After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

That's it. Often when we wake up, our brains go into planning mode, which leads to overthinking and stress before our head even leaves the pillow. Something simple like brushing your teeth can break that cycle and jumpstart your day. This tip was brought to you by BetterHelp Online Therapy, which connects you with a licensed therapist via video, phone, or online chat.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month. Happy first night of autumn. Aww, that makes me so happy. So when I say happy first night at fall, I mean it with all of my heart. People ask me a lot.

I don't know why it comes up so much. But what is your favorite season of the year? Or people tease me about wouldn't you love to live in San Diego or Florida where it's warm year round? Or even in Houston where my mom said it was 98 degrees on Thursday.

The answer is negative, Ghost Rider. First of all, I love snow. I cannot live without snow in my life, at least part of the time. And I love the cold. I would rather have cold than hot any day. If I had to live year round in one climate, it would not be heat. So when I tell you I'm excited for the temperatures to change and drop, though I'm not excited that I accidentally left my downstairs bathroom window open because it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight in my neighborhood.

What? Wait, I still have tomatoes that I'm picking off my tomato plant. Regina is her name.

Regina is still producing tomatoes. How can I possibly have temps in the 30s tonight? I think that's with the wind chills, though.

But yeah, it is going to be cold when I get into my house in the morning. But Penny likes it cold. She's always wearing that fur coat of hers. It's so fluffy right now, though, because she just got groomed and got a bath. It smells like lavender. Maybe that's why she keeps rolling in the yard, because she doesn't want to smell like lavender. Anyway, I am thrilled that it's autumn.

It features some of my favorite things in the entire world. For instance, orange. Everywhere you look, there's orange. Pumpkin everything.

And I'm a pumpkin shill this time of the year. Leaves that turn orange and start to fall off the trees. Of course, less humidity depending upon where you live. The temperatures turn colder. It's a great time to get back to hiking. Fall golf. I do love fall golf when it's not nearly as busy at the golf courses. And also trips to the beach when there's nobody else out there.

And maybe you just maybe you need a sweatshirt instead of a bathing suit. So there's a lot of things to love about the fall. Growing up in New Hampshire, of course, it was leaf peeping and all of the fall colors. We used to avoid the trips up north on the weekends like the plague because it was a massive tourist trap and tourist attraction.

And so there would be an influx of cars and people. But it's a small price to pay for living in a gorgeous state like New Hampshire. So happy autumn. I am in such a good mood. I finally got a little sleep the last couple of days.

And so it feels not only does it feel like autumn, but it feels like it's almost Friday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. 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. Stop me if you've heard this before, but we have a lot to get to on this edition of the show. I don't remember the last time I was bored personally in my life, and I don't remember the last time that it was boring here on the show. Of course, I'm not the greatest person to ask if the show is boring, right? Because I would never tell you that it is. Maybe some of you have been bored with the show, but it's not for a lack of topics or a lack of headlines or a lack of stories.

Nah. Can't remember the last time that happened either. Anybody who works in this business and ever tells you there's nothing going on just isn't paying attention. And honestly, why would you listen if a host tells you there's nothing going on? Seriously, one of the first rules that I think it was an advisor or a mentor ever said to me, don't tell your audience there's nothing going on, because why would they need to listen then?

Be like sabotaging your own radio show. But I can honestly say I don't remember the last time there was nothing going on, because you know the NFL. They have to be the center of attention all the time. And it pretty much works out. Not sure if you saw the numbers.

These are a little bloated, so take them with a grain of salt. But there were 15 million people who tuned in to watch the NFL in its debut on Amazon Prime. Though that does include those people who were watching in the local markets last week in Kansas City and LA. Far more in Kansas City than in LA.

So the numbers are a little bit skewed. That's essentially everyone who watched Thursday Night Football, but it does include those two places where you could get the game on local TV. Tonight, kicking off week number three, you could get the game in Pittsburgh and in Cleveland on local TV. But otherwise you had to watch it on Amazon Prime.

I made a pivot, by the way. I needed to be able to watch other events on my TV where I had the DVR that was easily accessible and I could rewind and flip channels and all that jazz. So I put the football game on my laptop where it was a gorgeous picture. I had no trouble with buffering. I didn't have any audio issues.

