3-8-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Subscribe to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast today. I can't believe my mom actually told me that I shouldn't talk while we were fishing because I would scare the fish away. That's just wrong.

Don't you think that's wrong? That's like telling a child, my cousin once told me this, that if you ate food off the floor, you could potentially be eating a spider. Like if you left your food on the floor, a spider could crawl into it. My cousin told me that because I used to eat food off the floor and I was deathly afraid of spiders.

I am deathly afraid of spiders. And so he told me that so I'd stop eating food off the floor. I give it the five second rule, even now as an adult.

What could possibly be so bad? How could it possibly be so contaminated after five seconds, Jay? I think five seconds is fine.

That's reasonable. I mean think about what's already in there to begin with. Like it's probably more harmful than anything that's on the floor. I ate dirt as a child, maybe not intentionally, but definitely ate dirt. I might have tried some dog food. What could possibly be worse than that?

Here I am. I wouldn't say that I am 100% or 100 as the kids say, or that I am in, you know, perfectly sane and all of that. So maybe eating a bit of dog food when I was younger changed something, but it seems to make for good radio.

You eat a little bit of dirt, a little dog food as a kid, you build up a nice immunity. You're fine throughout life. I'm totally fine. Reasonable, yes.

After five seconds, you got to leave it on the floor. Anyway, as it turns out, talking does not scare the fish, or maybe it does because we didn't catch any fish, so that might be the case. But the conversation was amazing. You guys are funny. How many of you, especially female listeners, are asking me how the date went?

I was gone for days. Mom and I had a wonderful time. She's great, thanks, but what you want to know about is the date, which is cute. I love that you are rooting for me. We will put some photos up.

I was just giving them to Producer J. Also, I have to tell you how much I was floored by the reaction to our conversation with Coach Dar, Darlene Santore. My goodness. Now, I shared the interview that we did with Coach Dar about her new book, The Art of Bouncing Back. I shared it personally with family and friends because I was so inspired by not just her journey of setbacks and survivals, but also her hope, the way that she has turned this into a reason and a platform to encourage and support others.

It's amazing. It's what we're supposed to do as humans, and I know her personally. I love her dearly. You all flooded us on social media with reactions to Coach Dar.

Many of you bought the book, ordered the book. I just want you to know that she heard and saw the reaction and was also very encouraged. So, you did that for her because of the fact that you're faithful to the show, and it really meant a lot to me.

So, that post is still up on both Twitter and Facebook. Also, right now, you have your opportunity to ask Amy anything. We're a half hour away, so make sure you send your questions. I don't know how Jay is going to weed through them all because there are... We're getting close to 100 questions now, so he's got to pick the best ones. I promised him that I would not go late on this particular hour so that he has plenty of time to get to the best questions. So, make sure that you find the post either on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or Facebook, and we will do that 30 minutes from now, but got a lot of quarterback questions that we need answered. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

You heard the Lamar Jackson highlight, the voice of John Harbaugh before the top of the hour. He's not the only piece of news that went BAM on Tuesday, but in advance of the deadline for the franchise tags, we saw six players that were tagged. Six players, and get this, all of them non-exclusive franchise tags.

Now, here's the difference. The difference is the money is less, so it's not as much money that you are committed to pay a player under the tag if it's non-exclusive. It also means that player or that player's reps can negotiate with other teams. If another team makes an offer to a player under a non-exclusive tag, their current team, the team who placed the tag on the athlete, has the right of refusal, essentially the right of first refusal.

In the case of Lamar Jackson, in the case of Saquon Barkley, we're going to talk Giants here in a second, in the case of Josh Jacobs, or Tony Pollard, or Evan Ingram, or Duron Payne, those are the six players who were labeled, who were tagged, you're it, with the non-exclusive tag. All of those players now have the opportunity to negotiate with other teams. But the deal is, when it comes to the quarterback like Lamar, if a team gives this big offer to Lamar and the Ravens choose not to match, so you can't then negotiate, that's it, you're then looking at a black and white scenario. Either you match, and you keep Lamar, or you don't match because you think the contract is too rich for your taste, and instead you get two first round draft picks in return.

