Hour 1: CJ Stroud Extension Debate, AJ Brown Latest, plus Actor Tony Shalhoub In-Studio

0:00For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal. They include a lot more people than ourselves. Loved ones, neighbours, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrivent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thrivent, where money means more. Connect with us at Thrivent.com. 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.

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1:00Rich Eisen:Coming back to do SportsCenter after 23 years, part of me thought I'd feel like a fish out of water. Live from New York City. Rich, we're ready for you in the studio. Studio is the other way, Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests, Emmy Award winning actor Tony Shalhoub, NBC Sports MLB analyst Anthony Rizzo, actor Andrew McCarthy, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of The Rich Eisen Show. Once again, emanating from downtown Manhattan, New York City, the Disney Studios, if you will, off of Hudson, right here on The Rich Eisen Show Disney Plus, the ESPN app on ESPN Radio, also on Sirius XM Channel 80.

1:53Rich Eisen:If you're watching, you see two very handsome bald men sitting here. I'm one of them. Chris Brockman's the other. Hey, Rich. We've got TJ Jefferson and Mike Del Tufo back in their spots in Los Angeles. Don't worry, guys. We're coming back on Wednesday for you guys. Good to see you, gentlemen. How are you today? Good morning, Rich. What's going on, Mikey? How are you guys doing? What's going on? And we're doing well. It's all right. Oh, Shay's coming in. TJ Jefferson, I see you're lighting the candle. TJ, you'll be happy. Well, you'll be happy to know, TJ, that once again, we booked a guest just walking into the green room here in the wonderful world of Disney and ESPN here.

2:34Rich Eisen:I love it. Yesterday, that's where we ran into Joe Tessitore. Okay. So we ran into Joe Tess here yesterday. And so he then appeared on the third hour of the program. Yep. We just ran into Cody Rhodes. He's joining us. Oh, we're? I'm the host of the program, TJ Jefferson. That's indeed. So let me get the question ready. He's going to be here. Well, I mean, I'm sure you got one off the top of your head. That's true. You also spent the day being car washed in the ESPN universe, correct? Yeah, man. I did Unsportsmanlike this morning with Evan and Chris Canty. That was great. Talked WrestleMania. Just did an interview with ESPN Radio a little bit ago.

3:18Rich Eisen:So, yeah, man, the place is wrestling will take you. You know what I mean? The place is wrestling will take you. But, yeah, this has been really dope. No contest wrestling. TJ Jefferson, O'Shea, Jackson Jr., and then on Thursday, Women's Sports Now will debut on the ESPN app and various other outlets. 20 weeks of just talking about women's sports. The WNBA draft went down here last night. We'll talk about that on this three-hour edition. It was all UCLA all the time pretty much here in New York City last night. Tony Shalhoub is in our green room. He's in a wonderful new show on MGM Plus called American Classic with Kevin Kline and Laura Linney and him, just to name three outstanding actors on that front.

4:09Rich Eisen:Anthony Rizzo is going to be joining us. Let's talk baseball with him. Well, you're back being a baseball fan because of yesterday, right? Well, I mean, it was a great night eventually on the scoreboard in the Bronx, but with Judge and Trout both going yard twice. Really cool. That's a nice 21st century snapshot of what baseball is all about moment. So Anthony Rizzo will join us. And I think I'm going to put we're going to put your soon to be or not soon to be your poorly aging take on. Come on. That you don't like it. I just think it's unnecessary. I think it is highly necessary, and I think it's doing well.

4:48Rich Eisen:But we'll talk to Anthony Rizzo about that. Cody Rhodes in hour number three. Love it. And then Andrew McCarthy, who many of you know from some great films in his career, he's got a new book called Who Needs Friends? An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America. He'll be here in studio in hour number three. There's our phone lines, as always, 844-204-RICH. I think the table is now set. Let's get it, Rich. I'm here for you. You know why I'm here for you? Why? Speak to me. Because there's two football items that happened yesterday and today. This is my boy. Well, I mean, these are two things that you want to see happen.

5:25You want to see A.J.

5:26Rich Eisen:Brown as a Patriot. I do. And you want to see a team tell a young quarterback at the end of his first contract. Thank you for your service. Despite how well you have been playing. Despite how terrific you are in the community. despite how woven deeply into the fabric you are of this great franchise. No matter all of that, we love you. And the fans love you. But you have not gotten to an AFC championship game or a championship game period or an NFC championship game or a Super Bowl. You have not reached the ultimate height yet, and we are not going to continue down the road to see if you will if you're going to cost us a salary cap busting 50 some odd million, 60 some odd million dollar contract.

6:20Rich Eisen:We don't know. Which one do you want to hit first? Oh, let's start with the quarterback stuff. Let's do it. Let's do that. Yeah, let's go there. You have pegged Nick Casario, the general manager of the Houston Texans, as your hero without a cape. He is my Val Kilmer from Tombstone. Because he comes from the New England Patriots system where you get rid of players before they have actually reached their point of no return. Right. Even if they do have a year or two left. Sure. Or in the case of C.J. Stroud, an entire career left. Maybe. Of runway to reach the point from which you will never forget winning it all.

6:59Rich Eisen:And C.J. Stroud, three years into his career, not just playoff seasons in, not just a couple of times division champion seasons in, but winning a playoff game in each of those three years into his career. He gets a fifth-year option picked up, but no contract extension as of yet. And you are reading that potentially as the step that you're looking to see. You need to see for your dream of a player. It is your dream. I think teams could go about roster building a little bit differently. We can get a little bit more creative, And I think this is one aspect that has yet to be explored that I think wouldn't be a bad idea for some teams.

7:43You just want to see fewer Chris Greer's of the world.

7:46Rich Eisen:You want to see fewer guys who have been fired because they sign a player to a second contract. And it completely backfired. Yeah. Yeah. You want to see people who are no longer giving the contract just because it's that player's time. Like say it is right now for CJ Stroud has to get a market value contract because it is his time. Correct. Okay. So Nick Casario, speaking before the draft, was asked if the fact that it's just a fifth-year option and not a now new contract extension for C.J. Stroud yet, if this is a sign that his future is in doubt in Houston. Okay. This is the question you wanted asked of Nick Casario.

8:31Rich Eisen:It is. It was asked of Nick Casario. Well done. Whoever asked the question, great job. Well done. Here's the answer from said general manager. I don't really think it affects his future. I mean, he's our quarterback. We've said that from the beginning. D 'Amico and I both said it. So, I mean, I think that was really more of a procedural thing. I mean, I don't want to say it was a no-brainer, but it was kind of a no-brainer. So, glad he's here. Again, it's more a part of the process. I mean, so we're excited about his offseason. I think he's had a good approach, had a good attitude here. I think he's put a lot of work in, you know, from, I'd say, March and April.

9:04so excited to have him around here in the spring and excited to keep moving forward

9:11Rich Eisen:what'd you make of the he was a little twitchy with the hand movement and a lot of yeah shoulder shrugs like you know that the body language was saying there's nothing to see here why are you asking me the body language and the answer the staccato response was 100 percent like nothing to see here everybody move on why are you asking me a question because I'm not going to negotiate with you here publicly for C.J. Stroud's generationally enriching long-term contract. You know, when Dak signed that contract with Dallas to make him a$60 million a year quarterback, he beat C.J. Stroud to the punch.

9:48Rich Eisen:Remember when everything was going down with Kyler? That contract as well, you know, has not aged well to the point where he's on a different team. He's on for$1.3 million league minimum. I pegged CJ Stroud as the first guy to break the$60 million barrier. Yeah. So it's already been broken, but Stroud is going to have to get a new contract. What? Before the season? If he doesn't, then a lot of the shoulder shrugs and the arm movement will be like, what more do you need to see? I need to see him go to the AFC championship game. And not make mistakes like the ones that he did in New England. Not, you know, hand the game to the Patriots, essentially, in the first half.

10:33Rich Eisen:Okay. So you think that looks like a guy who's thinking of pulling off your comeback? I think that's a guy who's like, oh, man, I really need CJ to be awesome this year, and then we can actually pay him. But he wants to – I'm sure he and his agents are like, your three's in the books. Great. Let's go. It's time to get paid. You can wait. What is the rush? They picked up the fifth-year option. Yes. We got two more full seasons. Which is procedural. Procedural. but in theory you have two more full seasons to see what this guy can do i i would be curious what texans fans want okay i i i will that's why we have phone lines right so how about this how about this how about this you you're you're keeping the new contract extension at arm's length right because you don't have to do it now as you don't have to do it all they had to do is beat the deadline to pick up a fifth year option which they did obviously as i'm saying i don't want to call it a no-brainer but it's a no-brainer no-brainer that is a no-brainer absolutely you're doing that absolutely no question about it certainly since it's what 25 million bucks which is nothing malik willis money that's a great deal so so okay there's no way he's playing the fifth year option i'll tell you that right now it's not gonna happen but it has to happen for you to have your dream come true of somebody basically saying we're done here we're going back into or we'll franchise tag you we'll treat you like kirk cousins another two years and then we'll be done then we'll go back into the the draft but you're going to have a guy who's definitely not happy about that you're going to have a guy who's also this summer going to watch will anderson make a mint will anderson maybe have a contract that starts with a five in front of it Well, like I said last week, Will Anderson is one of the best players at his position.

12:22Okay. CJ Stroud is not. How do you tell that to your quarterback? To his face? Man, football's a hard game with hard truths. What you could do, and this is going to conversation, if he does not get a new deal before this season, play out year four, why doesn't the Pittsburgh Steelers try to trade for him after next year? a team that has interesting zero quarterback plan for the future well that won't happen because

12:51Rich Eisen:he's the quarterback of the texans for the future right now okay no no not right now he will be when you when you're when you're when you're how old is cage six he's six all right when he hits um when he hits well double digits okay when it's 12 when he's in the middle of middle school C.J. Stroud will be the quarterback of the Houston Texans. No chance. Please write this down. This is great. This is a 0.0. You know I'm cutting this. Okay. T.J., write that down. Cut this video. Making no chance. Making an absolute mint. The Houston Texans, right? They haven't moved? The Houston Texans, correct.

13:34Rich Eisen:I'm telling you. Wow. This is going to be a longer wait than your Celtics win the East parlay. that you're bringing. I only got two months. That's still alive. Still alive. Still alive. Like the godfather. He's taking all those shots. Still alive. All right. That's fun stuff. I like it. Now, before we welcome in Tony Shalhoub, you want A.J. Brown and the Patriots. I mean, yes. You want A.J. Brown to be traded by the Patriots. One word. Okay. On occasion. This was asked of Elliot Wolfe. Hey. The man who could call up, you know, Howie Roseman and go, I'm sure they've talked. Hey, Ali, we're Mishpoka.

14:11Rich Eisen:Let's chat. Mishpoka? We're Mishpoka. Are we Mishpoka? Yeah, look it up. I don't know what that means. We are Mishpoka. I want to be Mishpoka. Because we're friends. But look it up. You won't even know how to spell it. Well, the Google did help. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go for it. A Yiddish term derived from Hebrew for an entire family network, including relatives by blood and marriage or close friends. There you go. Oh, we are Mishpoka. We're Mishpoka. Mishpoka. We are. Yay. calling up Howie. What's going on? Howie? Shalom. Rich, real quick, is Tony Shiloh was he a scheduled guest or did you just snatch him off the street too?

14:50Rich Eisen:No, no, no. He was scheduled. Dude, it's not snatch him off the street. Do what you gotta do. Like the Rich Eisen show white van is driving around Manhattan. Come on boy blue. Grabbing people. Alright, no, excuse me. Elliot Wolfe is trying to answer a question Chris Brock wants to answer. I need to hear this. About acquiring A.J. Brown. You want to do it, Elliot? Hit it. As far as players on other teams, again, going to keep the door open to anything that we think may improve our roster, whether that's with the player you mentioned or other players. Nothing. He gave you nothing. With the player you mentioned.

15:29Nothing. Can't say his name. Nothing. That's tampering. We don't tamper. Nothing.

15:33Rich Eisen:We don't break the rules in New England. You got nothing. Mike Del Tufo said it's called UGOTS. Mike, it's UGOTS. UGOTS. You want to look that up? Del Tufo, how do you spell that? He has no idea how to spell UGOTS. Give it a try, Mike. My name's Stugats. How do you spell UGOTS? Come on. UGOTS. Isn't it UGOTS? UGOTS means yes. We'll spell it. We don't want him to go there. U-G-O-T-Z. Yeah, UGOTS. Italian slang derived from meaning nothing. Absolutely nothing. That's what you just got. You're going to get. How about this? A.J. Brown's not getting traded to you until the summer. Oh, wait. So you say it's going to happen?

16:15Rich Eisen:The June 1st date means a lot to the Eagles. Yeah, June 1st. If at all. It's not happening. What I'm just saying is like it's not going to happen on Friday. Thursday night, you're not going to hear his name where the Patriots are going to hear him. Oh, yeah, sure. You know what I mean? Like you're not going to hear it on Friday of our Pittsburgh show. We're not going to be talking about it. It's not happening. I want a cheeseburger. I just told you two things. One short term, one very long term. Yeah. Yeah, and you'll get nothing. You're like Spalding right now. I hate that. And you'll have to like it.

16:43Spalding is the worst.

16:44Rich Eisen:Spalding. See, I gave you what you wanted. I gave you answers to questions you wanted to know. That's what you do. DJ Stroud. I don't like him. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I don't like him. Your son's going to get ready for high school. And he'll be drafting CJ Stroud in his fantasy from the Houston Texans. Rich, are you saying Cage will be driving to school? Cage will be driving to school? Well, I mean, no, he's 12. No, I'm saying even past that. Double is 8. CJ Stroud will be there. All right, let's take a break. Tony Shalhoub is in our green room. Let's bring him out. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.

17:24They include a lot more people than ourselves. Loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrivent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thrivent, where money means more. Connect with us at Thrivent.com. Oh, oh, oh, O 'Reilly! Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O 'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians.

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18:23Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. The April 15th tax deadline is coming fast, but don't worry. Hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today. You know how April feels. Everything speeds up. Games matter. More hoops and hockey schedules tighten. Your phone won't stop buzzing. And somewhere in the middle of it all, there's that quiet little reminder. Taxes. You'll get to it tonight or tomorrow or after the weekend. And if you handle it the old way, you're refreshing your inbox like it's breaking news. Waiting. Wondering. Hoping everything's squared away. That's a lot of mental bandwidth. With Intuit TurboTax Expert full service, you can match with a dedicated expert who understands your specific tax situation and handles your taxes for you, start to finish.

19:06Rich Eisen:You can do it all online or meet in person at one of their new tech-enabled store locations. Have your tax forms imported directly into the app and hand everything off to your TurboTax expert. While they work to get you every dollar you deserve, you can go about your normal routine, giving you time back to focus on what actually deserves your attention, like rooting for your team to make the playoffs. April 15th is not waiting, people. Visit TurboTax.com and hand off your taxes to a TurboTax expert today. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Awesome for so many years. Tony Shalhoub here on The Rich Eisen Show, American classic.

19:45Rich Eisen:We just saw a clip available now on MGM Plus. The season finale was just released on Sunday night. So go to MGM Plus and catch up on this. What spoke to you when you got offered the opportunity to do this show and you found out what it was and the character that you're playing? Well, you know, I came out of the theater. In fact, the reason I got into this project in the first place is because an old friend, Leslie Erdang, who was a producer of this show, She and I were at drama school together. We went to the Yale drama school. And she asked me to do this part of the agent. And she said, you know, there are a lot of our friends, a lot of people that we came up with are involved in this too.

20:31Theater people, people that, you know, are New York, kind of the stable of New York actors. And I just fell in love with the material. And you don't often get to do – you don't often see shows ever, really, that are about the theater, about the – and this one is sort of like a community theater in a way. Yes. Where the people who come in to do this play are really – they're not actors. They're really just from – you know, they have jobs. They work in the town. But it's – the theater is kind of the center that brings us community together and holds it together.

21:08Rich Eisen:Right. Right. And you play an agent. Yeah. And it's fun, too, because, you know, I've. Do you channel any real agents in your life a little bit? Absolutely. OK. I guess my character is an amalgam of a lot of people that I've come across over the years. Yeah. But it's fun to be on the other side of the desk. That's awesome. And, you know, again, it's available on MGM Plus right now. For those listening on radio, Tony has shown up in a maroon sweater shirt that says Wisconsin. across it. What's your hometown in Wisconsin? Green Bay. So legitimately from Green Bay, Wisconsin. So you grew up seeing the cathedral there in your hometown.

21:51The shrine, yes. And I grew up in the Lombardi years. So those were all my heroes, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Paul Horning, and Boyd Dowler. And I could name them all and give you all their numbers and their stats and everything. Henry Jordan.

22:06Rich Eisen:Did you see them like in supermarkets, like just walking, like living in town? Well, you, we actually did get to interact with them. And I, and my, one of my older sisters babysat for Lombardi's kids. And, oh yeah. And this was, this was like burning the midnight oil and, and who was babysitting? My, one of my older, I'm from a big family. I'm one of 10. Yes. One of my older sisters. But you know, the thing is, This is a small town. I mean, it's only maybe 100 ,000 people. Now, when I was coming up, it was 65 ,000 people. So, you know, it was not uncommon that you would rub elbows with every one of them.

22:44Rich Eisen:Do you remember what the Lombardis paid per hour for your sister's babysitting services? I'll have to. Let me make that call and I'll get back to you. It was probably the best gig in town, babysitting gig in town, I'm guessing. That is awesome. Because, again, I remember when I first showed up in Green Bay as part of my work with the NFL Network. Yeah. And I was told, you're never going to believe it. It's a small town, and then there is Lambeau Field. It's set right in a residential area. It's the truth. Yeah. It really is the truth. It's fantastic. And Steve Mariucci, who was on the Packers staff for a while, you know, as Favre's quarterback coach, told me the story of how he knew of an individual who owned one of the houses nearby Lambeau Field.

23:35Rich Eisen:And he would rent it out to a bunch of college students all year long. but on game days would come and move in himself and turn his tenants into the waitstaff for his tailgate parties that's brilliant i wish i'd have thought of that isn't that amazing he told me that story and i'm like that is such a packers green bay packers tailgate story well and then of course i'm anyone who's been to lambo knows that all of the houses surrounding the stadium. Yes. You know, people, you know, people park cars on the lawns of the residents, 15 bucks, 20 bucks. Well, it used to be like$5, but whatever. Sure.