Hour 2: Live from Canton, OH with Chris Berman and Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Rod Woodson

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0:53Rich Eisen:All season long. 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. Live from Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Earlier on the show, Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson. Coming up, Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Falk.

1:39ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman. Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Rove. Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Luke Keekly. And now, Rich Eisen.

1:57Rich Eisen:Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. And I'm so psyched to be here live from the Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum in Canton, Ohio. Tonight's the jacket dinner. Tomorrow's the enshrinement. Saturday, we just had the Hall of Fame game last night. Steve Hutchinson in hour number one. And we kick off hour number two with one of my favorite human beings. He's known as Uncle Marshall in my household by my three children. He is a pro football Hall of Famer from the Canton class of 2011, an MVP, a Super Bowl, and he's an MVP, a three-time offensive player of the year, a three-time All-Pro, a seven-time Pro Bowler.

2:36Rich Eisen:He's not in just one but two rings of honor, ladies and gentlemen. Head coach of Southern University Jaguars football, Marshall Falk. Good to see you, sir. How are you? What's up, Rich Eisen? They're clapping back in Los Angeles as well. We're clapping for you, Marshall. Let's go, baby. He can hear you. He's got ears in. Marshall's got ears in. Marshall. Brock. Yeah, I got him. Great to see you, dude. You got Del Tufo? Yeah. Del Tufo's there, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you got to acknowledge him. He'll be upset if you don't say that. I know. I love Tui, though, man. Okay. How you doing? Doing good, Rich.

3:07Doing good. Living that head coach life, you know? What is it?

3:10Rich Eisen:No, I don't know that head coach life. That's why I say you don't. You know, Rich, it's like having your own show. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of fires you got to put out. A lot of things happen in a lot of meetings. Right. You like it, though? Yeah, it's fun. It's fun. It's fun. Learning the back end of things and how all of the operational stuff of being a head coach work. It's been fun. I've really enjoyed that part of it. The part of just working with the kids and coaching, just being around football. Love that. That's the easy part. You know, like, and part of the reason, and I'm glad I, like, when I made the decision, I made it.

3:55And I remember because Coach Martz was just, he was just down at Southern. He spent, like, four or five days with us. Yeah. And just was, you know, looking at operations, giving me some insight, working on the different things you work on as you're getting ready for the season. And he was telling me about when I was getting ready to retire that I'll one day coach, but probably not soon because I wasn't going to want to do all the back office stuff. Right. And now I see what he was talking about.

4:28Rich Eisen:Now there's more back office stuff than ever. And when he was telling you that, there was no NIL portal, needing a general manager, things like that. Right. There's none of that. But the back office stuff now is real business. You know, it's not just the stuff that it was back in the day when my college head coach is so much different now. And we're talking straight business. Like, it's all business. The kids, they look at you and they be like, I want money. Well, you're used to that in real life. Right. You know what I'm saying? That's literally what they do. And I just believe that the state of the game right now, it's not as best in college football, but it's continuously getting better.

5:11I think every year some new things will pop up and we'll create some rules and fix it and put a patch on it. But I am going to say paying the players has really, really helped the game. It has. It has. I'll give you the floor on that. In a sense, we now get to see, we call it amateur sports, but it really isn't. Correct. It never has been. And I keep trying to figure this out, Rich. Where was Michigan and Ohio State and where were they putting all this money? Where was this money going when they weren't paying it to the players? I just can't figure out where it was going. No, no, no.

5:54Rich Eisen:And you can figure it out. I was like, I know you're, I'm picking up what you're putting down. Where was it going? This guy over here. I'm just trying to figure it out. Facilities? Oh! Yeah. It's a very nice gym. They got a very nice gym. You're still building facilities. But anyways, Rich, literally allowing these kids to partake in the money that's being made. Right. When you look at the playoffs and the money that's being made and that, it's just, it's unbelievable. The TV deals in college football right now through the roof. How do you keep up with the money game, though, at Southern University?

6:29How do you do that? I'm not trying to keep up. I'm just trying to get my kids to the money game. The money game is in the FBS. You've got to be at a power three, four, or five to really make the kind of money. I mean, I remember. You tell this to the kids when they show up? Yes. Yes, Rich. I mean, I remember trying to get to the NFL as fast as possible. And now you've got guys 29 years old trying to get a year of eligibility in college just because he doesn't want to take a pay cut going to the league. Carson Beckett's making less money. Beckett's making less money at Arizona than he did when he was at Miami.

