The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain

25:44Rich Eisen:How cool is that? Come on, man. wearing it on his sleeve like that and life-changing money, life-changing money, two years, 16 million, can get up to 10 million, can get up to 16 million with incentives, but that does mean that he'd get playing time that the Bears don't really plan to have him get. That said, just hard work, dedication, Shepard University, and working there and going to the combine and hoping for the best and going through a draft and not hearing your name called and then get your name called, the Chicago Bears. Oh, here's Caleb Williams. There's Justin Fields. There's Caleb Williams.

26:25Rich Eisen:He's going to keep my head down. I'm going to keep working hard. I got a new head coach in Ben Johnson coming in. He believes in me. He saw what we saw. Two years,$10 million for a guy from Shepard University. Doesn't happen too often. Awesome. And congratulations to him and his dad and his family and his whole group of Bajans. you know that's the that's the thumb wrestle with the pen well done yeah outstanding kevin fishbane covers the bears for the athletic back here on the rich eyes and show the senior rider from the athletic kevin when you were in the room for tyson bajant for that moment i was rich and it was uh it was pretty cool and uh you know tyson is always an entertaining press conference uh we We talked to him after the game on Sunday night, and he was great.

27:12Somebody asked him about, they said, you know, it's kind of underrated, your athleticism. And he kind of paused and says, how many times do I have to run before it's not underrated anymore that I could just do it? So he's always been great to talk to. And as you just said, it's an incredible story. I mean, shoot, Rich, I remember sitting down with Tyson this summer, his rookie year that summer. He was the number four quarterback in the building. He was behind Nathan Peterman, and they gave P.J. Walker a two-year,$4.5 million contract to be Justin Fields' backup. I remember sitting down with Bajan just because it was the first preseason game.

27:47I knew he was going to play. I just wanted to learn more about him. And then a couple weeks later, he was the number two. They cut P.J. Walker. They ate the money. And then they bring him Case Keenum this time, and Bajan's like, no, I got this. And he's just continued to assert himself. He deserves it. everyone in the building loves the guy. And it was very cool to see that emotion yesterday.

28:10Rich Eisen:And that's why, you know, Keenum's presence there was the reason why. Was there ever anything to the rumors that Bayesian was on the market, on the block, anything like that, Kevin? You know, I mean, they opened it up as it was a competition for number two. Now, Case Keenum injured his leg a week ago, and I think that that kind of has helped solidify. But I remember back in the spring when Keenum got signed and you start kind of asking around about how's this all going to work. And the message from people in the building was, do not doubt Tyson Baygent. Do not think that he's not going to do everything in his power to win the number two job.

28:43But as you said, Rich, because of Keenan, and you know how this works, and you hate to describe it in this way, it takes one team to lose their starter to an injury to start looking around and figure out we need somebody that has shown it on tape that can do it. And the thing about Baygent is, like Ben Johnson said the last week, the guy knows the playbook like the back of his hand. And it's a brand new playbook for him. And he's wired the right way. And he's done it on the field. He's done it throughout the preseason. He's done it in camp. So it's a great story. And for him, what was interesting too, Rich, is he was asked to go.

29:19Someone said, if you want to go be a starter, you don't sign this contract, right? You play this out and see what happens. And he says he recognizes that being around Ben Johnson, this coaching staff, is going to make him such a better quarterback that if that is something you can do down the line, that it'll put him in a better position to do that. So, you know, it makes a lot of sense on both sides to get this deal done.

29:44Rich Eisen:Yeah, I mean, everyone talks about how Sam Darnold's time with Kyle Shanahan begot his opportunity with Kevin O 'Connell and now begot him this big contract with Seattle. I mean, there's so many stories like that, and obviously that's maybe part of Tyson Bajan's thinking. But that's the reason why he's the first order of business with us right now is because of that soundbite and that press conference. And that's being covered everywhere. He crossed over into other parts of the media machines that normally backup quarterbacks don't. So that's why I wanted to start with you on that, Kevin. But the Caleb Williams performance on Sunday night, is that what we're going to see?

