After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Walk the dogs, school drop-off, meetings from 10 to 3, take kids to soccer, then no time left for a jog. When everyone else is relying on you, it's easy to put your needs last. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online so you can show up for yourself the way you do for others. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash positive. T-Mobile's network can help keep you connected to all your favorite podcasts when you're out and about. Whether you're an early bird looking to dive into a daily news podcast or a night owl who wants to catch up on the latest reality TV drama, T-Mobile will keep you connected on their strong and reliable network. T-Mobile covers more highway miles with 5G than anyone, so if you need great coverage, especially when you're on the go, check out T-Mobile.

Find out more at T-Mobile.com slash C-Y. That's S-E-E-W-H-Y. Tatum will back it out on the right side. It's been his day. Tatum. He's earned a pull-up three if he wants it. He takes it and drills it. He's got 42. Celtics lead 99-76. He's trying to get his ball to Tatum.

He does. Tatum. Right corner against Embiid. Tatum for a 50 piece.

And you know what? He showed it. He showed you 50. A game 750 for Jason Tatum. Sean Grandy, Cedric Maxwell on Celtics radio.

Man, what a performance for the ages. Most points ever in an NBA playoffs game seven, surpassing Steph Curry from just two weeks ago. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio on Twitter, ALaw Radio. What to do about the 76ers now and also on our Facebook page.

Always glad to connect with you as we launch forward into a new week. We are nearly down to the Final Four in both hoops and hockey. Just one more NHL team to join the conference finals. In the NBA, we are set in the west. Lakers and Nuggets in the east. It's the Celtics and it's the Miami Heat rematch.

Actually, both rematches of 2020 in the bubble. We are pleased to welcome Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald. Long day for him, but a lot to write about. Never a dull moment when it comes to the NBA and certainly not the Celtics in the roller coaster ride of the last year.

But let's start with the obvious, Steve. What the heck happened in Boston on Sunday afternoon? Jason Tatum happened.

That's kind of what happened, right? It was epic. It was historic. It was dominant.

He was just unstoppable. And you kind of, you could kind of see it in the early going, like coming off that game seven, the game six game in Philly. He obviously hit those four threes at the end to sort of will them to win.

And I think that's sort of the momentum carried over to today for sure. He seemed relaxed. He spoke about this today after the game, just how he was a little too locked in in game six. And that's what sort of led to his shooting woes to start that game. And he came in today just super relaxed.

He just kind of came back to his roots. He was having fun and he was aggressive starting the game. He was attacking the basket. He was getting to the free throw line. And I think that momentum just kept building. And then sort of he unleashed in that third quarter.

He started getting into that rhythm. The defense was spectacular. They held the six or 10 points in the third quarter, which is just insane.

And Missoula talks about it all the time. The defense sort of translates into offense when they get into transition and get into easy baskets. And Tatum was sort of the beneficiary today. And he just got into one of those zones and they pulled the doors off of the Sixers. It was it was certainly a sight to see.

You know, it's interesting, Steve. I was thinking back to the end of their last game in Boston, which would have been game five when Tatum was talking about hearing boos from the crowd at the Garden and the complete and total 180 that's done in the few days between the end of that game and the end of game seven in the series. And he's hearing MVP chants, but cheers throughout the game. I've never heard the Garden like that in my time covering the Celtics the last decade or so.

I've been covering the scene. I've been to a lot of Celtics playoff games in the last 5, 10 years. And I've never quite heard it like today. But you're a total 180 from Tuesday when the energy was just sort of flat to start the game. And the Celtics never really gave the fans really a reason to get into the game. And their efforts sort of warranted that pooing.

And then just from right from the tip off, like the energy was just through the roof. And Tatum gave them every reason to get those MVP chants in those cheers all afternoon. Most points ever in an NBA playoff game seven, which is phenomenal. About the crowd, how much do you think that has to do with Jalen Brown exhorting the crowd or calling out the crowd after game number six?

