1-4-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month. Have we really reached the third show of the workweek already? Wow.

We typically call this the hump show. Feels pretty different to start 2023 for a lot of reasons, but we are here and I'm glad to be part of this community. This after hours community was one of those days where I'm sure I'm not alone, that I was anxious to get updates and to check my phone or to watch what was happening on TV. For some news about DeMar Hamlin, but at the same time, I was also nervous to look. I did not sleep well on Tuesday. Maybe I should have taken steps to sleep better, like put my phone away from me, but I woke up around lunchtime and I picked up my phone because I wanted to see if there was anything new. I started scrolling through social media and also looking on the CBS Sports website just for anything that would give me some hope or that would be an indication that DeMar's health is improving. Once I did that and then I started praying for him again and thinking about the last 24 hours, I was unable to get back to sleep. And I don't think I'm alone in that.

I've heard some players, some former players, even coaches and other members of the NFL community say something similar. That it's been a day of anxiety. It was tough to sleep.

It's hard to think about anything else. And while we are getting a few sparse updates, it seems to be that DeMar's health is slightly improved. Not anything real definitive yet. The family has indicated that the next few hours, the next couple days are so critical. And he remains in the hospital in Cincinnati. And at least for Tuesday, all NFL business, everything to do with football on the field between the lines came to a grinding halt. It's very rare that you'll see anything quite like what we've experienced in the NFL over the past two nights, or really the past, I guess it would be about 30 hours now.

We're going to give you the latest as we know it. The updates, not only from his family, his uncle was speaking to a variety of media outlets on Tuesday and I appreciate that as an auntie who can't imagine loving two people, two humans any more than I love my two nieces. To hear him talk about his nephew, DeMar, and what it was like to watch everything unfold on TV on Monday night and then to have his other nephew with him, DeMar's youngest brother, who was an elementary school kiddo. And the reaction there and the fear and the trepidation and the anxiety and the family hopping in vehicles and driving from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, simply so they could be with DeMar's parents and be with him. Because isn't that what a lot of us would do as family members?

Maybe there isn't a whole lot that we could change or any way that we can be of assistance, but you'd rather be there than not. And so we'll hear from Dorian Glenn, DeMar Hamlin's uncle, as well as a myriad of other NFL players and coaches. From Mike Tomlin, who knows DeMar going back to his younger days when he was a preteen because DeMar played his youth football, his high school football, and also his college football in Pittsburgh.

I mean, he's from a small town not that far outside of Pittsburgh. To Jerry Jones reviewing what the NFL has done to this point. To Aaron Rodgers talking about his reaction as he's watching Monday Night Football and even exchanges a text message with Josh Allen, who's in the locker room. You'll hear him talk about that.

And then one of the Bills teammates who was on the field on Monday night. So I want you to hear from them because their emotions are so real and so raw and really still fresh. And like us, like many of us, they're looking for updates. They're hoping for updates. Anything that would indicate that DeMar is even slightly better, that he's going to be okay. We'll also give you the latest from the NFL. The league has at least indicated that Monday night's game will not resume this week at any point, which is, in my opinion, the only viable option. Not just logistically, but for those two teams who right now are more concerned about DeMar and certainly are dealing with their own anxiety and maybe a little bit of trauma and the mental health aspect.

You don't want to put these teams out there on the field when they're not fully ready to go. There is an aspect of mental toughness here, and these are human beings, right? So similar to you or I, they often have to go to work and put the pressures of their personal lives or some of the disappointments or the loss or the grief of their personal lives either on the back burner or completely out of their minds. So it is possible as human beings to be able to compartmentalize. And these guys, along with really any professional athlete, they're trained, they're conditioned to focus specifically and completely on the game, on what's in front of them, no matter what's happening in their personal lives. And again, that's not so different from what many of us do. I know hosting a radio show, there are times when in my own personal life I couldn't care less about work, but also there's a lot that's happening in my own life that I have to set aside when I come into this radio studio because I can't bring it all with me.

The show would be terrible. And also that's not what listeners are tuned in for. And so these guys are tough, mentally tough, physically tough. But I think what you're hearing from around the NFL and from professional athletes in other sports is that this is unprecedented.

And I've not heard anyone to this point say they've been through anything quite like what the Bills and Bengals experienced on Monday night and what the rest of us observed as fans. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It's our middle show of the work week for those of you who started on Sunday night into Monday morning. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, and also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. We've had quite an active conversation taking place on both of our social media sites. And I will say this, couple things. Most of you are very compassionate. Most of you are responding and praying for DeMar and for his family and are anxious for updates and are still locked in waiting and hoping for a positive piece of news. I also appreciate the support that we received from many of you over the last 24 hours because the show was challenging. Now, I said this on Monday night. It's not about me.

Who cares about me in this situation? But certainly not a show that I would ever relish or want to do. And we were grateful not only for the two guests that we had, one from Cincinnati, one from Buffalo, but also really grateful for those of you who were listening and were engaged and we knew we had your support. Something else, though, and this shouldn't be a surprise. The need for people on social media to complain, regardless of what's happening. Thankfully, it was the minority on Twitter and Facebook, and I at times have to just turn it off and not look at it.

But the people who will still complain about anything or who need to blame someone or something for what's gone wrong. It's unfortunate, but the majority of people are unified in not only support for Demar, but appreciating the updates that we can give. And man, the money continues to pour in for Demar's Chasing M's Foundation. Maybe it started as a community toy drive, but now approaching $6 million in donations. And this is, as I say, about 30 hours or so once fans discovered his GoFundMe page in the wake of his injury on Monday evening. The donations have not stopped. There is a new update from the family as well.

So remember, I read to you, if you were with us last night, I read to you Demar's initial request for help, Demar's initial vision for his community toy drive when he started this GoFundMe page back in December of 2020. And it was clear that his plea and his request for people to partner in this toy drive, those comments went back two years. They weren't new. They weren't updated.

But they did show us a little bit about him as a young man who was starting out his NFL career. In the last few hours, there's been an update from his team. Now, I don't know if this comes from his family or his PR rep or maybe his agent, but there is an update which is marked by overwhelming gratitude for support and the generosity of so many people. And so there's no doubt in my mind that in the next couple hours, probably while we're here on the air during the show, that the amount of money raised will top $6 million. And right now, the number of donations, so not the money, but the number of people or specific donations is nearing 200,000.

They've continued to take place on this website at a rapid rate. And now, see, I hesitate to tell you this only because I can't verify it, but if you look at the top donations, so there's a link to top donations on his GoFundMe page, you'll see some very familiar names. Robert Kraft and the Patriots, $18,000. Matthew Stafford, $12,000. Russell Wilson and his wife, Ciara, $10,000. Tom Brady, $10,000. Davante Adams and his, I don't know if it's his wife, but his partner, $5,000. The Washington Commanders, $5,000. Their other familiar names, Andy Dalton, $3,000.

Shannon Sharp, $2,500. Josh McDaniels makes a donation. Wink Martindale, long time NFL defensive coordinator, made a donation. Michael Phelps, now I don't know if that's the Michael Phelps, the swimmer, but there's a Michael Phelps listed for two grand. The McCordy twins, one who is with the Patriots, the other who is on NFL network, they both made donations.

And you go on and on and you'll see the names of NFL players and teams. And so this GoFundMe page has really become not just a focal point, but a window, an opportunity for people inside the NFL fraternity and out to do something to help. There's not a whole lot else we can do besides pray. And sometimes, very often, praying is accompanied by waiting.

And we're not super patient as Americans and as human beings. And so we want to do something. And this is the way that we can take what feels like a tangible step while we wait on some positive news. So yeah, I'll let you know.

Keep you updated because I think it's amazing. And as I was talking to different friends and family members over the course of the last day, they were checking on me, seeing how I was doing, asking for updates. Many of them were remarking about the unity and the singular focus among sports fans, which is very rare, right?

It's very rare. I joke sometimes about this. In the United States, we can't agree on anything, but we can agree on football. Now, we don't necessarily agree on who we root for or how we root or how we support, but football brings us together in a strange and weird and wonderful way.

Well, this is next level now. And wouldn't it be amazing if we as Americans used some of this unity moving forward in other ways that also matter? The life of a young man is hanging in the balance. He's not the only one, of course, who's in a life or death situation this week. I'm sure we all know people, or if we don't know them personally, we've seen the stories on the news, others whose lives have been affected in such negative and scary ways over the past week. I know that some of you have pointed out and reminded me that there have been other sports figures who either tragically lost their lives or are fighting for their lives right now.

And so it is fascinating in kind of another way, a different type of discussion. I don't really have the answers. Maybe because this happened on national TV, maybe because it was such a huge moment and a huge platform for the number one spectator sport in our country. Maybe because Jamar is 24 years old, because of the visceral reaction that we saw and we heard on what was multiple networks. And again, because we don't have any concrete answers and we're still waiting.

Whatever the reasons, and there are many, I'm proud of football fans, proud of sports fans, proud of Americans for the way they've come together. And I hope that we can use that energy in other ways in 2023 to also continue to affect positive change. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio or our show Twitter, After Hours CBS. We, over our last show, really spent almost the entire four hours giving you updates on Jamar and sharing what we knew and hearing reaction.

Our two guests that joined us, Mike Petralia and Sal Capaccio. If you missed those conversations, they're both on our podcast. We are going to talk a little bit about the NFL schedule moving forward. In addition to that, now I don't know how I feel about it, producer Jay and I are not sure how we feel about it. But typically on our hump show, we allow you to ask Amy anything. So if you would like to send some questions in, we haven't done this since before Christmas.

Because I was gone for a couple of weeks in the middle show of the work week. But because we're starting year number 11 in our second decade, maybe there's an opportunity here for us to throw in a few questions to answer a few questions. So we are going to try.

I will say it's touch and go. I'm not extremely committed to it, but I want you to know there is a spot on both our show Twitter, After Hours CBS, as well as our Facebook page where you can send your questions. Jay is going to be extremely judicial about it and careful about what he chooses. But I know that many of you tune in for distraction, for company, for a connection, and we want to offer that as well. In addition to giving you the latest that we know from Damar, I'll just say one more thing before we take our first break and then we'll hear from his uncle. My biggest fear last night doing the show was not how I sounded or whether or not I was doing a great radio show or what you thought of me.

I really none of that matters to me. But what I was afraid of was seeing an update, a negative update that I would have to pass on. And we had gotten the update from the bills. There's a little more information, but still that's where my heart is. I've done shows in the wake of some indescribable tragedies, both in the sports world and outside.

And I know this is one man, but still there's that element to it. I'm hoping I've been praying for him all day for his family all day. Anything that I can offer you that's positive, I absolutely will. I don't want to be someone who has to pass along more tragic news because this has been challenging and difficult, but prayers work.

And there are millions of people around this country who are praying for Damar and for his family, which is incredible. That's an encouragement to me, and I'm sure it is to his family. You'll hear from his uncle, Dorian Glenn, who is in Cincinnati along with, it sounds like, maybe a dozen or more family members. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. My thoughts and super prayers goes up to the skies above for that kid's family, for him, for that brotherhood of the NFL and everybody a part of the NFL family. Prayers out for him. Boy, that's tough. It's tough when you see that in sports or in anything, so that's a hard one.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Going back to Monday night and the number of athletes from the NBA and other sports who had heard the news about Damar Hamlin and maybe had even seen it on Monday Night Football on the national broadcast. And that continued on through Tuesday. I don't know if you saw, but every single NFL team has changed its avatar to include a blue background with the large number three in white with the red trim. This, of course, being the Buffalo Bills colors.

And above the number three, the words pray for Damar. And so that happened, but also in Buffalo, the Sabres, a bunch of them were showing up to their game wearing the number three. This has become sports wide. LeBron James, Doc Rivers, Donovan Mitchell said, hey, one of my teammates told me to make sure to mention it.

Klay Thompson coming off a 54 point game. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like this. It's amazing. It's awesome that so many people care.

And I believe that so many people not only are invested in terms of their wallets and their donations. But in the prayers for the family and lifting the family up, that has got to mean something to them. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Dorian Glenn is Damar's uncle. And he did a series of interviews with all the major outlets on Tuesday. It was good to hear from a member of the family. So we'll give you a few from CNN, from NFL Network, so you could hear what he had to say about what the family is going through. But first, and this was a few hours ago, but from NFL Network, the latest on Damar's health with Dorian Glenn. Right now they got him on a ventilator, so they're trying to get him to breathe on his own.

So we're just kind of taking it day by day. Still in the ICU, they have him sedated. So just continue to administer the medical treatment that they've been doing.

So that comes from Dorian Glenn. Again, a few hours ago, the Buffalo Bills had released another update at some point on Tuesday. And they were indicating that he was still in ICU, he was still in critical condition.

But the positive note, and this again came from the conversations with Dorian, it came through multiple reports that I've seen. There are different reporters who are still posted up in Cincinnati and are attempting to get the latest and to make sure that fans are informed as much as possible. He is on a ventilator to help him breathe. And there was even a report that the medical teams in Cincinnati have turned him over so that he's not on his back, but he's on his stomach to take some of the pressure off his lungs. I did see multiple reports that there is some damage to his lungs, but that he's no longer on 100% oxygen. That has been reduced. And so there are positive signs that he is breathing better on his own. So again, this comes from, and this is just one of the reports, there's multiple reports out there, but Josh Reed, his Twitter account, covers the Bills.

Just spoke with Tamar Hamlin's uncle. Tamar wasn't originally on 100% oxygen. It's now down oxygen, excuse me.

All right, let me try that again since I completely messed it up. Tamar was originally on 100% oxygen and is now down to 50%. Says the family is hanging in there. And Dorian Glenn thanked Bills fans and Bengals fans and asked for continued prayers. But as he tells CNN, man, as emotional as this was for those of us who are fans, who are not personally invested, it was really difficult at home in Pittsburgh.

We were in Pittsburgh watching it on TV and his little brother was there with us. And when he seen his brother drop like that, and when I tell you, I never seen him crash, scream like that, like we were trying to calm him down. Like, yo, it's okay. You know, he'll go and get back up.

He'll be back in the game. You know, we'll do the woo. Next thing you know, it's 10 minutes later. They're doing trust compressions. It's a half hour later.

They still not playing yet. I'm like, yo, what's going on? What's wrong with my nephew? And then like when I say like now we were all in the room crying, man, we were all in tears, man.

And I'm not a crier, but like I never crashed so hard in my life. So Tamar has a seven year old brother. There are other siblings, but his youngest, so Dorian Glenn's youngest nephew is seven years old. And they were watching the game with him on Monday. And think about it, a seven year old sees his brother, probably one of his idols, his role model, and he's not getting up. And on TV, they're talking about how they're trying to revive him. The reports were also out there on Tuesday that he had to be revived more than once.

So not only did he need life saving measures on the field in Cincinnati, but he also required CPR or some type of life saving measure in the hospital once he arrived at the UC Medical Center. And so for the family, I mean, for us as fans, we're invested, right? But this is their nephew. This is their son.

This is their brother. And it's been a wild, emotional roller coaster. It's been heartbreaking. I haven't been asleep yet.

I've been up since about 24 hours now. And as soon as they canceled the game, we got in the road and we drove out from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. I mean, it felt like we drove through a hurricane with so much rain coming down. But I mean, we weren't going to stop until we got here and be able to support my nephew, man, and just be by his side. A lot of people don't get a chance to see how loved they are while they're alive. So for him to have a situation where he could have been taken away and he has a chance to come back and see all that love that he got is truly an amazing thing. And I can't wait for him to see all the love and support that people have had for him, not just around the area, but around the country and the world.

It's been it's been amazing. So Dorian Glenn, the uncle of Damar Hamlin on NFL Network. One more I want you to hear from his conversation with CNN, because the doctors have chosen to keep Damar in what is a medically induced coma, essentially. He's sedated. He's intubated. They're helping him with oxygen, helping him breathe.

And so Dorian was asked about that. They just want him to have a better chance of recovering, recovering better. So they felt that if he's sedated, his body can heal a lot faster than he feels if he was on woke and possibly cause other complications.

So they got him sedated right now. And I mean, it's just heartbreaking seeing him like that. I'm sure that was really hard for Dorian Glenn, as I say, as an auntie who cherishes my relationship with my nieces and feels as though they're like my daughters.

I can't even imagine being in his situation. And yet how many millions of people out there wanted to hear from the family? The family also posted an update on his GoFundMe page. And so I'll share that with you moving forward. And thanks again for all of your comments on our social media.

And if you want to send questions for Ask Amy Anything, I think we'll tentatively move forward with that. And so it's on Twitter after our CBS or on our Facebook page. And then our phone number is 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. One of DeMar's teammates was speaking out on Monday. So we haven't heard, or excuse me, Tuesday, we haven't heard a whole lot from the Bills. As you can imagine, what they care most about is DeMar.

But also this has got to be emotionally and mentally really challenging for them. And so Dion Dawkins was one who was willing to speak up. And then former Bill Eric Wood, who's part of the radio team, of course, was there in Cincinnati for the broadcast. We'll hear from them too.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I would have felt the way I felt no matter who it was. But for it to be my nephew, man, it was especially more of a gut punch to see that. But I'm thankful that he's still here, he's still alive, and he's still fighting.

And like I said, we're just taking it day by day and I'm continuing to let the medical staff do what they do. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The voice of Dorian Glenn, DeMar Hamlin's uncle, as he was speaking to NFL Network and various other media outlets on Tuesday. And I know for me it was really good to hear the voice of a family member.

You can imagine with the number of family members who were there, who are keeping vigil, who are around DeMar and praying, and just absorbing all of the overwhelming support, that one of them was selected to speak publicly. And so Dorian Glenn is the uncle, is the one that they put out in front of the cameras and the microphones so that the rest of the NFL community and fans could hear from the family. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Top of the hour, a former Ravens wide receiver, actually not just Ravens. He was with the Vikings, he finished his career with the Colts. He's a Super Bowl champion though from his time in Baltimore. And Kadri Ismael is still part of the Purple pregame and postgame on WJZ-TV. Many of you in our Baltimore market and other places are familiar with him as an NFL veteran. We wanted to get the reaction of a former player, someone who, and I know Kadri personally has suffered through injuries himself, but how do these players even think about moving forward? How do you get to the point, if you're a Bill or you're a Bengal, that you can think about football? And not just them, but we're hearing it from all around the league. Mike Tomlin, Mike Vrabel, Aaron Rodgers, it's all over the place, right? Everybody's been impacted by this because of the fact that it was on national TV and it was so scary and the reaction of the players that were there in Cincinnati.

How do you do that? So as someone who himself went through injuries but also saw other people go through injuries there on the field, seeing guys get carted off, there is an element to getting back to work that will be challenging, no doubt. But I mentioned that there's an update on the GoFundMe page started by Damar Hamlin a couple years ago, which is quickly, rapidly approaching $6 million. I told you it'll go over $6 million even as we're here on the air.

It's now about $35, $34,000 shy of $6 million. And so it's going to get there. But the family or Damar Hamlin's team, so whether it's his agent, his PR rep, maybe somebody else that they designated to update, they did post on his GoFundMe page something that was brand new on Tuesday. And because I've been looking at the page multiple times throughout the day, I saw it and wanted to pass it along. Now he had written a message going back to December of 2020, so two years ago. And the family, his team, wanted to just confirm to people that this, in fact, was his GoFundMe page and that it sponsors the Chasing Ems Foundation, which was started by Damar, and that it was initially established to support a toy drive.

So here's where the team updated. However, it has received renewed support in light of Damar's current battle, and we can't thank all of you enough. Your generosity and compassion mean the world to us. If you would like to show your support and contribute to Damar's community initiatives and his current fight, this is the place to do so.

This is the only current fund that is being used by the Hamlin family. Again, thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and generous support during this time. And then it goes on to say that Damar created his foundation to support toy drives, back to school drives, kids camps, and more. For those of you who maybe have been searching online, you might have seen some of the videos of Damar passing out toys to kiddos at Christmas time. It appeared as though he was in a toy store or a toy store or some type of a market or a shop, and the kids were coming in in lines, and he was greeting all of them. He was giving them high fives or hugs. He was taking photos with them, and then they were allowed to pick a toy or a couple of toys that they would take with them when they left. And the smiles on their faces and their excitement over getting a chance essentially to shop for a Christmas gift that would be all of their own was really sweet and very powerful. So there are videos out there, and this is the family, the team, another way of communicating with fans who are offering their support.

So we'll keep you updated, but yeah, at this point, I'm sure you've seen it or you've heard about it. His GoFundMe page is nearly at $6 million, which is incredible. There are no words for that and what it means to the family, how can we even express. Dion Dawkins was on the field with his Bills teammates on Monday night in Cincinnati, and he did an interview with ESPN to talk about not just where the team is now and how they're processing, but also that reaction and those emotions in that moment. We are human. We are not athletes. We are not superstars. We are not celebrities. We are not anything. We are humans at this moment. We are vulnerable humans. You know, our brother is, you know, fighting when something like this happens. It just kind of just makes you just realize that, you know, like we play a sport to entertain the world.

Right. And with entertaining the entire world, we put our bodies, our mind, our careers on the line every single play. We try to be our best all we possibly can. And, you know, at the end of the day, we are humans and we have families and we care and we cry and we're vulnerable and we have emotions and we feel the same pain that the regular person feels. So for Dion Dawkins, just trying to remind people, as much as it feels like we're these superstars and celebrities and we operate in a completely different realm. Now we're humans and we cry and we laugh and we bleed and we hurt and we care and we love. And this is our brother. This is our teammate.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. There's a lot of other reaction that I want to pass along. We'll sprinkle it throughout the show. And of course, if we see any updates about Demar, we will definitely pass those along.

I know that Dion also spoke to multiple media outlets and talked about just seeing seeing Demar collapse and the reaction of the group and kind of in that moment about playing football again. And how do you even think about that? And I'll ask that question of Kadri Ismail, former Ravens receiver and Super Bowl champion, when he joins us at the top of the hour. We're taking your questions for Ask Amy Anything. I know it's strange. It feels strange to me a little bit, but I also want to make sure that we do spread out a little bit on this edition of the show. It would be too heavy for me.

I suspect maybe too heavy for you as well. Some of you to have another four hours of talking about Demar. Again, we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything. And there is some reaction that I want to share with you. I know there have been candlelight vigils.

There have been, as we talk about, the overwhelming support from all corners of the country and even internationally. And so, yeah, we're all over it and we'll do what we can to keep you updated, but also want to provide a little bit of relief and and maybe a reason to to smile. It's weird to think about.

Right. But just a few text messages that I received from family members or friends. A friend from church texted me about Star Wars just kind of randomly. And so it made me smile. It was kind of what I needed on Tuesday afternoon. So there's that. I mean, I watched an episode of a TV show on my DVR just because I needed to kind of have an escape, too.

So I recognize that that's important for us also as humans. Aaron Rodgers did his weekly interview on Pat McAfee, and he was also watching this happen on Monday night in Cincinnati. It's one of those things where you just keep watching the coverage because you're worried about them and you want some good news and you're hoping to hear some good news. And I reached out to Josh right away.

I didn't expect a response. He actually text me back from the locker room and, you know, just because he's a close friend. And I just felt for him watching his face and just put myself in their shoes to watch somebody to love on the ground. CPR. I mean, that's when it gets real. Like they're fighting to save this guy's life, not in the locker room or at the hotel or in the hospital, like on the field. I can't imagine what I'd be like to go through. So really tough night.

I was shook up, you know, still still feeling weird about it. I think it's your football mortality just comes right face to face because one of your brothers in the fraternity of the NFL is fighting for his life right now. We'll hear more from Aaron Rodgers. He was very complimentary of the coaches on the field in that moment. And also he used a term to describe football players that I heard boomer a size and use as well.

So thought it was particularly poignant. So a little more from Aaron coming up. But Mike Tomlin has known DeMar Hamlin for a long time because of their connections in Pittsburgh. We'll hear from him coming up next hour. Apparently it's too long for us to fit it in before the top of the hour. We've got everything from Mike Vrabel to Jerry Jones and others who are speaking out.

So I know that it's not just a highlights the wrong word. It's not just a piece of video that these guys are seeing on the screen or watching on TV that they're able to move on from. And that's really the question that I have for our guests coming up at the top of the hour.

It's like how do you move forward from this point? Because you have to be locked in. You have to be focused on the task at hand or there will be other injuries. Speaking of the collision sport and the violence sport that these guys play. And there's still so much on the line.

I think it's callous to say it. The NFL has chosen to pause for now and I appreciate that. They've actually indicated that this game between the Bills and the Bengals will not be resumed this week.

No real firm decision has been made moving forward. Only that they are going to stick to the week 18 schedule. And at this point they don't plan on having the Bengals and the Bills get back to Cincinnati for this game. So we'll see what they do in terms of the seating and in terms of the records.

Because that could matter or maybe it does not. Maybe that is part of the conversation with the coaching staffs and the general managers. But these guys eventually have to get back on the field. So how do they do it?

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. And save 10% on our first month. This is your operating system talking. Not your computers or your phones, but your internal human operating system. I'm feeling a little overloaded. Here's how you can ease my stress. Close your eyes or softly gaze at something in front of you. Now inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Keep repeating. Much better. Longer term, there's better help online therapy.

They'll match us with the licensed therapist we can connect with via video, phone or chat. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive and save 10% on our 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 the licensed therapist via video, phone or online chat. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive and save 10% on your first month.