So therein is an important caveat to this. Teams that do not have first round draft picks this coming year, well, rut row, actually it doesn't have to be this coming year because they have time until July to negotiate, so this coming year may not be part of the equation, meaning the draft is coming in a couple months. But if you don't have first round draft picks, well, then you can't use that as capital. You have to give up two first round draft picks if you, in this case, sign Lamar away from the Ravens. The part about the non-exclusive tag was what was really hanging up, the Ravens negotiations.

Why? Because the exclusive tag would have cost them $45 million. No one else would have been able to negotiate with Lamar. It would have been play for the Ravens or don't play at all. He has to sign the tag.

That's the other piece. He has to sign the tag in order for him to be traded. If he doesn't sign the franchise tag, meaning sign the tender, sign the deal, he can't be traded. But he also wouldn't be able to play anywhere.

So it's a little convoluted, but only know this. The Ravens went with the cheaper option, meaning if there isn't another team out there that matches and Lamar plays for them in 2023, they're paying him $32 million for the season as opposed to $45 million. $45 million would have been right up against their salary cap and would have left them very little wiggle room for, say, a wide receiver or a member of their secondary, which is what they need. But again, they're taking a major gamble. What's the gamble?

The gamble is this. Another team out there will not give Lamar a fully guaranteed contract. They are gambling that the Cleveland Browns are the only team that is going to fully guarantee a contract for a young quarterback like Lamar. Does it mean he won't get paid a lot?

No. In fact, I saw one of the offers out there was for $100 million guaranteed. Isn't that what Derek Carr got?

So if Derek Carr gets that and Lamar's an MVP, then yeah, there'd be a lot of money guaranteed. He wanted fully guaranteed, like Deshaun Watson. But you remember the reaction from most of the owners and most of the teams about that deal that Deshaun got from Cleveland.

You know my reaction. They were desperate. That was the only way they were going to lure him to Cleveland was to promise him $230 million fully guaranteed.

It's not a smart business move. We know that Kirk Cousins got a fully guaranteed contract, and I'm not saying he's played poorly. In fact, he actually played well this season. But going back to when he was tagged three years in a row by now the commanders, he ended up with a fully guaranteed deal with the Vikings, but it wasn't nearly the same amount of money. It wasn't anywhere close to the money that Deshaun Watson got from Cleveland. So the Ravens are gambling that there will not be another team.

As I'm talking with my hands and flip my Sharpie up in the air. They're gambling that there will not be another team that is willing to give him what he wants, and he'll decide, or they'll decide, that they have got to come to a different agreement. So he's now free to test the waters and to find another team that might give him a fully guaranteed deal. And if he does, then he won this gamble. If he doesn't, well then he has to go back and play for the $32 million. Or not. I guess he could sit out.

That's another possibility. But I can't imagine that after the time he's missed for injury. I think he would really like to get back on the field and prove that he's the same quarterback who won an MVP, and that the time away because of injuries has not meant he's any less durable or any less valuable. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Always appreciate hearing from Emmanuel Acho.

This is Speak on FS1. He actually thinks that the Ravens and Lamar will come out better for this move. This is a win-win, Lamar getting the non-exclusive tag.

This is the best case scenario for all parties. Why? Because in order to ensure that Lamar Jackson does not get underpaid, he needs to pull the market and see who's willing to pay him the most money. In order to ensure that the Ravens do not overpay Lamar Jackson, they need to pull the market to make sure they are not going to pay Lamar Jackson any more money than anybody else is going to pay him.

So Lamar Jackson can maximize his earning potential by being non-exclusively tagged, and the Ravens, they can minimize their earning spending by making sure Lamar Jackson is non-exclusively tagged. Let me give it to y'all like this. If you want to increase price, then you got to increase demand.

It's very simple. Y'all know this from your marketing classes. Y'all know this from your econ classes. If you want to increase price, you have to increase demand. Well, the only way to increase demand is to increase the teams that are bargaining for you. Now, in theory, all 31 teams could have the opportunity to bid on Lamar Jackson. 31 bidders increases demand, increases money.

