5-2-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Imagine you're looking at a balancing scale, with everything you do for other people on one side, and everything you do for yourself on the other side. If it isn't balanced, maybe it's time to spend a little more time on you. And therapy is a great place to start. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can help you find that balance and stick to it. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Ah, hammock. Check. Arnold Palmer.

Check. Motorized solar shades. Yes, please. Get your home and patio spring ready with brand new custom window coverings from Blinds.com. Blinds.com is the easiest way to upgrade your home with custom window treatments. You can even stay in the hammock while Blinds.com handles the install. Just click Installation at checkout and relax while we do the work for you. No matter how many window treatments you order, installation is always one low cost.

Need help choosing? Talk to a Blinds.com design expert for free to help you make the best selection from classic shutters to outdoor roller shades and more. With over 25 million windows covered, you can rest easy with Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. See why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings with over 40,000 five star reviews. Shop Blinds.com and save 45% off selected products.

45% off selected products at Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. Halfway through the second show of the work week, it's a Monday night into a Tuesday morning. We are early in May, which blows me away to keep saying that we're early in May, but it's true. April went by in a blur and it always does. April's the second busiest month of the year on the sports calendar. I thought it would be a really good idea to teach my first ever class at the university level in April. OK. And then why not train for a half marathon while you're at it?

Sure. That's what's coming up this Sunday is a half marathon. And I'm telling you, the rain all weekend in my neighborhood really fouled my schedule. I because I believe at times that I am a superwoman.

No, I don't. But I had this grand idea that after I taught class on Monday evening, I would go run for two hours. Because that's my long my longest training run before the half marathon is a two hour run.

And I didn't get it in over the weekend because it poured all weekend in my neighborhood in New Jersey. So in my somewhat warped brain of, well, in my somewhat warped ideas of how much energy I would have, I thought I would get done with the class and go watch hoops and hockey while I was on the treadmill at my Syracuse hotel. Except as I'm walking back to the hotel, my stomach is growling like nobody's business. And I can't eat before I run because then, well, that's not going to work.

I would throw up or something along those lines. But also I don't have the energy. I only slept two hours on Monday morning before getting up and driving to Syracuse.

And then I had meetings and then I had the class and had to do show prep and yada, yada, yada. And so I didn't do it. I didn't run, which now means Tuesday afternoon. I have no choice.

So I will kind of do the reverse. Sleep a couple hours here in Syracuse when the show is done. Drive back to Jersey, take care of Penny and Sugar and then put on my running sneaks and head out. No more excuses because the half marathon is staring me in the face. But producer J, the next time I decide or I think it's a good idea, maybe I'm contemplating a half marathon in early May.

Will you remind me of what a bad idea that is? Noted. Noted. Noted. But except I did it last year and it actually wasn't it was fine.

I think the class and the driving and the being gone for the first two days of every week, it just it's a little bit too much. I might have finally reached the point where I just can't juggle at all. It's hard for me to admit. I think you crushed the one in May last year.

Last year I did actually. It was perfect weather. It was a perfect weather Sunday morning and it was cool enough that you didn't get overheated.

There was no humidity. I'm a little bit nervous about this upcoming Sunday because as we've had the weather lately in the New York City area, it's been cold. It's been rainy. I'm praying now for a day that is worthy of a run of 13.1 miles.

My next door neighbor actually did a half marathon in the rain this past weekend. No, I'm not that hardy. I would have bowed out. Keep my money. I'm not running in the rain like that.

So maybe I'm not as hardcore as I think I am. But yeah, it might have gotten to the point where I'm overloaded for April. However, I wouldn't trade any of the experiences going to the Grand Canyon. I still haven't written my blog post, but I'm going to with the photos hiking the Grand Canyon, seeing my my Grammys kids. So my aunt and uncle in Arizona teaching my first ever university class and just couldn't be happier with how it went. And the training for the half marathon was coming along well until the monsoon over the weekend.

And then, of course, there's work. You know, this this radio show here that we've got. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Oh, one of my students. In recording his talk show segment, which was their final project for Monday night, recorded a talk show segment, and they were allowed to create their own show or pick an outlet. It didn't matter to me. A couple of the students picked local radio stations in their home markets where they're from.

