After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

Last year, you may have made some smart decisions and you may have made some not-so-smart decisions.

Like, maybe you had a little too much confidence in that one crypto exchange. The good news is, making smart financial decisions is easier than you think. NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast has the weekly know-how you need to get ahead. Sean and Sarah, the hosts of Smart Money, break down the latest financial news and give you honest, objective money advice. Subscribe to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast.

It's easy to achieve them. Goalie. Taste your goals.

Learn more at Goalie.com today. We are saying goodbye Monday and morphing. We're limping. Well, I'm limping.

I can't speak about your condition currently. But I'm limping forward into a Tuesday. It has been a blitz, to borrow the NFL term. It has been an all-out blitz since Sunday afternoon, getting ready for the selection show, knowing that we would have a series of different interviews. And it's been great. I'm so, so excited that we've connected with three players, two coaches.

We still have more conversations to come. And we've also got plenty of NFL news to get into. Still more from the NBA as well. Plus, Team USA back in action on Monday in the World Baseball Classic. And whether or not you care about it, the American roster specifically is full of all-stars and superstars.

And so it's kind of fun to see them. I know there's a philosophical debate going on about whether or not these guys should be away from their teams during spring training. And what happens if one of them gets injured. But they're not forced to participate. It's something they want to do.

Many of these guys won't have the opportunity to play in the Olympics. And so this is an opportunity for them to rep the red, white and blue. And to do it where they don't have to set aside however many weeks in the middle of a season. Plus, they are still tuning up. They're warming up. And so they're playing basketball. I'm telling you, my brain is fried. They're playing baseball.

They're just not playing with their current rosters, their MLB rosters. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. A lot happening in the first day of legal tampering in the NFL. So we're going to dive into that here in a second. But I got to tell you, I put this out on Twitter. Didn't put it on Facebook.

But put it out there on Twitter because I had this epiphany, this moment. And it was a little bit like that. It was on my bike. I have a stationary bike.

It's a recumbent bike. And I was looking at the calendar because right now we're gearing up for what is a very busy spring season. In not just college hoops but the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons.

Of course, NFL with the draft on the horizon. We've got the Masters that's coming up. Easter is early this year. Just a lot happening over the next four weeks. And then I realized, oh my gosh, it's a Monday. And four weeks from tonight, I knew I would be standing in front of a classroom on the Syracuse University campus with students staring at me expectantly.

Or they better be staring at me expectantly. It is coming up fast. I had to submit the various elements of my syllabus and did that on Sunday. So even before we got to Selection Show, Syracuse was not a part of, I had to type up the rest of my syllabus and submit that. And now I've been taking furiously all kinds of notes over the past several months ever since I designed the class and kind of wrote out the description, the course objectives, the learning objectives for the class and had to pitch it to the Syracuse broadcasting department, sports broadcasting department. I've known exactly what I want to do with the class, but because it's four weeks instead of what I designed it to be, which is 11 weeks, it really does mean that I have to be efficient and organized and stay on point, which is not my strong suit. You know, if you listen to my radio show, I tend to take the scenic route. So I'm having to really take a bunch of detailed notes and also use an outline that I will stick to so that we can cover all the material that I need to, all the material that I've promised.

But yeah, four weeks to go. I've come up with my weekly assignments. In fact, do you think this is mean?

I might do it just because. I'm going to ask them, even before they show up for the very first class, I'm going to ask these broadcast students to pick any talk show host, any genre. It can be news, it can be sports, it can be entertainment, but just to start, and I'm hoping most of them pick sports, but I just want them to find a segment of a radio show that they appreciate and they like and listen to it and then take notes on it. What stands out? What do you appreciate? What do you like or dislike? You need to be subjective.

Always when it comes to media, we're asking for subjective opinions. It's not one size fits all. I learned very early in my career that you're never going to please everybody. And in fact, you're likely most of the time not even to please half the people who are listening. So you have to be true to yourself.

Most radio listeners, or the majority of radio listeners, they can see right through fake. And it takes too much energy to be something I'm not. So I just am who I am. And if you like it, great. And if you don't, well, fine.

I hope you respect me. Otherwise, there are bazillion options out there. So I need them to be as subjective as possible. And this is all part of them determining their own style and what they want to sound like and who they want to be when they have their own show. So this is the very baseline, the very foundation that I'm going to build on over the course of these four weeks and over the course of this class. And so I thought about, and I'm still toying with it, making them listen to a segment of this show.

