7-4-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Visit att.com slash hypergig for details. Halfway through our 4th of July show. We'll have a second 4th of July show on Tuesday night, but for now this is our 4th of July show. So happy 4th.

Happy Independence Day and happy birthday to what I believe is the greatest country in the world. We are imperfect. We have so many warts. A lot of our problems we create ourselves. And yet we have the freedom to create those problems.

You know, sometimes maybe it would be easier if we were all marching to the beat of the same drummer. But that wouldn't be freedom. And so I wouldn't trade this as my home for any other nation in the world. And I've travelled extensively.

I do think that it's important, and I tell people this all the time. When I have the chance to talk about my trips to Mozambique, 8th poorest country in the world on the east coast of Africa. Multiple trips to South America, to Central America.

Four different trips to Cuba. We are so blessed in this country. Again, not perfect. And I'm not even talking about money. But we're blessed by opportunities and we are blessed by the freedom to dissent. The freedom to speak, as one of my 4th graders said on Sunday. I asked them their favorite thing about the United States. And one little boy raised his hand and said, We get to talk. We get to speak what we want to speak. Yes, yes we do. And that's a privilege.

A lot of places you can't do that. You can't dissent against the government or against the establishment, the system. So we are blessed here in this nation. And I'm grateful that I get to call myself an American.

That will never change. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Glad to have you with us. If you're tuning in, we'd love to know where you're listening, how you're listening. We do have a brand new holiday themed Some Some Summertime edition of Ask Amy Anything. It is up on our YouTube channel. I know some of you are already finding it.

We'd love for you to check it out on your own time. Producer Jay, do you have any Fourth of July plans once you wake up after working? It kind of puts a damper on the holiday when you have to sleep. And by you, I mean me too.

And I wouldn't treat it. I do love working holidays. But it does kind of cut into time for grilling or for going to a party, watching fireworks, that kind of thing. I will be watching the replay of the hot dog eating contest upon waking up. Ew, come on.

You will not. Oh, of course. It's annually.

It's every year. Why? Gotta. Gotta see the wins. Gross.

I always hope someone's going to bring down Joey Chestnut. But my favorite eater isn't eating this year, so. Not in any way contributing to your fascination with this contest by bringing hot dogs for you to eat on Tuesday night. I will hopefully be having a hot dog after that. Because on the Fourth of July, I like to have at least one hot dog.

It's kind of like a rule for me. Will your family be grilling? I don't know. What is your family doing without you while you're sleeping? I don't know. Are you not sleeping? No, I will. I'll sleep my normal day. But when I wake up, I don't know, 3.30 Eastern Time, 4 o'clock. I don't know. Hopefully, yeah. I'll watch the contest, like I said. I don't know if it's going to be raining or if it's going to be nice out.

It seems like it's hit or miss nowadays in the past two weeks. Actually, according to the weather report, now this is just what they were saying about New York City being central. You're off to the east.

I'm to the northwest of New York City. But it's supposed to be a fairly steady rain for a good portion of late morning to early afternoon. So if there's parades, now you and I weren't going to parade, but parades and outdoor activities, people are going to have to deal in this area with rain. And then thunderstorms developing late. I'm telling you what, this is the hottest, stickiest week that we've had so far in the area, in the metro. And I know a lot of the south is dealing with extreme heat. And in Houston, they actually had a reprieve yesterday where it wasn't over 100 degrees. But mom has already dealt with heat indices that are well above 110.

I mean, that was going back to the month of June. It's just been excruciating in terms of the heat and humidity. I can't.

I can't deal with that. Penny and I, we'd melt. Too hot.

No, it's not just the heat, it's the thick air with the humidity. And it's icky and sticky. And I've tried to tell Bob that muggy and buggy equals no huggy. We're actually fighting about that because he thinks that it's a slight. And he wants to change my mind about hugging when it's buggy and muggy.

