Hour 1: Super Bowl Media Night, plus ESPN’s Troy Aikman

0:00Rich Eisen: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. Because there's always something new. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. 5 a.m. I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink. Running 12 miles today. Grab a green juice, quick change, and head to work. Meetings, workshops. One more Celsius, no slowing down.

0:41Working late, but obviously still meeting the girls for a little dancing. Celsius. Live, fit, go. Grab a cold, refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now at Celsius.com.

0:54Rich Eisen: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 Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is The Rich Eisen Show. And here to kick off Super Bowl week, I'm excited. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests, pro football hall of famer Troy Aikman, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schleren, Jaguars chief strategy officer Tony Khan, and now it's Rich Eisen.

1:56Rich Eisen:Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of the Rich Eisen Show, our last one of the week here in Los Angeles, California. As soon as this show's over, we're just hopping a flight up the coast to San Francisco, California, the home of Super Bowl 60 for the media. The players are all hanging out down there in Santa Clara about an hour south near San Jose. We're going to be all over the map, basically, is what I'm saying. We're going to be doing our show Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from our set in downtown San Francisco. Lots of good times coming up, but we've got a great show in store for all of us today here on Disney Plus and ESPN, the app.

2:36Rich Eisen:Our usual streaming spots every single day between 12 and 3 Eastern. We're on ESPN cable right now, so what's up? And then we say hello to those listening on ESPN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 80. Troy Aikman is going to be joining us in about 18 minutes time. We've also got another three-time Super Bowl champ. Six rings today, basically. Mark Schlereth is going to be joining us in hour number three. Tom Pellicero, Tommy P, is going to join us, I believe, from the media center to tell us everything that went down last night at media night and anything else that's going around the rest of the league.

3:09Rich Eisen:The head coaching carousel has stopped spinning. There are still some coordinator spots that need to be addressed, and Tom's going to be hitting on all that. Tony Khan, who wished his Jacksonville Jaguars went on a nice run, so he'd be at the Super Bowl. He's going to be joining us. He's always so generous when it comes to my run every single year, donates six figures to St. Jude, so Tony wants to talk about AEW and everything else going on in the football world, so he'll be joining us in Hour 3. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. What's going on? Warriors! What's up? What's up, Jason Feller?

3:42Rich Eisen:How are you, sir? Good to see you. What's up, Rich? How are you, TJ Jefferson? I was good until about three seconds ago. Come out to play! This man's never even seen the Warriors. Like I said, this is going to annoy me. Rich, it's going to frustrate me. I know. It's just starting. He'll know who Luther is. He'll know about Ajax or Cyrus. I know about Mac. I know about Mac. Then let me take control of the show back over. You're wearing shoes, right? You're not going full Mac Hollins. Sometimes he does go barefoot over there. Got to pay extra to see the feet. You know what I mean? so

4:16Rich Eisen:we're on every possible manner of Disney programming you just said that right you're aware of that this was your dream right I mean I don't even know if there's a parcel of the Disney world in which we're not broadcasting on or to to human beings and you just said that right you're aware of that sorry Mr. Iger I mean he's got a point though guac costs extra that's right guac is extra that's right so listen Media night went down last night. Never used to be this way. Never used to be this way. When I first started covering Super Bowls. In my day. Oh, man. Man, 23 years ago. You've been doing this, Rich.

4:55Rich Eisen:For a minute. Was Drake May born yet? Drake May, I don't know. Was Drake May born on the day that Tom Brady beat Jake DeLome? Because that was the first Super Bowl NFL Network ever covered. August 30th, 2022. So he's a little baby. A little baby boy. Baby Drake. Okay. Little baby Drake. They used to do this in the middle of the afternoon at the stadium. Yeah, right. You know what I mean? Or it was kind of, I mean, obviously it's there for the media. Yeah. And let's be honest, every day is media day at the Super Bowl. There's a media center. There's a radio row. The players are made available every single day up until Thursday.

5:36Rich Eisen:The coaches have one last swing at it on a Friday. usually at a press conference where they put the the Lombardi trophy in between them and neither head coach wants to look at it because if they look at it too long then it'll be like they're too thirsty they're too hungry and they don't want any piece of it they might tempt this the the NFL gods and and and then finally they stop talking and at that point in time everybody wants to stop talking because they're asked the same question over and over and over again that's why at Super Bowl 50 when we were there for this show, we credentialed Snoop and sent Snoop into the final media sessions for the players on that Thursday when they are done.

6:13Rich Eisen:They're just basically sleepwalking through these media sessions. But then Snoop shows up, then everybody kind of sat up straight. It was really great. And now Snoop's more famous. So yes, we're taking credit. More famous? No. Yeah, but the long story short is last night, a few years ago, I forget when it was. It could have been Super Bowl 50, as a matter of fact, when when when the league decided to have everything on a Monday night in a spot and everybody comes from the media center. And this time it was, you know, all the way down in San Jose. and everybody starts talking and they sit at podiums and the entire media session goes down and anybody who's got a pulse and can pass a security check gets a press credential.

7:07Rich Eisen:So in order to, I guess, have a little bit of fun with this, I have no idea what soundbites the Rich Eisen show crack staff has cut, all right? and I don't know who we grab soundbites of. And in order to just be completely random about it, I have this. You notice this, TJ, because you're on the Price is Right. This is one of our favorite items that we have here, a little mini Price is Right showcase showdown wheel. I did well at that. You did. TJ's price. So an even number is a Seattle Seahawks soundbite, an odd number is a Patriots soundbite, Only because you started in the oddest way for this.

7:52Rich Eisen:All right, here we go. We're spinning it. We're spinning it. This is awesome. And it stops at, oh, I almost got a dollar. 90. So it's an even number. I need a Seattle Seahawks soundbite. Who do you have? It's Sam Donald on if he's dreamt of a moment like this. Yeah, I mean, I grew up dreaming of this moment. So, you know, I grew up watching, you know, a ton of great football players. and a ton of great football teams get to this moment and make great plays. And I feel like, you know, whenever that happened after Super Bowl, I was always, you know, emulating that in my backyard, my front yard with my friends.

8:30Rich Eisen:So, yeah, I always dreamed of moments like this. You know, and sometimes I feel, again, I've been through this enough. I'm a bit of a cynic. What if the players handle it like our buddy Damoshek, who always asks the question every single year of the coach if this is a must-win game. I mean, it is a must-win game. And uses the coaches as dupes for his gag. Sure. What if they, like Sam Donald, I dreamt of a Super Bowl. Come on. I've got other things to do. I had math homework. What am I doing? My hair's elite. I didn't just get to USC because of my arm. My grades got me in. I had homework to do.

9:05Rich Eisen:Actually, I wanted to play in the NBA. All right, here we go. That's a nice little sound bite right there. What do we got next here? Spinning the wheel. I would love to have now an odd number. That would be really great. That would work out. So we could get the Patriot. And it is. Oh, it's even again. Oh, even again. By the way, Fudge with the Wills. Should we use this as a potential to see who's going to win? For how the Super Bowl is going to go? Yeah. Okay. I'm picking up on that. Mike McDonald kept being asked about what play he would run. Really? He kept getting asked what play he would run from the one-yard line.

9:36Rich Eisen:Great question. Oh, my God. Let's see how he handled it. Fourth quarter, 30 seconds left. You guys are trailing. You're on the one-yard line. Are you throwing it or are you running it? Best play available. It's the fourth quarter, 26 seconds left. The second goal on the one. That's what Compton. You're down by four. Are you going to run the football or are you going to throw it? Is beast mode in the backfield? If you have the ball on the one-yard line with 30 seconds left, would you run it or throw a slant? I think the more important question is how many times am I going to get this question over the next three days?

10:07This comes down to a one-yard line.

10:10Rich Eisen:To a one-yard line with 20 seconds to go. I don't know. I'm kind of done answering this question. It's like, look, I'm going to keep answering like this. To get the two Super Bowls in a row, an opportunity to win a second one in a row, that takes a lot of great stuff, and it takes a lot of alignment. So for me to sit here and criticize any of those decisions or any of those players in that moment is a disservice to those people. So we're really proud of our history. There's a lot of great people involved in that, a lot of whom are still in our building. and yeah, I'm going to run the best play.

10:48Rich Eisen:Oh, man, it started like a little busting with the boys laughter, and then at the end he's just – because, again, folks, the way it works is these players and coaches sit at the podium for a full hour, and a bunch of reporters come cycling in and out. Some of them may not know that the question they've asked has already been asked of the coach mirthfully, you know, with a wink and a nod. Did the Bussin boys surround him with, did they plant somebody to ask the same question over and over again? Oh, interesting. Interesting. We got to ask those guys. Unclear, but I don't know. But again, that's the way it happens.

11:28Rich Eisen:And then if you're the one who asked the question for the fifth or sixth time, and by the way, I do want to give Mike McDonald, he handled it with fun and then with grace. especially there too because um don't forget i was also pounding the table here saying he was erasing the past there when he first got there to take down photographs of the pete carroll era um and i was wrong that he was setting things up for himself while also still having a toe if not maybe a full foot and a leg in the past that he caped for the previous administration years ago. And by the way, for an interview that I conducted with him for NFL game day morning pregame show that's going to air Sunday, I did ask him where he was for the Super Bowl.

