NFL Network Host Scott Hanson

23:10Tom Pelissero:So here's my question for you. 1993, Traverse City, Michigan. Personality-wise and presentation-wise, how close are you to Scott Hansen? Like, if we went back, would we recognize that guy, or is it just this? I hated my voice. I probably when you started or when you guys started, like you always think you sound nasally or not quite right. And I would, you know, listen to myself back on a recording and I'm like, oh, man, the enthusiasm was always there. The enthusiasm was always there. But you might be able to go back earlier than my first job in Traverse City, Michigan, because the first episode of Red Zone.

23:49I told my whole family, you guys, this is going to be a galactic success. I am telling if we do this right, this is going to be I knew it was going to be the vehicle for my career that I could do it well and that we could make a show that the audience would love. So I called up my mom after the first episode, my mom. Right. And I said, Mom, what do you think? And she's like, Scott, you act like I haven't seen you do this your whole life. you don't remember that you would put the living room tv on a football game then you would drag your dad's television from the den on a rolling stand back and and pull that out and try and put another game on there then this is pre-internet pre-satellite all this you put it you'd find a game on the radio in the detroit area we could get we can getst louis radio sometimes believe And then I'd have a magazine and a newspaper in front of me.

24:44And that's how I would sit as a boy and watch football. So I always have tried to have my head on a swivel. So, I mean, I guess some of my colleagues, when I was a sportscaster, kind of doing standalone, like, sports center type shows, they used to say, yeah, you would pace in the newsroom on an NFL Sunday when we weren't on the air. but we were going on the air, let's say 6 o 'clock or 10 o 'clock at night. But during the games, I would pace and I would be like, hey, did you guys see what Washington just did over here? Oh, man. You know, whoever the wide receiver was. So your brain was rewired really young here, and it's just been part of the process.

25:24Multitasking is, that's my comfort zone. I love it. I love it. You did it on Gold Zone last year. Oh, I tried.

25:32Tom Pelissero:A couple Emmys to show for. You talk about the challenge of college football and people not knowing the quarterback at New Hampshire. It's a whole other thing when you're trying to describe the break dancer from Australia. Yes, which she wasn't in my window, thankfully. So Ray Gunn, I feel you. The Olympics was incredible. I was very hesitant to take that job. In fact, when I was last with you on this show, I had committed to do it, but we were still a few weeks away, I think, from the beginning of the Paris Games. You had your stack of names. I did. And I'm glad I'm glad Molly Solomon, the president of NBC Olympics, ultimately talked, talked me into it.

26:13She said, we're going to support you. And it was one of the critical hits of the and it wasn't just me. Gold zone, as as it's known, was a huge team effort for which we won two sports Emmy Awards. Well, well deserved by the whole crew. But I'm glad she talked me into it. but it was a whale of an endeavor. When I cut to the Cowboys-Eagles game, I never have to say, so there's 11 men over here, and there's 11 men over here, and they're trying to move the football in this direction. When I cut to fencing, I had to say, okay, Italy has a three-person team. France has a three-person team. They play up to 45, the score.

26:56You score in this way. I would have to describe what the sport was for an audience that, you know, would otherwise never see fencing to try and give them that context to try and make it interesting. But I think it ended up being a really good watch and I'm very proud of what we did. And I've actually signed up for the next two Olympic games. Congratulations. Thank you. International Scott Hanson. Yeah. Yeah.

27:18Tom Pelissero:There you go. So now we'll pile on MLB red zone and WNBA red zone and everything else over I don't come for$15 ,000 anymore. Let me just tell you that. Per episode, right? Do you have any more for a while on Madden to do that? Yes, and Madden, I've been very blessed. Look, Red Zone has given me a platform to branch off and to do other things, passion projects and things. And the folks from EA Sports approached me about being the halftime host. In fact, the name of this show right here is also in Madden this year. Did you know Rich Eisen's in Madden? He's got his. I'm sure he's spoken about it.

27:59But I'm going to be the halftime host, and it's pretty cool. Once they get it up and running, check this out. Let's say you're playing Madden, and you are the Baltimore Ravens, and you're playing franchise mode. So you're going to play a 17-game season with the Baltimore Ravens. Your buddy down the street is the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you guys are in the same Madden league. When you play your Baltimore Ravens game, when it's halftime of your game, A.I. Scott Hansen's going to come on and say, well, the Ravens trying to stay one game ahead of the Steelers in the AFC North. Let's show you what Pittsburgh did, and it's going to be the highlights of what your buddy.

