9-8-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

So many of you football fans have already responded to our, we'll call it the getting serious fill in the blank that we're asking you to participate in as we prepare for the start of the NFL season. In fact, it's NFL Eve, is it not? Is that even more exciting than Christmas Eve? No, no it's not.

It's pretty close. First game of the NFL season is now hours, hours away you guys. In fact, we'll call it 16 hours and change. We're getting there. And so we're glad that you're with us. Of course, this time tomorrow morning or night, whichever it happens to be for you, we'll be extensively picking apart Bills and Rams and then of course we'll be reminded to tap the brakes. We'll also get to start our, it's my favorite poll that we do in the fall.

Well, that's not true. My favorite poll that we do in the fall is TD of the Week. That's my favorite. So I love that every week because we get to use the best highlights from wild and wacky finishes or just astounding individual feats of strength. But my favorite that we do on football Fridays is the game of the week and just the picking of four games is going to be hard enough.

This time tomorrow, you'll have the chance to vote in our first poll, which is pick the after hours game of the week. So you want to make sure you follow our show Twitter after our CBS. You can also find all of the goodies on my Twitter, a law radio and then our Facebook page where right now we're asking you to join us on Survivor Island.

You can either go Cocos Island or Isla Nublar. If you missed the reference or you don't know it, well, you have to go back and get the podcast from the first hour. But we got multiple volunteers to swim with the sharks potentially and figure out if you could get onto the island, even if you've never been part of Survivor Island in the past.

And we have heard from many people already that it does in fact work. So check out the link getting pinned to the top of our show Twitter after our CBS or our Facebook page. I'm very repetitive right now, but I know people are going to keep asking me like you did all weekend while I was on vacation. So there are two links.

There are two islands. You can join if you've played before or if you have no idea what I'm talking about and just getting in on the fun right this second, but you don't want to delay. I don't know how many of you are planning to pick either the Bills or Rams and that's how it goes with a Survivor pool. You pick a winner. That's all you do is pick a winner. You're just trying to survive to the next week.

I've never made it past week six ever made it past week six. Jay and I are doing a Survivor pool together in the office this fall, and I don't know how this is going to go because I'm not sure which one of us gets veto power. If we don't agree, we agree on a lot of stuff, but I don't know Jay, would you say we agree on more or we disagree on more? I would say agree. Do you think?

I think so. Football though? Yeah, I feel like we are usually on the same page with our football thoughts. Football thoughts, deep thoughts.

We ended up with some players that are the same on our fantasy rosters, which is kind of interesting. So we'll get to that coming up. But anyway, what we're asking you to do is just join us on Survivor Island.

You pick one winner every week. Here's my advice to you. Save it. Save it. Save it again. If the website does not tell you saved, then you didn't save it. Every week we have people who get eliminated because they either forgot to make their pick, didn't make their pick on time, or didn't save it.

Save it. Save it 10 times if you have to and the website will indicate to you that your pick has been saved. You know how you make your pick?

You go to the word picks across the top and the drop down menu will appear. It's not rocket science. I know you guys can do this. If my mom can do it, so can you. My mom is, she's stinky with technology. She's always complaining about it.

Super smart and for some reason has this mental blockade when it comes to technology. Anyway, you can do it. I believe in you. This is my pep talk for you. Go team.

So on Twitter, After Hours, CBS on our Facebook page is pinned to the top and all you got to do is get a CBS Sports login either previously existing or brand new and you'll be on either Cocos Island or Isla Nublar to see if you can outlast us here at After Hours. Our phone number 855-212-4227 fill in the blank. In 2022, my team, no the key to my team's success is what? We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. Alright, I promised I promised you that we would share our fantasy football rosters with you. And Jay has two teams. I just have one team. We actually were going to join a team together just for fun, but we waited until the last second and didn't get that done. So Survivor Island is what we're doing instead.

Or not Survivor Island. We're doing a Survivor pool here in the office. We're doing that instead, but we are going to be able to compare notes when it comes to fantasy football because we approached our drafts a little bit differently and yet still ended up with some similar players. Would you like to go by round, Jay? Or would you like to go by the roster and how it's listed?

It's up to you. I guess position or round. Position sounds better. Position sounds better. Yeah.

Are you sure? I think so. I'm trying to remember if I remember exactly where I drafted all my guys.

