Hour 1: USA Hockey’s Gold Medal Reaction, plus ESPN’s Louis Riddick Talks NFL Draft

0:00Rich Eisen:Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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0:10Rich Eisen:Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with Kayak and get your trip right. Kayak. Got that right. 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 network 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 This is the Rich Eisen Show Hey, everybody Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show?

1:03Rich Eisen: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. Jeff Hughes wins it! The golden goal for the United States! This is the Rich Eisen Show. Doug! Doug gets it done! From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Today's guests. ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick. ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Billis ESPN NFL analyst Ben Solak And now, it's Rich Eisen Oh yes, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show Live on ESPN Hello, ESPN audience, Disney Plus and the ESPN app audience That's our regular audience, 12 to 3 Eastern every single day We say hello to you and ESPN Radio We're on every day on Sirius XM Channel 80 as well.

2:17Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH, number to dial. It is NFL Scouting Combine Week. As soon as this is over, we are running to the airport. Actually, we're going to be running to the car to take us to the airport, where we're hoping to run to our plane and get to Indianapolis in time for not one, not two, not three, but four shows for the rest of the week from the Downtown Convention Center. Coaches, general managers, media members, and so much more every single day, 12 to 3 Eastern time. I'm 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Louis Riddick, who will be in Indianapolis, is going to be hanging out with us prior to that in about 20 minutes time.

2:52Rich Eisen:Jay Billis, who called Duke's win over my beloved Wolverines on Saturday. We'll be talking about a big college basketball weekend as Arizona and Houston also had at it. And we'll see, you know, it's about a month, I would imagine, until Selection Sunday goes down. So Jay's going to join us on all of that. Ben Solak wrote an outstanding primer for all NFL fans looking to the Combine and then the free agency season that's right after it, just two weeks after the Combine's over, is when the new league year begins. So there's going to be a lot of change in the National Football League. He wrote a great primer for everybody out there who wonders which players are available at the Combine or through free agency on ESPN.com or the ESPN app.

3:35Rich Eisen:He's on in hour number three when we're on ESPN2. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you?

3:40Louis Riddick:What's up, man?

3:40Rich Eisen:You and I just finished Overreaction Monday, the podcast, and that's going to be sitting there on our YouTube channel, Lickety Split, as well as however you get your podcast. DJ Mikey Diaz and D's Nuts, Mike Del Tufo. Good morning, Rich. Good to see you. TJ Jefferson back from his WWE walkabout in Connecticut. Good to see you, sir. How are you? I'm fantastic, man. How are you guys doing? We're doing great. As we mentioned, 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. the sporting event of the weekend as we all knew it would be leading into the weekend once team usa met uh the challenge to get to the gold medal game to wrap up the winter olympics against canada here we go and we knew it would be something that all of us out here in southern california would have to set our alarms to get up to check out at five in the morning uh eight in the morning eastern time milan time uh drop in the puck between these two times two sides that uh to use the old keith jackson phrase plane don't like each other um and the last time we saw um these two teams essentially go at it for all of our viewing pleasure was the four nations when um there was dropping of gloves over and over and over again now i didn't think we'd see that in these olympic uh games in the gold medal game but um what we did see uh just a few minutes into this contest let everyone know okay it's on it's on and cracking and it was when tom wilson laid a big hit on dylan larkin and you know bodies flying skates in the air You know, ice shards flying.

5:24Rich Eisen:Here we go. It's on just as we suspected it would be. Two sides going for the same medal. And who opens the scoring? Who cracks the scoreboard first but Team USA? Matt Boldy, what a move he puts on two defenders. I mean, can you believe, taking a look at this shot right here, guys, that it's Team USA that's about to score? No. Absolutely not. Okay, so Boldy splits two defenders by flipping the puck forward, basically passing it to himself, and then he pops it into the net six minutes into the first period, and Team USA is up 1-0. And that is when their goaltender, Connor Hellebuck, your Hart Trophy winner from the Winnipeg Jets, starts standing on his head.

6:21Rich Eisen:and start saving everything known to man. This one from Connor McDavid on a breakaway, just halfway through the second period, looked like this was a tie game until it wasn't. And then Team USA, after watching Hellebuck start to build a brick wall in between the pipes, kills off a five-on-three penalty, a power play for Canada. two Americans in the box at once and Team USA kills this one off to keep a one nothing lead intact until Kale McCarr fires one past Hellebuck with the 1816 mark of the second period to make it one one the equalizer going into the third period now I'm just wondering as you're watching this and you're watching Hellebuck stop everything, as I mentioned, known to man.

7:21Rich Eisen:Didn't you think this thing would be tied going into the third period? I mean, I know you were hoping that it wouldn't be, but it kind of felt that it would be. Yeah. And fittingly, here goes the gold medal game with 20 minutes of action to decide it, or at least we thought at the time. And this is the moment for me for the tournament here where Devon Taves has what appears to be an open net. And I don't know, how the hell did Hellebuck get his stick around? Right? It's his stick. Yeah, it's his stick. This shot right here, it looks AI. Again, that stick wasn't there. He had to swing it around.

8:07Rich Eisen:It could have hit anybody and it couldn't have been, you know, it was right there for him to just flip out. and he saves it now kenny albert who had an incredible tournament calling the action his initial call naked eye is that he thought the puck just slid through the crease and then we come back and see on the replay he didn't slide through the crease somehow hell about got the paddle on it and saved it and then with 15 41 left in the third here comes the 19 year old Macklin Celebrini another save by Hellebuck and then the break how many times do you think Nathan McKinnon would miss the open net on his forehand once well the one time was in the gold medal game how does he not miss honestly you give him 99 more tries he makes it every single time Every single time.

9:13Oh, yeah.

9:15Rich Eisen:But at least he got a stuffy out of it. That was quite a moment. I mean, what are we doing?

9:22Rich Eisen:Overtime we go. Overtime we go. And in overtime. You know, that was a what's more likely, right? Going into Friday? It was. What's more likely? Are we going to see overtime? We're going to see a blowout, right? We're going to see overtime again. Why not? The women win in overtime. time now the men need to come up with a golden goal to match the women who had already done it and jack hughes who had already lost a chicklet earlier on in the third period before that penalty got killed off by the canadians only to be called for his own high stick with mere seconds to go in regulation, a penalty that his mates killed off to, by the way, go 18 for 18 in penalty kill in the Olympic tournament.

10:16Rich Eisen:Jack Hughes starts the rush by preventing McCarr or McDavid. Could you imagine if McDavid had a one-on-one scoring opportunity in overtime? He saves that with a poke check to get it to Zach Wierenski who fights off of all people McKinnon to find the guy who started the rush, Jack Hughes, by himself. And he did not miss. The golden goal. 141 into overtime. And Team USA on the 40, get this, on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, the last team to win gold for Team USA in the Olympics. In 1980, when Jim Craig saved 36 of 39 shots against the Soviets. On that anniversary, Team USA comes up with a golden goal that in part or large part is possible because their net minder saved 41 of 42 shots to have Team USA come up with a gold medal.

11:25Rich Eisen:And Jack Hughes, whose brother Quinn lit the lamp in overtime two games before to get Team USA further along. The Hughes brothers from the great state of Michigan celebrating afterwards on the podium with Hughes walking everybody through his crazy, crazy evening.

11:52Louis Riddick:My first thought was to draw the penalty. Actually, my first thought was I looked down the ice and saw my teeth. I was like, here we go again. Because I know the last time that happened, it wasn't very fun. But, yeah, like I just thought, you know, we got an elite first power play. Four minutes I thought they were going on the ice and going to score. And that was going to be the gold medal game. Then, obviously, I come on the ice and I take a penalty. I pictured myself on Barstool being like the guy that America hates because Canada scores in the power play. And I was like, oh, my God, here it is.

12:32Louis Riddick:And Larks and Nelson, you know, did an unbelievable job on that penalty kill. So just glad we got out of that pickle I put us in. And then obviously over time anything can happen. I mean, they have very skilled players. We have very skilled players. it's just up and down the rink you know kind of like a little grudge match like who's going to make the first mistake who's going to give up the first odd man rush and um just a good play by larks and z getting up the ice and then obviously z found me the toothless jack hughes amazing um want to point this out because you know obviously we're talking about the celebration about the

13:16Rich Eisen:anniversary and the miracle on ice and it happening because who can forget you know the Jim Craig moment who could forget those guys we don't who could forget the moment in the locker room afterwards when they were celebrating with J. Edgar Hoover that all of the conversation that's going on about this team I do want to point out what happened right after the the game on the I don't know if there was a dry eye in the house no chance when they go and grab Johnny Hockey's two kids out of the stands and put them his four-year-old daughter Noah and two-year-old Johnny Jr. with them and his sweater we all know Johnny Gaudreau a couple summers ago killed by a motorist while he was riding his bike on his wedding weekend okay and just to see those kids out there and celebrating like this on the ice there was not a single dry in the house and you know i thought again mike tariko's comments afterwards did you see his soliloquy afterwards talking about how kids everywhere watching these guys do their thing just in the same way everybody out there on the ice where those kids watching Team USA make it only a certain length into their hockey experiences over the last 46 years and how they should go out and live their dream.

14:54Rich Eisen:Did you see this video that made it around of peewee hockey players in the state of north carolina going through their games and learning in the middle of their games go ahead and roll it use it as b-roll here um learning during their games that jack hughes had just scored a golden goal you see this oh wow they just stopped playing and started celebrating with their own teammates watch this you see this like they had just won the gold that's awesome right like this is clearly what it's about and that maybe these kids one day will be out at future olympics as well remembering these moments pounding their sticks on the ice i can't get enough of it right like it's the real feels you know and torico did nail it he nailed it while watching that i'm like he's so good at his job and two i need to solve world peace to have a shot at the emmy next year after i saw that

15:50Rich Eisen:you know maybe i can get in a locker room and celebrate with somebody i think we can make something i didn't win listen it is truly one of those moments where you you won't forget where you are and the olympics still are that and certainly this miracle on ice 46 years ago having a way to celebrate that anniversary this way is truly unbelievable. Can't make it up. The latest, you can't make this stuff up. And I'll just say this too. Jack Hughes is awesome people. You see what he did with the New Jersey Devils wearing the rainbow colors, even though some did not like it, and him talking about its important inclusion, things of that nature.

16:37Rich Eisen:jack also for some of us my parents once upon a time gave me this book we all have it people of my faith have this sort of stuff great jews and sports ladies and gentlemen jack hughes i believe i looked it up in here although it's been uh i wasn't alive i wasn't alive then printed i believe he's the only person in the history of the world to be bar mitzvahed and come up with a golden goal maybe for the United States so maybe I should take this book now and just write in Jack Hughes's name right in the middle of it Mazel Tov to the Hughes family Quinn and the golden goal score on behalf of the United States of America and for their performance I just say thank you that was pretty awesome to watch you'll have to update that book very shortly I will have to do that I'll have to do that I don't know if we can find the author her to update it but there you go it might be you i don't know you might oh really right okay it's old second edition evan joel gave this to me uh to start the show like you need this for you stewart i'm like do i yeah you've used that actually yeah look well we need him we need hughes to come in here to sign it yeah who's on there jeff schwartz uh edelman jules yep uh bregman and mitchell schwartz the schwartz brothers bregman julian allen this is one of our favorite Hey, Hughes, when you're done with Milan and the rest of your run here, come on in.

18:04Rich Eisen:Got a book you need to sign. Got a book you need to sign. All right, let's take a break. Louis Riddick is going to join us next as we turn the page, if you will, to the scouting combine. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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20:24Rich Eisen:Louis Riddick, NFL Draft Daily and the rest of the NFL shows on ESPN also was in the booth for Super Bowl 60, the international feed with Dan Orlovsky and our buddy Chris Fowler here on the program. How do you feel the Seahawks winning is going to affect the draft? There always is a copycat league mentality. There's always somebody sitting here and saying, all right, that just won it all. How can we do with what we've got, what they've just done? And it does all start at the scouting combine. I don't know if there's an Eman Worry strolling around like he did last year, standing out like a unicorn and still being drafted in the second round for John Schneider to snap up.

21:07Rich Eisen:But what do you think about the way the Seahawks won and the upcoming few weeks, Lewis?

21:14Louis Riddick:Yeah, well, I think, again, you start on the defensive side. That's where it's going to start. You know, like Mike McDonald and John Schneider were able to get a great group of guys on the defensive side who were very interchangeable up front in particular. and were able to just wreak havoc on just every single team that they played this year, starting with shutting down the run and then being able to earn the right to rush the passer, deploying these guys in different spots. They're all high-character football guys. I mean, look, obviously, Leonard Williams isn't a guy who came out in the draft this year, but that's the kind of guy that they're looking for.

21:50Louis Riddick:They're looking for guys who are 6 '5", 6 '6", who can play nose tackle, three technique, nine technique who can stand up who are who are guys who like Mike Tannenbaum likes to say are force multipliers make guys better so yeah there's going to be teams going damn how can we get our hands on guys like that of course yeah I mean you mentioned Nick Iman Worry look I mean he's a unicorn he's an avatar so is everybody looking for somebody like that yeah I think you might want to take your chances on maybe seeing if you can get a guy like Devin Witherspoon you're probably more likely to get a hold of someone like that who can play the corner, play the star position, the slot position, who can blitz, who, again, is a high-energy, just quite honestly, ass-kicker, who you know is going to show up play after play after play.

22:36Louis Riddick:You want to have a team that has a great complement of wide receivers who really play off of one another. So you want the Cooper Cup who can work inside, the JSN who can go inside and outside, Rasheed Shahid who can burn you deep. They have three tight ends there that can all burn you who all play off of one another as well. So look, I think the blueprint is there, Rich. Seattle did a nice job of getting all this stuff together over time. And then the master stroke, though, for sure, is trading out Geno for Sam. And I know people are going to say, well, that's what I need to do. I need to go mid-market as far as trying to find me a quarterback who maybe was a bridge guy, maybe was a guy who was underachieving.

23:22Louis Riddick:I'll just throw him into my system, surround him a great player. It's bigger than that. See, coming back from the Senior Bowl years ago, Jordan Palmer told me. I don't know if I've told you this story. I feel like I told it to everybody. Jordan Palmer got me in the airport coming back from the Senior Bowl and said, Lewis, Sam, and this was at the time when Sam was getting ready to sign with San Francisco. and he said Sam just needs to be in that kind of system around that environment and with those coaches and you're going to see him wash all of the stench off of him that happened earlier on in his career he's going to hit his stride it may not happen in San Fran but that's the system he needs Kyle is who he needs Clint Kobiak those kind of guys are who he needs he goes there doesn't start Minnesota takes a chance he wins he's able to get in there you know obviously because JJ gets hurt.

24:11Louis Riddick:And next thing you know, him and KOC are ripping it up, ripping it up. He has a couple bad games at the end of the year. People go, ah, maybe it's not true. John Snyder goes, you know what? I believe what I saw. I believe that the system matches the quarterback. I'm going to take a chance on him. I'm going to bring him in. I'm going to bring in Clint Kubiak. I'm going to have him with, you know, with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. I'm going to build out this young offensive line. We're going to be run heavy, play action, and it's going to work. and I'll be damned if it doesn't work. See, it's so those kind of things like the marriage, quarterback, play caller, a head coach like Mike McDonald, who's a master right now, who talked to guys like Sean McVay.

24:53Louis Riddick:McVay says McDonald's like the best, the best in the league right now. All the great coordinators, he might be the best out there. The guy is a savant. The dude is like a wonder kid. a lot of great things. Look, you can try and copy what Seattle did. You got a lot of work to do because they've been putting this together for a little bit and you've got to just tip your cap to what John has done. You just do, man. He made all the right moves and he's been doing it for about two, three years. And then it culminated in that Superbowl.

25:25Rich Eisen:No doubt. No doubt. Talk about zagging. When everyone's zigging, you don't get, and the Raiders rightfully go ahead and get Clint Kubiak and want to hook him up to the first overall selected quarterback. I understand. And we just saw what Ben Johnson has been able to affect in just year one with Caleb Williams in Chicago. And I understand that you want to have your head coach be the play caller because you're not going to lose him, as Mike McDonald just did, to a head coaching job, you know, when he's already your head coach. So I understand that. But but John Schneider zagged and says, you know what?

25:56Rich Eisen:I got McVay. I got Shanahan. I'm going to get a defensive guy and I'm going to build it the way that we normally build it around here. And I'm going to try and win a Super Bowl. and they add Sam Darnold. You're right, Lewis. I mean, like, it is fascinating to talk about, and I love chopping ball up with you, so let's keep going here. Who is the next Sam Darnold? If you could peg one, look around the rest of the league and say this guy is the one where you want to talk about copycat. Boy, is it tough to say, you know what? I'm going to get a guy on his fifth team who's finally coming into his own after being drafted high.

26:32Rich Eisen:Who do you think is the best person in the league right now that somebody could go get, if not this year, maybe next, to say, let's build a team like Seattle and go get our guy and insert him? Who's that guy?