ESPN’s Louis Riddick

0:00Rich Eisen:Get your tickets now for the Dog Stars. It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear. Out there. Kill or be killed. Jacob Alordi. There are people out there. They need our help. Josh Brolin. Shoot first and inquire afterwards. Margaret Qualley. Okay, tough guy. And Guy Pearce. Arm up! The Dog Stars. Directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters August 28th. Get tickets now. Rated R. under 17, not admitted without parents. This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks. Back to school season can be tough on parents, but choosing a snack you and your kids can both get behind doesn't have to be.

0:41Rich Eisen:Stock up on Welch's Fruit Snacks, made with whole fruit, and now made with no artificial dyes. It's a snack kids already love and one you can feel good about giving them. Go back to school with Welch's Fruit Snacks, now made with no artificial dyes. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on the Roku Sports Channel from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.

1:25Rich Eisen:Now, on with the show. They know how I feel. I want to play both sides, and there's nothing that's going to change my mind. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What is your plan to play Travis Hunter on both sides of the football? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. It's absolutely happening. Picked off by Travis! Do you think he can be offensive and defensive rookie of the year? Hunter, he wanted the ball, and that's why! I do think it's possible. Today's guests, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, plus your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:08Rich Eisen:That's right. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Everybody, we are live on the Roku Sports Channel. We're live on this Rich Eisen Show, terrestrial radio affiliate on the Infinity Sports Network, Sirius XM, Odyssey, and more. 844-204-RICH is the number to title. We are flat out in the middle of NFL training camp season. So much to discuss. All 32 teams making news because everybody feels that they have a shot to win the Super Bowl. And that's how later on Chris Brockman is going to pop those balloons. It's going to be great. Now we're number three of this program. We've got Louis Riddick first up from ESPN.

2:43Rich Eisen:20 minutes time just talking ball with Louis. What's on his mind? What's going down? What intrigues him out of the 32 teams in training camps? Hard Knocks begins tonight for the Buffalo Bills. That goes down on HBO Max, which is available right here on Roku. Lots of folks looking forward to hearing all of the sprinklers going off for that one. We've got Albert Breer in the midst of his summer tour. He always stops by when he's out here in Southern California. and the George Hamilton of NFL Media will be joining us to show off his tan and all of his information. That's an hour number two. An hour number three is for us.

3:24Rich Eisen:I mean, if anything's on your mind, that's when we'll be taking most of your phone calls. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. We might be able to sneak a few in between everything that we've already set up. Good to see you over there, Christopher Brockman. What's going on, sir? Not a whole lot, man. I'm good. How are you? I'm hanging in there. I stopped following baseball. I can't watch the Yankees anymore. I just can't do it. I told you you'd be looking up at us at some point. And I'm doing it now. There's nothing I can say other than kudos to you. Good to see you over there. Jason Feller, what's going on, Jay Feller?

3:57Rich Eisen:Good to see you. Doing good. I'm doing fine. TJ Jefferson, the candle's lit. What's going on? Candle's lit. I'm just trying to figure out how my team improves our bullpen, and then we lose games in extra innings because of the bullpen. Brother, the Yankees. The Yankees is the FA guy already. The Yankees just sent down somebody they acquired. Just saying. And for some reason, I don't know, does Devin Williams have photographs of the Boone family? Don't get me started. You asked me how I was doing. I was just pointing that out. I'm sorry. I'm just making it about myself. I thought you said you was okay, Spidey.

4:33Rich Eisen:I am not all right. That's shit. I thought you were, you know. I'm very, I'm very. At this point, when it comes to the New York Yankees, I'm like Marcellus. I am very far from okay. And I'm cleaning it up. Are you about to revoke somebody's New York privileges? Well, I mean, Aaron Judge comes back tonight. Who the hell knows? Anyway, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Can he close? I don't know. I mean, maybe. I want to move on. Okay. I don't. Let's linger. All right, fine. You know. Cranberry style. You want to linger? What do you want to? You have to. No, no, stop it. You want to pay the bill for that song?

5:18Rich Eisen:I can't help it. It's in me sometimes. Well, you have to stop. Otherwise, it's going to be a bill that comes to the place. I don't know how to stop. You keep doing it. Don't piss me off. I'm already pissed off enough to start the show, and I was in a good mood literally three and a half minutes ago. Well, Brockman did it to you. I did nothing. His team sucks. See? You did it to him. I don't know what the hell's happened. I'm about to make a name for myself here. They can't throw. They can't catch. They can't do anything. They lollygag the ball. Yeah, that's right. You can't be out there. They're a bunch of lollygaggers.