28:35That's incredible. Once they get it up and running fully, that is the implementation. How cool is that? That's unbelievable. You'll see, okay, Joe, the guy down the street that's got the Steelers, okay, he won his game today or he lost his game today. How does that impact me playing franchise mode? So, yeah, it was a whale of a thing to record that, though. Like, I went into a studio here in Los Angeles. Bits and pieces? We had half a day was spent, nothing but me going, okay, this is a quarterback rushing touchdown that was a scramble. So it was a pass play called, and it ended up being a scramble, but it ended up being a touchdown, okay?

29:18And he goes for two yards and he goes for three yards and he goes for four yards to 99 yards. Now do that without without what they call listing or being like sounding like you're just saying over and over and then try and take your enthusiasm level. What does a Lamar Jackson quarterback scramble touchdown run sound like from 32 yards away versus 67 yards away? So it was a whale of a production to do, but it was fun, and I'm so glad to be partnered. EA Madden NFL 26, in stores today. Download it now.

29:56Tom Pelissero:Just to be clear, when you re-signed your new deal to host NFL Red Zone, did you put in there that they can't use AI Scott Hansen at any point? They now have captured your voice, say, in every different scenario. I can imagine them going, we could save a little money with hologram Scott Hansen. I have had discussions. I've had discussions with different people and friends of mine, lawyers, friends of mine are like, Scott, this is a brave new world we're entering into where they will. So there needs to be guardrails. And I'm guessing it's going to come from the legal community, like trademarking, you know, name, image and likeness is where it really falls under.

30:38But, yeah, I don't know what it's going to look like. I will say this, though. My dad, when I told him, Dad, I want to become a sportscaster. I want to go to college to learn this trade, and I want to give everything I've got. He's like, Scott, look it. We love you. We'll support you. You're going into a very, very competitive industry. My dad was in the media. He was behind the camera, but he knew the industry very well. And he said, I'm going to make a prediction. By the time, this is in late 1980s, he said, I'm going to make a prediction. by the time you're done with your career they'll have robots doing your job now he of course have pictured up a metal you know you know lost in space star wars thing but he was onto it he said they they'll technology will figure a way out that they'll be able to replace on-camera talent where i think clearly the technology is getting close to that however i believe especially with sports, I think the human touch is needed.

31:43If you knew that it was AI Scott Hanson, that it wasn't really real, or AI Joe Smith, right? I believe it wouldn't feel the same way. Because when I do a touchdown on Red Zone, I am speaking to the audience, and I'm saying, you guys, we're having this collective experience right now that Saquon Barkley just hit 200 yards rushing and that's his third touchdown of the game and i'm fired up about it i know what that means and i know you know what that means where ai even if you could do voice inflection even if you could do mannerisms and things like that i don't necessarily know if it really will hit that same note at least not in these few first handful of years of ai world taking over i'm sorry to go meta on you like that but what do you think i mean it would seem like the emotional

32:36Tom Pelissero:intelligence is the most complicated part of this. The ability to convey the emotions of a moment is going to be much harder than just simply the formula says we're going to now describe this. That would be the challenging part. All right. Predictions. We did what my salary was before. What year will there be nothing but AI hosts on television? Never. How long do I got left here? 20, 30 years tops. So hopefully some of our up from 2015. I can tell you this. Same brother. This is not AI right here. This is really Scott Hanson. We appreciate you being here, man. You're the best. You guys, great to be with you.

33:12Tom Pelissero:Thank you so much. Have a great football season, everybody. Four weeks away, 27 days, Scott Hanson, seven hours. He gave us 30 great minutes today. Back with more right after this on the Rich Eisen Show.

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33:58Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high-interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast. Call an audible on your debt today at SoFi.com slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891. Fast funds. Terms apply at SoFi.com slash debt play. Rich Eisen here. We talk a lot about battles in sports, teams battling through adversity, athletes fighting for every yard.

