After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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That's I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O dot com promo code PODCAST. I wish I could share with you what my mom said in response to the ex-boyfriend asking me for supplies along his year-long hike, but you would think less of my mom, so I can't share that with you. My mother keeps a poop list for all of the men who have treated me poorly in her opinion, which is great. We all need a mother like that who is ready to do battle for her daughter, son or daughter.

Anyway, so yeah, that's a true story. And I hope he's listening to the radio show too so he knows that I have zero intention now of meeting him along the Appalachian Trail. Although producer J, your suggestion was what? Now this is malicious. This is malicious, but what's your suggestion producer J? What would you do if roles were reversed and it was you?

Oh, I didn't say that. Oh, so you want me to do it, but you wouldn't do it if it was say an ex-girlfriend of yours that just ghosted you, so ended the relationship by not really saying anything, just kind of disappeared and never apologized or anything like that. And then three years later shows up unannounced, hey, I found this photo of us, and would you mind meeting me on the Appalachian Trail with supplies?

You would very generously write back and say, sure, I'd be happy to. No, you know what? Hearing it again, yeah, what I said.

Well, what did you say? This is J's suggestion for how I should get back at the ex who thought it was a good idea to never apologize, but rely on my generosity in 2023. You tell him, yeah, I'll be there. Where are we meeting you? Give me the coordinates, give me the time, and I'll meet you on the mountain.

You never go to the mountain. Tell him I got water, I got food, I got fresh socks. Don't stock up. I've got everything you need for two weeks. You're set.

I got you. Never saw him again. Also, did he expect me to buy that with my own money? That's another question. True, true.

That's another question. You're Manny laughing in the background. So Manny, no, it's fine. We like laughter here on the show. We're a big advocate for people laughing.

We want you to laugh with us, near us, at us. It doesn't matter. Manny is training, and I had to apologize to Manny earlier because I caught him on his phone, right?

I'm not a big fan. In fact, it's a house rule. You don't, if you're in the control room, you're not on your phone while we're on the air. And what I came to find out is that Manny was taking notes on his phone, and so yes, Manny is the new gold standard for people who are training.

He's taking notes on his phone. Meanwhile, he's in there laughing at everything I say, so he needs to be here every night. Jay doesn't find me nearly as amusing as Manny has found me tonight.

False. He's about to fall out of his chair. He's going to spit out his Gatorade.

You better watch out. That's how funny Manny thinks I am. Now, give it two weeks, Manny. Okay, say two months, and it'll wear off. You won't find me amusing at all.

You'll probably find me more annoying, but the fact that you're laughing at everything I say right now is great validation. Yes, you can fill in for Jay the next time he is on vacation. When are you going on vacation, Jay? Would you like to go hike the Appalachian Trail with my ex-boyfriend? I'll meet him there. Tell him. I got the supplies.

You'll be looking out for producer Jay in his Rangers hat. Imagine that. He asks for you, and you're like, yeah, and you send me. Well, you wouldn't go.

From the tables. But you wouldn't go. I don't know. What if I showed up there with a new boyfriend? How about that? That would be a move. Wow. Except I'd still have to drive over an hour to get there, and I'm not doing that. Not for him.

Yeah, that's far. It's just so hysterical that I had no idea it was him until he sends me a photo of us. What is wrong with you? Seriously, what is wrong with you? Just thought I forgot after three years, so you decided to send a photo just to let me know how good it was? Just to remind you? Ew. Creepy and sleazy and sketchy and absolutely not happening. Okay? Okay. Just take into consideration what I said.

Could you imagine? That would be wrong, though. I mean, I'm not that devious. I'm certainly not going to help the man, but I'm not that devious. Absolutely, I'll be there. In fact, I think you should show up naked. I'll meet you there, yeah. Oh my gosh.