30:27Rich Eisen:Obviously, you don't have the answer to that, but that's the underlying question here. Is this the fire hose drinking that Caleb has been doing over the last three weeks with a coach who's demanding and also has a significant playbook? Is this the green shoots growing, Kevin? well it was the bills backups which i always have to put out there yes um but it was the bills backups and caleb looked phenomenal like you you want to have success in that situation and you should it's one thing to have success it's one thing to be dialed in the way he was and to look comfortable and poised and not escaping the pocket immediately i thought rich the first play was so telling just under center play action an easy layup to colston loveland and you get a nice game.

31:15And that's so much of what Ben Johnson wants to do. He wants to get these guys the ball in space. He wants to make things easy for Caleb Williams. Get the ball to Olamide, Zaccheaus, and just watch him run. Get the ball to your guys, Roma Dunze and DJ Moore, and let them do the rest. So I think you saw a little bit of that, and it was really promising to see Caleb Williams be accurate, to handle the operation well, and just build confidence because you know what it is the backups but it's the bills backups that's obviously a really good team a lot of really good players there and as you know i talked about this a couple weeks ago that the camp has been bumpy um it's been uneven uh so i think he needed it um i think the offense needed it and yeah i i the season's gonna be rocky like it's just it just is it's it's a it's a new playbook um they've got a really tough schedule uh there's there's gonna be some moments where you're you know where people are going to be wondering about how this is all going to work and there's gonna be moments like you saw on Sunday night where Caleb looks really good in part because he's got a phenomenal play caller defensively there was a bagel popped up

32:22Rich Eisen:there as well what about that side of the football that we're clearly not focused on because Caleb Williams doesn't play on that side of the ball Kevin yeah it's a veteran group Rich and you look at guys like one of the things that stood out to me in camp is montez sweat here's somebody who when they traded for him he came to chicago in 2023 and earned a pro bowl spot uh and then last year was not his year he battled injuries and just did not put up the numbers he wanted and he's been there every day uh starting in the spring has not missed time no personal days no uh veteran rest days and he's been really good he's looked really good tremaine edmunds similarly has he took a little bit of a step back in numbers last year.

33:02He's had a good camp. Jaquan Brisker missed most of last year with a concussion. He's been flying around the football. So you look at those three guys at the three levels and seeing them in Dennis Allen's scheme, I think it's been really encouraging. Those are the guys that have made camp difficult on Caleb Williams and the offense. And they've done all this with Jalen Johnson still sidelined with a leg injury. And the hope still is that he's going to be back for week one. But I think this is kind of an underrated part of this team because I don't know how many people, you know, obviously your big time NFL fans certainly know who Montez Sweat is, but I don't know how many know Jaquan Brisker.

33:36I don't know how many know how well TJ Edwards has played. Kyler Gordon's got a new contract. That's somebody that's got Pro Bowl potential at nickel. So they've got some good players. I mean, this is they they they talk about how they want to be, you know, top 10 unit and they certainly have the players to do it.

33:51Rich Eisen:Kevin Fishbane, senior writer for the athletic covering the Chicago Bears, joining us from chicago for a few more minutes here on the rich eisen show take me under the hood of watching ben johnson uh establish himself and his program there what's what's he like what what are bears fans what can they expect from from him kevin bears fans love him i mean we're in full honeymoon phase here rich everyone is uh and i'll say this the media is in honeymoon phase too he's been great up at the podium and giving us nice detailed answers, which we always enjoy. And I think that seeing him on the practice field, you hear him, you see him, you see how frustrated he can get, you see how demanding he can be.