5:48Rich Eisen:What's that make us? Lollygaggers. Lollygaggers. Need a rain out. That's what you need. Yeah. We need to send the manager to unpainted Huff Hines as well, by the way. Just cross streams. No, lifetime contract. Cashman, Boone, all of them forever. Never leave. You've got a great manager. You've got a great manager. Alex Gore is awesome, man. He is outstanding. Young kids are playing. What's going on right now at the top of the AL East is unbelievable. All right, now I'm done talking baseball, and I gave you your flowers. Let's talk football, because that's on my brain. And the preseason week one in full begins on Thursday night, and that's when we see the first time this calendar football season 2025.

6:42Rich Eisen:First time we see the defending Super Bowl champion, Philadelphia Eagles, get out there. They're taking on the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. You know, we're just all focused on the Dallas Cowboys right now, the Washington Commanders, because they have to... Well, listen, and the team that they're playing, the Eagles, on Thursday night, completes the trifecta of why we're talking about the Cowboys and the Commanders and the Bengals, because they have the most famous hold-ins going on right now. And the big news that came out of Cowboys camp yesterday is Micah Parsons put his uniform back on.

7:13Rich Eisen:So there's hope. I'm telling you, don't lose sleep. When Jerry Jones says don't lose sleep, it means I know I'm going to scratch the check. I know this is going to happen. Don't pay any attention here. I'm just going to say a lot of weird stuff that makes you wonder if I really do know what the hell's going on in between now and then. He's doing an excellent job of that. I know that. He's crushing it right now. Talking about mommy and daddy and agents and players and you know those bright shiny objects get our attention in the media see and terry mclaurin is still holding in he's not going anywhere either pal he's not going anywhere certainty you you don't know just like we don't know going nowhere last year brandon Now you said, I want to be traded.

8:01Rich Eisen:And he was even identified. He even had a trade partner identified associated with him in the Steelers. We don't even have that with McLaurin. Patriots and commanders are joint practicing this week, so he can really see how green the grass is on the other side. And then stay put on his side of the grass. Okay. Hey, listen, pal. Jake May is great. Jake May is great. Jaden Daniels is the unicorn of the National Football League who I believe is going to have a nice follow-up season and in terms of that, they've got to keep McLaurin and we all know about Trey Hendrickson. But my point is this, I just made it.

8:41Rich Eisen:That we're not talking about the Eagles, we're talking about all these other things. Certainly within their own division. That's true. Did you know, the last time I feel like there's an old SportsCenter. I love Did You Know. We've got to bring that back. I plan on the This Was SportsCenter podcast that's coming soon to an ear gate near you. Did you know at the end? I will do did you knows at the end. I'm going to lean into this thing. Can I pop in for the did you know? TBD. So you're telling me there's a chance. So did you know the last time we saw back-to-back Super Bowl champs followed up by back-to-back Super Bowl champs, which would happen if the Philadelphia Eagles won this year.

9:26Rich Eisen:It's only happened once in the history of the National Football League. We're going into Super Bowls 60, I believe, this year, right? 60, 6-0. Super Bowls 7 and 8 were won by the Miami Dolphins. And then the Steelers. Super Bowls 9 and 10. That's the last and only time we've ever seen it happen. Did you know in Philadelphia sports history, your Sixers have never gone back-to-back? That's a fact. Did you know the Phillies have never gone back-to-back? Mm-hmm. The only back-to-back champions in the history of Philadelphia sports were the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bobby Clark captained 73-74 and 74-75 teams.

10:06Rich Eisen:That's it. The bullies. Of Broad Street. And so the Eagles have an opportunity here to do something we haven't seen in Philadelphia sports and the National Football League since the 70s. they have that opportunity and it sure looks like they have the team too they do have the team guys like everybody's back uh pretty much kellen moore's not back right and the last time they lost an offensive coordinator you know wheels came off laggins and also you know they didn't have the defensive coordinator either but they have one of the best offensive lines in the business as we know they've got the best running back in the national football league yes i said it come on 2 000 yard rusher and a guy who is like i'll show my former team and then did and then the guy who we all know took care of the team that came closest to knocking the Eagles off in the playoffs after he did the same to them in the regular season in the Los Angeles Rams.

11:19Rich Eisen:Nightmare fuel for Rams fans who found out whose house it really was.

11:29Rich Eisen:And the reigning Super Bowl MVP in Jalen Hurts. And we do not know what Hurts will look like now that he has a ring and now that he has all that comes with it. And I'm not talking about the personal trimmings. I'm talking about the confidence level. I'm talking about all of what he brings to the table as a leader. And now he's got the ring and the trophy in the case. And he's got one of the best wide receiver tandems in the NFL in Devontae Smith and A.J. Brown. and he's also got a defense. They paid Zach Bond, too. We all know what the Eagles do with the defensive line. I don't think anybody's...