But if you want to accurately pull how much something is worth, you got to survey the landscape of the market. Now the Ravens have the opportunity to survey how much are all 31 teams willing to pay Lamar Jackson. This could not be a more perfect situation for both Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

Emmanuel Acho on Speak FS1. I agree with him, except there are ways that this can go off the rails. Are the Ravens okay with only getting two first round picks in exchange for Lamar? They likely would have gotten more if they traded them straight up.

But again, they decided they needed the wiggle room. They're betting that there isn't a team out there who's going to give Lamar a more attractive offer. And maybe it's a little more than what the Ravens offered him, so they do it. At the very least, they don't have to negotiate, right? They no longer have to negotiate, at least for now. They can sit back and wait and see what happens.

Let someone else do the negotiating for a bit. And then no matter what, they will get two first round draft picks in return if Lamar goes elsewhere. So it kind of puts them in the driver's seat, at least in terms of the final decision.

But I also think they've got to be fatigued with the negotiating and the back and forth and the making no progress. And running into the same answer from Lamar, which is no unless the contract is fully guaranteed. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. It's not a fully guaranteed contract for Daniel Jones. But minutes before the franchise tag deadline, the Giants get their man.

Here's Ian Rappaport. Essentially what the New York Giants did was protect themselves, right? Daniel Jones gets a big time payday, a real legitimate franchise quarterback payday and $40 million. And the Giants avoid franchise tagging him. What that means is if he got the tag, let's say Jones goes out with some real weapons, goes out and kills it for the Giants, and they would have to pay him even more the next year. They protect themselves on that, make their cap situation a little easier too. If they tag him, that all hits their cap.

But once they do a long-term deal, it allows them some room to get this guy some pieces, which is certainly something you know they would like to do. Meanwhile, they also keep star running back Saquon Barkley. Tom, he gets the franchise tag as well, keeping one of the best runners in the NFL off the market. So Saquon Barkley, again, non-exclusive tag, meaning that other teams can reach out and negotiate with him, try to lure him away from the Giants. But two things, New York actually controls his rights still, and so the Giants get the final say, meaning they can match or they can let him go. And now they've got Daniel Jones locked up and don't need to worry about it. And I get it, there are a lot of people that were blanching at the idea of paying Daniel Jones $45 million. There were conflicting reports about whether or not that is what his team asked. Oh no, I'm sorry, what he asked of his team, meaning I meant his team, not the Giants, but his.

Jay's like, we got you, we got you. So Daniel Jones agents and his team, they didn't get the $45 million if that report was true, but they did get a nice even round number, I would say fat number, at $40 million. And they're able to tag Barkley. So they're your top two offensive weapons. He had 1,300 rushing yards last season, 10 touchdowns in 16 games.

Most importantly, he'd make over $10 million with the tag if there's not another team that comes in to negotiate a bigger deal. But also I think if you look at the success of the Giants this season, it's fairly obvious that when you have two runners, and they've got design runs for Daniel Jones, but he also can scramble, he's a really good running quarterback. He's a dual threat QB.

He's not Lamar Jackson, I'm not telling you that, but he, I'd say, has better balance in terms of throwing versus passing. They've got some real good weapons around him, the offensive line a lot better this season. Finally, that's been a pain in the Giants arse for quite a while.

They finally get it fixed. This team has stockpiled a bunch of first round draft picks who are producing on the field. Daniel Jones is better when you have the threat of Saquon Barkley, a healthy Saquon Barkley. And this year, he was able to come through in what was a contract season.

At the very least, he's getting $10 million in 2023 under this tag. And the Giants, who were a, I'll say a bit of a surprise playoff team last year. They had a swoon there in the late stages, but part of the NFC beast also had to play a really tough schedule. They make the postseason under Brian Daybal, coach of the year. They've set now the floor.

This is the floor. Moving on from here, double figure wins, challenging the Eagles and the Cowboys in this division. We've got our guy.