Well, if nothing else, he's become a great punchline on the radio. Just sprinkle a bunch of bear food around the area. Careful of your dangling parts.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. And the Little Thunders? Very Little Thunders. My friends tell me all the time, thank goodness that your dating life is so awful. It makes such great stories. Oh, I don't think that's a compliment.

Happy to be of service. It's After Hours on Facebook, also on Twitter, ALawRadio, don't even bother. Unless you have suggestions about how we can get back at him on the AT. I'm definitely thinking stealing all his bear spray is a good idea. Just the planning of it all would be sheer joy. No, that's not what we're going to talk about for the next hour, I promise.

Our phone number is 855-212-4CBS. So, as I told you, with the college basketball taking a breather on the men's side and the women's side just having two games on Monday night, into the void steps the big bad NFL. A little bit like that grizzly bear that I would love to attack my ex-boyfriend. Okay, I'm done. I'm done, all right?

She's like, you're so not done. It's fine. It's totally fine. Oh my gosh, you know my theory on fine. I actually mean the exact opposite. Totally fine.

Totally fine. So does Aaron Rodgers. We'll get to you, Aaron Rodgers, because we know you're not totally fine either. He can't let his light go by, so you know he's going to respond. One of the chances that Rodgers called up McAfee and was like, hey, I need to be on the show Tuesday.

One of the chances. I need you to clear some space for me because I got stuff to say. If he hasn't heard that audio yet. Oh, he's heard. Stop it. He's heard. Are you kidding me? Wouldn't surprise me. He got multiple text messages blowing up his phone with the video of Ryan Guttenkunz telling everyone how Aaron did them wrong. If I'm McAfee, I send it to him. We've got space for you in our noon hour.

Are you available? Anyway, so with the women's basketball wrapping up, getting to its final four, men already set for the final four, them taking a bit of a break, just a handful of NBA and NHL games. Baseball is still a couple days away, but it's coming. The NFL sees the opportunity to step into the void.

And, of course, it's required, right? We just saw them at the Combine. Before that, we saw them at the Super Bowl. They're back in Phoenix for what was termed the AFC Coaches Breakfast.

Oh, yeah. Well, it's about that time that Lamar Jackson chose to reveal to the world that he requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. Wait for it.

Are you ready for this? Before they tagged him, he wanted everyone to know. It was March 2nd, five days before they tagged him with the non-exclusive franchise tag.

Here's what I will say. Lamar tipped his hand. He wants out. Well, now it behooves the Ravens to pay him the lesser amount, which comes with the non-exclusive franchise tag, since they already know he wants out.

If there's a team out there willing to bid for him, willing to make a play for him, not only do they get the two first-round picks in return, but they don't have to pay nearly as much. So Lamar requested a trade. This is according to Lamar on his Twitter.

Requested a trade on March 2nd. The team tagged him on March 7th, trying to protect itself, protect its money, protect its investment. And Lamar chose to reveal all of this, as well as his I'll always love you, dear John letter, to the Ravens faithful, Ravens flock, right about the time that John Harbaugh was sitting down at the breakfast. So what I've heard and what we've seen, if you've seen the photos, it's like shoulder-to-shoulder reporters surrounding John Harbaugh. Some of them probably saw the tweets and then made a beeline for Harbaugh.

Now here's the interesting thing. Harbaugh says, and you're going to hear him, I didn't see the tweets. Except that's not, hey, I didn't know about this. Of course he knew about it. So don't think of this or don't, when you hear John Harbaugh, don't think he's saying, oh, I didn't know.

Of course he knew. The entire Ravens organization knew. In fact, I'm pretty impressed that it didn't leak before now that Lamar Jackson had asked for a trade because there's so many insiders that are connected. And I wonder, would it have benefited the Ravens for it to leak out?

I'm using my air quotations, right? Leak. If someone inside the front office had leaked this, it doesn't sound like it matters, really.

They knew that they had to tag him so that they would get something in return. But yeah, when Harbaugh tells you, I didn't see the tweets. Wait, what? What? Yeah, that's not what he's saying. He's not saying I didn't know.