12:21Rich Eisen:I mean, that's the one spot where they did lose in the offseason. Right, Milton Williams to New England. Interesting you point that one out. N 'Kobe Dean should be coming back, we hope. Right, Jalen Carter could be the best in the business. Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith. All the Georgia players. Two of their rookies from last year, Quinion Mitchell and Cooper DeGene, wound up in the top 70 of the top 100 players in the NFL as voted by the peers that's being counted down on NFL Network right now. They deserve it. I'm laying it all out for you here. You know, they got the coach now who's got the ring in the case, and he's got some of the best numbers of a coach in the first X number of years that he's been on the job.

13:07and I'm sorry to point this out.

13:11Rich Eisen:You might be hearing from Carl Anthony Towns a little bit more, TJ. You already have. A.J. Brown had an interesting comment on Sirius XM Radio, on which we're found, Channel 375, FYI. This is a funny soundbite. Roll it. You know, the process is still the same. You know, I think I am very blessed and fortunate to achieve and to win the Super Bowl as a team, but the process of the daily grind stays the same. And so once you kind of look at it through that lens, you just got to go back to work. All that stuff is over with. I like to say the Lombardi, she's not loyal. She's not loyal. So we got to do it again, try to win her over again.

14:01Rich Eisen:She's not loyal. Okay. yeah that's funny you gotta earn you gotta earn it and um i i feel really confident in saying they can do it again is there anybody out there who feels that the philadelphia eagles cannot do it again. It's just tough to do. You know. They lost too many parts. They haven't. Is it tough to do? Chiefs just did it. Disease of more. You know, Pat Riley's famous. That didn't sound like a guy who's disease of more. It sounds like he's still finding his inner excellence. You know. And the schedule, though, man. I guess you could play this game for everybody and we have but you look at the first five games.

15:05They have

15:05Rich Eisen:to raise the banner against the Cowboys. We'll see. I'm telling you Mike is going to be there. Don't lose any sleep over it. And then their first road game is they have to go have a Super Bowl reunion. I mean right off the bat right. How about Kansas City. They start in Brazil and then they come home and they're home openers against the Eagles. and that one was awarded to Fox. That's not a night game. The whole country is going to be tuned in there. And then we see, you know, Rams come back.

15:40Rich Eisen:Now, you know, Matthew Stafford saw a back specialist on Saturday, something we'll talk about with Albert Breer when he joins us on the program. Rams and Cowboys are going through the paces today here in Southern California. Andrew Whitworth is there. He'll be on Wednesday's show to talk about it. But I think the Rams, you could make the case, are the team that might give the Eagles the biggest threat this year if they are healthy, because they certainly did last year, and I think they're better now. Tampa signed Teddy Two Gloves today to back up Baker. Tampa is game four, and we all know. You can sit here on Tampa, this, Tampa, that.

16:24Rich Eisen:They have lost playoff games in Tampa. Well, they are a long-time bugaboo of the Philadelphia Eagles. Warren Sapp, one of the things he loves to crow about is they shut down the vet and they open the link. Back-to-back games by beating the Eagles. They love beating the Eagles down there in Central Florida. And then the team du jour, the Denver Broncos, week five, they're at the Giants, at Minnesota, play the Giants again before a bye, after which they go basically through their NFC North tour with a trip to Dallas in between, a trip to Green Bay, and home dates against Detroit and Chicago. They visit out here to take on the Chargers on a Monday night.

17:14Rich Eisen:And then their last three after a home date with Vegas are both games against Washington wrapped around a visit to Western New York. They will be challenged, to say the least. And I know we always view a schedule through the prism of last year, and we're assuming everybody's going to be just as good, and we don't see the teams that could be better coming because if this is the schedule we saw last year, we'd say, oh, they got the two dates against Washington and their rookie quarterback. That's a soft landing with the exception of that visit to Buffalo. Not anymore. That looked like 6-11 to me.

17:54Rich Eisen:Look, and I want to be consistent. I did it yesterday for the Chiefs. Look, there's a worst-case scenario where they start 1-4. Oh, boy. I just don't think so. They're just too damn talented, sir. They are. Of course, all these great teams are too talented. However, soft tissue injury here. I got it. Oblique there. Suddenly they're one and four, and you're like, what's wrong with the Eagles? But they can rush the passer and put up points, and have a quarterback that makes plays with his legs and his butt. You know what I mean? For now, until that play gets banned. It's not being banned this year, sir.