One from St. Louis, one from New York. One student actually chose CBS Sports Radio as his outlet, as though he was hosting a show on CBS Sports Radio. I immediately wrote down in my book, extra credit, extra credit, extra credit. So how about that?

It might have been on purpose just to kiss my butt, but it totally worked. What did you say, Jay? That smart guy. Smart guy. Yes, very smart guy. So it's after hours with Amy Lawrence from Syracuse.

Last show of the three in a row. My thanks again to Newhouse and to the campus for allowing me to be here and give me access. I first got banned by the firewall, but now they've given me access. They've given me a key to the building. I don't know that they should trust me that much, but they did.

And the shows have been a lot of fun to be here and to allow some students to come hang out with us. There's one still remaining. Hint, hint. It's the guy who ate seven oatmeal caramel chewy bars just a few hours ago.

He's still on a sugar high. Seven. What were you thinking?

I have no idea. I should have cut you off. Yeah, they were so. Oh, no.

Come close to the mic. Tell people how good they were. They were they were some of the best cookies I've ever had. And that's that's no joke.

I'm not like that is no joke. That was they were legit. They were legit. And I just wanted to keep eating them. I just wanted to keep eating them. And then before you knew it, it was seven. And yeah, before you knew it, it was seven. I'm not sure Mark had eaten for the last week, judging by the way he attacked the oatmeal.

I don't try any of them away. Yeah, no, I did not pay him for that endorsement either. That was completely authentic. Seven of them he ate. Anyway, speaking of seven, we had a game seven on Monday. We had three on Sunday.

Actually, that was the main topic of conversation in class two. Just the entertaining game sevens that we've had to this point. We did not get a game seven with Lakers and Grizzlies.

We did, though, with the Kings and the Warriors. And after the first round is done, we are now on a collision course in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Rebound Vanderbilt volleyball to Russell. Three pointer.

What a night. D'Angelo Russell has a new playoff career high. Twenty eight points. And Michael, we're halfway through the third quarter. Here is LeBron's three pointer.

Of course, it's good. One hundred to sixty four on Murray takes a quick three. It's up a good carry.

Knocked it down. He's got forty three. Gray might get the bounce back to Curry, takes a three and hits it with the buzzer sounding.

Are you kidding me? Curry will bring it up. Curry drives, scores.

He's got fifty. A fifty point playoff game for Stephen Curry in a game seven. We get the Lakers perspective in what was a walkover in game six against the Grizzlies, and I just find it so ironic that they beat the Grizzlies handily by forty after Dylan Brooks said, well, I'm not going to be impressed, including you, LeBron James. I don't care. He's old.

Unless you drop forty. So it was a collective forty that got dropped right on the head of the Memphis Grizzlies and the head of the snake being Dylan Brooks. So the Lakers. Yeah, the Lakers have this newly rebuilt lineup from the trade deadline. It took them a while to find their rhythm and groove and I think to find the rotation that worked for them. That was a winning formula.

But in addition, they'd also lost LeBron James about the same time. He, like Bryce Harper, came back far more quickly than what was anticipated with his foot injury. Thanks to Magic Beans. No, no, no.

Think not drugs either. Thanks to a doctor that he called the LeBron James of feet. And so he is back in the lineup. And while he's had some, I would say some up and down moments here in the postseason, the Lakers as a whole have only lost four of their last 18 games. So they survived through the play in tournament. They get to the second round.

And who's waiting but a familiar nemesis. LeBron James against the Warriors, and I don't want to say just Steph Curry because that's not fair. LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers ran into those Warriors four consecutive times in the NBA finals.

Remember 15, 17, 18. Those were Warriors wins. But in 16, it was the Cavs and LeBron who had the last laugh rallying from the 1-3 deficit to beat the Warriors in Game 7. Lakers also, well Lakers, I shouldn't say Lakers also, sorry. That was the Cavs.

LeBron moved on to the Lakers, as you know, and he and the Lakers were able to get past the Warriors in the play in tournament going back to 21. So they have plenty of familiarity. Normally, I would say familiarity breeds contempt, but not in this case. In this case, there is a respect. They know each other well, of course, and it's not usually LeBron versus Steph Curry. But the fact that we get to see these two greats and other future Hall of Famers on the court together is high profile.

