Hour 2: Top 5 Maxx Crosby Trade Destinations, plus 2-Time Super Bowl Champion Von Miller

22:25Von Miller:I didn't shadow it's so many things that you can get from being at the combine all the agents are there all the scouts are there all the top front office guys on each and every team are there so there are multiple ways that I can build relationships and just kind of work my way up the ladder I'm still playing that's the trick it's all a type of red tape that you got to go through while being an athlete and being at the combine I'm not sure why it's like that, but it's rules in place. So whenever I'm done playing, I have a better route. I have better connections and I have better vision on what goes on at the combine to kind of show my path to being a GM.

23:13Rich Eisen:Okay. So you took notice in your meeting with Elway that John Lynch, future Hall of Famer, is in there. And you remembered that at the time or were you thinking at the time, oh, that's John Lynch. This may be something I need to keep in my mind's eye for later on in my life, in my career.

23:34Von Miller:You know, I had been a fan of the 97, 97, 98 Denver Broncos. So at the particular time, at that time, I did not know what was going on. I'm just, you know, kid out of Texas A &M meeting with teams. But I had I had noticed that. And two years later, the GM job for the San Francisco 49ers opened and John Lynch got it. So I just kind of put two and two together. And, you know, as my career progressed, I was like, man, you know, how do I make that happen for myself? So that's just things I try to pay attention to. Follow guys' routes to being the head guy on some of these football teams. I don't want to limit myself either.

24:16Von Miller:If it's an opportunity to be team president, if it's an opportunity to be assistant GM, it really doesn't matter to me. I just need a way in and I'll work my way from there.

24:27Rich Eisen:Yeah, I mean, take a look at Matt Ryan right now, right? I mean, he's the latest to, I guess, go from playing to media to being a team president. So what were you doing at the Combine this year to rub elbows or glean anything for your future, Vaughn?

24:49Von Miller:Basically, my vision, how I look at it, I just kind of like, I was there observing. I met with a lot of scouts this time. The first time I went in 2023, I had met with some future GMs. crazy thing about 2023 I was there meeting with guys and I had met with Adam Peters he was still with the San Francisco 49ers at the time and he was up for a GM job he was one of the high candidates to get a GM job he was just waiting to find the right one um a year passed by and the Washington commanders job opens up and he gets that so I've just been observant of you know of things going around. This time I met with so many scouts.

25:33Von Miller:It's so many talented people that are in that organization. Coaching is hard. Being in the front office job is hard. You just kind of got to pick your heart. And for me, player evaluation is my route. I've been on a lot of great teams and I wouldn't say I got a special talent or anything like that. It's just I would try to mold those teams that I've been on the specials.

26:00Rich Eisen:So, Von Miller here on the Rich Eisen Show. Lynch is kind of an outlier in the fact that, you know, you get a gold jacket. Dion as well, in terms of coaching, is that players who were born with it, like yourself, or look in the mirror and know what it takes, right, Von? That it's tough to evaluate other people who don't have that when they wake up. You know what I mean? And to try and find those who might be able to locate it. You might be able to find that sort of thing. You see where I'm going on that front?

26:35Von Miller:Yeah, so for me, it's more than just the players. When you have a great team, there's a great strength and conditioning coach. There's a great athletic trainer. There's great support staff in the cafeteria. when I was with the Buffalo Beals, I really observed that as well. Being in Buffalo, facility is what it is. The city is what it is. When you walk into that workspace, it's sunny every day, whether that's the player relations guy, whether that's the coaches, whether that's the front office ladies. Everybody in there had this shine about them that made being a Buffalo Beal great. and those are some of the things that I took notice to.

27:20Von Miller:I can see a great coach, you know, from a mile away. It's not always about the players. It's not always about the quarterback. You know, you obviously want to get a great quarterback, but it's just team infrastructure for me and just having the right people in the right spots, and I feel like that breeds a good team, a good competitive team.

27:38Rich Eisen:Would Bobby Wagner be your cap guy? I mean, what would Bobby feel? Because he wants to run the world too, right? I mean, like, that's – and he's your teammate. The two of you guys have been on the same sideline for the commanders. What do you mean from him? By the way, the Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner, Bobby Will.

27:59Von Miller:Yep. Bobby's great. And I've definitely had these talks with Bobby. Bobby would be the team president for sure. He'd be the team president for sure. I'd be the GM. We work well together. You know, I've been a fan of Bobby for so long. and then being on the team with him, it just, you get it, you see it. And it was an honor and a privilege to play with him. Hopefully we get to, you know, make that two years. But it was so much that I learned from being around Bobby. He's an owner in, I think, the WNBA team in Seattle. He's done so many great business deals. He was an all-pro linebacker for the commanders, but at the same time he was getting his master's degree from Howard.

28:43Von Miller:he's just a talented individual man, Walter Payton man of the year well deserving I love being on the same team with Bobby and I would love for him to be my

28:52Rich Eisen:team president, that'd be great by the way, that's not a bad package deal to say the least, he negotiates his own deals though, doesn't he? Doesn't he do that? Right, okay

29:01Von Miller:they did his contracts he's amazing so me and him on the same

29:08Rich Eisen:front office, it'd be great I like it, I like it So what did you glean? Von Miller here on the Rich Eisen Show. Fascinating conversation here. What did you glean from the scouts? What do you pick up about? Because clearly you know the league. You know the league inside and out. You also know what it takes to have a winning team. You know what it takes to get through a season where things might not be going your way. But put it all together, though, there is a side of the business that you are understanding that you need to expose yourself to. What did you glean from the scouts in your last couple years at the Combine, Vaughn?

29:44Von Miller:Scouts, they're talented individuals. They're not just in there saying, okay, this guy's good. They know these players before they even know themselves. They have great relationships with all these college and all the personnel from the universities. NIL and the transfer portal, it makes it tough as well because a guy might be at three or four different schools throughout his college career. So you got to kind of do your homework on these individuals. And scouts that I met with, man, they're the real heroes, man. They make the thing go. They know these players inside and out. You want to have quality scouts around.

30:20Von Miller:If you look at the Los Angeles realms, they don't miss with any of their picks. If they get three picks, those three picks are going to hit. You know, with Les Snead, I'm saying, you know, F them picks, F them drafts.

30:33Rich Eisen:Well, you were the one. You were the one who helped him come to that conclusion. Vaughn, you and...

30:37Von Miller:They hit on each and every one of those draft picks. So just a compilation of all the teams that I've been on was Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills, and the Washington Commanders. I've learned from all of these organizations, and I just put that into my job whenever I get the chance.

30:54Rich Eisen:Okay. Well, you know the follow-up question, this is coming. So are you near the end? How long do you want to keep playing here?

31:02Von Miller:I'm definitely not at the beginning Nice But they still falling for the same tricks Rich They still

31:12Von Miller:I can't leave They still falling for the stuff I gotta roll the dice again I had nine sacks last year And I only played 35-37 % So they still falling for the same tricks I've been doing my whole career I'm gonna keep rolling the dice Until they figure it out

31:30Rich Eisen:Okay, so the next two weeks is what? You'd like to stay where you are? What's your plan on that front that you're willing to share?

31:38Von Miller:Man, I'm a loyal guy. I would love to stay at the Washington Commanders. I fell in love with my teammates there. I love the way they run the organization. Adam Peters is great. Coach Quinn is great. I would love to be a Washington Commander. Now, if something were to happen and I'm not a Washington Commander, I would love to go to the Denver Broncos. I think that would be I didn't get that chance I got traded whenever I was there I didn't get that chance to have closure I didn't get to walk into the stadium This is my last game I'm going to do this with the fans I didn't get that closure So I would love to have closure with the Denver Broncos And if the commanders don't want me The Denver Broncos don't want me It's a team out there that's going to pick me up That would love to have my tricks On their roster So, yeah, I just play it by ear.

32:31Von Miller:This is my second time around doing it. I kind of know what to expect. Yeah, just got to make the best out of whatever decision I get. I'll tell you a story about last year, too. So this is my first time being a free agent and didn't know what to expect. Free agency opens up. I wasn't one of the first guys to get called. We're waiting. Me and my agent, Joby Brandon, at Vanguard Sports are just waiting around. Didn't know what to expect. Bone was not ringing. I had two contract offers by the end of free agency, by the end of the offseason last year. I had one contract from the Washington Commanders.

33:09Von Miller:You can only sign with one team. I had one contract from the Washington Commanders, and I had one contract for the Seattle Seahawks. So I made the decision to go to the Washington Commanders, and the other team, they went and won the Super Bowl. So these next decisions that I have to make, I have to be right on. I think last offseason with everything that was presented, I would have made that decision 10 times out of 10. It wasn't that I didn't believe in Sam Darnold. It was just Jaden Daniels. It wasn't that I didn't believe in JSN, but it was Terry McCorn. And they had just played in the NFC Championship the year before.

33:47Von Miller:Dan Quinn. Again, the Seattle Seahawks, they had Coach Frazier and AD at the defensive coordinator spot. They had a lot of great things going. It's just for me, I felt like the connection that I had with Adam Peters and Dan Quinn and, you know, the team that they had and they just needed a couple more pieces to get over the hump. So I go to the Washington Commanders and we get hit with the injury bug. And it could have went the opposite way if I would have went with, you know, the Seattle Seahawks. stick of the guy hit with the injury bug and the commanders could have went to the super bowl so just about making great decisions and i'm gonna take my time and see whoever wants me and i'm

34:23Rich Eisen:gonna make another great decision hey von i i don't blame you uh right you you're you're wind up a uh a game away from the super bowl jayden daniels it appears to be a unicorn still right so i i i i hear you completely uh you got a good jayden daniels story for me von that where you're like you first realized, okay, he is the guy or anything that might shed light on him?

34:49Von Miller:I've been around a lot of great quarterbacks. This is a Jaden Daniels story, but I always got to bring Josh Allen into it. Josh Allen, man, he is a unicorn, not just a great player on the football field, but that's the quarterback that you want whenever you're building a team. It's more than just playing great on the football field. It's more than just having a great arm strength and angles. He has all that. The way he moves around the locker room, the way he moves around that facility, it energizes guys. You know, he's a jokester, a prankster. It's Josh Allen, but he has this way of dropping your guard and making you feel like you're one of the guys when you're on his team.

35:34Von Miller:Jaden Daniels is the same way. Not as pranky, not as chatty as Josh Allen, but he just has this way of dropping your guard and making you feel part of the team. Jaden Downs, he's a special talent. He can run. He can pass. He's smart. And I think the things that really stood out for me is he just has that moxie. Whatever that meaning is, he just has that confidence. Like the game is never too big for him. It's never too small for him. Sometimes you can observe quarterbacks and they just look afraid out there. Never has that been the case with Jaden Dennings, no matter who we play. He's a warrior, has some great traits of the late Kobe Bryant.

36:15Von Miller:And that's the type of personality that you want with your quarterback.

36:19Rich Eisen:Before I let you go, how's the chicken business? I see the hat. How's the chicken business?

36:22Von Miller:Green and pass with chicken. What do you got? It is doing well. I appreciate you for asking, Rich. I've been doing that for nine years. pasture pasture raised organic non-gmo i like to carry every single certification that you can for my chicken farm it's just the how you do some things how you do everything and the career that i had on the football field i try to bring that over into the chicken business so clean protein it's athlete led um after athlete backed whether it's me drew breeze patrick mahomes or nick foes We all have Super Bowl MVPs.

37:00Rich Eisen:Green of Pastures Chicken, the chicken of champions. Ladies and gentlemen, chicken of champions. What do you think, Vaughn, before I let you go? Like, we're marveling about Arvel Reese and Sonny Styles and all these guys running 4.46. Who ran 4.49 back in the day at the Combine? Who ran that?

37:18Von Miller:I mean, I used to be tough fans.

37:21Rich Eisen:15 years ago. I used to be tough fans. You were running sub 4.5 before it was a thing to run sub 4.5, Vaughn.

37:28Von Miller:Now it's like, now everybody has to do it. But might not run a four, nine on the full 40, but my 10 is still good. I can still beat them all. That's all that matters.

37:39Rich Eisen:That 10-yard split and then the nine stands for your sacks, right?

37:42Von Miller:I was 36 years old, right? I know my teammates with the commanders. They're going to laugh at this. I'm 36 years old. I'm the oldest on the team. But in that linebacker room, I'm the fastest. I'm the oldest and the fastest I know I get some text messages from my teammates but none of those guys I'm 6 years, 7 years older than them and I can still beat them in a 40 yard dash 10 yard dash, whatever they want

38:10Rich Eisen:You can't just chase chickens and not get fast You know what I mean? You can't just do that Vaughn, I appreciate the time So I wish you the best of luck over the next couple weeks to get what you want and then down the line, let's talk more man, I'm excited for your beyond the steering wheel plans and the fact that you're about it. You're not just going to say, hey, I did all this stuff on the football field. Make me a general manager. You're doing the work, which is awesome.

38:38Von Miller:I want to gain the respect. I've been on the football team my whole entire life. I know what it takes to gain the respect of the people around you. If I can get the opportunity to be in the front office, I do the same thing with my new team. we're not putting on pads every day but I gain the respect of those guys with the hard work that I'll put in each and every day I want to win whether that's on the football field or in the front office and that's what I'm about

39:06Rich Eisen:and I gain the guys respect and we'll go win Right back at you, Vaughn Miller, thanks for coming on here It's always

39:12Von Miller:a pleasure to be on your podcast to be on your show I don't know how many times we've done it but it's always great and whenever you need me, man, you know I got you man. I got to send you out some greener pastures. Yes, sir.

39:25Rich Eisen:I'm on the website right now looking at you.

39:28Von Miller:Are you really checking out? Bone with skinless? You know what I mean? I get you guys right. My hobby is, one of my favorite hobbies is finding new hobbies. My new hobby now is I've tried the DJ route and I've done all types of things. Now, my new hobby is cooking. So I got my green egg and I'm cooking granite pasta chicken every day. I'll send it out to you guys. I don't know if you guys do the cooking, but I'll make sure I get you quality birds. That's half of it. As long as you've got great birds, the seasoning and cooking part, that's the other half. And I'm sure you guys can figure that out.

40:04Rich Eisen:We can do our best to figure it out from there. I'll send you guys over some stuff. Lead that horse to chicken? Does that make sense? What I'm saying is, should I not hit go on the cart? Should I just wait for fun? I'm going to buy it anyway. Let, let, let Vaughn, we're going to let you show us the way, just like hopefully an NFL team will, we'll let you do that in whenever you want. Thanks for the time. Thank you. You bet. Superbowl MVP of Superbowl 50 Vaughn Miller here on the rich eyes. That was just delightful in every possible way. I'm going to a ninth all time in sacks. Ninth, another nine, like Sesame street brought to you by the number nine.

40:42Rich Eisen:Right here. He's got, he's got one of them jackets just waiting. Yeah. It's been waiting. Him and Bobby Wagner. Right. First ballot. They're already stitched up and just sitting in storage. Yeah, let's go. You've got a big smile listening right now. Oh, why not? Top 13 on the all-time sacks. They're all in the Hall of Fame, except Von Miller 9, obviously still active. T. Sizzle is 8th. T. Sizzle is going to get in, too. But Von's got to go track him down first. So that was great. We got some knowledge that Von is a future general manager in this league. Love to see it. And that he's still interested in playing, if not for the commanders, then the Broncos, and then for somebody else because people still follow him for the same stuff.

41:20Rich Eisen:Follow for the tricks. And free chicken. It's just like somebody just missed two free throws. I need some chicken and that hat. It says, yeah, we're cheering for free chicken. Miss it, miss it. All right, we take a break. Don't go anywhere. We're back with more here on The Rich Eisen Show. The great Vaughn Miller. That was great.

41:43Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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44:01Rich Eisen:He's not quitting. No. Why would he? Nine sacks last year? Come on now. How about him saying it was a choice between staying with the commanders and going to Seattle? I'm wondering if that was the role that Tank Lawrence took. Right? You know what I mean? Like veteran coming in and being out of the mix, or it would have been on top of it. I don't know. But you can't blame Vaughn, right? How can you? He had no idea Jaden Daniels was going to get hurt. You know? Terry McLaurin's going to hold out and get hurt. He went with the Ohio State OG. Yeah. You know, JSN is a descendant of Terry McLaurin.

44:47Rich Eisen:Right. You know? So. I just need Vaughn to tell me who he's deciding between this offseason so I can bet on the other one to win the Super Bowl. Good one. Yeah, that's all. Look at you. Wow. Making fun. Making fun. Any edge you can get for the Hall of Fame. You know what I'm saying? Let's go to Marshawn in Iowa. You're here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Marshawn? Be smooth. Is it?

45:12Von Miller:What's going on, Mr. Eisenman? Let me get this off my chest. I'm normally calling Freddie and Harry because I'm usually getting off of work late. Okay. But my dad gave me a half a day today. I'm like, as soon as I heard about it, I'm like, I am going to get on the show with Mr. Eisen. As soon as I get on the show, as soon as I get in the car, I hear you guys talking about Max Crosby going to the Bears. But I also heard you say something about like a Godfather deal, a Godfather trade or whatnot. I'm thinking to myself, you know, Mr. Eisen is like the Godfather. Hopefully he's seen this movie before.

45:47Von Miller:Like, your swag, man, is like Joe Pesci. You just sit there, you talk, and you lay it all down the line. But long story short, I feel like if the Raiders are going for Mendoza, the best thing coming out would be to send DJ Moore, Cole Komet, over there. Mendoza would have two highly, highly graded weapons to throw the ball to and bring Max Crosby over to Chicago. The reason why I'm saying that is because the Bears offense was able to go toe-to-toe with some of the top offenses this year. 49ers, the Rams, you know what I mean? You think about it. They even put Brock Purdy on pressure. first pass of the game, interception, pick six.

46:29Von Miller:But the problem was throughout the whole year, the Bears never had somebody that can lower, cut off some of that feel for Caleb Williams. And that's where Max Crosby would come in on the third and 10th. That can force a 4th and 15th. That could possibly force an interception, a fumble for loss. And when you do that, when you have a person of that nature, you can cut the feel off. You can cut some of that feel off from the offense having to drive down the field from the 20, sometimes it's easier to drive down the field from the 40. You know what I mean?

47:00Rich Eisen:So where have I heard, by the way, Marshawn, listen, you need to take half a day off more often.

47:06Von Miller:Well, I mean, I deliver alcohol for the state of Iowa, man. I'm the number one delivery driver for the company. So today, keep going.

47:15Rich Eisen:Carl thanks him for his service. Thanks for the call, Marshawn. I'm at the end of the hour, so I don't want to cut you off in the middle of a sentence. Where have I heard DJ Moore in a pick for a player before?

47:30Huh.

47:32Rich Eisen:Cole Komet, I mean, they already have Bowers, right? And Myers. Right. They're set at tight end. But DJ Moore, hmm. That's not a bad idea right there. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app.