Hour 2: Guest Host Tom Pelissero Talks Rams, plus DaMarcus Beasley on the USMNT’s World Cup

0:00Heat up your 4th of July at The Home Depot with our wide variety of grills under$300 and make every gathering one to remember. Give your outdoor space a glow up, whatever your budget is, with savings on seasonal plants starting at$5. With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party. Start celebrating with low prices guaranteed at The Home Depot. Prices may vary by store, exclusions apply. See Home Depot.com slash price match for details. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new.

0:36It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. 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.

1:13But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. What was that? The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host Tom Pelissero. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, NFLPA Executive Director J.C. Tretter. Coming up, U.S. men's national team legend DeMarcus Beasley. Senior writer for The Athletic John Krasinski. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Tom Pellicero.

1:58Tom Pelissero:Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellicero in for Rich once again alongside Chris Brockman, Jason Feller, TJ Jefferson. TJC, reversed it to get it back to you. But we were ready this time. The mic was on. All set. Tons of news today. A mellow ball headed to the Timberwolves. Nas Reed to the Hornets. We will get back to that. John Krasinski is going to join us in one hour. Based in Minnesota, great NBA writer. He'll have all the details on how exactly this came together, what the vision is moving forward. Also, one month from today, how many days is that, Brockman? 29. 30 days. 30 days.

2:41Tom Pelissero:Don't count today. I'm not counting today. You count the day the thing is happening. 30 days, one month from today, 49ers and Rams report to training camp. How long could Matthew Stafford play? How long is that plane ride going to be? We'll talk about that in a little bit. And tonight. Tom, you ready for Lomelo to be your neighbor? You know. Might move down to the block, bro. Side story. Talk about a butterfly effect real quick. Dante DiVincenzo was looking at the house next door to me. Nice. Backed out because he thought he might get traded in this offseason. He tears his Achilles, meaning he's out this year, but he will still be on the roster, meaning he could have moved in.

3:22Tom Pelissero:Instead, now this begets these trades. LaMelo Ball coming in. And by the way, one of my wife's bosses moved in next door. Just a total turnaround downhill right there. Your wife's boss lives next door? Kind of like a distant cousin boss. You know, somebody with a higher title, but same company. USA Turkey. Turkey. Turkey A. Turkey A. USA Turkey. The team bus drove by me the other day. Whoa. The Turkey A bus? Yeah, the police had the road shut down outside the studio. I got it on video. It's on my Twitter. Team Turkey. That's the indigenous name, by the way. Turkey A. Yeah, changed in 1923. But they changed the English name with the United Nations like four years ago because they didn't want to be like the Thanksgiving bird.

4:09Tom Pelissero:U.S. already is advanced. They'll be in the knockout stage. We're joined right now by a U.S. soccer legend. Only U.S. man to appear in four World Cups. DeMarcus Beasley joins us on the show right now. DeMarcus, thank you for being here. A lot I want to get into, but just real quick, first docs, it's been a two-day debate. If something is happening on Sunday, it's Thursday now, how many days away is that? I'm going to say three. Exactly. It's three. Brockman would argue two. No. You keep arguing you're only doing the interim days. You would say four. No, I wouldn't. You're counting today. If today is the 25th and something is on the 25th of next month, that is 30 days, you keep arguing it's 29.

4:59Tom Pelissero:We're struggling with math here, DeMarcus. The math, though, the math is in Team USA's favor to the extent that everybody with yellow cards won't have to go tonight. They can potentially take it easy. Big picture, let's start with this. You were on a team back in 2002 that caught the world by somewhat of a surprise. Whatever you guys felt you could do, it had been literally decades since the U.S. had advanced like that. You end up into the quarterfinals. When you watch this U.S. national team, how, if at all, would you compare this team to that team? I think a lot of the comparison with that team in 2002 is what I've been kind of privy with in the last, I would say, year.

5:44getting to know some of the players and obviously the team and Pochettino and how it and his coaching style is how how close-knit they are in a group I mean we can talk about how they're how they're playing on the field their performances all day but I think that is another factor and another part of this team that a lot of people maybe don't speak about but it's an important piece because especially in a world cup in a world cup setting you're gonna have players that play pretty much every every match but then you'll have that 20 20th 21st 22nd 23rd player that that don't really touch the field that don't get a lot of minutes so are they right are they the right fit for the for the group you know when it's not going so well are they still lifting up and being positive around the around the locker room that's important and from what it seems like in my eyes it looks like they have that part down packed and they're like i said a close-knit group and that's something that I can compare that to the 2002 group because that's how we work.