Yeah, I don't think I remember exactly where I drafted everyone, so it might be easier if we go by position. I can remember some of them, just not all of them. But we can do. Do you remember one, two, and three? Rounds one, two, and three? I do.

Okay, let's do it that way. So Jay stresses out. I had the privilege of listening to him draft on, I guess it was Sunday. Was it Sunday?

No, it was Tuesday. Sorry. And I was astounded at the stress and the heart palpitations. He takes this stuff very seriously, way more seriously than I do. And I only had 30 seconds for each pick. And so I would text Jay because he said, hey, you can ask me questions. I'll give you advice, which would have been nice and all, except that I would text him and then I was all of a sudden on the clock and with 20 seconds to go, I didn't have time to wait around for Jay to read his text and respond. It was way too quick. Yeah, it was very quick. You would not have been able to handle the pressure.

No, that sounds horrible. 30 seconds is, I need 30 seconds to just filter through the pages and see who's there. You need more time than that. Well, I think I did okay. I managed. I didn't miss any picks. Nothing auto-picked for me. Nothing auto-drafted. Okay, so for your first round pick, you were picking sixth in your... Which draft are we doing for me?

You tell me. Well, because we were on the phone for my one on Tuesday, but I was sixth in my one on Sunday. Right, Sunday. I thought you told me that was the one, the live draft that you were going to share your roster. Okay. That's the one you care the most about. That's not the one that we were on the phone for with. I know.

Which one do you care the most about? The one I did, the live draft I did. Okay. So why don't you tell everyone how you did it in rounds one, two, and three.

Round one, I had the sixth pick. I feel like I'm holding your hand right now. Just, you know, let's come on.

What are you talking about? Let's go. Come on. Round one, I did this. I had the sixth pick and I took Derek Henry. Derek Henry. And then on the swing, I took Saquon Barkley. And then in the third round, I took Josh Allen.

Little early, but he was sitting there. Why? Why did you take Josh Allen? Because I thought it would be like an extra running back and I wanted those rushing points. And I thought he was best available, really the only reason I went with it. Best available in the third round? I thought so. It was like mid-third round.

I don't know, the whole time, the whole week I was going. No quarterbacks before round seven. No quarterbacks before round seven. I get to the third round, I see Josh Allen and I pulled the trigger. I'm still not happy about it. I'm not upset about it. I'm not happy about it. I got probably the best quarterback in fantasy football.

Really? It was a little early. I'll admit it. I actually drafted Josh Allen in the third round last year and it didn't really pan out for me. He didn't have a great fantasy season and by his own standards would tell you that at least the first two-thirds of the year didn't play as well as he wanted to or as he had the year before. But he's an MVP candidate, whatever that means before the season starts.

So I hope that it works out for you. But yeah, it wasn't a great pick for me last year in round three. I didn't end up winning my, I don't even know if I made the playoffs last year.

I think I made the consolation bracket. But I had so many injuries last season, even with Nick Chubb and Najee Harris. I had so many injuries last year that was really hard to keep up. So for me, I was picking number nine in my snake draft and I went with a repeat. Najee Harris was my overall number one pick. Well, my overall number one pick. He wasn't pick number one overall.

He was still available at number nine. And then my second pick, so second round pick. This one I don't love. I'm a little bit nervous about it.

I don't care how accurate Tuatungovoloa is. I'm a little nervous about having Tyreek Hill as my second round pick. But I went with the Miami wide receiver, Tyreek Hill. And we'll see if he can back up all the smack he's been talking all of this off season. So Tyreek Hill and Najee Harris, my top two picks.

And then in the third round, maybe I have to figure out, I don't remember the rounds. But I do remember that somewhere in the first four rounds, I drafted, I think I went Jerry Judy in round number three. So another wide receiver, Denver wide receiver who's had a promising start to his NFL career. And with Russell Wilson now throwing the ball, I'm looking for him to have a breakout. I always like to have a Denver athlete on my roster.

So this time is Jerry Judy. And then in the top five, I also went with the tight end Dallas Goddard from the Philadelphia Eagles. And I'm pretty sure that I went with another receiver actually before we get out of the top five and I grabbed Allen Robinson. So I had three receivers on my roster before I got to my second running back or my quarterback. So yeah, I went Allen Robinson. Right now he's sitting in my flex position, but I love the matchup of Matthew Stafford and Allen Robinson for the Super Bowl champs.