It is a brand new laptop that I bought at Christmas time, but I didn't have any problems whatsoever. And it worked out a lot better having the game on my laptop where I could rewind a little easier than on my TV. I could pause it when I needed to. I could mute the computer super easy when I needed to, when it was in commercials, so that I could then watch other events on my TV. I've got the formula now.

I suggested it to producer Jay. I said this is the way to do it. But he actually did the opposite. So you were watching football on TV and baseball on your laptop. Right, I had football on the main TV and actually the iPad I used with the Optimum app to watch the baseball. But I could flip that easily.

Well, no you don't need to, but how did you find Amazon Prime on this Thursday? It's fine. I really don't have a problem with it. The only issue that I have is just that I can't flip back and forth during commercial breaks.

That's it. Which is why laptop was the reason, my go-to for week number two. So this was a fun game. It really was.

I enjoyed seeing the Steelers and the Browns on the field together for the first time in the dog pounder. Do we have to call it something different now with Elfie? Wait, Brownie? What's his name? I forgot.

I'm sorry. I think it's Brownie, right? Brownie Elf? So it's not Elfie. I don't think it's Elfie. I can't confirm though. Elfie, take a selfie with Elfie.

Could you imagine out there at midfield, people would want to take a selfie with Elfie? No, I can't imagine that. No? Okay. You could go crownie with the Brownie?

I don't know. I like Brownies. Brownies are yummy. Brownies are good.

They're spiked with marijuana, but you know, they're regular Brownies that have just chocolate in them. Anyway, this was like we typically know of the AFC North, competitive and fierce and physical. Yes, the quarterbacks have changed. Still, AFC North football is dynamic, and I enjoyed it. And also, I couldn't help but laugh when in the very first half, not only did we see the Steelers attempt to go vertical and to go downfield to stretch the offense a little bit, but one of the first big plays went to the rookie wide receiver, George Pickens, who I can imagine got a stern talking to from Mike Tomlin for exposing, or you know what, not even exposing, just being honest.

Well, you better knuckle up. You're not supposed to be honest and open and candid when you are a rookie in an NFL locker room. So George Pickens said earlier in the week that he was open 90% of the time in the Steelers game against the Patriots. That's week number two. And then when reporters asked him about his comment, he doubled down and said, actually, all of us were open last week against the Patriots. Oh, dear. Just just think for a second. The faces or the eyes bugging out of Mike Tomlin's head when he read or heard these comments from his rookie wide receiver. It's put up and shut up time.

Oh, so you went warts. I went it's put up or shut up time. It's put up and shut up time. Oh, put up and shut up time.

You know why that applies? Because it was definitely put up and shut up time for the rookie on Thursday night. Second down and four from the Pittsburgh 46. And this long pass, a great catch by rookie George Pickens inside the Browns 20 at the 18 yard line. What a play for the young man from Georgia. Oh, great googly moogly. I can't believe this catch.

I'm like Myron in the shotgun. There's a snap. There goes Nagy off left side bounces it for the goal line. Touchdown Pittsburgh. Bill Hillgrove on Steelers radio.

So yes, George Pickens off balance one handed. And of course, you knew we were going to see OBJ highlights from his rookie year on Monday Night Football against the Cowboys. The Steelers actually led 14 13 at the half.

Why? Because there was another missed point by the rookie Cade York. It was windy there in Cleveland. But I'm sure that brought back a little deja vu for Browns fans. But in the first half, the Browns also had an efficient offense that moved up and down the field. And I really liked what I saw from Jacoby Brissett. Now, keeping in mind, of course, the Browns are coming off what was a colossal collapse.

Hasn't happened in decades. What they did or didn't do to close out the game against the New York Jets in week two, also in Cleveland. And Jacoby Brissett said we had to get back to work. You had to let it go.

There's no good that comes of hanging on to it, stewing over it, being frustrated with it because you can't get it back. And I actually heard multiple players post game. I heard an interview with David and Joku on Westwood one in which he praised the leadership and the perspective of Jacoby Brissett this week. That he pointed them all in the right direction. And his play on the field matched in the first half. He was calm. He was poised. He was efficient. He was looking for his open receivers.

