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Prices vary based on how you buy. Hey, Rich Eisen here. I hear from a lot of business owners like you about the work it takes to pursue your passions. So, I know how important it is to have the tools that can help keep you moving forward. And with access to world-class business and travel benefits, the American Express Business Platinum Card helps you take your business to the next level. It offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business. Plus, you'll have complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge, so you can keep your business on track. See how the Amex Business Platinum Card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved. Terms apply.
Learn more at americanexpress.com. We've got our final four predictions. Kansas over Auburn.
You got Kansas? It's Calipari over Self. Today's guests. Actor Morris Chestnut. NFL Network insider Tom Felicero. Steelers defensive tackle Cam Hayward. Actor Rome Flynn.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. Wow, we've got a full house today. Do we ever. We're four wide.
We've got a couple of what's more likelies on the rundown for just college hoops alone and then just the general stuff that we have right here. Got a whole bunch of in-studio guests. We've got Cam Hayward joining us. It would be awesome if Aaron Rodgers becomes his teammate right in the middle of that Zoom. That would just be great.
Tom Felicero will join us in the middle of this show as well. We're getting ready for tip-off between Baylor and Mississippi State. The women's bracket.
Women's March Madness begins today. 844204 Rich is the number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show on the Roku Sports Channel as well as this terrestrial radio affiliate on the Infinity Sports Network dial. We also have a Sirius XM audience tuning in. Same thing if you want to stream us on the Odyssey app. Our podcast is there for everybody to check out all three hours every single day.
YouTube. We have a channel there as well closing in on 915,000 subscribers. We greatly appreciate all that. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How you doing? Hey Rich, I'm great, man. Good to see you.
DJ Mikey D is in these nuts. Morning, Rich. Wow, are you feeling okay a couple days in a row? It's all right. Don't pull anything. Wow. Don't feel that you're good. Hey, where's your sick Dodgers hat?
I put it up on the shelf. By the way, why don't we just don't don't heap abuse on him right off the bat. We've got three full hours. I know. I'm coming in hot. It's Friday.
I'm ready to go. Is your bracket in the crappers? Okay, 12 and 4 yesterday. It's all good. TJ Jefferson, Mr. McNeese State over there. How are you? Look, I made a terrible judgment in picking Kansas, but I did pick McNeese State.
So I like to think they balance each other out. Does that mean you're leaving for Cowherd now? Okay.
I do love Chicago, but no. Just let me know. Just let me know about the transfer portal to Pico Boulevard. I had no idea that existed until just now. Don't freak me out. Unfortunately, Rich, I think you're stuck with me until you let me go.
I don't have any intention of doing that. Hey, so my Michigan Wolverines, they were the Vogue pick to be one and done. They were the Vogue pick to be bounced. The selection committee said, you know, listen, great season going from 23 losses to 22 wins. And, you know, but you lost your last three games. It doesn't matter that you won the Big Ten tournament. It doesn't matter that you beat Purdue and Maryland and Wisconsin. We'll give them higher seeds and you will just give the five seed because we had that whole thing slotted.
It was done. It didn't matter that you won the Big Ten tournament. We'll take you and make you a five seed and stick you against a team called UC San Diego, the Tritons. Their first foray into the big dance ever, 30 wins, 15 of them in a row here.
There you go. Good job winning the Big Ten tournament. At least that's my view of it. And everybody's like, hey, this looks like a team that lost three in a row to finish the regular season. And they had a chance to win the Big Ten regular season, but they won the Big Ten tournament.
We just don't believe it. It's a 5-12 game and we all know those are always the matchup in which the 12 seed has the glass slipper. That's McNeese State bouncing Clemson as the 12 seed, the five seed in Clemson. They get bounced. So here comes Michigan in the final tip off of the day, essentially one of them.
And they took a 15 point lead at halftime. And then it all went down to crapper. As a matter of fact, I think I've got a before and after photo of me before the game and me after the game.
Put it up on the screen. There it is. Before the game on the left and me after the game on the right.
That's funny. That's one of my old that's one of my former sports. How old are you in that picture? And I mean the one on the right. The one on the right is from this past NFL honors.
The one on the left, I believe. Like 26? No, how old was I? I was 31. Oh really? 31 in that picture, I think.
At any rate. Can we get another shot of you somehow work in this screen? Is there like a four box we can go to that has you in it? Because there's just a lot of, you know what I mean?
There's just a lot of you there. There's a triple box plus a logo. Can you drink some coffee real quick? Can you get a fourth in there? I'll remove one of me from the screen here. Because I've got a photograph of me at halftime and then me after the game.
Do we have that one? Me at halftime. There you go. That's me at halftime. That's after a couple bottles of red bread.
Ryan Gosling. And then me after the game. Rich, I know we're in the middle of something real quick. You know, I like to keep things real. I hope you looked at that picture and I hope you get a chance to really take that in and understand how cool that was.