Well, I haven't seen the tweet. It's an ongoing process. I'm following it very closely, just like everybody else is here, and looking forward to a resolution. I'm excited, thinking about Lamar all the time, thinking about him as our quarterback. We're building our offense around that idea.

And I'm just looking forward to getting back to football, and I'm confident that's going to happen. What are the chances he actually thought this question might come up, actually? He sounds fairly prepared.

Yes. So, I feel like John Harbaugh's consistent. He knows his line. His line is, we want Lamar back. Lamar's our quarterback. We love Lamar. I love Lamar.

Lamar's my guy. This is what he has said all along. He's not wavered from that.

Of course, he's not the one who has to do the negotiating, but he's not wavered from that. So, as much as it felt like a blindside, it certainly sent shockwaves around the NFL. The fact that it happened a month ago means Harbaugh had to be pretty prepared for it to come out.

Whenever it came out, he had to be prepared for it to come out. Now, in a few minutes, you're going to hear our intel from Arizona. So, our reporter on the scene, he's the lead NFL writer for the Associated Press, Rob Motti. He was there.

He was in the scrum, and he, you know, picking the brains of different people who were there on site in Phoenix. Oh my gosh, the reporters, right now it's up on TV in front of me. The reporters around Harbaugh.

He barely has any breathing room. Anyway, so you're going to hear what Rob has to say about potential destinations and the likely outcome for Lamar in Baltimore. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. As for the Aaron Rodgers, that became second line.

That became unimportant until the Lamar scoop. But, when the general manager of the Packers chose to give his version of the story, well then all of a sudden it was top shelf again. So, this is from Matt Schneiderman's Twitter, though it was a scrum of reporters around Brian as well. Just to refresh your memory, Aaron did an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show two weeks ago.

So, it's two weeks ago today, right? And what he said is, he and the Packers engaged in conversations at their exit meetings right after the season was done. The team told him they would wait for him. They would wait for him. They would wait for his decision.

To retire, to not retire. He also told us he went into the darkness, 90% retired. When he emerged, he realized that he still wanted to play. He also got a hold of his phone, and according to Aaron, realized something had changed. The Packers were no longer waiting for him. He said his phone had blown up with a bunch of messages that made it very clear the Packers were ready to move on. But he swears, he swears he had no idea because the Packers told him they would wait on his decision. Well, Brian Gunkunst, is there any chance that Brian didn't know Aaron was going into the darkness?

I feel like people in Timbuktu, Siberia, Australia knew Aaron Rodgers was entering the darkness. So, I'm going to go with zero, just like Aaron's phone blew up. Well, probably Brian's phone blew up as well.

So, Brian on Monday says, actually, that's not what happened. It was Aaron who chose to ghost us. We got out of the off season, or after the season, and we had a good conversation.

And then, you know, we're going to have some follow-up conversations. And our inability to reach him, or for him to respond in any way, I think at that point, then we just kind of had to, I had to do my job and kind of reach out and understanding that trade could be possible. And see who was interested, but that shopping was never really part of that. We weren't shopping Aaron Rodgers. We actually tried to get in touch with him.

Conversations never transpired. Huh. So, what does that mean? That means that you had no choice but to move on? That means we had to make this very difficult decision on our own because Aaron refused to be a part of it. Hmm.

A little more information, please, Brian Gutenkust. So, I think obviously it was a disappointing season, right? And you come out of the season, you have a lot of conversations, not only with Aaron, but with the rest of the team, coaches, and everybody. And as you go through that process, you kind of get an idea of where you're going to move to, you know, as a team, how you're going to go forward. And I think I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron to see how he fit into that.

Those never transpired. So, you know, there came a time where we kind of had to make some, you know, decisions. So, we went through his representatives to try to kind of talk to them where we were going with our team.

And at that point, you know, they informed us they would like to be traded to the Jets. Huh. I mean, this is ridiculous, okay? It's just, it's ludicrous. Most importantly, it doesn't freaking matter.