I don't care what the topic is, just pick a segment and forcing them to tell me what they like and what they don't like. I like it. That's a good lesson. It's right there, right?

It's material. Oh, goodness. I would hope that before they come to class, so we'll see, there might be extra credit in the offing there. I would hope that before they come to the first class with the assignment of picking any talk show and listening to a segment that some of them would be smart enough to be brown nosing and pick one of mine. So I may not mandate it. I may just wait to see how many of them actually do the research and pick one segment from this show.

But I don't know if it's going to be the case or not. Some of the other assignments, I'm actually really excited about some of these assignments. Another assignment that I have for them to do is to pick a sports figure, and I may pick it, but I may give them a handful of sports, either coaches, athletes, administrators, just a sports figure, a prominent figure, and have them prepare to do an interview for that person. And so that's another assignment because interviewing is so important.

I don't have to tell you, if you listen to radio for any length of time, you know that some of the questions, I'd even go so far as to say most of the questions in interviews that we see on the field or here on radio and TV are just abysmal. A lot of times you have hosts or interviewers who do the majority of the talking. And I understand this, especially for young broadcasters, there's this need to prove what you know. You want to, even if it's not conscious, you want to subconsciously prove that you know what you're talking about when you speak to someone like a player, pro athlete or a big time coach.

But that's not necessary. If you've done your research and you ask key questions, if you ask pertinent questions, first of all, who cares if the guest likes you, as long as they respect the fact that you've done your homework. So I have found, most importantly, you've got to research because what you find in researching for interviews, if you have questions that indicate that you've done your homework, your guests will respect you.

Because trust me, there are plenty of people out there who don't bother. They just sit down and start talking. For instance, until I had done my research for Gonzaga sixth man Malachi Smith, who we had on the show last night, I did not realize that he had played for two other schools before he got to Gonzaga. I didn't realize that last year he was on the Chattanooga roster that defeated Furman on a buzzer beater in the conference championship. These are all elements that I was able to work into the interview and if you missed that conversation with Malachi, really good perspective from him because he was on a mid-major last year, one that nearly upset Illinois in the opening round of the tournament. Now he's a member of the Zags, a completely different situation, but he knows how the Grand Canyon squad will come into this game against Gonzaga because they've got nothing to lose. He was there.

He was on a mid-major, a Cinderella last year. And so, to do your research is to be prepared as much as possible. You never know exactly what direction an interview will take, but my conversation with Jim Larinaga did my homework and I listened. Listening is the most important skill in radio. It sounds weird.

It almost sounds like it would be the opposite. You would think talking would be the most important skill to be a successful radio host, but actually it's listening. You may not believe this about me, but I'm a better listener than I am talker and I'm a pretty damn good talker.

Although I do make up words, so you know, you got to put up with that. And I tell funny stories, funny as in weird. But yeah, my friends tell me all the time, you're such a good listener when it comes to being on the phone and wanting to understand people. And that applies both personal relationships, but also professional. In order to understand your audience, in order to understand your guests, in order to understand your subject matter, you got to listen.

And as a radio host, you have to develop an ear for what it is that you're listening to. So it's going to be a lot of fun, but I'm nervous anyway because they'll all be staring at me. What if I fail them?

What if I let them down? What if I suck as a professor? Also, am I ever going to get used to Professor Lawrence? That sounds unbelievably awkward.

Jay, don't even try to pretend like it doesn't because it does. I don't think it sounds that bad, Professor Lawrence. That bad?

Nice. I kind of like it, actually. Way to say that. I don't think it sounds that bad. It sounds bad, just not that bad. No, I think it's good, actually.

I just roll my eyes at you. Anything you say after it sounds that bad no longer counts. Well, you were saying it sounds like the worst. I don't think it sounds that bad. But I can say that. You can't say that. I mean, it sounds good.

Professor Elle, you can go with that. Hey, how do you feel about eating some broccoli? I'm cutting you off. Why? Because it's springtime and we are inching ever closer to 4,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel. When was the last time you had broccoli?

Oh, actually this past weekend. What kind of broccoli? Regular green one. You did not just say that. Cooked with some oil, I guess.

Yeah. It was just all by itself, cooked with oil. I didn't make it. It was in the dish at the restaurant, so I had a little bit. It was mixed with something else? Yeah, it was like a dish that had like chicken and like some sausage and potatoes and like broccoli. It was like this big combo blend. It was good.