Thank you. You know what I mean? You know what wasn't cool was having that big ass lead and then Michigan. Michigan wound up with five more turnovers, 14, than missed free throws.
Nine. When you have 14 turnovers and nine missed free throws, that is a recipe to get bounced in the NCAA tournament. This is exactly the experience of watching your team in the NCAA tournament. Normally, okay, I see a team like UC San Diego. The coach is just dynamite.
He's smiling the whole time. You were watching this game because you chose UC San Diego as the upset, right? I did. Did you watch the game? Yeah. J.
Bill has told me what to do, so I did it. No, but did you not see the coach of UC San Diego and just immediately looked like, that's a guy who looks so friendly. You know what he looked like? He looked like that guy in the Capital One commercials with Derek Jeter. He's the one who's constantly walking around in his sweater and his very nice slacks.
And he looks like a very handsome man. What's in your wallet? Well, I'll tell you what was in my wallet last night. My heart and my throat and everything. And they got a whole bunch of players who just were not missing.
Not missing. Yeah, agree. And it just reeked of upset. And then Michigan's Trey Donaldson, who is the one who went coast to coast to beat Maryland in the semifinal of the Big Ten tournament with hardly any time left. A full-on 21st century Tyus Edney moment. And he's the one who jarred a three when UC San Diego took its first lead of the game with like two minutes to go.
Cooper was freaking out on the couch. Freaking. But the personification of the phrase of March Madness, survive in advance. Oh, you gotta do?
That is it. And Michigan moves on and they're taking on Texas A&M. The other upset that we mentioned, McNeese State taking care of business there.
St. John's had a scare in the first half against Omaha, right? In the case of Omaha, wondering if the glass slipper was going to fit. Why were they saying is the silver stake going to fit in their hand?
Why were they saying that during the game, Chris? Good one. Omaha Stakes, maybe? Maybe it was that situation.
Omaha Silver Stakes? Or was it S-T-A-K-E? I caught you with that one.
You didn't think I was going there. That's good. Normally it's the glass slipper fits instead. They're saying the silver stake. Silver bullets too?
What else kills vampires? Okay, very good. Well, they don't like silver.
Very funny. I was rallying behind Omaha for a while. I guess the silver fox of Fayetteville's coming next up, right? It's Patino and Calipari.
I remember back in my SportsCenter days, the before picture of last night, I remember in all my old SportsCenter days that when Coach Cal was in UMass, it was just like, who's this Patino wannabe? Right. Yeah, yeah. Slickback care. The whole thing.
Vowel. Right there in New England, where Patino was going from Providence to Boston, saying Larry Bird's not walking through that door. And some guy in Amherst was with Marcus Camby kicking everyone's ass. Remember that? Yeah, Marcus Camby.
And just up the road from us in Bristol, up there in Amherst in Massachusetts. And look who it is now. Rick Patino of St. John's taking on John Calipari's Arkansas Razorback. Somebody asked this of Patino after the game, and he was having none of it.
Zero. Is that a chess match you enjoy, the planning to go against each other, given how many times it's happened? I don't go against coaches. We go against teams. He doesn't have to worry about me.
My jump shot's long gone. So he's got to prepare for our team. We've got to prepare for his players.
He's preparing for our players. John and I don't play one-on-one anymore. Yeah, they didn't ask him if you were going to go out there and do one-on-one. They asked him about the chess match and planning and all that stuff, like your coaching ability against that coach.
He just doesn't want to do it. It's about the players, baby. It's about the players.
Pardon me. In that regard, it's about the players. So, you know, transfer portal and all that business, and certainly in college basketball, you see that transfer portal quite a bit. My Michigan Wolverines used the heck out of that transfer portal with Dusty May, going to the round of 32 and, you know, the hand-wringing over the transfer portal. The hand-wringing.
It's nonstop. And then players are the ones who are, you know, have their hands out, right? Papa. They've got to have their hands out.
So a lot of old-school folks just don't like it when kids just leave their commitments and get up and leave. What about the coaches? McMeese State's coach. Will Wade. He beats Clemson.
Pardon me. His kids beat Clemson. And word is, as it's all happening, he's taking the NC State job.
Amazing. And this is old as time. I mean, this is old as time. Michigan's last national championship, 1989, junior on campus. Bill Frieder says at the end of the regular season, adios, I'm taking the job of Arizona State, but I'll stick around and coach the team and Bo Schembechler, the athletic director at the time, who I've since learned hated Bill Frieder with every fiber of his being.
He was like, no, you're not. We're going to get a Michigan man to coach your Michigan team. And we're all on campus like, yeah, Michigan man, coach your Michigan team. Who's Steve Fisher? Where did he go to school? Oh, he didn't go to Michigan? That's how much Bo hated him. He's just like, Michigan man, coach your Michigan team. And then he gets a guy who's, you know, just like the least known assistant who then wins six games in a row. They cut down the nets and he stays. Gets the fab five, yada, yada, yada. Oh, there's a lot of yada, yada there. So it's old as time.
