After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

Don't ask me how I just saw this, but Joey Votto on Twitter has this handle.

Actually, it's not a handle. His handle is Joey Votto. He has this bio. Is that what you would call it?

You're right up. This is his only bio. I use OOF when I text.

He seems like a guy who would use OOF when he texts. His profession is listed as professional athlete. He only joined during the pandemic.

How about that? I guess he got bored during March of 2020 and decided he would join Twitter. And he doesn't even have 100,000 followers. I mean, that's not a lot for a professional athlete, one who is as well known as his as he is. But anyway, he only follows three people. So there it is part of the issue. A lot of people follow him, but he does not follow back. Yeah, but if you're looking around and all you see in his bio is I use OOF when I text.

That's pretty good. Maybe you're thinking, okay, I'll skip this. He clearly loves Seinfeld though, because he's, well, you'll just have to check out his Twitter. Also the peanuts.

He loves the peanuts, not the food. On that note, good morning to you. It's Thursday. Thursday, September 15th. We're dead center of Thursday, of September, not dead center of Thursday, not yet. But we're the middle day of Thursday and we're actually just a few days away from fall, actual autumn.

So I'm looking forward to that. It's starting to feel more and more like it in terms of the weather, but also the deeper we get into football season. And we're just hours away from week two, kicking off at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the most energetic electric atmospheres I've ever been to for football.

It's total insanity. I stood on the field on the sidelines for a Big 12 championship game between Kansas State and Oklahoma. And this is earlier in my career. And first of all, it was so cold that by halftime, it was early December, I could not feel my feet. But also it was so loud. The ground was shaking.

Everything was shaking. So I love Arrowhead Stadium. I've been there for some other media responsibilities too and just really enjoy that atmosphere. So Chiefs and Chargers kicking off on Amazon Prime. You don't want to miss it. I'm sure there's deals being run. The NFL and Amazon Prime trying to suck people in to this new broadcast pattern and introduce people to their new broadcast partner. So we'll see how that goes. There's no way we're going to get 50 million people watching on Amazon Prime. That's not going to happen, but it's likely to be a big night for the streamer, the streaming service.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I do not use oof when I text, but I use a lot of haha. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. I also am allergic to lol. In fact, if you text me lol very often, that's the end of our friendship. Or if a guy texts me lol, like let's just say I'm talking to a guy and maybe he's asked me out and he texts lol. It's a deal breaker. No, boys should not be texting lol. What is that about? First of all, lol is, it's like one a short of Lola.

It just, I can't stand it. I will, if I have to text laughing out loud, but I will never, you'll never catch me using lol. What's worse, lol or just k? That's a tough one.

That is a tough question. K I think is the worst text you can send somebody. It's funny because after we had this conversation a couple of weeks ago about k or ok or the worst is like thumbs up emoji or the ok emoji. I had a guy friend of mine who happened to be listening send me a string of nothing but k thumbs up emoji, ok emoji, just on purpose and then several crying so hard he's laughing emoji. So he thought that was really funny.

Yes, you can't egg people on. K and responding with nothing but emojis is pretty dismissive, but lol annoys me. In fact, I very rarely respond to tweets that have lol in them. I don't feel like you're a fourth grader. I feel not.

You know what? I'm sorry. There's a lot of people out there that use lol. I don't know why it annoys me. I don't know why it's a pet peeve. Forgive me for being so judgmental.

It's stupid. It's just three letters so I'm sorry. I apologize. If you never listen to the show again, I suppose I'll understand why but please give me another chance to prove to you that I'm not as weird as it sounds.

So let's get back to sports, right? No, actually I have to tell you this story really quick because it's cute and it'll make you smile and make you forget that I'm a weirdo. Most people in my neighborhood know my dog and don't really know me.

But I have one friend in my neighborhood who I met over the course of the pandemic. Her name is Margaret and she is just shy of her 88th birthday. And she's lived alone for a long time. She lost her husband years ago. So a lot like my Grammy Helen. And during the last two years, she doesn't have a car. So every time I go to the grocery store, I'll ask her, can I get you anything? You know, what can I pick up for you? And the first like seven times I asked her, she said, I'm fine.

Because this is what women of that generation do, right? She's takes care of herself similar to my Grammy. I don't need anything. I'm good.