Combo blend. I do love it when Jay talks food. So when we get to 4,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel After Hours with Amy Lawrence, producer Jay has to eat a large bowl of broccoli. All he's allowed to have on it is a little oil.

He's not allowed to have anything else. It's going to be steamed broccoli. Because when you fry broccoli or when you boil broccoli, anything like that, actually, any time that you fry or boil vegetables, it takes a lot of the nutrients out.

Bet you didn't know that. Steaming is the way to go or raw, but I wouldn't expect you to eat raw broccoli. No, it's tough. Raw broccoli is tough. So when we get to 4,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel, that's when Jay has to eat a gigantic bowl of broccoli. He is allowed to have a drink with it, but not soda, which is his drink of choice.

Trust me, I know this. It seems like every time he calls me, he's doing two things. Yawning into the phone and drinking. I can hear him drinking soda. That's why I need the soda.

I go hand in hand. Oh, my gosh. Soda's so not good for you. Do you know what sugar is in soda? There's a lot. There's definitely a lot of sugar. Yeah. The zero ones are good. You've been getting me on those a little bit. There's a Cherry Coke Zero in the fridge that I brought, actually, to say thank you for all of the work that you did the last couple days.

Thank you. So on our YouTube channel, if you subscribe to it, Jay has to eat broccoli, number one. Number two, he's now into his 30s and he does not eat green things.

And I'm a little bit worried that he's not going to see his 40s. So if we could please get Jay to eat more broccoli. Also, you could give it to me as a birthday present because it would be my birthdays in a few weeks. If you could make Jay eat broccoli, it would be the best birthday present I've ever had. Ever had.

Do I get to put a little salt on this or anything? So next to Syracuse winning the national championship on my birthday, that actually was the best birthday present ever. And you eating broccoli is probably right up there with me hiking the Grand Canyon, which is happening in April, yes.

That's high praise. That's what I chose as my birthday gift to myself, or really my birthday challenge. A friend and I are going to hike the Grand Canyon after I spend time with my aunt and uncle who are from my Grammy Helen. She would have celebrated her 101st birthday the day before mine.

And yes, we were with her last year for her 100th and I still miss her terribly. And so to be able to see my aunt and uncle who live in Arizona and who will, of course, be thinking about Grammy the same as me, it's going to help to be all together. And then hiking the Grand Canyon.

My brother has given me the lowdown because he and his family went for Christmas in December of 21. And so I'm going to be hiking the Bright Angel Falls Trail, which is from the South Rim. You can go five miles in. In fact, you can go all the way to the Colorado River if you want to.

But I feel like that might be too much for me and my friend. I've heard that's like eight or nine miles down and then you have to turn around and go eight or nine miles back up. Wait, did you guys go all the way to the Colorado River?

No, I did not. A lot of people who do that do it for overnight, multiple days. They bring a tent, bring a whole thing. You can kind of canoe it, go to another spot. That's kind of like people who go down far. To go all the way down and come back up in one day, that's a lot. So we're not going to the river, but we are at least going to go to, there's a campground, a Native American campground that is at one stop along the way.

My brother thinks it's about five miles in-ish. And so I'm really excited about this. It's my kick this birthday in the butt celebration. And we're going to head, well, Fred and I are going to head to the Grand Canyon in April.

So that's a great birthday present, but Jay eating broccoli would also be a pretty damn good birthday present. So yes, we need 4,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel. It's easy to find. Speaking of YouTube, Jay and I are working on a new video for March Madness, which we've been kind of busy the last 36 hours, but we're going to try to get it finished before the tournament tips off on Thursday. And so we're still working out a topic. We haven't quite gotten there yet. We've got a few working ideas that we're thinking about.

Something that is done, though, that you can find on our social media. Jay, did you put a link up yet? OK, so Jay is going to put a link up, but the brackets are available. I guess you can't find them if you don't have a link unless you are part of the bracket in the past, in which case an email should have been automatically generated to you. So if you see an email for the After Hours Bracket Challenge, hello, that's us, that's us.