But now the kids get to leave. Oh, by the way, do you see who was Indiana's new coach? His name is Darian DeVries.
He left West Virginia. So I'm wondering, let's put it up on the screen right here. Is this part and parcel of complaining about not making it? Does this, does this affect the lawsuit at all?
Even the updates on the site. How dare West Virginia not get in the tournament and North Carolina goes and, oh, wait a minute. They beat the crap out of San Diego State as North Carolina's first matchup against Ole Miss is tipping off in a couple hours. Does that undercut the case of saying we didn't make it, you're corrupt.
The system is wrong. And then the coach leaves after being there for all of one year. Left Drake, went to West Virginia. Now he's going to Indiana. And wait a minute. Do you hear all the people complaining about this and how it's wrong for college basketball? Hold on a minute.
No, I don't hear it, but a kid does it. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. Don't do that.
National Corrupt Athletic Association. Where's the sign? Where's the sign? It's not here at the Rich Eisen Show yet.
Do we reach out to the governor's office or do we have to do this ourselves? Sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do. That's true. But you see what I'm saying here? Isn't this crazy? Dumb. It's nuts. Coaches can just be bought out and go anywhere and the kids can just, they go somewhere because they don't have a gig anymore or they brought in somebody else to compete with their gig or they can make more money somewhere else in the window that they have to make money because the path to the NBA, you wouldn't talk about the path to the NFL in college football. I mean, you could do the math. It's obviously very difficult.
It's still like landing on the head of a pin. But there's seven rounds of picks. There's 260 some-odd draft picks. And in basketball, there's 60.
That's it. So kids, make your money because coaches sure are. And I don't blame Coach Wade.
I don't blame him. You want to go and go to NC State? You're in the ACC now? By the way, I guess it'll be great when he strolls on the campus at Clemson because guess what? That's his alma mater. He bounces his alma mater as he's going out the door of McNeese State. Wow. That's crazy.
You can't make it up. So I guess, will he have a nice chat with Dabo on the campus at Clemson about the scourge of transfer portals? Is that what's going to happen? Next up for McNeese is Purdue.
See if that glass slipper fits. Gonzaga moves on because that's what Gonzaga does, taking on Houston in the Midwest region so far. So we're going to keep an eye on everything. Things are tipping off between Baylor and Mississippi State. And then also tipping off Alabama and Robert Morris. Good old Bobby M. Bobby Moe. Back in Pittsburgh. Bobby Moe. Everyone understands. There's a St. Mary's and a Mount St. Mary's playing today. So don't get confused. Robert Morris is in Pennsylvania, TJ.
That's what he says. Bobby Moe. Bobby Moe.
Bobby Moe. He likes to hang out on that campus a little bit, you know what I'm saying? Maryland's taking on Grand Canyon. Memphis taking on Colorado State. Ole Miss, North Carolina. Lipscomb, baby. Iowa State and Lipscomb. Is that your pick?
Did you choose Lipscomb? Oh, good question. I think. Okay.
Maybe. And Kentucky and Troy, Illinois and Xavier. Arizona and Akron, Oregon and Liberty. Liberty? No, no, no. They don't pay for it.
And Baylor and Mississippi State's first up. They're about to tip. So let's take a break. Is Morris Chestnut in our green room? Is that actually? Oh, fantastic. My co-star from Like Mike. Reunion. Is that how I should introduce him?
Yes, absolutely. Of course, he's Dr. John Watson in Watson, which is on Paramount Plus, which is available right here on the Roku portal. We might go down a little bit of a boys in the hood wormhole with him. And I believe he's an Eagle fan. Sorry, TJ. Uh-oh. So lots to talk about with him.
Let's hang out with Morris Chestnut as the tournament is tipping off on day two. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations.
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Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. It has been a minute since Morris Chestnut was here on the Rich Eisen Show, but he has returned. Thank you for having me.
As everyone can now hear on the Rich Eisen Show radio network that's joined our Roku channel live stream, Watson can be seen right here on the Roku portal on Paramount Plus. Good to see you again here. And so when this first hit your desk, your office, your hands with a script, your first thought was what?
My first thought was I can't wait to be a part of it. So they reached out to me. I read the script. I met with the show runner Craig Sweeney, who's incredible. He told me his vision for the whole season and for the whole series and just tying in the Sherlock aspect of it, along with medicine that's fully bedded by doctors.
All the cases are real. That's like I had to be a part of it. But this is after Moriarty actually gets Holmes. Exactly. So the show opens up after Sherlock Holmes is killed by Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. And so Moriarty is now a thorn in my side throughout this whole this whole season.
So we have to figure out that he's trying to you know, he's trying to meddle in a lot of places. And it's too bad CBS doesn't promote this at all. I talked to him about that.
Yeah, we have billboards everywhere in this town. And then I was just joking on the TV only part of this conversation. They've been an incredible, incredible partners.
And I'm glad to be at home there. Yeah, it's like every single time somebody's pausing to shoot a free throw in March Madness, I see, you know, Watson. Yeah. OK. You don't see it during the game?