Right? You've got LeBron James, Anthony Davis in one quarter, but then you've got Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and also Draymond Green. There's a bit of a nemesis, a bit of the acrimony. I think LeBron and Dray, again, respect each other, but it's different. You're not going to hear LeBron gushing about Draymond Green. You're not a champ. You're a clown.

But actually that's not accurate, right? Because the Lakers did win the title in 2020. LeBron will gush about Steph Curry. Everybody's gushing about Steph Curry after he sets a record for the most points ever in a Game 7. You hear it with Tim Roy on Warriors Radio. Before that, John Ireland on Lakers Radio.

Yeah, these two guys, before they go toe to toe and belly to belly, wouldn't that be fun? They have plenty of generous comments and generous memories about the other. Puts in the work. You know, when you put in the work, nine times out of ten, you're going to see results. And he's done that throughout his whole entire career. And I had nothing but the utmost respect for Steph and everything he's been able to accomplish, not only on the floor, but also off the floor, too. It's great to have people like that in this league that can set an example for the generation to come.

He puts in the work. Obviously has the rings along with the Warriors, and they've been the team of the last decade. We used the stat on last night's show. 100 playoff wins in the last decade. 100 playoff wins, not just playoff games.

That alone would be impressive. But then think about the hardware in this series with the Warriors core, the four titles. But LeBron James, also a four time champ, a four time finals MVP, a four time regular season MVP. And what happened this year? He ascended to the top of the mountain as the NBA's all time leading scorer.

He's still extremely competitive. We know that he had a game winning shot or game shoot. Did it send the game to overtime? No, it was a game winning shot earlier in the Grizzlies series or game tying shot.

It was a game tying shot, but he was the one taking it at the end, driving to the hoop. All of the history that LeBron James has, both with Cleveland, with L.A., even with Miami, of course, because that's where he won his first rings. That will all be on display.

Just be prepared to have it in your face. And then the Warriors and their dominance over the last decade. It's going to be one of those series where.

The history, the perspective, the star power, it is on display and it is milked as much as possible. But I'm here for it because this is fun. Yeah, we've had it a few times before in the past.

We may not have it again. We don't know how much longer LeBron James will be in the league, though he says he wants to play with his son. But the perfect storm again to get these guys, these superstars on the court for a playoff series.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Again, it's not just LeBron versus Steph. He's extremely familiar with that Warriors core, with the Warriors coaching staff.

Yeah, LeBron, he could write a book on the Warriors in the postseason. It's great to be a part of the postseason when you play such a superior team. You know, I don't take these moments for granted, playing against some of the best basketball players ever played the game.

It should be extremely fun. Happy that, you know, we have punched our clock to second round. From the Warriors perspective. The way that these these playoffs are are are unfolding. I think it's critical that they have the home court advantage now because the Lakers took out the Grizzlies took out the two seed. Now the Warriors have the home court. And yes, they have shown us a different side. Well, they've shown us the championship side with the last two road wins in Sacramento.

They deserve credit for that. I still have far more faith in them at Chase Center, though. I guess they got blown out in Game 6 in the Sacramento series, so it's all been completely turned upside down. Going into Game 7, what do we say about the Warriors? The wisdom, the experience.

They are impervious to pressure. There is no situation that you can put these Warriors in where the leadership and that includes the coaching staff. The coaching staff, Draymond Green, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, even Andrew Wiggins. Now Andre Iguodala as really a coach on the bench. These guys have seen everything there is to see in the NBA postseason.

They've run the gamut. And so that that kind of cache of intel and information confidence that you can fall back on all of that comes into play in a series now. And of course, when you need him to, Steph Curry can hype the team.

He can get them fired up because of what he can do with that pumpkin in his hands. He delivered such a powerful message. It was incredible. It was, listen, we just got embarrassed last night. We got embarrassed on our home floor with an opportunity to close out a team.

And we never showed up. He said, if you're getting on this bus, you're making a commitment to this team. I don't care how many minutes you play. I don't care if you don't play a single second.