Don't don't worry about me. Finally, she started letting me buy her a few groceries. And then she had a couple of procedures done on her eyes. And so she was a little unsteady. She loves to walk, she was a little unsteady. And so she would allow me to walk with her just to make sure that she was okay. Every now and then she would take my arm. But one of those people who very independent and very stubborn and refuses to take help.

So you have to disguise it when you're offering help. So as it turns out, her sons and she has three sons, they all live in different parts of the country. Her sons have decided that it's time to move her into assisted living. She's got a really, really nice house, but she barely uses the second floor because they don't want her going up the stairs by herself.

And as I say, she's been dealing with some dizziness and some unsteadiness. So now she's abruptly moving into assisted living and leaving the neighborhood. And I'm really sad because for the last two years, I've either communicated with her or stopped by to visit her multiple times per week. And she always invites me and you can never just have a quick hello with Margaret, it has to be come in, sit down. Well, a lot of times when I'm walking by our house, my dog is with me, Penny.

And Penny's never met a door that she didn't think she should go through. So I remember the first time Margaret invited me in the dog just walked right in like she owned the joint and just was walking around the house like she belonged there. And so Margaret laughed at that. And now Penny, whenever we go by her house, kind of makes a beeline toward Margaret's door, even if Margaret's not there.

So anyway, Margaret is leaving on Thursday, her family's moving her and while she's not moving that far away, I wanted to say goodbye to her. So I was texting her Wednesday morning and she said, I'm getting ready to go out for my walk, I'll stop by your house. So she lives a couple blocks away. So she comes by my house and she's standing outside.

So open the door and the dog bum rushes me and gets outside. And of course is very excited to see Margaret because everyone's coming to visit Penny, you know, no one actually cares about her mom. And so Penny's taking all of Margaret's attention. And I swear to you, this dog knows that she's leaving the neighborhood. Don't ask me how.

Not joking. After she gets done greeting Margaret and then Margaret and I start talking, Penny can only stand up for so long. She's 13, her legs get tired.

She sits down on Margaret's foot. The dog is saying goodbye in the way that she knows how and letting Margaret know that she's going to miss her just plops down right on her foot. So my 88 year old neighbor has a dog sitting on her foot and my dog is not small. She's 70 pounds. The sign of affection.

Yes, certainly it is. And I know Australian shepherds do this because Penny very often it'll be 100 degrees outside and the dog will lean on me. She'll sit on me.

But yeah, it was really sweet that she sat down on Margaret's foot when we were outside there and just kind of let her know that she was going to miss her and that she loved her. So dogs, they're amazing. I just got this tweet. Man alaw radio there seem to be so many little issues that bother you like lol.

I knew I was gonna get tweets about that. Whatever at least I can own up to the fact that that bothers me. I can own up to my pet peeves.

I just 100% real. Thank you for your listening. Your listening pleasure.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. All right, we're gonna pivot. There's no easy segue from my dog sitting on a neighbor's foot.

Or I don't like lol to baseball. So we'll just we'll just go with it. We'll just go where the wind blows. We got dogs. I was about to get serious.

Then you go and do that. We got dogs. I hear you.

We got dogs. PJ. There's never a bad time for PJ Tucker. Drunk PJ Tucker at a victory parade. Man, that seems like yesterday.

It's not yesterday. If you two would like to complain about the host, you can find me on Twitter, a law radio or you can send me pictures of your dogs. It always seems to happen when I share photos of Penny.

Also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence. Now can I talk about baseball? PJ Tucker gonna step in again. Derail me again.

Okay. So this is what's happening. Producer Jay is waiting until I opened my mouth to say something and then dropping in PJ Tucker. I take a breath. I open my mouth and he drops in PJ Tucker because he can see me.

He's looking at me through the double pane glass. Just so you know that now Jay is trying to knock me out of my rhythm and off my game too. Are you done?

Bring the dog out. Now I'm done. Oh, now you're done? Okay. Well I blame the last 90 seconds on you because I was ready to get serious and you decided that you're gonna keep us off track.

I'll take the blame for that. Whatever off track is, right? Like, I don't even know.