I need to talk to somebody. You know, during the game, they had like ten seconds to sneak in a promo. OK. All right. Perfect. Perfect.
Perfect. And I see your face basically as some kid is getting ready to probably miss his free throw. Certainly if it was my Wolverines last night. You know, but it's it's pretty cool to see that. So let me just jump in here. So you're you're aren't you from California? Yeah. Born and raised.
OK. So then why are you an Eagles fan? I'm an Eagles fan because for a long time, California didn't have a team. But even beyond that, I just loved Wilbur Montgomery back in the day and they used to wear cut off mesh jerseys. And I love the team.
So I've been following the Eagles ever since. Now, that's a name that I love to hear. Oh, Wilbur Montgomery, right? Oh, that's a great name. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I go way back. You sure do.
You sure do. It's not a bandwagon thing. It's not just this year after, you know, of course, they won the Super Bowl.
But yeah, I go way back. They didn't just win the Super Bowl. They dominated. They dominated the Super Bowl. They did.
They did. And, you know, I'm still I'm so bothered by everyone saying that Jalen Hurts is an elite because he is elite. I'm not one of them. So you're aware. I've seen you.
I've seen you. I just love everything about him. I love his journey. His journey is second to none, Morris.
Right. And his journey is second to none that he gets basically introduced to the football fans of the United States of America as a kid who couldn't do it, had to get benched by Nick Saban, who obviously would know what to do because he's Nick Saban, of course. And then he winds up getting the gig back for a brief bit the next year from Tua, winning the game because he's stuck around and was professional enough to do it.
And then goes to Oklahoma, winds up being a runner up to Joe Burrow in the Heisman race, gets drafted to Philadelphia as the second round choice while Carson Wentz just got paid. And they're all wondering, like, why is he here? Right.
Right. And even then, he doesn't get down. He gets the gig, then gets benched again in some national television last game of the season when the Eagles were out of it in a weird way. In his last game, what's going on behind the scenes, blaming him for something. And now he's a Super Bowl champ. And the guy he's throwing to, just to finish everything up, the guy he's throwing to right now, one of them is the guy who caught the pass from Tua in the national championship game night. Yes. That he got benched. Yes.
And he's winning the Super Bowl now. So after all of that, why do people say he's not elite? Great question. Because to me, here's the argument. You guys can chime in here if you want to chime in here.
Go ahead. TJ. Well, TJ is a Cowboy fan. Why is he an elite, TJ? Because he plays for the Eagles.
What does that mean? He plays for the Eagles. Because I'm a Cowboys fan. Right. Right.
But he is elite, though. Right? Morris, you'll never get me to... Okay. You don't know what I've been through this year, Morris, though. I've been through it with the Eagles fans.
I was riding the Eagles since midway through the year, so... Right. But it's... See? See what I'm saying? I asked him if he was elite. He said he's been riding the Eagles. Yes.
People think it's just because of the team, but it's not. When you really look at it... Just put it this way. Mm-hmm. Would you guys say... Andy Reid's a pretty good coach, right? I can check that box. Yeah.
You can check that box. Yes, sir. Would you say possibly Hall of Fame coach? Not possibly. He is. Possibly best coach ever.
Possibly? No, no. I mean, if you want to make an argument... The metrics.
The metrics. He's in this conversation. He's in the conversation.
Defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo. Yes. Right? Yes. I would say that he is a guy that will get some Hall of Fame consideration. Hall of Fame consideration. That is correct.
Yes, sir. So you mean to tell me that we have a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator that literally spent a month trying to stop Jalen Hurts and still couldn't do it? I get what you're saying. They were trying to stop the Eagles. No, they're trying to stop... No, no, no. Because they stopped Saquon Barkley in the Super Bowl. In the first Super Bowl, they stopped our running back there, too. So they tried to stop Jalen Hurts. We did not have a running game in those Super Bowls. Hurts is 100 percent the rightful MVP of the game.
The first one and the second one, right? Well, you're not wrong, but that's your point. That's your point that I'm happy to back up here, is that in the two biggest games of his life, with the largest audiences of his life watching him, he had the two best games of his life. He showed up. So here's the thing, I feel like he does what it takes to win.
He's an ultimate leader is what he is. He could have had those games. He could be a quarterback that's saying after every game, hey, I want to throw the ball more. Stop giving it to Saquon. They had two weeks before the first Super Bowl, couldn't stop them.
Two weeks before the second Super Bowl. Still couldn't stop him. Now, these are Hall of Fame coaches. If Jalen Hurts was in an offense where he was throwing the ball all over the field, he would still be just as successful.
I'm 100 percent in your camp here that. So which quarterback would you place him above? Like give me your top five. Well, you tell me. You tell me. Obviously Patrick Holmes is definitely above him.
I think, well, I mean, you think who? Well, you just said he's outplayed him twice in two Super Bowls. So why?