Two things you have to remember. Number one, the Jets could not meet with Aaron Rodgers unless the Packers gave permission. So, don't believe what Brian says. I mean, he makes it sound like they got blindsided.

That's not the case. Rodgers wasn't, is not allowed under NFL rules to speak to another team unless that team allows him. Because he's under contract with Green Bay. He can't speak to another team.

That's tampering. I mean, it probably happens, but can't officially happen. So, when Brian indicates, oh, yeah, I like the next thing we knew, he was on his way to the Jets. No, you knew he was talking to the Jets.

The whole freaking world knew he was talking to the Jets. But I think it's a case of each side wanting the other to do the breaking up, right? Because it does affect your PR for a short news cycle. Both sides are trying to spin it, and I think neither side wanted to be the one who would be officially breaking it off. You don't want to look bad, right?

Aaron Rodgers actually would love for the Packers to look disingenuous and to look like they're dumping him after his Hall of Fame career. And as much as he tells us it's fine, it's totally fine. I'm not angry. I don't harbor any ill will. That's not true.

He thinks he doth protesteth too much. The number of times he said it's fine on his most recent interview with Pat McAfee, I mean, we were riffing on that for almost an entire show. And that's fine. We're still totally making fun of it.

It really is. It's totally fine. It's totally fine. But ultimately, it doesn't matter because they both knew the breakup was coming. Neither side wanted to step up and say, okay, that's it. I'm walking away. We're walking away.

And I get it. For the Packers, he's a Hall of Famer. He helped them win a Super Bowl. He's been part of a lot of success there in Green Bay.

It's been 18 years. He's the longest tenured Packer. What the Packers were hoping is that he would do it himself, that he would either retire or he would say, I want to go play somewhere else. So they want this to be his decision. He, however, is not going to cut them any slack. He wants it to be their decision.

So they take the PR fallout. They're moving on from me, not the other way around. But ultimately, it doesn't matter, right? Because the whole point is they're splitting. It's hard.

These types of things never, never go easily. They never leave all parties feeling validated, feeling appreciated. No, it's the opposite. It's like any relationship. And this one's lasted for nearly two decades.

Actually, for two decades, right? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. So a couple of you are telling me on social that the reporter asking Belichick the question is actually a Pats beat writer. His name is Mike Reese. He's well known. I know him. I worked with him at my previous network.

I guess I don't understand then. Why would you have to clarify to the coach of the Patriots that you're asking about the Patriots? What would you say to them to give them a reason to be optimistic for what's ahead? For the Patriots? The last 25 years?

Even a longtime beat writer, even him, even Mike Reese, if that's who it is, and I'm taking Twitter's word for it. Even then, Bill Belichick can be intimidating. For the Patriots? I would have laughed if you'd been like, for the Jets. What would you tell Patriots fans who need a reason to be optimistic for the Dolphins?

Just curious. We don't really care about your team. We're actually asking about the rest of the AFC. Or Bob Kraft's team, as he'd tell you. Oh, yeah. No, that's a badass move. Bill Belichick is in charge of my football team. Oh, step back.

It's a hit for the Patriots. It's all in good fun here, and I hope he makes fun of me the next time he has the opportunity. All right, on Twitter, on Facebook, glad to connect with you. Thank you for your suggestions about what I should do to pay back the X on the Appalachian Trail. Ooh, how about some chocolate that's got, like, I don't know, laxatives in it? That's mean. It is mean, but you're on the Appalachian Trail. There are no potties out there. Just poison ivy. I don't know which ones which.

Knowing him, I would say he probably does not. All right, I'm done. I'm done now.