If you don't see the email, maybe you need to sign up with a different email address, you need to start all over again, or if you want to join us, we know our audience is ever expanding. And so we'd love for you to be part of the After Hours Bracket Challenge. The top three finishers will win After Hours swag. And so we've got swag still remaining. We want to share it with you.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, there's a video on our YouTube channel. You need the latest After Hours swag. See, even the voice guide would tell you with all of that passion and excitement. So yes, top three finishers will win After Hours swag. I will mail it to you with a handwritten note because that is what I do.

I'm like Peyton Manning that way, or he's like me that way. So in all of your perusings of our social media, again, find us on Twitter, After Hours CBS. Within the next couple hours, the link to the Bracket Challenge will be posted at the top of our Twitter account. Facebook page two, within the next couple hours, you'll be able to find our Facebook page.

And as I say, if you don't have an email or you forgot what the email address is, yada, yada, yada, just sign up with a new one. We don't have to create two different islands for this. So Survivor Island, we actually run out of space on the island. But when it comes to our After Hours Bracket Challenge, we've had, I think, over 5,000 in the past in one of these. So let's go, let's see if we can break the record, our record, our personal record.

And Janie C. Broccoli, that's all I'm going to say about that. Alright, on Twitter, on Facebook, on YouTube, always glad to connect with you. Lots of chatter about the NCAA tournament, of course, but the NBA is not to be forsaken. Klay Thompson, I think he's back. I think Klay is back.

But the Warriors, in addition to wanting their Splash Brothers to be intact, they're desperately seeking wins. We'll give you that. We'll give you the Klay Thompson show, first half show, from Tonight Against the Suns, and also the latest on Ja Morant, and then some football at the back of the hour. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Klay Thompson curls right side from Draymond, buries a triple on the first possession of the night. I don't even think he saw it, Kogi.

He didn't care where he was, he was going to shoot it. Craig now to Booker. Booker drives it on. Thompson lost it. Ball saved by Klay as he was backing out of bounds.

Got it to DiVincenzo. Klay with a catch in the front court and hits a three. Thompson goes to work on Booker, takes a fadeaway three and hit it.

He hit it, ball went out of bounds. 75-58, Chris Paul on the back court. Klay Thompson's got a 33-point first half.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Klay Thompson crushing it in the first half against the Phoenix Suns, and you wouldn't normally think that this was a big deal for the Warriors. That it was a big game for the Warriors because they've had their way with the West for the better part of these last, what, eight seasons? With the core of Draymond, Klay, Steph, and Andre Iguodala, except that they had not beaten the Phoenix Suns this year, and they need to string some wins together. We know this about the Warriors because of how abysmal they are away from Chase Center, and they are 7-26 on the road and about to hit the road for what I think is a five-game stretch.

They needed to protect their home court and also to find some confidence in their defense specifically. Two big games in a row for them against the Milwaukee Bucks. That one went into overtime on Saturday night and against the Phoenix Suns on Monday.

Tim Roy with the call on the Warriors Radio Network, eight triples, 33 points in the first half for Klay. And while he didn't have nearly as many in the second half, only five, the rest of the team able to find that shooting stroke. Chris Paul off a screen, bounce pass to eight and two hard, flipped off the glass by Looney, gathers it in, feeds DiVincenzo, breakaway slam!

What a play! Poole finds Thompson, forced to dribble, spins on, Wainwright fade away, good and a foul! 12 of his last 14, Curry with a dribble, pass cross court to Looney, Looney looks right, nothing going on there, spins, gets down the lane, Looney drives in, took the hit, left hand layup, up and good, he reached across the bucket, Curry, far sideline, doubled in traffic, finds Looney, bounce pass to Draymond, deflected away, Curry gets it back, dribbles to the corner, and hits a three!

Ridiculous! Once again, Tim Roy on Warriors Radio, and the team shoots 54% for the game. 19 of 39 from beyond the arc, so a taste of what the Warriors love to do with the basketball. Move it around as much as they possibly can, swing it around, catch the defense off guard. Obviously the movement without the ball is humongous, especially for guys like Klay and Jordan Poole and Steph Curry, who roam the perimeter and move back and forth baseline and corner to corner. And you'll get some of the other guys that step out and shoot threes as well, but it's always been precision passing. They do have a tendency to turn the ball over. Silly, mindless turnovers.

And that's when Steve Kerr gets frustrated when he starts to throw clipboards. Their defense has not been as tight this year, especially away from home, but this was an important game for them, coming off of the victory over Milwaukee to shoot as well as they did and to also play a strong defense. The Suns do not have Kevin Durant, we know that to be sure. They may not have him to start the tournament.