6:43Tom Pelissero:Well, some of those down the line roster guys we may see tonight because of the circumstances, because you have three players on yellows who there's no upside. You need to save them. Make sure they, you know, the reset on the cards happens prior to the first game of the knockout stage at the start of next month. We often talk in different sports, you know, football, where you have a buy in the first round of the playoffs, basketball, where you sweep in four games and you have two weeks off. is there any type of a rust factor or is the rest more important here if some of your star players don't play in this game and get the extra week off yeah i mean i think you hit the nail on the head i think the yellow card issue is a factor uh now say those four players that have yellow cards didn't have yellow cards would they still play maybe not maybe not from the start but maybe they would play more of a second half they get a second half cameo so it's a bit it's a bit tricky The four players that have yellow cards, 100%, it's rest.

7:40You're not playing. You're not risking them that they might not be able to play in the round of 32 when the World Cup really starts. So that's already one part of it. And then the other part of it is that you want to keep momentum, but at the same time, you want to get guys minutes in these matches because hopefully, God forbid, none of the players that have been playing the first two matches get injured. But if they do, you don't want someone coming in from the cold, not having played a match in four weeks, five weeks since the last friendly to send off matches. So you want to get some guys that you think can play a big part down the road some minutes and get them confidence, get them in the game.

8:21It's I think that's important as well. So there's a lot of factors that Pochettino will be looking at tonight. I'm you know, I'm looking forward to seeing who we play and who's on the roster.

8:31Tom Pelissero:You talk about the yellow cards here, and presumably you've got the best players in the world. You also have the best referees in the world. For those of us who didn't play high-level soccer, there can be a randomness to it. I can look at 10 fouls, and I have no idea which ones are yellow cards and which ones are not. Red card, I can probably tell. Is it random to the players, or is it pretty apparent based on the action on the field what the correct call is supposed to be? man that's difficult because the reffing and i've it's hard because i wasn't the nicest guy to referees but the thing that the thing that kills me is the is the inconsistent inconsistency when it's when you get into refereeing with these matches some things are a yellow card uh booking for a foul other ones are it's the same type play and one day one day so that for me is is a bit is a bit tough um but no there's not it's not it's not really black and white i mean every every rep is different they have a certain way that they'll look at matches you know when you talk about um corner kicks you know how they kind of manage corner kicks how much leeway do they give defenders when they're when they're holding players so they're their inability to score goals like those are things that's that's been pretty consistent but other things i tell you man it's hit and miss and um i usually don't have nice things to say about about referees i'll be honest that's not how i was as a player and i'm not going to act like i you know i love referees now that i'm an ex-player but yeah that's something that definitely needs to be uh addressed you know going forward if you had to identify one call or non-call from your playing career all those world cups playing in mls easy i can stop you right there so i didn't mean to cut you I can stop you right there.

10:18The goal that I scored against Italy that got caught off sides to the potential World Cup champions in 2006, it took away my goal. I can tell you, if we had VAR back then, I'm lying. I do think it was still off sides. But still, I wish that was one call that I could get back.

10:37Tom Pelissero:So as somebody who played in the non-VAR era, do you like it? I mean, you have one of the critical goals in the last U.S. game. There's a three-minute delay. You're looking at, like, was a heel just slightly there. Do you like it, or is it disruptive to the flow of the game? It's disruptive. I'm on the bandwagon of I don't like VAR. That's, like, does it help the game in ways where there's an offside call, you know, red cards, penalty kicks? Yes. But I wish that the game would go back to just, you know, human error. Everyone makes mistakes, and that's why we all love sports. Sometimes you're at a high, sometimes you're at a low, but that's sports.

11:23That's what it is. I am not a fan of VAR. I wish that it was not in our game at the moment, but that is what it is, and that's the way the game is going forward. A lot of technology and a lot of money has been putting into this game. It's here to stay, I can tell you that, but I'm not a fan of it. I mean, do you guys enjoy it? Do you like VAR?