It's sports talk radio. Anything goes really. But there never failed to be people who tell me to stick to sports. Even during the pandemic when there were no sports going on, I got the stick to sports recommendations. Of course. What sports exactly would you like me to stick to?

There's talk of how sports may come back eventually. People are dumb. People. We're all dumb.

We're all dumb in our own ways. Can I go now? I can go now. You're not gonna try to sabotage me again? Did you just say proceed? I did. Proceed. I like that.

I feel like I have to tell people again what they're listening to but then, considering the last few minutes, maybe I won't tell anyone what they're listening to. Alright, so unique pieces of baseball history and I love the dichotomy of what we saw on Wednesday night because you had 21 year old Julio Rodriguez, a rookie in Major League Baseball, join a very exclusive club. Rodriguez the lead.

Remember he's got the 24 steals. Here's the stretch. And there he goes. Pitch on the way. A ball to throw down a second on a hop.

Not in time. And Julio Rodriguez is the third member in Major League history for a rookie to join the 25-25 club. That is stolen base number 25. 25 or more steals. 25 or more home runs. Only Chris Young of the Diamondbacks in 2007 and Mike Trout have done that. He is number 3 in baseball history for a Major League rookie and he tips his helmet to the crowd here at T-Mobile Park.

Welcome to the 25-25 club. Julio Rodriguez, what a rookie season. On Mariners radio, only the third rookie to ever achieve such a feat. So at 21 years old, he's already set for the rest of his career. We know he's got a 46 year contract or something like that. But it dawned on me as I was thinking about him and the fact that he's achieved so much already at 21, he was a baby.

A baby. The last time the Mariners made the playoffs. So while he can read about it, while people can ask about it, it's a completely different generation of Mariners baseball. And then you contrast his achievement with what was happening in St. Louis last night and it's even cooler that we've got rookies making history, but we've also got the old dudes at the other end of the spectrum in St. Louis achieving something that has never been done before last night. We're all set for the historic moment right here with the fans standing at Busch Stadium. Pitch one is taken for a strike. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina have the record of 325 starts as a regular season major league battery passing Mickey Lolech and Bill Freehand from 1963 through 1975 with the Detroit Tigers. It was a lot to manage, honestly, early on, especially, you know, just the crowd was so awesome and, you know, making me just get constant chills and tearing up and, you know, just trying to manage my adrenaline because it wanted to just go through the roof. One moment that was really special was when Yelich took the first pitch.

I mean, I thought that was just a really classy move and you could tell he was just gonna kind of give that to us. Adam Wainwright is 41 years old. Not sure that he's going to retire and considering that he just picked up his 11th win for the Cardinals last night, maybe he shouldn't, a run on eight hits. Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright started their 325th game together.

Their first one was in 2007. So then you think about the Julio Rodriguez piece. He was a little kid when Waino and Yadier started their first game together, but now 325. So Yadi's 40, Wainwright's 41. I mean, these guys have been in the majors as long as Julio has been on the earth, which is phenomenal. And then considering Albert Pujols' push for baseball immortality himself, he had an RBI double last night, so not a home run, but an RBI double. You can imagine why manager Oliver Marmol is so happy to be along for the ride.

If you're a fan, being able to experience Waino and Yadi breaking that record, and we've described it, it's one that I don't think we'll ever be touched again. And then being able to see Albert take several at bats. So definitely a good one to be in the stadium for.

It's cool, right? If you go to Busch Stadium, it's an incredibly electric atmosphere. I've been listening to all the at bats, in fact listening to a lot of the games now because I don't want to miss anything. And they are right now locked in a battle for the NL Central and beat the Brewers last night, but also because there is so much happening. We know Yadi and Pujols will be retiring at the end of this season, and Waino will see. But you got three 40 year olds that are all contributing in palpable ways and are pushing the Cardinals to potentially be involved in, I don't know, we'll see, a World Series or at the very least to get into the playoffs and have them on that October stage again.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Vladimir Guerrero is not 21, he's not 41, but man, he's on quite a tear himself. The 0-1, swinging a high fly ball, deep left field, you can forget it!

Oh my! Number 100 for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. A majestic home run for Vlady. What a milestone for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. His late season drought is over, and the Blue Jays have a 1-0 lead. 100th home run for Vlad Jr., 23 years old, he's the youngest Blue Jay ever to achieve that plateau. And get this, he said he was going to give the baseball to his dad, who I watched play. Vlad Sr. never met a pitch he couldn't hit, never met a pitch he didn't like. He would go down and golf him, no wonder he had back issues for years because of the type of swings that he would pull off. So, really neat moment for this second generation hitter, and Vlady said as well, I can't imagine there is a dad who wouldn't be really proud of his son for doing that.

So kind of neat, their relationship that we get to watch, even from afar. We'll have to look at the pennant races as well. The Yankees are all of a sudden on a tear, stringing wins together, but also putting some offense out there on the field. Braves and Mets, does anyone want to win the division? Okay, yes, somebody does, but there's still a few weeks to go, we haven't yet figured out who it's going to be. And Cleveland, things are coming up Cleveland these days, if you're a sports fan, right? They've got, well we know about Jose Ramirez, but right now they've got a nice lead to top the AL Central. We know about the Browns, that season opening win and kind of giving it back to their former quarterback Baker Mayfield. Who do all the Jets this weekend, so okay, there's an opportunity to start 2-0. But how about Donovan Mitchell speaking out for the first time as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

I would take him on my team. Good morning to you, it's Thursday. By the way, don't take me so seriously all the time. My goodness, you guys need to just breathe. It's Thursday, we're so close to the weekend. It's After Hours on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Here it comes, runner goes, pitch swung out and hammered, high, deep to right, away, back and gone. Well by golly, Ryan Taperra challenged Jose Ramirez and gets burned. A two run blast to right and Jose Ramirez comes through again. And the Guardians have the lead here in the eighth by a score of 5-3.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The amazing Tom Hamilton on Guardians Radio and they've now won eight of their last nine. So the Guardians are cruising, they've got a four game lead atop the AL Central and this, remember, is one of the youngest teams in Major League Baseball. But six straight, eight of nine and it's really cool to, it's funny because I'm not saying they're fresh blood because they're Guardians, but just in general to have different teams vying for not just division titles but also for the wildcards and we were talking about Seattle to start the hour.

It has been a 21 year drought but right now it's Blue Jays, Mariners and Rays who would be into the American League postseason as the three wildcards with several weeks to go. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So on Twitter, After Hours CBS, come this time tomorrow we'll have our game of the week poll because we'll be kicking off week number two.

But also you can find us on Facebook After Hours with Amy Lawrence. From Cleveland and the sports scene, a new voice, a new face. I would take him on my team, Donovan Mitchell, now part of another young pro sports franchise in Cleveland and that is the Cleveland, I don't know why I almost said the Guardians again.

No, we're not naming them all the Guardians. The Cleveland Cavaliers, it's the fourth morning of the week and sometimes they get a little loopy. But I think it's really cool that you've got a young core there with the Cavaliers and now you add, yes he's still young, but a veteran guy who has played on playoff teams and who can really bring that moxie and I think that aggressiveness to the court in addition to the other scorers they've got and the other guys they've got who can show off that explosiveness and athletic ability.

This is a team that you've got to watch for no other reason than they'll run you up and down the court and they'll wear you out. And so here is Donovan Mitchell who admittedly for a while thought he was headed to New York. He actually said in a separate interview with Brian Windhorst that he was very close to becoming a Nick. You may remember he threw out the first pitch at a game. He was honored somewhere else in New York. He purchased a home in Connecticut and so he thought he was going to be playing his basketball in New York, but that's not where Utah traded him. Instead, the Jazz and Danny Ainge flip him to Cleveland. Once Rudy got traded, I kind of saw the writing on the wall.

I think we all did and I think we understood we had a good run. I kind of had a feeling I was going to get moved. Like I said, I thought it was New York. I'm not going to lie to y'all, but you know, obviously who doesn't want to be home next next to their mom? Oh, except Cleveland's not that far from his mom.

I know I've made that drive many times because my mom, my mom's whole side of the family is from Northeast Ohio, so I used to drive from New England across the border into Northeast Ohio. It's neat the way he's being received so I hope that the passion for Cavaliers basketball there in Cleveland makes him feel welcome because there were hundreds of people waiting at the airport when he showed up on Wednesday morning. He actually flew in and into a special hanger, private hanger with Cavs officials, but yet people still knew that he was going to be there and there were lots of fans that were waiting for him. He had a workout with some of his teammates as they get ready for the start of training camp. We're not quite there yet, but did have a chance to get on the floor with guys like Darius Garland and Jared Allen who are all-stars and then remember the Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley, so it's neat to think about that core and Donovan being part of it, but also bringing something extra because of what he went through when he was with the Utah Jazz and playing with another incredible teammate in Rudy Gobert who of course got shipped and actually kind of turned the entire NBA trading market on its head because he got shipped to Minneapolis, to Minnesota in exchange for a gob of draft picks and so then all of a sudden the price went up for pretty much everybody else.

Who cares? Like KD, but Danny Ainge has gutted that team. I mean he's stockpiling draft picks and if you know anything about Danny Ainge's tenure in Boston you know this is what he does. He likes to put his own stamp on a franchise, but he is determined to start over and I don't get it because I can't imagine a player I'd rather build around than Donovan Mitchell, still young, but does have some experience.

We know what he can do when he's on the court and yet Danny Ainge has blown the whole thing up, so it is Utah's loss and Cleveland's gain. I think it's pretty amazing that he's there and part of it and that they're already welcoming him even though it wasn't necessarily what he thought. I've lived at home since I was like in 8th grade. I've been at boarding school and I sort of been nice, but you know like I said for me I once I found out I got traded and what we came what we're going into like that trumped everything for me. You know I'm like I said I'm truly excited to be here, to be part of this group, to be a part of the city.

So this is cool. I'm not ready for basketball yet, but I will be uber interested to see how the Cavs come out of the gates. Now, Lebron rejoins Cavalier.

No, no, no, we're not talking about that. I can't imagine he would do that or that Cleveland would want him back after everything, but I could be totally wrong. The Donovan Mitchell introduction and landing in Cleveland dwarfed by the other major headline coming out of the NBA and that is the punishment for Suns owner Robert Sarver after a nine month investigation. The NBA determined that he needed to pay a ten million dollar fine and serve a one year suspension and Adam Silver spoke up yesterday. He answered questions, tried to defuse the situation and the outrage that was coming back at the NBA for not forcing Sarver to sell the Suns. If you don't know, it's not only workplace culture and workplace harassment and a hostile atmosphere, but specifically for women and the comments that were made in the workplace to women that were discriminatory and disparaging, but also at least five times he used the n-word in public in the facilities what the committee determined.

And here is where the NBA has made its distinction and where the bylaws, according to Adam Silver, are preventing the league or would prevent the league from trying to force him out. The committee and its investigation determined that he isn't a racist himself. I'm not exactly sure how you determine that, but the investigation looked at the incidents that were reported and decided there wasn't hostility or ill intent. Still very offensive, obviously, and I don't think you have to be black to be offended by the n-word. I know it offends me, but what the investigation ultimately decided is that he was repeating the words. He was using them carelessly. He was offending people without regard, but that these are not words that he himself was using or would be using because he himself is not hostile or malicious or racist.

I'm just passing along the findings of the investigation. We know that with Donald Sterling there was a recording, right, and it was so offensive and there were other people that would step up that kind of spoke about the fact that he had treated them so poorly and that he had a long history of racial discrimination. So there is where the NBA has made the distinction and why Adam Silver has indicated this is not as cut and dried as you might think, nor is it the same situation as the Clippers.

There's no neat answer here. I mean, it's other than owning property, the rights that come with owning an NBA team, how that's set up within our constitution, what it would take to remove that team from his control is a very involved process and it's different than holding a job. It just is when you actually own a team.

It's just a very different proposition. We're talking about fine lines, we're talking about fine print, but we're also talking about a group of owners that obviously is reluctant to force out one of their own. I mean, it's the same situation with Daniel Snyder, right? Similar allegations, I don't believe the racist part of it with Daniel Snyder, but the workplace allegations, the culture, the hostile atmosphere for women, the messages, the emails that have been protected by the NFL seemingly destroyed them after their internal investigation. But the same outrage and criticism has been made of the commissioner. Remember, he was called in front of Congress and a committee asked him, why aren't you removing him as an owner, meaning Snyder?