I don't care if it's points, rebounds, whatever it is. But if you're getting on this bus, you are saying I am going to do whatever it takes as far as my preparation goals to win this game. We're not going out like that. Like we went out game six. We're not going out like that. We have an opportunity to play in game seven.

They rarely don't come around. Take advantage of the moment, embrace the moment. And he went a little further in. But it was such an incredible speech. And when he finished, he said, anybody else got something? Nah, champ. It's enough said.

You said it all. When he delivered that speech, I can't say I knew he was going to come out and get 50. But I knew he was going to come out and do something incredible. And I knew there was no way he was going to allow us to lose that game.

Draymond Green on his own show, The Draymond Green Show. Not only did Steph deliver the 50 and keep the team ahead of the Kings, 30 of those coming in the second half. And as we talked about to start the week, it didn't matter what he did in the lane. The Kings couldn't stop it.

I'm pretty certain that they were caught watching a few times. The Kings had no answers to Steph Curry in the paint. He'd never had 22 points in the paint before game seven in Sacramento. But as it turns out, even before he hyped up the Warriors and the league, its fans with his cool 50 in game seven on Sunday.

He rallied the troops in the locker room. Don't even get on the bus. If you're not prepared to show that championship heart and metal, we are not going out like that.

We are not going out like that. The Warriors don't have a massive experience edge over the Lakers. Now, of course, there are members of the Lakers who have not been in this situation before.

But with LeBron James, with Anthony Davis, recent champions, veterans in the league, D'Angelo Russell actually used to be a member of the Warriors. This is it's going to be a fun matchup, to be sure, because the star power. But there's also some intriguing matchups in terms of how they play D. We know that Draymond and LeBron will likely be matched up for a good portion of it. And so there's the potential for fireworks.

Who doesn't want that? Raise your hand if you want to see a little Dray versus LeBron again. Not that we want a suspension in the NBA finals, but yeah, Dray and LeBron, they go way, way back. I don't know that it's always pleasantries, but they have a history. Stop trying to turn the page on us so fast.

Stop trying to turn the page on Bron so fast. We get so caught up in what's the next thing that we don't appreciate the current. And then you get to the next thing and looking back like, man, I wish we still had that. I wish we could still see this.

So for me and our guys, we're going to appreciate this every step of the way. There's more. There's more, of course, because Draymond Green has a lot to say. You know that every now and then someone will ask me as part of asking me anything. What current athlete or former athlete would you love to host a show with or who would you love to serve as your co-host?

I've answered Draymond Green multiple times. That would be highly entertaining. Now, the thing is, I probably wouldn't get a word in edgewise. However, I would be there for it. And that would be some entertaining banter because I would know exactly how to set him up. I feel after all these years of covering Dray, I have a pretty good idea of what makes him tick and how to press his buttons. That would be a lot of fun.

So, yes, there's more. But we're getting close to the start of this series between the Warriors and the Lakers. If you're wondering about the schedule coming up on Tuesday evening, that's the second game. We get Game 2 between the Knicks and the Heat at Madison Square Garden, also on Tuesday as part of a doubleheader. The NBA schedule is strange moving forward.

You know, we complain about it every year and I'm not done complaining about it. It's just, it's odd the way that the NBA divvies this up. And so you've got these weird gaps in between some of the games, some of the series. They have a longer stretch in between games 1 and 2 that another series in their same conference will have between 1, 2, and 3. It's a little bit weird. Can't really keep up.

I have to check it every day. But, yes, we do have Knicks and Heat, Game 2, followed by the start of Warriors and Lakers. And there's more to get you set for, let's be fair, a high-profile series that the NBA is going to milk for every ounce of hype it possibly can. On Twitter, A Law Radio, our Facebook page, too. I didn't have a lot of time to be on social media on Monday, but Producer J tells me you all were still sending your answers to the most improbable, unlikely playoff upsets of all time. Also, got a pretty May photo. You know, me and the flowers. This one was actually, well, it was my neighbor's.

