Hour 2: Live from Super Bowl LX with Marshall Faulk, Stafford Wins MVP Reaction

21:37Right. He said, just make sure that you coach the player to his potential and not yours. And I'm like, okay, like that means something. And so, in essence, how I see the game doesn't matter. Making sure that I understand how the kid sees the game. So I coach him to that is what it is. I watch Prime work with different players, and he listens to their perspective. I was like, okay, what does it look like? And okay, this kid doesn't have half the ability. How do you coach him based on what you know? And that's the problem. It's not based on what you know. It's based on what he knows.

22:22Rich Eisen:Right. And how much patience you have to bridge that gap. Yep. And how do you figure that out, though? By spending time with them. Right. Sitting down. You literally have to ask questions. Right. Because they're not going to tell you what they don't know. Right. You know, it's, and having that relationship and making sure your door's open. Right. So they can come in and they know that they can trust telling you what they don't know because you're going to get them there. Are you going to be that guy on game day that peels the paint off the walls? No. Rich, I'm going to look at him. I have a rule.

22:57I have a rule. If you break any of the dress codes that we're going to have and misrepresentation of this team of any sort or you do something stupid, it's called the stand-by-me rule. I'm not going to yell at you, but I need you to come stand by me.

23:15Rich Eisen:All right. stand by me okay all right you will see the game from my perspective the rest of the game as in watching it yes i see okay so we've got that you have to take it away right if a player if a player knows he has to play for you guys to win right then he has the advantage right and we're we're not we're not going to be in that space to where we empower a player to to go out there knowing that we need him that he thinks he can do what he want to do you got a clock management guy you got all that working everything okay you got it working okay got everything i'm but i'm putting a call out to wurtz i know he wanted to hold the cables okay i might have an opening wurtz if you're out there you're my i might have cable guy okay you're all we got that's the line that's the story about chris wurtz one of the best producers in the business His coach looked at him one time because everyone got hurt.

24:15Rich Eisen:Was that the story? He looked at him and said, hey, Chris, Wurtz, you're all right. I saw him. Y 'all, we got. He saw you, too. Oh, man. Yeah. Oh, man. I'm so happy for you. Obviously, whatever I can do or be part of or rock some gear or whatever. I'll send you some stuff, Rich. Okay. I'll get you some swag. Let's go. Let's go. When's the first game? September or is it late August? August. Yep. Okay. We ate. All right. Do we have the schedule? Schedule's out? Yeah, yeah. We schedule. Yeah, schedule's out. All right. And so, training camp and everything. Yep. We got it all coming. What are you doing?

24:50Rich Eisen:Wearing hats? You're not a visor. You're not a visor guy. I'm not a visor. I'm a hat guy. Okay, we're a hat guy. We're going to go hats. We're going to go track suit. We're going to go hoodie. We're going to go sweatshirt. Depends on the weather. I'm figuring that part out. Yeah. You know, it gets a little sticky down there. Khakis? You know what I'm saying? You know? Like your first quarterback. I will not pull the hardball khakis. No, no. I'm not going to do that. I will not wear gloves. I will not wear cleats. Mike McDaniel, capri pants. That doesn't work at Southern University? That's going to go well in California.

25:19He's about to be a rock star. Who, Mike McDaniel? Yes. With Jim, too. What? That's a conversation. I would love to just be a flyer on the wall with them two. Me, too. Having a high-level football conversation. Right?

25:32Rich Eisen:I think they're going to get along really well. because they both love football like that, you know? And that's what Jim, if you're conversant and you love football, that's all Jim. But it's because it's the conversation inside the conversation that they're having that you sometimes don't know that they're having. Like when Jim's doing the press, you're like, what is he talking about? Right? And Mike does the same thing. Like they talk around stuff. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good, them two together, that's awesome. So Super Bowl 60, before I let you go, what do you got? Who wins it? Who wins it?

26:05Man, listen, this journey for Darno, it has to end right. Like, I can't imagine the gods are just going to put him in the Super Bowl. You know, the guy went 14, 28 games in two years. I mean, that's it. And here's the thing. A young quarterback in this, it was Josh McDaniels. I believe Josh can get him ready. And Josh has done a great job from last year to this year to see Drake May. I didn't see this. I didn't see the kid. I did not see. Last year I was like, man, he's ways away. Now look at him. Right. And Josh has done a great job at preparing him and getting him ready. And I think that he's shown a lot of promise.