He can only play the hand that you're dealt. And for Klay Thompson, yet another opportunity to not only find his rhythm, but feel good about being back. There was that conversation earlier in the year that he would never be the same player.

It was Charles Barkley who started it, and it really hurt Klay Thompson's feelings. But more and more, we are seeing him settle into that rhythm like what we expected from the Splash Brothers when they reached five straight NBA Finals. Klay's been in such a great place now for a while, for several months. And the two early Phoenix losses, he really struggled and showed a lot of frustration. So I know it felt good for him to have that huge first half, regardless of who we were playing.

But as I said, this is a division rival and a team that's beating us three straight. So we knew how big a game it was, and Klay knew how big it was, and he came out and set the tone. I love motivated Klay, whatever it takes to get him locked in and focused.

There's been a lot of chirping back and forth in the narratives around us playing Phoenix and him and Book and all that. Two great scores going at it. So the way he came out was just determined.

We know he can get hot like that at any point, but it seemed like he had a little extra edge tonight, so it was great to see. Yeah, so now what? As they hit the road, how do they change what has been one disappointing and deflated performance after another on the road? And to me, it comes back to the defense. They've not been the same team defensively on the road.

So Klay Thompson, how do you fix it? I think we're going to do it with these next five games. I think we're going to come out of this road trip with a lot of great momentum. And although history this season has been not so good to us, I think it's our time. Well, it's not history hasn't been so good to you. It's that you have created this dubious history where you're the defending champions and you've only won seven road games this season.

I'm human. Seven out of 33. That is, that's crazy. One more from the Warriors because Tuesday is Steph Curry's birthday. 35 still trying to play at this high of a level.

This might be the last birthday I start counting for a while. So just definitely blessed. Thank God for the ability to be healthy, to play with the great teammates, play in front of an amazing fan base for 14 years and definitely a lot more to come. Steph Curry turns 35 on Tuesday, so happy birthday to Steph on NBC Sports in the Bay Area. Not sure if you saw, Marco Belletti's here in studio, not sure if you saw the pregame video where Steph threw up an air ball. I think it was an air ball and it smacked a, I don't want to call him a ball boy because I don't know if he was a boy. But it's a young man who was underneath the hoop. He's a rebounder, right? So he's trying to throw the rebounds to the shooters so they're not getting their own. And the ball, he's called an aware because it doesn't go off the rim, it's an air ball from Steph which is funny, happens to everybody. Did you see where he started from?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he was way out right near, where was he? He was past full court almost in the tunnel throwing into the opposite basket. Yeah, he does that. He likes to fool around like that, right? So this young man is unsuspecting, is wearing glasses and the ball tags him on the side of his head. Exactly.

Oh no. And knocks his glasses off, the poor guy. And so as it turns out, I think Steph tweeted about it, he gave him a game-worn jersey, gave him a hug and obviously apologized. But yeah, you got to beware because Steph likes to put on the show before every game. He does it every game at the Chase Center where he takes these crazy shots. Some come from the tunnel and almost like that corner angle and a lot of times he makes them. And so if you're not aware of where Steph is at all times, you could get hit in the side of the head. Yeah, well if I'm going to be rebounding onto the basket to help everybody out as they're shooting pregame, I got to tell you, I don't think I'm looking for a shot that's coming 120 feet away.

No. Yeah, that's pretty much the reason why he got tagged. Why would you be looking the other side of the floor into the tunnel? I mean like why would a basketball come from there?

Except Steph does this every pregame, so. I guess. I mean, I don't know.

I can't put that on him. And by the time it travels that far at that rate of speed, that must have hurt. I bet it left a mark.

Probably some pockmarks on the side of his face. I'm sure it did. That's not an air ball from 20 feet. Jay! That's what I'm saying. Like you don't throw that thing up in the air.

That's launched. That's a fastball that's coming right at you. Yeah, I mean, again, and why would you look for a, I mean, 100 feet away? I'm looking over there. I got a job to do.

I'm looking over there. Poor guy. Poop happens, you know. Let's hope he has no broken orbital bones. Wait, occipital bones? Orbital bones? What's the occipital? Orbital for the eye.

Okay, what's the occipital? I gotta look that up. I don't know.

Hold on. Hey, did you know what a paladin was? Paladin?

