After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown, and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news, and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket Podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch.

It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Perfect music for this Thursday morning with what we get to talk about. Do you know it's nearly 61 years to the day that Roger Maris hit his 61st home run in 1961? It happened. On October 1st, 1961. Today is September 29th, so we are two days away from it being exactly 61 years, although maybe it felt like 61 years for the Aaron Judge family, his mom, the Roger Maris family. In actuality, it was seven days. It was 34 plate appearances since he hit home run number 60. Thousands of people showing up at Yankee Stadium last week to see if they could witness 61 Aaron Judge tying the American League record, tying Roger Maris, but I actually like the symmetry of it. I like that it's nearly 61 years to the day, and I also think that anything worth having is worth sacrificing for.

Anything worth having is worth the wait. And in the case of the Judge family, the Maris family, no, they weren't all there. Of course, I'm sure they were all glued to the TV. The at bats that were carried nationwide on multiple networks.

But yeah, it happened in Toronto where the atmosphere is a little more subdued, but no less impactful, no less of an iconic moment for Major League Baseball, for the New York Yankees, and for one Aaron Judge. And the payoff. There it goes, and he left it as high. It is far.

It is gone. Number 61. He ties Roger Maris for the American League single season record with 61 home runs. It's a two-run judge-ian blast.

Here comes the Judge. A two-run blast, and the Yankees take a 5-3 lead on number 61 for Judge. And the entire Yankee team is out on the field.

They are hugging him one by one. Patty Judge is standing behind the Yankee dugout. She got a big smile on her face. Well, I was hoping it got over the fence. I didn't know at first. I didn't want to be standing at home plate when it hits the wall. It's an incredible honor. There was a lot of emotions. It took me a little longer than I wanted to, but getting a chance to add two runs to the board.

How about Gary get another win? This is something pretty special. It comes on the eighth pitch of his at bat in the seventh inning of game number 155 on September 28, 2022.

Again, nearly 61 years to the day after Roger Maris hit home run number 61 and set a record that has lasted for decades. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, John Sterling on the Yankees Radio Network. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

You need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family. Rocket can. You can find me on Twitter this morning, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. We got a lot to cram into this final hour of our show.

We've been talking about week four in the NFL that kicks off Thursday night. We've also got part of a conversation with one of our favorites. Actually, one of my personal favorites long before I ever worked here at CBS Sports Radio. Great to be able to connect with him again. Of course, if you missed anything on the show, you can grab the podcast after hours. That's amylorence.com.

We always post that link on weekday mornings. Back to Aaron Judge and back to Major League Baseball. Get this 13 walks in between home runs, 60 and 61. And as I say, 34 plate appearances. It wasn't the longest stretch in between home runs for Aaron Judge this year.

But it must have felt like an eternity. For his family, for the Roger Maris family, for the fans. Certainly for the Yankees teammates and for Aaron Boone, the manager, the coaches, everybody who wanted it for him so badly. And yet he handled it with his natural poise.

I don't want to say that any human being is impervious to pressure. Because no doubt, as someone who wants his teammates and the winning, the games themselves to be the center of attention, not Aaron Judge, he doesn't seek out the limelight. He doesn't want the spotlight. They just celebrated winning the American League East and he was all about that accomplishment. There was a moment in that seventh inning at bat in which he actually stepped out of the batter's box and took a little walk.

And Michael Kay, who's the Yankees TV voice, noted it. It's rare for Judge. He's generally pretty content to stay right there in the batter's box and wait for the pitcher to be ready and come set and deliver the pitch.

He's not a guy that needs a lot of time for reflection or deep breaths. It was interesting to see him walk out of the batter's box and actually take a little stroll and a deep breath. If you go back and you watch the bat, there might have been another foul ball. He was on a full count at that point, a 3-2 count. There were a couple of foul balls in there.

There might have been another foul ball before he hit the home run, meaning after he took the stroll and before that moment took place. But I do remember when he got back in the batter's box, he took a deep breath. There was so much relief. There was a lot of release of the emotion in that moment. And then his mom.

Fantastic. Huge smile. Blowing him kisses. And Roger Maris Jr. right next to her along the fence.

The two of them engaging in a hug. Again, you can imagine the release and the relief of all that emotion for Roger Maris Jr. So it wasn't all the Maris kids. It wasn't Aaron Judge's entire family. But still, pretty sweet to have two of them there.

