during the week. But in practice and meetings and then come back after dinner and more meetings. So when he would come back from dinner, he was like a little kid. He could not wait to tell you about all the celebrities he saw while he was at dinner. And so I had we were just standing there in between the tight end and his shoulder was a friend, John Candy. And in the crowd, he was on the sideline. Oh, he's on the sideline. And so I was and I sat there and I looked and I go, dang, I remember Harrison saw John Candy. This is what you're thinking in the Super Bowl with minutes to go and needing to drive down the field.

OK. Yeah. So I walked over and said, hey, age, man, there's John Candy. And Harris stood like this for eight minutes, perfectly still. He's a little bit anal that way. He would not move. He was like little.

I didn't do it to unwind him. I just thought he would appreciate John Candy. Did you ever meet Candy or that was the only thing? I know I had met John a few years before that. My contract was up. OK. And he was, you know, one of the owners of the Toronto Argonauts. OK.

He was trying to get me to go to Canada. Come on. Yeah. They just didn't have enough money. But if the price was right. I might have been wearing an Argonaut. Yeah.

55 yard line. I'll do that. So he legitimately said, you know, hey, we had a couple of meetings about you did. So this is real. Like it wasn't just like, oh, by the way.

No, no, no, no. I love that. That's one of my favorite exchanges ever on this show. You know, asking him about John Candy. And he's like, yeah, that's the background of it.

And by the way, I almost played Canadian football because of him. Right. Like what?

But they didn't have enough money. It's like Al Michaels. He did what? Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call click Grainger dot com. We'll just stop by. Take some phone calls in a second. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday coming up. Let's hit the Vikings because I discussed the Rams side of things. Obviously, us living in Los Angeles with everything that, you know, is happening here. And we're you know, I'll tell you what, I've never checked wind reports, you know, every 10 minutes.

Quite like I'm doing right now, but same. But anyway, let's talk Vikings. And the headline is disappointing finish, clearly. It's like, you know, if this is Sesame Street, the Vikings season is brought to you by the number nine. Nine wins in a row. And nine sacks in the playoff loss. These two things are mutually exclusive.

And facts. The nine sacks in the playoff loss are partially because the Rams defensive line dominated. The Vikings offensive line that was reshuffled when they they lost their left tackle in the first loss to the Rams this year. In a moment towards the end of the first half, we were wondering, why are we even attempting to do what we're doing? You know, play for the second half and in the playoff loss, one of the nine sacks comes in a moment at the end of the first half.

We were wondering, why are we even attempting to do what we're doing? Get the ball first at the top of the second half. And, you know, instead of being down twenty one to three, we're down fourteen to three. Let's let's play some defense. Get out of Dodge.

Come back. Score to start the second half. And we're down fourteen ten instead. Now you're down twenty one three and then twenty four three. Actually, the number.

It's kind of crazy. So it was an off night for everybody, to be honest with you, but we're all talking about the quarterback. It is a quarterback driven league. And, you know, I'm not a tape head. Not an all twenty two guy.

I'm not going to come here and say I haven't checked the film yet. I can just say a lot of those sacks were on Sam Darnold all too long sometimes. You know, the line, the interception that he threw, he couldn't follow through because his right tackle was in his lap. There were other times where he could step up and throw and he didn't. There were times when he stepped up and he threw and he did and connected. But it is a Sam Darnold conversation this morning. And there are two ways to look at it.

That. He reverted to the Sam Darnold we all thought he was. Which is a guy who sees ghosts, can't handle the pressure and folded in a must have game in Detroit and a must have game in Arizona. Not even in the home of the Rams, in the makeshift home in the Rams. And or it is a team game. And this guy didn't have the protection up front. And the Rams were the better team.

That's it. And he is somebody worthy of having stick around. This is what Sam Darnold had to say last night about whether.