We don't have to worry about that. And I would say, it's funny to use the word bargain when it comes to $40 million per year. But I would say they've got to be happy with the fact that, A, he's locked up for four years and they don't, like he's in jail, and they don't have to worry about that piece anymore. They can use him as the centerpiece of their pitch to other free agents. We know Brian Daybal is an attractive piece as well. Guys want to play for him. He's got a wonderful reputation in the league. First year as a head coach went swimmingly.

The man might spontaneously combust on the sidelines, but, you know, he can coach. So all of that, and I would say when you look at the going rate for quarterbacks, it is a bargain. You're not paying him $50 million per year. You're not paying him more than Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, who right now are considered bargains.

No, you didn't break the bank for him. You got him a contract that keeps him happy. You found a compromise. You know what's important about compromise? Neither side is blissful about it.

Both sides had to come together in the middle. So, no, it's not $45 million, but it is $40 million. He's guaranteed a bunch of money, which is, again, not breaking the bank and not setting a record, but $82 million guaranteed is a nice chunk of change that lets him know and the league know he's their quarterback. They're committed to him. I like it.

And they got it done minutes before the deadline for the tags, meaning they could also take care of Saquon Barkley. Jay, thumbs up or thumbs down, which doesn't really work on the radio, so you'll have to say thumbs up or thumbs down. Thumbs up. Big thumbs up here. Two thumbs up?

I'd say so, yes. Two thumbs up. What about the rest of your fingers? Are they also up?

I put my toes up, so maybe like four. Are they up your nose with a rubber hose? I've never heard that. You've never heard that? No. Have you ever heard that old schoolyard playground jeer up your nose with a rubber hose?

Isn't it like consulting? Why are you so sheltered? Yes, it's one of those things you would yell in dodgeball. Yo, up your nose with a rubber hose! I mean, I've played on my fair share of dodgeball, that's for sure. On the playground? When you were in fourth grade? In gym, yeah. And that's what you were allowed to do, was yell things like, up your nose with a rubber hose!

I think I just let my play do the talking those days. Oh, okay. It's our hump show, middle show of the work week. We need your questions for Ask Amy Anything. Now a mirror, 20 minutes away.

Mirror as in M-E-R-E, not M-I-R-R-O-R. For those of you who say mirror, like mirror. I'm just so happy to be back. Alright, we've got more QB news. Aaron Rodgers visiting with the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets. And I wasn't here for the Derek Carr sighting, but I want to react to it. So we'll stay on that tack as we move forward in our hump show. Find us on Twitter, After Hours, CBS.

Learn more at goalie.com today. For the Facebook page, yes, it is After Hours with CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. We've, you know, changed some texts and things like that, but we haven't had a chance to speak yet. You know, we're going through our process as normal. So obviously phrase is coming up here, that's an important, you know, part of what we're doing.

So it'd be nice to have some answers before then. But until we have any conversations, we're still in a good spot. Our feelings haven't changed about Aaron, but we need to have some of those conversations about our team, where it's going, where he's at, you know, before we go forward.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Brian Gutenkunst at the NFL Combine, essentially saying we love Aaron. We don't have any answers from Aaron. We're considering all of the options.

It kind of sounds like what Aaron Rodgers was saying when he returned from his retreat and he made an appearance on the Aubrey Marcus podcast. There's a finality to the decision and I don't make it lightly. I don't want to drag anybody around. Look, I'm answering questions about it because I got asked about it. I'm talking about it because it's important to me. If you don't like it and you think it's drama, you're going to be in a diva or whatever, then just tune it out.

Yeah, it's kind of impossible. But thank you for the opportunity to tune it out. I'm a god. You missed it earlier. His name is Josh Getty. There's an Australian, he's Australian. He's an Australian guard, point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And he had 17 assists in their game tonight at career high. And when he says, I'm a god, in his Aussie accent, it sounds like he's saying god as in G-O-D. And I thought instantly of Aaron Rodgers, that would be something that Aaron would say. Just goofy. I'm ready for this whole thing to be done and I keep coming back to the irony of how this could look exactly like Brett Favre's exit.

