Hour 3: Rich’s Top 5 NFL Sleeper Teams, plus Seth Rollins Talks WWE SummerSlam

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1:00Rich Eisen:This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. If you've waited this long This is the Rich Eisen Show To take care of your franchise quarterback That's too bad Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles Earlier on the show Senior writer for the MMQB Albert Breer ESPN NFL analyst Jason McCourty Coming up WWE superstar Seth Rollins And now It's Rich Eisen Oh, baby.

2:00Rich Eisen:So many phone calls to take in the third hour. We'll do our best to get to them. Seth Rollins joins us in the middle of this hour. We've already gotten what's more likely in the books. Albert Breer and Jason McCourty. Breer in person. McCourty on Zoom. If you missed it, all three hours of this show on Disney Plus as soon as we're done. All three hours of this show also available on our podcast. RichEisenShow.com is a great way for you to follow everything as well youtube.com slash rich eyes and show this rich eyes and shop.com we have a whole new store of all sorts of gear this mug so many other things are available right now at rich eyes and shop.com as well we'll be talking more and more about it del tufo you got that you got the running man lid on right now right look at you that is great look at you i appreciate you uh showing off the gear uh wear that on the link shop.com uh 844-204 rich number to dial we'll get to that uh in just a moment so one would say that we learned from liam cone last year that you don't come at him without expecting the horns back okay he's gonna bite back right remember him and robert sala on the field yeah okay that that wasn't all that great for everybody um but he's got some he says it with his chest he's very braggadocious yeah and then the jaguars backed it up by uh winning the division and you know crushing it um they didn't unfortunately for them win a playoff game but um jason mccordy in hour number two when i asked him there's a difference between teams we're not talking about and sleeper teams which i'm going to get to in a second right you know teams that are overlooked are different from teams that are that we're sleeping on we don't talk about Seattle and they won the whole thing.

3:53Rich Eisen:That's one of them too. Well, what helps there is in that regard is the Rams got Miles Garrett and might get Aaron Donald back. But Liam Cohen had this to say and 1010XL radio hit it. You know what I said to the staff the other day? I go, guys, this is the best part of coaching the Jacksonville Jaguars. You don't have to make up telling your players stuff. You don't have to make up the fire. You don't have to make it up. It's given to us every day. And it's like a welcome. It's a gift from the heavens. You just scroll. I just go, pull out my phone, look at the NFL Network website, and just pop up here.

4:34Any column. I'm curious if I see any photos or anything about the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think I'll just scroll right on through. You keep going, yeah. I think I'll see 40 pictures of Caleb Williams, and I won't see a single thing about any of our players on here. So it's beautiful. Because it's like, yeah, guys, this is great. Thanks. I'm just going to tell all these guys how much you all think they suck.

5:00Rich Eisen:All right. So Liam Cohen had that to say. By the way, first of all, appreciate you taking in the NFL Network website. Nice. Although my default back in the day was like, yeah, watch NFL Network instead of ESPN, and now we're one in the same. One big fan. I guess I've got to learn to put. Just wait it out, I guess. Well, just, you know, put down the bow and arrow. You know what I mean? We're all part of the same happy family now. Easy Odysseus. But anyway, I appreciate the NFL Network mentioned regardless, nonetheless. If there's any, like, if Liam Cohen is somebody who says stuff with his chest, right, and he's in the top echelon of that, who leads the list?

5:44Rich Eisen:in the NFL of coaches who you don't want to have their name in your out at a phone call during a May press conference. So you're saying the guy in Chicago who Liam Cohen is kind of referencing a little bit saying we're not being talked about, but the old, but the Bears, let's see 40 pictures of Caleb Williams. Oh, this got back to Ben Johnson. Hey, well, we're the number one regression candidates. So I think we got plenty of motivation ourselves. We talked about Caleb in the past. He's used to handling a lot of attention. So I'm not worried about that. He's so serious all the time. Yeah, he is.

6:27Rich Eisen:We're the number one regression. I don't know. Jacksonville is up there too. Everyone thinks you're regressing to the mean, right? New England a little bit. number one regression oh my oh my oh my yeah man one guy's like we're overlooked and the other guy says everybody's looking for us to fall on our faces oh my you know let's see let's see is there are you looking up for odds to regress no i'm looking up division odds so jacksonville is second behind houston oh and the bears are third in the north that's a regress behind Detroit and Green Bay. Huh. Okay. Remind me, who won the NFC North last year?

7:15Rich Eisen:That would be your Chicago Bears. I mean, they're only... Oh, my. They're only... It's a bottom line is every coach is looking for the edge. They're looking for the edge. Liam's like, we don't have to make it up. I will never forget sitting on the set in Tampa, Florida of NFL Network's coverage of the Super Bowl between the Cardinals and the Steelers. Coming up next, everybody, here comes Ken Wisenhunt, coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He comes walking up. You take a commercial break. In the commercial break, he sits down and he looks me in the face and he goes, I heard what you had to say about us.

7:56Rich Eisen:I'm like, what did I have to say about you? He goes, I heard. And he goes, worst playoff team ever? Really? And I'm thinking to myself, I never said that. Why would he think I said that? And then I'm like, oh God, Chris Collinsworth said that. I didn't say it. And I said that to coach. I'm like, Chris Collinsworth said that. I didn't say that. And he goes, really? Like I'm making up Chris Collinsworth. He was so in the nobody believes in us mode. It was everybody's catching it. Everybody's catching one. God, I love this league. That was great. 40 days to go. one coach is like, we're not talked about enough.

8:36Rich Eisen:We're overlooking. I don't have to make this stuff up to give fodder to my team. And the other guy's like, oh, you want fodder? We're the ones who are supposed to step on our own Johnsons. And I don't mean Ben. It's actually better when they're talking about you. It's more fun. Well, Chris loves it because that means we're being heard, right? We're being talked about. Although I'm not sitting here saying the Bears are regressing. I am also not talking about Jacksonville as much. that's correct. By the way, I'm going to pick both those teams to win their divisions again. I think so too, but Jacksonville, with all due respect, they've got to, like, let's win a playoff game and let's not, like, pull one out of an orifice after the first half is so bad you're wondering if you're going to bench your quarterback.

9:22Rich Eisen:You know, let this Jacksonville team show up like the Bortles ones that damn near beat you if it wasn't Stephon Gilmore saving the bacon correct in foxborough yep no doubt like i want to see that out of the trevor lawrence jaguars this year and then next year guess what we'll be doing leading the show with the cowboys good one you'll be scrolling through it we'll be scrolling let's go to jack in arizona everybody jack what's up jack i know it's hot jack you there i think jack's watching the tv here Hold on a minute. Jackie boy. Jack, you there? Yeah, I sure am. Okay, Jack, you got to turn down the television.

10:03Rich Eisen:You're on live now because if the TV is going to be on and we're talking, it's not going to be great. You there? Yeah, I just turned it off. Okay, Jack, what's going on, man? Well, I'm a diehard Bear fan. I go back in the 40s when Sid Littman was quarterbacking, and then he returned in 1950. Okay. Then later on, Patty Driscoll was coaching the Bears in the mid-50s because George Hale said it on a retreat. How old are you, Jack, if you don't mind me asking? How old are you? I will be 87 years old December 28th. Oh, boy, Jack. Okay, so what are we thinking? What are we thinking here? What are we thinking here?

10:45Rich Eisen:Because you just heard the coach says that so many people feel that the Bears are going to regress this year. Jack, what are we thinking? They're not going to regress. No way. No. No, here, two years ago, there were nothing with the lousy coach we had. He even forgot to even call a timeout during the Thanksgiving game. Unbelievable. He got a piece of work. Now we have a real coach. Okay. A real coach like we had in Ditka back in the day. Okay. In fact, Mike Ditka and I are the same age. Mike Ditka's birthday is in October. Mine is in December. All right. We're the same year. And I actually outlived Chuck Norris.

11:25I can't believe that. Unbelievable. Well, anyways, yeah, I'm a diehard. I live a block and a half from Wrigley Field all my life.

11:35Rich Eisen:All right, Jack. I'm named a city called Magnolia between Addison and Waveland. I was in that house since I was a year old. Jack. All my life. This is awesome. Here's what we're going to do. You're going to have to call us back so we can chat with you throughout the season. All right? Yeah, for sure. Let's keep revisiting here, okay? One other thing. Sure. When the Bears played in the Wrigley Field, the last team they played was the Green Bay Packers. We beat them 35-13. Then we went into Soldier's Field. The team that we played them were the Pittsburgh Steelers, and we beat them 17-15. And then the quarterback for the Bears at that time was Clark Kent Nix.

12:17Remember that? Kent Nix? I don't know if you remember that.

12:20Rich Eisen:No, sir. you're mentioning things before my time but I appreciate your time here Jack I'll give you another one back in we played Detroit Lions in 1970 and Bobby Douglas was the quarterback remember the guy in Detroit the wide receiver Chuck Hughes he died in the field remember that I don't think you remember that Jack in Arizona ladies and gentlemen he's got a call back there's Jack in Arizona we were going down the full NFL films roster right there. Bears fans are lit. Should be. Okay. Now you did this with Seth Rollins last week. You did a sleeper team. We did a sleeper draft. So each hour at the top of the hour, me and TJ and Seth, we drafted our sleeper teams.

13:09Those are the nine that we came up with. We all kind of homered our own pick. Yeah, but how are the Bears,

13:14Rich Eisen:Patriots, or Cowboys a sleeper team? I don't think anyone expects them to win the Super Bowl. My team didn't make the playoffs last year. I don't know. That's your sense of what a sleeper team is? We're a sleeper team. Nobody expects anything out of us, except for you and Dallas fans and me. What are you talking about? First Take has been talking about them every day, all week. And there are some people who think they can win it all. Yeah, but they're talking about it. Listen, those aren't sleeper teams, I don't think. But again, I'm just telling you. The other ones were. I initially wanted to put the Chiefs as my number one sleeper team.

13:47Rich Eisen:But I didn't do it. Because I'm not here to inflame. I'm here to inform. Why not both? Big difference. Because I don't want to. Because I don't want to. My top five sleeper teams brought to you by Hyundai. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Rich's top five. Okay, so sleeper teams. My top five sleeper teams. So these are teams that didn't make the playoffs. And these are teams that I think that didn't make the playoffs. They're going to make the playoffs. So my number one team is, I think, a team that can win the damn Super Bowl. Okay? You all on the same page here? Number five. I'm going with the Cleveland Browns here.

14:28Rich Eisen:Really? I'm going with the Cleveland Browns. They have drafted some studs. Did you see Todd Monken the other day when somebody asked him if Harold Fannin is going to be a key portion of his offense? And he's just like, hell yeah. Yeah, Harold Fannin. Fannin. Judkins. Casey Concepcion is there. They have drafted some kids. Let's get some quality quarterback play. And the head coach on offense, I know Stefanski, that was his side of the ball. It just wasn't working out. I don't know. I think the Browns can be – I'll stop being high register. I think the Browns can be better than you think. How good?

15:08Rich Eisen:Better than you think. And Browns won't be the homecoming. They're five. Four. I'm buying into some of the bandwagon talk on the Saints. Saints only two games away from winning the division. I had them on my list. Olave's been paid. They paid Travis Etienne. What if Kamara's good, too? What if Etienne and Kamara, would that be the best running back tandem in the NFL? I'm throwing it out there. Running back tandem. Okay, yeah, Detroit broke up theirs. By the way, everybody, you know, and Gibbs is going to be the bell count. I'm excited about that. They did hire Isaiah Pacheco. Right. I was just about to say.

15:52Rich Eisen:So it's not like, you know, Gibbs is going to get 90 carries and only the carries. I mean, Pacheco can fill that Montgomery role for sure. So I'm putting the Saints here. We'll see what they can do. The defense, we've got to see what they can do. But I'll put the Saints here. Number three on this list. they are bald and they are beautiful yeah this was my number one pick they were number one for you? what if Cam Ward gets this coaching from Dayball Carnell Tate and Ridley and you know Pollard there's some home run hitters folks and the defense Salah is going to coach them up big time it's going to be better And again, the sailing already.

16:47Rich Eisen:It's smooth. Look at that. Look at that right there. The storefronts. So many. The storefronts are clean. So many beautiful bald men. Look at that. Sala. You know what? You like hiring people in your own image. Good Lord. It's like the baldest Brady Bunch of all time right there. You know? Okay. Number two on the list. I'm buying into this hype, too. I'm doing it. The Giants. The G-Men. The G-Men. I like this. Their schedule's pretty brutal. It's brutal. But John Harbaugh's coming into town. You know that's going to plus this team up. Oh, yeah. On the spot. That's what Harbaugh's do. They plus up.

17:33Rich Eisen:Just John's only had one nude gig before as a head coach 16 years ago. I don't know why I want to buy into it. When is Malik Nabors going to play? Great question. Don't know. But defensively, they're really good. They'll get after you. Just let's keep the quarterback out of the big blue tent. They got the scat, man. Okay. I mean, Theo Johnson's pretty good, right? He's at Penn State over there? Yep, he is. I'm just mentioning because that's him on the screen, if I'm not mistaken. and let's get Skititibo out there not flipping around well you can't stop him from flipping I'm going to and then number one my sleeper team of the year I know you're going to have a problem with me saying that Dallas Cowell no no Cincinnati Bengals I think can win the AFC and win the whole damn shooting match I think that they it's not helpful that what Shamar Stewart got carted off So only a hyperextension.

18:36Rich Eisen:Got it. He's going to miss a few weeks. Got it. Avoid a disaster. Okay, which is great. It looked awful. But this offense is still this offense. Let's protect him. Let's just give Joe Burrow a short field sometimes. You know, let's give Joe Burrow some happiness. So he's not just going home, looking through his new telescope, staring into the greatness into the abyss that the celestial stars are. You know what I mean? He's like zooming with Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love it. Sexy Dex. He's like, let's see it today, Joe. And he's like, you see it every day. Welcome to the Cincinnati Bengals. I think the Bengals are the number one sleeper team.

19:15Rich Eisen:And what that means is win the division, go deep in the playoffs, if not make it back here to SoFi and let's go. They have that chance. You have one more. I did not know this. That's my boy. That's my boy. One more. Which one of you said the Vikings? Who said the Vikings are a sleeper team? Is that you, TJ? That was me. I'm going to go next level. The Vikings are a sleeper team. With J.J. McCarthy. Bingo. Bingo. Bingo. Bingo. The kid gets time, and then the kid starts showing up, and the kid gets them to the playoffs and shows you what he can do when the chips are done. Yeah, baby. Minnesota Vikings with J.J.

19:58Rich Eisen:McCarthy. Let's go. At some point, he'll get his chance, don't you think? Or is Kyler going all 17 from jump? The only way Kyler misses time is if he's hurt. He's not going to get bent. I agree. I agree. That's my top five sleeper teams for this upcoming season, brought to you by Hyundai. Get into the Hyundai Getaway sales event and get away with a deal so right it almost feels wrong. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. We'll take some phone calls before we get out of Dodge for the weekend, But before that, Seth Rollins is back on the show, but this time as a guest in support of SummerSlam. That's still to come and coming up next right here on The Rich Eisen Show.

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21:25Rich Eisen:The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE certified master technicians. Ask for an O 'Reilly Veriscan today. Rich Eisen here for gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in.

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23:10Rich Eisen:You got that down right now at your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai getaway sales event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. One week ago, he was in day two of a two-day stint as the guest host of this program, which I love when he does. Now he's back, if you will, a bit in his lane. It's called SummerSlam, which we all know. Special two-night event streaming live Saturday and Sunday this weekend at 6 Eastern, 3 Pacific on the ESPN app with an ESPN Unlimited plan. Ladies and gentlemen, superstar Seth Rollins back in the program. Good to see you. How are you doing, Seth?

23:47Rich Eisen:What's up, guys? How are you? I'm doing very well. All right. first things first uh just got to jump right into it here uh seth uh i told you last week when we last spoke it was actually one week ago this very day seth uh when i zoomed into this show uh from my personal time off um the segment before your wife joined this program as your guest that that interview on occasion would not go your well uh your way very well seth you know was i was i correct in that uh foreshadowing i thought it went pretty well i thought it was okay you know we we didn't it didn't carry over at home so you know whatever we said we left it at the desk there and it was great she was an awesome guest she's got great stories she put me on the hot seat a couple of times that's what i meant that's what i meant i didn't think i i didn't mean to say that the interview didn't go well overall i thought it was a it was a if you will a summer slam in its own right but um i i you know you and i had no idea we had something in common that at uh first blush you and i received heisman trophies we got the we got you know we got the stiff arm yeah get out of here you know what i mean oh yeah very beginning big one big one yeah yeah but you know we're persistent you know what i mean we're persistent we work we we earn everything that's given to us yes that's right now look at us yes well deserved and uh we've got trophies to uh trophy wives yeah and our children are are are miracles there's there's no doubt about that that's true all right so let's let's get into it here um seth um summer slam minnesota you're wearing purple right now i mean that's vikings country seth it's painful a little bit i'm not in Minnesota.

25:36I figure, you know, the season hasn't started yet. It's not quite August. So let's just, you know, let's just have bygones be bygones for now. Once the season starts in September, you know, I'll put the Navy and orange back on, but I figure, you know, be one with the people while I'm here.

25:50Rich Eisen:How, how do the people respond to you though? They, they know who you are and they know who you root for and they know, uh, the bears stand in the Vikings way. Seth, is that a problem yeah i still think that we both hate the packers more than we hate each other so we can kind of coalesce over that a little bit and i think that brings us together more than separates us what's that the phrase the enemy of my enemy is my friend is that what it is correct yeah the enemy is a friend okay i like that uh the fact that roman reigns played for the vikings that a problem what do you think i mean did he play there a little bit practice squad i'm not exactly sure i'm not concerned that's not a problem i mean he wasn't good enough to hack it and be a real player in the nfl so it's not like i'm in i'm concerned in any way so for you to if you will respect it or or earn your ultimate respect you got to make the 53 man roster is that what you're saying seth yeah well you got to sustain a little bit you know i'm nothing against these practice squad dudes i mean they're ballers you know what i mean they're gonna outrun me out throw me every step of the way, but you got to sustain a little bit.

26:58You know what I'm saying? Roman was in and out real quick, and then, you know, he's got a very, very famous family that he comes from in our industry, so it was easy for him to just be like, you know what? Actually, I don't want to do that. I'll just be given an opportunity here in WWE. So, you know, he took it, and here we are many, many years later fighting over the richest prize in the game.

27:18Rich Eisen:Love it, man. Sunday, August 2nd is when it's going to go down of this two-night event It's streaming live Saturday and Sunday, 6 Eastern on the ESPN app with an ESPN unlimited plan. So what can you preview for us on this front, Seth? Whoa, baby. I mean, it's too nice. It's going to be a big deal. You know, SummerSlam is the biggest party this summer. It's kind of like WrestleMania in the middle of August or the beginning of August. You got a lot going on. You got Brock Lesnar and Oba in the Hell in a Cell. You got Cody and Punk. You got Liv and Io for the Women's Championship. You got a ladder match to find an interim WWE women's champion as well.