Hour 3: Tom Brady’s Belichick Snub Reaction, plus TNF’s Andrew Whitworth

0:00Rich Eisen:Spring starts at the Home Depot and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under$300. Like the next grill four burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply. See Home Depot dot com slash price match for details. so good so good so good spring styles are at nordstrom rack stores now and they're up to 60 off stock up and save on rag and bone made well vince all saints and more of your favorites how did i not know rack has adidas why do we rack for the hottest deal just so many good brands join the nordy club to unlock exclusive discounts shop new arrivals first and more plus buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free great brands great prices that's why you rack This is The Rich Eisen Show.

1:02Rich Eisen: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. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Is Drake playing under pressure for the Super Bowl? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Yeah, he's been terrible in the playoffs. May back the throw again. And it's intercepted in the end zone.

1:44Rich Eisen:Earlier on the show. Pro Football Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner. Pro Football Hall of Famer, Jerry Rice. Coming up. Prime Video TNF analyst, Andrew Whitworth. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Andrew Whitworth of Prime Video is going to be joining us shortly on the program. And we'll ask him what we asked Kurt Warner and Jerry Rice in hours number one and two is, how crazy is it that Bill Belichick's not a first ballot Hall of Famer? I mean, that's a very slanted way of asking the question, but that's just the way I kind of feel asking the question.

2:21Rich Eisen:What's the name of the show? You know what I mean? This is the Rich Eisen Show. Thanks, Jay. you can go ahead about differently and you'll be like it was there any surprises from this hall of fame or just like if he brings it up his own generally what do you think of it yeah you don't have to lead the witness it's a report by the way it's if don van nana and seth wickersham have it it's happened what's stopping the hall this is just a report nothing official what's stopping the hall from saying hey voters let's reconvene and get this right because the hall's not in charge of who gets in and who isn't they can tell the voters to re-vote no they can't why they will never do that they hand off the voting to a group of voters baseball's hall of fame never tells anybody vote again you know no hall of fame does that there's a group There are 39 others who now look at it.

3:20Rich Eisen:Now that's a different story. But a vote is a vote, and that is that. And as a coach might say, it is what it is moving on to 2027. I've been told not to trust votes these days. Okay. But outside of that lane, Chris, back in this one, the Hall of Fame is not going to do it. They're just not going to do it. They aren't. and it makes them look bad too i understand well again it shouldn't it's not them it's not them again the hall of fame they are run by diehard keepers of a flame where which also is important for local commerce i mean it stark county ohio they are awesome i i i totally encourage everybody to take the time certainly if somebody gets in who you care deeply about go it is amazing the hall of fame museum is amazing you've been there as well everybody here in this room i love it right so it's not them they are they they may be in charge of who are the voters you know that's it and and at some point when the vote is over and we know who next thursday night at NFL Honors is in, and I guess all voters are now able to discuss it publicly if they so wish.

4:48Rich Eisen:Maybe you say something. Am I reading this right? But that's the way we all looked at that headline that was in the palm of our hands unless we saw it online as opposed to on a hard line computer screen as opposed to an app. That is stunning, though. Tom Brady, what show is he on? Was he on? Oh, our boy, Brock Huard. Brock and Salk in the Pacific Northwest having Tom Brady on. And Tom had this to say when asked about him. I don't understand it. I mean, I was with him every day. If he if he's not a first bout Hall of Famer, there's really no coach that should ever be a first bout Hall of Famer, which is completely ridiculous because people deserve it.

5:32And he's he's he's incredible. There's no coach I'd ever want to play for. I'd rather play for it. If I'm picking one coach to go out there to win a Super Bowl, give me one season, I'm taking Bill Belichick. So that's enough said. There's nothing outside of that. Again, when it comes down to votes and popularity and all that, then welcome to the world of voting. And you may as well go try out for the Oscars or whatever and get a big panel to tell you if you're good or not. I mean, it goes without saying.