No, what is that? Oh, occipital is relating or situated in the back of the head. Not far off. No, but he got hit in the face, so. Yeah, side of the face.

Tagged him. Right, the side of the head. Paladins are knights. K-N-I-G-H-T-S. Oh, yeah, you know what? Actually, if I would have thought about that for a second.

There were a lot of, back in the day when I was covering high school, there were a lot of nicknames. There were the paladins. If that makes sense.

The dens are going dancing. That's what's on their Twitter. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, the reason I bring it up is because I asked Jaylen Swalt.

Oh my gosh. Why is it that on Monday night into Tuesday morning I can't speak? Especially, now usually it happens. I don't know.

I don't know. Usually it happens. I can't do it on any night. It doesn't really matter which night it is. This is your first night of the week though. Usually it happens following NFL Sundays because those are 16 hour work days.

And I'm usually feeling it when I get Monday night into Tuesday. It's been two pretty insane, chaotic nights following Selection Sunday. Jaylen Slauson is the SoCon Player of the Year, Southern Conference Player of the Year.

Furman is dancing for the first time since 1980. And I asked him about paladins and how many people have wanted to know what paladins are in the wake of them making the tournament. His response is really funny.

So that's coming up top of the hour. He has got to be the best college basketball talker that I've ever connected with. Interesting.

Yeah. He had no inhibitions about answering all my questions. He was funny.

Really good conversation. I mean, I've of course had conversations with athletes that have gone long. But his stories are fantastic about why he picked Furman and why he went back to school. Because he was actually working out for NBA teams. He put his name into the draft. Oh, really? I didn't know that. In consideration for the draft last year when they just missed going to the NCAA tournament and he decided to stay.

And so now as a fifth year senior, they're going in as a 13 seed against Virginia. Good for him. I know. Good conversation. You don't want to miss it on your way home. I'm not leaving you. We got time. No, no. It's top of the hour. Yeah, we got time.

Okay. It's after hours here on CBS Forge Radio. Whether it's orbital or occipital bone, it hurts when it gets pelted by a ball from 120 feet away. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. They go empty with Garoppolo in the gun. They stack McCaffrey behind Iuke right. Punch formation left with Jennings and Kittle. Jimmy got pressure and a tuck and now throw on the run. It is caught by George Kittle. Breaks a tackle five. Touchdown San Francisco.

I wish you guys could see Jimmy being back. And if so, what would that look like? No, I don't see any scenario of that. Garoppolo. Yeah, no. I gotcha.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Oh, the ultimate duh moment. When a reporter actually clarified to Kyle Shanahan that his question was about Jimmy Garoppolo. Not Jimmy anybody else. Not Jimmy Ward, Jimmy this, Jimmy that.

Nope. Jimmy Garoppolo. Yeah, I gotcha.

He could have said duh. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Jimmy Garoppolo has a new home and I know because I hear from many of you in the Bay Area. We've got a very loud established presence in the Bay Area.

On the blowtorch that is KNBR reaches up and down the California coast and east as well. We got a lot of listeners that follow Jimmy Garoppolo and appreciate what he brings to the table. In fact think that he is underappreciated because he wins. Now he also gets injured which is a problem which has been the knock on him. This time last year the Niners could not find a trade partner.

Probably a good thing they didn't. But they could not find a trade partner because he was coming off of a shoulder surgery and a shoulder injury. So here are his numbers in terms of games played. Going back to 2019 when the Niners were 13-3 and he played every single game. So that was before they made the switch to a 17 game regular season. 16 games started, the Niners went 13-3. But the year after only started 6 games. 2021 pretty good, played 15 games but we do remember he was banged up and was hurt over that time too. And then this season played in 11 games, started 10 games. Which doesn't, it actually seems like he wasn't on the field even that much but he was. Ultimately though Brock Purdy had to take over. He's not going to be a member of the Niners anymore, that door is closed.

The reports out there, even though this is legal tampering so nothing's actually been signed. But I'm sure you've heard the reports, I know Marco Belletti used it as the start of his update. Garoppolo plans to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders and reunite with one Josh McDaniels. Just out of curiosity, do you think this is what McDaniels had in mind? Or do you think that McDaniels was hoping Aaron Rodgers would pick Vegas?