The last two games of the season will cost him his ability to stick around there in Minnesota. I'm not worried about that. That's in the past. Right now I'm just thinking about what I could have done better today. And just really spending time with the guys in the locker room. That's really all I'm focused on right now. Because at the end of the day in the NFL you only get one season with one team with everyone together.

And today wasn't our day. And it's as simple as that. And for me I'm just going to be focused on spending as much time as I can with those guys in the locker room. And then I'll think about whatever the future holds after that. Can I throw something out at you guys and see what you have to say? And whether I'm being too glass half full, which you know is my default. Sure.

What do you got? Since you're the glass half empty guy. You'll hear my take on it in a minute. Okay. An overreaction Monday on a Tuesday.

Okay. That Sam Darnold had a terrific football season. In which, wait for it, he's still developing. And the guy over the last two weeks showed he still has some work to do to get where he needs to go. We're pointing out that we've been making the analogy him and Baker Mayfield the entire time.

They've been drafted two spots apart. They wound up in the same Carolina diaspora. You can write that one down.

Jeez. I mean, what are we, rich diaspora. Diaspora. Pink Floyd album? No, no, no.

After Delicats out of Thunder. Diaspora. Look it up. Look it up. They wound up in the same spot at one point in time. So just say that. Well, but diaspora means that you're wandering in the desert. Yeah, but nobody knows that.

Yeah. I mean, well, I just, well, those who did will appreciate the reference. And those who do not are now smarter for it. I called you a wordsmith yesterday and you took it negatively. But how am I a wordsmith? You know, big words. I don't understand.

Use them as disrespect. But they wound up in the same, the same spot. And remember they were competing for the same, the one job to finally get through and they wound up going elsewhere. And, you know, Baker got his new, his shot and made the playoffs. Won a division. It's a different division. The 14 wins, by the way, name another division.

Would have had him at home except the AFC West. So he did a terrific job under the circumstances. You take a look, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, they ate. They ate.

They weren't, they, they weren't, they didn't leave a lot of crumbs on the plate. And do we look at Darnold in the last two weeks as a guy who no longer deserves to have a shot in Minnesota? And that's who he is. That's who he is. And that's the end of it. And he's done.

The 14 wins were a complete mirage. Well, the head coach is the ultimate evaluator. And obviously he's the one that's going to make this decision. Obviously the front office, I get it, but he's the quarterback whisperer. This is what he had to say on the subject matter.

First blush Monday night. You know, I think it's very important we all think about, you know, Sam's body of work, what he was able to do this year. When not very many people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 wins. Very rare for a quarterback in their first year.

In fact, it is rare. The most wins by a first-year quarterback with a team. And just the way he came in, committed himself to just a daily process to be the best version of himself. It did not work out in the end. And I think Sam would be the first one to tell you. Could he have played better tonight?

I'm sure he would tell you that he could have. And those moments where you're holding that ball and your reaction is to try to make a play. We can't talk out of both sides of our mouth because he sure as heck made a lot of plays doing that this year. But I think that's part of the growth. Remember this guy's, you know, 20, 27 years old or whatever he is. And I think he has a foundation now of both the things you do at the quarterback position to have success and the things that sometimes you have to learn the hard way. Bingo.

Couldn't have said any better myself. So here's what I think the Vikings should do. What they should do is resign Sam and come up with a number that they won't go past. And if I'm Sam Darnold, I accept that number. Because what I think Sam Darnold did lose in the last two weeks, other than those games, is the ability to say, I need a fair market value contract. Like if he took the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, he'd have that ability to say, I'm next in line like Tua was and I'm next in line. If he took him to the NFC Championship game, his agent would absolutely have that ability to say something like that. No, and then he would have ended up signing the Baker deal.

You know, three for a hundred. Well, maybe, maybe not. But just think about it. If he'd won that game and he went in and then went into Philadelphia and beat the Eagles. Is he the reason they win? Yes. Which every quarterback pretty much is in the playoffs.

Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. Jaywin Hertz wasn't the reason the Eagles won over the weekend. Well, I mean, pretty much everything.

That's why I said pretty much. I think he's lost his ability to have a large hammer in negotiations. How does that sound?

We can find the right way to term it. I think he cost himself $50 million in the last couple of weeks. If he did, you know what?

So be it. He should stay put in Minnesota. He should stay in the warm embrace of Kevin O'Connell and this offense. Is he going to be the backup? No.

I don't even know if he would be. This is the conversation to be had. You don't just give J.J. McCarthy the job just because you drafted him where you did. Yes, you do. That's how it works. All right.

I hear you. And by the way, look at me saying this. You know how I believe in J.J. McCarthy. By the way, if J.J. McCarthy shows up to training camp and looks like, you know. How he did in the preseason. Right.

Or panics, you know, was apparently showing up in practice or back in the day. And again, I don't compare. I just compare stories. Brady back in the day outplayed Drew Bledsoe in the training camp prior to the the year that he got his shot due to injury. So I'm saying you bring. You bring Sam Darnold back 100 percent and you. You show you tell him there's a competition and I know you wind up potentially paying somebody twenty five, thirty million dollars to be your backup. If that's the case, I don't think you let him walk. And if you're Sam Darnold, what are you going to just hope, hope it's better in Tennessee.

Oh, yeah. If you're Minnesota, yes, you want to bring Sam back to because that makes your quarterback room better. But if you're Sam Darnold, you're looking you're going on Zillow and you're looking at real estate in New Orleans, Nashville and Pittsburgh. That's not good.

Not you can scratch Pittsburgh off that list. Why? He's better than what they have right now.

Yeah. But no, he'll have a market. He'll have a market.

But why would you leave? Pittsburgh fans won't get behind Justin Jefferson and Kevin O'Connell if you don't have to, because he's not the starting quarterback. He won 14 games for them this year. Great.

And so probably would have J.J. McCarthy. No, no, no. I don't know. By the way, he's doing that to just put me in a position.

I'm actually not. They're probably the same player. A rookie who's never played in the NFL before. Sam Darnold.

Really? How did Danny Daniels do? You can't just throw out the- Did he win 14 games?

He's won 13 so far. I'm just saying you cannot throw out the entire season because in the game in Detroit and this one, it's a team game, man. And it was off for everyone last night, defensively right off the bat. Offensively, they didn't protect. They didn't protect.

Yeah, they weren't. The reason why they didn't protect is Sam Darnold held onto the ball too long on occasion. And he should have gotten rid of it. The moment where Jared Verst picks the ball up and runs it in pretty much ended the game. And, you know, Darnold should get rid of the football quicker.

But it's part of a process. And who knows about setbacks or whatever. I love J.J. McCarthy, and I think he's going to be a terrific quarterback in this league. The Minnesota Vikings, I play it by half if I can. And if I'm Darnold, I want to stay with Kevin O'Connell as my coach and Josh McCown as my quarterback coach in a quarterback room that does appear to be a healthy spot. And that's a Hall of Fame wide receiver after just five years. I don't want to leave that. Kirk Cousins did.

How'd that work out for him? And then just this last reminder again that we're having this conversation at all. Is how humbling this sport can be. 15 days apart.

Pop it up on the screen on the left. Sam Darnold is on his on the shoulders of his teammates, not knowing what to do with his hands, as he said. Just like celebrating life career best 370 plus yards against the Packers to put them in the position of winning the one seed in the division.

And then 15 days later sacked nine times seasons over one and done. And we're all wondering if he's really the guy on the left. This is a humbling, humbling game. Not for long.

And why it's sometimes just tough to take. Ethan in Minnesota's first and first up. Let's take your call. Ethan, what's up? Rich, I feel like I watched my team dodge a bullet last night in the sense that. A few years ago, I saw the worst defensive coordinator of all time in Ed Donatell make Daniel Jones, our now third string quarterback, look like Michael Vick. He got a playoff win. He got a contract out of that. Sam showed up like Kirk Cousins and Christian Ponder before him in that they could get the job done in the regular season. But when it mattered, they fell apart. Who didn't fall apart in college was Jason McCarthy won a national championship.