So why isn't he ahead of him? Well, I mean, how many? How many Super Bowls does Patrick Holmes have?
But how many did he play great in? Well, I agree. But no one's talking about the team. I do think that what Patrick Holmes has to give you the chance to say he's better than my homes. Well, I'm not going to say he's better than my home. I say he's in the same. He's in the same class. But so you're asking me who would I place ahead of him?
You tell me. Who would you place ahead of him? And I can make an argument against it.
No, I understand exactly what you're saying. But you know, because they don't have the Super Bowl appearances or a ring. So you have to you have to include him in the conversation with Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson.
I mean, in terms of talent and in terms of how about this? I think for a lot of people, he's got to he's got to do it again. And it may not be fair, but I think for a lot of people, if he does it again and then even then, you know, it'll be like, well, you know, he's on a super team. It's going to be something.
But but there's always something. The interesting thing, though, to me, is that you mentioned Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Yes. Now, MVPs of the league, MVPs of the league. Yes, sir. Duly granted.
Duly noted. However, those are two teams that's that Andy Reid and Steve Smagnolo could stop. Those are two players that they did stop.
So we're like, I mean, I mean, I know you're making the case, they stopped Allen twice. They stopped Lamar Jackson last year in his MVP. Both quarterbacks in their MVP seasons could not beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Jalen Hurts is excellent. He is an elite quarterback. You know, that front seven also helps. And those kids that that they drafted on the back end, including Cooper Degenu out of touch looks and it's a team effort.
But the front seven, but the front seven wasn't they weren't there in the first Super Bowl. I hear you. You're a big Jalen Hurts fan. No, no.
I'm a fan of what I what I see. I mean, it's a travesty that people don't give him the credit because, like you say, there's always going to be something. You said, you know, the front seven, well, they didn't have the front seven in the first Super Bowl. Well, the front seven is pretty amazing, though, you know. So Kansas City's never had a great front seven? No, they do.
They have. And James, obviously, is viewed as the as the magic man is that he didn't play well in either of the two Super Bowls. That's his point right over there.
Yeah, it was it was a great point. That's what I'm saying. So why is it Jalen Hurts? Why would you say Josh Allen and Lamar? Like, I loved watching Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. But why would you say they're elite and Jalen isn't? I'm not saying he's not OK, so I said, who would you place over them? You brought up Josh Allen and because because what they have done.
Through weeks one through 18 of their careers repeatedly is something I have yet to see from Jalen Hurts, because, OK, so because so have they won have they won more games in Jalen? They have. Really? I believe so. Yeah. I mean, Jalen Jalen Hurts has won a ton of games, but I mean, obviously he's he's hasn't been in the league as long as they have. So but I'm saying, OK, so so longevity of it, the longevity of what they're doing. Right. So now you're saying Jalen needs to come in in twenty eighteen. Right.
That's what I'm saying. That's one more time. Let's see it again. But they haven't done it once. They haven't.
They haven't. One more time. I hear you.
I mean, listen, so so listen, I think you like this with everybody in your life. Well, I'm just you know, I just have to make a case for Jalen Hurts, because it's to me, I can't understand why people don't say they agree with you. But I say he is elite. You see, you have an asterisk quarterback in the national football. I'm not saying that either, but I'm not saying I was the best quarterback. I'm not saying Lamar Lamar Jackson is the best quarterback. What the what the discussion has been about being elite and they have they put they have these classifications, they have the the order. They'll say these three quarterbacks are elite.
And then he's in like the next one or two tiers down, which I think is wrong. Dare I ask you what your LeBron take is? Oh, you want to hear that right now? Sure.
Look, here we go. There there there are not some LeBron lovers in this room about haters. I'm not a LeBron hater.
There's no love. OK. He's not the goat.
He's not the goat. OK, so don't forget. Don't forget. You were in a movie named Like Mike. I wasn't like Mike. You give this opinion. I'm not.
Well, well, I think and it wasn't just the shoes for Mike. It was for a little while. All right. Right. Right. Right. Right.
Because I know the script, Morris. You do. So here we go. So when we talk about the go in basketball now, I'm a Michael Jordan fan. You know, just the impact of the game. Yes.
All right. But when it comes to LeBron James, yes. And this may be the first time you've heard this.
But in the next few years, people will say this. LeBron James is, in my opinion. Yes, sir. You ready?
I'm ready for you, Morris. The greatest athlete in American history. Oh, Bo Jackson's going to argue with that. The greatest act. And let me tell you why.
And Dion. The level of sustained greatness in a sport where you have to play offense and defense to sustain that greatness for the longest period of time. Who else has done it now? In terms of nobody, nobody, I know, I understand what you're I understand what you were saying. OK. OK.
So who would be a great athlete as somebody who did sports centers after LeBron's high school games? OK. Scott. OK. Yeah.
OK. So I have seen it from, you know, forever. And the fact that he is doing it now at the rate that he is doing it, at the excellence level that he is doing it is and how he is crushed every record book. There's no one else. So who would you say is the greatest athlete in U.S. history? Greatest athlete. I mean, you have to include like what, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson.
I mean, like you really got to if you're really the secretary. Well, well, OK, so that's so that that's kind of my point. So I do think that those those those gentlemen are great athletes.
They paved the way and the historical thing. Sure. However, I mean, they do what they do every four years. So let me ask you every four years. Sure.
Who's the greatest champion? That's a different subject. No, that's it. That's different. That's it.
OK. So LeBron is the greatest athlete in U.S. history. I'm talking about just let's just keep it a basketball. Let's just keep it to the LeBron Jordan. OK. Michael Jordan hands down. I mean, Bill Russell, technically. Well, sure. I'm just if you want to get technical, I don't want to get technical.
I want to drill down to the LeBron Jordan. Well, here's the thing is like, well, see, that's why you can't have a conversation like I can't have a conversation with my son about who's the best, because he was not there. He didn't witness live in the person who's twenty seven.
Twenty seven. Yeah. So, you know, there is YouTube. I mean, I am. It's still not the same as being in the moment. And that's the same reason why I can't watch Bill Russell's games and say, OK, what he did is great, because it wasn't in the moment, didn't have the impact that it had live and in person. When when when Jordan, I'll be honest, straight up, when Jordan came out on the floor in the old Chicago stadium, you know, and and it was the height of the Bulls or not even height of the Bulls that entire time with the Bulls from when he started winning championships to when he left the Bulls, there was a sense of invincibility and fear and a sense of dread that I've never felt with LeBron for a split second. Agreed. And and and and this was in the era.
There were no jersey swaps, right? Actually called travel. Yeah. I sound like a get off my long time checking out of the lane and they would knock you out.
And Jordan was like blocking seven footers and going in their faces and shooting free throws with his eyes closed. And come on. That's what that's. And that's the difference in my estimation.
And I these conversations are are fraught because I don't want to come across as me being disrespectful of LeBron's achievements. But there's still one guy who would rip your heart out and show it to you pumping and refuse to put it back in your chest. Right. Right. That was him. Right. Michael Jordan.
But I think one probably if that was just an argument. I think one could argue just because LeBron didn't have that level of aggression, that level of a fight in him to that nature doesn't make him not great. So people can see those two things differently. For me, it was the impact that Jordan not only had on the game of basketball, but just the things he was. Jordan was doing things that we had never seen in the story completely, completely transformed.
And this photograph right here, I'm a diehard New York Knick fan. It's just like I mean, he he he he stood in Ewing's way from college to every other second of his career. He stood in a lot of people's ways.
He stood in every he stood in everybody's way. But LeBron is LeBron is the greatest athlete in U.S. history. Hey, listen, I'm open to see who else is next on the next episode of Watson.
Watson will prove it through science and medicine. I always find that argument funny because almost 5000 men have played in the NBA and we're talking about, well, like what I'm saying is it's pretty amazing that of all those players, we can't decide on these two. But we know these two were head and shoulders, not even head to shoulders, but they're at the top of the list. We're having Kobe's waving his arms saying, you know, hold on a second.
Karim Karim is waving his hand, you know, but I think it comes down to LeBron and Wayne Field deserves to be in the conversation of what greatest athlete ever number one draft pick in three sports and as a baseball Hall of Famer. So baseball is a sport where you play and then you go sit down and watch half of a baseball game. You're watching your watch. You're sitting down and watching half of a baseball game. You're sitting down and watching LeBron in the last decade. He's doing a lot of watching on defense. Are we watching the same games? Morris? I'm not sure.
Who's your scene? Celtics. Oh, of course. Here we go. Of course.
Of course. The difference being, I can put my bias aside and say, Jalen Hurston, I can put my bias aside and say, Jalen Hurston, I can put my bias aside and say, Jalen Hurston, I can put my bias aside and say, Jalen Hurts checks every box that you want, right? And I mean, like Rich, like you always say, off the field, on the field, in the locker room. Jalen Hurts, you want to take him home. You want him to marry your sister.
He like, he does. He just got married. Be careful. I'm just saying.
He literally just got married. He won't give LeBron props though is what I'm saying. But hold on. But can we say, I mean, even if you don't want to give him props, can we say LeBron checks every box? Of course. That's all I'm saying. Exactly. But there's one box that he does not check.
Which is what? Which is the, when he walks on the court, does every fan that's rooting against him and every single player that's playing against him have some level of fear? I don't sense it. We're getting into style points. I mean, what do you, what do you, what do you stop points that lead to wins and losses though, sir? I mean, Jordan would get in people's grills. He has wins.
No, there's no doubt. LeBron has wins. They don't win that Golden State if he, if he tracks down, I think it was Iguodala, slap and finish up. They don't win against Golden State if Draymond doesn't kick someone in the nuts and gets suspended. That's true too. Well, I mean.
That, that, that, that did change his series, but listen, you can't, again, the conversation winds up denigrating LeBron, which is not the point. I'm just saying, of course, he's checks every box, he's, he's, he's literally on the mount. He's on a Mount Rushmore. A little greater time. Okay.
In the US. I mean, I don't know who else is, I mean, Dave went, listen, I like Dave Winthrop. I think he's great, but greatest athlete ever. I mean, you're all, you're playing basketball. He's trying to, you're getting the full Rich Eisen show experience.
Is that what it is? Okay. That's what you're getting right now, which is, which is part and parcel where Chris normally for most, you should respect this as well. He's getting his respect. Normally he will hold his tongue to you because he doesn't want to argue with the guests. He thinks the guests are positively wrong. I'm trying to, I'm trying to, I, I, I know his body language after all this time he's doing is, but that look right there, he's not even looking at us.
That's the look. What am I wrong about? I just want to hear before. No, no, no, no, no.
We are up against it. Michael Phelps, Serena Williams. I mean, we could go on and on.
So every four years, I'm just asking, I'm just asking every four years, every four years. You said Michael Phelps. You just said Serena Williams. I mean, he doesn't just like take three years off and then pick up swimming again. Well, I mean, basketball players are regarded as the greatest athletes on the planet. It's really hard. Tiger Woods.
They have people carrying their bags. He's great in his sport. It's another sport to where let me go hit the ball and let me watch for about five, 15 minutes. His point is, Morris's point is, wow, you don't like hand-eye coordination. It's not that. That's not that. You got me. You got me. You got me.
Is that any sport in which the athlete, OK, can eat during the contest does not rise to the level of what he's talking about. All right. Thanks to Mookie, by the way. Appreciate it.
On Paramount Plus available on the Roku channel, Watson airs Sundays 9 p.m. Eastern on CBS streaming on Paramount Plus the next day. Great to see you. Great to see you.
Thank you for having me. At the Hyundai getaway sales event, get deals so right it almost feels wrong. Now is the best time to get that Hyundai car or SUV you've always wanted. Plus, every new Hyundai comes with America's best warranty and three years or thirty six thousand miles of limited complimentary maintenance. Don't think you can get away with all that.
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Part of the spring sale at AutoZone. Get in the zone, AutoZone. Restrictions apply. The Lakers will be all right. I know you guys. I know. I know.
Especially you. I know y'all waiting for us to fall and y'all are just waiting, waiting, waiting in it. Basket. Where have you been the last six years? What have y'all been doing over there in the east without LeBron? Nothing.
That's cool. We'll be all right. As long as y'all don't win and we win, I'm good.
As long as the Celtics don't win the championship, that's a successful season for a Laker fan. You're not doing any winning either. Look, man. All right. Well, stay at the house with me then.
Chill out. You know what the best part about Godzilla King of the Monsters? What is it? We destroy Boston in the movie. We level it.
Just level it. I love it. It's so many references. It's a Laker fan's dream, Godzilla King of the Monsters.
Oh my gosh. Dodger fans too, because obviously the Celtics stand it in that way. And the Rams.
The Patriots and Rams. Lakers of Golden Dragon. Delusional Laker fan is my favorite Laker fan. Delusional Laker fan? Is my favorite. That's cool.
What are you guys called? You Celtics. You guys still think y'all going to win over there with Giannis and Kawhi and stuff?
That's not delusional. Well, Kawhi's leaving. Kawhi's not going to be in the East anymore.
We don't know this. Kawhi's not going to be in the East anymore. So is Kyrie though, buddy.
So is Kyrie. Great. Guess what we did without him? Four minutes from the finals last year. Lost again. We were how?
You were what? Last year. Four minutes from the finals without him. Four minutes from the finals. You know what?
That sounds like a book. Look, O'Shea, I'm here for your Boston hate. I'm here for it. Oh, thank you.
Speaking of somebody who's from New York City, a diehard Yankee fan, I would take it in liquid form and inject it into my veins. But you really don't have much of a position right now to carp on a Celtics fan as a Laker fan. You just really are. You don't have a position.
I mean, are they one of the championships? I mean, you don't have like you're out of position under the boards right now. You're reaching in. You're going over the top.
I'm like kind of calling the foul right now. And I'm sorry. Look, that's fine.
That's it. Just you don't have much of a position. I am a Los Angelino. I'm a Los Angeles Laker. A non Laker fan will never see me sweat. I will die with the Golden Army. They will bury me at center court and I will not let a Bostonian get under my skin.
If you have Lebron and he doesn't even want to be here. That's not true. There's just no movies anywhere else. Space Jam 2 can only happen to be Warner Brothers film. You're in Space Jam, right? I'm not in Space Jam. Non Laker fans like you got my joke wrong on Twitter.
I missed a radio show and said that I was resting a groin injury so I could prepare to film Space Jam 2, which is exactly what Lebron did for most of the games. So basically, for anybody out there, O'Shea Jackson Jr. currently not in Space Jam 2 was just making a load management joke, which by the way, not many people make load management jokes. That's next level.