And he said, I don't have the power to do that. And so therein lies the distinction. You have to know that there's no autonomy for Roger Goodell or for Adam Silver in this situation. It ultimately is about the owners.

Do the owners want to remove one of their own? And with Donald Sterling, because there was audio, because it was so egregious, because there was a track record, because it was so embarrassing for the owners, they decided that they would force him out. In the case of both Daniel Snyder and Robert Sarver, they're serving punishments, but you're not going to get enough owners who are willing to stand up and say, oh yeah, because of a hostile workplace culture, we should force this guy to sell. And it takes a majority vote and it takes everybody being on board, mostly because they don't want to ever find themselves in that situation. And so I understand the criticism and I understand people saying this is unfair, the punishment doesn't fit the crime, but also know that these owners are essentially Adam Silver's bosses, right?

He answers to them, not the other way around. So it's complicated that way too, plus the bylaws. And I mean, just in general, we're in the United States of America. This is not socialist country or communist country where you can take people's property from them. There has to be a reason why.

And unless I'm missing something, there are no crimes that Robert Sarver has committed here, as offensive as his words may be. So that's where it stands now. It doesn't sound like the NBA is hesitating in its decision. All right, coming up, we're getting ready to kick off week two of the NFL season. Fast and Furious, baby. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. It's time for QB news on After Hours. Not long until we hear more of that NFL play by play that gets my juices flowing.

It floats my boat. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I'm actually going to be at a game in week number two.

It'll be a new experience. The Green Bay Packers are now allergic to season openers. We've seen them two years in a row look just abysmal on the road to start.

So we know there is no place to go but up. Although with the new receiving corps, Allen Lazard is their number one guy now, but they've got a bunch of new guys that they're trying to get acclimated. They're trying to get up to speed in the NFL. Christian Watson being one of those, right? Saw a ball go right through his fingertips on what was the first play of the game for the Packers last week. Would have gone 75 yards.

What the f*** was that? Welcome to the NFL rookie, but Aaron Rodgers knows that, hey, I can't do their jobs for them, but I can do my job at a higher level. I got to play the same way. I don't play the way I played in 2011. I got to play on time and guys got to get open.

So no, I'm not going to change the way I play. We just have to realize who's out there, who we're thrown to and how we're going to actually make some hay and score some points. Lazard did practice Wednesday for the first time since his ankle was stepped on in practice two weeks ago, listed as limited. He could be on the field come Sunday night, but we're not sure.

And also a bit of a head scratcher, although we're not sure what's happening behind the scenes practice. Maybe he's not ready to go, but Amari Rodgers didn't play a singles snap from scrimmage last week. So they've got a revolving door receiver.

Here's what I know. They've got to give the ball to Aaron Jones more because he should be their bell cow. He can help open things up for these receivers. Last time we saw the Packers and the bears, which is one of the story and rivalries in sports was Aaron Rodgers telling us how he owns them and he's owned them his entire bleeping life. Yeah, that's Sunday Night Football for you. I love the history of this game. And when I got to the squad, Chicago was beating us on the all time record. And now we're up by eight, I believe.

So that does mean a lot to me. So he's a little more tempered and toned down in talking about the Bears. At that point, we had a chance to catch up with Hall of Famer and iconic Packer Leroy Butler on this edition of the show. First time since he was inducted into Canton, we got his story. But also it's Alumni Weekend at Lambeau Field. I will be there on Sunday night. I can't believe it. My first ever regular season game. And it's under the lights in this incredible rivalry between the Packers and the Bears.

And I'm nice. Thank you. I will be doing my show from Green Bay and our Green Bay affiliate coming up on Sunday night as well as Monday night.

It's not the reason I'm going to Wisconsin, but I'm going to do this while I'm there. So if you missed the conversation with Leroy, it's awesome. He tells stories. He's funny.

It's on our podcast after hours, AmyLawrence.com. The Packers defense has got to do its job, but Justin Fields has got a message for those of you who think that he's easy to stop. I try to not take hits at all, to be honest with you. Unless it's, you know, games in line, you know, third and short, fourth and short, or fourth and short, or we're on a goal line. That's the really only time that, you know, I'm taking a hit. But other than that, I'm pretty much going to slide. So, you know, for all the defenders out there that, you know, think I'm going to stay up, I'm not. So, don't worry about getting those late hits on me. You can't catch me, but if you do, don't even think about trying to hit me because I'm going straight down. I am not taking the big pounding. Not unless we're talking about something crazy right at the line of scrimmage.