Two that were connected to him personally and professionally. It was incredible. It was great seeing her smile. And then I tried to give a little nod to Roger Maris Jr. for coming out here, supporting, being at all the home games the past couple of weeks. Just having that type of support from him, it means a lot.

That's for sure. I think it means a lot not just for me. I think it means a lot for a lot of people. That he's clean. He's a Yankee. He plays a game the right way. And I think it gives people a chance to look at somebody who should be revered for hitting 62 home runs. And not just as a guy who did it in the American League. He should be revered for being the actual single season home run champ. I mean, that's really who he is if he hits 62.

And I think that's what needs to happen. I think baseball needs to look at the records and I think baseball should do something. The comments of Roger Maris Jr. following the home run. He actually had his own little press conference there. So Aaron thrilled to have a member of his family and a member of the Maris family on hand. And for his part, Roger Jr. wants baseball to consider this to be the single season home run record.

Though it's not going to happen. I understand where the sentiment is coming from. I don't think it's just about his dad. Though his dad's 61 home runs wasn't even acknowledged as the American League record until the early 90s. We looked up the year just so we would be sure about it. There was an asterisk next to that home run mark for years.

Funny, right? Not an asterisk next to any of the PED fueled home run marks, but an asterisk next to his. And now he's got company in the form of Aaron Judge.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. It's kind of funny to hear people ask Aaron about pressure and to ask Aaron. But when you think about the last seven days, he's, as I mentioned, had a Baker's dozen worth of walks. He's scored a ton of runs because he's been on base. He's had hits in there, extra base hits as well as singles. And I didn't go back and look at every at bat last night, but the night before, every single one of his at bats went to a full count. The man is just doing what he's done all season long, though again, you can imagine the relief is there simply because it's over. But yeah, to ask Aaron Judge about pressure is almost comical. I'm playing a kid's game.

I love this. I love these moments, especially a moment like that where it's a 3-3 game. You got a chance to get a guy in scoring position or drive a guy in. Those are the moments you live for. So I was just trying to soak it in and just go out there and do my job.

Right away, just yes. And then to see it bounce in the bullpen, you're like... And just to see the spilling out and the excitement. And now I can't wait to watch all the different reactions of people. He's as beloved as they come. And I think everyone is just so excited for him. But also, I think it's partly because of how Aaron is, but everyone feels a part of it.

And that's who he is. Pretty awesome setting up now for just an amazing atmosphere. I'm sure again in the Bronx starting Friday night.

And you know, it's a good script so far. It was unbelievable. So happy for him. Not a more deserving person in my opinion.

The way he goes about his business. What a special night for us to be able to witness it. No one more equipped to rise to the challenge. The anticipation. We've been waiting for it. Waiting to get it over with.

We're going to be waiting to get number 62 over with too. And get on to bigger and better things hopefully in October for us. The fact that he's the face of your team and your best player. And the fact that he is completely about others on the team.

It just makes me proud to have been, you know, been his skipper for the last five years now. Aaron Boone. Garrett Cole who wins number 13 and actually had coughed up the lead. And so for the Yankees to rally and come back and win that game. He's the beneficiary of that Aaron Judge home run as well as some of the other hits that came later in the game. And then Aaron again.

And he's right. Every single member of the Yankees team, coaches, manager. They all poured out of the dugout and met him on the dirt on the warning track.

Long line of hugs and braces, handshakes. And then back in the dugout they did it again. Now weirdly enough, so two things that stood out to me. Weirdly enough it was quiet. There were plenty of Yankees fans in Toronto because you could hear them. But it was quiet enough that over the TD broadcast I could also hear the home plate umpire say take your time, take your time.

That's odd, right? The home plate mic picked it up. He was telling them don't hurry, don't rush.

It's a moment worth soaking in. And actually that same home plate umpire went up to Aaron Judge. Was it after the game? Or I don't know if it was after the game or after his final at bat.

I'm not sure. I just remember there was a moment in exchange between the umpire and Aaron Judge. And he actually gave him the lineup card. I don't know if you saw that, producer Jay. As I've watched the highlights now, I didn't notice it when I was watching live. But he gave the lineup card to Judge so that he would have that as well. That's cool. That's a nice touch.

