After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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Learn more at Goalie.com today. Oh, that music right away incites thoughts of one shining moment, and Jim Nance, and incredible finishes, and really the excitement of Cinderella's, and the 512 matchups, and the double figure seeds, and if we'll see the kind of upsets that will destroy our brackets in the first two days. We will have the After Hours Bracket Challenge.

Can't wait for you to line up your stuff next to ours, and we will compare notes. Invariably, I pick a team to go to the Final Four that gets knocked out on the first day. That's just what happens. It's not analytical. It's the opposite of analytical, which is why my younger niece, very often, who knows nothing, picks schools based on the mascots, or what she knows of them. Sometimes she just goes straight chalk in our Family Bracket Challenge, and yet she wins a good portion of the time.

And my older niece, who went to UVA, almost always picks Virginia, as does a good portion of the family, and so we've got that tone that takes place every March as well. The After Hours Bracket Challenge will be available on both Twitter and Facebook by the end of Monday, so you can get your brackets done early, or you can wait until the last second. Raise your hand if you do that. Yep, that's me. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We now have a full field of 68. The committee chair, Chris Reynolds, did a quick appearance on the CBS Selection Show to explain Kansas, Houston, Purdue, and then Alabama as the number one seeds.

What I will say is this. Those teams at the top, they performed consistently throughout the year. And so we considered about six or seven teams at the top, but at the end of the day, those four teams were the teams we selected. Alabama, first time as the number one overall seed. Will the Crimson Tide not only survive through the adversity of the last month plus really the last two months, and be able to use that as a way to band together, and then be worthy of the number one overall seed? So excited.

It's a rite of passage every March. This is our true sign that March Madness is underway. When Jerry Palm, who does not sleep, or sleeps strange hours, or I can't even really keep up, he joins us in studio to talk about the brackets that we've seen, and how well his bracketology lined up with what the committee showed us on Sunday night.

So, Jerry, welcome in studio. How many selection Sundays for you now? This is my 30th year of doing brackets. 30th year? Yeah.

So predating CBS. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I started.

Do you not know the story? I started trying to calculate the RPI because I had a new computer and a database and too much time on my hands, but I wanted to learn this thing. Al Gore just invented the internet.

Of course. So I created this database, but I had to go to the library to get all the scores because we didn't have team websites where you could download things. So I did that and I shared it with people back in 94, or 93 really, and never thought anybody would care and people cared.

But the real miracle of my story, the only reason I probably got into this, maybe this would have happened some other way, but it's better this way. A guy who covers Penn State, Dave Jones for the Harrisburg Patriot News. The one year in a generation that Penn State is good at basketball was 1996 and he found what I was doing and contacted me and we traded a bunch of emails and talked on the phone and he liked me and he tells two friends, they tell two friends. Shampoo commercial breaks out and pretty soon everybody who covered college basketball knew who I was and I don't think I could have done anything to stop it. But it took Penn State being good at basketball for that to happen, that one year.

And now they're good again, but it's a one to generation thing, so they're kind of due. When did you first get paid to do it? Oh gosh, 2002? I mean I made a little bit, I was still working as a programmer. I mean my degree is computer science, I worked for lawyers and bankers for 17 years. So I started this in the middle of that and I was doing it as a hobby and really just for fun. But then I got downsized in March 1st of 2002. So right before the tournament.

That's wrong. But it turned out to be right for me because I had by then had a pretty good network of sports writers and stuff and users and things like that and I went to the Final Four that year and I met with some of them and said, you know, what if I make my site a subscription site? Do you think people would go for it?

So I would go for it. I'd promote it, you know, so I did. And for a while I'm like one of the first people to make money on the internet doing sports, in sports media. And people are still trying to figure out how to do that.

True. So I did football also, I added football in 98 when the BCS started. I had been doing some freelancing along with my subscription site, which required a delicate balance because I was freelancing primarily for CBS and they would print whatever I gave them for free and I have a subscriber base so I had to make sure I was giving them different things, you know. They, for lack of a better term, bought me out in 2011. I went to CBS full-time.

And so I've been with CBS ever since, full-time since 2011. I am so glad that you are because otherwise we would not have crossed paths and we look forward to Jerry's conversation every year in Selection Sunday because he usually misses one. I missed one.

