Hour 1: Kyler Murray optimism in Minnesota, plus ESPN NBA Insider Brian Windhorst

0:00Rich Eisen:We're leaving today and entering a world of Mickey Mouse waving, princess meeting and greeting, lightsaber clashing, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror dropping, Banshee flying, Space Mountain launching, galaxy rewinding, what's the whole deck with galaxy rewinding, fireworks igniting, World of Other Worlds. For whatever you love, infinite worlds await at the most magical place on Earth. Walt Disney World Resort. So good, so good, so good. New markdowns up to 70 % off are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. And that means so many new reasons to rack. Because I always find something amazing. There's so many good brands.

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1:27Rich Eisen:Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Now let's get to Kyler Murray. Snap to Murray, running right. Here he goes! Touchdown! The Rich Eisen Show. Kevin O 'Connell has done tremendous work reviving some quarterbacks. Today's guests, ESPN senior NBA writer Brian Wintors, Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson, actor John C. McGinley, And now, it's Rich Eisen. Oh yeah, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Lots to talk about on this day. NBA, Brian Windhorst, NFL, Rod Woodson, and then pop culture, John C. McGinley, and the incredibly popular new show called Rooster on HBO.

2:15Rich Eisen:Good to see everybody right here on Disney Plus, on ESPN, chatting with you on ESPN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 88, 844-204-RICH. Number to dial right here on the program. Good to see you, Christopher Brockman. How are you, sir? Hey, Rich. Good morning, my friend. Jason Feller. Good to see you in your chair. What's up, Rich? Good to see TJ Jefferson with the candle lit over there. How are you? I'm great. How about you? Awesome. Let's get things started right off the bat right here, because we've got lots to talk about, because Bam Adebayo just only scored 21. Listen, National Football League world, something happened yesterday that everybody's been expecting to happen, and I've been kind of saving my powder for it until it finally did happen.

2:55Rich Eisen:And Kyler Murray showed up in purple yesterday in the state of Minnesota. And Kyler Murray, for$1.3 million, is in the new fangled quarterback room of the Minnesota Vikings. That's the way to put it right now because nobody's naming him the starter, even though I'll tell you what, it sure looks like he's going to be. But let's just start from scratch, which is Kyler Murray getting cut from the Arizona Cardinals after seven years of work there, after being the first overall selection. And he is now a veteran minimum quarterback, able to pick and choose where he's going to go. And for whatever reason, for weeks and weeks and weeks, we've been hearing if Kyler Murray's cut loose, he's going to the Minnesota Vikings.

3:46Rich Eisen:And sure enough, he showed up there and he signed. And now he is in the quarterback room with J.J. McCarthy, who's two years removed from his first round drafting. And this is what Kyler Murray had to say about joining the team that he apparently rooted for as a kid, because when he played Pop Warner football, I believe, he was on the local Vikings team there, and he was a diehard Vikings fan. Hit it. Ever since I started playing tackle football,

4:18Brian Windhorst:I was seven years old. I was seven years old. Genuine, genuine fandom. You know, ran deep Vikings gear through and through. A lot of purple in my household. I don't want to bring it up right now, but maybe later on another day. It was a moment. I'll bring it up anyways, whatever. I cried real tears whenever, you know, whenever Brett threw that interception.

4:43Rich Eisen:I cried real tears that day. well there's Kyler as a Viking on the left as a kid and then on the right as a current member of the real McCoy and he posted that with the word skull and I think he knows this so I apologize for potentially stating the obvious when he said he cried real tears when Brett Favre threw that interception against the New Orleans Saints in an NFC championship game rather than just running for a first down and kicking a field goal and going to the Super Bowl. Every Minnesota Vikings fan cried real tears on that day. And now they see him as their newest addition to a quarterback room.

5:31Rich Eisen:Notice how I'm stating this. A little disdain, it seems. Not disdain. Not disdain. Delusion, I think, is another word. No, no, no. No, no, no. I'm trying to stay within the lanes of what's being said right now. And Kyler Murray coming into this offense with all due respect to everybody else who he's played with, in my mind, future Hall of Famer DeAndre Hopkins, and then also a young Turk who, kind of like Kyler Murray, to be honest with you, after being drafted in the top five, has yet to show up like he did in college at the professional level in a very consistent way in Marvin Harrison Jr. That's Justin Jefferson right there.