34:36He really wanted to dispel this idea that he's this kind of whiz kid, right? He's an intense coach. And one of the things about him that I was trying kind of uncover this, this summer is like, why is he any different than any coach who says I'm a details guy? Like every coach says that, right? What makes Ben Johnson different? You talk to players and coaches and they talk about, it's the accountability and what he will do. I was talking to Cole Comet about this and Cole said, there'll be a 15 yard completion. And he will sit there on the board and show one tiny split that was off and make you learn it.

35:13And he won't just say, oh, we'll gloss over it because it was a good play. No, he will focus on it, and he will make sure that everybody understands this was a nice play, but if you keep doing this, if you keep making this mistake, we're not going to get to where we need to be. I think the players are buying into it, the coaches all love it. Talking to GM Ryan Poles this week, he was talking about how Ben Johnson, his training camp schedule was so detailed from the beginning. And that's always a tough thing for head coaches. You have to build a schedule for the whole team. And that was just a little thing that polls noticed that has really shown that this guy is just wired in the right way.

35:51And again, everybody says they're a details guy, but so far it looks like he really lives it. He breathes it. And if this team can buy into it, obviously you need to have the talent and everything you can talk yourself into and certainly coming off Sunday night, you can talk yourself into this thing working out, maybe not right away this year, but during, certainly in the long run. Well, I mean, again, not to keep bringing up last year,

36:16Rich Eisen:but last year soon will be forgotten. To hear Cole Komet say that there is a parsing so specific on a play that works so well offensively, I mean, to say that that's the night and day from last year is an understatement. I mean, again, we kept hearing my colleague Stacy Dales when we were there in London last year in week six that they had just started instituting the first 15 scripted because the players asked for it. And they've got to be out of their skulls on the offensive side of the ball with excitement. Have to be right now. Yeah, I think they're very much enjoying it. Again, it's been tough.

36:55The offense hasn't been as smooth as they've wanted. Sure. There have been a bunch of –

37:01Rich Eisen:No doubt, though, but still, there's a plan. There's a plan and there's clearly an accountability that wasn't there. It just didn't appear to be there last year. No, and I think, too, like, you know, the previous coaching staff, again, they're all going to stay there on the details, but it seemed like they would kind of let things maybe slide that this coaching staff won't. They're going to make sure that you know it, even if it was a positive result. They're going to make sure that everybody on the team knows it. We've seen him yank the starters after a rep at practice. We've seen him stop a play to make sure they do it all over again because one guy's split is a hair off.

37:40And again, the players see it. And the other thing too, Rich, is all they have to do is look at Detroit. All they have to do is see what the Lions have done for the last two, three years and the points that they put up to say, oh, okay, this guy obviously knows what he's doing. Look how successful it's been there. If we can really buy into this, you know, we could do something that Chicago doesn't score a lot of points, Rich. That's not really the Bears thing. It never has been. So if he can get them into a situation where, you know, They're doing things, it's unfair to say, doing things the Lions have done.

38:10But again, it's rare territory here to start talking about 30 and 40 points in a game. It's not really a franchise that's used to it.

38:18Rich Eisen:And then to start against Minnesota at home on a Monday night, they're starting J.J. McCarthy for the first time. Coach of the year, Kevin O 'Connell, on the other side of the field. These two coaches clearly know each other. And then a trip to Detroit right after. So the pool gets deep right off the bat. It's tough. I was thinking about this today. The quarterbacks they face on the road, Rich, Jared Goff, Jaden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy. Those are the road quarterbacks. It's tough. We never really know how difficult the schedule is until the season gets going because there's always going to be the surprise teams.

38:59But look, if it goes, that's where I thought it was great that you brought up the defense because, you know, good defenses can always be that equalizer. And that's when the Bears have had their great teams. Obviously, they've been on the back of a really good defense. You go back to 2018 and there are a lot of eerie similarities with 2018 where you have a first year head coach with a second year top picket quarterback. You have a veteran defense. Now, this defense is not what Vic Fangio had in 2018, but this offense should be better than what the Bears had in 2018 when they went 12-4. That's kind of the ceiling.