Maybe two. You got one wrong this year. So of the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament, the men's side we're talking, which school did you miss? I missed Arizona State and I had Rutgers. So that's the second year in a row I missed on Rutgers.

I remember. So I'm beginning to, you know, have a complex, I think, about Rutgers. What I need is for Rutgers to be better so that they're not so close to the bottom or worse. I don't care. Take a pick. Just don't be so close to the cut line so that I can have a chance to not miss you. Did that have to do with Rutgers playing in the Big Ten, which of course fielded eight teams?

Yeah, no. I mean, it's just they were my last team in. Arizona State was my first team out. That's the team that ultimately got in. They were very similar in different ways, but I thought Rutgers had better wins, a little bit stronger schedule from playing in the Big Ten. So I went with them. Their losses were worse. And I think there was a subjective part of this, which the process is subjective, guided by objective data, but still, you know.

It's a committee of people. Well, right. And so I think at the end of the day, Arizona State probably looked more like a tournament team than Rutgers did. And that's not an unfair evaluation. We end up with Alabama as the number one overall seed in the South region. And there was a little bit of a debate on the selection show, of course, on CBS Sports. What's your opinion of Bama as the top seed instead of Kansas, who as recently as, gosh, 48 hours ago, you and I were talking about KU as the overall number one? Yeah, I think they should have been. I mean, they have the number one schedule by a lot.

It's overwhelming. They have 17 quad one wins. They're 17 and seven in quad one. So they played 24 quad one games. That's the majority of their schedule.

Oh, yes. Two thirds. Yeah, it's a ridiculous number. And, you know, those 17 wins, I mean, not all quad one wins are the same. So like Oklahoma is a quad one win. That's not a tournament team. But most of those wins are teams that are being that are playing in the tournament.

I just felt like that should be rewarded. Not that Alabama had a poor year by any stretch, but I just thought that Kansas should be one. Alabama, Houston, Purdue. And I am reasonably sure that had Purdue lost to Penn State today, UCLA would have been a one and Purdue would have been two. It's interesting to hear Chris Reynolds, who's the committee chair this year, talk about how they considered six or seven teams as top seeds. How much actually changes on the final day or even in these last two days where we have so many conference championships that are taking place?

Yeah, there are five conference championships. They usually have contingency brackets, which is why I know that there was a contingency bracket for if Purdue won. Now, it could have affected Penn State, but it probably would have said if Penn State won. But this said if Purdue won, which is why I think had Purdue lost that game, which they tried to lose, that they might have been knocked down to the two line and UCLA moved up. UCLA was number five overall. How much did Duke improve its status by winning the tournament in John Shire's first year?

Probably not more than one seed line in part because there's just not a lot of room to move necessarily, although more maybe at that part of the bracket than at the top. But also the ACC isn't that good this year. So while they may have played the best team they could on their way to that championship, they still aren't great teams. It's kind of another down year for that league.

Not as bad as last year, but still a down year for that league. So excited to have Jerry Palm in studio with us. As you hear, he's been talking about RPI and seedings and brackets for 30 years now. But with CBS Sports, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. We have some very high profile programs that are dealing with injuries, significant injuries. And Chris Reynolds mentioned on the show that they do consider that when it comes to the bracket.

What does that mean? How differently would you treat a school based on an injury? Well, we've seen celebrated cases in the past. Kenyon Martin was the first one with Cincinnati in 2001. He got hurt. He was going to be the national player of the year. He was a national player of the year and Cincinnati was going to be the overall number one seed. He blows his knee in the first game of their conference tournament and they go on to lose. So the committee never really got to see very much of Cincinnati without Kenyon Martin. And they made him a two seed. It's an obvious drop based on an injury.

It's not usually that obvious. 2010, Robbie Hummel blew his knee for Purdue late in February. Not that I'm bitter, but I'm bitter still. That was a number one seed, a favorite to win the national championship on the shortlist. And Purdue still won the Big Ten, struggled a little bit, ended up with a profile that looked like a three seed and they ended up a four. So a one seed drop.

It's not that's not really that dramatic. So UCLA loses Jalen Clark and he's done for the year. We know he's done for the year. He's their second leading scorer, rebounder, defensive player of the year in the league.