He specifically said he was going to call out Celtics fans. Yeah, I think that did have a factor. Even like before the game started, I get into my seat maybe like 20, 25 minutes before tip off usually. And I could just kind of tell walking to my seat like, oh, this kind of feels different today. And they were showing players on the jumbotron and they showed Tatum and the place would erupt. And this is like 20 minutes for the intros and the national anthem and everything. People are just so locked in and sort of juiced up for the game. And they're doing a countdown to tip off and actually show the video of Jalen from after game six saying the energy in the garden has been okay at best and we need the garden to be rocking tonight. And that turned the dial up to with the crowd when they saw that. And it was warranted.

What Jalen said was totally right. The energy has been low to start the playoffs in game five. Like I said, I get to my seat before tip off and there were a lot of empty seats in there.

Yeah, it was sort of a late arriving crowd because of that Tuesday. And the energy just kind of wasn't there. The vibes were just a little off.

I can't really put my finger on sort of why. It's just kind of something that happens, I guess, in the course of these playoff runs. And I don't know if the fans sort of get bored or just kind of take these games for granted. But when you have a game seven in Boston and obviously Jalen called them out, that definitely helps. But a game seven in Boston on a Sunday afternoon, you're going to get Boston's best. And you definitely got that today.

And happy Mother's Day for the moms as well. It was kind of cool to see Jason's mom on screen, a bunch at least watching on TV. We're spending a few minutes with Steve Hewitt, who covers the Celtics for the Boston Herald with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio.

I would love to know actually the reaction of Jason's teammates to the performance he put on. It was, as you point out, the complete opposite of the first three quarters from game number six. My favorite postgame was Marcus Smart. That's what it's like to see Tatum going in the zone that he was in. It's like a movie. You just kind of want to sit. And even if you're on the court, you want to sort of sit to the side and get some popcorn out.

That's what he said. And that's kind of just what it was. He just took over Jalen. Jalen Brown was like, just get up out of the way. When Tatum's in that sort of zone, you just get out of the way and let him take over, which is what he did, obviously. And he really leaned on his teammates, especially through those game six struggles.

They were always in his ear. Marcus always telling him, you're one of the best players in the world. Even Missoula is telling him, I love you. It's like his thing with all the players.

When he gets asked, what do you say to Tatum when he's going through these struggles? I love you. And sort of this empowerment and tough love that they give each other and everything. You just saw sort of the fruits of their labor today. There wasn't going to be anything stopping him today.

And they loved every second of it. Al Warford was talking about how he's super proud. And he's been with him for four or five years now, just kind of seeing how Tatum's developed over the course of his career and how he's matured and is ready for these kinds of moments. And he proved all of them right today, for sure. And Tatum, one of just three Celtics in double figures. So a little bit different because he dominated the offense. However, it wasn't just offense.

Defense as well. The Sixers don't even hit 30 points in any of the quarters on Sunday and only 10 points. I'm not sure I've ever seen an NBA team in the playoffs manage just 10 points in a single quarter. It was so lopsided. So what did they have to say about the defensive effort, which maybe has been spotty to start these playoffs at times?

Yeah, you talk about the 10 points. They also limited the Sixers to 13 in the fourth quarter of game six. And Tatum outscored the Sixers by himself in both those quarters, both the fourth of game six and the third of today in game seven.

It's crazy. The Sixers have had one of the best offices in the NBA this year. I think they were ranked third. And the Celtics had three of their best defensive performances this series. They held under 90 points three times.

Two of them in back-to-back games here at six and seven. I think the big change has been what Missoula did before game six when they were down 3-2. It's sort of a bold move by changing the lineup up, but it kind of worked. He put Robert Williams in the starting lineup for Derek White, sort of remaking the NBA Finals, the lineup that made the NBA Finals last year and started pretty much every game together and was one of the best defenses in the league, the best defense in the league that played a huge factor. You saw, indeed, today just 15 points, 5 of 18 shooting. He was all out of sorts. He had a few shot clock violations where he's shooting these long range series.