26:53But I'm just going with the story of Sam Darnold. I think these two teams are equally yoked. and the veteran-ness of what Seattle has. I just, I like, I don't like Seattle. Right. I'm just going with the Sam Darnold story. It ends how it ends. That's it. I'll take it. Marshall Falk, you the man. Thanks for coming. Appreciate you, Rich. Thanks for having me on, man. Good seeing you guys.

27:21Rich Eisen:It's been a long time. It has been a long time. You were there when the sign opened up, and Del Tufo botched open, you know. I mean, why? unveiling the sign. You've been there. You've been there. You've been done. Done that. Uncle Marshall here on the Rich Eisen Show and Coach Marshall Falk of Southern University Football here on the Rich Eisen Show. We're back with more from downtown San Francisco in a moment.

27:50Rich Eisen:In my line of work, I'm fortunate enough to travel quite a bit covering the biggest moments through the football season. While I'm on the road, I sometimes miss the comforts of home, which is why when I travel with my family, we always check Airbnb for places to stay. It's our home away from home, providing the comfort and safety that allows us to wind down and relax. Families like mine are looking for homes that fit their needs to make new memories in, and your home may be exactly what they're looking for. If you're looking to save up for a new addition to your house or a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see your favorite band in another country, for instance, hosting your house on Airbnb could help you reach those goals.

28:30Rich Eisen:It's easy to list your home for short trips or extended periods of time, allowing your house to earn you some extra money. Make your home work for you while you're away and enjoy the benefits of hosting on Airbnb. Your home may be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Save money and get a better view of the road when you replace your worn-out wiper blades at O 'Reilly Auto Parts. Right now, save$10 on a pair of Rain-X Latitude wiper blades. They feature beam blade technology to improve windshield contact for maximum visibility. The professional parts people will even install your new wiper blades for free.

29:09Rich Eisen:Choose Rain-X Latitude wiper blades at your local O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or online at OReillyAuto.com. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Back on ESPN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 80. Marshall Falk just left. Keegan-Michael Key making his way to our set to kick off hour number three. We've got a what's more likely still to come. My top five under the radar X-Factors. That's coming up for get you ready for the big game on Sunday. So last night we already talked about the Hall of Fame class going into the Hall of Fame in 2026 being a little light as far as I'm concerned. And we later on in the honors saw the MVP being announced.

29:55Rich Eisen:And it was Matthew Stafford as the most valuable player over Drake May. And then we found out just how close the vote was after this wonderful speech with Stafford surrounded by his four daughters. And we just showed you on the TV side of things, radio audience, the moment that Stafford got surprised with video from his daughters throughout the season by the Rams about being the most valuable dad. As we found out as soon as it's all over, he was the closest vote since 2003, which, by the way, wound up with both. With co-MVPs and Steve McNair and Peyton Manning. And what you see on the screen right here, I'll read it for everybody.

30:38Rich Eisen:Matthew Stafford, 24 first place votes. Drake May, 23 first place votes. Insane. And that was a screen grab taken and sent to me by my 14-year-old son, Cooper. And I'm sitting there in the auditorium looking down. The phone buzzes. And Cooper is a diehard Patriot fan who had been hectoring me for weeks about my vote. And I didn't tell him my vote. He just assumed my vote until I finally told him my vote before I got here. Now my vote is out. as the AP is letting everybody know who voted for whom, I believe. At least that's what I was told. People are disclosing themselves. I am happy to disclose.

31:16Rich Eisen:I did vote for Matthew Stafford. So my son is a diehard Patriot fan and May fan, texts me not only that screen grab, but he also texts me, maybe if you changed your mind, dot, dot, dot, dot. I then responded to him, don't blame me, blame the three voters who didn't vote for either Stafford or May. That's also nuts. Interestingly enough, Chris, you told me this morning as we checked on the timestamp of texts. Yeah, we were at dinner last night during honors. So we found out about the Hall of Fame and all the other award drops. And then I look down at my phone and I get this from Cooper. My man.

31:55He sent something to you, too. Yeah. Blame it on your colleague. Yeah, blame it on your colleague. I mean, Cooper. At 7.51. So that was two minutes after. I was right next to you.

32:05Rich Eisen:Who would that colleague be? Well, probably the only one. I mean, you guys don't have votes. No, not yet. Nope, not yet. Not yet. I don't have a vote. No. So... At the end of the day, I thought Matthew Stafford had the best season of any quarterback in the National Football League. That is my view of value. I understand that people always seem to harp on the valuable part of most valuable player. If we took that player away from the team, would their team have performed as well as they would have performed? And by that standard, yeah, Josh Allen got two first-place votes. You take Josh Allen away from the Buffalo Bills, would they have had an incredible season like they had?

32:47Rich Eisen:No, of course not. Well, they had the leading rusher in the NFL this year. Well, and then you could also sit here and make a case for anybody that the value of Trevor Lawrence, the value of this, the value of that guy. And what Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus put it out there, that he was the one who voted for Justin Herbert, who was extremely valuable for the Los Angeles Chargers. Certainly the way that he performed without any protection up front, his value was apparent every single time he touched the football for that team. I get it. He was not even a finalist. But at the end of the day, well, he wasn't a finalist because not enough people gave him enough second, third, fourth, and fifth place votes.

33:2349 other voters were like, this guy doesn't deserve to be in the top five.

33:27Rich Eisen:Well, I. Let alone number one. I also took a responsibility of being a voter and saying it's clear that it's either Drake May or it's Matthew Stafford. And I put their stats next to each other. And I also had my eye test. And I also just decided Matthew Stafford, at the end of the day, had the best season of any quarterback in the NFL. And I voted for him. And I understand why Cooper would sit here and say that my vote is the difference. And I'm happy to basically also point out there are three others that for whatever reason decided to not put their vote into the hopper of what I thought everybody else who was voting for the Associated Press understood was the mandate of coming up with a choice between Drake May and Matthew Stafford.

34:17Rich Eisen:That should have been the MVP voters' first thought, that it's clearly a national debate that had been burning for a month and a half. Yeah. And it's time to actually declare. You know, it's either rock or paper. I don't know if three people went scissors. I had no idea. The two Allen votes are really head-scratching. I really don't get those, to be honest. In my mind, it was obvious. It's either Drake May or it is Matthew Stafford with all the due respect to every other quarterback who is worthy of just being mentioned in the group with those two guys this year. And you can have an argument who those other three finalists should have been.

35:04Rich Eisen:And at the end of the day, the five finalists who made it were all in my five. Drake May was second. And I do not recall off the top of my head who was three, four, and five, but I did put Allen and Trevor Lawrence. And I did put Allen, Trevor Lawrence, May, and Stafford. And who was the fifth finalist was? I had that individual as well. I think it was Trevor Lawrence as the fifth. Right. Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, Drake May, Matthew Stafford. And Christian McCaffrey. And Christian McCaffrey. Yeah. Those were the five that I had on the list. so that's a great list at the at the end of the day i understand that you you you have your beliefs about may i had my beliefs about matthew stafford and i think i felt i owed it to cast a vote between the two and i was kind of surprised that anybody yeah thought how do you not vote yeah when we were quick well they didn't vote they just voted for somebody other than may and stafford because they thought they because i i don't know i don't want to speak yeah i know i I didn't want to just – because the whole argument is about who's more valuable.

36:09Rich Eisen:How could I sit here and say Stafford is more valuable than Drake May? I mean, Drake May's value to his team is unparalleled. There's no question about it. We're in the Super Bowl for that. I thought Stafford had the best season of all the quarterbacks, including Drake May. It's funny that it was the closest since 03 because I actually felt more and more than I thought about it that we were going to get a tie. Like I thought it was going to be like the 03 season where it was Peyton Manning and Steve McNair. These guys were both so phenomenal. I think for me, obviously I'm a Patriots fan, but if you put Matthew Stafford on the Patriots and Drake May on the Rams, I think Drake May probably has one of the greatest quarterback seasons of all time with the weapons and the offensive line, whereas Matthew Stafford probably would have maybe gotten hurt because that line is so bad and he's not as mobile as Drake is.

37:02That's just how I broke it.

37:03Rich Eisen:But he's on the Rams. You know what I mean? And so at the end of the day, the whole argument of, like, remove him, you know, would the Rams have been there with Jimmy Garoppolo? Of course not. Would the Patriots have been there with – who's even the backup there, man? I guess I should know that prior to the week. Josh Dobbs. Yeah, I mean, that's right. The Pastronaut. Of course they're not in the Super Bowl with the Pastronaut. And we love Josh Dobbs. I mean, you could do that about every single quarterback in the NFL who has had a terrific season. And you could sit here and swap teams and obviously Drake.

37:35Rich Eisen:And we keep talking about it over and over again. The minute Matthew Stafford decides to step away. And by the way, I thought that was another neat moment that he used his speech to announce, I'm coming back. I've got another season. And I'm sure the Rams would love hearing that. I'm sure. I don't know if they were aware of it or not. They seem. But I told you there are probably a bunch of quarterbacks in the NFL who are looking down the line of their careers when the contract allows them to potentially force their way out or potentially be a free agent. That deep down muttered, you know, a curse word under their breath hearing Matthew Stafford basically say seats taken like the bus in Forrest Gump.

38:16Rich Eisen:You know, seats taken. Move on. And that seat will be a coveted seat in the National Football League, certainly now that you see somebody is an MVP out of this system, which it is. And again, Drake May, coached by Sean McVay, that would be great for him. But he did have Josh McDaniels in his ear, and he does have all of these weapons at his disposal that he is now finding, and he's been terrific. I just thought Stafford, at the end of the day, soup to nuts, It's certainly, you know, you want to sit here and talk about his age and the fact that I thought he wasn't going to play it down. And he did what he did for all, you know, 18 weeks of the campaign.

38:58Rich Eisen:He deserved to be my most valuable player. And I didn't even think about voting for him or anybody other than him or Drake May. It wasn't even a consideration with, again, this is the king of all segments of us saying, you should say, with all due respect to start. I don't mean to be disrespectful. Did you vote for JSN for OPOY or Puka? No, I voted for Puka Nakua. And I'll be honest about that. But the rest of it, I got them all right. Or my vote went to the eventual winner. Christian McCaffrey for Comeback Player of the Year. Both of the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year. Miles Garrett, obviously.

39:42Rich Eisen:I was glad to hear that was unanimous because the voting in this whole thing from the Hall of Fame to everything else is calling a lot of process and who's doing it into question. But I'm glad to hear that. That was unanimous. Right. You know. All right. We take a break. There is news out of Cleveland as well about who their defensive coordinator is going to be. Moving forward with Todd Monken as the new HC. Keegan-Michael Key is here in our studio getting ready to kick off hour number three of our final day here in San Francisco. Congrats to the Stafford.

40:20Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it. And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way? You hand everything off and then silence. Days pass. Weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow-up email? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now, taxes are different. because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full-service expert. With Intuit TurboTax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real-time updates on your phone, so you always know exactly where things stand.

40:59Rich Eisen:Suddenly, you're not refreshing your inbox. You're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just-checking-in message because your TurboTax expert is handling it. and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app, only available with TurboTax full-service experts. Get into the Hyundai Getaway sales event and get away with a deal so right, it almost feels wrong. Because right now you can get great deals on our most popular models, including our adventure-ready SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Santa Fe Hybrid and the Tucson or Tucson Hybrid.

41:42Rich Eisen:Plus, there's our bold and stylish Elantra loaded with the latest tech or go all electric with the Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 9. So get down to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. Want to earn extra income for your business? Amazon Hub Delivery is looking for ambitious business owners to assist with local deliveries. When you become a partner, you and your staff will deliver packages to customers in your area on a schedule that works for you. With each package delivered, you'll gain extra income and exposure for your business.

42:14Plus, Amazon Hub Delivery makes it easy to get started. There's no upfront costs, delivery experience, or long-term contracts required. Sign up to learn more at amazon.com slash hub delivery. That's amazon.com slash H-U-B delivery.

42:29Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. The Hyundai Hope on Wheels program. Been telling you about it for weeks and for months. If you don't know what it is, guess what? I'm here to help you. There's also HyundaiUSA.com to search up Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more about what I'm about to tell you. Because for over 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research. Together with over 850 dealers nationwide, they've raised more than$277 million, supporting over 25 ,000 kids in their fight against cancer. At Hyundai, hope isn't optional. It comes standard. I've been saying it here all week to all of our guests.

43:10Rich Eisen:Make a prediction. Choose a surprise. Choose a name. And if they're right, we'll keep mentioning it. If they're wrong, it never happened. And in that vein, I've got my top five under-the-radar X-Factors for the big game presented by Hyundai. High five. One. Two, three, four, five. Rich's top five. All right. So if I'm right, just call us. Absolutely. React to us and say, boy, Rich, I heard that name on your top five X Factor segment that's under the radar for the big game. This guy is not so much under the radar, but he has been for a while. I just see Trevion Henderson ripping something deep, ripping something off in this game, man.

43:56Rich Eisen:Man, I'm hoping you're right. He's not exactly, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know if you can call him an X-Factor, but it's been a Ramondre Stevenson, you know, very heavy run game since the playoffs started hitting. You know what I mean? Like, it seems like Vrabel's kind of tightened that rotation a little bit. But we've seen what Travion can do. Right. On the outside. We sure have. The home runs he can hit. But it has been, it's been very Ramondre-esque. And I think, I think I should name him as one. And in that vein here, too, you see him a lot for the Seahawks. But just to be fair and balanced, if I'm going with a Buckeye, I got to go with a Wolverine.

44:32Rich Eisen:A.J. Barner is number four on this list for the Seattle Seahawks. He is he's he's also the the tush, the designated tush pusher for the Seattle Seahawks. So if there's a short yardage play, although I will tell you this, I looked it up because we talked about fourth down attempts and going for fourth downs in the Super Bowl. We did it on Overreaction Monday about what's going to be more. I don't know if we've got something like that and what's more likely setting up. There's one team in the playoffs, one team in these NFL playoffs that have gone for it on fourth down zero times. It's the Seattle Seahawks.

45:05Rich Eisen:Have they had many fourth down opportunities? That's probably the thing. They'd score so much. But A.J. Barner, just look for his name. Number three, I went deep down your Patriots wide receiver list, and I look at Pop Douglas. Ooh, okay. You know what I'm saying? We're all talking about Keyshawn Booty and Matt Collins is shirtless or shoeless. And he's talking about these clinking beer bottles together. And we all know about Steph Diggs. I'm going Pop Douglas here. I like it. I'm going a little Demario for you. Yeah, he had a big fourth down touchdown against Houston. And then if I need to name a defender for the Patriots, number two on my list, I'm going with Caleb on chase on.

45:42Rich Eisen:That's where I'm going with him. Because I'm not talking about the guys pressuring up the middle. I'm talking about a guy coming off the edge. He had two sacks and a forced fumble against the Chargers and a sack against Houston and had some really nice plays in the snow in Denver. So he's been ascending. I'm going to go with him under the radar, off the edge. And number one, if I've got to go a defender that's under the radar, even though he's not so much for Seattle, number one, because I'm going with Seattle and I'm going with the Seattle defense, Ernest Jones, since he arrived in Seattle in week eight of last year, Seven interceptions, which, by the way, is the most of any linebacker in the NFL.

46:22Rich Eisen:So keep an eye out for him. And let's give you one more right here. Let me give you one more. I don't even know what we have. We've got screeching horns over there. I heard it. Screeching wheels. Thank you. We'll get one more here. You know, I've got to go with a guy who basically told his team, if I can't win one with you, I'll win one without you. Certainly if you don't want me here anymore. I've got to go to Marcus Lawrence. I got to go to Marcus Lawrence as a one more. No? For Dallas Cowboys? I mean, this can't be a perfect show. All right, I'll give you one more. Another one? I'll give you one more.

46:55Rich Eisen:Bonus one more. One more. I did not know. There you go. There you go. That's my boy, Cooper, with one more. Jake Bobo, just because I like saying his name. Rich. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster, Sierra Ultra. that's the OG it kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing but Ultra is a whole line up now you've got Strawberry Dreams Blue Hawaiian Sunrise and Vice Guava and they all bring the monster energy punch so if you've been living in the white can branch out Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe and every single one is zero sugar tap the banner to learn more