6:21Rich Eisen:And this is the rest of the Minnesota Vikings around him. And collectively, I don't believe he's had a group like this with a coach like this and an offensive mindset like the one that the Vikings bring to bear every single day. He hasn't had that in professional football, for sure, with all due respect to his previous coaches and players. This is what he said about his relationship with his new head coach, Kevin O 'Connell.

6:48Brian Windhorst:Me and K.O. go back to the Elite 11 days. I remember during the combine, I had an interview with the Redskins at the time, Commanders, and he was with them, and he pulled me aside after my meeting with them. And ever since then, our relationship, he's always made sure to check in on me, whether it was after a game, you know, things like that. So I always respected that. I always appreciated his opinion of me and the support that he's given me. So for now, you know, getting to play for him and have that relationship with him means the world. Obviously, he's had a lot of success with quarterbacks, different quarterbacks, and he's one of the best offensive minds in the game.

7:25Rich Eisen:So I'm looking forward to, you know, going to work with him. What a spot for a guy drafted once upon a time, first overall. yet to realize first overall production and success. What a spot for him to enter. He's got to be out of his mind psyched because also the one-year deal that he signed not only sticks the Cardinals with the large tab, but also there is no franchise or transition tag possible for the Vikings to place on him. He had it in the contract say, you cannot do this to me. He will be playing for free agency. He will be playing for the bag. He will be playing with some terrific players.

8:11Rich Eisen:He will have an opportunity to resurrect everything in that building. Unless, of course, J.J. McCarthy beats him out, because apparently this is a competition. Kevin O 'Connell, speaking yesterday, said of signing Kyler Murray, quote it's march and what i can tell you is the goal of adding a talented player like kyler to the room was to create a world where guys are pushing each other and guys are by their own growth and development or their own ascension are not only just doing that themselves but they're creating a new standard and elevating that floor so that will benefit not only those players individually it'll benefit the collective group of guys in the room now that makes complete coach speaks sense to the media gathered that sounds like a bunch of word salad so he was asked point blank is there a competition between murray and mccarthy quote unless i'm confused in any way shape or form i don't believe we have to name one of those currently end quote kevin o 'connell can confirm coach you do not have to do that you don't even have a schedule you don't have a draft They're going to have pro days.

9:24Rich Eisen:O 'Connell said he did talk to McCarthy earlier this week. He knew we were going to be adding somebody to the room. He knew that that didn't change anything about his mindset. Focus on improving, attacking this offseason the right way, and I'm really proud of him for that and excited to get back on the grass and in the meeting room with him when that time comes, end quote. I shall just shoot everybody straight here. the only way jj mccarthy starts week one for the minnesota vikings this fall is if kyler murray gets hurt as much as i love jj mccarthy and you know that i do and you said maybe the way i was positing this segment my thoughts earlier sounded like a touch of derision it's because i feel jj jay mccarthy has it in him for sure okay so and this also kevin o 'connell is a coach who came on this show and said that organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail the organizations and it sure feels like this franchise feel like jay mccarthy somehow failed them last year i'm not in the building i don't see what's going on when there's nothing when there's no cameras on them.

10:42Rich Eisen:O 'Connell does. He is a quarterback whisperer. He's one of the best in the business. He's a coach of the year for a reason. Okay? But there is no way, barring injury, that a highly talented 28-year-old with almost 90 starts in him and two Pro Bowls in him and 120-plus passing touchdowns and almost 40 rushing touchdowns is going to walk in this spot with Justin Jefferson there and Aaron Jones is coming back and Hawkinson and the rest of them and get beat out by J.J. McCarthy. Honestly, it's straight up that you don't bring in Kyler Murray without saying he's going to get the first shot. certainly since last year you put a thumb on the scale for the kid to the point where Sam Darnold's like I I can't stick around here I'm gonna go to a spot for my new spot and he wins a Super Bowl there that place is a lid on a boiling pot and then on top of it what more like Kyler Murray is the avatar of how quickly things can change in this world for a kid drafted 10th overall in a draft.

12:09Rich Eisen:Josh Rosen was exactly that, saying there were nine mistakes. By the way, if you look at the nine kids chosen in front of him, they're all grown-ass men now. But remember Josh Rosen said there's nine mistakes in front of me and I'm going to prove them wrong?