It's like, what is going on here? But the Celtics just really, I think that switched back to Rob really allowed them to sort of become more connected and more comfortable defensively Al Horford, Marcus Smart talking after game six about just how happy they were to see Robert back in the starting lineup, how proud they were to see that because that sort of gives them the energy they need on defense because he sort of acts as sort of the security blanket on that back line where Al Horford can be a little more aggressive with Joel Embiid and put a little more ball pressure on him knowing that he has Rob behind him. Marcus Smart can sort of gamble a little more and be more aggressive on the guards on the perimeter and I think that that had a huge effect on James Harden too and their shooters weren't hitting shots and it just sort of threw the six years offense out of sorts and they were throwing all these coverages at Embiid and it's just sort of the perfect storm. So credit that adjustment to starting Robert Williams again which looks like it will probably continue to stay throughout their remaining playoff run.

The defense definitely won that game in game six and it was a huge part of why they won today for sure. Steve Hewitt is with us from the Boston Herald following this game seven in Boston which turned out to be a coronation in the final quarter and a half. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio thinking back to Eme Udonka and the changes that he made on defense that really spurred the Celtics run to the East Finals and then the NBA Finals a year ago. When Joe took over and over the course of the season how have you seen him grow into this role? Why is he the right guy for the job? It's an interesting dynamic obviously first year head coach taking on a team of championship expectations guys that have been to the finals already and he was sort of just a second row assistant. He wasn't even one of like the top assistants for Amy Udonka kind of thrown into the fire and he's taken a lot of heat the last few weeks. Obviously the Marcus Smart comment the other day got some headlines when he said he's been getting killed and rightfully so Marcus Smart said which sort of raised eyebrows all along. But I kind of go back to day one when Missoula was getting introduced and he spoke about how he was sort of going to fit in and sort of bring these guys along and he always talked about sort of the collaboration effort between the coaching staff and the players where he's sort of just empowering the players not to make like the final decisions to sort of have that back and forth dialogue that open communication and trust together to make decisions which I think was they haven't said bluntly but it's like the players didn't go to Missoula asking for that change for Rob but there was sort of that open dialogue in the back and forth to sort of make those kinds of decisions and Missoula was going into his first year and he doesn't know everything you don't know what you don't know in your first year right and these guys he's he's sort of been humble enough I guess is the word to sort of take a step back and and let guys like Marcus Smart or Al Horford who's actually older than Missoula he's like two or three years older than him because they've been in the league for 10-15 years right they've seen it all they've been to the finals together they know what it takes to get there so if you're if you're Missoula like why not sort of take that setback know that you don't know everything and not let players make decisions for you but have that back and forth dialogue and getting through these difficult moments in the playoffs like Missoula knows he's not perfect there's that timeout call at the end of the overtime loss in game four that he sort of admitted the next day like that was a mistake and go back to the Hawk series and that game five that they that they blew in the in the final minutes he took the blame for that knowing that the offensive execution sort of waned on the stretch and he blamed himself for that he sort of just grown over the course of the year and the players have just kind of been there to help them and and so it's been this sort of interesting dynamic between the players and the coach that you don't see everywhere but it sort of has worked and they made it to the to the Houston Conference Finals doing it so uh you can't really argue it at this point I guess now thinking back though over the last year of covering the Celtics they're back where they were a year ago in the East Finals how would you describe the year that has been for the Celtics a few words that you would use to describe what it's been like sort of expected I guess they came into the season as championship favorites and they're sort of right right back where they should be it hasn't gone exactly how you would draw it up obviously you couldn't expect Yudoka to be suspended for the year like he was and they talked about how that sort of affected the locker room like they had to sort of push through that at the beginning of the season they loved Yudoka they were a little confused about sort of why that happened and they were they were public about that and then you had the Robert Williams situation where he missed the first 29 games of the season with knee surgery so they had to go through some adversity sort of unexpected adversity to get back to where they are but they're here and the heat really aren't that like your typical obviously eight seed like they they've been to the NBA Finals and three years ago they have one of the best stars in the league in Jimmy Butler these guys are mentally tough and I think it's going to take sort of another level of mental toughness for the Celtics to to get by them you've seen them sort of had have those lapses in the first couple of rounds whether it's dropping game five to the Hawks when they shouldn't have lost that game game one to the Sixers when they didn't have Embiid and they they dropped a few games in this series in the Sixers series that they shouldn't have got it should have probably been a five or six game series at most it but the Heat are going to challenge them like Eric Spulcher is one of the best coaches in the NBA he's proven that over the last 10 13 years that he's been there and that's going to be another challenge for Missoula like can he out coach another experienced coach he just went through Doc Queensmider with Atlanta with the challenge too so that'll be an interesting dynamic too but at the end of the day I think the Celtics are more are deeper than the Heat are they sort of really focused on that in the off season with the addition of Malcolm Brogdon they have now Derek White coming off the bench and even if you flip-flop him and Rob like Rob would have been is obviously a huge asset off the bench obviously Jimmy has been sort of carrying the Heat right through the first couple rounds but the Celtics top end talent is is obviously much better it's going to take some mental toughness because the Heat have been here before and they're not going to be scared of the Celtics. Yeah they are definitely a tough out three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals for Miami and the opener of that series in Boston on Wednesday evening that's game number one so Celtics maintaining that home court advantage it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald covered game seven but before I let you go happy to see on your Twitter Steve that you just completed the Boston Marathon a personal achievement that I am in awe of what was that experience like for you? I don't even know how to describe that honestly it was super incredible one of the most special days of my life it was actually it actually was my fourth Boston but this one was more special just because I was running for the Martin Richard Foundation which for those people who don't know Martin Richard was the eight-year-old boy who was one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings back in 2013 but my first Boston Marathon was in 2018 I ran for their foundation and sort of continued on I stayed involved with the foundation this year they invited 50 or 60 of us back for a 10-year anniversary team of the of the Boston bombings it's something I couldn't say no to I've become pretty close with their family and just in awe of their resilience of going through such an unimaginable tragedy to become sort of a positive light for the city and all the impact and change they've made for the city over the last 10 years so it's an incredible it was an incredible honor to run for them again on such a special day it was a perfect weather day too like it the stars sort of perfectly aligned with that I haven't had great luck with weather with the marathons before in in past years so that was that was super special I got to run side by side next to one of my best friends and teammates on the team for the entire 26 miles which for people who run marathons like it's kind of hard to stick with your friends for a full 26.2 um because stuff stuff does happen during the marathon and it's hard it's hard to sort of stay with certain people at a pace for for that long but that that made it extra special I got to cross the finish line holding her hand and waving to the crowd and everything special day something I'll absolutely never forget congratulations amazing and you can check out the photo of Steve's gigantic smile at the finish line on his twitter which is at Steve underscore Hewitt is the celtics beat writer for the boston herald covered game seven and that atmosphere that was electric at the garden congratulations again thank you so much for a couple of minutes we loved having you on the show thank you Amy I appreciate it thank you so much I couldn't help it I couldn't help it I saw the photo and seeing that it was the boston marathon and this was the 10-year anniversary of the marathon bombing going back to 2013 what an occasion and what an achievement for Steve and then game seven being there and recognizing the atmosphere was electric what Jaylen Brown asked for he got from the celtics fans and the move to put Rob Williams back in the starting lineup I'd question the move to not have him in the starting lineup though he did miss a lot of time this year with injuries but that defense it's tenacious it's better at least against the Sixers with Rob on the court so good insight there from Steve you can find me on twitter a law radio our facebook page too we're asking you what to do about the Sixers coming up well Bryce Harper speaking of Philly he's also agitated I'm not sure who was more agitated Joelle Embiid or Bryce Harper maybe Bryce was actually ticked off at the way the Sixers played and he was airing his grievances and his frustrations against the Rockies uh and then I gotta tell you why the inside attention listeners I'm pleased to announce that radio rental is returning for another installment of terrifying tales if you happen to be new here I'm Terry Carnation current proprietor of the radio rental video store where I possess a collection of the scariest true stories you've ever heard all told by real people mark your calendars for oh apparently it's available right now I'm a little late with this promo listen for free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts 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 if my car smells like gas oh dear I swear it was not my fault it's after hours with amy lawrence on cbs sports radio you are listening to the after hours podcast hitting the air left center field pro far backing up is there he makes the catch slides retired so a promising inning and harper coming out he's saying something to jake bird jake bird is barking at the phillies dugout the dugout is empty harper came rushing out of the dugout to confront jake bird who was barking the whole way back to the dugout and now he's been pushed into the dugout by his own team and the phillies are right at the top step of the rockies dugout shouting and many of the coaches wearing the hooded warm-up tops now the bullpens have emptied harper was red hot coming out of that bullpen or dugout rather this is after hours with amy lawrence i just think bryce harper was annoyed ticked off at the sixers and decided to take it out on the colorado rockies also it was a four nothing shutout loss in colorado and so i guess sketch your money's worth if you're bryce harper the call there with scott fransky on phillies radio so he gets ejected from sunday's game in denver because he charges at the rockies dugout i mean we've known bryce harper to get a full head of steam and and not think first before he starts charging charging so it's the last out of the seventh inning and there's this altercation then this brouhaha this benches clearing conversation with both the rockies and the phillies and it sounds like you hear with scott but also watching the video that bryce was responding to colorado reliever jake bird uh he was kind of gesturing and maybe yelling toward the philadelphia dugout dugout and harper took exception to that it's after hours with amy lawrence on cbs sports radio i give emotion right i understand like getting fired up for an inning and stuff like that but once you make it about a team or make it about yourself and the other team that's why i'm kind of i got a problem with it and you know you guys saw my reaction i was very happy and he kind of just you know he did what he did and after that he kind of flew away and just like went to the dugout so i appreciate my teammates for you know coming out with me and doing that um you know you're the moment that kind of thing all right baseball with its conventions baseball with its don't step on the lines don't walk across the mound don't do this don't do that sometimes it's a little bit silly but you aren't allowed to show up anyone so in bryce harper's opinion you can be fired up but when you make it about a team or make it about yourself or the other so apparently bryce harper is the he's the one that's in charge of who's allowed to say what on a baseball diamond all right well as it turned out you're the only one that got ejected so he just got back what is it two weeks ago after he has the whole tommy john surgery and he didn't play great in this game he was over three with a couple of strikeouts according to jake bird well bryce harper just took everything the wrong way just in the moment it's it's just it's fun to compete it's you against them and it was not a great inning for me but i got out of it and so i was really excited didn't understand i mean i didn't throw any punches or anything like that you know so i don't understand the the concept of throwing a guy after somebody's talking crap or instigation stuff but i mean like i said it's i mean it's emotional things like that you kind of have to have to feel for the game and i kind of let jeff know that and um yeah i mean it's just sometimes you just don't understand those situations for that call uh but it is what it is huh okay so an opponent is not allowed to make it personal or or any way that you deem it to be personal if if it crosses the imaginary line in your head where it becomes directed at you and your team as opposed to just him being fired up well that then is worthy of you charging the other team's dugout but but that show of emotion so jake burr is not allowed his show of emotion because it crossed the line but you you bryce harper are allowed to charge another team's dugout without getting thrown out of the game okay that logic there it eludes me i guess i'm not bryce harper and also not a major league baseball player with all of these silly rules but i do love how they only apply to the other teams they don't apply to bryce harper's show of emotion because i suppose his show of emotion in charging the other dugout that wasn't directed at the rockies or another team or jake bird nah that was just what you do when you get upset it's just standard operating procedure oh dear that was the moment it's after hours with amy lawrence cbs sports radio speaking of the moment i call my mom on sunday morning after i get done with my teaching at at church and i want to be able to wish her happy mother's day now i knew that she and her husband had kind of had some rough nights lately because of the storms that have been passing through the houston area her neighborhood they've had a ton of rain but a lot of thunderstorms and the dogs the dogs her dogs who are both full-bred aussies they don't sleep well with thunder they're they're 10 i think they are just about to turn 11 maybe they are still they still hear very well penny doesn't hear thunder anymore in which i'm thankful for that but one of their dogs in particular is very high strung and when there are really bad storms she she freaks out in her crate she whines she cries they have to let her out otherwise she she you know she'll have accidents in her crate and stuff and so when that happens they don't sleep well because this one particular dog paces around and just gets really upset and so they've been dealing with that the last few days and really over the last couple weeks there's been a ton of rain bob who lives in the same area he sent me photos of one part of of northwest houston which was completely under water it was crazy um and so there's been i know for those of you who live in houston listen aren't a houston affiliate you're familiar with this it wasn't my mom's neighborhood that flooded instead because that's happened before during the hurricane there were actually days and days where they couldn't get out of their neighborhood people were using boats to go up and down the streets in their neighborhood that's not what happened on sunday but what did happen is that their biggest tree as in their 100 year old tree in their front yard it started to pull out of the ground because the ground is so soft and so saturated that the root system just pulls out of the ground so the tree starts leaning there's a big tree i could probably show you photos i don't love showing photos of my family's home but the the tree root system the ball starts to pull out of the ground they're seeing this tree start to lean over and lean over and lean over and my goodness the tree is probably a good oh gosh 50 yards from their house anyway it's not like it's right on top of the house well it ended up on top of the house so the tree keeps leaning leaning leaning there's no crack there's no loud noise all of a sudden the whole thing just pulls out of the ground the root system comes out of the ground leaves a cavernous hole in their front yard and the tree just steadily tilts farther and farther over until it falls on top of their house and thankfully because it was not a crack and a and a violent towering or toppling of this tree there are only a few shingles that they lost no windows broken but i have the photos from inside the house you cannot see the front yard like the tree is it's fully in bloom obviously the leaves are are all out in uh houston at this time of the year you cannot see out their front yard the tree not only falls on the house on the house it's actually reaching across the house with its branches and limbs down the other side and covering the garage doors thankfully it did not hit the truck or their trailer that they have parked in their backyard but yeah this enormous tree just kind of silently and quietly and really steadily just falls over pulls out of the ground and falls over and it's i mean it's so sad my mom cried actually and i probably would have too because the tree was beautiful and it was so tall it had been there for so long but the ground just couldn't hold it anymore because of how much water they've had and so this is kind of neat actually my mom's husband gets out there with a chainsaw he starts trying to figure out how the heck they're going to get this thing off of the house and really the way they would do it is to cut all the branches off you got to cut the branches off and then you can actually get to the trunk because no joke she couldn't they couldn't get out their front door they couldn't see the front yard and really the side the driveway either from inside the house some neighbors come along with not just their own chainsaws and manpower but one of them and this was critical had a chainsaw on a long pole because because they had to be the trunk of the tree was lodged on their roof i don't know how it happened particular branch got stuck on something and they couldn't pull it because it would have created more damage also it's a humongous tree so instead this man with his chainsaw on a pole his name was myron they kept telling him thank you so much you don't have to stay you don't have to stay he would not leave until the job was done they have all these neighbors in their front yard and this man with the chainsaw on a pole is able to reach up to the top of the roof or to the you know right where the tree is lying on the roof and is able to cut it in and cut it apart and then that branch thankfully they were able to pull down somehow they were able to dislodge it and pull it down but would not have been able to move it if it was still attached to this gigantic trunk so yeah they're very thankful for their neighbors and it's a miracle that there were no windows broken doesn't look like any of the bricks were dislodged from the side of the house or the corner of the house it just a few shingles although the roof is only a year old i hope it's still under warranty but yeah that was my mom's mother's mother's day it took all day when uh i checked in with her around seven o'clock houston time the neighbors were just leaving and it had happened at 10 30 in the morning so all day long that was that was their reality and i don't know what they do with the wood they have a fireplace but they don't use it uh so i'm i'm not sure what happens now but there's still a lot of clearing to be done oh goodness i'm so thankful that nothing happened to the house and that both my mom and her husband and the dogs were all safe but yeah kind of a scary situation as i say i call up to wish her happy mother's day and she starts like the tree is actually falling as we're on the phone and she's watching it kind of lean lean lean and then fall over on the house uh and she starts crying but at least she got my package i sent her cookies and a little pig squishmallow which is really cute and a card and so she had that she loved the cookies and then the tree took over mother's day but i'm glad they're safe that's the most important thing all right coming up let's see what else do we want to do here we've done a lot of basketball i don't know if you guys heard this or saw this producer j called my attention to it but the head trainer for the buffalo bills he spoke at oklahoma state's commencement on sunday or over the weekend he is an oklahoma state graduate i remember when he helped to revive damar hamlin on the field oklahoma state still water oklahoma they were so proud of him and reminding everyone that he was an osu grad uh so i want you to hear a little bit from him it's inspiring it's it's very powerful and also a neat opportunity for him to share his experience you are listening to the after hours podcast 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 be rewarded for your generosity it's a bit odd to be the person reporters are talking about when they say denny kellington is a hero it's very humbling in fact all the attention i've received is for simply doing my job has been overwhelming i've said repeatedly that i am not a hero but i will tell you what i was that day i was ready this is after hours with amy lawrence denny kellington buffalo bills athletic trainer who became a household name after he and his team fellow doctors and trainers were on the field in cincinnati delivering life-saving measures resuscitating damar hamlin until the emts could arrive and could take over and you hear him say at oklahoma state university stillwater oklahoma gallagher iba arena i've covered many events there he's actually a native of midwest city which is a suburb of oklahoma city he says i've repeatedly said i'm not a hero but i will tell you what i was that day i was ready it's after hours with amy lawrence on cbs sports radio he was honored as the commencement speaker at oklahoma state and of course received a ton of interview requests probably not something he ever thought he would be doing is serving as a public speaker in the wake of what happened in early january the reason anyone knows denny kellington is because of one fateful and near tragic moment on a football field for those of you that may not know on january 2nd of this year during a bills game monday night game against the bangles our safety damar hamlin had a cardiac event that could have ended his life for his family his teammates his coaches our athletic training staff and the millions of football fans watching in the stadium or from the comfort of their living room tvs it was a scary moment to say the least i happen to be a member of the athletic training team who got to him first and we immediately went to work using cpa cpr and an aed on the field thankfully we restored damar's heartbeat we were ready kellington goes on to say i am genuinely grateful for the role that this university meaning oklahoma state played in my personal path to success i love this quote from his commencement speech over the weekend when unexpected doors open or life changes course trust that your experiences have led you there and you will be ready and yes he does speak about damar hamlin and what the bill's safety is doing now damar hamlin has a happily ending he has gone on to use his platform to advocate for cprs and aeds he is inspiring people everywhere to understand that they can learn bystander cpr and aed use i have no doubt that this moment caught caught on the world stage is going to save many more lives when unexpected doors open or life changes course trust that your experiences have led you there and you will be ready today as you ponder the next steps of your career i want you to think about who helped get you here be proud of course of your hard work but also be grateful for those who cheered you on those who sacrificed those who saw potential in you and made sure you knew your capabilities and understand this small things done with passion and intention have the potential to make a lasting impact with ripple effects that you may never understand isn't that the truth yes damar hamlin is the face of what happened on january 2nd and for nearly 48 hours we waited the entire nfl waited the sports world waited even transcending the sports world waiting to get some news about damar's condition now he intends to go back to football so yes damar is the face in the name but denny kellington the athletic training staff the doctors and nurses they've been honored in both cincinnati and buffalo they're the reason he's still alive and so an opportunity like this allowed kellington to use all of his preparation and now he becomes someone who's speaking in front of people for 27 years i've showed up to work as an athletic trainer in some capacity day in and day out i've treated many orthopedic conditions helped players with their rehab consoled players following losses and celebrated their wins i love the work i do i've been lucky to have a job that combines my passion with something the world needs and as trite as it might sound it's never felt like a job it's only felt like a calling how about that his calling his purpose this training from oklahoma state through his years in the professional world as an athletic trainer prepared him for that moment on january 2nd inspired by that and honestly if he didn't want to serve as an athletic trainer anymore though he clearly is really good at it he could work the public speaking circuit because he could very well i was inspired by his comments i'm sure the graduates were too it's after hours with amy lawrence cbs sports radio 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 single 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