Key piece of what they do. They lost to Arizona. I actually put UCLA down to a three thinking that might be an appropriate spot for them. The committee had a number five overall, so they didn't they did not bring them down because of that injury, which I'm not going to say they're wrong to do that.

I mean, and you don't get cases like this every year. You know, that's I just named three, you know, with high profile teams. But the committee puts a little more weight on what how you play with the roster you're taking into the tournament versus otherwise.

But the operative word there is little a little more weight and sometimes they don't have much information. But it was interesting because he specifically mentioned a handful of teams that they had looked at based on injuries, moving them around and changing matchups. When you look at the four brackets or the four regions, excuse me, which one is the toughest? The East. Purdue has got, just as a number one seed, their second game could be Memphis, which just beat Houston today. They could play Duke in the Sweet 16, which is a team they beat earlier in Portland, but is much better now and the ACC champion. Then they could play Marquette in the Elite Eight, the two seed, which is a team that they played earlier in the season. At home, a five point win for Purdue. You know, these are really good teams and Kentucky's in that region and Michigan State's in that region. That region is stacked.

Purdue's region is stacked. So they made them a number one seed, but they didn't really do them very many favors. It's not like we expect that all four number one seeds are going to make it to the final four this year in Houston. It's happened once. Actually, right. My first and only final four that I've ever attended in person was Houston in 2017, right?

You and I were able to cover that one together, which was fun. So it's back in Houston. So it is rare, but when you look at the paths of the four number one seeds, you mentioned Purdue has the toughest road, Alabama, Houston, Kansas, which is the, I'm using my air quotations, easier route. I think Alabama's road is relatively easy. You know, Alabama, you're the overall number one seed. I mean, that should be part of being the overall number one seed. They don't really think of it that way because they don't bracket based on the strength of the teams. They treat all of the twos. They think of all of the twos as the same, all of the threes as the same. And teams go in the bracket based on geography.

Whatever they put, they will put you at the closest available site that they can put you because that's that's what really drives the bracket. So for Alabama, the teams in their part of the bracket works out to a little bit easier path for them. But it's the NCAA tournament. Nothing's really easy.

No, of course not. It's why it's three of the greatest weeks in the entire sports calendar. Jerry Palm, we always look forward to him being in studio following the selection show. One team he got wrong.

One. The stats and the numbers and the process has changed. But you have not, Jerry. You are the same.

You continue to follow it. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We always love Cinderella's this time of the year. So a couple of teams you think people should at least consider as Cinderella's that could make an extended dance. OK, so there were three double digit seeds that I like and I liked them before I saw the bracket. Two of them did not get great draws.

I don't even care. I'm picking them anyway. One is VCU, the A-10 champion. That's a team that was one of the favorites in that league. It ended up being a one bid league this year, which is kind of unusual, but they they had some injury problems in non-conference play when they can resume build. Dayton as well did. And so they ended up with a 12 seed, which is probably below their actual quality.

I think VCU could win a couple of games. Drake from the Missouri Valley with Tucker DeVries, the son of the coach. And he's good enough to play at a high major school. He's not.

He's playing with his dad. And that's a very good team. He's a really good player. They've they've got a chance to win at least a game or two. And then my third one with the one I'm least confident in now that I've seen the bracket is Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts from the Summit League. You may remember two years ago, they were in the Sweet Six team with leading scorer in the nation at that time, Max A. Smith.

Well, he's still there. And a couple other guys from that team are still there. Now, the problem for them is they get Duke. Size matchup might be troublesome for them, but that's a team that already knows they can win like a lot of these teams think they can win and maybe they can win.

But Oral Roberts knows they can win because they just did it not that long ago. So 30 win team. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the they're the only team to go undefeated through their conference this season.

So tremendous. So they're going to get Duke. They've got the matchup problems with Duke.

But, you know, they're not going to lay down for him either. One of the metrics I look at when I'm filling out brackets or just in general, which I feel tells me how battle tested a team maybe is strength of schedule. You mentioned Kansas being far and away number one tops in the country in strength of schedule. What's a metric that maybe you look at or that you feel like gives an accurate assessment of a team and its value, but not just that, its ability to win in a tournament. Yeah.

You know, it's funny, I don't really look at the metrics too much. Like Ken Pomeroy's got great stuff. Ken Palm.