12:25Rich Eisen:Well, out he goes and in comes Kyler. So to me, J.J. McCarthy, unless there is some form of a, massive seismic event. He's not starting week one for this team. Shooting straight up to you all. And kudos to, you know, Kyler for getting his gig. And I understand, you know, O 'Connell saying all the stuff like, I don't have to name anything now and he needs to work hard because he couldn't possibly need him. Don't forget Sam Donald and J.J. McCarthy. That was a competition. young kid who doesn't have to start right away may not have the experience let's bring in the veteran there was that going on and then mccarthy gets hurt it's darnold's gig yada yada yada he leaves he wins the super bowl elsewhere so they had a year last year where they have a ready-made team right now and they're just not going to go through that again and i understand why they wouldn't i understand why they wouldn't they have a ready-made team they got a bunch of guys who can win this division, win double-digit games, win playoff games, and who the heck knows, win the whole damn thing.

13:35Rich Eisen:And Kyler now has every reason to do it. He's got a fresh new football lease on life. He's got a coach. He's got an all-world receiver who's ready to roll. And again, just straight up, McCarthy versus Murray in a flat open competition. I think Murray would have the thumb on the scale here. Or at least the first third of the season. I'll be honest with you. I asked, you know, somebody who will remain nameless, who I trust implicitly in the talent evaluation and also football rostering and all that sort of stuff. I asked him, there's no chance J.J. McCarthy beats out Kyler Murray for the starting job.

14:22Rich Eisen:He texted me back, correct. so what people in the league are thinking and saying and what have you and you know good luck to having this competition to my guy in mccarthy he's got he's got a big uphill climb big and you could sit here and go oh what did kyler do he didn't do this he didn't do that he's got all this experience and he's also got the leg up with a team that turned to McCarthy last year and watch the guy who was with him in the elevated quarterback room leave and win a Super Bowl that will leave a mark no matter how much they might not be saying it does so we will see there will be a competition at some point kyler will start one mccarthy will start one in the preseason and o 'connell's gonna have to make a call and that's why they pay him the big bucks but at the end of the day i think they really want to see what murray looks like in their offense and not just in their offense at all but when it counts and give him at least a month.

15:36Rich Eisen:And if he doesn't work out then, you turn to the kid. Am I wrong? Am I off on this? Anybody else? Bueller? No. I mean, why else are you bringing him in? Right, exactly. And it's not in a vacuum where it's rep on rep. No, it's what happened last year, what happened the year before, what they saw from McCarthy, what they saw from their team, what they saw that their team could potentially do, and what the guy that they used to have at quarterback did elsewhere.

16:08Rich Eisen:So that's my two cents on this move. Yeah. Look, like I said yesterday, man, if you take week 13 and 14, J.J. McCarthy, what he did against Washington and Dallas, there's something there, right? There's definitely something. Oh, yeah. So competition, even if he doesn't get the job, he gets to sit. He still gets to work on his craft. Like, you know, we met J.J. We like him, too. Absolutely. He's a very likable kid. I don't think this is the end. He's 23. But it's not a personality contest in the NFL. That's why it stands for not for long. It stands for not for long. And what it stood for is the Vikings traded up, got him, didn't think Sam Darnold was going to be a 14-win quarterback.

16:49Rich Eisen:They hoped. He did. Didn't think McCarthy was going to get hurt. Didn't think he was going to get hurt. I mean, these are all. And then last year, they did. But, like, we're going to have to go through our lumps. There were a lot more lumps than I thought that they were expecting. He also was not available a lot. Right. And that, I'm sure, leads them to think, we're not going to go through the ups and downs again. We're just not. And Kyler Murray's being brought in. Is he the guy to actually smooth everything out? In Arizona, he wasn't. Let's be straight up, too. But it's a new situation, slate clean, and unfortunately for McCarthy, like Slate Clean too.

17:30Rich Eisen:It just doesn't matter where you were drafted anymore. It's a tough league. 844-204-RICH, number to dial. Let's turn our attention to the NBA. Jalen Brown is done with the whistles for SGA. And also, and I think maybe the rest of the league is beginning to feel that way too. Bam out of bio. His 83-point game. Brian Windhorst is going to join us on that and all so much more when we come back on The Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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20:25Rich Eisen:Chaisen Show Radio and TV. Brian Winhorst is right here on the program. Good to see you, Brian. How are you, sir? I'm really well. What's up, guys?

20:33Brian Windhorst:It's probably the fourth or fifth time I've seen those clips, and I just sat back and smiled.

20:38Rich Eisen:I saw.

20:39Brian Windhorst:As wide as I saw the first time.

20:41Rich Eisen:Why are you smiling?

20:42Brian Windhorst:I'm just here for all of it. I'm here for all of it. I have honorary. My honorary backdrop today is Miami. Okay. Out of respect. I mean, who knows where I am? I could be anywhere. Right. But I just want you to know, uh, we have Norwegian cruise lines, five day cruise to the Bahamas.

20:59Rich Eisen:Yes. Yeah. Um,

21:01Brian Windhorst:I just out of respect, you know? Um, so I love, I love the attitude. Um, the thing about this is, um, this, the way this went down, even in the moment it was going down. I had this unique perspective. Everybody is going to be a time and place when they saw this, but I was at Crypto Arena, the other Crypto.com Arena the other night, and it was pregame for the Wolves and Lakers, and that was a very late start, 8 o 'clock in L.A. So even though the Miami game was in the fourth quarter, that game was a half hour, 40 minutes from starting, and it just started making its way around the arena, like Bam has 60, Bam's going for 70.

21:43Brian Windhorst:And as he got closer, coaches, because when the coaches come out on the court to warm up the players, they don't usually bring their phones. And the players started migrating over to the sideline. And all the NBA personnel, the scouts and the executives and the agents who were there, the reporters, the media, we all had our phones out and were watching the game. And some of the players went to the back to go watch it on TV. J.J. Redick said he stopped his pregame prep to watch it on TV. There was a genuine, like, awe and joy of the NBA family. And then when they announced in the arena that, you know, he had broken Kobe's mark, there was loud boos.

22:28Brian Windhorst:I mean, Lawrence Tanter, who I think is an American treasurer, the PA announcer at Staples, He like prompted them a little bit because he was like, I have a melancholy announcement. Bam Adebayo scored 83. So it wasn't 100 % natural, but even if he had not done that, I think they would have booed. And so it was sort of the perfect storm, Rich, because if you watch the way the game ended, there was grade A shenanigans, triple teaming, all these free throws, they're fouling to extend the game, they're missing free throws on purpose, so Bam get an offensive rebound. unquestionable shenanigans in the last three or so minutes of the game.

23:07Brian Windhorst:So if you're somebody who that bothers, you're going to be bothered by it. If you're a Kobe fan, absolutely. And the Kobe fans all see themselves as stewards of his legacy. Yes. And I respect it. That's an awesome thing. But even if there was no way, like I've speculated what the circumstances would be that the Kobe fans would approve someone scoring 82 points. Seriously, I want you to think about that. I'm not so sure that there are any circumstances that they would have gone over it. Maybe if it was like in the finals for the Lakers, maybe they would allow it under protest. They would they would give a play golf clap.

23:55Brian Windhorst:I don't think a circumstance exists where they would have been pleased that somebody surpassed Kobe. And then if you've got the people out there who just didn't like the way the game ended, they don't care about the first 70 points or the first 72, wherever the game got wacky. They're going to totally not focus on that and only focus on those last 10 points. And then you have people who were like the NBA people that I was witnessing it with who thought it was totally awesome. Because one thing about Bam, I covered Team USA in the 21 Olympics and the 24 Olympics. He was on both teams. I traveled the world with him.

24:37Brian Windhorst:And I can tell you that he is beloved and totally respected by his star peers because of the way he plays the game and because of his attitude. And so within the NBA, I know that there's been detractors out there. I'm not saying all 400 members are giving it the thumbs up, but I think it's been interesting the way the different groups have responded to it, because this particular scenario is so ripe for different groups to take and hold and defend a position.

25:10Rich Eisen:Yeah, it's the last three minutes, right? Like, that's it. It really is the way that that that he got to the 83. I think that people are having problems with it. Certainly, you know, in Los Angeles, you saw last night, it's all over the place on your phone and, you know, any social media you're on. Luka had needed one assist to have a 50-point triple-double last night. He took himself out. You could even read his lips and he's like, you need one more assist. He says, I don't care. You could see that there's that sort of bristling going on. Wembon Yama, I mean, basically, was the