Louis Riddick: I View Shedeur Sanders As A Franchise Player

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Savings vary. Subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Oh yeah! Hit it! Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Shotgun for Rodgers.

Sidearms went over the middle. Caught! Touchdown Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oh is that sweet! So then let's talk about the fit of Rodgers and the Steelers, Jerry. How is Rodgers a fit? The Rich Eisen Show. Rich, I really don't think he is. Earlier on the show, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, Boise State defense event Ahmed Hasani. Coming up, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show on this Friday is on the air. Every phone line is lit and we're greatly appreciative of that at 844-204-rich. Number to dial. Just keep hanging on. We will empty the phone banks before we finish up this third hour and this week on the Rich Eisen Show here on this Friday on the Roku Sports Channel.

And so much more. And if you missed anything, it was just a delightful chat in hour number two. Let's bring in our friend Louis Riddick here from ESPN to kick off hour number three. Louis, good to see you sir. How are you? Doing great man.

How are you? We spoke to Ahmed Hasani in hour number two. When I say he's one of the most delightful prospects I have ever spoken to in my 20 plus years, it's an understatement. Wow. His story from Egypt to Boise to the Combine and now to the NFL, I loved it.

And it's exactly what every team is kind of looking for, somebody with a motor and a story like him. Louis? Yep. Yep.

Yep. No question. You know, we got a chance to cover them in the Fiesta Bowl this past year against Penn State. And look, that's what Boise does, man. Boise finds high character individuals, really has a great program in place in terms of player development, both on and off the field. That's how guys like Hasani was able to ascend to become a leader, become a captain, become one of the more trusted players in that program. The fact that they pour in the guys like that is why players don't leave that program.

You know, Boise has never had an issue with guys like leaving for the riches of the NFL world. I mean, you would have thought, right, that Aston Gente would have been long gone. A guy like, you know, like he would have been long gone.

Like, like the safety battlefield would have been long gone. But these guys don't leave. And it's just it's cool to see guys who have that kind of conviction and that kind of commitment. And that's exactly what you're looking for in the NFL.

Guys who have conviction, who have commitment, commitment to the game, commitment to personal growth, because that's what makes you sleep at night when you're paying them a lot of money. What is your general sense of this draft at the top right now, now that we're through the first big splashes of the new league year, Lewis, and we're a month and a half away and rubber is now going to start meeting the road. What's your general sense of the top of this draft right now?

Yeah, it's interesting, like, you know, what does Tennessee really do? Does Tennessee really do they see Cam Ward the same way that I personally see Cam Ward? Do they see him as a franchise setter, a tone setter, a pillar player, or do they say, hey, you know what, we're going to trade out of here and let someone else come up and pick and see if we can continue to build out the rest of our roster and fall into that whole line of thinking of where we'll just then we'll insert the quarterback at some later date, as if those guys grow on trees. And if that's the case, then who would they try and move up? Who would they allow to move up into that spot to get a guy like Cam Ward? Because I do believe that he will go first overall, and I believe he's worthy of going first overall. Or do they sit there and they take a guy like Abdul Carter and they say, hey, look, we're comfortable with his, you know, with the situation regarding the stress reaction that he has in his foot.

And then what happens at number two? At one point in time, you would have thought Cleveland was going to go ahead and draft the quarterback, regardless of, you know, all the other things that they were rumored to be maybe thinking in the free agency market. But now with the training for Kenny Pickett, Russ going in there for a free agent visit, does that cool them off as far as the quarterback situation is concerned? Does someone want to move into that spot to draft the quarterback number two or get someone else at number two? Where does Cleveland sit there and draft someone?

Do they draft Travis Hunter? I think there's a lot of things, man, that are still up in the air, to be honest with you, Rich, as far as how people view these players, starting with the quarterbacks. And then how do they how do they view Travis?

How do they view Abdul? And maybe most importantly, I think when you're talking about the quarterback situation and how that could shake things up, how do people view Shadore Sanders? How do you view him? I view him as a franchise player.

I view him as a franchise quarterback who it would be great, again, to follow the blueprint of draft him, have the quarterback room set up to where he can kind of get his bearings, get settled in year one and then take off in year two. He has what you want. OK, he has the mental horsepower. He has plenty of arm strength. He has plenty of mobility. He has toughness galore.

Listen, there are people now who throw out those arguments of, well, you know what? Look at what his record was at Colorado. He wasn't able to put that entire team on his back. He wasn't able to lift them to the kind of heights that maybe his bravado says that he did. Kid had no offensive line his first year.

I did multiple games. He was getting his head beat in. They had no running game. He is deadly accurate, extremely smart. He can push the ball down the field and he's uniquely equipped to be able to deal with all the other responsibilities that a franchise quarterback is going to have to deal with. That's a given. Super mature. He's been he's one of those guys that has been raised the right way by his father.