He actually has a mentality to him. He also had Ethan. I know. I just need to throw this out here, too. And then you can continue on.

I'm not going to cut you off. But J.J. McCarthy had one of the had had the back to back. Award winning offensive line in front of them.

They won the the trophy for best offensive line two years in a row at Michigan in front of J.J. McCarthy at J.J. been behind that line last night. I don't I don't know. Maybe he would have been savvy enough to get rid of the ball. He could have had some wheels, unlike Sam. But Sam had some wheels last night.

I don't know, Ethan. You know, I'm pushing back a little bit here, but it's just like I feel like I'm watching the same story over and over again. I watch Adrian Peterson's career be wasted away by a quarterback with no mentality. I watch this give Kirk Cousins the biggest contract in NFL history up until that point with no mentality. And these guys put up great stats in the regular season. And Sam did it again this year.

I just want something new where we have a quarterback who's young on a rookie deal we can build around. Just don't give all the money to Sam when you saw him collapse in the two weeks. If he didn't, if it was if it was a different story, then great move on. But that's not the case.

We're not living in that reality anymore. He fell apart. Go on the Pittsburgh, get your money and just build around a young QB on a cheap deal. Thanks for the call, Ethan.

Appreciate it. I want someone new. That's what the fan base is saying, and that's that may come into play with Sam Darnold. That the last two weeks were like the first 14, you know, forget it.

I don't know. I think you see a coach who's just like who's around him, who nurtured it, who coaches it. And he's like, now he's got the foundation. Year two can even be better. But he also knows what he has in J.J. McCarthy because he's been talking to him.

He's around the kid. And we'll see what happens. But it's going to be an interesting free agency window. They have an opportunity to franchise tag him, too, you know. Yeah, but that's a 41 million dollar. I don't think they're going to do that. Price tag. Let's take a break.

844204. Mike Tomlin has spoken today. We've got that.

Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. We've got that. Mike Sanristil. Don't tell him. I said I like Notre Dame. Please just keep that to yourselves.

Can't wait to maybe I should ask him for advice. Right now, though, let's get a sports update from Rich Ackerman. Back here on the program. I I did when I was on Twitter.

Like following the art, but make it sports. Yeah, it's still great. I'm told there was a good one last night. It's still killing it. Jared verse.

Going super fly snooker on Sam Darnold. Wow. That was not called for a late hit, by the way. The referee was standing right there staring at it. And he just like, ah, man. I love that site.

It's pretty amazing. Do they probably use do they use AI? No, that guy has been interviewed. I think it was on Pablo Torres podcast that he does not. He was like an art history major. He just looks at it. He's literally just doing off the top. That reminds me of St. Francis receives the stigmata. Basically. OK, I don't know what that means. But yes, that's what the name of the art. That one that we just saw. That was. Yeah, it was on the screen 15 seconds ago.

Did you know the Patriots playing the Titans next year? This guy is in the room. Or is he just an apparition? And you guys say I don't pay attention. You do. You don't. And we do both do. And you don't. And you don't. So really, you've also worn the same outfit, I think, for like 10 straight shows. Wow.

The sweatshirts because it's freezing. I change all the time. Just flip that into just dissing them first. You got to attack me because I said you don't pay attention. Yeah. It's got like.

It's called deflecting. It's a new site called chat, but make it Del Tufo. Yeah. Chad MDT. Chad MDT.

He'll tell you all about boats and things. Do we have one for TJ? Did we do one for TJ? OK, that's a good one. Wow.

Art, but make it TJ. That's incredible. That's Van Gogh. The portrait of Dr. Gachet. Yeah. That is Van Gogh.