11:46Tom Pelissero:It's jarring. It felt. We had Antonio Freeman on, Alex Freeman's dad. And I said to him, it felt so appropriate because that was an NFL-style goal. You know, it was the play where he's have two feet down in the back of the end zone, looks like he had it from 17 different angles. You're like, I don't think he did. But then the one officiating expert is like, yeah, no, that is. And I'm like, I don't understand it. And here's the thing. I mean, again, because I'm not a soccer expert here, DeMarcus, but the idea that you can have one player clearly off sides, the other player slightly by like a couple of inches on sides, but they're both in the goalkeeper's face.

12:23Tom Pelissero:One of them puts it in the net. How is that? How is the other guy not a problem in that instance? Yeah, that's the game. That's the rules. You learn how to kind of maneuver and manage those situations. But it's funny you bring that up. But yeah, you're right, man. Like sometimes it can be confusing. Sometimes it's not always fair, but you know, that is, that is the game. Alex Freeman, 19 years old, you know, gets his world cup moment. I'll be with that three minute VAR delay there. You were 20 when you made your, your world cup debut back in 2002. When you watch those young guys, what are the memories that come back and, and how challenging is that to be making your first entry in the biggest stage in your sport?

13:06Yeah. I'll tell you what, But what Alex is doing right now in this World Cup is incredible. The way he's playing, the confidence that he has, the confidence that his teammates have in him. I mean, since he – I mean, you just look at his – and I love his story. You look at his professional career, even when he was younger. You know, he goes at – he's in Orlando. He's starting at MLS Next. And then he moves up a level MLS Next Pro. And then he gets his debut with Orlando and makes his first-team debut. and now I think a year and a half later he's starting right back on the national team it's incredible and the way he's playing I mean Pochettino said it in an interview he could be one of the best right backs in the world he has the potential to do that to achieve that so I mean the kid he's getting a lot of high praise but I'll tell you when you're young and being in your first World Cup you don't know what to expect you know so i can i understand his mindset his mentality where he's coming from you're a bit naive you know yes you you talk to the the older veterans and he asked about you know how the world cup is going to be is it going to be the same as you know club football is going to be the same as friendly matches but you just go out there and play once the whistle blows you don't know what to expect in a world cup you just you just go out there and play so i think he's riding that momentum uh right now and like i said he's he's a phenomenal player his ceiling is, I don't even know if he has a ceiling.

14:36That's how good he is, and that's how good he's been playing. But to have that much confidence as a young player playing in these games is, like I said, it's incredible to see, and I'm really, really happy for him.

14:46Tom Pelissero:So I'm sure you're also consuming other matches and watching other teams from around the world here, DeMarcus. Question, just in terms of, there's all kinds of matrices, right, of who the U.S. could play. How good in your mind is this U.S. team? It's obviously the best U.S. team in quite a while in terms of at least the production so far. But within the scope of the other 31 teams that are going to advance, how good is the U.S.? They're up there. They are up there. I'm telling you. This is not me just saying because I'm an ex-player and I'm a fan, obviously, of the U.S. team. But they're up there.

15:18We could argue that they've had some of the best performances, top two or top three performances in this whole World Cup. And I'm talking about from the France, France's, the Spain's, Germany's, Portugal, Argentina with Messi. You look at the U.S. performance in the first two matches and they're up there. They can compete. If they keep this level of performance, they can compete with anybody. I'm not saying that they're going to win the World Cup, but they're going to give themselves the best chance to do that. And the only question is, can they do that and keep that type of performance three games in a row, three matches in a row?

15:57That remains to be seen. But I'll tell you, they are playing at a really high level. They got all the fan support behind them. So they're riding that wave. And like I said, it's great to see. I have a sense of pride when I watch this team play. Because when you watch them play, they have that grit. They have that tenacity. what our national team has always been about. And then you sprinkle in the talented players that they have and, you know, with Christian and Alex and McKinney and those guys. It's a great team, and they're playing incredibly well at the moment. So I'm excited to see what they can do the rest of the way.