39:33That's like, you know, if everything works like it did that year when Matt Nagy's first season. And then we saw it was just a one-year thing. And, you know, Ryan Poles has been adamant. Like, he wants to build consistent success. The Bears have been this, you know, 2001 was good and then everything fell apart. And then they go to the Super Bowl in 06 and then they don't go back to playoffs until 2010. and then it takes until 2018 and then here we are in 2025. So they're just trying to string together some, you know, stack some good seasons and they obviously believe they have the head coach who can do it.

40:04Rich Eisen:Kevin, you're the man. Thanks again for the quick pop on and we'll chat again soon. Thanks again. All right. Thank you, Rich. Kevin Fishbane, everybody. Senior writer for The Athletic covering the Chicago Bears. Put up that schedule one more time if you don't mind. The one game that he did not mention because he was focused on the road. again we talked about how they were starting with two division games and then they don't play another division game till week 11 when they finish things up with Minnesota and then I'm just hoping both teams start well for the first 11 weeks that Sunday before Thanksgiving is another division game because Aaron Rodgers is coming to town.

40:49Rich Eisen:And that is going to be off the charts insane if they're going to, both teams need it. And they should still around week 12. I don't think the wheels are going to fall off for either team. But Aaron Rodgers coming to soldier field is going to be an absolute Donnybrook. I can't wait. It's like they're renting an Airbnb and the owner's coming home for the weekend. Dude, I'm telling you, that is going to be one big, big festival of 20 years of hatred and smack, and here we go. Bears, Steelers. Rabid fan bases. That is, let me just check one last thing here. That is just a straight up currently, I don't know what time that is.

41:49Rich Eisen:I should have that right here in front of me, and I do. That is currently 1 o 'clock on CBS. The Sunday night game that weekend is Buffalo at Houston. Okay, I don't think we're flexing out of that. Oh, pardon me, that's a Thursday night. The Sunday night game, pardon me, the Sunday night game is Tampa at the Rams. Yeah, still. That should be very important and good. Absolutely. I don't know how you can fly. I imagine that's currently a CBS game. I would protect that right now. Oh, boy, that would be just great. I hope everybody's healthy and everybody's winning. That would be off the charts. Bears, Steelers.

42:34Rich Eisen:Oh, my gosh. 844-204-RICH is the number to die. We'll take your phone calls when we come back.

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43:48Rich Eisen:What was your baseball game like? My baseball game, actually my baseball game was pretty good, but I couldn't, I didn't play in high school. I played like recreational league in Babe Ruth. Okay. And I used to pitch. Pitch? Yeah. As well. Pitch and hit, yeah. So what was your pitching game like? My pitching game was pretty good. I mean, I didn't, you know, I had a, it was a heavy ball. I didn't know, I had no idea what, what else fast I was throwing. But people used to say, man, you got a heavy ball. So when you were watching you swing in major league as Pedro Serrano, is that your swing? That's my swing.

44:21Rich Eisen:And I don't know if we ever talked about this, but every ball I hit out, I hit out, except not as far as they shot it out because they have to reverse the camera. Hold on a second, Dennis Haysbury. How many, How many home runs did you hit? Well, I hit three in the movie, right? I think I hit three in the movie. I hit every one of them I hit out. Okay. And all the batting practice? Oh, yeah. I used to hit routinely. So were you the best hitter of all the actors in that movie? I would say so. I would say so. Charlie and I were the only guys that could really play baseball. Wesley was really athletic.

44:58Rich Eisen:Okay. He could run, but wasn't much of a hitter. He couldn't hit. But could Charlie hit or he was just... Charlie could hit. And Charlie could pitch. But you went yard more than anybody else in the cast of Major League. Except for the guys, the baseball guys that were out there. Actual. So who was the worst? I can't. I won't say that. Yes, you can. You absolutely can. That microphone works. Corbin Bernson, could he... Corbin was okay. I think Tom Barrington was maybe the worst. No kidding. Yeah. I love you, Tom. You know, he forced it out of me, man. Were you superstitious as well? Are you a superstitious guy?