Me striking that pose was the greatest thing I ever did. Dr. Gachet also had a trip and a motorcycle on the line. Listen, like you would have known the price of a Harley.

I am with you a thousand percent. No, you got kind of hosed. You got screwed there. Harleys are not $8,000. And you got to wait 10 years to go back on.

They're not. You're going to be like 80 next time. Right.

Probably 82 to be honest. Are you allowed back on or is it always a one and done? Can you return? You can't. Ten years has to pass. Ten years? That's not years. That's unfair. Oh my goodness.

Which makes no sense. They make Hall of Famers wait five. Yeah.

Right? You should be back. And you're a Hall of Famer. Look, I was, remember, I was a daytime demo king for that period of time.

You're a Hall of Famer parent. So it's been almost three, right? Was it? No, five, I guess. No, it was 21. So it'd be four. OK, so it's coming up on four years. Oh, it's got six more. Oh man, a long time to go.

I might not even be around. We have another one? Do we have another one?

Del Tufo. That's a good one. Art.

So it's Art, but Make it Rich Diving Show. Is that what it is? This is a picture of Mike Del Tufo sitting courtside with K.M. Clark. Oh my God, I played the Sparks. Hoskins, are you doing anything? I can't breathe.

Is it Smitch? I can't breathe. That is hilarious. Oh my God. I couldn't believe it. Wow. That is so good.

That was you. I took that picture from high up during the Sparks. Sparks. Yeah, fever.

Fever. Yeah. I'm going again. Mike was just like... Art, but Make it Del Tufo. I'm going again.

Yeah, you were sitting there like you were outside of Satrials, man. Look at that right there. You needed like the Bollywood one that's like sending himself. You could do Art, but Make it Sopranos. I don't show, but Make it Sopranos. Oh, well done. Funny.

Back here on the Rich Eisen Show. The unexpected can happen at any time. You need to think about things like life insurance in advance.

Ethos makes it easy as one, two, three. Choose your coverage. Apply in minutes. Get covered in real time. No medical exam.

Just answer a few simple health questions. You're on your way with up to $2 million of term life protection with policy starting as low as $2 a day. Ethos is approving over 2,000 families a day for life insurance protection, all online and hassle-free. Get a quote at tryethos.com.

That's tryethos.com. Got a top five list. Oh, yeah.

Top five moments of super wild card weekend. Super. Hit it.

Hit it. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Richest top five. All right. Number five on this list.

We start with a fourth and one in Western New York. The Bills are going for it because that's what they do. Josh Allen buys a ton of time and then he gets more time and then he makes a sandwich and then he throws it in the back of the end zone to Ty Johnson. And it looked at first like we needed to review this then. And you could see on the screen, his left shin is up. His left foot is not touching the back end zone line.

He does have his hands underneath it and his knee is down and nothing's touching the white stripe on the back. And it is, in fact, a touchdown. If only, if only, if only Ty Johnson had done that in the one time I started him because James Cook was out in fantasy instead of it being a Ray Davis night. I'm sorry to make it about me.

How dare you? That was a rough one for me in fantasy this year. But the Bills are on to the divisional round and hosting the Ravens. Number four, the most vicious treatment of a Valentine in Philadelphia since Billy Ray. The 24-yard touchdown, Dallas Goddard, stiff arm in his way to the end zone. Looking good, Billy Ray.

That's what Susie wanted me to say to you. Feeling good, Dallas. I mean, what a moment this was because this was still a close game. I mean, the score made it feel, the action, pardon me, made it feel like it was a 50-point margin for the Eagles, but it wasn't. And that was the moment in Philadelphia that got everyone out of their seats and made them think, okay, this is going to happen. I almost put Saquon sliding instead of scoring a touchdown on the list. Did you see the Eagles posted, I guess, the mic'd up wired for sound of the sideline? A.J. Brown and Devontae Smith were cursing mad at Saquon.

Number three on the list, this was the game-turner in Houston. The Chargers are up 6-0. The Texans are deep in their own end. Two plus minutes to go in the half. Ball flies around past C.J. Stroud on the snap.

He picks it up. Instead of third down fumble, turning it over or having to kick it back to the Chargers, it's a 34-yard reception. What a great moment for C.J.

Stroud. Flipped the entire game. Game was not the same after this. That's number three on the list. Number two was the Lightning McQueen moment.

Life turned into a highway. Lightning McQueen. And the Ravens, with a 44-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry, rascal-flatted the rest of the Steelers' hopes.

Look at him smiling as he's running. Geez, imagine you're seeing this coming. It's nightmare fuel for a defender. And number one, the top moment of Wild Card Weekend was the Zane Gonzalez doink to Detroit.

Hit one right off the right upright and through. And instead of it being an overtime game and who knows what could happen there in Tampa, the commanders win and move on. That's the top moment of Wild Card. Do you think we need one more? Okay. All right, we'll get one more.

Got to be fair and balanced. One from every game. The Jared verse scoop and score. When he scooped it up, you knew it was over. What do you think his top speed there was?

21, 22, something like that? He would have been ticketed into 20 mile an hour zone and then he leaps into the end zone and then just putting it all together, the LAFD garb worn by the Rams last night and winning one for Los Angeles truly helped cement, if they hadn't already, with the way they performed with the last fires and winning a Super Bowl. The Rams are a Los Angeles team. Yeah, so according to next gen stats, they did tweet this out last night. Reached the top speed. Jared verse 19.88 miles per hour. Fastest speed reached by 260 plus pound ball carrier over the last seven years.

How about that? And it's the longest fumble return for touchdown by a rookie in NFL playoff history. I got another one for you. Last defensive touchdown scored by a rookie in a playoff game. Want to guess?

Anybody? Bueller? Defensive? JJ Watt? Correct.

Good one. And the first, I believe, ever wild card win for the Texans, if I'm not mistaken. It was a pick six, right? Or was it a fumble return? I believe it was a pick six. Fourth rookie in NFL history with a 50 plus yard defensive touchdown in a playoff game.

Jared verse. I mean, of all the players to pick it up for the Rams, unfortunately for the Vikings, that's the one you like the least. Because you're not going to tackle him and you're not going to catch him either. You're not going to tackle him. How good is he? I did probably play running back in high school, right? Are you about to try to tackle him, dude? By the way, I think so. We chatted with him before the Rams Cardinals game. An absolute delight to talk to.

What a beast. Defensive rookie of the year, hands down, yeah? Well, I mean, you know, and Cooper DeGene will be involved in that conversation. But to me, you check a website that might be connected to a town where Mo Green is not getting the credit for founding the town. You know, I imagine he's got to be the odds on favorite. And by the way, these votes are already taken. So the hay's in the barn on that front.

So it doesn't matter. But those are the top plays. I mean, what are some other ones that we could have thrown in there? I mean, like I said, there's the Saquon slide. Anything from Jayden Daniels.

How good is he? Well, the third and one stiff arm on that defensive tackle who had him dead to rights and then they kicked the field goal right after. Right. There's that.

Trying to think of something. That C.J. Stroud play flipped the game. I thought he was not going to.

I thought he was not. Oh, yeah. The kick to the Texans returning a blocked extra point for two points. That was cool. But the game was kind of already.

Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Chargers were about to make it a 10 point game that it was a 12 point game. And then they. You know, and then then then the last pick six by Herbert. Kind of sealed the deal. We could have went with one of those.

Our two in the books overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. Mike Tomlin's comments on his future Mike Sander still of the aforementioned commanders all coming up. 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. So you think you're going to do another Jackass movie?

What do your kids want? That's not going to do that. You got to be careful how you choose your heroes 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.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-14 16:26:38 / 2025-01-14 16:49:10 / 23

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime