Hour 1: World Cup Reactions, plus ESPN’s Seth Wickersham Talks Broncos & Seahawks’ Sale

25:18Seth Wickersham:And one of them he ran early and it was called Baby Shower. And it was targeting a Bills player whose family had given birth to their first child earlier that week. He knew or just kind of suspected that that guy's head wasn't going to be in the game. And so they came up with this fake punt where the punter throws to Marvin Mims outside. They ran it and it was successful. But yeah, he called it baby shower. That gives you a sense of how amazing diabolical these guys can be.

25:45Rich Eisen:And that was the first of the two playoff games that Sean Payton's Broncos have taken on the Bills. That one didn't go well for him and the team this past one. They did win. And so I bring that up to see how his preps for Josh Allen this time around went and anything you gleaned on that front.

26:08Seth Wickersham:Well, he had another fake punt and it was called Rutgers special. He basically adapted it from a punt that the Raiders ran against the Lions in 2019. He watched all 71 fake punts from, you know, I want to say the past eight years to try to look for ideas to try to tailor to his own team. And the entire week, he was like, I'm calling this if it gets close. We're not giving the ball back to Josh Allen. And again, it wasn't out of, you know, worry for their defense. It's just respect for Josh and how good he is. So they play the Bills, they beat the Bills in overtime. And after that game, we're sitting in his stadium office and he's kind of just taking in the win.

26:46Seth Wickersham:I mean, it had been a long time since he had won a playoff game. And he knew that in a couple of days, everyone was going to forget about this game. So he was just kind of tasting the air. And I said, you know, it took almost everything you guys planned for all of those 2 a.m. sessions. And I was like, you still have Rutgers special. You can use it next week if you want. So I said something like that. And he was like, no, we called it. And I was like, when did I go to the bathroom? Like, did I miss this somehow? and um he says no we called it in overtime and i'm going wait a second it was fourth and 11 in overtime right and he grabs my notebook and he goes no we had the perfect it would have worked and the players waved it off and he's he's drawing it up on my notebook and i was just my head was spinning at the fact that he you know the guts and the borderline you know gutso and maybe even recklessness that it takes to call a fake punt on fourth and 11 in overtime of a playoff game where the bills would almost be in field goal range um he thought that they had the look and it was tyler bidet who called it off and a little note tyler bidet recently celebrated a birthday and in the team meeting where sean um wished him happy birthday he mentioned the fake punt and was like

28:01Rich Eisen:you know we would have had it well it all did work out at the end in terms of a result so um just to go granular here were you there there were two massive plays in that game the you know double possession would be one way to put it um and then the other one was bo nicks hurting himself what was what was sean payton's post game can you share uh yeah i was right there about yeah so let's take one play at a time uh well first he thought yeah he thought

28:32Seth Wickersham:that the interception should have never gotten that far because he thought that the bills held in the end zone and the game should have ended on the safety right but um look he was thrilled about the play i don't think he thought it was lucky or you know a particularly controversial call big surprise but we're in his office and you know look there's few few things for a football team more pure and electric than winning a playoff game and you could hear the music guys are screaming they're congratulating themselves and each other and then he's explaining rutker special to me and the head of the broncos sports performance um bo lowry comes in and he always comes in with an injury report so he's holding a piece of paper that has the injuries and he looks a little solemn that i noticed in retrospect but sean kind of he wanted to keep talking about rucker special and he finally he finally turns to bow and he says all right give it to me and you know bow says bow and sean was kind of like bow as in what what bow are we talking about here bow nicks fractured his ankle he's having surgery on tuesday this season is over and it was like the room stopped.

29:40Seth Wickersham:I mean, the music faded. All of a sudden you couldn't hear anything. And I mean, he is staring at the ground and he goes, Stiddy, you know, Jared Stidham, he already knew. And then it was interesting because you could see his eyes start to squint a little bit and his brain was processing it. And he was already thinking about how to message this for the team and he basically was like no one's going to give us a chance Stidham is better than anybody thinks um you know this is going to this is going to be perfect but he knew he knew in that moment that the chances of winning a Super Bowl were over he might be able to get past the conference championship but not the Super Bowl and that's a really mind warping feeling to have minutes after you win a playoff game I mean you know I don't think that that's happened really in modern NFL history there was obviously when um brock purdy got hurt early in the nfc championship game but that was you know during the game i mean it was a it was a really revealing vulnerable and honest

30:46Rich Eisen:moment to witness wow so what did you glean overall seth i mean the torment that it takes

30:54Seth Wickersham:to try to win at this level i know we talk about it but to witness it and to watch peyton and the Broncos spend an hour, sometimes on a single play, sometimes multiple hours over the course of days. And, you know, he nearly broke himself that week. I was privy to his sleep scores during the week leading up to the Patriots. And I mean, as the week went on, they were horrible. And it got tense at times with the assistant coaches because, you know, it's 1.30 again, and they're still going. Sean's a night owl. He gains steam as the night goes on. And, you know, those guys are exhausted. And just what it takes to try to win when, you know, the odds aren't really in your favor when you're starting a back-to-quarterback was really startling to see.

31:43Seth Wickersham:And, you know, we had a moment. It was Friday night before the Patriots game, and it was like between 6 and 8 p.m. And he was probably the only coach working on that game, not just in the Broncos building, but even in New England where it was, you know, two hours later. And he was working on two more red zone plays to be run against zone defense in the red zone. And I mean, you know, he was grinding through tape again and he was tired. And, you know, I was kind of wondering, like, you know, is he trying to get a feeling that the game plan is done? Or is he really trying to find two plays? and you know he said at the end of the night before he went home you know this is therapeutic for me and of course one of the pivotal plays in the Patriots game was that fourth and one that he called and the Patriots surprised him by running that exact defense that he was preparing for that night and of course the Broncos didn't get it and those are the types of decisions that you live with as a coach and I think they get heavier and heavier and heavier as you get older and as you

32:49Rich Eisen:you know kind of accumulate scars is this why he's given up the play calling to to to davis webb the offensive coordinator in denver i'll be honest with you man you know i've known sean for a long time and the idea that he's going to give this up i was stunned you know i was stunned in the execution of it like um i'm wondering how that's going to work this fall to be honest with you it's

33:15Seth Wickersham:so central to his identity. He refers to himself as a play caller as much as he does as a head coach. But I think there was moments during the season, and I witnessed them and we talked about it, where the insecurity of calling plays was starting to creep in a little bit. And at one point he says, it's a lot harder to call plays at age 62 than age 42. And I was stunned that he said that because I was like, you're just accumulating experience and knowledge and, you know, but I think it's a little bit like when you get a little older, maybe you don't like to drive at night in the rain is at least how he put it.

33:53Seth Wickersham:And so, you know, I think that it's going to be an interesting transition to Davis Webb. I think that there's going to be moments where Sean overrules him. There's going to be moments where he wants to overrule him and doesn't. There's going to be moments where Davis calls a bad play and Sean takes responsibility for it. But again, you know, going back to that fourth and one against the Patriots, if Davis Webb were calling the plays, might have that sequence ended up differently because Sean initially was going to try to draw them off sides. And then he wanted to call a running play. And then he called timeout and switched to a passing play.

34:27Seth Wickersham:It was like all these things going on in his head and all of these voices in his ear during a critical moment. and maybe the operation would have been a little bit cleaner if he's just in charge of the decision with a little bit of input on the play, but Davis is the one making the play. I don't know. That's me second-guessing, and it's not something that I discussed with Sean, but I think that it'll be interesting to see how the Broncos operate this year because, again, Sean's a night owl. He likes to stay until 1.32 in the morning, and I think Davis Webb is going to be the one running those meetings now, and so it'll be interesting to see if they're kind of on a more traditional coach schedule where they start earlier in the morning and leave earlier at night.

35:06Rich Eisen:I'll be honest with you, man, as well. Hearing what you said there, I mean, here's a guy who we know when I think he does go into the Hall of Fame, at one point we will be talking about the onside kick in the Super Bowl that he calls to start the second half. you just brought up the fact that he called a fake punt in a playoff game deep into a playoff game on a fourth and 11 and you just said the word insecure for um sean payton i've never heard that word associated with him ever and at any point yeah seth well he's human you know and you

35:49Seth Wickersham:know there's there's a little bit of doubt that i think creeps in and i think that um you know his creativity and his work ethic is staggering. And I detail all of these glimpses about the ways that he entertains the team and tries to prepare them and uses creative methods, whether it's getting players oxygen tanks because he's going to call a lot of no huddle against the Bills in the playoffs and try to use the mile high altitude against the Bills and weaponize it. There's all these interesting things and that stuff just comes to him easily. He's great with the team. And I think that, you know, the play calling aspect, I'm not saying he's done as a play caller for the rest of his career, but I think that right now he made the decision that for the 2026 Broncos, it's best for that team, for Davis Webb, to be really a traditional offensive coordinator and have the responsibility to call plays and that authority.

36:44Seth Wickersham:the same authority that Sean Payton enjoyed when he was under Bill Parcells. And he would show Bill Parcells the call sheet the day before games. And Parcells would point at certain play calls and say, what, are you trying to make a name for yourself right here? I think he knows that it's Davis's turn for the time being. And, you know, Sean will take a step back and focus more of his time, I think, on managing the game on Sundays and managing the team during the week. But I mean, you know, that's going to be a transition. And I think he'll still be in the weeds on the planning part of things. But Davis will make the call.

37:19Rich Eisen:Before I let you go, Seth, you and Adam Schefter broke the news about the sale of the Seattle Seahawks. I gave you the floor on what you want to add, what you learned. Anything on that front?

37:28Seth Wickersham:Well, I think that Vinod Khosla is somebody that not a lot of NFL fans, you know, he's not exactly a household name, even though in Silicon Valley he's obviously well-known. And I think that someone very early in the process said, you know, this guy's a killer and don't underestimate his chances to get the team. And, you know, sure enough, as last week came, Adam and I started to hear that he was the favorite. it. And I think that, you know, at the 11th hour, it got a little tight with the Celtics group, but Vinod came through and I think it's going to be a fascinating new owner. And I think it's almost, you know, you never know how these things go, but I think it's an ideal situation in the sense that, you know, he's coming in, he's buying a team that obviously is very well run at the moment.

38:15Seth Wickersham:And his son, Neil, I think is going to be heavily involved in day-to-day operations on the team and his son interned with the 49ers back in the day. And, you know, everybody always says, they always say like, well, what makes a good owner? It's easier to say what makes a bad owner. And I think that ownership being involved, not in the minutia of football, but in how football operations work, I think can be a really good thing. And that will be an interesting case study to see over the coming years, how it works in Seattle.

38:47Rich Eisen:Well, and then just wrapping it all up with Seattle, ownership, football, football, World Cup. Seattle had a great run in the World Cup. So far, just up the road here, Atlanta, Miami. I could keep going on and on. Foxborough, the finals are going to be in the New York, New Jersey stadium, to use the parlance. And anything you could glean on the way ownership is looking at these World Cups, could it potentially mirror the way some players and if not all players and fans are looking at it like hey man it's beautiful seeing grass in these places including indoors um is this world cup going to potentially leave a lasting world on football operations and the way that the turfs

39:35Seth Wickersham:are handled at all sense and i think that like in the near term i think they'll look at like the broadcast presentation and are there ways that we can adapt ways that you know elements of the Fox broadcast, which have really been great, to our game and see if we can make it a little bit better. But I think that in terms of grass, I mean, look, just this morning, I reached out to an owner and to a team president to ask if, you know, they think the World Cup will influence more owners to adopt grass on their fields. And both of them gave a resounding no. So I think that's where we're at.

40:09Rich Eisen:Can you give me again, you might not have gotten the exact reason, but you You know ownership very well. You and Don Vanetta are all over that together. Why? Why?

40:18Seth Wickersham:Well, I think it always comes down to cost. And I think that, you know, with the league looking to try to open up negotiations to a new CBA, try to get that 18th game, I think they see that as a chip. And, you know, so I'm sure that it'll get done in the next CBA because it's something owners will end up acquiescing on and giving to players, but they're not going to give it preemptively ahead of time, And especially since the players have obviously not shown a huge rush into reopening negotiations, what, halfway into a 10-year CBA.

40:51Rich Eisen:Seth, appreciate the time, man. Thank you, sir. You be well. Great stuff. And then one last thing. Pop up. Let me see this cover, Mike Hoskins. You've got a book coming up this fall based on your history. The ESPN work.

41:08Seth Wickersham:Well, no, yeah, it's a collection. You know what's kind of funny? It's a collection of my best ESPN work. And so when it kind of came up, the idea of it came up, it's like a greatest hits for writers. So, of course, I'm wondering, do I have any hits? Much less any greatest hits. But I was able to cobble together some stories. The Broncos story will be in there. And it's a collection of work that I'm really proud of over 25 years. And don't worry in the fall. I'll be bugging you to try to get on your show to get word out there.

41:38Rich Eisen:It's called Be On That Hill, Stories from the Summits of Sport, and it's September 15th. And we know it's going to be a great, serious book because you call it sport, not sports. Thanks for the time.

41:49Seth Wickersham:So many S's in the title.

41:50Rich Eisen:Thanks, man. Good to see you. That's Seth Workish right here on The Rich Eisen Show. All right. We take a break. We'll be back with more and your phone calls in just a matter of moments.

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43:11the rich eisen show the podcast when you run a small business you don't just do the job you're

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44:00Rich Eisen:That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. Derek in Missouri is on the program. How you been, Derek?

44:13Seth Wickersham:What's going on, fellas? Welcome back from the break. I just want to say congratulations on your wedding to the beautiful Sir Tiana and Del Tupo. Good to see you with that Super Bowl 50 hat better than that Dodgers-Yankees hat. And TJ, very nice Rams Daniel t-shirt you got there, my friend.

44:30Rich Eisen:He went higher register. What's on your mind, Derek? Do you not like it, Derek?

44:34Seth Wickersham:I just want to say, Rich, during the break you guys had, I just put in some of the SportsCenter podcasts, and I just want to say there were some great lessons and all. If I had enjoyed one that I liked off the top of my head, probably had to be one with Hugh and Berman. That one was good. The one with Linda Cohn, surprising when you mentioned the fact that Al Lewis, who played the grandpa on the monsters was a scout for the Celtics.

45:00Rich Eisen:Yes, he was. Is that true? Yes, he was, Derek. He was indeed. And he was there on my first ever assignment in the history of my SportsCenter career. You know, I went up to the Boston Garden and I talked about that with Linda. And I appreciate the call, Derek. We're up against the end of the hour, but thank you for that. By the way, this was SportsCenter presented by Gusto as well. Get it. I'm wondering if Al Lewis would be coming back from his grave to tell the Celtics to not trade Jalen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for a bag of basketballs. You don't think Grandpa Munster is an analytics guy?

45:35Rich Eisen:I don't know. I don't know. Maybe Cousin It would hop out of the box. Cousin It. No, no, pardon me. The Thing would hop out of the box and hold up the trade. like the thing would hop out of the box go to Brad Stevens' house and give him the Heisman post don't do it I think Lurch would have cleared the room out and said let the trade happen maybe we could sign Lurch we need an inside presence I'm just wondering then grandpa should mind his own business you snap your fingers and it's over he's still a Celtic we're still going to be better than Philly our one in the books The Rich Eisen Show Podcast