It wasn't mine. But it captivated my attention as I was walking Penny on Monday morning, so check it out on either of our social media sites. Ooh, it's May, you guys. It's May. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Better flights, fewer points. Follow This Little Light, a presentation of Cadence 13, on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Donate today at your local CSL Plasma Center and be rewarded for your generosity. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. It appeared to me like he just. I said stomped in the end until I see a replay. I'm going to stick with half for the moment.

But the bonus is still down. My leg got grabbed second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I got to land my foot somewhere. I'm not the most flexible person, so it's not stretching that far. So you didn't really see where you were stepping? I can only step so far and pulling my leg away. So here's what it is. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

OK, it's still funny to me. It was theater of the sublime in the first round series between the Kings and the Warriors. We know what Draymond Green is capable of. He gets fired up.

He lives right there on the edge with all of the heart and soul and the spirit and the fire and the intensity and the sense of urgency. But what did Steve Kerr tell us? With all of those incredible qualities that Draymond has. All the qualities that we need as a Warriors roster, we would not have any rings without Draymond Green when he gets to that point where he's gone over the edge. There's nothing you can do.

There's nothing you can do. And so in that moment, in Game 2, you hear the call there on the Kings Radio Network with Gary Gerald. The Warriors just had to let him dance around and yell at the crowd and all of the ways that he was being Draymond Green, Draymond being Draymond. There was nothing the Warriors could do. They find out it's a flagrant 2. He gets ejected. And because of his track record, because of his rep, because of his rap sheet, he also gets suspended for Game 3.

I will say this. Draymond, in his wisdom, and I would say in his basketball acumen, recognized the Warriors were playing extremely well. It was his suggestion to come off the bench when he returned to the Warriors lineup and also was a turning point for Golden State in that series.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Draymond, now that the Sacramento Series is in the rearview mirror, is busy on his podcast giving us his version of the story. And you may have seen this, maybe you didn't, but Draymond... Well, the Warriors-Kings series, when it was done, theoretically there should be handshakes and there should be attaboys and congratulations and good luck moving forward.

You want to see a little sportsmanship. Well, apparently that's not what Draymond got from Demont to Sabonis. Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don't shake guys' hands after you lose.

I don't respect that. I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and I went to my locker room and I sat down and I said, This don't feel right. And I walked back out on the court and I showed everybody love. You lost.

Deal with it. Pay your respect. That was whack to me. That's whack.

But I wouldn't necessarily even say lost respect, but I don't respect that and that's whack. That's Draymond on the Draymond Green show, aptly titled. I actually didn't know that about that Cavs series where he went to the locker room and then came back out because he felt like that was wrong.

Good move. I'd never heard that before. Producer Jade, you heard that before?

I had not heard that before. That's a nugget that will stick with me. Say what you will about Draymond Green and there's plenty to say. He enjoys being an instigator. He likes to get under the skin of his opponents and he's really good at it. But he's also the spirit of the Warriors and he's their best defender.

They do not operate as well without him. He's tough. He's tenacious and you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life about Draymond Green. You can't take that heart, that soul, that intensity out of him and expect him to be the same player.

But of course, at times it goes too far. It carries him over the edge. But most people who know him would tell you that off the basketball court, he's a real good guy. I love seeing him with his kids. Smiles a lot. Of course, he yaps. He's fearless.

He doesn't seem to have a V chip at all. Highly entertaining. Will make a great analyst when he's done.

He's already dabbled in some of that with TNT. Never backs down from a fight. I mean, he's the guy you want in a foxhole with you. But if he's on the other side, he's wearing a different uniform. Well, then it can get a little tiresome.

Demont is a bonus about Draymond Green. I mean, I don't know, you know, after the game, you know, they I mean, I don't even know how to respond. You don't know how to respond? Huh?

What does that mean? After the game, I walked off the court without shaking hands. After the game, I couldn't stand the sight of Draymond Green. After the game, I was in a really bad mood. So I didn't want to talk to anyone. After the game, I had to use the bathroom.

So I left right away. What? Nothing? I feel like he could have come up with something better than that. That was whack to me. I need to hear it again. Maybe I'm missing something.

Can I read between the lines with Demont is a bonus? I mean, I don't know, you know, after the game, you know, they I mean, I don't even know how to respond. Maybe that's why he didn't stick around the court because he didn't know what to say. He was at a loss for words. Huh? That's interesting.