And he was finding his veterans, right, using the targets that he has. That included Amari Cooper. It included Nick Chubb, of course.

And it included his tight end. First and goal at the six and a half. In the backfield, Hutt, left hip of Brissett. Brissett takes the snap. Back looking. Firing up in the air.

Caught. Touchdown, David and Joku. And the Browns are back on top. Well, we got some abrupt endings to our audio tonight. But that's still Jim Donovan on Browns radio.

So yes, 14-13 at the half. Healthy dose of David and Joku. Lots of looks for Amari Cooper. And then Nick Chubb, because Nick Chubb is not only a feature back. He's a three-time Pro Bowler. And he's the first player with four straight years of at least five yards per carry on 150-plus carries.

He's a workhorse. Oh, did you guys see the video of him bench pressing? Squatting. Not bench pressing, sorry.

Squatting and deadlifting. Oh my gosh. Over 600 pounds.

That's insane. And yet you can see that at work on the field when those legs keep turning. You can see it at work on the field.

The strength that will pull multiple defenders at a pile along with him. Seven offensive linemen in this formation. On fourth down.

Back setup in the eye. Brissett hands it off. Chubb goes airborne.

He's in. Touchdown. The Browns get the score. Chubb goes up top for six. And Cleveland extends the lead. Ian Eagle on Westwood one.

So yeah, those legs are also good for getting him up and over the top. And it was really Nick Chubb over and over again. A healthy dose of Kareem Hunt. But if you remember in the third quarter.

Or if you didn't watch, I'm telling you. There was a drive that took over seven minutes. It was a 14 play drive that went for a 34 yard field goal. Okay, so that was their first extended drive in the third quarter.

They do all that work. Now granted, they keep the ball away from Pittsburgh. But they only end up with a field goal.

So then, when they're up by three points to start the fourth quarter. They go nearly another seven minutes on a drive that is really about ball control and ball possession. And if I remember correctly, only one pass play.

On what was a six and a half minute drive. Heavy on Kareem Hunt and heavy on Nick Chubb. And he scores the touchdown on fourth and goal.

Now I would say that should have been the dagger. But you know, that's not how it goes with Cleveland Browns football. Pittsburgh's offense really dried up in that second half. Three straight three and outs on the road. Guess what happens when your offense is on the field for minimal snaps on three consecutive drives? Your defense is gassed.

It's worn out. I had this thought over and over when I watched Pittsburgh play. You can only ask the defense to do so much. With or without T.J. Watt, it's a healthy defense. You can only ask this defense to hold that Browns offense at bay for so long. You can't expect the defense to play the majority of the second half and still be successful.

It does not work that way. You've got to give them a blow. You've got to give them time on the bench to recover. But that's not what the Steelers offense did. Three straight three and outs for Pitt. Now in the second half they finally are able to drum up a field goal.

Finally. Under two minutes to go. I just wonder what Browns fans were thinking at this point as the Steelers line up for the onside kick. Boswell has the ball up on the tee. Unlike the kid last week, Braden Mann, on the onside kick. The ball bounces and Peoples Jones didn't get it. And then it goes out of bounds.

Trubisky a yard deep into his own end zone. Takes the snap from out of the end zone. He throws it. It is caught. They're going to lateral it back.

Claypool's got it. He laterals it back. Juggle there. They're at the five. They're going to lateral it back again. It's going to be recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.

Recovered by Denzel Ward. And the Browns are winners. They just beat the Steelers.

Once again, Jim Donovan on Browns radio. So yes, there is an onside kick. And it looked like the Steelers may have had a piece of it.

Had a direct line to it. But it got knocked out of bounds. So that negates the possession.

Well, there was a really possession, but you know what I'm saying? That ends the play. And then on that last ditch effort with the multiple laterals. Najee Harris, of course, because he's on my fantasy team. Najee Harris fumbles.

I'm just kidding. And the ball is recovered by Denzel Ward in the end zone for the final capper of a touchdown. There's a lot to pull out of this from the Cleveland perspective. 171 rushing yards. That's how you control the game. Control the ball, control the game. Control the ball, control the game.

And Nick Chubb, 23 carries for 113 yards and a score. And after the game, he was talking about his quarterback. Jacoby's a dog. He's a great leader for us.

He's vocal. He's a playmaker. We need to play. He's going to make it for us. We love Jacoby here.

Nick Chubb on Amazon Prime. So we'll hear from Kevin Stefanski, Jacoby Brissett, certainly Mike Tomlin, Mitch Trubisky. The Steelers offense was moving in that first half. They were keeping pace, going toe to toe with the Browns and they were using their weapons. But second half fell off a cliff.

Mitch disappeared off the side of the cliff to stick with that analogy. Also adventures and kicking are still in full effect to start week three. There were some ugly kicks in this game on Thursday night, though, yes, it was windy. So week three is officially underway on the first evening of autumn, the best season in my humble opinion. And remember, opinions by definition can be neither right nor wrong.

So you can have your opinion and I can have mine. So happy first day of fall. On Twitter, AlalRadio, can't wait to hear from you. Pretty soon we'll have our game of the week poll up.

Obviously can't pick this one. Oh, and I hope you didn't forget to make your survival island picks. It is a war of attrition. Most of you are already shark fodder, shark food and shark fodder. You're chum in the water. I am barely alive.

Thanks Falcons. I am barely alive, but I did have to make a pick for week number three. I hate it. I hate all my picks, all of them. But I am still there on Survivor Island, barely, barely, barely.

I could use some berries on Survivor Island. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. From the stealer 11 out of the shotgun for setback to pass, looks, throws, middle, Cooper caught it, touchdown!

Just what you said. They're thinking touchdown and they get touchdown. He worked against the safety Terrell Edmonds and he gets in there for the score percent to Cooper for the second game in a row. Off the field, on the money and after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence.

Here I am. I am ready to talk football week three, which means by the end of this weekend, we'll have a greater sample size of our favorite teams, our least favorite teams. We'll have a better idea of who is getting to consistency, finding consistency, because really in this first month, it is a race to consistency. As opposed to wild swings of the offense, the defense, as opposed to not knowing what you're going to get from one drive to the next.

You want guys who are getting closer to mid-season form as quickly as possible. Now you are what your record says you are and right now, it's the Cleveland Browns who are in first place in the AFC North. How about them apples?

How about them elves? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Thanks so much for hanging out with us on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence. We have a lot to cram in even before we hit the end of this first hour because we did get a ruling and a discipline handed down from the Boston Celtics with their head coach and also Aaron Judge, Albert Pujols, both coming so close to history.

You'll hear how it sounded in both, shoot I forgot what it was, San Diego, no not San Diego, yes San Diego, as well as New York or the Bronx. So that's coming up here on CBS Sports Radio and top of the hour, our Steelers insider now that the Steelers are 1-2 and again facing some of the same challenges with their offense in the second half in Cleveland. Amari Cooper, 7 catches for 101 yards and a score that you hear with Jim Donovan on Browns Radio. He and David Njoku and Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, that's what you want. You want balance and you want these veterans who are churning up yardage and I like the rapport already that we've seen between Brissett and Cooper. Cooper has always been one of the best route runners in the NFL and even if the Dallas Cowboys didn't think he was worth keeping around, it's a big deal to have a guy as good as he is on this Browns receiving staff, this Browns receiving corps. Kevin Stefanski, obviously hearing a lot about their collapse at the end of week number 2.

Hopefully this helps erase the bad taste. That's just a great team win and I'm really proud of those guys for fighting. Short week with all the things, you know, with last Sunday for those guys that come through first of all just battle to make it to this game which is not easy but then the fight for 60 minutes and I thought it was really a team win. I think it was offense, defense, special teams all working together. I thought it was a great team win. We obviously, our offense started out slow.

We just heard that. And then I think we settled in and then we just started to get things going. We knew it was going to be a 60 minute football game.

Obviously they're a good team, great coaches, good players. So it was just about, it came back to us and I think we did a good job of settling back in and then just making our routine plays. So Jacoby Brissett echoing his head coach Kevin Stefanski, it was a good team win. Jacoby goes 21 of 31 for 220 yards, no turnovers, couple of touchdown passes in that first half and he's done talking about the people who don't think he should be the starter or that he's not good enough or he's just keeping the seat warm, la la la.

I'm not in this to answer anybody's questions. I'm in here to play good football, play for my teammates and enjoy this moment and that's what it really is all about. I can look those guys in their faces and tell them I'm giving them my best and that's what I look forward to. So Jacoby to me looks smooth in that first half. The fact that he was able to move the offense up and down the field and even in the second half when they had that seven minute drive, the one that resulted in the field goal. I know they didn't get into the end zone, later did obviously when they went run heavy. Even if what you're doing is managing the game and keeping defenses honest with a couple of passes down field, I feel like the Steelers would take that right now, well at least two halves of that. They got one half of it against Cleveland.

What more do you need? With a run game and an offensive line like the Browns have, what more do you need than a quarterback who's going to take care of the football and deliver it on the money down field to a couple of veteran receivers like Amari Cooper? We go out there and we practice hard, we practice on our time and we're always communicating even outside of the building because we know at the end of the day we're responsible for how we play. And then Jacoby, at the end of the day, we're both from South Florida so he's easy to relate to, he's a really cool person, real fun guy to be around so I mean the communication is there and everything like that.

The South Florida vibes, it makes you easy to talk to, easy to relate to. I've always been a fan of Amari Cooper, going back to his days at Alabama and there is an Alabama fraternity, pretty much every team in the NFL, you've got guys that raised the bar and raised the standard and Amari has done that with every team with whom he has played. So Mike Tomlin, what went wrong for the Steelers after halftime? They made the plays, they did. In the significant moments they made it, they were in manageable possession downs, a lot of third down and short.

It's usually a high probability for conversions when you're that short and really that's kind of the story of how them folded over the last 30 minutes. I'm not laughing at Mike Tomlin, well he's not really laughing. I just appreciate his vocabulary.

It's so unique. Here's the thing, and Marco Belletti's here in studio, even if you weren't listening to Mike Tomlin use the words that he does, significant and high probability conversions, even if you didn't hear him say it, maybe you just saw the words on a piece of paper and didn't know which coach was saying them, you would know it was Tomlin. No, I could hear Tomlin in my head if I was reading it. No one else uses the words that he does.

It gives you that tingle. Yes, but I just think he's so unique and I try. It's probably a good thing I'm not in Mike Tomlin press conferences on a regular basis because I would be giggling and I would get kicked out.

That would probably, I don't know if giggling would be the right word, but I'd be laughing. I love the Mike Tomlin stuff, I mean that's usually kind of joking what we do, looking for sound or whatnot. Yeah, Tomlin's probably the first one I go to to go find it during the week just to see what he said. I may not use it, I just want to see what he said. He's for the first press conference that I'm usually listening to.

Oh, he's awesome. In fact, Jay and I have this idea at some point when we have some breathing room, we're going to do this. Put together a top of the hour open or a piece of production that's nothing but Mike Tomlin isms. I don't think it'll take long.

Some of those things will take forever to put together and you've got to find the right one. No. I don't like Tomlin. We have an entire library of Mike Tomlin quips.

Yeah. It's fantastic. In fact, my favorite, even though it just happened last week or first week, might be about he did not urinate on his leg or down his leg. He didn't urinate down his leg, man. That's a great place to begin. That is how you start. Just don't urinate down your leg. That's all I'm asking of you. I'm not asking you to go out there and be Tom Brady on your first day or this was actually Jaylen Warren. I'm not asking you to go out there and be Nick Chubb on your first day.

I'm just asking you to not pee on yourself. That's all we need from you and you're ahead of the game. You know, it would be nice if more coaches were a little bit more, I don't know, forthcoming, if you will, but not a lot of them have the job security that Mike Tomlin has. So I'm sure that helps.

That definitely helps. Although, come on. What coach is going to get in trouble for praising his rookie running back for not peeing down his leg? Yeah, but Mike Tomlin can say things that other people can't.