Yes. And we'll talk about the ball here in a second. But yeah, I heard the umpire say take your time, take your time. As they're out of the dugout and they're enjoying the moment. And then there was no curtain call.

Crazy, right? We have Albert Pujols hits number 700 in Los Angeles and there's a curtain call. Now he was a Dodger last year. But the fact that there were so many Yankees fans there in Toronto and yet the Blue Jays are serious right now. They're trying to clinch a playoff spot themselves. They were trying to win this game. And it was quiet enough that you could hear the umpire and there was no demand for a curtain call.

I suppose there's still a little bit of gamesmanship inside the AL East. Those two things stood out to me. The fact that it wasn't home. And so the noise and the reaction wasn't quite the same energy. Not quite the same. But still, it was cool. And Toronto can say they hosted that piece of baseball history. At least they didn't boo, right? I mean there were too many Yankees fans there.

That's the part that I thought was odd. Is that there were plenty of Yankees fans there. And everybody had their cell phones out.

I know how much you love that. Everybody's taking photos and taking video. Regardless of whether you're cheering for New York or cheering for Toronto.

But you don't want to see them come out of the dugout again? Yeah, that's why it's so quiet. Everyone's just watching on their phone.

No one's clapping their hands. Not enjoying the moment. That makes Producer J so angry. It annoys the crap out of him. Yes.

Okay, so a couple of more things. We wanted to let you hear the Spanish language version of Yankees radio. Because former guest here on the show, Ricky Ricardo, nails it. And he brings so much energy. Ricky Ricardo.

Rogers Center in Toronto. I love him. Let's see this. Even if you don't speak Espanol, don't you love listening to Ricky?

Speaking of the record, not only for the New York Yankees, but also the record in the American League. I love it. I can listen to that call over and over because Ricky kills it.

And so on Spanish language radio, that infuses some energy into your Thursday morning. But how about this, the ball, not caught by a fan. One fan whiffed at it.

You'll see the video. There is a moment where a fan almost got his glove on it, but whiffed at it. Had a glove too, come on. Jay has no patience for any of this right now. So he whiffs, the ball bangs off the bullpen wall and lands in the Blue Jays pen where a bullpen coach picks it up and promptly gives it back to the Yankees.

How about that? All the talk about how much money this ball might be worth, all the talk about what happens if you catch it, do you keep it, do you sell it for what could be a lot of money, or would you give it back? And this whole debate has been raging, raging and raging, raging and raging over sports radio for the last week plus, and actually probably going back even farther because we knew Aaron Judge was closing in on this. Turns out, and this is just sweet irony, it gets caught by a bullpen coach.

Who doesn't care, he's not going to keep it for himself. Actually his wife works in sports TV, she works for NFL Network, Sarah Walsh, and she made a joke about, I'm about to file for a divorce or announce my divorce because her husband is the one who caught it, and they waited until a member of the Yankees came to get it. So it was Zach Britton who came from the Yankees bullpen. They wanted to make sure it was somebody they knew, a little bit nervous about giving it to a member of security, thinking maybe it was someone who would be posing or someone who might run off with it himself. So instead they wait until a member of the Yankees comes over, Zach Britton, he has security then to get him back to the Yankees dugout in the clubhouse, and the ball was promptly delivered to one Aaron Judge. No drama there. Worked out for the best probably.

Yeah, absolutely it did, but it makes me laugh that all that debate over the last however many weeks and months, price, whatever, matters not at all. My only question is, that fan who didn't catch the ball, and we have a name for him apparently. Do we? Frankie Lasagna. Is that his real name? I don't know.

But that's what he's been identified as. Maybe you're just pronouncing it wrong. Lasagna? Yeah, Frankie Lasagna. As in the Italian meal? Lasagna? That's the one. With the cheese and the meat sauce. That can't be his real name.

Can't be. Did you just say that? With the cheese and the meat sauce? That's the one, yeah. Oh, okay. What if it's veggie lasagna?

I guess, yeah, it could be. The veggie sauce, yeah. Frankie Veggie Lasagna?

Frankie Veggie Lasagna. But if he jumps, say he were to jump into the bullpen. Now he would get kicked out of the stadium, and he would probably break a leg or so. But if he caught the ball, would that be his ball? Okay, there's no way some average fan would fall out of the stands, into the bullpen, and hang onto the ball. There's no way. No, no, no. Meaning like, once he saw it hit the ground, and the ball was probably sitting there for what?

A solid five, 10 seconds? Oh, no way. It's not his ball. If he goes into the bullpen, it's not his ball. So he would have to give it back in?

It's not in the stands anymore. It's in his hands, though. He got it. But he wouldn't, though. I mean, somebody would have gotten to it before he did. By the time he fell into the bullpen, collected his wits and his whereabouts, somebody else would have picked it up. I mean, it landed in the bullpen, right? It banged off the wall and landed in the bullpen, so somebody else would have gotten to it first. He probably would have knocked himself out, Frankie Veggie Lasagna. But if he were to pick it up, you don't think that would be his ball anymore, because it's not in the stands?

Hell, no. It's in the bullpen. But he got it. No, it's still in the park. He's the one, then, who's trespassing because he's in the park, and he's not supposed to be in the stadium.

I mean, he needs to be in the stands. So no, there's no way that they would have let him keep it. I mean, somebody would have taken it from him. If not security, then the Yankees would have taken it from him, because it's not your ball.

You had to trespass to get it. Well, it's not really your ball anyway, but don't get me started. So anyway, that debate becomes moot, because a member of the Toronto Blue Jays staff caught it, ended up with it. I don't think he caught it. He ended up with it, and he gave it back to the Yankees. And the ball is now with Aaron Judge.

Yeah, OK, and it worked out for the best. Take that, baseball debaters, sports collectors. Ooh, that's got to burn them up. It's really got to burn them up.

Someone really wanted that ball and was going to pay a lot of money for it. All right, you can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. Happy to have you with us. We're going to give you some of the latest about Hurricane Ian, which, by the way, has been downgraded to a tropical storm. And how does that affect Tampa? And a football game is supposed to take place on Sunday night.

We're not sure, but there are contingency plans. It's after hours on CBS. Hey, guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important.

Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple of times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's cash the ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Instagram to get the best out of the game. And as always, we'll see you in the next episode of Cash the Ticket podcast. We'll see you in the next episode of Cash the Ticket podcast. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

We'll see you in the next episode of Cash the Ticket podcast. It's time for QB news on After Hours. Ian Ian has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but the impacts and the cleanup have only just started really to be felt and to be understood. And even as day breaks in Florida, a lot of people in for a lot of shock. The video is, gosh, it's devastating and it's shocking. So been watching not only the news, but the weather channel now for the last 12 plus hours and it always blows me away. Congratulations to them.

They're incredible at what they do. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Still don't know whether or not Tampa will host Kansas City on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium. There is a backup plan. Minneapolis will be the site because the Vikings, they're in London. That's where the NFL has chosen to move the game if they need to.

But again, we don't have that information yet. As for the Buccaneers, they've been in Miami for their week of practice. We can't control the outside forces, you know, our thoughts are with the city of Tampa right now. But where we have to play, hopefully it is Tampa and everything is fine.

That means we're not damaged too much. But if we have to go play elsewhere, you know, we just have to focus and lock in. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us, you know, so we got to be ready to play. For us, it's an away game regardless. So you're going to be going somewhere to play. So you just kind of focus on the game plan and try to prepare yourself that way.

And I mean, obviously, one of 10 thoughts and prayers, everybody in the Florida area and hopefully they got out of there and if not, that they're bunking down and safe. So it could be a different kind of a road trip for the Chiefs and the Buccaneers, actually, for that Sunday Night Football game. Starting this late on Sunday morning, it's the first international game, 930 Eastern time, but it's 830 in the morning central time for both the Vikings and the Saints who are on the road. And Kirk Cousins, what does it mean to be able to take on London? There's been a lot of conversation, a lot of prep to get to this point and make sure that we're ready to go this week. And it's just about us doing what, you know, our trainers and coaches are telling us and just making sure no matter what on Sunday that we execute well and play at a high level. But you know, we're here, we're in a similar schedule and should be able to get really good work in as we normally would. And then from there, just have to handle it as we go and do all we can to be ready for Sunday. All right, so we've got games displaced in Games International and it's week four.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Mike McCarthy on Dak Prescott, what's the latest on his injury, his thumb? He's been conditioning, so he's been able to do that, I think after the first week. So he'll just continue on the path, you know, with the cardiovascular, but now that he has the stitches out, I mean, you know, the next step is to get the swelling totally out of the joint and the thumb area and then, you know, start to build the strength, you know, so he can grip the football.

That's the next step. So really no timetable at this point until the swelling goes down to where you can kind of start the clock, I'm throwing and all of that. Do I look like the timetable guy? Not quite as cantankerous as Bill Belichick, who insisted that he wasn't reading medical reports or MRIs and instead... That's not my job. Yeah, that's not his job. And all he knows from the medical staff is that Mac Jones is day to day, day by day. Actually, he said it day by day, over and over and over again.

Day by day. Twelve times to be exact. So we don't know if it's Mac Jones. We don't think it's Mac Jones for the Patriots taking on these, sorry, these Green Bay Packers. It's just kind of funny to think about the different ways the coaches deliver those injury reports. But McCarthy would also like us to know that he is... I appreciate the question.

I really do. Yeah, he's not a doctor either. Can you tell just by looking at him? So Cowboys back inside the NFC East for another game against the rival Washington commanders.

That one's taking place at AT&T Stadium. Then as I mentioned, thinking about the Packers and not knowing if it's Mac Jones. So there's just all kinds of question marks moving forward. As for the Giants in that same division, they will not have one of their top receivers in Sterling Shepherd. So Daniel Jones is going to have to make do without. I've spoken to Shep and obviously heartbroken for him. Tough to see him go down after he's fought through so much to get back. And yeah, feel for him immensely.

Darius is a guy I have a lot of trust in, a lot of faith in, and I know he's working hard. So as far as the game plan going forward, we'll see how it works out, but I have a lot of faith and confidence in him. So the Giants just lost their first game of the year. They're sitting at two and one. Same record as those Dallas Cowboys with Cooper Rush at quarterback the last two weeks. The Chicago Bears are also sitting at two and one, even though their offense has been absolutely abysmal. So it's Bears and Giants this weekend. We'll see which one can produce the better looking offense, find a rhythm, find a groove.

But there's been a ton of criticism on Justin Fields. Just learn from my mistakes. You know, I mean, you don't have a game that you want to play as well. And I mean, all I really know, my response to that is really just, you know, get back to work and keep working. We won the game. You know, that's, it's easier to, you know, correct mistakes after winning a loss, of course.

So, you know, just correcting each and every mistake and, you know, just trying to be better in every aspect. Now, he said he played like a double curvy roads. That was his assessment. But they did get that last second field goal against the Houston Texans that gave them the win. So in the NFC North, you're talking about the two and one Vikings in London, the two and one Bears against the Giants, the two and one Packers who host the Patriots and Aaron Rodgers and the offense has looked better.

But the defense is having a hard time game planning for a Patriots team that may or may not have Mack. Does that change anything, Aaron? We don't talk like that in the locker room. That's outside the locker room fodder. Nobody ever talks about let downs or emotional setbacks or trap games or any of the, you know, the code words you guys use.

We have a standard of which we play and that's the standard. Anybody talk about moral victories in the Packers locker room? He's also very dismissive. He does admire Bill Belichick in his press conferences, though. He thinks they're hysterical.

So that explains a lot. People are coming here to play with me. We start off week number four tonight with the Dolphins, 3-0 at the Bengals, 1-2, but coming off their first win as they try to get back into a rhythm.

And let's be honest, the offensive line is critical for them, but only allowed one sack of Joe Burrow last week. All right, coming up, part of my conversation with one of my favorites in radio long before I was here. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later. There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app, your trusted local radio stations, coverage of your favorite teams, live news from your hometown and millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all, you can completely customize your listening experience, follow topics you care about, like leagues and teams, pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to, so get started and download the free Odyssey app today at CBS Sports Radio Network. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Off the field, on the money, and after hours, it's time to talk football with Amy Lawrence. Mary Reese on Eagles Radio, one of the only remaining undefeateds in the NFL as we head into week number four. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Thank you, VoiceGod. Had a chance to catch up with a former Eagles defensive lineman, spent the majority of his career there in Philadelphia, Mike Golick, who is also with Westwood One, does Sunday Night Football, and a DraftKings analyst, longtime radio host, one of my favorites going back to our days when we were colleagues at my previous network, and we were connected with him through Good Iron Greats, and that's an amazing cause that he supports heartily. It was good to catch up with Mike Golick once again and want to bring back part of that conversation. I asked him about playing in Philly.

