Hour 1: Aaron Donald Intrigue Latest, plus ESPN’s Tisha Thompson Talks Ohtani Interpreter ’30 for 30’

0:00You know when you're locked in, focused and fearless. Welcome to the WNBA. Your vision narrows. You can't look away. Every assist, every stop, every logo three. From beyond the logo. Every did you see that moment. You bet. What records are going to be broken this season?

0:21Rich Eisen:All of it right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN. All season long. 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 Disney Plus 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 richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. The Rich Eisen Show. Did you have any sense at all Dusty May might be on a radar screen of an NBA team? I thought he was going to come back.

1:09Rich Eisen:We were going to run it back, try to win another national championship. The Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests. ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson. Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis. From Super Troopers 3, Jay Chandra Sekar and Kevin Hefferman. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show back here in Los Angeles after a day with the University of Michigan Champion Circle, an athletic program back here with you on Disney+. The ESPN app, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM Channel 8844204. Rich is the number to dial right here on this program. Last full week of the month of July, and training camps are opening up.

1:58Rich Eisen:fisticuffs at the Pittsburgh Steelers first training camp practice it's uh hot all over the country here coach quarterback competitions and all sorts of stuff with contracts that aren't happening and we got a first big huge ass trade demand and everything's going down um and we'll talk about it best we can and keep a tabs on it all throughout this three-hour program good to see you over there Chris Brockman how are you Rich I'm excellent how are you DJ Mike hey Rich Good morning. Dee's nuts. The candle's lit. T.J. Jefferson, good to see you over here. Sure is. What's up, man? Welcome back. Thank you.

2:31Rich Eisen:Great. It was fun to be around the Michigan athletic program for a hot minute. That was a lot of fun. So, listen, we talked about it. Jim, we talked about it at the end of yesterday's program. Great job. Okay? We talked about it at the end of yesterday's program. and um sean mcveigh said over the weekend that uh aaron donald's going through a process oh yes he's going through a process to see if he wants to go through the process of playing football again um or i guess they're trusting the process i know it's all kind of in your mind worked out in the long run with lebron james showing up there with him and his helicopter That had nothing to do with my process.

3:18Rich Eisen:Okay, but nothing to do whatsoever. Back in the day, it didn't work out so well, the whole process trusting. I wasn't, I was, you know. Listen, he's going through a process. Guys, everybody back off. Leave him alone. At the end of the day, when the process is over, he's going to go, you know what, I've processed. And it'll be really, for me, shocking for him to go through this process and go, you know what, nah. I just went through it and I'm done. I don't want to restart the clock of the Hall of Fame. Don't want to leave the house. I want to just stay put. I don't want to go through the rigors.

3:57Rich Eisen:But he could potentially do that. LA traffic. We all believe he's going to come in. LA traffic. Yeah, LA traffic. Yeah, I mean, that'll keep you home. He might not want to drive. That'll keep you home. You know what I mean? The two most dreaded words in your life is Sepulveda and Pass. 405 North. I mean, that's like, I know. Not great, Bob. Put it all together and you got the Van Wick, which, as you know, is unbeatable. So listen. We all think he's coming back, right? I do think so. I mean, like. Certainly since now, less need has chimed in on our local Los Angeles affiliate. He has to. Okay. ESPN LA.

4:31Rich Eisen:Yeah. What show was this on? Because I was out of time. Oh, the DeMarco and Travis afternoon show. Hey. Here on our ESPN LA 710 affiliate here. Hello, Los Angeles. Hello. Every single day. To Los Angeles. And I think you're going to be saying this to Aaron Donald. Hello. Because this is what Les Snead had to say. This is the first time Aaron, I call it, probably had to itch to come back, try to do something meaningful, which has been cool to see. And you can speak to this. When you retire from the NFL, that's probably a cliff that's like the next chapter is a little foggy. It's like, wait a minute, is the next portion of my life going to be as?

5:20Rich Eisen:But interesting with Aaron, he's really enjoyed these years off and hasn't necessarily missed the game. He says he missed every now and then, but not enough to say I want to come back. This is the first time that, you know what, there's a real itch there. From a football perspective, I would love to see what would happen if you put both of them dudes out there at the same time. Yeah, it's almost like how many times in a lifetime in like this universe thing where, okay, wait a minute, Miles Garrett, now Aaron Donald wants to come back. He happens to still be young enough to do it. Like that doesn't happen often.

5:54Rich Eisen:So I think I would show up to the game and it wouldn't be like you were the GM. It would be like, wow, this is kind of something I'm watching on Netflix. Yeah. good one less good one I'm the same way man and you got to figure it Aaron Donald's the same way too it's just what would it be like what would it be like because you you read off the depth chart the other day too Chris um it's not like Miles Garrett and or Aaron Donald are the only double digit sack guys currently on the roster for the Los Angeles Rams. You know, and the reason why we're going to keep beating this drum until Aaron Donald gives us a yes or no is number one.

