2-3-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Good morning to you. Hope you're flying like an eagle through your Friday and on into your weekend. Yes, the Eagles and the Chiefs got just over a week left of preparation, and next week becomes kind of nutso. You hear players and coaches talk about it all the time, especially those first-timers who are in the Super Bowl. They don't really understand. They need veterans to tell them what happens. Ticket requests and family and friends, all of a sudden people you haven't heard from in a decade show up and think, oh yeah, I might be able to milk this connection for a Super Bowl ticket, or just want to be part of the excitement. And so there's a lot. There's a lot of people that you have to take care of. There are a lot of details. And it can be overwhelming because it's one of the biggest moments of your life, which means the people around you want to be involved. And so the coaches and the veterans have the responsibility of trying to keep these guys focused, obviously. They don't travel until next week.

So try to get in the practice time and keep things as normal as possible. I used my air quotations even as I said that. You know what's not normal right now? Have you guys seen, and this I'm going to just admit, I'm embarrassed about it, but I'm going to admit it anyway. Have you guys seen the number of articles out there, or clickbait we should call them, TMZ-like posts, or notifications about where Tom Brady is and what he's doing at all moments of the day since he announced his retirement?

Okay, I'm just going to admit it. I saw the headline. It was a people, I'm pretty sure it was a people column first.

And it essentially said that Brady had taken his daughter, Vivian, she's super cute, to her horseback riding lessons after announcing retirement. So I opened up this people link because people's legit. Now there are a lot of various rags that I won't open up. If I don't know or recognize the website or the outlet, I won't open it because it could be some spyware or malware on your computer. Or it could start popping up and sending you all of these crazy ads, right? It could be porn for heaven's sakes. So I'm careful about what I open on my computer. But I opened up this link on people, which then had a link to the photos of Tom Brady at his daughter's horseback riding lessons.

Yes, I opened it, okay? But here's the thing. In the second link, there's a video of Tom Brady on the phone. And this claim, I mean it did look like it, I will say that. This claim that he's losing his mind and shouting at whoever is on the phone to the point where the video, whoever was taking the video, paparazzi's following Tom Brady now. Whoever's taking the video zoomed in enough to see spit come out of his mouth. Like that's how forcefully he was talking.

I'm embarrassed that I know this, okay? I'm embarrassed that I followed first the people link, then I got sucked into, oh Brady was on the phone, he was yelling on a phone conversation with someone. And then I watched the video.

Like what a dodo. I just contributed to all of the paparazzi and their crazy goals to stalk people everywhere. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry Tom. I'm very sorry.

I should never have opened the second link. I got sucked in because it was on people and they indicated that Brady was losing his mind having an argument with someone on the phone. The only thing that would have been worse is if they had said, oh we believe he was speaking to Giselle. You know what I mean? That would have been worse.

But there was no mention of her in this particular article. So confession is good for the soul. I'm just admitting that I got sucked down the, oh there's video of Tom Brady yelling. Just as a side note, he definitely did look animated. But here's the thing, I'm an Italian girl and I'm also loud. Two things that are not a revelation to you even on this Friday morning, even if you're groggy. There are times when people who don't know me will say, why are you yelling at me?

When we get into an animated conversation. Many a producer, that could be why I've gone through 19 producers since I've been here at CBS Sports Radio. Just kidding, Jay's only number nine. Anyway, soon be on to number 10 if you ever do that again.

Just kidding. You walked right into that. You freaking walked right into that Jay.

Thank you for setting me up. You put the ball on a tee and I smacked it out of the park. Anyway, yes Jay's only number nine. It's been 10 years so I'm not even averaging one producer a year. Not bad when you look at it like that. I'm not even going to defend myself.

It's not me, it's them. It's not important right now. I'm talking about Tom Brady. Anyway, when I get into animated conversations and I'm passionate about something, I do. I raise my voice, I get louder, I use my hands and that's what Brady was doing. I don't believe he's Italian but I can understand how an animated conversation where you're speaking passionately and loudly and there was no audio to it.

I mean I can't claim that I've never spit across my kitchen while I'm having an animated conversation. That's not what you wanted to hear on a Friday morning is it? I'm sorry. I'm sorry again Tom for I can't even believe I became a party to all of this.

I don't think it's fair to say he was angry or like screaming at someone because you can't hear it and all you see is him just kind of gesturing and he is talking passionately. That's what we're going to call it. We know the man is passionate about things. Alright, leave him alone. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! You know what? Who cares? I'm done.

I can do whatever I want. I'm rich on you, rich on you. Jay. That had to be it. He was singing along to you too. That's what he was doing. He loves Bono. He's passionate. I mean, he very.

We know that the man has other interests, right? So maybe he was, he was exclaiming about how great his new media project is or the reviews for 80 for Brady. Is it 80 for Brady? 82 Brady? ADL Brady? 84 Brady. 80 about Brady? Brady turns 80? I don't know.

Thankfully not in NFL uniform. So yeah, here's the thing. I will never do it again. I was a slave to the clickbait. That's it. That's it. I was a slave to the clickbait.

Jay spends all his time on YouTube. It happens to the best of us. I feel better now.

I feel better now that I'm not the only one who who falls down these rabbit holes on the Internet. But now you watch. I'm going to start getting all these pop ups about Tom Brady because they're watching me. They're watching me. They know what I look at. Often I'll open up a random story.

Maybe a news item, something like that. And all of a sudden I get all these stories about the same people. It's crazy. The machine, the machine is out to get you. You've opened the floodgates already.

Now I'm going to get every story under the sun about Tom Brady. Watch. All of them. That's it. His daughter, his sons, his exes, his exes.

I guess there's no current. At least not that I know him. His teammates. All of a sudden. That's it. All of my entire timeline is going to be flooded with Tom Brady. What did he have for dinner last night? I don't know, but you will. I will. I'll know that. I'll know exactly where he was for dinner, too. I'll know if he is potentially planning to go to Vegas or Phoenix. That's it.

Shoot. Well, don't you worry. I will be your source for all news Tom Brady. Except many of you are hoping we don't have to hear about Tom Brady anymore. That's why you were excited that he was retiring.

He'll never go anywhere. At least I've confessed it and now I'm over it. I'm good. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page. I'm not going to spend my weekend stalking Tom Brady stories.

I promise you that. But there is no NFL, no real NFL this weekend for the first time since August. So how do you use your extra hours, you football crazies? Do you watch other sports? There is plenty going on. Do you plan your epic, I mean epic Super Bowl party hype? Hype it baby.

Do you potentially curl up in a fetal position? Or maybe you spend the money you won on your fantasy football championship? I already spent mine. Do you take advantage of the time to get out there and smell some flowers?

I don't know. What are you going to do with your time? I just, I hope the weekend is exactly what you need. We've got a little prep going on for our Super Bowl week. We're in fact going to work on our first video. We've got the Super 6 series.

One video for every day next week. Looking forward to sharing those with you. We might make you go on a treasure hunt for them. I'm also going out to dinner with a friend at one of, so New Jersey is known for its diners. If you've noticed about the real good diners, there isn't an item that you can't get. They have, I don't know how they stock every single food under the sun, but at the best diners, and New Jersey is known for its diners, they, you could get fish, you could get pancakes.

Not together. You could get eggs, you could get sweet potato fries. You could get a salad, you could get meatloaf. You could get anything, not to mention homemade desserts.

So I have this one friend, we only go to the, we go to the same diner every single time we get together. It's our, it's only going to be zero degrees in New Jersey on Friday night, but we're going out and here's the cool thing, we're not going to talk about football at all. It's going to be awesome. So that's one of my plans. A little house cleaning, a little blogging. Going to finish a blog post to share with you guys with some fun spring news that I want to get out there. And sleep. Sleep is in my weekend. It's so unbelievably boring, but I'm old and I don't care.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio and on Facebook and then our show Twitter as well. Alright, I told you, waking up on this Friday morning, it's not about Tom Brady and his daughter's horseback riding lessons. I just, I needed to get that off my chest, okay? There's always two sides to every story, except for this one.

There's no two sides to the story. At the risk of sounding like an elementary schooler, Dylan Brooks definitely started it. Here's Brooks into the lane. Shot blocked by Mobley!

Holy Mobley! Oh, and now we've got Donovan Mitchell and Dylan Brooks going at it. Yeah, he kicked it. We've got pistol cuffs down here to our left underneath the basket. Mitchell was not happy.

No. And he fired that ball at Dylan Brooks. Dylan tripped him, Tim, almost like he was trying to step on his foot. Boy, it is really heated under there as both coaching staffs have come out onto the floor.

Again, the players know well enough to stay on the bench, and that's an automatic ejection and suspension. Boy, Donovan Mitchell was really hot. Well, Donovan Mitchell had right to be, and even though, as you hear on Cavs radio, yes, initially there was this attempt to trip by Dylan Brooks.

It was actually a pretty classic move, one that you might see in some kind of a really bad movie or a bad fight scene. Then there was another reason for Mitchell to become incensed. So it's physical defense by Mitchell on a drive to the hoop by Dylan Brooks. Game is taking place between the Grizzlies and the Cavaliers in Cleveland. And there's contact. Oh my gosh, are you kidding me? The NBA is a contact sport?

Who knew? Feels like it's not been for a long time. So Donovan Mitchell's guarding Brooks tightly. There is some contact. When they get to the hoop, Brooks hits the deck, and Donovan actually kind of stumbles backwards. So again, there was contact, and they're fighting hard there. Brooks, when he hits the deck, rolls into Donovan. So Donovan goes to get the basketball. I think the basketball had gone beyond the end line. Donovan goes to get the basketball. And as he's coming back toward the paint, Brooks is still on the ground. He rolls into Donovan and up onto his feet.

But, now I think he attempted to disguise it as follow through. As he was rolling, it was like a stop, drop, and roll by Dylan Brooks. As he's rolling, somehow, his arm follows through. So he's rolling, he's rolling, he's rolling. He slams into Donovan Mitchell's feet. His arm, his upper arm, keeps on going, almost as though he can't stop the arm, and whack! Just happens to hit him right below the belt in the little Cavaliers.

And the little thunders? Well, not this time, but yes, that's what we're talking about. Thank you, Tim Roy.

Roy always knows when to come in. So the arm just somehow follow through. Whoops!

Hit you below the belt. No, it was intentional. If you have not seen it, it's on our show, Twitter, After Hours, CBS.

It will be everywhere. This video will go viral because, in fact, Dylan Brooks took a cheap shot and smacked into Donovan Mitchell with his hand, backhand as a matter of fact, where he should not be backhanding any other human. That's just who he is. We've seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I've been busting his ass for years, playoffs, regular season. In the one game, he does a high job on me today.

He decides to do something like that. There's no place in that in the game. You've got to protect yourself at the end of the day. This has been brewing for years with me, with other guys in the league, and you all see it.

It's not something that this isn't new. Tonight was just the end of it, but it's tough when you can't guard somebody and you can't do something with somebody. You've got to resort to that, and that's what he's done to a lot of players. Your line has to be drawn, and the NBA has to do something about it.

Like I said, I'm not the only person this has happened to. There's no place for that in this game. Like I said, I took matters into my own hands, but at the end of the day, that ain't it. It doesn't matter who you ask in the NBA on this Friday. Unanimously, everyone is going to be on the side of Donovan Mitchell because that is a cheap shot you do not take. And while both guys were suspended, Mitchell threw a punch and threw a ball at him and all this stuff. I mean, he got upset. He was angry. They both got tossed. The NBA is likely to weigh in, but there isn't going to be two sides to this story. Donovan Mitchell had, I mean, he got angry. He threw a punch. That's against the rules too, obviously, so likely is going to face some type of punishment. But you do not hit anyone there, but definitely not a man.

Definitely not, like when there's eight bazillion cameras on you and everyone can see it. And so, yes, Dylan Brooks, you got the short end of the stick on this one because you definitely started it. And it was definitely your fault.

And no one is going to be on your side, least of all J.B. Bickerstaff. If somebody makes a play like that, you should have the right to stand up for yourself. I mean, it was a cheap shot in multiple ways. You know, you roll a guy's ankle and then obviously, you know, whatever was next out of there, a guy should have the right to stand up for himself. And, you know, I thought Donovan did that. That's one thing, you know, I'm proud of our guys. We don't have, you know, those guys that start ****, but we got guys that don't run from ****. And you have to in this league.

You have to stand up for yourself. That's what he did and that's what his teammates had his back. They definitely did. So there was a big brouhaha on the end line. Actually, pretty sweet athletic move by, well, sweet might be overstating. It was a very athletic move by Donovan Mitchell because even as he gets punched, where you're not supposed to be punched, he kind of grabs the area for obvious reason and then holds on to the ball. And as he's falling to the ground, he smashes it into Dylan Brooks.

Have you seen it? So he's got one hand protecting himself or, you know, and he's got the other hand with the ball in it and he's palming the ball and he just smacks Dylan Brooks with it. His anger, like, overtook his pain at that point. But yeah, I'm just saying, like, he was one-handed. He had one hand down, he had one hand up, and bam. I mean, he didn't lose possession of the basketball as he's falling. He gets punched below the belt and does not lose the basketball.

No travel. Well, the play was stopped. There might have been a travel, but traveling's not called in the NBA anyway. We could not find any real reaction from the Grizzlies locker room. We have looked, maybe at some point we'll hear from Dylan Brooks, but couldn't find any post-game reaction from him. Taylor Jenkins was very gruff about it, didn't really want to talk about it, pretty angry as a matter of fact.

And so, yeah, right now, I don't think there's anybody you're going to ask who is not going to be on the side of Donovan Mitchell. Straight ahead, a little bit of a conversation with Mike Pritchard, the CU Athletic Hall of Famer, so Colorado Buffaloes. He played for them, won a national championship there, went on to play for three different teams in the NFL as a wide receiver.

And also is now with Visa Network in Vegas, his hometown, and is their lead NFL analyst, so really good stuff. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them. The trick?

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This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Flashbacks for Broncos fans. Yeah, it was a real crushing season. Not so much because of Russell Wilson and the fact that he had been a Pro Bowl quarterback and yada, yada, yada. Because the hype went through the roof in the off-season, in pre-season, in training camp. There was so much buzz coming out of Denver about how this was it. They finally found their next franchise quarterback after years of rotating guys through to try to replace Peyton Manning.

Or to try to fill the shoes left by Peyton Manning. And it did not work. It did not even remotely work with Nathaniel Hackett. And Russ was bad.

As in just bad. Yes, 3500 passing yards this season. But only 16 passing touchdowns with 11 interceptions. And his QB rating was 84 this year.

So it was miserable. The Broncos are one of the worst offenses in the NFL. And obviously a seventh straight year of not making the post-season since they last won Super Bowl 50. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. That's Spiro Didis with the reminder on Westwood One. My guest from earlier in the show joined us in Las Vegas where he's the lead NFL analyst for Visa Network. But he's also a former Denver resident, former Denver wide receiver in his days in the league. And I want you to hear what he had to say about the Sean Payton hire. And the fit of Payton with Russell Wilson coming off of the tough 22 campaign. For my Broncos, I don't know what's going to happen. I really don't.

Amy, I hope for the best. But I know that you're right. It has to be a good fit. I mean, Sean Payton, he's a brand name. He certainly is. And he's getting paid for that, right?

Close to 20 million dollars a year. And then you have another brand name and Russell Wilson. But like Giannis Atetekounmpo said, the Greek freak, you know, your ego is your past, though, right? And that's what I think we're living off of. Or at least the Broncos are living off of is the past of Russell Wilson. Promising the future will be better. The same thing with Sean Payton. The passage on Payton hopefully is going to produce a better future.

But you have to let go of those egos. And I wonder if those two individuals are going to be able to do that. Because I know Russell Wilson said in his ways and you know, he's one of those quarterbacks that, you know, is he coachable at this point?

We're going to find out because I think Sean Payton is going to challenge him on that. So if it works out, it's going to work out handsomely. It's going to be a great situation.

I don't know when that's going to come about, to be honest with you, Amy. But if it doesn't work out, it's going to be more of a disaster like we saw this past season. When it comes to that type of a marriage where they weren't necessarily selected together, who should have the final say? Should it be an experienced coach or should it be the guy who's on the field with the football? Well, the coach should have the final say.

I mean, if you think about the way the league has really worked. I mean, even the great Tom Brady was always coachable and he has been coachable. We've heard stories about how Bill Belichick treated everybody the same during those Dynasty years of Tom Brady up there. And then certainly, I think to a certain extent, Tom Brady's first year in Tampa. But Russell has treated himself differently in terms of his new home and in terms of his old home. We've seen and read all the reports and heard all the reports about how Russell Wilson elevated himself out of that locker room.

And I get the sense that he's done that again in Denver. So you have to be a part of that team. That team has to believe in you 100 percent.

But more importantly, I think you got to remain coachable. I mean, power struggles never work. And I don't I don't sense that I'm not going to even try to sense that's going to happen for this relationship.