I'm done. OK, coming up, part of my conversation with Rob Motti in Arizona, the most likely destination for Lamar Jackson is? After hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Forger planning a wedding is intimidating, but finding the perfect suit shouldn't be. Design your dream suit at Indochino dot com and use code podcast for 10 percent off any purchase of three ninety nine or more. That's I n d o c h i n o dot com code podcast radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Jackson will keep it on the read option. Jukes a man stumbles at the one dives in for the touchdown. Lamar Jackson extends the Ravens lead with the first rushing touchdown and the first touchdown of the game. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Will he or won't he? Will he be a raven in twenty twenty three or will Jerry Sandusky be calling touchdowns from a different QB and Lamar will be off on another roster? That is the question from Arizona. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

No, I'm not vindictive. We had a chance to catch up with Rob Motti, who is the lead NFL writer for the Associated Press. He left what was I think it was a NFL media reception of some sort to spend some time with us. This would be midnight Arizona, Arizona time. And so we were able to ask him about this bombshell that we felt all over the country. I wanted to know whether or not the Lamar Jackson trade revelation on Twitter actually had the same kind of seismic shockwaves in Arizona as it did elsewhere.

Oh, big time, Amy. Let me set the scene for you. So the seven forty five a.m. breakfast for the AFC coaches is everyone's gathered around it. Most of it like there's a ton of media around the Jets table for Robert Salah because you want to talk about Aaron Rodgers. Right. And then you start seeing people gravitating and going over towards John Harbaugh and a raven because like Lamar drops this news on social media, on Twitter, just as John sits down to speak to the media. And I don't know if it's coincidental. I don't know if it was timed on purpose, but John handled it about as professionally as can be. But that dominated that segment.

Right. It goes from Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets. And now everybody's talking about Lamar Jackson and a Baltimore Ravens. And of course, Daniel Snyder, such a hot topic, even though he's not on it on the agenda for this meeting. What did Harbaugh say, then, as you all are communicating to him this bombshell from Lamar's social media? Well, of course, you've got to say the obligatory. I didn't see the tweet. We're like, well, of course not.

It just dropped. But he said he loved Lamar. He's planning as if Lamar is going to be there.

Great player, great person, great leader. And, you know, I thought he he actually did Lamar kind of a solid because he goes, he's doing a great job handling his own negotiations, because there's been so much criticism of Lamar handling without an agent. And John Harbaugh says that he's doing a great job. And he basically said it's it's not a problem with Lamar.

It's a monetary thing. And I think we all understand where Lamar's coming from. He wants a fully guaranteed contract because he saw what the Sean Watson got last year. Now, no other team other than the Browns since has given a quarterback a fully guaranteed contract.

So this is one of those cases where you can understand both sides. Lamar sees himself as more valuable, more accomplished than Deshaun Watson, certainly without the legal trouble that Deshaun Watson was going through. Why can't I get a fully guaranteed deal? And then the Ravens look around the landscape. No one else is giving these fully guaranteed deals out.

Lamar also has been prone to injury the past two years and they haven't even reached an AFC championship with them. So there's no right or wrong. I can understand both sides. That's actually what I'm writing today.

That's great, because that's certainly going to be a topic of conversation moving forward. But just what you know of the NFL and the QB chessboard, as I call it, Rob, are there actual places where the Ravens might trade him? I really think his only option is going to end up being Baltimore. It's hard for a team to come in and want to negotiate with the non-exclusive franchise tender, knowing that more than likely they believe the Ravens will match. And if they don't, then they're giving up two first round picks. So you've got to ask yourself, are you willing to lose two first round picks, or would you rather, if you're in a position to draft a young quarterback, build around them and develop and try and win with a quarterback on a rookie contract? You saw where the Eagles got to with Jalen Hurts. You see how the Bengals and the Chargers have had success with a quarterback on a rookie contract. So I don't see a team coming in and wanting to sign Lamar and risk that possibility.

A trade could be worked out where the compensation is less than two first round picks, because if there is a trade, it doesn't necessarily have to follow signing the tag. But then you start looking at all the teams, and you go, who can fit at this point? And so many of them have ruled out Lamar.