6:09Rich Eisen:And the thing that, again, I don't understand is just make sure he's not a first ballot Hall of Famer. Is that what was talked about in that voting room? Like, that's the punishment that nobody thought necessary or coming. Honestly, if Belichick was on that stage next Thursday night as a member of the 2026 Canton class, would there be anybody out there saying this guy doesn't deserve it honestly yeah 11 people maybe maybe but hopefully i just wish it was nine not 11 because then we wouldn't be hearing anything over there grinding axe you know what i mean it's just silly at best and just one last thing too i understand there are some hall of fame voters that are part of this group of 50 and i i just wish they had been on the set of the nfl 100 show that i was so honored to have hosted in mount laurel new jersey in the studio at the home of nfl films with chris collinsworth who's calling the super bowl with tariko and a couple of sundays and one after another after another the hall of famers who are part of the 100 team the 100th anniversary team um one by one and every goat that was going to be in the hall of fame went to belichick first and not a single one of them turned their back to him saying, this guy is going to just sully our room when he joins us.

7:57Rich Eisen:Not one of them. This is him with Ray Lewis. And there were some Ravens-Patriots battles. Oh, was there ever. Right? Ray was just talking his ear off, and he was talking Ray's ear off. Ed Reed and Bill, they were like BFFs. Bill wanted to coach Ed. And if you're thinking the Spygate, the Flategate stuff, all that stuff was happening when Ed was trying to win. He wasn't sitting there for a single second thinking anything but I can't get enough of this guy. And as a matter of fact, Bill had a segment during each of these shows where we turned to him for the black and white film era players that were in the NFL 100.

8:49Rich Eisen:You know, the long since passed and somebody needed to give voice as to why these people from generations before deserved to be in the hall. and Bill had film sessions and there was only one guy who came through and there were some greats, man. There were some greats that came through. There's only one who came through who Bill's like, I want you to join me in these film sessions and talk about it because I'm just going to use you as an example. Was Ed Reed. It was Ed Reed. And in terms of Bill's respect for the hall, this was i think the first time there were multiple like dozens of busts loaned out from the bust room

9:43Rich Eisen:elsewhere and we had busts actual hall of fame busts on the set and i took this picture bill didn't know he's snapping it it's a great shot he's walking up there he spent damn near 10 minutes by himself looking at all of these busts and and he he was into it man he knew the history he respected the history he loved the history and it's just crazy that the people whose job it is to put more busts in the room look and saw this guy and all they thought was someone to punish rather than someone to enshrine. Again, I still just can't wrap my head around it. I remember you also would tell us about, like, Bill would almost ask you if he could, like, jump ahead of you and ask questions to people.

10:40Rich Eisen:Oh, yeah. He was so, like, hyped and he was so happy and curious and wanted to know. Yeah. You just made it seem like when you were just like how he was like a little kid almost. Right. And obviously he's got a reputation of being gruff and people at arm's length and not being a fun guy. And this doesn't matter. I mean, it's Hall of Fame. Credentials speak for itself. But I'll never forget where he did say at one point, can I ask the first question of Mean Joe Green? That's what it was. Yeah. Coming out of a commercial break. And you told him no. He's right. I'm like, you know, the floor is yours, man.

11:16Rich Eisen:And all I kept thinking to myself is what's he going to ask about Chuck? what Chuck Knowles said or this moment about, you know, rushing this quarterback or what scheme or what's offensive line did he have to face? And the only thing he asked me and Joe Green, like, here we go, three, two, one, and we're back. And, uh, being Joe Green is here along with some of the other greats that we had on the set for the defensive line and front seven group. Um, and, um, and Bill, uh, asked me and Joe Green this question. So on the set of that, you know coke commercial how many takes did you did you have like how many how many sodas were you drinking that day and i thought to myself holy crap that's what the modern day lombardi is asking his guy it was great it was it was unbelievable and then just again just his his being around everybody i mean obviously lawrence taylor and and on the set with bill was something I will never forget.