And again, when you're with an organization that have had two head coaches now for what, the last 60 years, you feel a little bit, or three coaches, I should say, you feel a little bit better about your security. So I have to ask you something too, because this has dawned on me and then we'll get to your update. When Amazon Prime tells you it's the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football and then two hours later it's airing in its entirety on NFL Network, is that weird? Because I told people last week, and now I'm reminded of it, if you don't have Prime, all you gotta do is wait for, say, an hour after they finish the postgame, and then it turns up on NFL Network and airs in its entirety. Yeah, but that means that you can't, you have to basically, I mean, one, you have to be awake at this point. You could tape it.

You could tape the game. Okay, first of all, it's 1130 on the West Coast. It's not that big of a deal.

I get it. Well, it's still, you know, late in the evening, and you gotta not know what happens in the game. Because I don't know about you, and I tape football games for a long time now, since I was a little kid, and I'll go back and watch them again. But if you know what happened, it's harder to watch the game. You watch it differently. You do. So to me, if you're like a fan and you wanna watch the game and you don't have Amazon Prime, you have to avoid human contact and don't turn on a computer or anything like that for like a good five hour span and then watch it on NFL Network.

I don't know if anybody's willing to do that. Or listen on the radio. Yeah, but then you have to not know. If you're listening to the radio, that means that you're not watching the game. The idea is to watch the game.

That's what I'm talking about. If you watch the game for the first time, you have to not know. You have to not know. I mean, I get it.

That used to be me. Now I don't. Even if I know, I'll still watch. Because there's so much to pay attention to. You can watch and be able to. You're watching it differently. If you know the outcome, you're watching it differently than you are if you don't know what's going on. You're just looking at it with different eyes. From a guy who's done this a million times.

I'll give you Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They wouldn't wanna watch it. That's what I mean.

You and I, what's the difference? You're just kinda like watching a football game and you just see what happens. If this is for me being a giant fan, if that's a giant game and I know what happens and I know they lose, the whole game I'm watching it, I'm pissed. The whole game and I know it and I just wanna see how they screwed this up.

That's not good. My question though really was, how can they bill it as exclusive to Amazon Prime when it's not? Because I don't think that anybody, I don't think most people will watch the game in its entirety after it's over. People like to know what happens at the time. Once it's done, it's old news. Now it's just what kind of going through some things, but I don't think they need to see the play by play. Interesting. I mean, cause that's what NFL network does all week long is they replay games.

And I'd be curious to see what their ratings are for it because my guess is not very good. Okay. No, I just, I don't think, look, look, the NFL is king for a few reasons, right? We all love football anyway, but, but why betting is a big part of fantasy is a big part of it. Once you know the outcomes of both of those things, it's more nuts and bolts and X's and O's. And I hate to say it.

So you don't think because they love football, they're watching because of the fantasy and the betting. And at that point it's, it's moot. Yes. All right.

Yeah. Well, if that, if you're one of those degenerates, well then yes, the NFL network rebroadcast wouldn't really work for you. No, like I said, I'm not, I'm a dinosaur in that regard. I don't do any of that stuff. I don't do fantasy. I don't, I'm not a gambler. Cause we work in radio.

We don't have extra money laying around. Yeah, but I was never that kind of guy anyway. But just the idea that most people are, if you took away, if you said you can't have any fantasy football and you can't bet on the NFL, why don't you die? Because that's part of what's makes it so appealing to the general public.

Of course it wouldn't. Why would you flush all the money? Why would you get rid of it? That's part of why it's so appealing to everyone. This doesn't have that. And to me that you take away a lot of what brings eyeballs to it. Oh, right.

That too. Hi coach. When I laugh, I'm not laughing at you. Just, just promise. I just promise you. I love him.

Yes. He's the best. Coming up, the latest with the Boston Celtics who went from having a hot to trot head coach to not, and also we've got the Aaron Judge, Albert Pujols, hunting for history storylines.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Fantastic for a first year coach, you know, it's almost, I feel like it's unheard of, you know, his level of poise, his level of confidence never changed. Even when we were down, you know, 2-1 or when we were down 3-2, like he, you could tell in the looking in his eyes that we were going to win this series.