There's nothing you can say that's going to affect him. So, yeah, I think he's a franchise quarterback. That's the long and short of it. But you know what? If he gets past Vegas at six, if he gets past the Jets at seven, who knows what happens after that?

Who knows? So I think the top half, the top 10 picks in the draft are going to be very, very interesting because there's a lot still up in the air. And then, of course, there's the current state of affairs in Giants land, in Steelers land, waiting for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision and how that splashes into the draft. Lewis Riddick, my first question for you is, where do you think Rodgers best fits? You know, if you if you if you let the chatter tell it, he'll fit anywhere.

Right. He's a cancer. He's done. He's he's never going to regain the form that he had, which he probably doesn't. But that's OK. You don't he doesn't have to that he's a malcontent that he's going to tear the entire organization apart, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Listen, we all know that he comes with some, let's just say, personality characteristics that you feel as though would be. For lack of a better word, challenging to integrate into your football team. So I think the best fit for him is a place where they don't bend to you.

You're going to fit into what they do. And that would require a place that has a very strong ownership group, strong general manager, strong head coach and strong locker room. And a tradition of being able to assimilate people who are very strong, like Aaron Rodgers, into their culture and have them buy in because they see the greater good.

They see the benefit of the greater good. That's Pittsburgh. That's Pittsburgh to me.

All right. And it's not I think the benefits of him going to a place like that far outweigh the negatives as far as in, you know, maybe tearing that place down and or being a negative drag on what they're trying to build there. Because I think Mike and Arthur Smith, Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator, Mike can handle anyone. He's one of the most charismatic, respected individuals to ever walk the sidelines of an NFL team. Just listen to how his players talk about. Just pull the most respected players on Pittsburgh's current roster or players who have played for him previously. They all tell you the same thing, regardless of what you think about his ability to get his team over the hump. Aaron would buy into what they're doing. And Mike is going to take no crap from him.

And I can tell you this. Arthur Smith isn't either. I think that's what Aaron needs at this point. Aaron needs to go to a place where it's like, hey, look, we're going to talk to you about what best suits you and how you like to what throws you like, how you like routes run, how you feel so you can get up to speed here quickly and help this group of wide receivers and kind of level up this offense. And I don't think Aaron's done. I don't think all of a sudden he's hit some wall to where he's a bottom quarter of the league thrower. I don't think that. I think it would be good for him to go there to throw to this this group of wide receivers. Now, getting back to the whole personality and fifth thing, people think Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, George Pickens. Oh, yeah. What could go wrong there? It's funny what happens when people kind of respect one another's competency in their in their ability to help one another.

It's funny how people kind of toe the line then if they can see the greater good. And so I think that's I think that is a good fit. And honestly, I think we're Pittsburgh sitting right now, as far as the draft is concerned, at twenty one. If you're Aaron and you really don't want to view yourself as a bridge guy in the true sense of the word, meaning there's someone sitting right behind you who they're just itching to get in there as soon as they're ready to go. Pittsburgh's by that spot because, I mean, who are they going to get at that spot and who are they going to get at that spot that they feel as though could be ready to go maybe in a year or two? So I think this could be a two to three year option for him, depending upon how he's looking at his own career and how much longer he wants to play. Now, I do think at that spot, there could be a certain quarterback available that you and I have talked about before that. I think as we move through the next six weeks, seven weeks, you're going to hear even more and more talk about Tyler Shuck from Louisville. You just are. He was coincidentally, he was in the first group of players that they brought in for official visits in the Pittsburgh.

And that isn't just because they played this one. They want to kick the tires. The kid can play. So could they draft someone like that? Yeah. But I like the fit for Aaron there. I like the fit for him in Pittsburgh. Maybe he looks at the Giants differently. I don't know.

Maybe he thinks that's his best fit. But I see you had Tyler Shuck up on the screen there. Look, Rich, you know how it is, man. We've talked a lot about quarterbacks. We talked a lot about different players.

And once I kind of get bought in and locked in on something like it takes a lot for me to move off of it, right or wrong. This kid is mature. He has had a hell of an off season.

Jeff and Brian Brom are the very best. The coach is down there at Louisville and at the and at the combine you saw you were up in the booth calling it. Yeah. This kid can throw it, man. He can throw it.

And he has played against some good, good competition this past year. And he diced them all up. Ask Ryan Clark sometime about when he was at Notre Dame watching his son against that defense. How Tyler Shuck looked out there in South Bend and just throwing the tape, ripping them.

Absolutely ripping them. So we'll see what happens with Pittsburgh and we'll see what Aaron ultimately chooses. I'm not always a fan of all the things that Aaron Rodgers does and the way in which he kind of like the way he moves from a business perspective and from a personality perspective.

But if we're just looking at this about fit. I mean, like I said, you got a lot of people telling he doesn't fit anywhere. They would like to see him just ride off into the sunset and never be seen again. I don't think it's that dramatic. I don't think it's that extreme.

I think Pittsburgh could use him. We'll see. Yeah. I mean, you know, Rogers isn't going to go into Pittsburgh and and, you know, and blow it up.

You know what I mean? Like he and Todd, I've word for word, I agree with everything you just said. And he might, you know, before making this decision, find out what what he is comfortable about Arthur Smith and what what input he would be given. He should make the offense more Aaron Rodgers, if you will, friendly without, you know, demanding somebody put on the coaching staff or some other people be on the roster and things like that.

I don't I don't see that either. That said, he's still keeping them waiting. If you're in the front offices in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Pittsburgh, P.A., you know, how long do you wait? Do you do you put do you put a time on this one?

Do you do you start a clock? Lewis, what do you do for sure? For sure. And look at that, to be honest with you, that is becoming a little bit of a pain in the ass to suck to be one. It is.

You don't you do get tired of that kind of thing because you can't just sit there and go and sit there and just be going like, well, let's see. Is Aaron going to call us today? No, not that you do have to build your team. And obviously Pittsburgh that they've resigned Mason Rudolph and they you know, they bring him back into the fold, which, you know, Mason understands that culture. It's perfect.

It's perfect. They know exactly what they're getting. So now they have somebody on the roster.

Right. And if you're the Giants. Yeah, I mean, you're sitting there going, OK, so what do we want to do here? Do we want we want Drew Locke? Do we want to run that back? Do we want to like do we want to move up? Do we want to see if Cleveland is not going to draft? We see if we can move up to two. Do we want to talk to Tennessee and see if they you know, if there's something if they're even convicted on one of these quarterbacks, I think. Do we just want to like try to not, you know, not let Russ leave the building? Do we want to lock him in? Yeah, it makes you have to juggle so many different scenarios simply because the guy who presumably is your number one option won't tell you whether or not he wants to play for you or not. And I think at some point you have to make the move so you as a front office can continue to formulate your plan for the next six to eight weeks. You don't you obviously don't want to go into the draft with this lingering over you.

You just don't. So, yeah, that becomes annoying. You know, we just did three straight days of coverage on ESPN. We started off saying, what do we say every day?

Well, what's Aaron doing today? We're trying to find a way to kind of spin it a different way. And our job is, you know, to obviously talk about it. But if your job is to build a roster and other options that you'd be comfortable with, start drying up.

You know what I mean? And yeah, and the demand right now in many. Well, the demand really does outstrip the wise. There's there's chairs for everyone, so to speak, as Adam was saying this past week. But it's like.

Yeah, but there's levels to the people who you could put in those chair like you. I can see what these teams are trying to do. I can see what they want. And it was like, what if we don't get option one now?

Yeah. I'm wondering, like, you know, whose job it would be in the Giants front office. You know, if they're waiting on a call from Rogers to show John Mara the photograph of Rogers on the beach in Malibu, you know, just pondering existence. I don't know what he's doing. You know, I mean, by the way, it's his right to stare at a sunrise.

I would do the same thing every single day if I lived in those digs, you know, and he he's not out there, you know, hoping to get caught on camera. But that said, I mean, you know, it is you're trying to the clock's ticking like Mona Lisa Vito, you know, stomping her feet here. Is that is that a real picture? Is that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know. I saw that picture.

I didn't know it was something from before. What? No. Yeah. I mean, this is that's recently, huh? Apparently.

I don't know. If I'm if I'm if I'm John, I'm just like, man, look, OK, so last year I had this whole fiasco with me standing in the room as Joe Shane is just basically like blowing me off as I'm sitting there pleading with my GM to not let my favorite player go. And now I'm looking at pictures of a dude who we're basically sitting here like, you know, tapping our fingers on the desk, wondering if he's going to give us an answer. And he's standing out there on the beach with a blanket around him staring off into the sun. Yeah, I'll tell you what.

I'd be like, you know, I was sitting there going, what did I do? You know, somebody help me out here. I know it's, you know, in all seriousness, though.

Yes. I went back and looked at all Aaron's throws and I'm sitting there going, you can see it as the season went on. I mean, you could see some of the old there and you could see it. You can see it coming. He's not going to be 2014, 15 and no one expects that. But I'm telling you, I can see why teams are interested in saying, hey, look, we think you can help us for a year or two if you're committed to it and it all fits for us. I can see why.

I can see why they're trying to wait and they're trying to be patient again. So before I let you go, let's get off the Rogers subject. The one move, the one move that you loved this week and the one that left you scratching your head the most this week. Lewis Riddick.