6:48Rich Eisen:Listen, when there's a first ballot Hall of Fame guy named Aaron and the questions in the future, if we're going to do it for Rodgers, we've got to do it for anybody named Aaron, who's the first ballot Hall of Fame. Anybody. You know what I mean? Okay. It's just the way it goes. We're trying to be fair and balanced. That's what people love about you. And listen, but in all seriousness here, it affects the entire NFL. This is not a Los Angeles story. It's not even an NFC West story. With all due respect to the defending Super Bowl champs who will take these conversations like this one and go, what the hell?

7:21Rich Eisen:And use it as a chip and say, did you not see the stack of helmets that Mike McDonald had on a spear in the middle of our meeting room? that nobody wanted to talk about until somebody let it leak during the Super Bowl week, that they were collecting helmets like pelts on a wall. Successfully, I might add, to the tune of beating the Rams twice in Seattle, once controversially, and then another time in the biggest stakes game the NFC had to offer all year long. I understand Seattle will use it. I understand. I understand everybody's going to use that. All 31 other teams, because we in the media believe the Rams have the best chance to not only win the Super Bowl, but if Donald comes back, you know, do what the Patriots couldn't do years ago, which is not lose a game.

8:21Rich Eisen:Fair or not, it's stupid to even say those words. But this is an NFL story as training camps are beginning to open all across America. And fans like the ones that are watching the Rams go through their first summer reps. All there. It's basically a conversation waiting to see if the team that almost made the Super Bowl last year with an MVP quarterback who is back and a roster that is mostly back that added a guy so terrific in Miles Garrett that we're not even mentioning the acquisition of Trent McDuffie for the back end, ever. We don't even, we never mentioned, we didn't mention it in the draft when everybody's like, they didn't get anybody at all for this year.

9:21Rich Eisen:with their first round selection. They just Ty Simpson did, and they didn't get any money this year, totally forgetting that their own first round draft choice that they had coming into this calendar year, they flipped to Kansas City for one of the best back-end guys who will give the front-end guys an extra beat to go get the quarterback. And that guy group now includes the guy who is the best at sacking the quarterback, if not now, but in the conversation all the time. In Miles Garrett, who's going to play football for the first time in his career, I believe, as a happy guy. The guy we saw in New Orleans at the Super Bowl saying, I don't want to play here anymore, looked like, you know, he had his favorite toy stolen from him.

10:14Rich Eisen:He was probably happy after he signed the four. I'm sure. But then after a while, he realized it. Sure. So I now have a very, very, very expensive cushion for me to soften the blow of me banging my head against the wall around here.

10:34Rich Eisen:And Aaron Donald might join that mix. Everybody get it? Until we get an answer. This is what is at the top of mind. And of course, there's 31 other teams, including the defending Super Bowl champs, that have rosters that can win it all again. There are teams that will be like, well, we can surprise. We can go on a run. We can do something. The Cincinnati Bengals, who's a four-down subject matter on Wednesday's show. One of those teams. Kansas City Chiefs, who I'm going through a four-down segment today. They're probably like, wait a minute. you know don't forget the the latest dynasty that still could be in a 2.0 remaking there's your patriots last year chris there's the bills this year there's the rest of the afc west i didn't even mention there's the afc south teams that can raise their hand the houston texans if they put up enough points on the board there's the ravens i mean yada yada yada but if aaron Donald comes back, it'll be like, best of luck.

11:44Rich Eisen:Look at this on the screen. It's just stupid. Those guys are going to play with you on the same line. Is that what's going to happen? Okay. So that's why, again, and for McVay to basically say he's going through this process, guys, and Leslie going, this is the first time I'm even believing it, is essentially what he just said. And he's on the inside. It's the first time. Remember when Donald first retired and he was just like, maybe he'll just raise his hand like Eric Weddle style or get a phone call Eric Weddle style, come back for just the playoffs? This is real. This is flat out real. So.

12:27Rich Eisen:Meanwhile, there's another defensive tackle. By the way, it's Jeffrey Simmons' birthday, speaking of one of our favorites in the league. You know, Vita Vea, we'll talk about that later on. He's telling the Bucs, we're done, which is interesting because he has a contract. And there's a new contract conversation with Baker Mayfield that isn't going apparently terrifically well. We'll talk about that on the program. It's an overreaction Monday on a Tuesday show. I told you about the four downs with the Kansas City Chiefs that's coming up. There's you at 844-204-RICH number to dial to have a conversation today.