16:34Tom Pelissero:Obviously, Christian's been banged up, didn't play in the last match, can't imagine that he's going to play tonight, even though they've said that he's available to be out there. As you look through the rest of this, and again, there's all kinds of different teams that they could play, and there's different scenarios based on how the group stage finishes here. Who are the guys? If this U.S. team makes a deep run, if they challenge to actually win this thing, who are the players you imagine are the ones who drive this thing all the way through? The one, the guy that, for me, the first one on the list, Chris Richards.

17:05Chris Richards, the center back. He is the heart and soul of this team, and mixed with Tyler Adams as well. Those two, they have to play at eights and nines for this team to do well. And they have been. And that's a great thing. I think Christian as well as one of them, he has to be fit and healthy and 100%. Weston McKinney is another one. Those four, in my opinion, have to be the driving force of this team. Like I said, you can't tell me in the last two games who's had a bad game. And that's impressive. So if those four can stay healthy, keep the boys going, keep the energy high, we can have a really good showing at this World Cup.

17:52Tom Pelissero:A legend, Demarcus Beasley. Fantastic breakdown, man. Thanks for taking some time for us. Enjoy the rest of this tournament. Thank you, man. You too. You too. Demarcus Beasley. That was awesome. Sensational. Sensational stuff. That matters. All right. He could easily say, ah, this isn't 2002. You know, this isn't – this is a team that, hey, they're playing great. if DeMarcus Beasley believes, I got a little bit more reason to believe. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14, because next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we.

18:30Tom Pelissero:Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and enhanced EVs with ultra-fast charging capability, because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here. Next starts now Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. While the world watches the stars of the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14 because next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability, and we're still doing it every day.

19:09Because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Rich Eisen here. And summer's here, too. And that means it's travel season. My favorite summer trip last year was to Sao Paulo, Brazil. With so many fans traveling for the Los Angeles against Kansas City game, they got to see how lively the city is. I love the culture and the amazing food that I'm still craving. Those memories remind everyone that it's that time of year to plan a little getaway. And that's why summer has a way of turning weekends into big events. One minute, it's a normal week, and then all of a sudden, a huge concert, sporting event, or festival brings people in from all over.

19:49And when that happens, visitors start looking for places to stay all across your city. So if you're already planning a summer trip of your own, you could list your space on Airbnb and earn a little extra cash while you're away. Doesn't have to be some big year-round commitment. it's about making the most of a busy weekend when your place would just be empty otherwise. I can tell you, people love finding a place that helps them feel connected to the city that they're visiting. If your city's about to have a big summer moment, this is a great time to maximize your space. Your home might be worth more than you think.

20:23Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Save$2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Cover All Tire Dressing. Plus receive four times O rewards points now at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or OReillyAuto.com. The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

20:50Tom Pelissero:To the Rich Eisen Show, Tom Pellicero in for Rich. Just had a great conversation with Demarcus Beasley ahead of the USA-Turkey A matchup tonight at Los Angeles Stadium. Meaningless for the USA. Meaningful, I would assume, on some level for Turkey A. On to the group stage we go. Beasley, very bullish on that. You can find that full interview a little bit later on on YouTube. We are 30 days away. One month away from the 49ers and Rams. Full squad reporting date, July 25th. July 25th. Hold on. I'm going to count the days. Keep going. This is we're on two days of you not knowing how to do the math between dates.

21:33Tom Pelissero:Still 30. Google it. I mean, Google it. Just ask any. Oh, yeah. Google and I have never been wrong. It's 30 days, 30 days away because they play the overseas Melbourne game. Listen, we've all gotten used to international games across the NFL. I don't think that anyone, including the players, have gotten used to a 16, 17-hour time change to play a game, which is, I can't remember if it's on a Thursday there and a Friday here. I think that's what it is. So 49ers leaving nine days in advance. At any rate, that could end up being a highly consequential game in the NFC West race. Yes, the defending champs, the Seahawks are still there, but imagine if you get to the end of the season, and it's like, what was the tiebreaker again?

22:16Tom Pelissero:Oh, was that game in Melbourne back in week one? and then they came back and had to switch and lost the day or jumped the day or they lived the day twice, whatever it is. It's 30 days. See, you actually, for them, it might be 31 because of the rollback, because you're jumping around. And then it's negative one day when they come back. You live a day twice. That's where Matthew Stafford also will begin his, I believe, 18th NFL season. one that comes with massive expectations in LA. Miles Garrett is now there. Highly talented Rams team that was right there at the end. Stafford is on the Greenlight podcast with Chris Long and talked about a conversation he had recently with Drew Brees.