I can't help it. It could look exactly like Brett Favre's exit. He'd be the second Hall of Fame quarterback in a row to exit Green Bay via trade to the Jets. Seriously. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We know that the Jets are flying a contingent to meet A-A-R-O-N.

Relax. They're trying to convince him that the Jets is the right place for him. It kind of feels like retirement's off the table.

I don't know if it was ever really on the table. The Jets have got to go for broke here because they don't have many other options. If they lose out on Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers, we're looking at then the second tier of quarterbacks that are available. So for instance, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, not going to happen obviously.

They're not going reboot with Sam. Andy Dalton. Jameis Winston. These are the other quarterbacks that you're looking at. And there certainly could be some others that are available too.

Shoot. Who was just cut last week that's available now? Yes, Marcus Mariota.

Thank you, Jay. And so there are second tier quarterbacks, journeyman quarterbacks who are available. But that's not what the Jets want given that they've got both the offensive and defensive rookies of the year. And by the way, the defensive rookie of the year, Sauce Gardner, he made two promises to Aaron Rodgers should he join the Jets.

This is fantastic. Number one, I won't pick you off in practice. Now see, I kind of feel like you should say the opposite. Number one, I will pick off your ass in practice.

So come here and try to beat me. Number two, I'll burn my cheese head. Is that like burning a jersey? When a guy leaves town, you burn his jersey. So now in honor of Aaron Rodgers leaving Green Bay, he would burn his cheese head. It's fantastic.

Well, he wore the cheese head when they beat the Packers in Lambeau. So I think he's saying I won't do any of those shenanigans. I'll burn it. Yeah, exactly. It's fantastic.

I love it. So what about possible timeline for Aaron's decision? And I think we know by now that Ian Rapoport is not in Aaron's inner circle, but he's going to take a stab at it anyway on NFL Now. Somehow, someway, Aaron Rodgers is going to have to come to a decision.

But it is his decision. I think that's been one of the more important themes here is that regardless of what the Packers want, what the Jets want, what the Raiders want, this is all about what does Aaron Rodgers want. And my understanding is his wishes is something that the Packers will listen to. He has fruitful conversations with the Jets. If he likes it there, if he decides that is where he wants to finish his career, the Packers will accommodate him and go forward and start the process of working on a trade. If he tells the Packers the Jets were nice, Robert Saul is a very nice person like Joe Douglas, but I want to head back to the Packers. So nice.

They're so nice. If it's retirement, which is certainly an option still, then everyone will move on that way. This is all about what does Aaron Rodgers want. He's beginning to learn that this week. It's fantastic. Way to go, Ian, even though you're not in the inner circle, I do value your reports and your insider intel. I'm offended.

Oh, Aaron doesn't so much, though. It's just that's how could you possibly say that? Jay has asked me whether or not I feel like a decision will come this week.

It's a good thing I'm back now. Right. He waited for me.

Thanks. AARON. I don't think he can wait much longer because the Jets are going full court press here.

They're wooing him. And yes, if the Packers have options, I feel like the Packers would love to say this was Aaron's decision, not ours, because they might have PTSD and flashbacks to what happened with Brett. Right. When Brett said, hey, I want to come back and play. You're essentially telling me a Hall of Fame quarterback that you don't want me anymore. You're kicking me to the curb.

You're kicking me under the bus or whatever that phrase is. And so I feel like they would love to have Aaron say, I'll break up with you before you break up with me. Oh, it's such a game, right? You talk about you talk about couples dynamics that I love to compare team player negotiations to couples a lot of the time, because how often do you want to break up with someone? But you don't because you will look like the bad guy or you look like the bad seed. And so you, you kind of angle toward the other person, making it very obvious that the relationship's not working, kind of throwing it out there in the universe, hoping that the other person will be the one who actually says it out loud.

That's what could be happening here. Don't, you know, pigeon hole me is just a football player. Okay. I definitely won't do that, but I'm just saying it could still be true. If you go back to the Packers and say, I'm kind of interested in playing with the jets because sauce gardeners going to burn his cheese head. Well then there's a chance the Packers could go, Oh really? Okay.