Yeah, I think I think there was there was multiple moves that I really love. Look, I love everything that New England is doing as far as being honest with where they're at in their team build and saying, hey, look, we got to get some protection for Drake. So we're going to you know, we're going to get Morgan Moses in here.

We got to fortify ourselves right down the middle. So we go ahead and look, many people feel as though they overpaid for Milton Williams. You know, if you're Mike Vrabel, you're going, hey, look, I think I may have a young Jeffrey Simmons type guy here bringing my guy, Harold Landry, signed Carlton Davis.

We're good to go. We're trying to like build this thing with the kind of players that fit Miami. So I loved everything that they did. I love what Washington did with Larry Matunzel and trying to get him, you know, in Washington and getting him in Washington to protect Jayden's blind side. And there was another market for Larry Matunzel. There are other teams trying to get him that were tackle needy.

And so they made the commitment. What I didn't like, look, if you're if you are Dallas and you are trying to fortify yourself right down the middle of this football team and, you know, put some put some building blocks right at the heart of your football team where everyone has attacked you and everyone has basically just like ripped your heart out. Then why, you know, why weren't you in the market for a guy like to make a big move on some kind of like, you know, sturdier, strong downhill type of inside linebacker, off ball backer, defensive tackle, even an edge player now, because obviously Demarcus Lawrence is going.

I know you're trying to re-sign Micah. Was Josh Swett in your plans at all? Was Milton Williams in your plans at all?

Was Robert Spillane in your plan at all? As far as maybe having that kind of thumper at the linebacker spot so teams don't run the ball down your throat. I don't quite always understand Dallas's reluctance, you know, to play in the free agent market selectively with people who are high end players who can really help them.

I love drafting and developing, too, but you're just hamstringing yourself. We'll see if there are big players right now for Cooper Cup because, you know, obviously reports are that they've emerged as a player for him. I would like that. I'd love to see Cooper Cup with C.D.

Lamb. I think that would work. I think that'd be great. But it's just always they always are at the forefront of everyone's conversations about the hell are they doing? Like, what are you waiting for? Why do you always wait till the last minute and try and make things happen at the last minute and then beat your chest saying, look, I told you we were all in. Like Jerry Jones, one of the best businessmen in the history of the world. This guy has made ungodly amounts of money because he's obviously a very savvy businessman. It doesn't seem always real savvy to wait till the last minute and pay high prices and basically just put yourself in a bind like they do.

But we'll see what happens. Lewis, thanks for the time and your two cents going into the weekend. Always appreciate it.

Truly. Thanks again. Thanks again, man. All right. You got it.

That's Lewis Riddick at L Riddick ESPN. Go ahead and follow him. Always great to chat with him. Let's take a break.

Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial here from Sam Darnold yesterday. Davante Adams spoke yesterday and you will speak next right here on this Friday edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Compare your progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies so you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this episode at progressive dot com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates not available in all states or situations.

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Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate fire and casualty insurance company and affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois. We're now at the top five power rankings of NFL quarterback birthday parties I'd prefer to attend. Number five is Josh Allen.

Let's go hang out with Josh. Yes. I don't know what this is. Photographs from. Is it from a murder mystery party or something like that? Halloween.

I don't know. But let's go hang out with Josh Allen. All right. Number four on the list. Who wouldn't want to go to Tom Brady's birthday party?

That would be number one. No, no, no, no. Single Tom Brady, bro. Tom Brady.

Doesn't that Tom Brady on a boat? Yeah. And the one and it's on his cheat day with no one day where he's drinking to the word. OK. All right. OK. Number one. Number three on this list. Who wouldn't want to go say happy birthday to Joe Burrow? Oh, yes. Look at Joe.

OK. Come on now. Joe Burrow's throwing her birthday party. I'm going and everybody on the RSVP list is going to get a number two quarterback birthday party.

I would want to attend is Jimmy Garoppolo's birthday. Yes. You bet. Yeah.

How is that not number one? Tom's going to be there and you just I mean, I will just I'll stand in the corner and look and it'll be creepy. Not going to lie.

I'm not going to lie. It'll be creepy. There'll be some birds. It'll be creepy. But Jimmy, too, for you, you're kind of women at that party. I wouldn't be able to go to Jimmy Garoppolo's birthday party because Susie would say, I don't know. And you're home. OK.

The pigeons will be clucking. Number one atop my power rankings list. And I got about birthday parties. I would like to attend an NFL quarterback birthday party. Hands down. Number one, Gardner Minshew. And the story is not just starting quarterbacks. I said NFL quarterback.

Number one, Gardner Minshew. Always fun when we're doing our dumbass power rankings. Didn't you write that up like pre-show about 20 minutes? Well, that was based on nobody wanted to go to Russ's birthday party. That was the news of the morning.

And so we just spun it up on that day. 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 clickgranger.com or just stop by. It's just us chickens now.