13:07Rich Eisen:But in our green room right now is the investigative reporter from ESPN, ESPN.com, and now ESPN podcast, Tisha Thompson, is here in our green room. she was last on the program a couple of years ago when she was breaking stories about shoi otani and the question about his uh gambling debts that were associated with his bank accounts that turned out to be his interpreter behind the scenes doing it in his in his name without him knowing do we say allegedly after that well i mean he's been incarcerated for it, sir. Okay. At any rate, the podcast that just dropped, as the kids say, today with the first two episodes, it's called The Betrayal of Shohei Otani.

14:05Rich Eisen:And all of ESPN's 30 for 30 podcasts along with this can be found on ESPN.com, the ESPN app, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm sure the Dodgers are very thrilled with this podcast. But this happened, man, two years ago. And the questions that surround it that potentially still linger, a lot of them are answered, at least for me. I listened to the first two episodes. And you remember when Tisha spoke with Ipe Mizuharo when he was over in Japan. Remember this? It was the opener of the Dodgers' first season with Shoei Otani. And it was in Japan. Yep. And this thing broke. and it was first like, wait a minute, Shoei's involved in a gambling ring, and then the next one was like, no.

14:57Rich Eisen:As a matter of fact, his interpreter is saying, it was me all along, and you're like, well, how the hell can he get into his bank accounts and get all this money? This podcast not only has Tish's interview with Mizuhara that was the basis of all of these stories that popped out. But also, she's got a recording that will play during the interview of the interpreter calling Bank of America, saying, I can't get in the account online. Can you help me out? And all you got to know is just listen to this interview that Tisha has with Ipe. And it's him. When he's calling Bank of America saying, my name is Shohei Otani, that sounds like the same guy I'm hearing this whole interview with.

15:52Rich Eisen:And it is wild. Wild. So she's about to join us on this program. Then we'll talk some about football with Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis. TD. TD. I go way back with him like a car seat. He's the one that told me I couldn't run the 40-yard dash. I cursed at him, and then I ran it in my suit and tie for the first time. that's how far back we go that's 20 years imagine had he not laughed at you yeah that's a good point you know what i mean then i still would have done it yeah yeah i just wouldn't have cursed at him before he could go to the field to do right right that's probably the only difference i still would have done it but i wouldn't you wouldn't have anger in your heart like hey man thanks let me show you uh that uh your trust in me is worthy not i then spent the next two decades It's disappointing anybody who's had a benefit to my physical prowess.

16:45Rich Eisen:I don't think anyone's been disappointed with anything that's happened. Okay. Run Rich, run Rich. Come on now. I appreciate it. So TD's going to join us. And then Super Troopers 3 is coming out, folks. A nationwide release on August 7th. And Kevin Heffernan's going to be in studio along with the director, Jay Chandra Sekar, is going to be here. Nice. Together. You say nice because I nailed his pronunciation of his name or the fact that they're going to be here? Yeah, both. TJ and I were at Raw last night. Yeah. Oh, okay. We'll get that. Oh, baby. It was awesome. I have a great story from Susie, the road trip Susie and I went on in the great state.

17:27Rich Eisen:Your home great state of Maine. The home state of Maine. That's right. Seeing the kids on visiting days. When I said it was good seeing you, I was just thinking yesterday. I forgot. We didn't see you last week. No, you did not. Yeah, I haven't seen you in a while. Did not. Yeah. You did not. Welcome back. So thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you. Get into the Hyundai getaway sales event right now and get away with the deal. So right. It almost feels wrong. The Ionic five, the Ionic nine, all electric waiting for you. If you want bold and stylish, there's the Elantra loaded with the latest tech.

17:58Rich Eisen:You want adventure ready SUVs, the Hyundai Santa Fe, Santa Fe hybrid, Tucson or Tucson hybrid right there for you. You can get great deals on all of Hyundai's most popular models. So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. All right, let's just dive into this new 30 for 30 podcast. Tisha Thompson coming up next.

18:28Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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20:24Rich Eisen:Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here next starts now Hyundai an official partner of FIFA didn't he know okay I have so many questions yeah yeah yeah I'm here on the Rich Eisen show um the investigative reporter behind breaking the story um that uh wound up uh blowing up uh what was going on with Ipe Mizuhara the the long-time interpreter for Shohei Otani so um okay a few things here because the interview that you had with Ipe that broke this whole thing wide open that sort of changed the narrative that existed for about half a day or a full day that Shohei was gambling.

21:09Rich Eisen:And then you found out through this interview that Ipe's like, no, it's me. And I was listening to the, again, episode two, it's the entirety of that episode is basically your interview with the interpreter. And it just sounded so damn sad to me because you busted him. I mean, it's what it sounded like. Like he knew that he was now caught here. Um, and is what it sounded like to me. Well, and I have, I have a lot of skepticism when I'm doing that interview. I mean, as a reporter, you, you are trying to go into these interviews as well sourced as you can be. And I had people who told me one thing and I was going, I was very interested to see if you pay was going to tell me the same thing.

21:53Rich Eisen:um what was that one thing that well i mean there was a number of one things but you know how much money it was i was i i had very good sourcing that said it was at least 16 million dollars and i then sort of in the final hours of getting ready to move forward with the story had heard well it might just be 4.5 because that may be what the feds know about is 4.5 million so when i go to do the interview with ePay I said you know he doesn't want to tell me you'll hear it he doesn't want to tell me how much it is he says it's very embarrassing he doesn't want to tell me and I say well I have sourcing that it's at least 4.5 million and he says yeah that sounds about right I by the way I ought to I shouldn't again this is not funny but I audibly laughed on in my plane seat when I heard that he's just like yeah that sounds about right that sounds about right like that what a neighborhooding of of money and then you then followed up I say is it more than that And he goes, I don't think so.

22:55And I had multiple sources telling me it was more than that. So that's a place where, as the reporter, I can tell you in my head, I go, hmm, that's interesting.

23:05Rich Eisen:Did any point in time where you're going into it to hunt and peck to see, is he covering for Shelley? Oh, I absolutely ask him that. I mean, I had been tipped off that Ipe was prepared to say that he was the one betting and Shohei was covering his bets. I was told that as early as January. So I spend the next couple of weeks into months with my editor, Elaine Tang, and I, we really tried to figure out, well, what the heck's going on? because Matt Boyer, the bookie said, he has plenty of clients who are athletes who have had accounts that they either share with a friend or they have a beard. And that's, you know, lingo for someone's making the bets on behalf of a celebrity or someone famous who really needs to stay out of the spotlight.

23:54So was Ipe the beard? Was Ipe the gambler? Was Shohei the gambler? And Ipe was taking the fall? You know, what was it? And we had sourcing that was kind of all over the place on that. So that was a lot of what took us so long to get to March, to get to the place where we felt like we could go forward and say to Otani's people, hey, the time has come. We want to understand what's going on here.

24:19Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, and then at one point he, you could hear as he's going through this interview again, this is an episode two that, that, that did drop today. The portrayal of Shoei Otani, 30 for 30 podcast series out wherever you get your podcasts, where it's clear with every word that's out of his mouth. He understands that the, the jig is now up. And he also, at one point he said that he's telling you stuff his wife didn't even know yet. Oh yeah. And that one also hit me when I'm like, okay. You just gave me a look, though. Are we, because again, I haven't heard the rest of this podcast. Is there still a doubt as to what happened?

24:57Rich Eisen:The feds would tell you no. Well, I mean, I read the affidavit, and it sure seems like, you know, Otani got ripped off. We interview the man that wrote that affidavit in the very first interview he's ever done. He's an IRS. He's retired now. He's an IRS agent who does these kinds of cases. And he's never done an interview before. And he is one of the agents that read 40 ,000 text messages between Ipe and Shohei. And they were all in Japanese. So the feds had to translate them. They had agents that helped them with that from Department of Homeland Security and from the IRS. And they went through all the bank records.

25:39They went through all of the bookies bank records and his phone that they had seized. And they basically create this timeline. And he walks us through it. He you know, they they ended up seizing stuff out of Yipe's car that ends up being important to the story. And they they are waiting for Yipe when he gets off the airplane coming back from Seoul because he was fired in South Korea after he did the interview with me. we're getting ready to publish the story that says Ipe says that he was the gambler and Shohei helped him pay off the debt and that Shohei and he did it together, paid that money off together.

26:21And right before, I mean, right, Rich, right before we're about to hit publish, I get a call from the crisis spokesperson who says, wait, wait, wait, Ipe lied. He lied and was telling me that in real time that Shohei was only finding out now that we were working on this story and that Ipe had lied to all of them. So we scramble. I do another interview with Ipe. He says, I say, Ipe, did you lie to me? He says, yes. I said, did you lie to Shohei? He says, yes. And we end up publishing, you know, in that moment, you're publishing what you've been told. It's so weird what just happened.

26:57Rich Eisen:Then again, the lying is that, hey, I went to Shohei to say, can you bail me out and show he's like i got you yes and they and that they they combine together to to make these payments and then the last second you're hitting publish on that they're like no no i lied to you show he no knew nothing about it i mean i've had people lie to me in interviews over 20 years of being an investigative reporter that's not a new phenomenon as you can imagine right um but this was different because it 16 hours later he was recanting almost and i say almost because there's a couple of things he doesn't recant uh everything he told me and uh and now he's being accused by someone he had described to me in the interview is closer than a brother who he spends more time with in his own wife uh was now accusing him of massive theft but i mean in the episode five i believe do we have this uh play it play it for me here this is you got sound of of mizuhara calling Bank of America.