Hour 2: ‘Overreaction Tuesday,’ plus 49ers TE George Kittle Talks Injury Return & Myles Garrett

20:18Rich Eisen:When we come back, the one, the only, George Kittle next on The Rich Eisen Show. everybody. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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21:37Rich Eisen:While the world watches the stars at 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 because the future isn't some far-off concept it's already here next starts now hyundai an official partner of fifa

22:10Rich Eisen:Reese's is on your tight end university t-shirt by our radio audience just returned ladies and gentlemen george kittle oh no no and you just you just fake got up and and left the interview i gotta tell you you look pretty spry for a guy coming back you know from that achilles you look pretty good you want to see some single leg box jumps that's what i'm that's what i'm on now that's what I'm doing. Yes, do one. No. Wow. For those listening at home, I did it. But, Rich, it's great seeing your face. My favorite show to be on is with you. Did you say that to Pat a half an hour ago? I did not. I didn't say it to him.

22:50I did not. I promise I didn't. I do love him. I appreciate you feel that

22:56Rich Eisen:because of all the headlines I'm reading right now, You're in the low-rent district. You were in the high-rent district on Pat's show about a half an hour ago, man. Good Lord. Yeah, good for it. Hey, we love success for the boys. We love success for the boys. Absolutely. It's like for me when I see a receiver get paid$35 million, and I'm just like, ah, so happy for that guy.

23:20Rich Eisen:And then the first calls to your agent, right? First calls to John Lynch. Hey, man. How we doing? John Lynch. Okay. Okay. I like that. No, trust me. My agent got a text today. Good. As you should. You want me to call him? I'll call him. Let's do it right now. That would be amazing. Right? You want to talk about, you know, growing up. Let's talk about this. Look at this background. I remember when Titan University was just an idea and a dream. And now you got sponsors. Look, it says year six. We see what dates it is. Look what you do, man. It's pretty cool. And now you're going to open it to the public as well?

24:00Yeah. So, like, one of the cool things this year, we want to, like, you got to keep, like, kind of adding and changing things because I don't want it to get stale for the guys. And so one thing we're doing is Vanderbilt University is letting us use their actual stadium for everything. And we're going to open the doors to the public so people can come watch. They can get interviewed by Will and Taylor LeJuan from Bus With the Boys. They're going to be out there with microphones, interviewing people, providing some entertainment. We're very excited about them. um and then that night uh we are hosting another country concert and i think we have 10 artists showing up i can't name them because there's something to do with tour things and i can't announce people performing that are on tour but i'm just gonna let you know that it's a very cool lineup that i'm very excited about i was cold calling everybody so i'm pumped um that's it's gonna be an absolute banger we've you know tripled the size of the venue that we do the concert at We'll have like over 3 ,000 people in there.

24:56So we're looking forward to it.

24:57Rich Eisen:Do any of the tight ends have a significant other or a fiance that is big in the music industry? Can you think? Does Greg Olson's wife sing? She's good at karaoke. I saw that. I witnessed that last. She can sing karaoke. So yeah, we got one. Actually, our main act is Greg Olson on stage. So for five minutes, we're going to have him call a football game. Okay. And then for the other five minutes, we're just going to let him sing Mr. Brightside. He is the reigning Emmy Award winner. Greg Olson. We love the boys' success. We love the boys' success. Let's clap for the boys' success. Yeah, Greg Olson, he's the man.

25:43I will just say he is. He's lovely. He is. Great personality. And I will say, I thoroughly enjoy watching him color commentate a game. because he breaks it down so that like everybody kind of understands how a football player sees it. But like he says it like he's talking to kids. And so everybody gets it regardless of your knowledge of the game. And I really think that's a special talent.

26:06Rich Eisen:Yeah. Practice fields. You're moving from the practice fields to the stadium at Vandy. Yeah. Yeah. And they're giving us the entire press box to use for our classroom this time. And they just renovated it. So we're looking forward to it. It's going to be cool. what are the coolest things, Rich? You asked me about maybe a Titans fiance or something. I don't know if last year Taylor Swift singing a surprise song had anything to do with this. In years past, when we send out our Titan U sign-up sheet to all the boys via email, we send that out middle of April. Guys are getting back to OTAs, football's on their mind, and it gets guys away from their offseason.

26:46They're not longer on vacations and stuff like that. And most years, I would say four out of the five out of the six years, we usually have between seven to 12 people sign up before June 1st. So that gives us 20 days to like herd 60 to 80 cats and get them to sign up, right? This year, when we sent out the invite sheet, we had 30 people signed up in the first two days. And out of the 30 people, 29 of them were bringing their significant other. So I don't know if they were influencing them, influencing their husbands to sign up early and then by June 1st we were over 80. So the fact that yeah that's the first time so I don't know if it has anything to do with last year's performance and girlfriends and wives are really excited about being there and forcing their husbands to sign up whatever it is but like this is the best this is the best attendance I think we'll ever have.

27:36So you're saying you're saying

27:38Rich Eisen:that the attendees of Titan University are going to arrive by the land or the sea or the sky is Is that what you're saying, George? They're going to parachute there. I don't care how they get there, but they're going to be there. George, those were the lyrics of the fate of Ophelia that I was trying to drop in right there. I don't know. You're going to have your Swifty card revoked if you didn't get that reference that I just basically threw out there. Baby, just say yes. Ladies and gentlemen, George Kittle here. Thank you. In all seriousness, though, I love what this is becoming, You know, because you were also the genesis of, you know, tight end week in the national football league, you know, which it which is gotten into so such a big thing that it's amazing tight ends.

28:32Rich Eisen:That's only to score on that week in the NFL. Like everybody, everybody hits the end zone, it seems on national tight ends day, you know, in the NFL. you know it's rich this was sick so i'm up in i was at an airport and i like to this is a thing i've done doing this year i like airport beers so every time i go to an airport i just drink one beer just for fun and um so regardless of the time i had a beer at 6 15 a.m in nashville one time it was glorious um anyways so i'm sitting at a i'm sitting at the bar i'm just waiting my flight got delayed like 30 minutes i'm just sitting there's like a one of the playoff hockey games was on so I'm sitting there watching hockey and a guy comes up to me, he goes, Hey, George, you don't know who I am, but I just want to say that, uh, two years ago, um, you helped me win like$50 ,000.

29:21It was 30 or$50 ,000 on national tight ends day. And he showed me his bet slip and it was, it was like a six leg parlay for touchdowns. And three of the six tight ends had one catch for one touchdown, which I was like, that is so cool. and then i was the last person to score because i was playing on i think i was sunday night football and i scored in like the third quarter and he was like i just don't look i buy you a beer because you want me this money i was like i'll take 10 but yeah sure you give me a beer but i was like it's so it's so fun people love betting on national titans day well not me though

29:59Rich Eisen:i would never no i know that um you're not allowed um and we never ask we would never ask But it is amazing, again, what this is becoming. And again, Titan University started six years ago as a sleepy event that a bunch of tight ends like you and Olson and Kelsey got started. Now it's a whole big to do. June 22nd through the 25th. TE-university.com is how you can check out, get tickets for the workouts available for that concert on that Tuesday. day um and as i could see through that beautiful um mahogany um locker room set behind you june 22nd to the 25th is is how you can catch year six let me catch up with you you were you were um joking about the the box jumps uh where are we where where are we you are you really doing box jumps right yeah last uh was it last wednesday or thursday i was doing single leg box jumps up to a 20 or 24 inch box okay so you're getting there you're ready to go you're ready to go you you think what do we think we're getting there you know what i got uh i got to put cleats on last week so on the field my cleats okay jogging around doing some easy cutting we're making a ton of progress you know um my my head pt uh that works the ellitross who did my surgery and out in la yes sir they're both super happy um him and heather are super stoked and then my uh team from the niners our trainers over there are super excited with my progress and i'm definitely a little bit ahead of schedule so like i'm super excited i have a goal to be out there week one with the boys and i'm gonna do everything in my power to do it and if i'm cleared and it's smart for me to play i'll be out there so i bet i have a chance and i'm very excited give me a chance in melbourne you think that this is gonna happen isn't it is it pronounced melbourne well i mean if you want to go with the accent melbourne yeah melbourne sure why not i have one of my neighbors in Nashville is Australian and he said, don't call it Melbourne and get made fun of by all the Australians called Melbourne.

32:02So when you're talking about it, Rich, I got you.

32:05Rich Eisen:I'm already taking notes right now. I'm writing it down what it's supposed to be. And I'm excited for you, George. The unfortunate thing about your comeback is, I don't know if you heard, the NFL season is over because the Rams got Miles Garrett. Did you hear that? Yeah, the whole thing's toast. It's finished. It's over? Yeah, I don't know if you heard that. Um, you know, what do you, what do you, sorry to break the news, sad George and Aaron Donald's coming back and Aaron Donald might come back too. Yeah. So that's not a, that's not joke about stuff like that, man. That's not cool. Look, Aaron, Aaron, the very, he's played a fulfilling career.

32:45Eight, eight first, it was the eight first team all pros and 10 pro bowls and a super bowl and 24 defensive mbps sounds like it yeah he's fulfilled being a father that's it he's by the way we had

32:58Rich Eisen:cooper cup on the day after that that news broke and he said uh he's already texted aaron donald he's not allowed to come back he's nipping that in the bud uh what a good guy great coop we all everybody appreciates you specifically centers guards tackles and offensive coordinators but how does that news hit you miles garrett to the ramp george i mean miles is a fantastic player he's a defensive mvp for a reason broke a sack record for a reason like he's an amazing football player so it just kind of changes up how you have to play against the rams and now he's probably going to get the aaron donald treatment uh for all from like all the nfc that we all had to do for so long with aaron and just say you make a game plan around him and make the rest of the team beat you just don't let one of the don't let the best defensive player in the league beat you on every single stat so it's going to be a huge challenge like i said he's incredible hey we got incredible players too and i love a great challenge it's gonna be really fun you know the narrative is going to be i'm kind of having fun with it you're going to get the first shot at him and the i will yeah that that that you know locker rooms like yours and seattle's just to name two uh hearing this sort of stuff you're going to use that you didn't want you didn't You didn't want to name the third team in the NFC West?

34:17It could be Arizona, obviously. Nah, that's okay. No offense. No, I'm kidding.

34:22Rich Eisen:No, no. Just to name two that made the playoffs last year, I should say. There it is. Like I said, Miles is fantastic. It's going to be really fun. And I'm really looking forward to see how, like one thing, I'll give you this. Like when Aaron Donald, we had to play him twice a year, and it was always like in big games. like the amount of time that our coaching staff has to put in to that game plan over other game plans is crazy because they have to literally design plays to just make sure that there's four hands on him at all times because if you don't and you leave them one-on-one there's like a 90 success rate that he gets a strip sack or forces a fumble or a tackle for loss that's just how good was.

35:04And one of the things that I enjoyed, and this is, I don't know if I should say that I enjoyed this, but like seeing how stressed out my coaching staff was during these weeks and how like the lack of sleep that they got, it kind of put a saw on my face. Cause I was like, they worked so hard this week and they're giving us a game plan that has a really good chance to work. And now it's up to us to go out there and succeed. So it's going to be one of those things. And you know what? I will say, I'm always a huge fan of every time the Rams trade picks for players and And they tweet out that photo of the GN.

35:33It says F them pics. I will say I do enjoy seeing that. Like once a year. That is pretty funny. I just. It's. Yeah. I'm happy. I'm happy for them.

35:42Rich Eisen:Well, I think I'm looking at the first guy. Who might be chipping. Miles Garrett. As a Los Angeles Ram. In a game. It could be a chip. It could be a one-on-one pass pro. Whatever it is. Whatever it is, man. It's football. I love it. I can't wait. Okay. I love challenges. We had Kyle Juszczyk on the program before he was hanging with you and your lovely wife up in Napa. I love him, too. Is it true you want to smudge the new locker room in Santa Clara because Seattle won the championship in that locker room? Is it true you want to sort of exercise whatever's going on in there, George? let's see did you say something about that because i missed that what did he say he made it seem like you might want to smut you know clear the ghosts of whatever's going on whatever happened there because seattle won and you're building sage some sage you want to burn sage or something like that i'd burn sage in 2024 when they're on a 40 and losing street and then we won the next week it was pretty fun okay um but we still miss the playoffs let's see i'm going to take this one of two ways.

36:58One, you could look at it like the normal Niners fan and player and be like, you know, we just gotta do whatever we can just to get that out of our locker room. Or you could look at it at the optimistic point of view and say, well, the last team to play here did win a Super Bowl in here, so there's probably a lot of good luck in here, too. So why don't you just take advantage of it? You know what? You guys would put up Sam Darnold's cute face in front of me. You guys would. I have no control over what's going on in my control room, sir. he is my day walker brother look at that nice orange beard oh my gosh i'm such a sam darnold fan he didn't invite me to the wedding but i won't hold that against him it's okay um he had a big guest list yeah it's okay but i will say this i will say this yes sir this is fun kyle use check is coming to titan university okay now use check is teaching a class at titan university about how to play fullback because while there's only six to eight like legit fullbacks in the NFL.

37:56I would say a majority of teams, whenever they do 12 personnel with two tight ends, they're motioning, they're motioning the tight ends or putting them in the wing, they're putting them in the eye formation. And Juice is just tired of subpar tight end fullback play. And so he is coming to make a stand and speak from his soapbox and teach these guys how to play fullback on a higher level. So I'm very excited about that. And he's coming for golf.

38:18Rich Eisen:How about you? Are you in the American Century Championship or your comeback is going to prevent you from teen it up? You know what? I'm disappointed. I'm not going to be there this year. I will be there next year. Okay. But I figured it would be a tough look for me to be golfing four days in a row, not being able to do rehab. And then if I couldn't play week one, that would just be a bad look. And so I'm going to do everything I can just to like – I'm trying to be a national as much as I can. Yes, sir. and just do my rehab five, six days a week and just make sure I have a chance to be out there.

38:53Rich Eisen:It's just you're such a fun guy to be around. And last year you were one of the most popular guys. You and Miz were dropkicking each other and having fun. And I will miss you. I will miss you. Next year when I am back, can we get around him together? I would love to be on your team. Me too. Because you and me are both very average golfers. and there's nothing against that like hey can i break 90 yeah sure i break 90 once in a while i did yesterday was actually no yesterday i did not yesterday i shot a 90 yesterday okay but i have a chance today after this to break 90 but like but i'm not gonna always like i'm i don't i break 100 almost every single time i haven't shot in hundreds in a while but like i'm a 90 to 100 guy well that's so entertaining but i can still play at a decent level like i almost beat juice last year in the one day that we got to golf together because he had a bad round and I had a decent round.

39:48So like we're still we're average golf players. I have a good time. You'll drink 14 transfusions with me on the course and we'll set a course record.

39:57Rich Eisen:Course record for transfusions. That is my golf drink of choice is a transfusion with a heavy pour. With tequila? No, as you know, that is not my I'm a vodka transfusion. You should just try it once. It's so tasty. Listen, I will follow your lead. There are very few people who I will take it as a compliment to be called very average. And you're one of them. So I appreciate that, George. I'm also very average. Can I tell you this? So I'm down, unless you're kicking me off, but I got time. I'm not. I'm never kicking you off. If my people call me, I'll get off. No, but this is not Pat's show. I do have commercials.

40:37Rich Eisen:But what else you got? I am the commercial. Look at dude wipes for your tight end. Boom.

40:47I lost. I partially lost my train of thought.

40:54Rich Eisen:Don't you hate it when that happens? We're talking transfusions. We're talking. I don't remember. Have you ever. Have you golfed down at El Dorado in Cabo? Oh, gosh. Is that the Meldman? That's the Meldman course, right? Yeah. Discovery. Let me tell you this, George. I would. I would stay in a comfort station. I would literally want to set up a bed in a Melbourne golf course comfort station. They're so good. Oh my God. Oh my God. But you're talking about tequila is what you're talking about at the turn. I've done that. It's not good. No, no, no, no. But you've been at El Dorado. That's all I'm asking.

41:27Yes, sir. Have you had their goose juice? I have not. Next time you get the opportunity to go, they're asking for a goose juice. It is a Kyle Shanahan special.

41:35Rich Eisen:Can you tell us what's in that? Goose juice. What is in a goose juice? Do we know? I'm going to just guess what's in it. I don't know. They haven't told me, but it seems it's like a, it's like a vodka with, I want to say, I don't think hopefully none of my sponsors get mad at me, but I think it's Fresca. Okay. And then they like put a bunch of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries in it. And they said it's soak. And so then when they give it to you in a giant styrofoam cup, you don't know how strong it is, but you also can't tell how strong it is. it is heaven on earth there. George, I appreciate you coming on here, brother.

42:15Rich Eisen:Miss you. I'll get to see you in the flesh. Have a great tight end university. Thank you. And you're the best. Thanks for the time. Always love it. Hey, thank you. Best dad ever. Thank you, sir. Right back at you. That's George Kittle, everybody right here on there. I've got, we've we're up against it. As they say, we'll chat in a second. The Rich Eisen show, the podcast.

42:42A bandwagon fan. The biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America. Never watched soccer before? Perfect. Think a corner kick is a karate move? Sure, why not? Prefer sports where players can use their hands? Me too. Just here for the snacks? Now we're talking. So grab a bag of Lays and jump on the bandwagon. We're undefeated.

43:07Rich Eisen:Lays, the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Rich Eisen here. Take a second and look at your city's calendar. Everywhere I go, there's always something coming up. Games, concerts, conventions, tournaments, the kind of events that bring people in from all over. And when that happens, you can feel it. More energy, more fans, and a whole lot more people looking for a place to stay. So here's something to think about. If your city has that kind of buzz, if big events are on the way, listing your space on Airbnb could be a great opportunity. If you're already planning to be out of town or you've got a trip coming up, why not make your place work for you while you're gone?

43:46Rich Eisen:You've got the space and you're not using it. It could be earning you some extra cash. I know when I travel for these big events, I'm not just looking for a place to crash. I want something comfortable and safe, a place that allows me to experience the city like a local. And that's exactly what you can do by offering to list your space. No big lifestyle change, no long-term commitment, just making smart use of the space you already have. So the next time your city draws a crowd, think about listing your space on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.

44:25Rich Eisen:844-204-RICH-NUMBER-DOWN. We'll take your calls in a second. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. I don't know if you've seen any of the Hyundai billboards in your neck of the woods. There's one right on the 405 talking about exactly what I'm talking about. The future stars who are already turning heads at age 14 because next doesn't wait for an invitation. 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.

44:57Rich Eisen:And we're still doing it every day because the future isn't some far off concept. It's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Normally, I know what guests are going to kind of say or have a general sense of how they're going to react to a story that we're having them on to react to. I have no idea what Jay Billis is about to say about the Brendan Sorsby latest. So that's coming up in hour number three. We have some breaking news out of Cleveland Browns camp. We do. Go ahead and give me the drop. You want to give me? Here it comes. Boom! M-R-A-I-C. Breaking news. Dylan Gabriel is wearing number six.

45:40Rich Eisen:Oh. Wow. Yeah. There he is. DG rocking a new look, it's being called. Rocking the look that he has to have because somebody took his number. He's wearing Baker Mayfield's number. Oh. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's available in Cleveland. Yes. It's been available in Cleveland for quite some time. Yeah. Do we know if Jared Verse took Dylan Gabriel's number or got it because he paid for it? Do we know? We do not have that information. Why is this the biggest mystery right now in the NFL? I don't know. Told you. It's like Friday, man. He Debo'd that. Debo took Red's bike. Verse took Gabriel's number.

46:28Rich Eisen:Just took it? You can't. well i mean you can't just take someone's given to him by the equipment manager that means it was made free for him to take because it wasn't free of charge right that's the way it works in the nfl did we see the first instance of somebody just taking a uniform and did not compensate the former owner of said uniform number that's why did that happen and to do it to a quarterback Right? It's possible. Yeah, it's possible. He does have more tenure as an NFL player than Dylan Gabriel, but not on that team. Doesn't that matter? You got to look at the equipment manager, right?

47:10Rich Eisen:Because they're the ones that hand out the whole year. They're not just saying take the quarterback. How do you know that? They're just not doing it. They can't do that. With all due respect. Don't give that to Dylan Gabriel. No, don't do that. He's still a human being, Chris, who had number eight. They're all human beings. Come on now. Come on now. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast.

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