That's something that we have in common. I as well have Allen Robinson in my flex position. He's actually one of my starting receivers. That's not great, but I went late on receivers. It could be great. I may end up switching him and Jerry Judy just to see how it goes.

Alright, so then go ahead. You had, how'd you fill out your middle rounds? Michael Thomas took a big flyer on Michael Thomas. I mean, if he works out, that's a potential first round top second round pick, you know, in most years when he's healthy.

So that's took a fire there. Allen Robinson. Oh man, I got Damian Pierce, who's the rookie running back from Houston, who's expected to get a ton of carries now and catch the ball. So hopefully he works out a couple of guys where either they're going to give me nothing or I'm going to get steals in the draft.

So that's kind of was my strategy. I like to take big potential guys. Well, I felt that way with Najee Harris last year and it worked out like a just it was a fantastic dark horse pick that they wanted him to be the feature back. And they were it was Ben Roethlisberger was Mike Tomlin and he got a lot of work and he was one of my top scorers last year. Yeah, he was great. That's kind of the hope I'm hoping for with Pierce in Houston that they just, you know, give him the ball. Just give the ball like 30 times a game.

Yeah, they feed him. Okay, so then do you want to fill out the rest of your roster? Your starters? Who else did you get in your starting roster? I'd rather not say my tight end and rather not say I got a tight end.

I think like two rounds before the draft ended and I just I don't know. I don't know what happened. So you're just going to keep it a secret.

Well, I want to know I have no offense. So wait, why would you rather not say because that's not a good starting tight end. But you knew what you were doing. You waited till the very end to grab a tight end. So I'm hoping maybe someone emerges on the waiver wire so I could pick up and grab him early week one. Zach Ertz, maybe I think he's taken in my league. You never know.

I think he is. There's no one. There was no one who was like available. All the top tight ends kind of going early and then I waited. I waited. I waited too long.

I didn't get one. So I was just like, I'm just gonna punt on tight end. I mean, maybe if you had waited on Josh Allen.

Got that right. Who else do you have in terms of your backs and your receivers or your defense and your kicker? I'm really excited about my kicker. My defense, I have forty-niners who I will hold on to them probably for at least a month. I got a pretty not, you know, never easy, but at least a good looking schedule on paper for them for that defense for the first four weeks. And then I have Tyler Bass, right?

The kicker for the Bills is my guy there. Nice. Okay. So did I mention who I got in my quarterback spot yet?

I don't think we've heard that yet. Nope. So this is the rest of my roster. Along with Najee Harris, I got Ramondre Stevenson, the running back for the Patriots, who depending upon their roster turnover and just in general what's happening with their offense, I feel like a solid back is a good pick with the Pats. I don't love having two Miami weapons, but I do.

I got Raheem Mostert for my bench, at least right now. Tyreek Hill being the other dolphin. Jerry Judy, Dallas Goddard I mentioned, Allen Robinson, and then I filled out my starting roster with the Steelers defense. I like this because I love Mike Tomlin.

I need to have some juice with the Steelers. And Evan McPherson, the Cincinnati kicker who last year could not freaking miss in the postseason. He was a rookie last year. Couldn't miss in the postseason.

He talked smack to boot. Fantastic. So those are my starters. My bench, I don't know how Hayden Hurst was still available when I was, he's literally my last pick. My last pick was Hayden Hurst, who right now is listed on the depth chart as the Bengals starting tight end. I also got Titans wide receiver Robert Woods, and I love this, Julio Jones, comeback player of the year, baby. Now with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which brings me to quarterback. Here we go. I can't decide if I can root for Aaron Rodgers, but he is my quarterback.

He is the two time defending MVP. I picked him in the seventh round. It's not like I jumped. People are coming here to play with me?

However, people are now coming here to play with me, actually. So Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback I picked in the seventh round. He was by far the top quarterback still available. And the fact, so Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes went early. I think Lamar went early in my draft too, actually.

But Aaron Rodgers was sitting there in the seventh round, and his projections were the highest, higher than Matthew Stafford, who would have been my next pick. But I love that Aaron has an ego the size of Canada because it fuels him. He's carrying that ego like a chip on his shoulder. Pretty nice.

All right. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, I know we're going to hear from him during the NFC QB news, but this is the kind of stuff that will drive you up a wall. Although, does he say anything that's not true when he speaks about the NFC North in his tenure as the Packers QB? We've played in some tough environments. This will be another one.