23:04Tom Pelissero:I think one of the things that surprised me was I was talking to Drew. This was before last season. And he was like, how old are you again? I was like, I'm 37. He was like, you might have your best five years of your career coming up. You know, and I was like, huh, you know, I never really thought about it that way. You're taught as a player in this league, it's a young man's game. And the older you get, you're just kind of doing everything you can to try to stay up to par with everybody else. And, you know, Drew saying that kind of lit a fire under me and, you know, gives you a little bit of belief that maybe an old guy can still go out there and spin it around a little bit.

23:39Tom Pelissero:We saw that with Stafford last year, played at a extremely high level, was the NFL MVP for the first time. We also know, based on things that have been revealed since, that that shoulder issue he had back in training camp that they downplayed all along as rest could have landed him on injured reserve. Sean McVay was ready just to say, we're stashing you. You're not going to be ready for the start of the season. That's what gets you more than anything is, yes, the body can break down. Sure. Your skills can diminish to some degree, but you can still win at the quarterback position with your mind.

24:14Tom Pelissero:Peyton Manning, when he won the Super Bowl after the 2015 season. They won in spite of him. Every, every, I mean, he got, he was, I mean, benched effectively, took himself out, whatever you want to call it, for a month at the end of the year, and only the ineffectiveness of Brock Osweiler down the stretch put Peyton back in. I always compare, like, the way that he threw passes at the end. And Peyton had never had the biggest arm, but, like, he could throw the ball on a line. Every Peyton Manning pass at the end of the season was like, You're shooting the T-shirt out of the cannon at an NBA game.

24:44Tom Pelissero:It's just kind of going, poof. Duck on her, man. And then it gets there. He had to be a second or two ahead because he couldn't throw. Tom Brady was able, based on all the different things that he did and kind of changing his body through the years, he stayed healthy. But Drew Brees himself knows it was the shoulder injury that he had way back before he got to New Orleans when he was still with the Chargers in 05 on a weird play where he was reaching out for a fumble. I mean, there was questions about, is this guy ever going to play football again? He was able to come back again, be an MVP, break basically every passing record, win a Super Bowl.

25:18Tom Pelissero:But Drew Brees, his last three, four, five years in the league, he couldn't throw the ball down the field. He couldn't throw the ball 40 yards anymore. And so health dictates a lot. With Stafford, he's had, you know, back issues. He's had the shoulder. It really comes down to health. Yeah, if Stafford stays healthy, there's no reason to think this guy can't play into his 40s. Aaron Rodgers is playing into his 40s, but Aaron Rodgers has not played like Aaron Rodgers in five years. He wasn't as best as last year in Green Bay, then goes to the Jets, tears his Achilles on the fourth snap, comes back the next year, still not 100 % because of the Achilles.

25:55Tom Pelissero:And last year, Aaron played pretty effectively. If you look at just the raw numbers, the context with which he was playing, he was pretty effective. But he's not himself. He's had multiple calf injuries. He can't move in and out of the pocket. and he still can win with his brain. He still can snap that thing off better than anybody in the NFL, but there are parts of his game that have diminished and that have rendered him at least a different version, if not a diminished version, of what he was when he won four MVPs. So to me, with Stafford, it comes down to can he avoid those hits? Can he avoid the types of just weird soft tissue or back injuries?

26:35Tom Pelissero:I've had back injuries. Like, you don't know when they're coming. I slipped in the shower this morning. I was like, I hope I didn't just hurt my back. Like those pop up over and over again. And when you're talking about a guy who's had a shoulder, those are the things that you just don't know or an elbow or any of those types of things to your throwing arm that can have the trickle down effect. I know that, you know, a lot was made of the Stafford extension that he signed earlier this off season that that in no way guarantees he plays in 2027. It really only effectively what they did in the simplest terms, possible is they tacked on a year, gave him$5 million in upside in incentives this season, and they gave him a$5 million roster bonus next year that they kind of are wink, nod counting as part of this year's compensation.