Yes, Ken Palm. I mean, you could just look at his rankings and you could pick teams off his rankings. You probably get two thirds, you know, because that's he's got a defensive ranking, right? Yeah. He's got offensive and defensive efficiency and it's like adjusted and tempo adjusted and things like that.

And it's really, you know, if you're geeky that way, it's pretty good stuff. Teams that get to the Final Four and especially teams that win the tournament invariably have got a high first round draft pick on their roster. Invariably. Now, so, you know, Brandon Miller at Alabama, Marcus Sasser at Houston, Jalen Wilson at Kansas, Zach Eady at Purdue 10 years ago when they still played through the post of the NBA, but they don't anymore. But he's that level of a player, just not for that league. So teams like that and you can you can easily identify others that those are the kinds of players I look for.

I also look for experienced guards, which, for example, Purdue does not have, at least not in the starting lineup. And defense of good defensive teams, good free throw shooting teams. Yes. Free throw shooting.

Yes. But you have to be in a game where the free throw shooting matter. Right.

For sure. So but you have fewer possessions. Oh, and good rebounding teams because you can create new possessions for yourself. But you have fewer possessions in NCAA tournament games, mostly because teams just play a little tighter. So you don't get as much up and down, even with teams that play that style will not do it as much. They'll do it more than others, but not as much.

So, you know, if you can if you can take care of the ball, if you can get rebound, if you can shoot free throws, you've got a pretty good chance to win most of your game. It is, I think, pretty full circle, at least for me. Exactly three years ago today, we were all dealing with the fact and processing the fact that March Madness had been canceled.

It was March 12th, 2020. Yes, me too. I've heard your story. I know where you were covering games. But now three years later, when I say that, what pops into your brain? I'm so glad we get to go to games again. But whenever I think of that year, in fact, we even talked about it a little bit in our bullpen today is Dayton. Dayton had a generational team, a team that Dayton doesn't get, and they never got to see it play. And it's just, it still hurts me to think of that team not getting a chance to possibly do something for a school that, you know, never gets to that level. Dayton's a great basketball school, you know, they really are, but that is something completely different for them to have the number one team in the country. And to not get to see that team play still hurts three years later.

Yeah, wow. You can find him at J.P. Palm CBS. And now, 30 years after he covered his first tournament, or first time doing the brackets, part of CBS Sports, which is awesome. We're always excited to have you in studio.

Thank you so much. One school missed. I don't know how that brings your average down, but... It pretty much keeps it the same.

That is his margin for error. Awesome, and you're headed to Columbus to cover games that will eventually end up in Houston. Columbus, Louisville, and Houston. Very nice. Awesome to see you again. Thank you so much for coming in. Oh, thanks for having me in. Worth the extra time. Jerry, pop in that microphone.

Worth the extra time, but we're running late, so I'm going to walk Jerry out. Remember, we're going to have the After Hours Bracket Challenge that you'll be able to join by the end of Monday night as we get set for what are some of my favorite few days of the entire sports calendar. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Cam Johnson with 3.9, and he's fouled. Gordon inbounding. Lobbity Jokic out of the wing. Turns a three for the win.

No good! Off to the right. Jokic misses a three, and the Nets win in Denver. 122 to 120 the final. Jokic had a shot behind the arc to try and win it, and the Nets hang on in the mile-high city.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. March Madness of a different sort, and we'll get back to college basketball. The women's selection show actually followed the men's, so we got a double-double on Sunday night typically. In fact, as long as I can remember, the women's selection show has been Monday, but the NCAA is tweaking and changing and actually expanding the women's tournament, adding a first four. And so it's become more on par with what we'll get for the men's tournament moving forward, which is good. No need for the two tournaments to be different.

They can be exactly the same format, and fans can enjoy both. And so the women's tournament and selection show, that field is set as well. But this kind of March Madness coming from the NBA where, lo and behold, the Denver Nuggets, the top seed in the West still, have dropped three consecutive games. The most recently being to the Brooklyn Nets in Denver.

Now remember, we've talked about this. The Nuggets are a great home team, right? They're a team that protects that court in the Mile High City with a real passion, like it matters. They've got a great crowd and a great fan base there in Denver.