Good test. Just like all the other teams in the NFC North, it seems like every single year. I think their fan base and their teams feel like this is our year to win the North hasn't really been the case during my time for the most part. Oh my gosh. He loves, loves taking digs. Was it Chicago last year where he ran into the, I mean, he was getting screamed at by a mom, Bears fan mom, and she was heckling him, and he responded with, I bleeping own you. I've always owned you. I've given a lot less s*** last couple years.

It's one of your entire life, something along those lines. Correct me if I didn't say it completely accurately, but it's Packers at US Bank Stadium against the Vikings in week number one. And I may have mentioned this. I will be in Wisconsin for week number two. I've been to a preseason game at Lambeau Field, and it was amazing.

The atmosphere, the buzz. I was actually getting people yelling at me from the stands. I was on the field for pregame warmups on the sidelines and met Mark Murphy in person, and he said, I have to hear the voice because he listens.

So he said, I need to hear the voice to make sure it's Amy Lawrence. Anyway, I really enjoyed that atmosphere, and that was a preseason game. I cannot even imagine what it's going to be like week two when the Packers host the Bears on Sunday Night Football. So I'll be doing my show from Green Bay coming up, not this weekend, but Sunday week two, and then also Monday night of week number two before I return.

It's not the reason I'm going to Wisconsin, but it will be part of my trip back to Wisconsin. So that's coming up weekend number two, and we'll get there when we get there. Aaron Rodgers, welcome to my fantasy football team. You better be the MVP of Wookie of the Year. This is our year to win. This is our year to win the what? To win the North. This is our year to win the North. As long as you do it and you bear the name Wookie of the Year on your chest. That's the name of my team. I'm never changing it.

I don't believe in superstition, so it is what it is. This will be another one. Good test. Good test.

That's right. Let's start. Let's go.

Let's f-ing go. LFG Aaron Rodgers. Maybe if I continue saying it, I'll get more excited about Aaron Rodgers as my starting quarterback. It's just not going to happen, man.

It might not happen, man. Thanks for hanging out with us on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. Join us on Survivor Island, of course. You've got just a couple days left if you plan on picking a Sunday game, but we also want you to answer our serious NFL fill in the blank here. We're getting responses from all over the country. We'll dive into them coming up. In 2022, the key to success for my NFL team is what? Many of you have gone deeper than just QB.

I'm proud of you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Walters in Maryland. Hi, Walter. Well, hello, pretty lady.

How are you doing? Great. Amy, you represent class intelligence and personality, and that's everything I want in a talk show host. You got the whole Cameron Diaz thing going on. You're beautiful, girl. You're on television.

Wow. She's on radio. What the hell is she doing on radio?

I don't want to do TV. There's not enough airtime for me. They only gave me five minutes on CBS this morning. I was like, hey, where's my radio show? I got more to say. Here's Amy Lawrence. I can't believe it. Ready or not, here we go. We're asking you to fill in the blank here on After Hours and producer J put up a post on both our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

So After Hours, CBS, or you can Google it and find the show on Facebook. Super easy. In 2022, the key to success for my NFL team is what? And as I'm sifting through your responses, I'm pleasantly surprised that not only are we hearing from a ton of different fan bases. In fact, we may have had them all covered at this point, but we're also getting a variety of answers and I love it. So I want to run through some of these. Give credit where credit is due.

If you responded on Twitter, producer J is retweeting those again from our show account After Hours, CBS. So I'm going to start at the bottom and work my way up. Tyler says in 2022, the key to success for the Browns is for Cade York to make greater than 90 percent of his field goals. That's the key to success.

Uh-oh. That's all it takes. Well, if that's your key to success is to have a kicker who's really accurate, then there's a problem.

That almost, I guess, would indicate that Tyler's not real confident in the offense or maybe the defense either. You just need field goals. Field goals win championships. Never heard that?

No, I've never heard that. Jeremy on Twitter, for my Steelers, it's the O-line getting better and stopping the run. Let's go. Chuck. Aloha.

Hi, Chuck. Listening in Hawaii, the key to our success is Bosa the Beast. I like that. Now there's two Bosas. He's referring to the Niners' Bosa. So that would be Nick. Nick Bosa.

Let's see, Matty in New Hampshire. This is fun. For my Lions, it's grit and learning how to win. That's the key to success after 60-odd years. And on the way up, we're going to bite a kneecap off. Or bite kneecaps. Forget grit. Or maybe that's how grit is expressed if you're a Detroit Lion. We have adopted the Lions here on After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. We're all about seeing Dan Campbell with his celebrations on the sidelines in the locker room.

It's going to be fantastic. But yes, they do need to learn how to win. It's about establishing culture. It's about believing. It's about raising your level of play. It's about everyone on board.

It's about chemistry. All of those ethereal qualities that make a team a winner. And those do not come overnight.

There is no shortcut to chemistry or experience or a winning culture. Moving on. Rod on Twitter. For the Falcons to get pressure on the quarterback. So the key to success in 2022. The Falcons need to pressure opposing QBs. Staying in the south, though this is the AFC South, Melvin says the Titans, it's not turning the ball over. They need to have a great turnover ratio. Let's see, another tweet.

An Eagles fan. The key to success in 2022 is remaining healthy. Yeah, I would say that's low-key the success meter for every team out there. Really, for every professional sport, but certainly in football.

Steven on Twitter. For my 49ers, it's the offensive line to protect Trey Lance. And I would agree with that, but I also know that what they love about Trey is his athleticism.

They love his ability to move around. Now he's got to learn how to do that. All rookie quarterbacks have to learn the proper balance between giving yourself up and protecting yourself to live for the next snap. Or deciding if you can extend the play.

Deciding if you can get more and if it's worth it. I mean, this is the balancing act that you have to do as a quarterback. And young QBs, they have a hard time sometimes giving it up and waiting for the next play. Kent on Twitter wants owner Daniel Snyder of the Washington Commanders to sail away on his yacht forever.

Well, I don't think that's going to happen. So, in lieu of that, maybe Carson Wentz? Maybe the defensive line for those Washington Commanders?

I have to keep practicing because I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't think I'll say Redskins anymore, but I might say Washington football team. Let's see, another tweet. Cruz says for the Falcons to keep Kyle Pitts healthy. Oh yeah, he's definitely a key for Marcus Mariota.

Adam says the key is to not blow leads in the last minute and actually finish teams off. He's a Vikings fan. Let's see, another tweet comes from a Panthers fan for Christian McCaffrey to stay healthy and play a full season.

Let's see, another tweet comes from the Academy Theater. I like it. A quarterback that avoids injury but has eight carries a game. I have no idea which quarterback, just any quarterback.

That's the problem when you don't identify yourself. I have no way of knowing which team you're talking about, so I guess we're going to have to disqualify that answer. I took that as Josh Allen. I don't know, it could be anybody, but that's where I, I don't know why I thought that. Eight rushes, it sounds about accurate. Really? Maybe I'm just hoping for my fantasy purposes that he averages about eight rushes a game. I'm thinking you're just taking a flyer, a wild stab in the dark.

Leanne on Twitter. The key to my Bengals being successful is keeping Burrow off the ground. We can't keep leading the league in most sacks, take in and get to the Super Bowl. Was it Tennessee that sacked Burrow eight times in the AFC playoffs last year? So it would have been the first round, right? It was wildcard. Yeah, it was the wildcard weekend, the supersized wildcard weekend, and they sacked him.

Wait, is that right? They sacked him eight times, but they lost. Yeah, okay, maybe it was more than that. It might have even been nine. Someone can weigh in if you remember accurately right off the top. It was nine.

It was nine, okay. Neil on Twitter. It's for Kyle Shanahan and the Niners coaching staff to try to win every game in the season and stay undefeated. I like that answer. I like the promise in that answer.

I should have read that answer first. Let's see, Jordan says the key for the Eagles is consistency and giving trades, free agents, and draft picks a legitimate chance. Oh, I think it's a legitimate chance now for the Eagles after making the playoffs last year. Another tweet. Quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, not convinced the Niners' QB Trey Lance can succeed at the NFL level. You will hear from both Trey and Kyle Shanahan coming up. One more, Alex on Twitter, the key to the Bills success, stopping the run, and Josh Allen playing like he did at the end of last season. There are so many more, but on Twitter after our CBS producer Jay is retweeting your responses. Fill in the blank. In 2022, the key to my team's success is what?

Same thing on Facebook. We'll get to those answers, plus the NFC version. QB News is also coming up. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Man, this show is flying. That's what happens during football season. It's here. It's real.

It's going to be spectacular. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. It's time for QB News on After Hours. Wait a minute.

Didn't we already do this an hour ago? Well, sure, but it was the AFC version. There's so much that we want to get to, and it's fun stuff, right? We love our quarterbacks or we hate our quarterbacks, but we're definitely obsessed with our quarterbacks. And we want to make sure we give them all equal due as we get ready for week one of the NFL season.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Aaron Rodgers, the two time defending MVP, and now my starting quarterback and my fantasy football team Wookie of the Year. He doesn't need to say it, but he wants the NFC North and really the rest of the world to recognize who the king of the division is at this point and has been for quite a while. We've played in some tough environments. This will be another one.

Good test. Just like all the other teams in the NFC North, it seems like every single year. You know, I think their fan base and their teams feel like this is our year to win the North.

Hasn't really been the case during my time for the most part. Do we get to bump Pat McAfee again this year or no? I don't actually have the answer to that. I really hope so.

Do you? It was Radio Gold, let's be honest. So first week, it's Packers at Vikings, which is who we're speaking to right there. But then it's Bears at Lambeau Field in week two and then week three and four.

Get this. At the Buccaneers, so against Tampa Bay in week three. And then it's followed by the Patriots in week number four and that one taking place at Lambeau. OK, it's on, baby.

I love your honor. We've adopted a different NFC North team here on After Hours because we want them to win. Not only for the long suffering fan base, but for all the kneecaps that can be bitten along the way. Jared Goff, still the quarterback for the Detroit Lions, despite the talk about whether or not they would try to upgrade in the off season. He and and really the entire roster featured kind of the veil pulled back on the Lions on hard knocks. And after watching that, Mark Brunel, the quarterback coach, is he's impressed with Jared Goff. He's impressed with the offense and he thinks they're ready to go. Real excited about Jared. He's doing some good things and it's so important to him. He likes what we're doing and he likes who he's doing it with, which is great for a quarterback. He's making some incredible throws.

I think we're getting a glimpse of what he's going to be for us this year. The Lions start out with Philadelphia and Washington. So the Lions, like the rest of the NFC North, taking on the NFC East this year.

That could help. Maybe they've got first two games at home. So Detroit fans get ready. Eagles and commanders first up on your schedule. Who says we can't get flexed?

I believe you could get flexed, but you got to win some games first. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. There is no quarterback controversy internally for the San Francisco 49ers. As Kyle Shanahan has made very clear, Trey Lance is QB one.

It's his team. The second year quarterback is the official starter. I'm excited.

I mean, real similar to, I guess, the weeks that I did start last year from from preparation standpoint. But it's great to have those guys in the room. Great to have Jimmy in the room to help bounce ideas off of.

But yeah, it's been awesome. As for the Jimmy G question, there will be a question, and this is what Kyle Shanahan has to deal with. The fact that he keeps Jimmy Garoppolo, that he and John Lynch pay him, renegotiate his contract, to keep him around as the backup in the final year of his deal with incentives built in, means he will have to hear about, hey, what about Jimmy G?

And if the Niners don't get off to a strong start, should they make a quarterback change? I mean, we all know how it'll go. We also know if Jimmy wasn't here and Trey did bad, how it would go. So we understand that. The fact that he has a successful quarterback behind him, that's obvious how that narrative will be and understandably so. But I think our players also know Jimmy went through some tough times, too, and they had his back regardless of if they thought there was a better option.

They had his back, and people got to realize that. Players, I think, need to realize that just like their position. It happens at the quarterback position, too.

You're not going to be perfect. However, all eyes are going to be on that guy, not all at the linebacker at all times or the guard. And you got to realize when you do struggle, those guys know it's a lot harder to play well when no one has your back, and you got to help guys through that. And I think we got the guys who can do that. I think our guys did that for Jimmy when he was here, even when he was having some tough times and allowed him to fight through that.

And I believe our guys will do the same thing for Trey. One thing that I've said over and over about the quarterback situation at San Francisco is that if not for a professional Jimmy Garoppolo, it wouldn't work. It wouldn't work in many places, but Jimmy G handles his business privately. He does recognize that it's a business, and he was essentially the dead man walking all of last season, and yet the team still followed his lead, and they went to the NFC Championship. And the fact that you will never hear a member of the San Francisco 49ers say a bad word about Garoppolo, nor his coach, nor his general manager, makes me believe that this is one rare situation where this actually could work.

But yes, what about Treyland? If you have designs on getting back to that championship game or beyond, then you would be a fool not to consider a guy who's got a great track record of success when he is on the field. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Baker Mayfield, stop me if you've heard this before, is the starting quarterback for the Panthers against his former team, the Browns, in week number one. I think it's a great storyline. Obviously there's history involved leading up to this week. There's other games in the NFL that guys are playing their former teams. It's the excitement leading up to week one that I think is building that anticipation up. But for me, it's the familiarity. Anytime you're playing guys you know, it makes it just more interesting, more fun.

You get to smack talk a little bit with your buddies that you've been with for a little bit, and you know how to poke and prod and get the best out of them. I'm looking forward to the opportunity. I'm grateful for the time I had in Cleveland. Like I said, I started my career there. Fans there at Football Town, obviously like I've mentioned multiple times, it ended abruptly and unexpectedly, but we're here now.

Everything happens for a reason, and I'm rolling with the punches, and like I said, I'm happy to be a Panther. If only he had put that on social media, or maybe absconded from social media altogether, but that's not how it went down. You don't really care. Well, we know that's not true. If you say you don't really care, we know that you actually care. It's one of those things.

It's an oxymoron, really. And it's just boo- Human nature, baby, and Baker Mayfield is all of that. Now, he's been an emotional girl in the past, I'll give him that, but I've also been impressed with his maturity to this point in Carolina, although the tenure's been short, so let's give him some time in a pressure cooker. Brown's Panthers in Charlotte, week number one.

All right, wrap it up. It'll be good to see Jameis Winston back on the field after tearing his ACL. Pretty impressive rally, but things are different. There's no more Sean Payton. Now it's Dennis Allen, but he's got Michael Thomas back. He's been on a long journey, but one thing I've always admired about Mike is the competitor and the resilience that he possesses.

So I think that's what makes him as elite as he is, and he is among the elite of the elite. The Saints are hitching their wagon to the Jameis Winston star, but it comes with an invigorated and healthy Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara as well. It doesn't appear as though the NFL will be issuing any type of a definitive ruling in his case.

Remember, he's charged with multiple different charges for a fight outside an elevator in Las Vegas. Was it Pro Bowl week? I think it might have been Pro Bowl weekend. Anyway, he's right now in the midst of a criminal investigation, but the NFL is waiting until that legal system plays out, and so most insiders will tell you they think Alvin will play the 2022 season. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. If you missed it, Emmanuel Sanders has actually announced his retirement, so long-time NFL wide receiver. Niners, Broncos, Bills.

Am I missing any teams? It was a lot of fun to see him go deep. The speed that he brought, the excitement, the energy, but he is hanging up those cleats.

The motivation was to buy my grandma a house, get my grandma out of poverty. It was a lot of stuff that was built in within me, that 175 pounds. That was the weight that people didn't see on my shoulders, and that's how I played the game.

You know, I'm happy to hang it up now, and I'm content with hanging it up now. I tell people all the time, you can measure my hands, you can measure my feet, you can measure my arms. You can't measure my heart.

Oh, love that! And that's what I play with. I play with my heart.

Wait, can I hear it again? You can measure my hands, you can measure my feet, you can't measure my heart. I tell people all the time, you can measure my hands, you can measure my feet, you can measure my arms. You can't measure my heart.

And that's what I play with. I play with my heart. Oh, that is so me.

That is so me. You can measure a lot of things. You can assess numbers, age or height or years in the business, but you cannot freaking measure my heart. And what do I tell you about analytics and why they fall short when it comes to sports? They are a tool. They can only give you options. They can only offer possibilities and potential.

What they cannot do is measure heart and soul and the ability to perform under pressure and what human beings do when everything is on the line. Sometimes they fold, sometimes they fail miserably, but sometimes they rise to the occasion and they surprise us. And that is what we love about sports, right, is the human element.

Okay, I will just speak for me. That's what I love about sports is the human element and watching how heart and smart factor into the equation. So congratulations to Emmanuel Sanders, now 35 years old, but spent 12 years in the NFL, half of those in Denver. But he was actually picked by the Steelers. I forgot about the Steelers. That's where he was drafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. He was also a Super Bowl winner with the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. One hour to go. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.