But I know the last relationship there was an issue there. So from the perspective of a former athlete and certainly for Russell Wilson, he was not the same player. His mechanics were different.

He was not seeing the field like he once did. And so, again, he's got to let go of that pass and that ego and look out that front windshield with the new coach and help that new coach help him on the field as well. Who are some of your favorite wide receivers in the NFL to watch today? I think I have love for Justin Jefferson's game. He is an incredible, incredible wide receiver. And, you know, I know he's going to get the respect. He's going to get honored this year.

And it's rightly so. Jamar Chase is incredible as well. Cooper Cup. You know, I don't think you can cover him. You know, when he's right, when he's healthy. There's there's a lot of great receivers. He came a cap. I mean, just the speed that the catch radius. Mike Evans.

I can go on and on. And that's the beauty of the National Football League right now. There's so many great athletes that are just making a difference. And it's spread across the league, too. And from a wide receiver standpoint, because you have guys six, four and they're running four, three. And again, they expand the catch radius and just are incredible, incredible players. I think Christian Watson as a young player is going to be phenomenal as he grows and matures up during Green Bay. So at the top, I put Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase right there. Cooper Cup in the top five. You know, like I mentioned, DK Metcalf as well. So there's there's an excellent an excellent group of receivers in the league right now. All right.

So before I let you go, pivot a little bit. You were part of a national championship at Colorado. What do you think so far of Dion in Boulder?

I love it. I love Coach Prime in Boulder. He loves Boulder. I mean, that press conference. And that was genuine, too. I had the fortunate opportunity to play three years with Dion in Atlanta. Dion Sanders.

Wow. And his work ethic was very strong then. He didn't take a rep off. It showed as he turned himself into the best of all time at his position.

Hands down the first ballot Hall of Famer. But his commitment to young men, his commitment to the process in instilling the work ethic or or the knowledge that these young men are going to need to succeed. His commitment is at a fever pitch now. It's never been at a higher level.

I don't believe so. I think all that is awesome. And it's been a great beginning to what I believe is going to be impactful for CU and the football program and institution as well. I mean, I think the state I mean, the culture of college football, everybody is looking at CU right now. And everybody wants to be a part of it all because of Coach Prime. So he knows how to create attention.

He knows how to handle attention like this on the big stage. And certainly he knows how to get results. So I think we're heading in the right direction. I cannot wait until spring ball a little bit later on in the year.

And certainly when we kick it off for real later on in the fall. Did you ever have to match up with him in practice? I did.

I did. We used to fight physically. We would we would try to negotiate the front of the line for one on one.

When to go up against primetime or Dion, right? Because you knew you were going to get better. And, you know, at that time, it was Andre Risen and Michael Haynes and me and and a few other receivers, Drew Hill. And and so we used to try to maneuver and, you know, would tie our shoe if somebody, oh, I can't go this way.

You got to go. And we would try to we would try to time it to where we could go up against Dion because, you know, he was going to make it better. So absolutely, absolutely was able to sharpen my sharpen my game going up against great Dion Sanders in practice.

That is absolutely what you love. And also, I feel like you were quite the name dropper, Mike. All of these people that you played with or against that.

This is when I cut my teeth on the NFL. So this this is super cool to be able to connect with you. I tell you what, it's not bad to name drop some of those players, though, when you played with them. Right.

Right. There's incredible, incredible players to be. And that was my opportunity and and certainly the time that I enjoyed in the league. That interview with Mike Pritchard, it's dynamic.

If you love football, you love good stories. You love perspective from a guy who played at the highest level, 10 years in the NFL, three different franchises. He was a wide receiver, started in Atlanta, went through Denver and then finished in Seattle. So he's got just a depth of knowledge and experience. He's now the lead NFL analyst. Yes, lead NFL analyst for Visa Network, which is based in Vegas, happens to be his hometown. So it's cool to hear him talk about how much he loves being home again. It's just the perfect opportunity for him. And you can tell he's very good at what he does. So you can check him out on Twitter. It's M.I. Pritchard.

The M.I. in there. And then also you can check out that whole conversation.

There's a lot more to it. Telling you good stories with name dropping. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them. The trick? Simply start with bite sized steps like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore and unwind.

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The trick? Simply start with bite sized steps like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore and unwind.

Tastes like wellness just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie. Taste your goals. Learn more at Goalie.com today. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them.

The trick? Simply start with bite sized steps like Goalie's apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health. Or Goalie Ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore and unwind.

Tastes like wellness just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie. Taste your goals. Learn more at Goalie.com today.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Don't let anyone tell you that Lovey Smith had a terrible experience in Houston. As he was on his way out the door, he ensured that the franchise would not get the number one overall pick. And don't let anyone tell you the Texans had no highlights this season.

Here's what stands out to me about Houston. Even with rosters that were not as talented and I would say did not have solid options or even future starting options at quarterback. I don't know how many other places Davis Mills would have been starting. Tyron Taylor was there last year, right? And he got hurt. Was it Tyron Taylor who got hurt right away out of the gate for the Texans? Anyway, they've had a roster that is not nearly as talented as what many other rosters are in the NFL. And there's definitely a case that can be made that the Texans were kind of biding their time wanting to get rid of Deshaun Watson, wanting to figure that situation out and then collect draft picks, collect money under the cap and move forward. They didn't care what happened to David Cully and what happened to Lovey Smith.

Those guys were simply placeholders. D'Amico Ryan's is not that. And I will say this about Nick Cassario and the McNair family. They should be giving prayers to the Lord above, praises to the Lord above that D'Amico Ryan's wants to live in Houston.

Because there are some other jobs out there that are more attractive. But D'Amico wanted to go back to Houston. And in fact, he labels this the dream job. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. It's not for devoid of other opportunities, but he was thrilled that he could move his family back to H-Town.

I'm here at home in H-Town. It's a dream job. I get to work with Nick, with Cal to build this team the right way. We have a young team. We have a lot of draft capital.

We're excited to add even more talent to the team that we have. It's a dream job because we can win here. And we're going to win here by collaborating, working together, building it the right way with the right people. They can win there. They have won there. Every NFL franchise can win.

Even those who it seems like do the opposite of what they need to do to win. Every franchise can win. That's the beauty of the NFL is that you can turn things around within a year. We know half the NFL playoff field turns around or turns over every season. Who says we can't get flexed? Teams, thank you.

Thank you so much, Dan. That's exactly what I was talking about. Teams go from worst to first all the time. Hello, Lions. Teams go from worst to first in the course of one season, for heaven's sakes.

It is possible, but you've got to actually try. D'Amico Ryan's first step toward that, and yes, he did have other opportunities, but he played in Houston. He loves H-Town. That's where he wanted to be.

I'm thankful for the Denver Broncos, and we had great interviews there, great people there. But when it came down to it, there is no place I wanted to be any more than H-Town. So it was an easy pick for me. It was a no-brainer to be here.

Be home. It was a no-brainer. So it wasn't a difficult decision at all.

It was very easy. How about that? It may not really have to do with the Texans as much as it has to do with they wanted the opportunity to go to H-Town to be in Houston. I really appreciate that. And we know from D'Amico Ryan's career, not to mention from his time as the D coordinator there in San Francisco, he's all in. This is a guy who brings the intensity, the energy, of course the knowledge, the experience. He brings credibility because he played in the league. He played at the highest level.

He was a pro bowler. And that will get the attention of his guys in Houston and will draw people. So I think he has the ability to be a magnet for some free agents who may have options and be considering and kind of testing the waters. D'Amico Ryans can convince them because of the track record, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And I really like the fact that he's a young guy, too.

It's not necessary. I mean, think about Andy Reid. Andy Reid has no trouble connecting and communicating with his younger players. He calls them kids. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurst, he called them kids this week.

Not in a derogatory way or demeaning. Just that's what they are to him. He's got grandkids, right? He's a grandfather.

And yet he, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, these guys can still relate. So it's not necessary to be in your 30s to be able to communicate with guys who are on your roster. But it does help.

It does help. I mean, I've heard from current players. What commands attention when you stand in front of a locker room?

I hear two things. One, that you're a coach who's got a winning track record. That's what, I mean, Doug Peterson played in the league, but a long time ago. Now he's got a Super Bowl ring more recently, and the players all know that in Jacksonville. So there's credibility instantly.

And then what do we hear from others? I mean, this applies to Steve Wilks and Carolina and why the locker room played hard for him. Because he went through it. He knows what he's talking about. He played in the league.

And that applies to D'Amico Ryan. So right away he commands attention when he starts speaking, when he puts together his coaching staff, and obviously when he builds the roster. So what is he looking for? We want players to have a special work ethic and a relentless mindset in everything that they do. That's what you're going to see from Texas football. You're going to see fast. You're going to see physical.