I don't think so. I'm so sorry to hear that Aaron will miss you or we'll get this. We'll get this. It's not you. It's me likely Aaron Rogers. It's not you.

It's me. I honestly don't think this is going to be a sad parting. I don't think it's going to be one of those lots of tears shed. If in fact they part, I don't believe that will be the case.

A show of love because Aaron does love to show love pretty nice to the, all of the universe. But I, I don't know if anyone will be broken hearted. So let's go this week. Please not on selection Sunday, not okay. Remember what happened last year on selection Sunday. Do you remember if I'm not mistaken, Tom Brady announced he was returning to football in the middle of the selection show last year, or it was right after, as we had already found the brackets and people are getting excited about March madness.

I swear to you. I remembering that correctly, the Tom Brady put it out there that he was returning. He was rescinding his retirement.

He was returning to the NFL for another season on selection Sunday last year. Jay's furiously Googling it to make sure, but I feel like some of you can confirm. All right, coming up, ask Amy anything. It's your opportunity to get your questions out there on the universe and on the universal stage and on this universal show. So last couple of minutes after our CBS on Twitter, on our Facebook page too, not that Jay needs more questions, but maybe you will move him.

Yes, I was right. Last year, it was Tom Brady on selection Sunday, Aaron, can you just not steal the thunder on selection Sunday? That's all we're asking.

The NFL gets so jealous, such a jealous, envious lover can't stand it when some other sport is getting too much attention. It's not going to happen, man. I'm not a man, but I got you. I'm a god, as a god, my Australian accent stinks. I'll just readily admit as a god, as a god, it talks with Matt Hardy.

There's nothing like a wrestling fan, you know, for better or for worse. How do you handle that though? We're talking about people talking about your family, what they don't know about your family or your brother or you. How does one handle that from a day to day basis?

Something I joke about with the young bucks all the time, I said, if you would vanity search Matt Hardy on Twitter, I said, after you got through a hundred plows, you'd want to quit the business and never, never be seen again. It's just, you just learn to deal with it. You know what I mean? This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. Oh, wait, I have to talk before producer Jay starts fielding questions. Man, it's only been a few days and, ooh, a lot of practice. Do I sound rusty?

I do make up words that happens all the time. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. Thank you for sending your questions for Ask Amy Anything. Yes, I'm home from Texas with a fishing license as a souvenir.

Yes, I used it. An unforgettable visit for a lot of reasons. I keep teasing that we'll have photos up on Facebook, more photos on Twitter. I promise we're a little busy around here, but it was a good night to return to be sure. We've collected your questions.

Producer Jay is ready. Thanks so much for joining us on what is quickly morphing into a Wednesday morning here on CBS Sports Radio. So of course the questions were flooding in about fishing and your new adventure, so I got to start there.

Okay. So Joe wants to know, what is your favorite spot to fish? He gives like a lake, river, ocean. I've never actually fished on the ocean. I would love to though, because I love boats. I love being on the water, but I've never done any type of deep sea fishing.

You know, it's really funny. My mom actually went on a deep sea fishing trip. When I was in high school, she and my stepdad went to Hawaii and wanted a deep sea fishing trip and they caught, she caught a mahi mahi, one of those ginormous rain, they're called rainbow fish, but it was stuffed and on the wall in our house for a long time. Aqua blue, yellow, bright neon yellow, some orange as well, it was gorgeous. So she was sick the whole time, but ended up catching this enormous fish.

It's probably four feet long. I've never gone off a boat in the ocean, but I do love lake and river. I would say the lake is probably my favorite again, cause I love being on a boat and being out in the middle of a big lake. But either one of those, freshwater is, is what I prefer, I think. Well now that you just mentioned the story about bringing it home, I don't want to catch a shark.

Oh, that'd be cool. Deep sea shark fishing. Right.

Yes. Elliot wants to know, well, he says now that you're an avid fisher woman, do you catch and release or filet and pan fry? Well, I would prefer to eat what I catch. That is always my philosophy and I love fresh fish.

Absolutely love it. We did not catch any fish, but, and I know the debate ensues, like what's the point if it's a little teeny fish, right? That doesn't make any sense. But if it's a sizable fish, if it's more than, I don't know, like seven or eight inches long, I would think that it would be worth it. So yes, trout or bass or catfish even.

It's kind of funny. When I was a kid, we used to catch crawfish in the crick. That's what they called it in Ohio, Northeast Ohio, the crick that ran behind my grandparents' home. And now that's actually a delicacy.

People eat crawfish. We never ate them. We just caught them for fun and put them in a bucket.

We tortured them essentially as kids. We didn't mean to. So yeah, I would prefer to eat what I catch, but that wasn't the case. It was an incredible sunset photo op though.

So I got to show off my photography skills. I would say, all right, well, sticking with the food here, then Al wants to know what did you have to eat at Taste of Texas? Oh, so good, so good, so good. My mom had prime rib and hers was delicious. I had a filet that was absolutely amazing. I think we both got 10 ounce pieces of steak. Taste of Texas, for those of you who don't know, is a one-off steakhouse. It's an exclusive.

It's not a chain. It's rated one of the best steakhouses in Texas and the reservations are gone the second that they are put out there, especially for the weekend. So I had taken mom two years ago for Christmas as her surprise and we went back. It was supposed to be for my birthday, but it was a month early just because I won't see my mom at my birthday and so we really enjoyed it. We had the best trip to the salad bar with bread and cheese and fresh fruit and then we also had their awesome spinach artichoke dip and then the steaks and we both had asparagus with ours. The horseradish sauce was to die for, so yes, absolutely amazing trip to Taste of Texas.

Our second, we're now two for two and here's something really interesting. We walked in, so Taste of Texas is also a bit of a museum. They collect artifacts from Texas history, so it's a place where school kids go a lot of times for field trips and then they'll have a lunch of sorts. We walk in and our waiter says to us, we just purchased these doors from the Alamo. They are the original doors that women and children reportedly hid behind at the Alamo and obviously that's a big piece of Texas history. He actually said to me, we haven't even put out a press release yet. We were among four bidders in a private auction and we were able to secure these doors and so it's really neat because you walk into the lobby and the front of the door is in the lobby next to the, what's that called, not the Mater D, but right next to the desk where you check in with the hostess and then the back of the doors are in the room where we were sitting. I did take photos. We are going to share them on our Facebook page.

Just wanted to let you know it was really neat. The Texas history is awesome. They've got Rangers. They've got a bunch of sports memorabilia there. Really incredible paintings and photos and historical depictions, so that was as much fun as the food, but the steak, amazing. I gotta ask, did they share a price for the Alamo doors or no?

No, he did not share the price. He said a press release was coming out at some point. They hadn't even made it public yet, but they're showing people who come in to eat, so I couldn't resist taking photos.

Oh, it's so cool. I'm going to keep it food here for a second. Rich wants to know, what is your favorite barbecue meat? I love pulled pork. I don't eat a lot of pork, but I would say pulled pork is probably my favorite.

I have a rule. I don't eat ribs in public, so it's kind of funny because I was a little nervous that my date was going to pick a barbecue place, because I do love barbecue, but it's a little messy, and so I was a bit nervous about that, but no, he and I had spoken about seafood before that, and he actually surprised you at picking his favorite seafood restaurant, which is nice. Good call, right? Good call.

Very nice. And then after I told the story about the last bad date, he was sure to pick up the check. Jay, I offered. I've got some cash. I can leave the tip. No, no.

Green flag. Good stuff. Can't go against that. Yeah, but I feel like he thinks it's because I told the story, and that's why I told the story. It wasn't on purpose. You know me.

I stumble into these things. Unsuspectingly. Right. I think he was going to pick it up either way. I think. You think? I do. You're rooting for him? I'm rooting for him. I do. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here.

Good to know. Last one with food. David wants to know, what is your go-to late night snack, which I'm not sure what we would call that.