I kind of have to side with Draymond on this one. And the fact that Demont is doesn't have an excuse like I needed to use the restroom. I was parched. I couldn't say anything. I was tearful.

My mom was calling. I don't know something. If that's the best you can do, I got to say that's weak, man. You're a clown. I did not say that.

I just said a little bit weak. If you're going to walk off the court, own it. If you're not going to shake hands with your opponents, fine. It's not the first time.

It won't be the last time it's ever been done in NBA history. But own it. Tell me why.

Because you hate him. Say that. That would go viral. Jay, what do you think? Bathroom?

Bathroom break maybe? No, I think he was just honestly upset and handling it like a sore loser and got called out on it and doesn't know what to say because he knows he's wrong. Maybe say that. I'm a sore loser. Who was it not that long ago who told us that he was at Cam Newton? It might have been Cam Newton who said something about being a sore loser. Hell yeah, I'm a sore loser. I hate to lose.

Maybe it was Cam. It wasn't that long ago where we had an athlete who kind of admitted that he hates to lose and that, yes, in fact, he is a sore loser. Just say that. But to give me a uh, uh, uh, eh, eh. Come on, man.

Tell me how these randoms keep getting times. I'm a sore loser about that, too. Well, chalk one up for Draymond and this is what happens. If you don't beat them, you have to hear him yap. If you don't beat the Warriors, well, then you can't say a whole lot. If you don't want to hear Draymond yap, if you don't want to hear him clap back and use his radio show and his podcast to call you out. Well, then I guess you need to win a game seven on your own court.

But they are the toughest out in sports right now. All right. Find me on Twitter.

A-LOL radio. I think I'm out of coffee. I'm going to be I'm going to be fine, Jay. It's going to be totally fine. So so speaking of totally fine and people who are totally fine. Jay's not totally fine. Aaron Rodgers is totally fine. Robert Sala is I mean, he's above he's way better than fine.

He's above the earth right now floating on a cloud. A little bit of football in the wake of the NFL draft. Never too late to talk about the NFL. Totally fine. It's totally fine. I'm not totally fine. Actually, I'm more fine than Jay is fine.

Jay is not fine. And that's for reals. And that's totally fine. Surgeons keep our hearts beating. They do the amazing help save lives.

And so can you. Your CSL plasma donation can help create 24 critical life saving medicines that can give grandpa the chance for his heart to swell when he meets his new grandson or give a bride the chance for her heart to skip a beat on her wedding day. Every plasma donation helps more than you know. Do the amazing help save lives.

Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. I just want to say I'm as hungry as you guys are. I know it's been a long time since we've been in the playoffs. Even longer time since we've been in the Super Bowl. But I promise you I'm as hungry as you guys are and I'm excited to meet you all and to be a part of something special this year. So come along for the ride.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Wow. Already a very strong message to I will say Packers fans.

It's going to take a minute. It is going to take a minute to Jets fans from new quarterback Aaron Rodgers. And this happened right before the draft, of course. And we did find out from Robert Sala, head coach of the Jets, that Rodgers would be sticking around for OTAs. Rodgers himself, sunshine, roses, smiles, a haircut, all kinds of positive energy.

You know, he's big into positive energy. And here he is starting fresh with the New York Jets. And it reminds me, I don't know how the rest of the season will go.

OK, I have no idea if it's going to follow the same pattern. But it does remind me of the excessive hype and joy and jubilance and excitement around the Broncos. This time last year, when Russell Wilson had not only been traded from Seattle to Denver, but they were also welcoming new owners and then ultimately gave Russ a huge contract. They couldn't have been more excited in Broncos OTAs and then training camp for the Russell Wilson era or for the impact of Russ on their offense. Now, a combination of a bunch of different wheels falling off the falling off the wagon.

Right. A bunch of different factors that played into what was an historically bad offense last year for Denver. I can't imagine that happens with the Jets as well. They've got a lot of good pieces around Aaron Rodgers.

And even though last year was not an MVP season and he was off in a bunch of different categories, his QB rating really underscoring the fact that it was not a great year for him. The Jets, they feel like they have pieces around him. What they need is the leadership and the experience. And of course, a guy who can still sling it as a future Hall of Famer.

And Robert Sala may not stop grinning from now until the cows come home. Just being in meetings and his presence in meetings and all that stuff, you know, he's worse. We're really, really young team, especially on offense. And they have his just to watch him and Nathaniel work together and the way they communicate together. And, you know, he's already made his presence felt with regards to meetings and input and just the communication and the discussions on all the different things that we're trying to get accomplished on offense. So, you know, he is a tremendous human, first and foremost, Aaron is. And, you know, just listening, there's little subtle things I'm not going to get into, but he definitely cares about people.

And you can tell him the way he speaks to people. And so really, really fortunate that he's here. It's a love fest with Aaron Rodgers, until it's not. And maybe it continues all the way through OTA's training camp pre-season, the actual regular season.

The Jets, maybe they make the playoffs and this love fest never ends. But I got to be honest, right away, hearing Robert Sala, what triggers in my brain is a comment that I made a bit snarky, but you know me, I remain fairly irreverent about Robert and his rookie quarterback two seasons ago, Zach Wilson, who is still on the roster. I used to say, find someone in your life who loves you as much as Robert Sala loves Zach Wilson. Now Zach and Aaron are not the same, obvi, but it is sort of funny and cute. And I'm glad they're all happy that now Robert is gushing about a different quarterback in the room. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio and yes, he is absolutely gushing, he's absolutely grinning, he's absolutely going to be kissing the feet of one Aaron Rodgers. Totally funny. Totally funny.

Okay, not literally kissing the feet of Aaron Rodgers, but it is kind of funny the way that the Jets were willing to bend over backward and do anything and everything that they thought would attract Aaron and make Aaron more comfortable and indicate to Aaron that they were serious about winning with him as their quarterback. I'm interested. I'm intrigued. And I guess at this point in the season, well season haha, in this point in the calendar in early May, that's the most you can hope for. There's a lot of buzz coming out of Florham Park with the New York Jets. By the way, the NFL will release its schedule on or about May 11th because we can't go more than three weeks without a major event on the NFL calendar. I'm pretty confident that soon after that we'll have more owners meetings or GM meetings.

When last we left the Packers, Brian Gooden-Kunst was telling us how Aaron Rodgers never returned their phone calls. Forget the draft, it was more about the exit of Aaron, but now post draft without Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback. Matt LaFleur, how you feeling? We got a lot of new pieces to work with, which is always exciting. 13 new draft picks. We're adding a bunch of undrafted free agents, so it's always exciting to see new faces and have new pieces to work with. Not only am I related to a bunch of Packers fans, but I've heard from many Packers fans on social media since the trade, and it doesn't seem as though there are very many who are sad or upset or remorseful about the fact that the Aaron Rodgers era has ended.

Now, they may change their tune. After back-to-back Hall of Fame QBs, I would say the Packers fans are relatively spoiled at that position. Yeah, there have been a couple of years here or there where Aaron was injured, couldn't play the whole time, but remember there were also runs to the NFC Championship.

There were 13 and 3 records. Well, there were at least 13 win seasons, 3 consecutive years. Packers fans have been spoiled, so be careful what you wish for. Still, I am interested to see how it works out with Jordan Love, and they had to make this move because they needed to be sure that Jordan is the guy they want to ride with moving forward. They've never seen him, other than snippets here and there, they've never seen him as the sole quarterback, the QB-1 of this offense. There was always going to be an Aaron Rodgers shadow, even going back to the game he missed during COVID.

There was always going to be that element to it. It was never going to be Jordan's team until Aaron was gone. And so now we've got a new situation.

Do we have time really quickly for DeAndre Hopkins, Producer J? All the talk about whether or not DeAndre would get traded by the Arizona Cardinals, and then we find out on draft night that he's not going to get traded, and turns out that's not even what he wants. I see everybody telling me to stay. Who said I wanted to go? Who said I wanted to leave? I'm out here working, baby. Who said I wanted to leave? I feel like I've lost count of the number of interviews he's done with people, leading us all on to believe that he might be interested in going to the Bills or some other team out there. But according to his own Instagram, he is staying in Arizona, and he's ready to go. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio.