Hour 3: NFL Week 3 ‘Higher Register,’ plus ‘Him’ Star Tyriq Withers In-Studio

19:11Rich Eisen:So you have a football background, do you not? Florida State University? Yes, Florida State. I played one year of high school football, playing wide receiver. Where is this? You're from Duval County, correct? Duval County. Jacksonville Jaguars. Shout out to them. That's the way the current head coach says it, but you know how to say it, right? Obviously, okay. But yeah, I lived in Jacksonville and I grew up playing soccer and then I transitioned to football my senior year. And I played wide receiver and I got a highlight tape and ended up getting, you know, a Division I AA offer. but it was to like Davidson College.

19:51And that's where I was headed to at first. But I haven't really talked about that experience. Davidson College? Davidson College.

19:57Rich Eisen:Is that Steph Curry? Yeah, Steph Curry School. That was their selling point. That was their only selling point. It was like, hey, Steph Curry went here. You know? This is football we're talking about. Yes, it's football we're talking about. But like, so I was starting to transition into playing for the Davidson team. Sure. And then we had a summer football camp before we started the fall semester. And that's my first initial like experience with like hazing from a team. Okay, you know, they would like haze me online and then when I got to camp they're gonna put you in the gauntlet, you know I'll probably get in trouble for saying this because but it was my experience and I was confused because they went one and eight the season before you worried about the wrong thing so So I decided to, you know, go home.

20:46I called my mom. I said, I think I made a big mistake. And I went back home and visited Florida State and, you know, decided to walk on to that football team. And it's crazy because the energy and the relationships I built on that team were so much better. And there was no experience with Hazen when I was on that team in 2016.

21:10Rich Eisen:Number 27 in your program? Number one in your heart? Tyreek Withers? Absolutely. Look at you with your national championship t-shirt. I put in reps on scout team. Well we noticed. Put it up Hoskins. Put it up. You take a look at the Florida State, I guess, your bio. There you are. There you are. Nice tie. Nice suit tie. Like the haircut right there. That is insane. It is logged repetitions and contributed to the scout team. I might tell you a joke, but I'll never tell you a lie. So, yeah. Which means you just repped. You took snaps. Yeah. So it means logged repetitions. Very fancy way. Oh, but I say we scored more points on scout team than any team we played.

21:54Damn straight. Yeah, you did.

21:56Rich Eisen:And we don't see any statistics to make that incorrect. You know, there's this one clip they were doing, I think, the Showtime BTS. Sure. of the season. So it was some cameras going on. One of my first games was when we played UNC Chapel Hill and we lost by game winning field goal. And there's this video of me watching the football go through the uprights. And then the kicker has the audacity to run past our sideline, throwing. Oh, doing the chop, the mock chop? He's mocking you with the chop? Yeah, and it was humbling. And I think that was my villain origin story. It started like that. Who was the coach?

22:39Rich Eisen:Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo Fisher. Jimbo Fisher. Shout out Jimbo Fisher. So you have relationships from the team that still lasted today? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think one of my scout team brothers, he was another receiver. Who also logged repetitions. He logged repetitions. Okay, very good. And then we had some fun time in Miami at the Orange Bowl, Isaiah Dimmon. we had Carlos Becker you know did we I'm blanking Auden Tate as a receiver. The receivers were lovely back then. Was Dalvin Cook on that too? Dalvin Cook was him he is him. So yeah it was like daunting to like even be in his essence you know because you're like hey I'm here you know and he's just he was an elite running back at the time so yeah.

23:28Rich Eisen:So are you technically the 21st century Burt Reynolds to go from Florida State to acting? Yeah, I would like, well, if you think, I play football, so if you can say. Burt logged repetitions. Yeah, logged repetitions. I can't get enough of that. I'm logging repetitions on set now. Well, you're him. Now you're him. Oh, well. Now you are him. You said it, not me. Hemothy. Hemothy Chalamet. No doubt. Well, he's available in theaters again nationwide tomorrow. I don't want to borrow him. And so, okay, now I understand why you're a Jaguar fan. Cause you know, we do our research here and we were told in advance, Tyreek Withers is coming.

24:08Rich Eisen:He loves Florida State. We understand that. Jaguars get that. Arsenal soccer. Okay. That's how, that's your original sports, correct? Yeah. Arsenal. But I would say like Brazil international soccer team was like the epitome of like, I had this plan to like really, when I was like 12, I was like, when I grow up, I want to move to Brazil, change my nationality and play for their national team. Because, you know, they're really elite. You know, Ronaldinho, Roberto, Carlos, all those. Which name of yours would you have chosen as your single name? Would you have gone as Tyreek or Withers? No, I think I would have gone with my middle name, which is?

24:44Which is Bartholomew.

24:46Rich Eisen:Oh, by the way, Bartholomew is a great soccer name. I don't know if it's Brazilian. Can you imagine if it's Brazilian? You could have just went by Bart or something. No, Bart. No, no, you'd be known internationally as Bartow. Bartow. What? That's even better. That would have been better. That's even better. That's his Brazilian soccer name. Let's be very clear. Bartow. Bartow. Yeah. Neymar to Bartow is one of the most famous. That is awesome. Yeah, that is. Brazilian connection. Actually, I think I might move to Brazil. But we would have kept the H in there. The H is silent. All right. I just want to be very clear.

25:20Bartholomew is not my middle name. Dang, no. I'm sitting here looking at Wikipedia like, no, it ain't. My middle name is Lashon. And fun fact, I don't know how to spell it though, my middle name, because it's two different things on my birth certificate and what I've learned to spell it as. I don't know if it's L-E-S-H-O-N or L-E-postrophe capital S-H-O-N.

25:45Rich Eisen:Okay, so it's not spelled like Lashon McCoy. Yeah, it's not. Okay, it's spelled like Lashon Johnson or something, or Roshon Johnson. Nobody keyed you in on this? Okay. The people that named you? It shouldn't be up to you now. You're him. You should be able to do what you want to do. That's a testament to my indecisiveness. So I just never pick. I just, depending on the day. I could go with the apostrophe. Apostrophe's kind of cool. Yeah, that's how we do. Why are you an Eagles fan? Eagles fan? Yeah, why? You know, I think it was a cowboy fan. Be careful. I think, one, so I'm a hype beast when it comes to certain teams.

26:21but I think when Donovan McNabb I was growing up, I was number five on the soccer field so I was a big McNabb fan. Deshaun Jackson receiver when he was playing. And then you know I think Jalen Hurts is somebody I define as him. You know I think he carries himself. What a story, right? He has his story in college in that transition, you know being benched in the National Championship.

26:48Rich Eisen:And Tua wins it, and then he has to come back when Tua gets hurt and nothing happened, then he does it. Exactly. Oh, I love that story. So I think that was a test of a man when you can be thrown in the pits and then come out on the other side and transition. And I think he had a Heisman season at Oklahoma when he transferred. He wound up on the podium yesterday. Yeah, so I think that story, and then coming into the NFL, getting to the Super Bowl, not getting it. the first time coming back. And I think a lot of people would like give up. And I think his mindset and his iconic quotes are something I use to tell my story in this movie.

27:31Rich Eisen:Well, don't don't listen to him over there because he's a cowboy. Yeah. But he's like you. Do we have the TJ graphic? When is the last time? Okay, so here's TJ. Oh, you're going to. He's a Met Clipper, Duke Georgetown, Cowboy Sixer, Florida State. We found some connective tissue there. Penn State, Pittsburgh. Holler. Penguins fan. That's okay. I mean, that's only nine. When was the last time the Cowboys won a star? I'm literally sitting here like, man, I like this kid, man. And now you have to lose it. I love C.D. Lamb. C.D. Lamb. I thought we were like, you know. Yeah, Michael Irvin. So we made one for you.

28:13Rich Eisen:There you go. Where did you get this photo? I don't know. I don't have school photo right there. I feel like it should be legal if you're from Jacksonville to have other NFL teams. That makes sense. I get it. Certainly. You know, the Ravens, because you like Lamar Jackson. Okay, he's him as well. He had one of the most iconic high school plays where he was running and then he stops at the touchdown line and they pass him. I think from that moment watching that, I knew he was going to be a star. And also we played him when I was at Florida State.

28:52and you know he destroyed us yeah yeah everyone yeah it's that moment and so at that point in like okay the best seats in the house that was a glorified hype man you know okay even the towel

29:13Rich Eisen:you'll see videos you know nicks and lebron yeah i have your other there you go i have weird connections uh you know i'm a nicks fan spike lee you know okay to work spike lee um my knowledge on the nba stuff purely high beast lebron james he's the only poster i've ever had up in my room you know sure he's Timothy uh was he in your room was he uh or Cavs he's a Cavs I was an original LeBron fan and what's his uh his documentary um where he about his high school okay um was it does anybody know what his documentary was with his high school basketball team okay well let's say St. Vincent St. Mary's yeah he went to St.

29:56Vincent St. Mary's so was it a game you watched it you say more than a game is it was that it yeah more than a game okay yeah And that was like my Roman empire when I was like 12. So that's it. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's just, you know,

30:06Rich Eisen:well, you root for the Knicks now because of Spike Lee. You want to be, you know, you want to be in a joint so bad you're going to root for the Knicks. Is that what you're saying? Absolutely. Okay. I mean, you're committed to your craft. Let's put it that way. Absolutely. So. But they're, they're worthy of rooting for right now. I love Jalen Bronson. Yeah. Oh, and so there's some more connective tissue. Carl Anthony Towns. Yeah. Who I adore. No, this is great. No, he loves, we're going to talk about trolling. Yeah. T.J. Jefferson because he's an Eagles fan. Eagles diehard. He has sent balloons here after the Eagles beat the Cowboys.

30:38Rich Eisen:He sent a mariachi band here to play Fly Eagles Fly just to troll that man right there. He sent all those balloons and flowers. That's iconic. That was the most disrespectful thing in the world. You take something I love, mariachi bands, and you have them play Fly Eagles Fly. I think that's the beauty of football, though. When I get to that tax bracket, I'm going to start doing things like that. There you go. You're on your way. Sir, you're on your way. We don't have to show it. There it is. I mean, it was pretty great. Wow. It's even better when you hear it. Oh my God. Yeah, and it's your team.

31:16Props to you for a really, you know, being a good sport.

31:20Rich Eisen:Yeah, I have to. Yeah, that's your own psychological horror right there. My team hasn't won a big game in 40 years. Every Sunday is a psychological horror. This one, if they lose to the Bears, would be particularly psychologically horrifying, no doubt. So this movie, man, it is off. It is not what anybody would expect. And so going, living it, what was it like for you to shoot this movie and be him and go through what him goes through in this film without giving away too much, which I'm trying not to do right now? When I first started, when I read the script and got the role, I thought it was going to be easier to play a quarterback than being on an actual team.

32:02But I learned very early that it wasn't. I'm not trying to say, oh, my life was just as hard as, you know, these college NFL football players. But, you know, the level of attention to detail that I wanted to bring to this was one that I wanted to live in that authenticity. And so I got to train with Jordan Palmer. And you know, he trained you. Yeah. He's no joke, man. Yeah, he's no joke. So the throw was crisped in the movie. So, but yeah, it was a training regimen where I had a bird chest. So I had to learn to, you know, lift weights. Because once I gave up sports, me and the gym are like oil and water.

32:42So it was working out six days a week.

32:45Rich Eisen:Did you work out with any other players at the time? Or it was just you and Jordan? So when I was doing QB training, it was Joe Milton. He was prepping for the draft. And it was just humbling watching him just throw casual 80 yards. Just casual, you know. Jordan Palmer was like, hey, yo, Joe, rip it. And he just throw it. And I just showed up. I'm like, I'm here to learn. I don't want to disrespect anybody. Josh Allen popped in. He's talked about golf, you know, a lot. So, yeah, Jordan Palmer really taught me what it meant to be a quarterback. and I got to see the draft process, the mentality of certain QBs.

33:26And, you know, it's all like it's cool to see that mindset from college to the NFL and what they have to go through. And, you know, the QBs have to think about so much. Oh, yeah. And the mock interviews were insane. I just got to sit in on that. And, yeah, that's a little bit about the training I had to go through.

33:50Rich Eisen:Okay, training for the film, but I mean, obviously Josh's new bride knows what it's like to be in a movie that doesn't appear to be what it might be on its face. You know, obviously that's Sinners, but Jordan Peele, we all know, Get Out and everything else that he has done. There's a significant connective tissue, use that phrase again, between movies like Get Out and Him right now. And so what is it like for you to be in a movie just like that that's coming to a theater near you nationwide? You must be really jacked up. You're good at that. Sir, that's why I'm here. You're here for a reason. Although I do enjoy hanging out with people who log repetitions, but I'm trying to give you what you need by appearing here.

34:33No, I'm still processing it all, but I'm grateful to tell a story that's delivered in such an organic but creative and thoughtful way. I think this story is about football, but I think it also transcends sports. I think it's about anybody chasing greatness and I really got to really explore that vulnerability Of that pursuit, you know, and I think I was thinking I was talking about therapists. Yes, I'm there posing And I came to this realization that this this movie is more about grief And I think we always think grief is losing a physical person, but I think grief can be like losing oneself and I think you're following a character that's struggling with his authentic self and I think the overall message is to just don't be afraid to be a hundred percent unapologetically you and I think that's the beauty of working with somebody like Jordan Peele because he's able to see that vision and deliver it in a organic fun roller coaster of a ride way.

35:42Rich Eisen:How much was he involved in this? Oh, he was really involved. You know, as a producer, he's able to, you know, align the right people in the right positions and then kind of take a step back and let the bloodline of his work flow through everyone. We got to sit down on multiple occasions. He came to set multiple days. So he was very, very involved. Did you bring up any Key and Peele stuff with him? That was the hardest part. I was testing the waters on that. But yeah, I brought up... Which one did you bring up? The Deez Nuts. That was one of my favorite ones. The football introductions. Yeah, that one was brought up to me through Monkey Paw.

36:32But yeah, that was like low-hanging fruit. But Deez Nuts was the winner for me.

36:36Rich Eisen:I mean, I have Key and Peele skits hop up in my Instagram algorithm. Yeah. It's as good as it comes. And the fact that he's now making these films like this, it's pretty amazing. Yeah. It's supremely talented. Sketch comedy inspired my YouTube days. Was that right? Yeah. A lot of people don't know, but I came from YouTube. So I think that's a cool thing where when you like, I think the sketch comedy, the stakes in comedy are a lot higher than if it was a drama. because you know what it's like for you to deliver a joke and it not land? It hurts. It's terrible. And I think with drama, something doesn't land, you're just like, oh, okay, maybe I just don't connect with it.

37:15So I think that the ingredients, the flow of creating comedy is why. It just made him a genius filmmaker, and that's when the transition from comedy to horror, it seemed crazy at the time, but it was the most genius thing. Well, good to have you here. Congratulations.

37:34Rich Eisen:on being part of that world. Thank you. Thanks for coming on here after, I assume, a late night last night, right? Well, you know, late is subjective. You had the premiere last night. We had the world premiere last night. And then we had an after party. Then we had an after party. Well, that's what I would, as a 56-year-old man, father of three, I would consider an after-after party as a late night. Yeah, late night. And then this is the after-after-after party. That's what we do for having me. We do have that. We have some ibuprofen and some liquids for you. Pedialyte. Restorative. Pedialyte.

38:09Yeah, you got anything for bowel movements?

38:12Rich Eisen:Very interesting question. We're out of time. Out of time. Look at that time. Yeah, yeah. HIM is available in theaters nationwide starting tomorrow. Everybody go check it out. Tyreek Withers, thanks for coming on here. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. You got it. Tyreek Withers here on The Rich Eisen Show, back with more to wrap up this Thursday. Show in a moment. Go Jags.

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40:05Rich Eisen:Logged repetitions. Somebody was doing some really mad work on Tyreek's part. Like, okay, what are we going to put in there for, we can't just say he didn't do anything. You know what I mean? It would be disrespectful. Right. It would be. But somebody's like, I got it. He logged repetitions. I mean, he took snaps, right? Let's call it logged repetitions. that's that's like the the um sports information biography oh yeah version of wardrobe malfunction you know and contributed to the scout team yeah because a wardrobe malfunction is a bad thing you know what i'm saying no it's just it's a it's a euphemism it's a way

40:48Rich Eisen:let me tell you something let me tell you something about i'll tell you a story about that wardrobe malfunction we were there right i was at the super bowl yeah and it was nfl network's first ever super bowl that we ever covered and we had our first ever super bowl commercial teed up and it was awesome it was set to the tune of tomorrow from annie and it starred every major NFL figure Jerry Rice and T.O. and Warren Sapp and Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells sang tomorrow. All of them sang tomorrow. And it ended with a body double for Jerry doing cartwheels and flips and whatever at the end. And the concept was stay tuned to NFL Network tomorrow, the day after the Super Bowl because we're there every day it's 24 7 365 tomorrow everyone is oh and oh everybody's back to square one tune in NFL Network for everything else between now and the next season that was the concept of the commercial and it was brilliant and we were psyched and I was I remember I made sure when I was in the stadium to get to a television I was in the Gatorade suite I might have crashed it i don't know if i was invited i just found myself there and i'm like while the super bowl halftime show is going on i'm making my way to a tv set because the commercial was the first thing you're going to see right after the super bowl halftime show was over we had a perfectly positioned slot for our commercial and the wardrobe malfunction happened and it turned into the most rewound moment in the history of tivo let me tell you something about tivo is called kids the way that you can now just take it for granted that you rewind anything that's on live television there was a machine called tivo that did that first there was a technology that you would record your programs or send your cable through the box that would delay it a few seconds so you special remote yeah and it would make this noise right you remember the noise and um now it just comes with what you have okay okay thank you in my day so it wound up being the most rewound t-vode moment just to see what just happened and i remember i saw it live i'm like did i just see that that was strange even i missed the commercial oh yeah we were busy like what what happened oh yeah yeah unbelievable that's what happened with the first ever nfl network moment wardrobe malfunction are two very charged words in my life but i'm just pointing it out that it is a uh euphemism could say he pulled her her her clothing off came off no let's call it a wardrobe malfunction you know what tyree didn't do much for florida state he logged repetitions That sounds much better, doesn't it?

43:55It does sound better. Hey, let's put some respect on the scout team name. Okay, very good. You got to have it. You got to have a good scout team, right, Chris? That's my story of NFL Network's first ever Super Bowl commercial.

44:05Rich Eisen:Bernardo in Santa Clarita, California, has been hanging on forever and a day to say something. What's going on, Bernardo?

44:11TJ Jefferson:Go Blue Ridge.

44:12Rich Eisen:Right back at you.

44:14TJ Jefferson:So you did a fantastic job in Brazil, my friend. Did the old local mail work or what? What did I tell you? You know what?

44:19Rich Eisen:I dropped that line on the staff at our first show, and they loved it in the studio that we're in. It hit. It slapped, as they said.

44:31TJ Jefferson:Let's take care of you, too, with the Brigadieros and the Pongicillo. You got the best, huh?

44:35Rich Eisen:I did. It was amazing. Thank you for the heads up. What's on your mind today?

44:39TJ Jefferson:Well, I'm just wondering, as a fellow Jets fan, which game are we going to win to ruin our draft position?

44:48What a way to put it. Bernardo gets it.

44:52Rich Eisen:Also known as the 2020 Rams game. What game are they going to win to ruin our draft position?

44:58TJ Jefferson:Yeah, I'm just curious from your perspective because it's going to happen.

45:03Rich Eisen:I don't know, man. I like the coach. I like the moves that they've made. I don't know. Maybe Terod Taylor can shock you. I don't know. I'm looking forward to seeing them in London and seeing what they can do against Denver. I'm calling that game. And this is a big visit to Tampa. Tampa looks terrific. They are 100 % a Super Bowl contending team with a quarterback that just like the one that they drafted, the Jets in that draft, had to go elsewhere, and Tampa's the elsewhere. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so it's just, I don't know, they make these moves to protect Justin Fields for that offensive line, and then Fields gets concussed.

45:44Rich Eisen:I don't know what to tell you, man. Just courage. It's only two games. They can turn this thing around. There's 15 games. What else do you want me to say? you know

45:51TJ Jefferson:I feel you brother I feel you well you did a fantastic job in Brazil can't wait to hear you call the game in London brother

45:56Rich Eisen:thank you sir appreciate a call back before then I'm not going to London for another month fun stuff everybody great stuff Tom Pellicero is on tomorrow's program Tommy V who else is on tomorrow's show is that all we have is Tommy V I think I think so okay I guess we're going to work on that as soon as we're done with this program and then tonight's game do you believe in your high register I think the Dolphins cover. Okay. I would take the Bills to win. What is the spread? 11 and a half. That is a large number. That's a large number. That's a big number. TJ, you're taking the Dolphins tonight?

46:33Rich Eisen:To win football? Yes, sir. Against the Bills? No. Okay. Neither am I. I just hope they keep it close. I'd like to see a good game, obviously. This has a high total, too, 50 and a half, so maybe some points. And I'd like Tua, man. I hope he gets it together. And I like Mike McDaniel. And I'm nervous going into tonight. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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