7:11Rich Eisen:Yeah, right. And probably taking as many of the same number of classes. Exactly. He said, didn't he say that the week leading up to the national championship game, he hadn't been in a classroom in over a year? Hadn't been in a class over a year. That's what he said. But, I mean, that's what it is. I mean, when guys are partitioning to go back to college, you don't like school. But that's what it's all about. I think it'll all get fixed, Rich. How? I believe so. I don't know. I don't know. I think it's the government that's going to fix it, despite this bill that's apparently going to get voted on, you know, before the Senate breaks.

7:46Rich Eisen:Our government? I know that. They're going to fix football? I know that. Our government? I know that. Oh, OK. OK. So when it comes down to it, though, and again, though, you're rich. Can I ask you a question? People are going to think I'm taking shots. Go ahead. And Saban's a part of the group that's helping them, right? Yes. OK. He forgot he helped create this. This is Alabama. This is everybody wanting to play. And I mean, like, he might be the perfect guy because, you know, he understands the landscape. I'm just wondering, can we fix it to the point where the players get what they deserve, that the players who are told what they're getting get what they're supposed to be getting, and that everybody plays by the same rules, and that there is some form of a contract that would also make sure that a player stays in a certain spot for a certain amount of time, that they get what they're supposed to be getting, that they get market value for what they deliver on the field.

8:51Rich Eisen:Basically, can we professionalize this thing? And then how do you do that? Who's in charge? And who's in the boat? You know what I mean? Who's in this new version of college football? who's involved what schools are um that's the that's the question but from from your perspective of coaching you enjoyed you enjoy the chatter with the players oh it's fun okay it's fun and what type of coach are like whose demeanor do you have i know i i i don't think you're a screamer you're not scream not at all no you're you're one of those guys like dungy like don't if you give somebody a look like that you don't want to be on the business end of a coach Falk look I'm like the way I consider myself a teacher like I'm an educator when it comes to the game because right I can get upset and I do and when I do I walk away I deal with that but it's the education portion of it like how do how do I how do I get this kid to understand what we want him to do right that's that's the whole idea of it and some coaches believe that screaming and Yelling is how you get it done.

10:00Some coaches think that you cuss the player out. To me, it's just like the question is, how do I get him better? How do I get him to understand? And all I know is through teaching. Like, you got to teach them. They need to be taught.

10:17Rich Eisen:Let's talk a little bit of football heaven since we're sitting in it, and this has been now. Right. My God, that line of yours is now 15 years old. Right? That 15. I was literally surprised. I got asked her today, hey, man, how long you been coming back? I was like 15 years. 15 years, Marshall. 15 years. You've been coming back as a Hall of Famer longer than you played. There you go. There you go. By now three years, and it's pretty amazing. Man, you went in with Dion. You went in with Shannon, just to name two other ones. Richard Dent. Sable. Ed Sable was going in as well. And, you know, the neat part about everything now, like you got, again, your presenter.

10:56Rich Eisen:we got a picture of Rocky Arsenault, your longtime agent. Yeah. You know, Mr. Boat Game himself. He's in the Hall of Fame for the Boat Game, as we all know. But if you would, if the rules were different now, the rules were different then as they are currently, which is you'd choose a returning Hall of Famer to put the jacket on you. You'd chosen Jim Brown? Is that who you would have chosen? it would have been very tough because Jim, I love Jim Tony Dorsett was just my guy I was like, I wore 33 in high school because I hated the Cowboys but loved Tony just loved how he ran the football Walter Payton is just Walter Payton I know he wasn't I'm just saying and then the guy who was responsible for me getting to the Rams was Eric Dickerson somebody that uh when i was in college eric came and watched me play at t-n-ego state and kind of you know mentored me in a in a sense and just would always talk about the nfl i've known eric for so long and and then our careers kind of that have been tight then went the opposite like he went from the rams to the coats and i went from the coats to the rams yeah so he was responsible how was he responsible to getting you to the rams uh the year that things were not going well in Indiana.

12:17We were at the Pro Bowl. It was his Hall of Fame year. And you remember, they used to go to the Pro Bowl after. And the Rams threw him a party. And I went to his party. And he introduced me to John Shaw. And then afterwards, John was like, oh, that Marshall Falky made some comment. And then Eric said, Eric told him because we were just having a conversation. Eric said, yeah, I feel bad for Marshall. He's, you know, it's just things aren't going well. It sometimes is difficult to deal with the deal with the coats, especially because the dad had passed away. So it like things kind of change once the dad passed away.

12:56And Eric was like, it was easier dealing with the dad. Now I don't know who's dealing with. And that that right there, John took that information back. And they were like, because we practice against each other the year before in training camp. We had a joint training camp practice, and that's when they made the trade.

13:16Rich Eisen:And then you become a Ram, and obviously now here we are, 15 years removed from your enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I did not know that story. I thought I knew everything about your career and how you got to places. It was Eric Dickerson who mentioned to the brass of the Rams, which was John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt at the time, hey, you know, Marshall Falk, he might be available because I was looking for a new contract. I didn't like the way the organization was going. And, I mean, listen, we were becoming past centric. I mean, we just got Peyton Manning. I mean, come on. That's what we were doing.

13:52And I was like, man, the writing is on the wall. I don't know if we're going to win while I'm here with a young quarterback. And, Rich, I was actually right. I left, won the Super Bowl. The year that I retired, we worked the Super Bowl when the Colts won. That's right.

14:07Rich Eisen:Literally. and and now edge who basically took your spot yeah he's he's in the same bus gallery there you worked out for everybody it did worked out for everybody including bill polian who's in the bus he's even in here what why'd you say he's even in here what what did i say that my bad my bad my bad thank you marshall no two four it's not that funny my bad i didn't mean that like that Oh, my God. What do you think of the money that Bijan and Gibbs and Jonathan Taylor just in the past 24, 48 hours or son of a bitch? You know, Rich, here's what, here's what, they get pissed off when I do this kind of stuff.

14:54But the reality is, if you're good enough, they'll pay you. These backs that were not getting paid, they weren't good enough. They were not good enough. This is, it's not like, oh, the resurgence of the running back. Nothing happened in the last two Super Bowls to where nothing, not one thing. Like Saquon had a season, it was awesome, but does that make, does that get Jameer Gibbs paid? No. Jonathan, no. If you are good enough and the team feels as if, hey, we can build around you, and then your best and when your best ability is availability that's when this happens but

15:38Rich Eisen:saquon getting paid off of that season raised a bar for the market that now it keeps getting reset they don't care about the market when it comes to running backs they do not in in the same sense seattle wins the super bowl and what do they do to their star running back They just let him go. Go somewhere else. You won the MVP of the Super Bowl. I'm just saying, Rich. It's just the state of the position. When teams feel like that they can build around you and win with you in that manner, that's the case. And I feel bad for Kenny Walker because he had a heck of a year. He's a guy that I feel like you can build around.

16:18But they felt like he was just a part of, just a piece, not a build around. He wasn't a centerpiece. He was just a piece. And that's why they moved on. You don't get rid of centerpieces.

16:27Rich Eisen:Do you think Kenneth Walker is going to have a thousand yard season? Yes. Easy. You think the chiefs will get, because he's haven't had a thousand yard rusher since Kareem Hunt's rookie season. Just hear me out. Okay. This is, I'll share this with you. And this whole fantasy world for you fantasy players. Okay. If you draft them running backs on your team and they don't have a quarterback because you think, Oh, they don't have a quarterback. They'll run it more. He's not going to have a great year. if Sam Darnold doesn't have the year that he had right Kenneth Walker doesn't have that year with Charbonnet too it it just goes hand in hand most of the times the guys who put up the better numbers you've got to have a quarterback that's going to take some of the pressure off you when they stack the box and Mahomes is that guy that's are you there's no way there's no way they're going to drop a safety down into the box to stop the run against Kansas City no way so you think he's poised to have a picture.

17:21Rich Eisen:Easier. Like, easy. All right. We just had a what's more likely. Chris, you want to ask the what's more likely question we had me put? Have you put a pin in? You want to ask that of Marshall? Yeah, Marshall, which of the running backs that God paid this week is more likely to finish top three MVP voting this year? Gibbs? Is it? Yeah, Bajon, Gibbs, and we can throw Jonathan Taylor in there as well. Which one? I'm going with the guy who has the better quarterback, Gibbs. It just factors in. When you play Atlanta, who are you gearing up for? What quarterback are you worried about? Okay. There's Tua, there's Penix, and there's Goff, is what you're talking about in this equation.

18:05Rich Eisen:There you go. And Daniel Jones. There you go. The proof is that they're going to be forced. They'll drop a safety down. They'll force the quarterback. Both teams, Atlanta and the Colts, they're going to have to throw the ball and prove that they can consistently win throwing a football okay so let's remove the quarterbacks from the equation and just pure talent the best running back in the national football league at present uh i go saquon you still go say i go saquon what about derrick henry i i like him he's gonna be in that bus gallery with you one day but here's the here's the reality you're if you ask derrick dickerson he'd probably say derrick henry but you're asking me you know and for me it's it's i need guys who play and i know he started to you play all three downs you can run inside and out you can catch the ball you can block you know how about the guy that when he came out of college and everybody said he's not going to be able to run between the tackles you told me at the combine over and over again while watching him in stanford saying this guy is going to do it it's christian mcaffrey yeah you were telling me about him all throughout his run at the Heisman.

19:17Rich Eisen:At the combine, you're like, this business that he's not going to be running the tackles? That's nonsense. And then he ran the best route tree at the combine of anybody, receiver or running back. He's turning 30 this year. I know. What do you think about him? He's still one of the top backs. The thing with Christian right now is availability. He's starting to get to that point. And because you've lacked the talent at quarterback in San Francisco, so you rely on your running game a lot. You think Purdy's not as talented? No, no, I'm talking about... They had. Yeah, even as Purdy was coming through, they were a running the ball first and second type of team and throw third.

19:59So that took a lot on them. That banging, it took a lot. Now, I look at him, and they're going to be smart the way they use him. This is just me. This is thinking, hoping that they spot play him at times, get him to the postseason, and then let him run wild. That's what you do. That's what everybody does. It's all about the quarterback until you get to the playoffs. As soon as you talk playoffs, you go, you don't say, whose quarterback can get the most first downs or most completions. You always say who plays defense and who can run the ball.

20:31Rich Eisen:Guys, Lane Kiffin isn't the only coach in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I like that one, Rich. That's a good one. Use it. I use it. Use it. I do. I cannot wait for the opener at Alabama State on August 29th, and then your home opener at home in A.W. Mumford Stadium. A.W. Mumford Stadium. Against Kentucky State on the 5th of September. I will have my eyes peeled. As you know, I should be in charge of any replay system that you've got going on. We got you. Okay? I'm happy. Use me as a resource. There's one more thing I put you in charge of. The coat rack.

21:09Rich Eisen:this guy, man, those coat racks were not put together properly and they fell on me. And you loved watching me suffer. Go all rich. I on these Thursday night, go all rich. We're sitting there in these tight trailers, you know, we're sitting there in these tight trailers. You know, Rich, I don't know how you felt, but when I saw NFL network self with it, so for, I was thinking about that. That little bitty desk in Kansas City. Dude, our first Thursday night football. Oh, God. On a Thanksgiving night. Yeah, Del Tufo's oh-godding because you had to set that damn thing up. Yes. The desk was so small, I had to lean to the right to get out a rich sandwich.

21:53Rich Eisen:Listen, my favorite thing, my favorite thing, or your favorite thing that you used to do all the damn time, is the couch would be like this one. I'd be sitting right there on the edge, and instead of you taking the space all the way at the end of the couch, You just pushed up against me. Right next to you, Rich. While I'm writing my notes and everything like that, and then the coat rack's falling apart, and you just— Brothers. We're brothers. We still are. That's Marshall Falk, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Everybody root for some Southern University football, everybody. That's Marshall.

22:24Rich Eisen:Chris Berman has just settled into our set. He's going to be joining us next. And Rod Woodson, right here on the Rich Eisen Show, live from Canton, Ohio.

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24:44The Rich Eisen Show podcast.