No, it's not like I am asking you if this is okay. I'm telling you when it's muggy and buggy, we don't do huggy. There's no huggy when it's muggy and buggy. There's a saying for a reason. Exactly. This is a hard and fast rule. And if you attempt to break the rule, you might get punched. No, I would never punch him. You might. No, no, stop it.

I would never punch him. But I just can't. I wouldn't enjoy it. It would make me squirmy. And it's gross when you're, not just you, but like anybody's sweating.

When we went hiking in West Virginia, we did it on a day in which the humidity was up near 90%. And we were sweaty and gross and there were mosquitoes and I smelled like bug spray. And he wanted to take some selfies. And so we're taking selfies and he is trying to come close for selfies.

And I got all squirmy. You know like playing pickup basketball and guarding that one guy or one person who's going way too hard. You slide off of him.

It's like, okay, maybe I don't. And someone else guard this guy, you back up a little bit. Just bag and keep your space. Yeah, I don't need to be sliding off of someone.

I don't need to have like your sweatiness. Anyway, so I'm not a huge fan and I've tried to tell a muggy buggy no huggy, but he thinks it's up for debate. No, it's not in any way, shape or form. Yeah, it is a hard and fast rule. It's a deal breaker if you will.

And so when I visit Houston coming up in a few weeks, he thinks it's really funny. He's going to try to change my mind or attempt to break the rule, which would be far worse. I've told him this is not going to go well for you.

It's not going to go well for you. Anyway, a few Fourth of July facts. I actually think I'm going to cook on Fourth of July.

Thank you for asking. I'm not watching that hot dog eating contest and attempting to cook, but I think I may cook. You're not even going to check it out?

No, I've never watched it. I can't. It grosses me out. There's wet bread coming out of their noses.

No, that's yeah, a lot of places. It's disgusting. I don't understand why we need to be gluttons for the sake of a holiday. It's art. What?

The patentry of it. It's a beautiful event. Ew. It's disgusting when they're spewing food through all of their orifices. No, it's not.

Ew. No. Anyway, it does take place on Coney Island, which is a famous location in New York City. And yes, it is televised. And yes, Joey Chestnut still holds the world record.

76 hot dogs and buns in 2021. It's incredible. That's gross. No, it's gross. It's incredible. Get away from that and do some more 4th of July fun facts. Are you ready? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

So find us on Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. And these are your 4th of July fun facts. Massachusetts, the first state to make July 4th an official holiday. That goes back to 1781. So that was only five years after we became a nation. That was our five-year birthday. And Massachusetts decided, rightfully so, to make it a holiday.

Okay, good. 27 different versions of the U.S. flag. I'm not going to tell you how many stars and stripes are on the current flag.

If you don't know, well, you better do some studying. Apple pie has been a staple American dessert since the 1700s. Did you know that? Apple pie goes back to the 1700s. Wow. This is amazing considering that I'm someone who loves to bake. The first recipe for apple pie in America was published in a cookbook in 1796. A cookbook in 1796. A recipe for apple pie.

Huh. Did it say where it came from? Dutch and German immigrants. Earlier versions of apple pie did exist in other countries, but the first recipe for apple pie in America was published in a cookbook in 1796. So it isn't that American.

Well, it is now. Like pretty much every tradition that we have, it came from, well, it didn't, not all of them, but initially they came from somewhere else, right? Because we're a nation of immigrants. Bristol, Rhode Island. Been there. Has the longest running 4th of July parade. It goes all the way back to the 1700s, 1785.

Wowzers. The oldest annual 4th of July celebration in Bristol, Rhode Island. That's pretty cool. Independence Day was once celebrated on July 5th. That's funny.

Yeah, this is funny. The holiday fell on a Sunday in 1779. So it was our third birthday as a nation. Americans celebrated on Monday, the 5th of July.

No, it doesn't work that way. You can have a birthday on Sunday. Apparently they were super religious back then and decided that you couldn't, they had to honor the Sabbath and couldn't celebrate a birthday on July 4th because it was Sunday.