The stories are legendary. So what does it mean to be an Eagle and play for those fans, Mike? I love those fans. That was the three teams I played for, that was the most of my career, playing six, seven years, and they're the most fanatical, the most emotional, good and bad. And I mean, if you're playing bad or they can tell you don't really care or aren't really given a damn, see Ben Simmons with the 76ers when he was there, they will let you know about it.

And that's fair. And when you're doing well, man, they'll love you. It's a blue collar town. I was a blue collar player.

I loved it. And when we were doing well, they love you, so they have to just be ecstatic right now. I mean, we were never in my years, they're able to bring them a super bowl. Obviously they got a super bowl the last, you know, the last few years.

But they, they are so passionate about their team. Cause the last team I played for, I left Philly to go to Miami and my one year in Miami, we were nine and two had the best record in football and our games were blacked out cause we couldn't sell out. I was stunned.

I mean, I'm like, what the hell is this? I had just gone six, seven years in Philly where, where it's sold out the plate, the people are crazy. And then I, then I went down to Miami and it was a little bit different, but, and by the way, those are the two undefeated teams now, Philly and Miami, but Philly is just so well balanced now and those fans just gotta be loving it. Even if their schedule hasn't been as challenging, 3-0 is 3-0.

So what impresses you? As Bill Parcell says, you are what your record says you are, and they that's exactly right. I mean, they, they can't decide who plays in front of them.

That's what they do. So listen, we know, we know that was, this is a big year for Jalen hurts, Jalen hurts into a tongue of ILO. Those are the two quarterback.

Everybody talked about at the beginning of the year that said they're playing for their future with that team. Are they going to be the future quarterback or because we know this draft coming up, there's probably four quarterbacks that are going to go in the first round. And again, both these teams are undefeated and both quarterbacks are playing well.

So they're both answering the bell Jalen, you know, we can do it with his legs. He's passing well. Now he's not going to be a 35, 40 touchdown guy, you know, but the key with him is make sure your interceptions, the goal usually for a quarterback is single digits with interceptions. So get yourself, you know, 20, maybe in the twenties touchdowns and under 10 interceptions. And that's what you want.

Then you supplement that with your legs. They brought in weapons for him. Obviously AJ Brown was a monster get form Devante Smith's making some incredible catches, but the defense is playing solid.

So very, very, very balanced team. I think that's one of the big things going for them. You played in Philly, obviously, but you also played with Notre Dame. How does the passion compare when you're talking about that atmosphere?

Oh, I mean, it's right there. And the passion that the, probably the biggest difference is the passion for Notre Dame is countrywide. I mean, when we would go on away trips, I mean, the fans that met you at the airport or met you at the hotel, I mean, it was truly a, it's truly a national team. One of the, you know, we, you know, they're independent, so they don't have the, at least at this point, the conference ties. So they are a national team and their biggest rival has been USC, which has, you know, been a kind of a national rivalry.

So yeah, I mean, it is, it's, it's again, not only in South Bend, Chicago area, but it is, it is nationwide with, with Notre Dame. Still limited sample size, Mike, such a rollercoaster ride in these first three weeks, but what are a couple of other headlines, maybe teams that are surprising you good or bad to start this first month? Well, I'll tell you the two teams that are surprising me bad. Now, one just had a big win, the Colts, just beat Kansas City, but I was a bit surprised at how they, I mean, they're sitting at one, one and one.

I thought with Matt, I thought Matt Ryan was a big upgrade from Carson Wentz and I believe he will be, as the season goes on, Carson isn't tearing it up in Washington right now. But I thought that I picked that team to win the division again, as you said, it's an early sample size of Jacksonville kudos to them. I'll get to them, but I was disappointed in Indianapolis and the other team is the saints. I thought the saints would be one of the, and the Colts would be one of those, you know, we talk about this every year, four or five teams that don't make the playoffs, make it the next year. I thought these two would be two of them, but already, you know, cause a lot of it, I talked about James going 14 touchdowns, three interceptions in the seven games we played last year. He already has five interceptions this year.

So kind of resorting back to that gunslinger, trying to throw it through people a little bit and that could be an issue. So that surprised me a little bit on the good side, you got to look at Jacksonville sitting there at two and one got Doug Peterson as their coach, a super bowl coach, they, they they're kind of growing how you want them to be. And I think the other team, and I think if you don't have a huge rooting interest, though, most people do, even though they're one and two, you kind of got to love the Detroit lions, you know, and the way they're playing, they're scoring a lot of points, Dan Campbell, the emotion out of him. I mean, that's it, but they're playing good ball.

And so they're, they and Jacksonville are both going in the right direction. I love to hear Campbell talk. I mean, he and Mike Tomlin are two of my favorite coaches to listen to, but whenever you have to preface a locker room speech with I'm not a lunatic, I'm not sure what that says to your locker room. Would you, as a player, prefer to play for a coach that seems like he's completely out of his mind, but brings that passion?

Oh, w without a doubt. The only thing that, that is, that can be an issue when guys here, like what type of coach you have, when he gets named coachy, he says, we're going to bite people's kneecaps and blah, blah, blah. The thing you worry about is in training camp, how hard are you going to be hitting and running Eber flukes, the coach for the bears. He came in and man, they ran a lot more and guys that came with him from Indianapolis as players told all the bear players, Hey, get ready to run.

And they did. So that's kind of what you think about as, as a player, you think about, man, am I going to be running more? Are we going to be hitting more in camp? And that kind of goes through your mind first, but I always love passionate and coach without question. Mike Golick is an NFL vet, longtime radio host and football analyst now with Westwood one and draft Kings. And we're pleased to spend a few minutes with him and his partnership with grid iron grates.

And of course our friends at Southern recipe, small batch pork rinds. I really enjoy asking guys who played in different eras, why this is important, because I don't think many fans realize how different it was unless you were watching, you know, years ago, decades ago. So why is grid iron, greats, an organization and a cause that matters to you?

Oh man. I mean, listen, I'm on the board for them. That's how much I think of it. You know, obviously we look to Mike Dick is our leader with that. You know, for the players that played, you know, decades ago and I played decades ago, but I mean, even before me, the, you know, what, how, when they ended the game and their pet between their pension and the help available to them is not a lot. So grid iron, greats, you know, this is the way I put it, Amy is, you know, if you play football, you you've gotten knocked down or, and many times, and someone, a lot of times your teammate will reach down and help you up, or you're going to help your teammate up.

That to me is what grid iron greats is. We're helping our guys that have played years ago that are struggling. We're helping them up. Whether it's with their mortgage, whether it's at the dentist, whether it's a major surgery, things like that, that's what the money that we raise is used for those players that need the everyday things or things even bigger than that. So that's why I I've been part of this for years now, and I'm proud to be part of this. We're going to start to get a younger generation of players involved in it as well. And you mentioned it Southern recipe, small backs, they've been so good.

This is their 14th year of it. The biggest football day is pork rind appreciation day on super bowl Sunday. And so what, what they want to do is they want to trade like sacks for snacks, which is a pretty cool, it's a pretty cool thing. I give everybody the site it's pork rind appreciation day.com.

And basically you go there and you pick any team you believe is going to get sacks. And each week one randomly selected entry is going to win a case of pork rinds for every sack that he gets. One prize is $5,000 in a year of pork rinds. And certainly again, money raised there goes, is going to go to the grid iron grates as well. So it's the pork, they're, they're, they're fantastic there at, at small Southern recipe, small backs.

They're such good people aligning themselves with grid iron grates. So we're looking, looking to raise a lot of money to help some of these players. Awesome conversation with Mike. And that's not even the whole thing. We got his extreme weather story, the game that he played in weather conditions that he couldn't believe. And we also got stories about sacks and sack dance and, and just some other fun football fodder, if you will. Before we go into week number four, week four fun football fodder, I do love alliteration.

So my thanks to Mike and certainly to the grid iron grates, a fabulous organization started by Mike Ditka, which has recruited so many for what is a cause of, as he talks about a helping hand for those who don't have the millions of dollars and the incredible medical benefits of having played in the NFL, but their careers were just as important and just as impactful. So as always, we post the link to our podcast and all of our interviews are posted separately after hours, Amy Lawrence.com. I try to share those interviews coming up later in the day, so you can look for those on either our Twitter or our Facebook. And by the time we reconvene, we'll have week four underway. Talk to you tonight. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio.

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