We just needed to handle our business and, you know, sometimes you can get in those moments and go away from everything or start to make over adjustments and he didn't. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. High praise from Celtics star Jalen Brown following the Celtics win over the Heat in the NBA postseason. After one year, Eme Udonka had his Celtics completely turned around from a below 500 team to the best in the league in the second half and an appearance in the NBA Finals where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We talked about this breaking news on the show last night, the reports from all the major NBA insiders that Eme Udonka was facing a suspension, some severe discipline for what was termed an inappropriate or inadmissible, intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the Celtics staff.

And of course, as you can imagine, the speculation running rampant. How could there be a suspension? How could there be discipline this serious over a relationship? What the Celtics termed it was a violation of team rules. And that's why, because it violated team policies. The official announcement was released on Thursday evening, and it did cite violations of team policy in this announcement. Again, intimate relationship with a female member of the franchise's staff and the season long suspension leaves his job status wide open. So Adrian Wojnarowski had reported on Wednesday night that his job was not considered to be in jeopardy.

But that's not what the Celtics announcement indicated on Thursday evening. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. After Hours with Amy Lawrence, by the top of the hour, we'll have the After Hours game of the week poll. So we are excited to look ahead to week three later on this show. Also have our Steelers insider Dale Lawley, who will join us to talk about what went horribly wrong for the Steelers in that second half. Here's the statement by the Celtics.

It's short. The Boston Celtics announced today that the team has suspended head coach Imei Udonka for the 2022-23 season for violations of team policies. A decision about his future with the Celtics beyond this season will be made at a later date.

The suspension takes effect immediately. The Celtics make the drastic step of suspending their coach for the entire season and honestly I have no idea how they can possibly bring him back. Now there are going to be details that come out at some point, more information at some point. I don't know who the woman was. I know that the internet has run all kinds of crazy circles trying to figure out who she was and has actually pointed to women who were not involved, unfortunately.

That's gross. In the latest article from Shams Terenia for the Athletic, he writes this, some members of the Celtics organization first became aware of this relationship in July, referring to the relationship between Udonka and the female staffer, going back to July. At that time, Shams writes, team leadership was led to believe by both parties that the relationship was consensual. But sources said that the woman recently accused Udonka of making unwanted comments toward her, leading the team to launch a set of internal interviews. The team's decision and announcement came after a closed-door meeting Thursday that involved team owners and President Brad Stevens and lasted several hours, sources said.

Earlier Thursday, Stevens and members of the Celtics front office met with players at the team facility. So again, the team knew about this relationship in July. At the time, they were led to believe it was consensual. The fact that he wasn't suspended then makes it seem like he's actually not getting suspended for the relationship. The suspension came only after the woman indicated that Udonka was making unwanted comments toward her. I don't know if their relationship broke up, but that's part of the problem with having workplace relationships, is that they don't always work out. And when they don't, people have hurt feelings and there are supercharged emotions that can affect the workplace.

So according to Shams Cherenia, she indicated whether they had just started or whether they went back to July, or I don't really know the timeline, but that there had been unwanted comments which could get a team sued for sexual harassment. Could get a team and this coach sued. There's a lot of liability issues there when it comes to relationships among coworkers in which there is a power structure and which one is in authority over the other. Because there are fears of repercussion, this is what sexual harassment is all about. And so whether it's retaliation or repercussion or feeling like the underling, so to speak, the man or woman who's lower on the totem pole can't do anything but say yes for fear of his or her job, that's where the sexual harassment comes in. And that's where companies are deathly afraid of lawsuits. That's why most companies make their employees go through sexual harassment training. Not just when they first start and when they're hired, but periodically.

We have to do it every year. And so according to Shams, there's more to this than just a consensual relationship. And that's where the red flags went off and that's why the Celtics initially decided that they had to take some drastic moves and drastic steps. So Celtics are using an interim head coach, but I can't imagine that Eme Odoka is ever welcomed back there. How do his players trust him again?

He put everything on the line for a relationship with a woman that was not the one that he lived with and not the woman that has fathered his son. It's a mess in Boston, that's for sure. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. If you're feeling down and having trouble getting up in the morning, here's a tip. Brush your teeth.

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