I appreciate that. Man, that's coming up on six years. We've known O'Shea that long, huh? Yeah. My fellow Dodger fan. Oh, this guy. Come on. He loves you. I love it. Everybody loves Mike. Except for us. I'm joking. I'm joking.
Thank you. We love Mike. But it just shows you O'Shea is not a real Dodger fan. He would let you do what you're doing right now. I know he likes you and I know he I think he he likes supporting you because it I think it plays into his gag that I'm running a hostile work environment around here every time he he's here.
We do get a little hostile towards Mike because I guess I could listen to your native New Yorker and Juan Soto starts calling New York a Mets town and then the only other native New York metropolitan area guy Yankee fan turns around and goes I'm a Dodger fan now I'm going to get pissed and it's going to get hostile. No two ways about it. No question about it back here on the Rich housing show. Hyundai everybody. The Hyundai getaway sales event is going on right now. Get that Hyundai car or SUV you've always wanted. Every new Hyundai comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of limited complimentary maintenance. The Hyundai getaway sales event is going on right now. So visit your local Hyundai dealer today. It's a great day for a new Hyundai.
Sure is. Listen in the NFL you get a free agent in the building. The intention is to not let the guy go. The intention is you are coming here. We have already talked turkey with your agent. Your ideas are in line with ours. Our ideas are hopefully in line with yours. You come and take a look at our building. We are not letting you out. There's a dotted line.
Let's go. And under that circumstance, it is earth shattering that our friend Jerry Dulac, who covers the Steelers is the first to report that Rogers is in the building in Pittsburgh today. He calls it an indication a deal with the team could be forthcoming per sources. Tom Pellicero, who's joining us in the middle of our number two says, of course, this makes sense that Rogers is spending time with coaches. And so this is exactly what needs to happen in order for something to happen. That makes sense?
Because we're all sitting around waiting for something to happen. And the fact that he's not on the beach looking at the sunrise, in fact, he's in Pittsburgh looking at playbooks, you know, and meeting with coaches and getting as comfortable as he possibly can and looking around the building. Oh, that's where we go and have lunch.
Where is A.A. Ron right now? That's where the practice field is. That's where I live. Right. You know, and well, he knows where the stadium is, but I'm in conjunction to the practice. So this is going to happen. It would be a stunner if the Steelers and Rogers don't come to an agreement. And this is what in our television slash radio business we call stepping in it because our next two guests are Tom Pelosero and Cam Hayward. And so.
We're kind of set up to talk about it, to be straight up with you, I wouldn't move if I were you. It's going to be good. So Rogers is in the building in Pittsburgh and he's there and you are where you are. And I'm here. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
How are one of the books? Save your time. You know what I'm saying? So Rogers is he doesn't just get on a plane to fly across the country to go to Pittsburgh just because he wants a Primanti Brothers sandwich.
It's 45 degrees in the day, too. So and he's not just doing that just because he's, you know, Steeler curious like the decision of Minnesota to basically say, well, we'll reach out to you if we need you in the summer might have spurred some action here. And I understand that, you know, Cam on his pod says, listen, here's the pitch. We're the Steelers.
You want to play with us? Right. Pretty simple for us.
Pretty simple. Then then show up. And guess what?
He showed up. And I've been in that facility. I've been around there.
You walk around and there are some trophies right there. And that's a pretty nice facility there. Oh, and that's Mike Tomlin, who's been here forever. And that's the Rudy's money. It's really impressive.
And there's a city who loves you when you're winning. And oh, by the way, that guy in the human batsuit is D.K. Metcalf. You can throw to him. We've got the twenty first overall selection. This is what we're thinking. Got a freak of nature at the other receiver spot.
Yeah, it's George Pickens. That's Pat Fryer move. It's going to be I don't know, then he just doesn't want if he walks out of the building and there's no contract signed, then he just doesn't. I mean, what was he going to go on a tour? He's going to go to the Giants next. I'll tell you what, if he does that, there's one place he's not going. Newark.
That's correct. He's driving from Pittsburgh. There's Teeterboro. And he knows exactly where it is, because I'm sure he flew in and out of it playing for the Jets. Yeah, yeah, he's we won't see him trolling, trolling in the airport.
We won't be going to Hudson News to pick up anything to see who who wears it like us, who is, you know, he feeds the parking meters like us. Some combos. What else can we do? Beef jerky. Come on. Me and Brockman always come big, big, perfect travel snack.
What do you do? Do you do the pizza combos? I haven't had those. Well, they used to have the nacho cheese, but they got rid of those. So you got to go pretzel cheddar.
Yeah. They got rid of the nacho cheese. Brockman and I are both big on big combos. Just to bring this all full circle, back in the day, when I had those pizza combos in the building, I didn't let them out. Peanut M&M's, combos, combo cheese. Some Twizzlers. If I can get my hands on them. And hopefully some antacid. Well, Tums always goes with your stomach like a cauldron. Not all at once.