That's funny. This is interesting. Three US presidents have died on the 4th of July. Wow. James Monroe, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson all died on our nation's birthday.

Wow. The 50th star was added to the American flag on July 4th, 1960. Of course, you know the 50th state, Jay.

Go ahead. Hawaii. Hawaii.

Very good. And we celebrate our nation's birthday with hot dogs, right? Americans consume a lot of hot dogs. Do you care to take a guess at how many hot dogs we as Americans consume on average on July 4th alone? Not the weekend, but July 4th alone. Wait, one person or as a country? No, as a country. How many individual hot dogs?

Yes. So how many, it's a number, how many hot dogs are consumed by the United States of America and its citizens on the 4th of July? I want to think billions, but I'm thinking maybe that's a little high. I'm going two billion. Two billion? Maybe it's high.

That is a little high, Jay. Two million. I think our country has 330 million residents, roughly. Well, you think like two or three hot dogs per person? But, yeah, but you're assuming that every single one is going to be any hot dog?

I assumed that. We'll go two million. I would say there's a lot of Americans that don't go big. I don't eat hot dogs, so there's got to be- One guy has seven, one person has zero.

Okay, all right. Well, about 150 million, which means a hot dog for every two people in the United States, which I think is pretty impressive. That's a lot.

As you point out, that's an average. A hell of a lot of hot dogs. 150 million hot dogs.

Get this. In Los Angeles, the people in L.A., 30 million pounds of hot dogs on July 4th, just in L.A. Is that like the highest? Well, just an example. Do they get hot dogs over there?

Dodger dogs? Just an example. There are approximately 16,000 fireworks displays on Independence Day every year. And get this, the custom actually dates back to 1777. That's according to history.com. I don't even want to know how many fingers were blown off with homemade fireworks in 1777. Oh, my goodness. Does it say the cost, how much money is spent on fireworks?

Yes, are you ready? Americans spend over $1 billion on fireworks every 4th of July. $1 billion.

Holy cannoli. $1 billion. How many states are fireworks legal in? That's a good question.

Would you like to know another astronomic number? Of course. Americans spend $1.4 billion on beer and wine on the 4th of July. Wow. It's a lot. It's a big holiday.

Yes. $1.5 billion on fireworks. Oh, my goodness. That's crazy. But it doesn't surprise me. So over $1 billion, but the average, according to their website, $1.5 billion. But one more fact to tack on to that. In 2020, 15,600 people were hospitalized with injuries related to fireworks.

Does not surprise me. That's too high. Okay, so I just said there are roughly 330 million people living in the United States today. It's probably a little higher now. Only 2.5 million people living in the US when it was officially named a country or when we officially had our independence. 1776, only 2.5 million people.

Now 330-plus million people in the United States. Much better commute to work back then. Yes, Jay. In a wagon.

Or a horse. Oh, my goodness. All right, one more thing, and this is near and dear to my heart because I've been up to the top multiple times, but also because the Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center, is just 10 blocks south of us here in lower Manhattan where CBS Sports Radio headquarters are located. It was designed to be 1,776 feet tall on purpose. Pretty cool to be up there. If you've never been and you have a plan to visit New York City, absolutely sign up to go to the top of the Freedom Tower. Not only is it a 360-degree view of Manhattan, New Jersey, well, Long Island, you can even see into Connecticut on a clear day, and you can see all of the iconic landmarks in New York, but it's powerful because of where you're standing and because of what you can see down below you, which are the footprints of the Twin Towers and the 9-11 Memorial.

I highly recommend it. 1,776 feet tall. It is glorious. So some 4th of July fun facts.

