Tag: Rich Eisen

Former Panthers, Ravens WR Steve Smith still holds a grudge against Texans coach David Culley

NFL Network analyst Steve Smith still holds a grudge against new Houston Texans coach David Culley for how he treated him at the 2002 Pro Bowl.

What made Steve Smith a fascinating player throughout his 16-year career with the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens was the All-Pro receiver’s frankness in speaking his mind.

Smith joined his NFL Network colleague Rich Eisen on his eponymous show Feb. 3 and revealed why he still has a grudge towards new Houston Texans coach David Culley, and also why he doesn’t believe he will succeed with the AFC South club.

“I’m just giving context of why. I’m just giving context of — it’s not a grudge. It’s one of the things I look at if — Rich, you’ve been doing this for a long time. If you weren’t very good at it, you wouldn’t be doing it this long. So, if all of a sudden you’re an analyst and you never hosted and you go out there and host, and then you stumble over yourself, that would kind of say you’re not a good host.”

“So, I was a rookie. I think this was the year the Rams lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. They didn’t come to the Pro Bowl. That was when the Pro Bowl was in Hawaii and after the Super Bowl. So, they didn’t come. So, John Harbaugh said, ‘Hey, they’re down a wide receiver. Go over there. You know how to catch punts.’ The punter, Todd Sauerbrun, wasn’t punctual at times. So, he said go over there. They need a body. So, he said, ‘Go over run over there. I know Jermaine Lewis will be running some plays for the AFC. So, go ahead.’

“Get over there and Culley says, ‘Hey, we’re about to meet and go ahead and go back with the special teams.’ I said, ‘Well, the special teams coach, Coach Harbaugh told me to come over here.’

‘Well, these are wide receivers.’ That’s what he said. And I walked back over there and he told me. So, after that, that just kind of tells me — so, the reason I say that is to this day Coach Culley will say, like you say ‘still holding that grudge,’ it’s not holding a grudge. It’s the fact I was a Pro Bowler. I was also — you were down a wide receiver, and the fact of the matter is you scooted me along because you didn’t believe I was a real wide receiver. So, that tells me your eye for athleticism and talent is as good as Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder’s eyes.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CKL_ZwYMZI

The incident was 19 years ago. If Culley hasn’t learned his lesson in almost two decades, then Houston has a problem. If Culley has grown since then, then Smith is the one who needs to open his eyes.

Watch: Matt Rhule talks to Rich Eisen about the Panthers offense

Watch coach Matt Rhule talk to Rich Eisen about his offense.

The Panthers are not expected to do much winning in 2020. After losing so many key pieces – especially on defense – most analysts are predicting they won’t be in the playoff race. Some have even projected that they will finish with the worst record in the NFL this year.

Any success they see this coming season will likely be thanks to their new-look offense, led by offensive coordinator Joe Brady, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the game’s best running back in Christian McCaffrey.

Watch coach Matt Rhule talk to Rich Eisen about his offense.

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Michael Irvin: ‘Have to root out the problem above the officers’ including general public

The Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboys WR spoke with Rich Eisen about the recent protests and his own brush with racial profiling.

During extraordinary times, ordinary people invariably look to their heroes for reaction. Those with fame or wealth or power or status are, at a core level, of course, no different than anyone else. But right or wrong, it has become second nature in today’s world to look to celebrities, actors, comedians, filmmakers, artists, musicians, and athletes for their opinion on matters that touch everyone.

Maybe it’s a way to gauge whether that person we admire is worthy of our admiration. Maybe it’s a way to feel a closer connection with that larger-than-life figure, to hear they feel the same way we do about this issue or that story.

Speaking Wednesday on The Rich Eisen Show, Cowboys Ring of Honor wide receiver Michael Irvin echoed things that many are feeling in the wake of the George Floyd killing.

“We need law enforcement for our protection,” Irvin said. “What we do not need is black men being persecuted and executed. We need law enforcement, and there are a great number of great people out here that do their jobs and do it well. But we’ve got to stop the persecution and certainly the execution.”

The Playmaker shared his thoughts on law enforcement in America, and shared a story about a recent run-in of his own.

“I can tell you over the past few months, I bet I’ve been stopped a couple of times. I even film them. I got stopped driving in Addison, Texas, right up the street. I was just driving around, and the guy stopped me because I did a U-turn… I asked, ‘Why are you stopping me? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘you were in a turn lane and didn’t turn on your turn signal.’ I said, ‘Are you joking? C’mon, man…’ I was in the turning lane. He finally broke down and said, ‘Okay, Michael.’ He had found out who I was, and he said, ‘We had a phone call from people that said there was a suspicious black man in a G-Wagen driving around.’ We have to change the mentality… That’s the systemic issue that we have that perpetuates itself, that we’ve got to root out of this country.”

While the week’s protests have largely been viewed as citizens-versus-police, Eisen and Irvin went on to discuss how the necessary changes need to come on a higher level.

“Hey, [former Minneapolis police officer] Derek [Chauvin] felt comfortable enough to lay on this man’s neck for nine minutes,” the Hall of Famer and NFL Network analyst said. “That is insane that you feel comfortable enough to openly do this murder on tape- on film- and feel, ‘Hey, there’s going to be no repercussions.’ He did it thinking there would be no repercussions. So we have to root out the problem above the officers, not just the officers.”

Irvin alluded to another personal incident in which he almost posted the interaction on social media, but then didn’t after considering the potential blowback for that one particular officer. Irvin said a friend, an African-American state trooper, helped him see that the problem is about far more than the one officer who happened to respond to that one call.

“The issue rides deeper than that. The issue rides with the people that are even above them that we have to think out. The issue rides with the people, with us. The kids. Because we ultimately go to court, and you look at the list of officers that have gotten off over the last 10 years on things- even events that we’ve seen happen live- get off on those cases. The jury pool is coming from all of us. So we have to change the way we see all of those things, man. It’s an insane undertaking that we have to start walking.”

As of Wednesday evening, neither the Dallas Cowboys nor owner Jerry Jones had made any public statement about the murder of George Floyd or the resulting protests across the country.

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WATCH: Here is Peyton Manning’s full interview with Rich Eisen

Rich Eisen interviewed two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning this week. Watch the full interview here.

Former Colts and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had a 17-minute interview on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this week.

Manning spoke about golf, potentially calling NFL games, social media and more. His full interview with Eisen can be seen below:

Manning retired from the NFL after winning Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos in 2015. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year.

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Watch: John Elway talks Drew Lock, Jerry Jeudy and more on the Rich Eisen Show

Broncos general manager John Elway went on The Rich Eisen Show last week to talk about QB Drew Lock, WR Jerry Jeudy and much more.

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway went on The Rich Eisen Show last week to talk about second-year quarterback Drew Lock, first-round draft pick Jerry Jeudy and much more. Elway’s complete interview with Eisen can be seen in the below video.

Elway, 59, is under contract with the Broncos through the 2021 season.

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WATCH: NFL Draft-A-Thon livestream for charity

Rich Eisen, Kevin Hart and Deion Sanders host a virtual fundraiser through the 2020 NFL Draft.

Rich Eisen, Kevin Hart and Deion Sanders host a virtual fundraiser through the 2020 NFL Draft featuring a variety of athletes and celebrities.

Donations can be made to https://relief.nfl.com/

Funds will help support six national nonprofits and their respective relief efforts, including the American Red Cross, the CDC Foundation, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army and the United Way.

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WATCH: NFL Draft-A-Thon livestream for charity

Rich Eisen, Kevin Hart and Deion Sanders host a virtual fundraiser through the 2020 NFL Draft.

Rich Eisen, Kevin Hart and Deion Sanders host a virtual fundraiser through the 2020 NFL Draft featuring a variety of athletes and celebrities.

Donations can be made to https://relief.nfl.com/

Funds will help support six national nonprofits and their respective relief efforts, including the American Red Cross, the CDC Foundation, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army and the United Way.

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Rich Eisen breaks six seconds in his latest 40-yard dash run at the NFL combine

Here is the 2020 edition of Run Rich Run.

The 2020 NFL combine is over, and with that comes one of the more anticipated moments: “Run Rich Run,” in which the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen runs the 40-yard dash in his suit and raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Last year, he did it in 6.00 seconds even, and this time he did it in 5.98, which isn’t his best time hes’s ever put up — that would be a 5.94 seconds in 2016 — but it’s a big deal anyway. It’s the fourth time he’s broken six seconds since he started the tradition in 2005.

This time, he had San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and legend Jerry Rice helping him out:

Here are a few simulcams of Eisen taking on some fast prospects:

And the year-to-year history of his runs:

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How big of a contract should Titans RB Derrick Henry be expecting in 2020?

There’s no doubt that Henry deserves the big bucks, but what’s the limit?

There’s hardly a player the Tennessee Titans should be more pressed to keep on the roster than Derrick Henry in 2020.

After finishing the year out with the NFL’s rushing title, Henry propelled the offense through the postseason with his nearly unstoppable contributions to the run game.

So, how much should the Titans pay him to avoid the former Alabama rusher taking his talents to another team?

Henry briefly discussed the subject with Rich Eisen recently.

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Eisen asked if the six-year, $90-million deal the Dallas Cowboys gave running back Ezekiel Elliott just one ago would be “the floor” for what Henry is seeking.

Henry responded confidently, saying “Zeke’s number is the floor.”

But it appears that this got lost in translation — there was most certainly a miscommunication here.

There’s no doubt that Henry deserves to collect a large salary for his efforts, but he didn’t mean what Eisen and others may have thought he did.

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“Misinterpreted what he said,” he wrote. “Thought he was saying “Zeke is the floor” , meaning he holds the floor as him being the highest paid at our position . So I was replying yes lol oh well.”

Is Derrick Henry deserving of a contract that size, and will a team give it to him?

Per Spotrac, Henry should be getting a four-year deal for a total of 55.3 million, comparable to the contracts of Todd Gurley and Le’Veon Bell.

Tennessee has $53 million to spare now, though the team could create more room by cutting players.

The Titans could also choose to franchise tag him, which is plausible considering how essential he’s been to their success.

It will be interesting to see how things play out as the Titans build their team ahead of the upcoming season.

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WATCH: Devin Bush joins Rich Eisen for ‘Blue Know It’

The two Michigan alums celebrate all things Wolverines on network TV.

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NFL Network host Rich Eisen is an unabashed Michigan alum. You know it — or as he’d say: ‘Blue Know It!’

He’s had former Wolverines on NFL Network to tape the segment ‘Blue Know It’ before, such as Charles Woodson. On Saturday, he had a much more recent Michigan football alum on to celebrate all things maize and blue on the national broadcast: former Wolverines linebacker Devin Bush Jr.

If you’re a dyed in the wool maize and blue fan, you’re going to want to see the two-minute segment celebrating all things University of Michigan.

Thankfully, Eisen posted the entirety of it on his Twitter, so you can check it out below.