Except, they've dropped two games in a row at home now, and this one to the Nets by two, as you hear with Chris Carino on Nets Radio. You wanted to talk about passion. Shaq Vaughn fired up after this Brooklyn win. Came out third quarter with one of the most impressive quarters I've been around with this team. I think we started to fly around. Fifteen turnovers we produced tonight.

Our ability to just be disruptive, whether we were sm- It's March, and that can mean only one thing. The Madness is here. Not in front of a TV on game day? Listen to every round of NCAA March Madness live from Westwood One, free in the Odyssey app. Catch all the biggest moments of the tournament, no matter where you are, from Cinderella's. A fifteen seed will head to the Elite Eight. To buzzer beaters. Atkinson scores. One point four seconds left. To champions. For the fourth time.

A dynamic search for NCAA March Madness right here in the Odyssey app to get started. Ball big. Who was in the lineup? Royce, Doe, Nick, all of the above. Nerlin's guarding the big fellas, so we stayed together.

Impressive win on the road. Even if we don't know what we're doing sometimes, just scrambling. All five guys help each other, so if one guy gets blown by it, the other guy's gonna step up and help each other. So, sometimes you scramble, sometimes it ain't gonna be perfect, but I think just the next guy's just stepping up.

Even if we don't know what we're doing sometimes. And remember, this is a retooled lineup, not necessarily because of the Nets preference, or Ja'Von, but because of the requests by both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to go elsewhere, and right now, neither one of them is playing. I don't believe in karma, I'm just pointing it out. Mikael Bridges, one of the new guys that came in from the Suns, 25 points from him to lead the Nets, scoring contingents, 7 different guys in double figures. We know that defense, or the lack thereof, has been a knock on the Denver Nuggets. But, Nikola Jokic still had his way.

The future, 3 consecutive time NBA MVP, 35 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. So, the Nuggets waste that because the Nets are out there scorching the Nets, shooting 50%, 50% from the floor. Now, the Nuggets did the same, which is why we're talking about 242 points scored. But, Coach Vaughn mentions the third quarter, in which the Nets were able to rally from a deficit. And they score 19 more points than do the Nuggets in the third quarter in Denver. So, they've lost 3 in a row.

What does this mean, Jokic? Don't stop believing in what brought us to the number one seed or whatever, and don't stop to play how we play to get us to the number one seed. So, I think that's going to be the key. I just think we need to stay positive.

We know the things that we need to do to fix this. But, I mean, a little adversity late in the season, it don't hurt anybody. I would agree with that. If your seeding is secure, which for the Nuggets, it definitely is. I think I just called them the Negets. The Negets, they kind of deserve that right now.

They're not Nuggets, they're Negets. So, the Denver Nuggets still have a 5-game lead atop the Western Conference over the Kings and the Grizzlies who remain tied. Kings are on a hot streak right now. They've won 8 of their last 10. The Grizzlies right the ship a little bit. They've won back-to-back games, even without Ja Morant. And so, it's alright for the Nuggets to trip up a little bit, face some adversity, understand the sense of urgency and the desperation.

Desperation might be too strong. The sense of urgency to get back into a rhythm and a flow and to make sure that they are defending and protecting that home court. You worked so hard to get the top seed in your conference. Well, you want to protect the home court. And it's definitely a formidable place, formidable atmosphere for opponents.

So, they're still sitting firmly in that number one spot. I don't mind adversity. It prepares you for the postseason. In fact, speaking of that, the Baylor Bears, as a three seed in the NCAA tournament, they are in the same region as Alabama. They face adversity this season. And their super freshman point guard, Keontae George, well, he's right now going through a little bit of his own personal adversity. Coming off an ankle injury, back-to-back losses by Baylor to Iowa State, and George didn't shoot the way we've seen him shoot and score all season long. We talked to him about adversity. You'll hear that conversation next hour. Likely an NBA lottery pick, but first the NCAA tournament for the Baylor Bears who won the title two years ago.

So adversity, not only does it give you a perspective about how quickly things can go away if you don't pay attention to details and remain disciplined and remain locked in, but it also, again, it tests you and prepares you for what will be a fight come the postseason. So I don't think the Nuggets are in danger. Now, can they do it in the playoffs? That's a different story.

That's a different question. We haven't seen that yet. Maybe this team will be different.