18:33Rich Eisen:It will be in place for this year. it's just it is a tough schedule they will be challenged but boy do they have the team to do it and if they do it they will have earned it and it will be a story for the ages in philadelphia and you keep saying the word six and eleven sir i'm trying to just speak it into existence at this point in time you're focused on your own eleven at least he put the uniform back on for a brief bit thankfully so that's what's up not enough people are talking about the eagles because we're focused on the Cowboys and the Commander's holdouts, and then we'll be taking on the Bengals, and Thursday night I'll be like, who's playing, who's not playing, and certainly Trey Hendrickson is not.

19:14Rich Eisen:Apparently he's third on the depth chart now. What are we doing? Well, I mean, he's not practicing. That's true. I mean, that's a good point. 844-204-RICH, number to dial here on a busy Tuesday program. Let's talk ball with Louis Riddick of ESPN and the Walt Disney Company. when we come back right here on The Rich Eisen Show.

19:40Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. N.M. L.S. 696-891. Fast funds terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow.

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21:14Rich Eisen:Always love talking ball with Louis Riddick of ESPN back here on the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, Louis. How are you, sir? Rich, how are you doing, man? I'm doing fine. I'm just going to open it up. What's on your mind? 32 training camps, 32 teams. James, what's jumping out at you right now, Lewis? What jumps out? Yeah, man, it's – I heard you guys talking a little bit about the Chiefs and the Eagles. I mean, that jumps out at me simply because I think – look, I think the Chiefs are better at you. I think they're going to be better. I think they'll be better on the offensive line in particular.

21:45Look, I think their offensive line, the left tackle, Josh Simmons, is going to be a stud. As long as he's healthy, he'll be knocking on the door of being an all-pro. Very, very cool. He's like baby Trent Williams is what he kind of looks like. Now, I know that's a big comparison, but I think they've got one. They've got one. They stole one simply because he got hurt, and his stock fell because of the uncertainty surrounding that. And I think, look, I think Patrick's ticked off. He heard all the things people said about him after that Eagles Super Bowl. The defense is going to be strong. The defense was strong in the Super Bowl.

22:17I think they'll be all right. And the Eagles will be all right, too. They're going to score points. Their offense is back. It's loaded. Vic's one of the very best. So that's on my mind. So I think the Eagles in Kansas City, you're going to have to deal with them one way or another in the AFC and NFC. You just got to deal with them. I think the other thing that really – it's about the players that aren't in camp for me. And everyone has a unique story, but they're all very important. Look, I think Trey Hendrickson's situation, I just feel bad for the guy. He's done everything you can possibly do to make a team try and spin forward and go, So, okay, look, we know he's 30 years old plus, but this is a guy who we know better than anyone.

22:58He's produced for us since we brought him here. He is a great influence on our locker room, on the defense, and on the defensive line in particular. We need him to tutor our first round of Shamar Stewart. We need him here. And yet they can't seem to figure out what fair value would look like on a new extension because he deserves it and he's earned it. Those are the easy ones for me. See, all three of these guys are easy for me. Terry McLauren's easy. Another guy. It's going to be 30 in September. But I'll tell you this. Any Washington Commander fan out there, I want you to project forward what you think your offense will look like without him on it.

23:33If somehow this becomes a protracted type of holdout, what do you think your offense is going to look like? What do you think the effect that it will have on Jay Daniels? Washington's front office has done, Rich. They've done everything right. Absolutely everything right since they've taken over this new regime. They need to do right by this guy, too. they do 30 million per year on an extension seems fair to me it puts him right where he needs to be projecting him going forward and Jaden needs him there I know we look at Jaden Daniels and we go when he does media availability we go how long has this guy been playing he's been playing like 5-6 years he's in his second year he's still growing himself and the Micah situation is just fascinating I don't even know where to begin with this in Dallas.

24:21You draft, you develop a guy who's done nothing but spill his blood out on the field for you and become one of the most dominant and feared players in the league. And now you're having these moments where you're saying you thought you had a deal in some casual, off-the-cuff conversation with the player without his agent involved, and now you won't contact the agent? And you won't strike a deal? But you're telling the fan base, don't worry, because you're going to pay him top market dollar anyway when it all comes down to it and then you're going to be hamstrung because of what that does to your salary cap and what you can do as far as you know having the flexibility to add other pieces as pieces become available for you to add and hopefully get you back to the super bowl it's just like these guys these kind of transactions for me are the easy ones it's hard when you have borderline players who you know we're turning down who may be some, you know, question marks off the field who you know pose some kind of risk to you.

25:18These three dudes I just mentioned, they don't pose any risk to their respective teams. All they do is add. All they do is add on the field, add to the other players that are on your roster, and they add to your wins. And yet we're sitting here talking about them, three very different situations, but ones that all seem dire to me. And I'm watching all three of those. I really am because I'm fans of all three of those guys.