12:16Rich Eisen:And he would just tell stories about LT and LT's respect for him and love for him, even though, you know, he was kind of a hard ass to on LT for a while to the point where he reached out to Parcells and he's like, he told this story on that set. And it's one of my favorite moments, the NFL 100, where he told Bill Parcells, you know, LT, I have a problem here because LT's late for meetings. What do I do? And Parcells told Belichick, what are you doing starting the meeting without him. Wait for him. Great. And again, these are just, this is not the reason why he's a Hall of Famer. I'm just giving you points about the touch points for this man alone.

12:55Come on.

12:57Rich Eisen:It's hilarious that Bill Belichick, a guy so divisive, everyone feels a certain way about him. He has been a uniter of everybody coming together on this topic. It's really interesting. Except for 11 people, apparently. What if I told you 11 men? Well, women, there's some ladies on that. Everyone look at the list. I looked at the list last night, and I'm like, who's most likely to have said no? Yeah, let's guess. Put them on black. I mean, it's silly. Some of them are obvious. Austin in Indiana has been hanging on for two hours. What's up, Austin? You there? Hey, how you doing, sir? What's up, Austin?

13:33Rich Eisen:What up, man? Hey, just kind of wanted to call in. As a Jets fan my whole life, you know, Seeing Sam Darnold succeed now in Seattle makes me a super happy one, but it's also that giant kick in the nard you're always talking about. Kind of thinking about it, you know, if he wins the Super Bowl and Allen and Lamar don't, does he go down as the best pick out of that class? I guess you're going to have to, at the end of the day, see if Darnold gets back there, right? How sustainable is it with Seattle? and trust me we're going to between now and next sunday and i've got eight and a half hours on nfl game day morning sunday alone there will be a conversation of which team is more likely to have a sustainable super bowl run new england or seattle oh and i i i know i i bet you people would choose new england just because of drake may automatically hitting in two years being the third overall pick as opposed to a third overall pick on his fifth team, you know, finding magic with a group that got thrown together with a coach that's been in it for just two years as opposed to Vrabel.

14:43Rich Eisen:I bet you if you put that question, New England would win it. Really? Yeah. I think so too, Rich. I think you're spot on. I think the sustainability with Vrabel there and, you know, I mean, May is only in his second year, but I think Darnold, the conversation is going to start coming up more and more with seasons like this, that he's going to be in an elite category soon. Thanks for the call, Austin, in Indiana. And if our line producer, Luke Lasord, is out there watching this show, I'm sure he just took a note. Like, that's not a bad, that's not a bad, what was it, LL block? LL block, nice. Because you're going to go A through Z in the blocks, and then when you're an hour, 19 million, you've got to double the letters.

15:21Rich Eisen:You're like John Schneider as a team builder over Elliot West. Oh, I'm just saying, if you threw it out to a poll question. You want to do it? yeah sure why not how am i wording this which super bowl 60 team is more likely to go on a multiple a dynastic run all right and i bet you people would choose new england over seattle east coast bias drake mays 23 donald's 28 drake mays already hit took a while for Donald to hit. Vrabel's already a coach of the year. Mike McDonald's just getting his bones. 12s have a powerful online presence. I'm aware of it. I'm not saying this is... Science?

16:12Rich Eisen:Or what did Vrabel say about being on EEI? Is it getting Mirandized or something like that? Mirandized breakfast shots. You know what I mean? Yeah. I'm just worried of people who vote here. If we do this two weeks from now, are they going to remember how they voted? Good one. Nice shot at Bill Pullian. Alan Dallas, what's up, Al?

16:32Rich Eisen:Gidaro? A couple things. Number one, regarding the Hall of Fame voting, the senior voting, if Roger Craig gets into the Hall of Fame, Tiki Barber better pray Rondae's on the senior committee. And I'm not advocating for Tiki. This senior committee thing is a little suspect. I don't know, Al. I mean, you've got to have somebody. Look at the stats, Rich. I mean, you don't think Roger Craig's deserving to get in? Look at the stats. He was a great player, won three Super Bowls. I get it. But that's not the reason why I called. But I just want to start it out there. And that's more FAN, you know, late night radio talk.

17:13Rich Eisen:Hey, we're on in New York. No, no, no. It's not FAN. It's ESPN in New York, Al. Let's, you know. let's sorry about uh richard i forgot i'm sorry it's okay man you're so long i can't there may be an eye on rich and eisen but there isn't one in espn and i'm a team oh i oh i know you are you're a number one team guy i get that thank you um the thing i haven't heard about the belichick thing and i'm not advocating for it again okay i love bill belichick i love the guy okay is that if these guys didn't want to vote him in couldn't they just say hey listen we're not sure if he's going to come back and coach so we're we're going to like wouldn't that be the first thing that comes out of your mouth like i'm not sure if he's coming back because if he comes back right don't they have to wait a little bit on these coaches no they changed the rules it's a great example al they changed the rule um oh they did they changed the rule recently where a coach does not have to wait five years anymore yeah but what happens if he gets elected and goes back to work.

18:11Rich Eisen:Joe Gibbs actually did that once and guess what? The NFL survived. In basketball, there's lots of these college coaches that are already in the hall. I don't understand why that would be so bad. We'd put a patch on him. Make a patch out of it. Belichick belongs in. Belichick belongs in first ballot Hall of Famer. There's no first ballot Hall of Famer. I would have at least said, maybe I don't feel comfortable. Bill Polian, is he kidding? He's kidding, right? I don't know. Should be taken off the committee just for that. It's a bad look. But again, it's it isn't just so we're all, you know, on the same page here.

18:47Rich Eisen:It's not what the voters have said. It's two outstanding reporters and Don Van Nata and Seth Wickersham catching wind of Bill not getting in. The article says Bill got a call from the Hall of Fame to let him know. How did that call go? holy crap because bill's like hey someone like he sees a canton number on his phone and he gets a phone call and it's just like hey i'm so-and-so from the hall of fame and he's probably thinking is this the knock you know and instead it's you know it's a knockout you know and he and that had to be a terrible phone call to make it's probably the president of the hall of fame doing that and and um and so it was the reporting of what was said in the room which is supposed to stay private so yeah i don't think anybody in the room is like you know we we vote him and he's gonna go maybe back to coaching that's a problem how is that a problem if the rules have been changed to have somebody not wait five years clearly that's going to happen with these new rules it may happen somebody might put tomlin in in the hopper for next year but there is also al as you know a backlog of people like coughlin you're for your giants shanahan mike shanahan i mean what's going on here holmgren there are so many others that are have been waiting for a shot and now they're gonna have to wait another year because i assume belichick's penance is just a one-year sit down you know yeah it's great it's crazy and by the way if you don't hear what i'm doing in the background i'm actually chopping up snow and ice on my front stoop i live in dallas texas richard and we've been snowed in for five days well i send my best to you and everybody there in the Metroplex.

20:26Rich Eisen:Alan Dallas here. Let's take a break. Andrew Whitworth of Prime Video is going to join us. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show.

20:36Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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22:49Rich Eisen:Let's just jump into the big topic today, Andrew, that Bill Belichick is not a first ballot Hall of Famer. You're already shaking your head. I'll give you the floor on the subject matter. It's just disappointing, Rich. I mean, I think you look at it over the years. I think it's one of the things that, you know, I was really excited. You look at our Protector of the Year Award this year to have something where you have former players, even some current guys that are involved in trying to help make that selection to where it's really coming from a place of people that have been there, done that and been a part of this game for a really long time.

23:24I mean, you know, I think everybody that played it, coached it, has been around the NFL, sees Bill Belichick as the standard. and his greatness and who he is as a football coach and what he was able to accomplish over his time in New England. I even think of the impact he had on guys like Nick Saban and others and now even Mike Rabel who's sitting there coaching the Super Bowl right now. Man, it's just you all look up and you're all so inspired by him to see him not be somebody who I think we all sit there and talk about, man, this guy's a first ballot Hall of Famer and those kind of things. as a coach, you think of this guy as he is on the first ballot of all Hall of Famers.