That would be dinner to us, but okay. On a Friday or Saturday night, I will say I love popcorn, butter, like lots of butter. So do love popcorn. Also love the lime chips, and I do have some horseradish chip, but here's the other thing that I do, and Jay knows this because I tell him, I make fruit smoothies. Love fruit smoothies.

So the blender comes out at 1130 at night. I usually put almond milk, sometimes oat milk, but almond milk, coconut yogurt, like a Greek yogurt. And then I put in mango and blueberries, or lately I've had mango cherry.

So good. And then I throw granola on top as a little bit of protein. So I do love to make fruit smoothies.

Still waiting for one of those. Would you like me to bring your fruit smoothie to work for you? Sounds good. I was being sarcastic. Oh, okay. All right. Moving on here. James wants to know, he says, with springtime coming up, what's your favorite flower?

If you have one. Oh, I have so many flowers that I love. That is actually a great question. Thank you, James.

Not producer James, but a different James. I love flowers, fresh flowers to be sure. And we've already seen the crocuses at my house. The daffodils, I'm a little worried about them because our wind chills are down to 13 tonight in my neighborhood, and I'm worried about the daffodils getting zapped. But for those of you who follow me or listen to me, you know that in the springtime, right about the anniversary of when I signed the papers to buy my first house, the peonies were blooming. So peonies are my favorite fresh flower. Peonies and Jay, what did I plant in my backyard last summer? Don't disappoint me by forgetting what bush I planted in the backyard last summer. There's so many. I mean, you have... What's her name?

Mm. She's not in a pot. She's planted.

Not Petunia. Jay, he doesn't listen to me. Delilah. He doesn't... No, I do. It's been a minute.

Give me what to start with. I'll get it. I planted a lilac bush in my backyard last year because I've always wanted to have one, not in a pot, but in an actual yard. Her name is Lilah, the lilac, remember?

She was named by my friend who gave her to me. So she's barren right now, but she's going to have leaves and potentially flowers soon. So yes, lilac. I was getting her confused also with your tomato plant. It was my tomato plant, yes.

But that was in a pot, not in the ground. I now have my very own lilac plant in the backyard. Cannot wait. I'm not going to ask Jay if he's ever smelled lilacs, fresh lilacs, because they are to die for. I'll have to. Yes. Well, okay. Get your own lilac plant. I don't trust you with mine.

I didn't invite him. Mark wants to know, what's the last movie that made you cry? Oh my gosh, every movie makes me cry. Shoot, the last movie that made me cry.

That's a good question. Top Gun Maverick definitely made me cry because I'm a sap, but also because of the throwbacks to the original. So I'd say that was the last one I saw.

But also the most recent James Bond movie, that one made me cry too. Are we allowed to say why? I think it's been enough time. It's been enough time.

Okay. He dies at the end. James Bond could die, but he died at the end. It was very poignant. I love Daniel Craig as James Bond.

So those two movies both made me cry. Last one here before rapid fire. Eric wants to know, which major league stadium would you like to hit a home run in? Oh, I'd like to hit one into McCovey Cove. So in the Bay Area. Yeah, I've never been there. It's on the bucket list.

That would be phenomenal to watch it sail over the wall and know it was going to splash down in the water. I like that. Thank you. All right.

Close off some rapid fire. Thumbs up from Jay. Force Awakens or the Phantom Menace? Force Awakens.

Ooh. Cardio or weights? I hate weights, but I do them, but I hate them. I would rather do cardio any day, but I need to, I'm incorporating weights back into my workout routine.

Thanks Jay. Soup or sandwich? Soup. Doing laundry or doing dishes?

I hate dishes. Doing laundry. Jeans or sweats?

Depends on where I'm going. Just at home? Do people just wear jeans to hang out at home? Yeah, just casual.

Do they? No, no, no. Casual is different than home. Casual, like a day out, I wear jeans to go shopping or whatever else, but- A day home.

Sweatpants or shorts if it's warm enough. Last one here. We'll go swim with the sharks or run with the bulls. Seriously, what is wrong with you?

What? Swim with the shark. No. No. Run with the bull. Neither. I'm