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35:01Mike Del Tufo, are you out there, Mike? Yes, I'm here, Rich. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. So what are you revealing? You've got right here. Right up here above me is a brand new Rich Eisen show sign. A new Rich Eisen show sign. Am I going to do it now? You see this. Yeah, here we go. Here we go. This is going to be fun. Just hope it doesn't come down in your head. What are the odds that he messes this up? I can't do it because the way it's set up. Put that on the microphone, dude. I can't. This is the worst reveal ever. Take down both. Keep pulling, Delto. Just put the microphone down.

35:35This is good, Rich. This is good. He's going to break down the whole thing. Yes. Pull both of the cords, you. Hey. No, we cannot have this as the reveal. He does audio. This cannot be the reveal. He does audio. He does not do manual labor. It's the way it's messed up up there. I can't. Look, I can't. We called this. Walk up the stairs. Walk up the stairs, Del Tufo. Yeah, okay. The not reveal. He's going to walk up the stairs. Oh, no, I can't. Because I can't climb to where that is. Yeah, you can. No, you can't. You got to have a cable. You guys don't know OSHA rules. See, they screwed me. They did this on purpose.

36:13I'm convinced. Yeah, it's against you, Mike. I'm telling you. Del Tufo, just tell everyone out there you don't have any change for them. Just pull it. Give them good jersey pull. Put them on. Yeah, there you go. Watch. Put the microphone down and pull it. Pull the other one. You're a big man. Yank it. Yank it. Oh, jeez.

36:38This is so much better. All right, come back in here and screw off the audio now, Mike.

36:53Tom Pelissero:I thought maybe we should just end the show after 30 minutes of Scott Hansen. It is tough to match that energy level. Yeah, the intensity. Once he exits the studio. It'll be a fun year. Tom Pellicero in for Rich. We've talked a lot about the young quarterbacks, the rookie quarterbacks through the course of this show. Chase Daniel joined us earlier. and Mike Garofalo on with his impressions from what he's seen so far. Let's talk about an older quarterback because the Matthew Stafford situation continues to evolve. He was supposed to be back on the field today. Sean McVay had said on Saturday after the preseason game that he had been feeling good.

37:33Tom Pelissero:No restrictions in a throwing session back on Monday. And then today, no Stafford on the sideline in street clothes. Quote from Sean McVay. He said, we're going to be smart, but he didn't feel good enough. And we didn't think it was the right thing to do based on how he woke up feeling. Came in Monday, didn't feel great. So it doesn't feel like it was the right decision to push him. He said he's going to be flexible and fluid, kind of like my voice right there. Asked if surgery had been discussed. McVay said that hasn't been a conversation that we've had. So here's what you have. You see more of those quotes from Sean McVay.

38:10This is not good.

38:12Tom Pelissero:Listen, I am not in any way comparing myself to an NFL quarterback, but I have had an aggravation in my back. They thought it was a herniated disc. I went through multiple rounds of epidurals. I went through extensive treatment. I did everything right up until meeting with a spinal surgeon who ordered a new MRI and told me, you don't have a herniated disc. There is there are millions of Americans with nonspecific lower back pain. like every year there are that many people who have these things and more or less what the doctors say and it's like the most undoctorly thing but it's just like it should go away eventually go away like a year you can do these things like epidurals they're supposed to help it but if the needle's not in exactly the right spot if you twist the wrong way for me it was things like if i turned a doorknob i would feel it in my back just because of way that would torque a little bit.

39:08Tom Pelissero:But then eventually after that re-diagnosis, I started doing Pilates and it went away about a year after at first it happened. So again, I'm not comparing that to Matthew Stafford, but anybody who's dealt with back issues, things like an aggravated disc, as our Ian Rappaport had first reported that it was, you're talking about something that is very, very tricky because there's not like a linear way. It's not as simple as, hey, go and do surgery. You get a spinal fusion, but you're not going to want to do that if you're playing in the NFL. If you're just talking about, you know, irritations and things like that, aggravations, this could be a longer term type of a thing.

39:45Tom Pelissero:That doesn't mean Matthew Stafford can't play. That doesn't mean that this is somehow a signal that this is much worse and he's going to miss half the season, but it is indicative of the nature of what you're dealing with. So when Sean McFay says it's fluid, that may well be the case. Stafford has dealt with, I mean, back injuries, thumb injuries, a shoulder at one point. Every year it seems like there's something, and it's always a little edgy in camp, and then come the start of the season, everything's fine. Remember where the soft season began? It was Matthew Stafford and the Rams going back and forth about a contract, Stafford's agent having permission to go talk to other clubs about a trade, and then it eventually ends up with Stafford going back.