They've got Jamal Murray, which to me matters in a big way. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Coming up next hour, on Saturday night, yes, it was a lot about college basketball, about championship weekend. It was also about the United States and its debut in the WBC. I was captivated by Steph Curry and the Warriors against the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis. But a game that the Warriors were trailing, it looked as though this game was over. They desperately needed a win. Now, they're an abysmal road team.

Oh, my goodness. So this game was at the Chase Center. They couldn't afford to lose. It went into overtime. Man, do I love watching Steph hoop. So we'll get to that coming up next hour. A little more from the NBA. But I wanted to mention before we move on from just the top of the West there that even as the Grizzlies are without Ja Morant, head coach Taylor Jenkins is kind of given the baseline for when their elite guard, their superstar guard, will be allowed to rejoin the team.

I can't share details. There's definitely steps that are going to have to be met, you know, personally and professionally, as he deals with some stuff personally to get better. And then obviously the expectations on the team. He's going to have some things that he's going to have to clear to, you know, know what the expectations are when he does return. So, again, he's out at least the next four games. You know, I know everyone wants to know what's this going to be.

It's the hot topic for sure. But he's taken time, his responsibility to get better. You know, personally, that's a big factor in this.

And also as his responsibility to the team, it's something that we're addressing with him that, you know, he's fully on board and been communicative with our group. So there is no pending charge. He's not going to be charged with anything from that, as it turns out, a massive spending spree at a club in Denver when the Grizzlies were playing at the Nuggets. Forget the fact that it's a matchup against the top team in the West.

And for some reason you think it's a good time to be out throwing money around. Okay, forget that. But then there's the Instagram live video of him brandishing the gun.

No charges forthcoming, according to the, I think it's the Glendale Police Department. But the NBA has to investigate because they've got very specific rules against guns on team trips or team functions, which definitely was a team road trip. And the Grizzlies, seeing that this pattern of behavior had become destructive for Ja. And according to Coach Jenkins, they actually had a conversation with him even before the situation in Denver. We've had conversations in the past trying to guide him and help him continue to evolve as a person and player. And obviously this came to a head, you know, the other day. So it put this process into action.

You know, the hope was that this would never have happened and, you know, everything was, you know, as good as it should be. But there have been dialogues about what he's got to do better and this just came to a head then. So the Denver situation left the NBA and the Grizzlies no choice but to investigate. He is away from the team for his mental health to take a break to reset. I think all of that is important because ultimately his life is bigger than just basketball. And he needs to grow up, mature, recognize. And I think he has apologized in a way that you would believe he's sincere. But he's got to understand that his actions are always under a microscope. And his actions don't just reflect on him, his family, but they also reflect on and impact the Grizzlies as well as the NBA, the league.

He's a superstar now. There are different rules. There are different... It's funny because I say there are different rules. A lot of times that means you get special treatment. But there are also different rules in that nothing that you do is ever private, especially not on social media. You are very attractive for people who love to follow athletes and the NBA.

And Ja has become a household name now for what he's done early in his NBA career. Now it's time for him to grow up and mature and recognize that he's got a responsibility to someone other than himself. And so it's good to hear from Taylor Jenkins, but he is still away from the team. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio.

I'd love to hear from you. Are you ready for NFL legal tampering and then free agency? A big trade happening over the weekend. Although if you've been following the Rams situation, maybe this wasn't a huge surprise. And then, oddly enough, Derek Carr introduced by the Saints on a Saturday.

I wasn't expecting that, but we do have the ability to go back and grab the audio. So Derek introduced in his new home, the Big Easy, the Crescent City. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Okay, Derek Carr. After a decade with the Raiders, both in Oakland and in Las Vegas, was unceremoniously dumped. The first year of Josh McDaniels, you hear the call there with Jason Horowitz on Raiders radio, ended with him away from his teammates, which for Derek Carr is supreme torture. As much as it stinks to get benched, and he wasn't benched because of ability, he was benched because the team, this particular head coach wanted to go in a different direction, knew that and wanted to make sure, as much as he could ensure it, that Carr didn't get hurt at the end of the season, making it harder for him to be traded. Now ultimately, Derek Carr had a no-trade clause. And so he got the last laugh because he refused to waive that no-trade clause, meaning the Raiders had no choice but to release him and get zilch in return.

So at least that had to give the Carr family some satisfaction, even if not Derek, which you're never going to hear him say a bad word about the Raiders. He chose to take the high road. Remember, he was offered many interview requests.