Short, short yardage play where he's got to get into the middle of a scramble. I like that. No doubt the officials have heard that as well. I'm sliding.

Now that's the key, isn't it? Isn't it one of the toughest things for young quarterbacks to learn is to not take massive hits, to not take massive risks. Don't go for the extra half yard when it means you're about to get smashed. Don't play fast and loose with the football. Live to fight the next snap.

It's tough for young QBs to learn. All right, so that's Packers and Bears, and we'll see Justin Fields not in the slop that was Chicago last weekend. Another battle this weekend coming from the NFC is Carolina Panthers at the New York Giants.

Panthers are 0-1, but the Giants are 1-0, and now they have their home opener at MetLife Stadium. I'm excited. I'm excited to get in front of the fans back at MetLife. Looking forward to the energy and just feeling kind of the juice from them, and we've talked a lot about winning at home, protecting the home field, and we're all excited to do that, so I'm looking forward to getting out there. All right, but don't be so excited that you throw an interception in the end zone, because that's not going to help Daniel Jones. Hey, he helped to lead them to their game-winning drive, and then it was the moxie of Brian Deball to go for two and the win. Pretty impressive start.

First win in the season opener in six years, and now they have an opportunity to show off in front of the fans at MetLife. Stumbles down at the 15. He could not get there. The grass monster is not going to reach up and grab him, but it's Baker Mayfield and the Panthers, and they obviously don't want to start 0-2. Now, Baker, even against the Browns, saw a couple of his throws at the line of scrimmage get batted down because he's a little shorter, so how do you prevent that from happening? Lay on an inverted table a little bit. Stretch out. Get taller. Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Nice. I mean, it comes down to, like I said, finding windows. I know how those guys are preparing in that building. They see the footwork.

They stop and get their hands up, and it's also just me being on the same page with our line, getting their hands down, finding windows, because every once in a while, if things are going to happen, I'm going to have to find a lane, and just finding a way to make it work. Have you ever stretched out on one of those upside-down, you know, it hangs you upside down. It's like a bench, a plank, and it flips you upside down. It's an inversion table, something like that. I actually tried it before for my back.

My mom uses hers all the time. I wonder if that would help Baker Mayfield get taller. That's really funny. I like his sense of humor. At least he hasn't lost that after the embarrassment of the way the Panthers offense played in the first half against his former team. One more kind of personal connection and storyline, although I feel like this should be put to bed by now, but Jameis Winston with the New Orleans Saints hosting the Buccaneers, his former team.

It's another team. I got a lot of respect for a lot of those players, some of my old teammates, but at the end of the day, it's a division game, you know, going against the best and Tom Brady, but I don't get to go against him. I get to go against Devin White and Lavonte David, you know, and Anton Whitfield and Vito Bay and Shaq Barrett.

So got to prepare for those guys. Jameis Winston drafted by the Buccaneers, but of course shipped out when Tom Brady became available. It is a division rivalry and the Saints have had some success against the Bucks in New Orleans the last couple of years. I saw this on Tony Dungy's Twitter. Last year, seven teams started 2-0, seven of them, five of them made the playoffs, so 71%. Seven teams started 0-2, none of them made the playoffs. We hear roughly one a year, now last year was over, nobody. So we roughly hear one a year or so of the teams that start 0-2 will end up making the playoffs anyway, but it's not easy.

This is how early you can put yourself in a hole. Thank you Tony Dungy for that information. Chiefs and Chargers are both 1-0 and they will clash on Thursday Night Football at Amazon Prime. Harrison Butker will actually not play because of the ankle injury he sustained in Arizona. His coach, Andy Reid, says the turf was causing a lot of injuries and some of the other injuries players that are potentially returning. We hear about JK Dobbins going to play for the Baltimore Ravens, we believe. So we'll see different faces on, different faces off. It's week number two, it kicks off tonight, and then us. Enjoy your Thursday, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. BOOM!