Whether they've leaked it here, there, or somewhere else, there's teams where you go, oh, well, he could fit with the commanders today. They say we're not interested. He could fit with the Indianapolis Colts. And even though Chris Ballard today said anytime there's a great player out there, you've got to investigate all options. I've already reported that the Colts are not interested. We know that the Panthers traded up for the number one pick.

So I think Amy went all said and done. His best option is they're going to have to kiss and make up and end up back at Baltimore. Rob Motti is with us from Arizona, where we've got the NFL owners meetings taking place for a couple of days. He covers the NFL as the lead writer for the Associated Press, and it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. What else made big news? I guess it was the Aaron Rodgers lack of a trade, but what else is happening in the league? I think the news of the day in regards to Aaron Rodgers is twofold. One, it's Joe Douglas from the Jets saying that they've made progress, and then it's Packers GM Brian Gudekus saying that they may not necessarily get a first round pick, which I think most of us to this point realize you've got a guy who said he's 90% going to retire and then decided to come back at 39 years old. That's not first round pick or 13th pick overalls, what the Jets have, worthy. So I believe that they're going to have to end up on some sort of a second, a third, and maybe a conditional, Amy, to where if Aaron Rodgers leads them to a Super Bowl, then a second becomes a one next year, or if he plays X amount of years, because there's no guarantee he's going to play more than one season.

He goes year to year, so the Packers are going to have to accept some sort of conditional deal, conditional picks, but I can't see it being a first round pick for 2023 for sure. From Phoenix, AP lead NFL writer Rob Motti is with us after hours on CBS Sports Radio. You mentioned actually the commanders, Daniel Snyder, how much of a priority is this for the NFL that they can get that issue and that sale done? Yeah, I think it's a big time priority, and even though he's not on the agenda for discussion, he has been a hot topic of conversation.

Everybody wants to know what's happening with him. I will give you a little bit of news that I did report today, is that although there's been rumors and different groups that are interested in buying the commanders, it has yet to reach the point where Daniel Snyder has accepted anyone's offer and then presented that bidder to the NFL, and that would be the step. So no matter who wants to bid on buying the commanders, he's got to eventually accept an offer, then submit that bidder to the NFL for their approval. So it hasn't reached that point. So it's not in that imminent status that some thought it was as recently as a few days ago. So nothing's going to happen during these meetings. The hope is that something can get done by the May meetings in Minnesota. A couple of key pieces of intel there from Rob Motti. Number one, what the likely outcome of the Baltimore Lamar Jackson standoff could be, in his opinion, and actually my opinion too, now it's just my guesswork based on what else is taking place around the league, but considering the steep price for him because there is a franchise tag on Lamar and considering the fact that Lamar, his asking price is fairly high, I believe his best option is still to stay in Baltimore.

Can they kiss and make up? That will be the question. Lamar could sit out next season, but you know what, the Ravens could tag him again the following year.

He'd be stuck in purgatory. This is the way the CBA is set up. The teams have the option of tagging players and they don't want to lose him. I just don't know where else he would go because we know that the Colts, they're potentially thinking about Jackson, but mostly they've got a high draft pick and would like to start fresh. Then you think about the Panthers, they've already moved up, right?

The Texans are most likely to get a quarterback as well in the draft. There's not a big market. The commanders not interested.

Gosh, they're stuck in, speaking of purgatory, they're stuck there. Right now there don't seem to be any, many, there don't seem to be many options and there don't seem to be any options that are better than Baltimore in terms of compensation. Here we go. Maybe there'll be a fast one. Could you imagine the Patriots traded for Lamar Jackson? I mean, I guess the Jets, if they don't end up getting Aaron Rodgers.

But actually, speaking of that, really quickly we'll tack this on. Jets General Manager Joe Douglas says, nope, that's not a path we're walking. First of all, Lamar Jackson's a fantastic player, but where we stand is, it would be disingenuous in operating, negotiating in bad faith if we went down that path.