Call it with the callers and we'll get to your calls in a second. Chris Brockman has left the building. He's no longer on the program for the day. There's his empty chair. Has he already left the building? Where is he going? He's got to go to the airport to check his bags. He tried to check his clubs earlier this morning. Oh, because he's going on a golf trip? Right. And they said no. He tried to bring his golf clubs on the plane?

You could go and drop your bags off before your flight. Right. And I guess they. I don't understand it.

All I know is it was a very savage way. Because your bags get flown. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I understand that you've got to like his flight was right after the show and he needs to check his bag beforehand. And you can't just leave, you know.

No time for error. I understand that. It was it was very it was an interest because, again, I have three children. So I understand the way that, you know, you work the refs. He brought it up that, oh, by the way, I've got to leave early in front of other people.

Which is which is a total move that my children always do. You know, and it's not like, hey, so I if I have a problem with it, I have to bring it like I have to respond to that in front of other people. Right.

And then then he just said in the commercial break, hey, I'm going to take off now. All right. Like in front of you guys. So had I offered any pushback, it would have been awkward in front of you folks and maybe for him. Would you have offered pushback? I don't know.

I mean, I still could have. I just found it interesting that he doesn't like, you know, call me on the way to work and get me on the phone. Let me know last night. Are you just going to be an issue? Yeah. I just walked into the control room to talk about what's today's show. And so, oh, by the way, I had to leave early. I thought he was joking. He told me about checking his bag. He needed to check his bag.

Not just his bag, his golf club. OK, great. Yeah.

I hope he hits him straight. No, I don't. Have I done the Granger read that I do that? No. OK, OK. Thank you.

No, I'm not going to do it again if I've already done it. All right. Let's go to the phone lines here. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial. Dylan in Vancouver has been waiting forever and a day. What's up, Dylan? Oh, is that right? Is this the guy that called you out?

Oh, well, you know, we're having our own little two nations here. Christopher Brockman today. OK. Yeah, he's gone. He's got to check his bags, guys. He had to check his bag so he can't be he can't finish the show today.

He's checking his bag. Hey, if he's going to bring this up in front of other people, I'm just going to talk about him when he's not here. In front of more people.

A lot more. It's my preemptory. It's my right. It's your show.

What's up, Dylan? Listen, I wanted to chime in on that QB pressure conversation, because if I wasn't already a part of the Bald Brotherhood, I would have been ripping my hair out yesterday. OK, I need to address Christopher Brockman, but I'm going to lump in T.J. Jefferson now because he's there. OK. You guys are confusing hope and belief in an attempt to apply pressure to Josh Allen. If Josh Allen has a bad year, which he won't, but if he does, he'll still be the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. My point. He'll still have a generationally enriching contract. That's correct.

And he'll still be married to a future Avenger. Oh, you can add that. Listen, if Anthony Richardson has an off year next year, he'll go from a Colt to a Calgary Stampeder. That's pressure. Pressure? Don't talk about pressure, Chris Brockman. Are you kidding me? Well, the pressure is, is getting to the airport in time to check your bags.

And I can only hope the extra half hour of leaving the show while it's on the air will help him with that. So thanks for the call. Oh, you want to respond to that?

Because, Dylan, let me ask you this. So if you're someone who's viewed as one of the five best quarterbacks in the National Football League. Right. And you don't win a Super Bowl or you're saying that Charles Barkley, T.J., Charles Barkley, granted. And Charles Barkley will get on there and tell you he wished he won an NBA championship.

And how about this? I see I see Dan Marino. I see Dan Marino at the combine every single year. I see him at the Hall of Fame every now and then. There's not a single soul in there that thinks that he's he's snuck into either place. Yeah. There's also not a single soul that puts Dan Marino in the top five quarterback list, even though he deserves to be there based solely on talent.

But because he didn't win the ring, people won't put him in those lists. I get the legacy question and I understand. And thanks for the call, Dylan.

I understand all of that. My again, my my application of pressure is that you might not have the opportunity. Again, your window is closing and Josh Allen is neither.

Neither. Now, the pressure will be on when he does take on the Chiefs on that day to win. But not like, oh, my God, if I lose, what will people say about me?

Which is what I keep hearing about your definition of pressure. And somebody who does he check another bag with his golf clubs or I think he rolled up his drawers and just stuck them in. I think I've made my point back to the club. Let's go to Matt in a beautiful town, Haley, Idaho. I know very well what's going on, Matt. Hey, how's it going, Rich? How you been, sir?

Friday, guys. I wanted to call in and tell Cooper Cup he needs to come on up to Seattle. You know, JSN needs somebody there next to him. You know, obviously I would have wish Seattle would have addressed their interior line a little bit during free agency like the Chicago Bears did. But I'm confident with five picks in the top hundred. John Snyder, you know, our new head coach and Seattle Seahawks will get that addressed. And I also think Seattle is going to go farther than Dallas Cowboys. I was going to ask if you wanted to do a bet, I'd let him cut my hair.

You know, or if the if the Cowboys went further because he thinks they will and, you know, if the Seahawks went further, I could take care of Chris, no problem. Well, listen, and I know you're you're the what's the name of your spot up there in Haley again, Matt? What is it? 5D Barber Co. OK, OK, very good. 5D Barber Co. Is that what you said? That's right. OK, very good. Thanks for the call, Matt. You know, and it's a good thing for you that Chris isn't here because I don't think he's great at cutting hair. But that said, you know, if you're Seattle getting Cooper Cup for Sam Donald would be a pretty wise move.

If you can afford it, you can work it in. It would be a great way to supplement your new three year deal with your new quarterback. And Sam was introduced yesterday in Seattle. And what was brought up to him was the way the season ended. And this this totally makes sense. You know what I mean?

It's that you have to part and parcel do this. And I know it sounds like low hanging fruit or being overly negative, but the way things ended for him last year. In the mind's eye of some wipes out the 14 wins, or at least it evens it out. Or at least it's something that is of great concern that the 14 wins might have been the the longest flash in the pan you can have.

It's more than a flash, right? 14 wins. 14 wins ain't easy. It ain't easy. It ain't easy. But he was asked about the way the season ended, certainly since it ended against the team that he's going to have to face twice a year.

It's fair, man. Like, you know, you get all the way to that point. You have the season that we had offensively as a team. And then, you know, you run into at the end of the day, like only one team can can win the Super Bowl.

And unfortunately, we weren't that team. But I learned a ton from those last two games, especially playing Detroit and playing L.A. You know, we're going to see L.A. twice a year, obviously playing in this division and really looking forward to that. But yeah, it's just, you know, continuing to learn learn things about yourself, what they did schematically.

And yeah, that's that's basically all you can do is just learn from those experiences. And he's in between his new head coach, Mike McDonald, and his new offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak, who he's been on the same team with in previous spot before. And listen, certainly if Gino wasn't going to sign for the manner in which they wanted to sign him and they could pivot to Sam Darnold and get seven years younger at the position and see what you can do with him and get draft capital for Gino Smith. A wise move. And they did run the risk. They did run the risk of not getting him.

I mean, they might have been in the, you know, Aaron Rodgers game potentially had Sam Donald signed with Pittsburgh instead. They run the risk. And so put it all together. And it was, I think, an educated bet here. You're paying less to the position. You're getting younger at the position. And you're betting on that this is the beginning of something big.

And you also, to use the silence of the lambs phrase, with all due respect, you covet what you see. And in the final, in one of the final home games of the year, I believe it was week 16, Sam Darnold went up there and played one of his best games of the year and beat the Seattle Seahawks and put the Seahawks in a tougher position to make the playoffs based on what they saw from Sam Darnold. Who, by the way, also won with Carolina. He's won in Seattle. We had three touchdowns that game.

He sure did. And somebody brought that up to Sam, who I think was much happier talking about that game than the way the season ended. I'm excited to talk about this. How long have we got?

We got an hour? No, it was, it's incredible, man. Whenever you can come to an atmosphere like this and, you know, everyone kind of goes quiet, you know, I'm not, hopefully that doesn't happen here anymore. But no, man, it was a special game. I remember that touchdown, the one to Jets down the sideline. That was one that will be in my memory bank for as long as I live. So, but yeah, that was a no offense, coach, but that was, I keep rambling about this.

I asked you how long I had, because I'll keep going. But no, it was just a special moment to be able to win that football game. Jets, obviously not in reference to the team that drafted him, but that's the nickname for Justin Jefferson. So Jackson Smith and Jigba's his guy.

Getting Cooper Cup for him would be, I think, a wise maneuver, wise maneuver. But they're going to, they're going to, they're going to run it and then run it again and then play action off the run and then run it again and then play action and maybe run it two more times. That's the way they're going to try and score touchdowns on you play some defense. That's Mike McDonald's way of going about it when you hire a defensive minded coach. That's the way you play football. That's where you want to win playing football in many ways. That's the way they let Russ cook with Pete Carroll. So this is the Seattle way of playing football and with the way the Niners are in a state of flux right now. And we'll see how Arizona improves. It's the Rams division to go and try and beat.

And, and it'll be fascinating when Sam has to face him because we'll find out if the Rams have his number or he just had to change addresses in order to beat him. 844-204-rich number to dial more of your phone calls when we come back. Are we able to take a break right now?

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Here's a new fantasy football team named Sean McVeigh's Leg Day. Oh, yeah. And apparently there's video of it. OK. Let's see.

What do you think? Wow. How much is that, Phil? Are those twenty fives or forty fives?

Depends if you asked all two for guys. Right now, one forty five is one forty plate. So those are eight forty five to forty five. Those are eight forty five. He's doing eight hundred eight hundred forty five.

Good video. Yeah, it's almost 400 pounds he's squatting. All right. Now here's Andy Reid's Leg Day. Roll it. Wait a minute.

I told you we don't have that. I fell for it. I didn't mean to do Andy Reid like that. I mean, I thought that was your guy, too. I have a lot of guys.

You sure do. One of my guys right now, who I adore. Who?

The guy in the empty chair. Do you want to do you want to ask him if if if he's he's gotten to the airport yet to check his bag? Want me to find out, like, hey, were you able to check your golf bag?

Let's see. Rich wants to know. I should just call him. No, no, no. Call him. Don't call him.

Don't call him. I just want to know. I think everyone's on the edge of their seat. Wondering if the actor is that where he's going? Is he doing the one where he's the actor? Is that is that the is that the golf tournament he's going to? Oh, is it? I don't know. I think so.

No, because that one happens closer to the Emmy time. Oh, OK. Well, whatever. And anyway, I'm just I'm just curious. Just want to make sure he didn't check his golf bag. Let's make sure. All right.

So there we go on all that. He walked in pissed. What do you mean? He went early to check it. Oh, today.

I went early to check it today. And they said before the show. Oh, so he tried to meet you. I got it. I was going to take him after the show and things changed.

I think that's why he had to leave early. Oh, OK. Now, I know that he explained that to me in front of other people. I mean, when are you ever really alone that we could we'd have to pull you aside and that would be awkward.

Why would it be awkward? I'm not Jimmy Haslam. My door is open. You knew where I was going with it.

You don't look like Walter Maltho. Come on, man. A.J., I mean, you know, you're like I told you, you're here, bro. My door is open, man.

You can come to me with anything, anytime. I mean, you're a little busy in the morning sometimes. I know I personally don't want to bother you in the morning. What do you mean bother me?

What does that mean? When you say that, that means it makes folks who may not know, know that I'm I'm I'm I would consider it a bother. No, I mean, because you've got your head down.

You're writing and you're getting ready for the show. I'm a professional. But that doesn't mean that I can't take a minute out of being a professional to continue being a professional, to have a professional conversation in front of people. Yeah, no, like there's no reason.

There's also a button to talk directly in your ear. Well, that's the way he informed me he was leaving. Like now it's time to go.

Like now I'm going. All right. All right. All right. Like, OK, like, oh, you know what he would love knowing that we're talking about this.

Absolutely. He said he's still in line. Oh, OK. Let's OK. Let's tell him I'm rooting for him. I'm going to record you saying that.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let's keep this private. He said he's rooting for you.

Yeah. Rich says he's rooting for you. I'm rooting for him. We all are.

I think all of America taking this in right now is like rooting for him right now. He's fine. I mean, his flight doesn't take off for another hour and a half. He'll be good.

He'll be fine. I'm sure it's LEXO on a Friday, though. You never know. You never know. You're right.

So I'm glad he left early. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show radio network at the Hyundai getaway sales event. Get deals. So right.

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It's a great day for a new Hyundai. Jimmy in San Antonio wants to say something and we always give him his due. What's up, Jimmy? Como estamos hermanos. We're doing great.

How are you? Well, some people check bags. Others don't hold the elevator door peaks and valleys.

Now, hold on a minute. I hold the elevator door for women or for women and the elderly and children. But for guys, he hits that door closed.

No doors or door close. I don't need I don't need to be going up to the 11th floor and have somebody at six. I agree with you, but you should at least do it once and just tolerate it.

Be a nice guy. Come on. That ain't going to happen. So maybe they go have. OK, well, like I have a spin on star French cut that does not involve your children. Thank you. Did y'all see Taylor number one at GPT?

Yes, Taylor is number one. No, stop. You can't predict the next seventy five years of NBA titles and they have my spurs in twenty twenty eight and twenty thirty one. I can't wait. Wow. Where do you get to where is that?

Where to hang your hat? Well, I'm relying on artificial intelligence. That's like government. So we'll see. Well, here's the deal, man. Like, you know, congratulations. That's the way you're going to get your title.

Congratulations. Those titles that are a long way away and maybe not ever happening. But I want to hear my spin on the OK, instead of spot start bench cut. Yes, E.J. and Felly, the new mold standard of audio drops and paying attention. Dare I say, mold finger. Nice.

Oh, finger. Nice. Nice. OK. That makes a job. Yeah. Sorry. Job. Yeah.

That's right. Outlier insider influencer. Pat McAfee, Tom Pelissero, Rich Eisen.

Oh, outlier. Insider influencer. Pat McAfee, Tom Pelissero or Rich Eisen. Who's answering this? Me? No, no, no.

T.J. and Felly, because I know what you're going to say. Well, you know who the insider is, obviously got to be. Tommy P is the insider, you know. OK. And the outlier would be someone who came from outside and kind of disrupted everything. Right. Yeah.

That's that's McAfee. Well, he played the game, though. Yeah. But in terms of, you know, coming into this to the sports world the way he did and shook things up. There are actually influencers on my mind. You know, I refer to myself as the influencer, Jimmy.

And I think that's why he's trying to create problems by saying that, because we all know McAfee's platform is second to none in terms of just tweeting stuff out and doing all sorts of stuff. But I would consider myself an outlier as well. You know, you're in the game now, though. No, no, no. But an outlier means you're also, you know, somebody who is outside of the norm, you know.

And I, I think there's nobody else who does a show like this and then NFL Network and is best dad ever at the same time. I mean, that's also a good point. You influenced me totally. I swing, I swing between influencing and outlying. You know what I mean? Thanks for the call, Jimmy.

That's Jimmy in San Antonio. Let's go. OK. Are you an outlier or an influencer? You're an outfluencer. It depends on the day I'm an outfluencer. You're an inlier.

An inlier. Corey in Iowa. You're here on The Rich Eisen Show. I think we feel like we're cheating on Terzo. What's up, Corey? Yeah, it's me, Mr. Eisen. What's going on?

Two things first. First time, long time. I haven't called it in nine years. So I wanted to give, as an Iowa fan, I wanted to give you Mitch and Wolverine to your flowers.

Thank you. And I don't want you to keep pounding the desk for the last four years because as an Iowa fan, I also am against that team up north. Well, against the team down south. You can call it Ohio State. I don't care. You know what I mean? I'm not one of those Ohio State, Michigan or that team up north.

I can't even say the name. That's so lame. It's as lame as it gets. It is, I know.

But the reason why I called is I may have to get you to send me one of those certificates. I may have to rescind my fandom. Well, sorry. It's not just me. It's Jay Felley. And understand this.

This is high quality card stock dance. And that's why I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan all of my life and I have many friends along with me. And I have I said this last year and I said it this year. If they don't pay Micah Parsons, I'm going to have to be done because they should have let back latest contract.

They should have traded CD for PEX. And I cared for the Vikings much more last year than I did my Cowboys. It was watching the Cowboys was like a dumpster fire. It's like I can't look away. But it's just I was just ground down by the end of the season.

I got to push back on you, Corey. I would not have traded CD land for PEX. I would have paid him and I would have paid him the money and I would have paid him sooner because you knew you had to pay him. And the same thing with Dak and the same thing with Micah. All you got to do is take a look at the team that won the Super Bowl. And that's the way you pay people.

You do it early and you do it before the market is set by someone else in a manner you didn't expect. Like, say, the Cleveland Browns giving Miles Garrett 40 million bucks. That only raises the price for Micah. It raises the price for any player of Micah's caliber. Doesn't matter whether you're an edge rusher or you're a wide receiver. That's the way it goes.

So you might as well beat somebody to the bank. That's the point. I completely agree. And after seeing what Washington has come back from the depths of and how that organization has come up from the from the ashes.

Yes, I I give Washington their flowers as well. I was happy to see Jayden Daniels do well this last year. And it hurts to say that as a Cowboys fan.

But like I said, I may have to rescind my fandom and be a Vikings fan. Well, keep thinking about it, Corey. Call back and Jay Felley will we'll put up it. We'll make a certificate. We'll get the get on that.

Corey in Iowa. So write that down for. Yeah.

For the print shop. Here it comes. What happened? And I see breaking news. Tell me it's either Rogers is assigned or Brockman has checked his bag. OK, well, it's not the former.

It's a ladder. Chris Brockman just text back capital letters. Made it.

Thank you all for your support. He's there breaking news. So he left here 20 minutes ago. If he had left here now, he still would have been able to check his bag and finish the program. Right. Maybe not.

Rich, you never know. Never know that extra 20 minutes, 20 minutes. The traffic on Sepulveda gets crazy about this time of day. So I think what this is proven for everybody in our. Operation.

And we're we're we're a very tight knit group for sure. OK. It's not a sprawling operation here. Not like it used to be. That's that's correct. Since since since since it's been the rich eyes in production. OK.

Which is five years now. Right. Tight is that my door is always open. If you have anything to ask me, just you can you can find me. You don't ask me in front of other people. Hey, I need to check my golf clubs.

I'm not going to be able to finish the show today. That's all I'm saying. So you would have rather him pulled you into. Absolutely. Why give him the same answer? Easier to say no. He was exactly right. That's why I deal with children every day trying to game the system. I see through stuff. My door is open and my chair is rarely empty.