12:24Rich Eisen:For that Super Bowl in 2014, he was a Ravens intern at home with his family. upset because they had just lost, as you remember, to your Patriots. And they had just lost in the playoffs. And so he remembers it. And he's kind of, you know, I think he wears a little bit of a chip on that regard. All right, I need an odd. I need to get a Patriot here. Troy Aikman's going to join us soon. Spin backwards. I don't know. I just spun it. And here we go. Yeah. Black nickel. I almost had a full dollar. Drake May on his shoulder. Drake May on his shoulder. Hit it. Yeah, I threw a good bit. I threw as much as I would in a normal practice and felt great and looking forward to getting back out there Wednesday and Thursday for practice again and Friday and get ready to get a normal week of prep.

13:18Rich Eisen:Is this buried? Are we burying it? Done. Is it done? It's over. I know you'd like it to be. Let me ask somebody who has no skin in the game if you will. Yes. Are we done with this? Are we done with Drake May's shoulder talking about it absolutely not oh boy how could you be it's a huge story he's the starting quarterback in the super bowl right yeah you know what body part you need to play quarterback an arm and good an arm and anything attached to it such as a shoulder such as a shoulder yeah that helps yeah an elbow elbow what other things clavicle is kind of a time i mean i mean i want to become slim good body over here and start naming good body parts who's that yeah remember the dude he used to wear back in the 80s used to have a suit that was all the muscles.

14:01Rich Eisen:I think we're at Defton 5. Complete peacetime. Non-issue. Done. Over. No war games going. Nope. Nothing. Nope. Alright. I'm with you. Thank you. I kind of think this thing's done. You don't, Rich. But, but, but you put a pin in it. You put a pin in it. If he hits the turf, something goes down, he goes down, he comes up. Don't let him go. One of these things. Hey, Drake, this is what you do. You roll it forward and back if you're okay. You roll it backwards and forwards to give me sort of a tug of the ear saying it's not good. I'm glad we're on ESPN so we get the full scope of our power here. We're probably on in the locker room.

14:45Rich Eisen:Maybe he hears this. What's up? Hey, Drake. Although, according to the Boston Herald, if it's a 20-minute period, Stephon Diggs is not around to watch. I heard Drake had to run into a wall to shoulder back in. The lead of the Boston Herald piece of behind the scenes is that Stephon Diggs is out of the mix for 20, 25 minutes every single day because he's taking care of business. He's got a lot of kids. Man down, man down. All right, here we go. Here we go. Got time for one last one. Let's get a Patriot one. Come on. Let's even it out. On, on. On it is. I knew this was going to work out. Oh, Vrabel was asked if it's harder to play in a Super Bowl or coach in a Super Bowl.

15:26Rich Eisen:How can he answer this? What a great problem to have. But he hasn't coached in a Super Bowl yet. Good point. So the proper question would be to prepare for whatever. Hit it. It's always more difficult to play than it is to coach. The coaching is a little easier than playing. You have to go out there and you have to get hit when you're playing and they don't hit me. And you have to throw the ball and you have to make tackles and all those things. So it's always, I would say, harder to play than it is to coach. Now, the follow-up question is, what do you mean, Coach? Your lip was bloodied a couple of games ago.

16:03Rich Eisen:You gave blood. Yeah, Bill Williams head-butted your face. Yeah. That's more on the coach, though, don't you think? He should have known. To go in for a little bit of a moment with a guy with a helmet on and pads, might not see it, close proximity. Vrabel's done such an outstanding job, man. Yeah. I think we're going to hear, screw it. I know I've been told not to do this, but I'll just do this here. I'll do it. Do it. Oh. Oh. I'll do it. What? This is what I think it is? What is it? You're going to reveal your votes? For coach of the year? Yeah. Well, not for all of them, but coach of the year, I voted for him.

16:39Rich Eisen:Atta boy. I did. Atta boy. I thought what he did this year was remarkable. And I know I'm not supposed to reveal it, but it's two days in advance, man. I couldn't keep, I'm not revealing any other. So don't try and pull it out of me, okay? Who'd you vote for? Stop it. He is just all that. Again, in this Boston Herald article, everyone should seek it out. It takes you inside the way that this man runs his business. And I guess how Stefan Diggs handles his business when he gets to work. And again, that leads. I just got what you meant when you did this.

17:20Rich Eisen:You're in Utah. Hang with me. Utah. Hang with me. Now it makes sense. Right? Take your heart chills and buckle up. What's Christian McCaffrey's number? Deuce Deuce. At any rate. Pulling it back in. Wow. Apparently the offensive line group, according to this article, has been fining each other, which is, by the way, great. It's accountability within the locker room, which is a sign of great coaching. And that they're left to, you know, handle their own business. and then hold each other accountable. Great stuff. Obviously, that's not any, that's a sign of good coaching, but I'm sure that's the way it works in many other locker rooms around the NFL landscape.

18:02Rich Eisen:But apparently, one of the fines that you would receive is if you were called out by name by Vrabel in a meeting. Because clearly, if you're being called out by name, that means maybe you'd made a mistake and you're being called out in a film session or anything like that. And so it's$100 fine and they were all grabbed. The money's accrued so they can all go on vacation together after the season. And Vrabel caught wind of it and then started calling Will Campbell out by name 11 times in the meeting just to haze him because he's a rookie. Oh, come on. That's Mike Vrabel for you, Matt. Love it. And this is our way of handling our media night coverage through our Price is Right wheel right here.

18:43Rich Eisen:If there was only it, we'll do it throughout the show. I guess I should put it right here because there's no eight cents. There's eight zero. So the eight is coming up here when we come back here on the Rich Eyes. Did I also just put up Alvin Harper's number? Would that piss off Irv? Jeez. Because we're having Troy Aikman coming on and I put up 80. All right. Troy Aikman, my friend and one of the best in the business at what he does and is a Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champ, a perfect guest for our Super Bowl week.

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21:36Rich Eisen:us Troy Aikman here on the program. What do you think is going through Drake May's mind right now, Troy? Well, I think it's an exciting time for sure. I was in my fourth year when I went to my first Super Bowl, him of course in his second year. I think it's not only an exciting time for him, I think it is for all those players. But you have to, and I'm sure he did just like I did. I I remember when we beat San Francisco in the NFC Championship game, we were underdogs going into that one. A lot of people did not expect us to win, probably a little bit like New England. But once you win that game, you go in the locker room, and especially for a quarterback, you realize that as great as this win is, and now we're going to the Super Bowl, none of it matters unless you actually win the Super Bowl.

22:22Nobody really remembers much about the teams that lose. And so I'm sure that crossed his mind as soon as he was traveling back to New England after that win at Denver. But this is a great week. It's a celebration of what all they've been able to accomplish. And I'm sure he's locked down. I mean, I think over the years I've had quarterbacks reach out to me and say, hey, how did you approach the week of the Super Bowl? And what I tried to do and what I tell them is try to make it as normal as you possibly can. And it's hard to do because you've got media obligations, you're staying in a hotel. There's a lot of distractions, as you well know.

23:01But if you can get the support of the organization, as I did, and kind of make your hotel situation as much like what you had at home, then I think the better off you are. I don't know that there's many quarterbacks over the years, I would hope not anyway, that have gone and partaken in some of the activities that are available during the week of the Super Bowl. I know I had some teammates that were able to enjoy themselves, but I figure if you win that game, there's a lifetime of enjoyment. So that's the way I look at it.

23:36Rich Eisen:I bet. And Sam Darnold is coming into it in a way that's rare. He is the third quarterback. Chris Chandler was the last, and Earl Morrill of Super Bowl III was the first, and he is the third to play in a Super Bowl, having already played now on his fifth team. And he's 28, man. And we all know what happened last year and what he's done this year. What do you see when you watch Sam Darnold play where you think that that is a guy who could win a Super Bowl? Well, I've been watching it now for the last couple of years. Rich, I could not be more proud of anyone, quite honestly, for what Sam has endured, his perseverance, his resilience, and the way that he's continued to battle.

24:21I mean, a lesser person could have given up a while ago, and yet he has been unaffected. I mean, it's one thing to say, yeah, well, this is his living and this is what you do. But when you talk with him and he's interviewed and everything I've watched, in fact, I just saw an interview with him just before coming on the air with you today. I'm just amazed at how optimistic and upbeat he's been. He's not jaded by the process and he's been through a lot. And I bet that he would tell you that having gone through what he went through in New York and in Carolina, it really helped get him to where he is now.

24:59I worked that draft, Rich. It's the only draft I've worked as an analyst, and that was a great draft. Of course, Baker Mayfield went first, and Josh Allen was in that draft, and Josh Rosen, and Lamar Jackson, all those guys. I don't say this now. I said it even when he was struggling with the Jets and with the Panthers, that he was the top quarterback that I had on my board, I guess, and that's not sliding any of the others because they were all really good and obviously first round picks. But I thought he was the most talented of the bunch and we're now beginning to see it. And I understand as well as anybody, maybe better than most people because I went through it my first two years in Dallas.