24:03And to not be somebody who's going to go in the first time, I think a lot of guys are just discouraged. And I think it's a bad look for people that vote in this because it just shows you that a lot of this stuff comes down to bias because there is no argument. You can like him, you can hate him, you can hate how some of them are won or have an argument about that kind of stuff. But to argue whether he is the first ballot Hall of Famer, there is no question. and he is one of the greatest coaches that's ever coached this sport.

24:29Rich Eisen:Yeah, you know, I've been chopping this up for two and a half hours now, and what you just said kind of is a new angle to talking about it, which is the debate should have been amongst us as observers and fans, not just handled by the committee that just he's a first ballot Hall of Famer no matter what you think, right, and then leave it up to us as to where he ranks based on, you know, the warts, right? Like that's, I would have preferred it that way, quite frankly. Yeah, those are conversations for coffee shops and talk shows and everything else. Like, hey, that's great. But the conversation of whether he's a first ballot Hall of Famer, there is none.

25:11He is, without question, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. The very first chance you could put him in there, you'd put him at the top of it with some of the greatest coaches ever in the history of this game.

25:20Rich Eisen:And, you know, when you said a lot of guys are discouraged or disappointed, are you talking about your your colleagues in the media or you're talking about former players that you text with, talk with? Like, can you give me a general sense of your your man on the street, if you will, from your. Yeah, I think when you when you look at players reactions, you see it former coaches reactions. The reaction is is is not one of like, man, we want to go critique. You know, obviously, there's a lot made about the voting systems of a lot of the different things, Pro Bowls, you name it. But it's not that.

25:51It's that, man, there's not really any debate on the impact that Bill Belichick on a game of football and the level of excellence. So it's those kind of things that now we create all kinds of questions. And you're making the voting process look really bad when a guy who has done something that very few have ever been having the opportunity to even go to a game. he's been a part of that many and one. It's just, you start to create all this, you know, really turmoil around the subject. And now everything's gonna get dissected and looked at. And I look at it like, Rich, you know, a lot of these things come out with college football and where we are today with NIL and all those things.

26:31Do you know why we're here, Rich? Because years ago, when we had a system ran by the NCAA, we went into things that was none of their business for them to govern and overlook and critique. And then, you know what? People had to sue them and go after them and take away all their power. And now we live in this world where we live in now with college football. So if we want to have systems and things like these things that aren't debatable, like they've got to go a certain way. And you can't put your emotion and feelings into whether you like Bill Belichick or not as a voter. Without question, he's the most accomplished and deserves to be at the very top of the Hall of Fame and what he's accomplished as a head coach.

27:05So to not get in the first time you have a chance to vote him, you make people question. You make people come after you. You make people say, all right, I want to know exactly who votes, how they vote, and what's their names. So when you're five years down the road and you're like, man, why is it like this now? Well, these are the kind of moments that lead from that, right? That's the reality. I'll never forget. I always stick this out. I played with A.J. Green, one of the greatest athletes, coolest dudes, greatest human beings I ever played with. Like to think he missed college football games.

27:33We talk about the NCAA. He missed college football games because somebody paid him a couple hundred bucks for one of his jerseys 20 years ago. Look at where we are now. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's crazy to think that's how the NCAA got to where they're at. And now when we look at this voting system and you're a voter and you want to know why people are about to come after you and want to get into this and figure out what's going on, it's because you do things like this that are silly and they make no sense. It's ridiculous that we even all have to talk about this for the next couple of days because it just shouldn't be something that exists.

28:03Rich Eisen:Andrew Whitworth here on the Rich Eisen Show, the Fitz and Whit pod, all part of the Prime video world that Witt is part of on Thursday nights throughout the regular season. So your, I guess, postpartum with the Rams season, watching them in the NFC Championship game, is what? What's your... Oh man, it's tough. It's one of those things that, man, obviously I played there and I got a lot of great relationships in that building and still feel part of it and love those guys. But it's the tough part of this business, Rich, in that the reality is we say it's cliche all the time, but there's only one team that ends the season happy.