40:24Tom Pelissero:So this was not like this is something everybody knew about. It was covered up or something. I mean, everybody was on the same page that this guy's going to be totally fine. There's enough here that it bears watching because you're talking about three and a half weeks for a close to 40 year old quarterback who's got a lot more gray in that beard than he used to. Back issues are something that can linger. And so even if he's able to push it, how effective can he be? How many reps is he getting? That is definitely all worth discussing. So stay tuned on Matthew Stafford. The backups there, by the way, Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett.

41:03Tom Pelissero:Stetson Bennett won a lot of games back at Georgia. Jimmy Garoppolo has won a lot of games in the NFL, has had his share of injuries through the years as well. I would think, Brockman, if you're looking at this just objectively, that even going to a Jimmy Garoppolo is not going to make people feel real comfortable about picking, let's call it that, the Rams to achieve their requisite number of wins. If you understand what I'm saying. I do understand what you're saying. Rams win total right now with Matt Stafford, nine and a half. You're getting minus money on the over nine and a half. So Vegas is expecting a 10, 11, maybe 12 win season.

41:47Tom Pelissero:I think it win 10 games with Jimmy Garoppolo. I don't know that they're going to be a Super Bowl contender. I mean, that's one of the big takeaways going into the offseason was the Rams were that close. They probably gave the Eagles the toughest game that Philly had in the entire playoffs. A couple bad fumbles in the weather, probably weather-related fumbles by Kyron Williams and Matt Stafford. Correct. And so, again, and I am not saying Matthew Stafford's going to miss time. This could be in a week he's out there or whatever. But Sean being asked about surgery and it wasn't like, yeah, right.

42:15It was, nope, we haven't discussed that as of yet.

42:17Tom Pelissero:But again, if it's this type of a back pain, there may not be, you know, an aggravated disc. That's different than a herniated disc where, you know, you can shave it down. If it's just an aggravation, that does sound, again, I'm not comparing myself to Matthew Stafford. I'm just saying that sounds a lot like what I've dealt with. That's pain management. Millions of people deal with. It's not even all pain management. It's also just about, like, functionally. You can take all the muscle relaxers you want, but if your back just keeps locking up on you over and over, it's not great. So, but, you know, Jimmy Garoppolo, the issue wouldn't even be, can he go out there and function in the offense?

42:48Tom Pelissero:I'm sure he can. I mean, he went to a Super Bowl with Kyle Shanahan in a pretty similar offense. It's with Jimmy, he's also got a long injury history. Something happens to him, and you don't have Stafford. Now you're to Stetson Bennett, who, again, won a ton of games at Georgia, missed his entire rookie season because of things that were going on in his life away from the field, has come back, he's looked pretty good. But you're down an interesting slope here at a time that, if we rewind a little bit, what were the Rams' plans going to be if they did not get Stafford back and they traded him? It was going to be Aaron Rodgers.

43:21Tom Pelissero:It was quite possibly going to be Aaron Rodgers, who is now taken and is in Pittsburgh. And I wouldn't anticipate that's a situation that's going to change and suddenly he's going to become available via trade. Does Ryan Tannehill still have the same phone number? Ryan Tannehill would be an option. Or there's a guy in Atlanta who's currently due$27.5 million to not play football this season. If something were to happen to Stafford, there is an option out there of somebody who has had a lot of success playing for Kyle Shanahan, being in that offense, wouldn't be much of a learning curve. Again, we are not there.

43:54Tom Pelissero:But those are those types of things you have to start thinking about if you get to a point where Matthew Stafford's availability for the start of the season is truly within doubt. We still have more to come here on the Rich Eisen Show. Tom Pellicero in for Rich. Let's get back to some of those rookie quarterbacks coming up right after this.

44:17Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. After all these years talking to athletes, coaches, entertainers, and people at the top of what they do, one thing is pretty clear.

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45:29Gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget. and it's all built to save you time with built-in automated tools for offer letters, onboarding docs, direct deposit, and more. Plus, you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash rich and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. I've asked you this before, but I'll ask it again because it's the first time that you're here in studio. When you walk around and people see you, which is the movie or play or anything that you get from like.

46:15Depends on the person. Okay. Certainly, Dumb and Dumber is a big hit. Okay. You know, internationally. And pick an airport. Oh, my God, Dumber Dumber. Oh, my God. Yeah. You know, and there's Newsroom, and there's Gettysburg, and, you know, you get those people, you know, because of Winn-Dixie, which is a little family movie that I, you know, was very happy to get paid for. Sure. Was going, Winn-Dixie was, my God, I grew up on that. I'm going, okay. How about Speed? Speed, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you get that a little bit? A little bit. Okay. I mean, I was the guy back in the office, you know, going, speed.

47:00I remember getting the script, and they said, and I died on page 22. I died in the elevator shaft.

47:09Tom Pelissero:Oh. And I said, you know, the career's in trouble, but it's not in that much trouble. I'm going to pass. And the agent said, hang on, there's another draft coming. You die later. I said, okay. And it did. It came in about, you know, page 80. Oh, so you gained 60-something pages. I did. I'm going, well, okay, all right, I'll do it. And Keanu and Sandy Bullock, and, you know, it was like, okay, happy to do it. And I get into that house, and we're in somewhere near here, I think, somewhere south of L.A., and I've got full SWAT gear on. Yeah. You know, it's like 80 pounds of whatever, and I got to crawl in through a little window and look like Harrison Ford doing it, and I'm catching on the window frame and all that.

47:52I finally get in. And the moment in speed is I've got to turn and look at the thermostat and understand that that's not a thermostat. That's a timer for a bomb, and it's 3, 2, 1, and about to blow up. And so I'm going, how am I going to do that? I'm not going to. Do I make faces? Do I cry? What do I do? And I remembered an interview that Roy Scheider did for Jaws. and they asked Roy, that moment, Roy, when you saw the shark, my God, I mean, one of the great acting moments in cinematic history, how did you do that? And Roy said, well, I looked down, and when I looked over at the shark, I made sure my cheek muscles were a little up, and then I just dropped them.

48:43So I said, that's what I'll do. So I looked at the thermostat. Cut. Lunch. Lunch. And I have gotten critics. That moment in speed. Jeff. I mean, I get emotional talking about it.

49:04Yes. Yeah, well, I, Roy Scheider. I love that story. Great story. Oh, my gosh. and it's funny you say that it was right around here because the 105 is right up it was somewhere, some little house that they rented because the 105 freeway was just it wasn't completed yet and that's when right here, there's freeway that's right here that was the one that was used in speed yeah

49:29Tom Pelissero:I watched Speed recently for the first time never seen it so embarrassing, great movie my surface level reaction to it was did a lot more people die because they kept driving the thing There's a lot of crashes. The bus hits a plane at one point. And have you ever met a bunch of people on a bus and said, these are the people I want to save? Tom Pellicero back in for Rich Eisen today. You guys have guilted me into really knocking out a lot of the things on the checklist of 80s and 90s movies I've missed. It's not about guilting you. It's about trying to improve your life, your quality of life. Teltufo in particular is just so horrified when I say certain movies that I haven't seen.

50:10It sickens me.

50:11Tom Pelissero:There was a clip probably two, three years ago, one of the first times I hosted where I ran through my top five. The last one on that list I handled last night, which was Jaws. Oh, Tom. Yeah, but. I watched it on the plane. On like an eight-inch screen, Joe. I'm sending you guys photos of the movie. I do like when you do that, though. He keeps us informed. When Tom is traveling, because he'll send us a picture of the back of the seat screen of the movies watching and it's just like shot vertically to make clear how small the screen is. And my first comment was on the plane? I didn't have headphones on the plane.

50:49Tom Pelissero:I didn't think I had headphones so I asked and then there's some turbulence so I got them late. Jaws is two hours and eight minutes long. I got the headphones with two hours and one minute left on the flight so I'm like this is probably going to get interrupted. So indeed I get there and Dreyfus is going down in the cage And then they're like, all right, we're going to need your seats back up into the upright and locked position. And I'm just like, in my head, I'm like, what are the odds the shark's going to win? I think I got it.

51:22Tom Pelissero:So it was an enjoyable movie. A lot of nudity in the first five minutes for a PG movie on a plane, by the way. The rules have changed. Hey, look at that. And I'd be looking exactly like that. This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, give ChatGPT work access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides, and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro Plans.