So right now we have our plan, we have our process and we're sticking to that. Thank you for the honesty, Joe Douglas. What he's saying is, if we tried to reach out to Lamar, it wouldn't be because we're actually interested in a deal. It would be more to get the Packers to move their feet. It would be more just to stir it up. It wouldn't be fair to the player. Thank you, Joe.

That's honesty and that is integrity and that matters. So yeah, I agree with Rob. And then the idea of the Packers, too, backing off of their compensation requests in the Rodgers trade and realizing that a first round draft pick may not be, it may not be part of the package.

They may not be able to get that for Aaron Rodgers. So good stuff. There's more with Rob Motte if you find that on our podcast After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Planning a wedding is intimidating, but finding the perfect suit shouldn't be. Design your dream suit at Indochino.com and use code PODCAST for 10 percent off any purchase of $3.99 or more.

That's I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O dot com code podcast. Second goal at the seven, Mills shotgun, Burkehead to his right. Here comes Chris Moore in motion to the right side. Mills takes the snap. Mills fakes to give.

Mills pumping. Now he scrambles out to the left. Davis looking, throwing back to the right, back of the end zone. Caught, Amendola. Touchdown. Improv play by Davis Mills to Danny Amendola.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Remember when Lovey Smith and the Houston Texans refused to lose? This is my favorite thing about the final week of the season. Lovey Smith probably knew, probably see the writing on the wall that the Texans were going to move on and hire someone else. Maybe even knew who they were targeting.

This news travels fast inside a building. And so instead of being complicit in the team's attempts to secure the overall number one draft pick, nah, the Texans win. But it wasn't just Lovey and his coaching staff, of course, the players. That's why I say all the time, you can have a front office who would really love for a team to tank or not play its best football.

Or they attempt to field a team that is far and away below the talent level of the teams that are competing in the NFL, right? But the thing that you can't measure simply by looking at someone's stats or by their analytics, you can't measure heart and effort and desire and motivation. You can't measure chip. You can't measure a chip on someone's shoulder with analytics.

How powerful a motivator is a chip on someone's shoulder? Aaron Rodgers. So the fact that those Houston Texans refused, and it wasn't just Lovey, it was the Texans on the field refused to go along with the fun narrative. Hey, we got the overall number one draft pick. No freaking way we're going to win this game.

Stick it up your butt where the sun don't shine. I love that. Love it. That's not really what I'm going to talk about for the rest of the segment, but yay for the Texans and Lovey Smith. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Mark VanderMeer on Texans Radio.

Sometimes I like to pull it from the nether reaches of my brain. D'Amico Ryans is all the rage. He is the coach that many analysts and insiders and I would say even other teams around the league are looking at as one who is going to immediately have an impact and potentially whip the Texans into shape. Now they have been circling the mountain for several years now. I'm going to say it really started the beginning of the end or the beginning of the implosion of the Houston Texans started, at least publicly, when Bill O'Brien, remember him, traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for a water bottle and a pair of socks.

That was it. He traded away DeAndre. Not long after that, now at that point if Deshaun Watson didn't already know that the Texans were a sinking ship, he figured it out. They traded away his top wide receiver. I will tell you the story of how I ran into the two of them at a hotel in Atlanta during Super Bowl week. Their conversations were funny.

Anyway, this is not really part of the story. They were BFFs. They were real close. So they trade away DeAndre Hopkins. Not long after that, well the season turns, I mean it wasn't abysmal, but it wasn't great. And Bill O'Brien had lost the faith of his club.

They get to that offseason. Bill O'Brien's gone. Deshaun Watson wants input into the new coach and the new general manager. He claims that the team ignored his input, at least for the GM. They tried to oblige him with the coach, kind of. But he was already determined that he was on his way out.

Just took a really long time. So he requests a trade. They pay him for an entire season to just sit there and do nothing. He was inactive. He was playing Tiddlywinks. He was playing Angry Birds on his phone. Oh no, you can't have your phones on the sidelines.

He was, whatever he was doing, he was not playing. They were paying him. So then they finally find a trade partner.

They wait, they wait, they wait until they get what they want. They get a trade partner. He's gone to Cleveland. And they make David Cully the sacrificial lamb, right, for that season. Then they hire a guy off David's staff.

Oh my gosh. Lovey Smith, who's an experienced head coach and has a track record in the NFL. He's very well respected. He takes the job. He may have known as well that it was likely they weren't going to give him more than one year. But good for him. Had a chance to be a head coach again.

The guys played hard for both David and Lovey. So now here we are. Is this the start of an uptick for the Texans? Can they become relevant again in the AFC South, which belongs to the Jaguars now? I just love how things turn over so quickly in the NFL. I mean, that division was up for grabs.

The AFC South and the NFC South were just pitiful last season. No matter what happens, that's your response. Good. Good. And the Jaguars end up making this incredible turnaround in the second half.

You know this. So now they are the team to beat in the AFC South. But can D'Amico Ryans bring legitimacy, credibility, equity? He's very highly thought of in the NFL with both current players, especially those who either played for him, say in San Francisco, or have seen what the San Francisco defense has been able to accomplish with him on the staff. Or they just know him from his time in the league, and he's got a reputation that precedes him. Very well thought of. I think there's a lot of eyeballs on him, but he's up for the challenge.

He's got a personality that would indicate he's definitely up for the challenge. So the questions for him at the league meetings, owners meetings, whatever you want to call them, the owners are the league. Why weren't you, welcome to being a head coach, D'Amico Ryans. Why weren't you present at the Alabama and OSU Pro Days when C.J.

Strad and Bryce Young were working out, coach? At the Pro Days, we had guys who were there. We had our scouts who were on the roads, guys who were there that we trust. We've watched our guys on film, guys that we've evaluated all of our guys, all of the linebackers, the linemen. So we're watching all the players. So not going to the Pro Days is not a knock.

We had guys who were there. All right. So far, so good. One for one. Just keep it even, Keel.

Take it all in stride. You're going to get a lot of stupid questions over the course of your tenure as the head coach of the Houston, Texas. Not stupid, but also not super pertinent, right?

For the Patriots. Just out of curiosity, when I say pandemic communications, what's the first thing that comes to your mind, Jay? Horrendous audio.

Well, OK. That's for you and I in the business. What did everyone use to communicate during the pandemic? Zoom.

Zoom. Exactly. So now you mean to tell me that all of a sudden you have to show up?

No video, audio. You can be there without being there. So, yes, D'Amico Rhines, welcome to being a head coach where the standards are just different. He was also asked about C.J. Strad and Bryce Young because the Texans do select number two overall in the draft. Two good players.

Two good quality quarterbacks. We'll see what happens in the draft. Do you have top 30 visits with them coming up?

Yes, we do have. We have business schedule with those guys as well. I'm excited to see what D'Amico does in Houston. I think it'll be fun.

One of the fresh stories coming up in 2023. Oh, man. As Belichick told us. Sorry, Belichick, Bill. As Bill told us, it's March. We don't play until September.

How? It's like he was trying to drive a stake in our hearts. It's March, you doofuses.

Easy killer. We don't play until September. I mean, did you have to remind us so harshly? I really can't control that. It feels a little bit like August when we get Belichick, when we get a spat between the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, that feels like it's been going on for quite a while now, too.

Day five. What? Mike Tomlin makes me happy and instead you're giving me snarky Bill Belichick. No, we like Bill Belichick, too. It's just it feels more like we're close to the season when Belichick trots out the, you know, the grimace and the stare and the twenty five years.

I just love Pat P. I just love Pat P. All right. That was fun. We're going to talk about football and how vindictive I am about an ex-boyfriend who thinks I'm going to show up with supplies on the Appalachian Trail. Have a great Tuesday. It's after hours.

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