You're going to see toughness. We want smart players who truly are dedicated to being the best that they want to be, and guys who are coachable, and guys who want to go win. So D'Amico Ryan's got the challenge of a lifetime there in Houston.

But a couple of things that will certainly help, and I hope they allow his input. The Texans are projected to have nearly $38 million in cap space. So that's attractive because you can throw some money at different free agents that maybe wouldn't get as much going elsewhere or on the fence, and they get more money with you. That's sixth in the NFL, by the way. So nearly $38 million in cap space and five draft picks in the top 75.

Can they use them wisely? Again, it all comes down to management and how they built the roster, but it appears as though they're committed to D'Amico moving forward, and they finally got their man, although I roll my eyes a bit because they could have had their man before had they not mismanaged that franchise to the point where everyone in the entire NFL knew it. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Of course, the goal, the endgame where every team wants to be at this point in the season is headed to the Super Bowl, and we've got two coaches, very different ends of the spectrum. Nick Sirianni is very early in his career, second year. Andy Reid, he's not only got a ring, he's actually got one as an assistant coach with the Packers, too, but recently got the one with the Chiefs a few years ago.

He's got 20-plus postseason wins. I mean, this is one of the most experienced coaches in the league and obviously was a former Eagles coach. I look forward to the challenge of playing the Eagles. Good football team, great football team, and they've got tremendous talent. They've got good coaching, and it's a good organization. They've done a great job with that team, as has Howie Roseman in the general manager position.

So, yeah, they're way more familiar with the schemes. They've got a great defensive scheme, and they've got a great offensive scheme. This is the biggest game in football. We all know that. It's the biggest game. It's the Super Bowl, right?

It's the biggest game that anybody will ever play in football. We understand that. But when you start treating these games differently, that's when mistakes happen. That's when you don't stick to the process of who you are and your identity as a team, your fundamentals, all the things we've been talking about all year. It is sort of funny to hear Nick Seriaty talk about it because he's going into it as a newbie as well.

I mean, he has to say what he has to say. And they have been one of the best teams in the league all year. Maybe you've seen this graphic from the NFL on CBS, but I saved it, liked it on Twitter and wanted to pass it along.

This is pretty nutso. Going into the Super Bowl, the Chiefs and Eagles have identical records. This includes the playoffs. They're both 16 and 3. But you know what's even crazier?

Because that's not all that crazy. They're both the top seeds. They both had buys.

This is nutso. Each of them has scored exactly 546 points this year. No way.

This is hard to you. So Chiefs and Eagles, 16 and 3, each one of them has scored exactly 546 points. That's crazy. That is crazy, isn't it? I would say one of the odds, but there's a number out there.

Numerology, if you will. So yeah, that's pretty amazing. These are truly the best teams still standing in the NFL. Though if you ask Julian Love of the rival Giants, Nick Sirianni maybe got a boost on his way to becoming head coach of the Eagles. He's a guy who really is doing a good job because he's not getting in the way of his team.

He has an experienced roster from top to bottom, offense to defense. You see this stuff though? What's your reaction as a player? And that guy's doing that. I don't like it.

I don't like it at all. He's in for a free ride right now. You guys can coach this team. Nick Sirianni, he's shown a little more personality. Maybe he'll have some personable response to Julian Love saying that he's got a free ride with his team. Free ride?

I say Sirianni deserves a ton of credit. And last year, of course, they were a playoff team. So they've been to the postseason twice now in his two years as the head coach of the Eagles. So do we have time for the Mahomes? Not Mahomes, sorry. Time for the Aaron Rodgers or people get mad at me. Aaron Rodgers wants you to know he's at least got some information about his future.

This is on CBS Sports Network at Pebble Beach. Hi, Aaron. Hi, Colt. Got any news you want to share with us? Not going to San Fran.

You look great with a cowboy star on your helmet. What? Oh, my gosh.

How many people blew up Dec's phone after that little exchange? It's Colt Nast on CBS Sports Network. I'm sorry to end your Friday morning with Aaron Rodgers, but he's not going to San Francisco, in case you're wondering. So that's straight from the horse's mouth, and he's laughing, and they're going back and forth. But then Colt responds with, hey, how about the Cowboys? Great. I mean, persona non grata in the Dak family. Whoever it is, line them up. Have a great weekend.

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