He turned them all down. He's going to say nothing but positive things about his decade in first Oakland and then Vegas, though I'm sure if he had Wonder Woman's golden rope around him, he would have a different story to tell. They treated him poorly on the way out, which is one reason why his brother David, for instance, is ticked off about it still.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. His numbers were down this year, wasn't quite the fit for Josh McDaniels. They had some injuries with their offensive weapons as well. And so he ultimately secures his release, signs with the New Orleans Saints, and he says being released by the Raiders lit a fire. His introduction was on Saturday. Now, first, Dennis Allen, who is his former coach from the Raiders, though they know each other well. Before we really kind of get going, I do want to make sure that, you know, everybody knows that Derek's a much quicker decision maker on the field than he is off the field.

Obviously, this took way too long in the process. But we're obviously happy that we have him. With all the great food, the first place we went was Chipotle because we didn't know anything. And we walked in there and we couldn't get out of there because of the love from everyone in that building. And, you know, they were taking pictures and just welcoming us, you know, to the city, telling us anything that we need, they're here for us, and you could already feel the southern hospitality and the home feeling of it. And, you know, with that said, you know, my wife and I are super grateful, you know, to be here with our children and make New Orleans home. You know, we chose New Orleans. You know, we chose this city.

We chose the people here. You know, thank Drew Brees for reaching out to me and answering a lot of my questions. You know, I thank, you know, Peyton Manning, Archie Manning for reaching out to me and answering questions and being there for me, you know, and making this decision.

How about that? Peyton Manning doesn't live in New Orleans. His family is from the area, of course, but he's in Denver, and yet he still wanted to reach out, having gone through this process before as a quarterback who was also a free agent and had to start over in a new place after more than a decade with the Colts? Peyton texted me. We obviously played Peyton for years, you know, when he was in Denver and all that. And then the Pro Bowl this past, you know, he was my head coach for the Pro Bowl, which was awesome. And then he texted me Archie's number and Cooper, his brother, who I'll end up reaching out to Cooper to.

Obviously, they know this area way better than I do. And then before I could even text Archie, I got a text from Archie and saying he can't wait to connect and help in any way that he can once everything slows down. A little more from Derek about Drew Brees in the second half of the show, but obviously Brees being the Saints ambassador, not necessarily New Orleans, although he does now call the city home.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio Car. Again, kind words about his former franchise. I just have to say thank you to the Raiders, to Oakland, Las Vegas. I mean, it wouldn't be me if I didn't say thank you to them. You know, I had nine great years there, a lot of great memories, a lot of hard times, a lot of fun times, a lot of kids since then in those days. And Mr. Davis and the Raider organization, thank you.

If they see this, I have to say thank you to them because I wouldn't be here without them. I am so happy for him. He'll be one of my favorite guys to follow this upcoming 23 season because it's a fresh start. And he was one of those guys who gave everything he had to his former franchise.

Heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears. The leadership that he showed through the situation with John Gruden. And then, of course, the other tragedies that took place last year, two years ago, excuse me, and yet they still made the playoffs because of his leadership and Rich Basachias. He was silver and black to the core and would have stayed there his entire career.

He actually said he'd rather retire than not play for the Raiders at one point. But times change, situations change, coaches change, and now he can look forward to partnering with some new offensive weapons in New Orleans. Explosive. They're very explosive, very competitive. I'm really excited to have all those guys run down the field and just check one down to Alvin just to see what he can do.

That'll be fun. I'm excited to watch Taysom run the football and have the ball in his hands. I'm excited to watch those guys run down the field with their speed and athleticism. And Juwan, the athleticism that he has as a tight end and the way he can move. There's just so much potential, but that doesn't mean anything.

So you make a decision based on what you think it can be, but then you've got to go make it that. When you watch them on film, though, it's hard not to get excited. For Saints fans, it's hard not to be excited about the roster and what Mickey and DA have put together here.

It's exciting. Chris Alave being their star wide receiver who was a rookie last year. We don't know about Michael Thomas. We don't know about Alvin Kamara because of his legal situation. But if you want to know more about the Saints now that they've got their man at QB, my conversation with Ross Jackson last week about the Saints, where they are right now, the excitement around Derek Carr and the NFC South.

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