Or actually probably hoping that Tom Brady would pick Vegas. But this is why he got rid of Derek Carr. I think Jimmy Garoppolo and Josh McDaniels having a pre-existing relationship is important. Similar to Derek Carr's signing in New Orleans. He knows Dennis Allen, Allen picked him as a starting quarterback when he was a rookie in Oakland. So I understand that relationship is important. Let's do a poll, why don't we.

We can put the question up on Facebook as well. Do you believe that Derek Carr is an upgrade over Derek Carr in Las Vegas? An upgrade at quarterback over Derek Carr in Las Vegas.

Because, and they're not the same player of course, they don't have the same skills. But all things being equal, I don't know if you really took a massive step forward in terms of your quarterback position. Kind of feels like it's gonna come out in the wash. Again, two completely different quarterbacks, they're not the same guy. Carr's been primarily healthy, he's a gunslinger, he's got a big arm, huge leader, big personality, crier. Jimmy Garoppolo, he's mobile, he does like to move around and he does when he's not injured. He can certainly deliver the football, but I wouldn't say he's got a big cannon for an arm. He takes better care of the football more recently as he's gotten to be a veteran QB. But the upgrade?

I don't see it. Now, Garoppolo's cheaper, and again there's the relationship with Josh. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon on Sirius XM NFL radio. He likes this move. When you look at those numbers, three years, $67.5 million, I don't want to say it's a bargain, but I think it's a really solid number. I think it allows the Raiders to continue to look at ways to improve the depth and talent at that position. I don't want to refer to Jimmy Garoppolo as the stop cap guy, Bruce, but he's been a winning quarterback. I just saw something from Mike Tannenbaum and said in the last three years, Jimmy Garoppolo has led the National Football League in yards per attempt at 8.3. His record as a starting quarterback, he's 40 and 17. He's led his team to a Super Bowl appearance, multiple playoff appearances. He's thrown more than twice as many touchdowns as interceptions. His career completion percentage is just under 68 percent. If you give him a good offensive line and a good supporting cast, he can put you in a position where you have a chance to not only be competitive, but have a chance to win each week. So therein is the major advantage of Garoppolo's career over Derek Carr's. He's got the resume.

He's got the wins. And as a quarterback, he led a team to a Super Bowl and also to, well, he was part in leading the team to multiple NFC Championship games as well. But yeah, a career best season in 2019 in which the Niners had a 10-point lead against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Let's see, one more or a little more from Rich Gannon talking Garoppolo and Josh McDaniels reuniting in Las Vegas. We go back to that Super Bowl run in 2019, Bruce. He was 13 and 3 as a starter that year. He played, I mean, really had a phenomenal season. He's cut down on the interceptions. And I just think that this was a good signing. He's got history. He spent the first three years of his career in 2014, 15 and 16 in New England with Josh McDaniels. So there's some history there.

They know one another. And I just think this is a good opportunity for the player to get with someone who he knows, who he respects, who he enjoys working with. I think it's also makes sense for Josh McDaniels that you're not you're not starting over. You know, you're not you can you can basically have him come into the building and spend a couple of days getting him caught up to speed. I mean, the terms, the concepts, the verbiage, you know, it's going to be very similar to what Jimmy was used to with the Patriots back in 14, 15 and 16.

This is good news and there's bad news. That's Rich Gannon, former Raiders quarterback on Sirius XM NFL radio. And you hear him talking to Bruce in the background there. The good news is that Garoppolo, when he's on the field, is part of winning. That's undisputed. Teams win the majority of the time when he is on the field. He threw for nearly 14000 yards and 82 touchdowns, only 42 picks. And he completed better than 67 percent of his passes with the Niners. And the number that matters the most in his 63 starts, that does include the postseason, the Niners were 44-19. That's an incredible winning percentage for a starting QB.

But here's the downside. He missed 30 games with ankle injuries, shoulder injuries, thumb injuries, knee injuries, including a toward ACL because he stepped wrong as he was attempting to get an extra half yard running out of bounds. He's a good quarterback. I would say he's an above average quarterback. Mostly teams win when he is the quarterback.

And that's what matters the most. A lot of times that speaks to leadership and taking care of the football. It really speaks to taking care of the football and delivering that ball to your playmakers. But he's got to stay on the field. So he doesn't cost the Raiders an arm and a leg. Carr costs a lot more in New Orleans. And he's reunited with Josh McDaniel.

Is he an upgrade? Take our poll on Twitter and Facebook. It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Search for NCAA March Madness right here in the Odyssey app to get started.