45:39Rich Eisen:Not really, but I realized how superstitious baseball players are. That is no, of that, there is no doubt. I mean, I used to have a lot of guys come up to me and say, you know, hey, man, we used to play this movie on the bus going to the game. And I, you know, set firecrackers off on our bats to, you know, to wake them up. Did anybody have rum? Did anyone incorporate rum? They started using that. A lot of guys said they started music. Baseball players started music. Do you have any artifacts from the film anywhere? I finally got a Jovo doll. I don't have the original because I wanted to get rid of that because, you know, that was voodoo I was practicing.

46:16Rich Eisen:And I said, you know what? Certain things you got to leave on the set. You know, and somebody took that and I don't know where they are now because I haven't heard from them again. Right. So they took a voodoo doll, man. And I say, okay. Okay. No. I have a facsimile. You have a facsimile of Joe Boop. The Rich Eisen Show, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show for our full archives. We're showing you Major League clips right there from back in the day because Major League. Would it be on your top list of your top 25 sports movie? 25, yeah, I think that would make the list for sure. Suze? I think so.

46:57Rich Eisen:Yep. So fun. We'll see if it's on the Hollywood reporters list. Just a bit outside. Well, now that I know, I didn't. I like that. Look at you over there. I saw what you did. It was too high, Suze. I saw what you did. That's why I married my wife. She makes Bob Uker references. That's the reason? Well, many. Plus, she married me even though I didn't have a job. Yeah. Look, I don't want to get to it now. Way to stir that up. Didn't have a job. Hey, Suze, call in. Why did you marry Rich? I'm not allowed to talk about it to the second hour, Suze, but once I get the green light, I do have some questions.

47:27Get the green light. Let's get the green light. Very good.

47:31Rich Eisen:Very, very good. Get the green light. Very good. The best odds on the board, if we had odds on the board about what was going to happen in this three-hour show, the best odds is that you were going to stir something up between Susie and yours truly. I mean, stir it up. That's going to happen. I'm not Bob Marley. And number two is that Susie being here would cause Jimmy from San Antonio to call her. Jimmy, are you there? Yes, yes, I'm here, Rich. I can hear you. Go ahead. What's up, Jimmy? I'm just happy I get to talk to Susie and the Schottenheimer of the Eisen household. Jimmy, your graphic with the tequila is making me thirsty.

48:13I'm just saying. I looked at that graphic. Hi, Jimmy. I mean, we got tequila around here. Yeah, we do. That's true.

48:18Rich Eisen:Hola, Susie. Hola, Jimmy. Do you guys want to roll? I have to wait for everyone else to be quiet. Come on. Jimmy, what are you doing? It's your time to talk, Jimmy. That's the way it works. You call in. Felly, close their mics. Jimmy, what can I do? Wow. She's in charge. I have some Spurs news, but I've got to say hi to the Maserati Mold King and TJ. What up, Jimmy? Hey, TJ, do you think while Susie and the kids watched Rich on SportsCenter that the number one looked up and said, mother, is that when you fell in love with Tom? All those questions are going to be answered once I get the green light, Jimmy.

48:59Jimmy, you're the best, man, because I do find it weird that when TJ basically envisions how our children, Susie, and talk

49:14Rich Eisen:to each other, that it's straight out of Oliver Twist. It's really weird, man. Papa, that's how you make words? We all know it is the complete opposite. There was so much yelling in your house. Does Jimmy have like a ring camera or something? You are 100 % correct. Oh, my God. Yes. Two were paying attention, Jimmy, and one couldn't have cared less. All good. Yeah. Well, I still have seen Cooper's handwriting. That's right. Yeah, he sent me a wonderful note. His handwriting, it screams medical doctor. he gets that from his yes gets that from his mom do you have a sports question jimmy or just trying to shoot the gift what's going on i do we we we have a big city council vote today okay on the upcoming san antonio spurs arena and what this does is it puts the vote to go towards november and the spurs are committing reportedly up to 1.5 billion towards around an estimated$4 billion project downtown across from the Alamo Dome.

50:20So we've seen what happens when Seattle says we're not building an arena and we know about what expansion teams might be around. So this is a huge deal for San Antonio and we'll know later today if the vote's going to happen in November.

50:35Rich Eisen:Well, we'll find out. Are you sure you're not trying to gerrymander things so the Mavericks become San Antonio's? Is that the way it works maybe in Texas? Well, you know, it depends on which state we're gerrymandering. Who knows? It could be you could get the Lakers. Who knows? Depends on what's going on. Thanks, Jimmy. Really appreciate the time. That's Jimmy in San Antonio here to close out our number one on the radio. Just trying to rip straight from the headline. You went there. If you were a San Antonio fan, would you gerrymander to try and get the Mavericks to be San Antonio? Who's better?

51:09Rich Eisen:Whose future would you take? Wimbledon Yamas? Oh, my God. Or Cooper flags. I think Wembenyama. You would? Yeah. What about the surrounding cast? We got De 'Aaron Fox now, right? I mean, what do we got? I mean, you got Kyrie. You got P.J. Washington. Yeah, I think I'm still, Wembenyama, we've never seen anything quite like him. So, you know, you pray for good health for the kid. Of course. And you want to see where he can take the game. Not that I don't feel like Cooper Flagg won't be special, but Wembenyama is just another. We saw him at Fanatics Fest. Rich, have you ever seen a human being that big?

51:47Rich Eisen:I have not. Like. I have not. Not with that skill set. I have not seen a human being that big. Although we have had. We've had Boban here. We've had Boban here. And we saw Boban in. And Happy Gilmore. Happy Gilmore 2. And Boban's not as big. Susie and I saw Bobon right up close. You know we sat behind him. His ass. As he checked in, we were gifted. Yes, we were gifted. Remember that was your fantasy team one was in the running, like big Bobon. Big Bobon's ass. Yeah, that was. We were still using lovs when he was here. I couldn't reach the top of his shirt to put the mic on. Did you need to step up on something?

52:29Rich Eisen:He leaned forward. I was trying to be a professional, but I was like, I can't quite reach. By the way, look at the size of my fist as I fist pumped Boba on there in Celebrity True Falls. Yeah, I remember taking that picture and I saw you guys like going to the Wonder Twins. I can't believe he fit in that chair. Remember when Arnold was here and he didn't want to sit in that chair? It's a baby chair. The baby chair? Yeah. I would take Wemby, by the way. He's so much more unique. He's so much more exciting. I mean, I will enjoy watching Flag play, but we've seen that before. And I think Wemby's just so unique and different.

52:59Rich Eisen:Yeah. Project Marvel. That's what they're calling it. Is that right? Yeah. I'm going to be 100 % honest with you guys, too. I wasn't 1 ,000 % sure with gerrymandering men either, but, you know, I just kind of went with it. Okay. You thought it had something to do with Jones? Jerry meandering? Jerry meandering. Okay. Geppetto. No, it's a little different. It's ripped. Jones with my rubber glove is going to make sure every one of you are safe. I went to the front page of the newspaper for a split second. You know. I'll take you for a walk after this. Susie will bring you up to speed. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial.

53:37Rich Eisen:So many people want to do Susie's favorite game, the win-loss game. We'll get to you. Phone calls. She loves it. She loves the phone calls. Call her. She needs callers. And then our number three is going to be great with Eugenio Derbez here in studio. Don't go anywhere. TJ gets the green light. Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relaxed. and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.

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