Coming up, a different kind of fun fact, but it's as American as apple pie. Baseball, minor league style. We'll explain on Twitter, ALawRadio, our Facebook page too. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. What is more American than Top Gun and Kenny Loggins? Guess what, Jay? My college roommate is coming to visit me in a couple of weekends. We're doing just a summertime fun weekend. Actually, that's when I'm going to the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

I've never been, but we have tickets to go to the crown. So really excited about that. Anyway, we're going to do a movie night when she gets there on Friday, and she's never seen the new Top Gun, Top Gun Maverick, and it's on Paramount Plus, which I have, and she's not a big fan of those types of movies or Tom Cruise, which did you know the new M.I. movie is about to come out? Oh, I cannot wait.

I love him in Mission Impossible movies. Anyway, she did say that because of the original Top Gun that she would watch the new one, and so that's what we're doing. I'm pretty excited to watch it at home on my own TV. Epic. It is going to be epic, yeah. We're definitely going to need some popcorn. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Nothing is more American than, okay, apple pie. July 4th, of course, it's our holiday, our birthday, fireworks, clearly hot dogs, but how about baseball? It may not be officially America's pastime anymore, but it is the soundtrack of summer, and it is the one sport that is in season around Independence Day. And I don't know about you, but it feels very American to me to go and sit in a baseball stadium and put my feet up and soak in the sunshine and watch a game unfold.

And a lot of families do this at the minor league level because it's more affordable. So last week we had the privilege of catching up with Tim Haggerty, who is the voice of the San Diego Padres AAA affiliate. He listens on 97.3 in San Diego when he's home.

He's traveling with the team a lot this time of the year. But he also spent the last ten years writing a book about minor league baseball and all of its traditions and stories and quirkiness. And so many of you enjoyed the interview, wanted to bring back part of this conversation with Tim. The full conversation is on our podcast, available on social media.

But here's part of it because it's really cool. I asked him, what took ten years and why was it so important to him to release this book despite the amount of time that it took to put it together? The reason it took so long is I wanted to have a really high threshold for what made it into the book.

Many ended up on the cutting room floor. It began in 2012. I've always loved baseball research. And when researching something else, I came across this Texas league game in 1888 that got delayed when a wild bull ran on the field.

And I thought, I cover this stuff for a living. And I've never heard of this story before. Tell me just how many wild stories there are from minor league baseball history that a lot of people don't know about. What are a couple of your favorites? I know there are 1,001 in your book, Tales from the Dugout.

But a few of your favorites that you like to share with people. Well, earlier I heard you mentioning the major leaguers who were recently named all-star game starters for next week's all-star game, one of them Corey Segar. I was calling a game and Corey Segar dealt with a wiener dog delay.

It was Oklahoma City versus El Paso. And there was five wiener dogs set to participate in a between innings race. Four out of the five ran where they were supposed to. The other one went rogue, began scampering all around the field. So there was a wiener dog delay.

As you can imagine, that video got a lot of attention. And Corey Segar was one of the Oklahoma City players in the field that this dog is running around. So in his career, he's been a World Series MVP and also dealt with a wiener dog delay.

Oh, that's fantastic. Speaking of dogs, as I was going through the book, some of the stories about dogs really jump out to me. I like this one, Jake the Diamond Dog, a golden retriever that travels the country appearing at minor league ballparks. His tricks include bringing the game balls to the pitchers, fetching towels for umpires, and delivering flowers to fans. Have you seen Jake the Diamond Dog in person?

Yes, I have. And I've been lucky enough to see another bat dog. Jake the Diamond Dog travels around, and teams took notice. They thought, this guy does so well, and he's so entertaining to the fans, why don't we have our own dog? So Las Vegas has Finn the bat dog. There's also the Bowling Green Hot Rods in Kentucky that have their bat dog.

So, yeah, it sounds like you're a dog lover, so you'll be happy to know various ballparks are picking these ideas up. Oh, that's fantastic. And these dogs are actually trained to bring the balls and the bats either back to the dugout or up to the umpire?

Exactly. In fact, there was a funny moment. I was calling a game in Las Vegas, and a batter hit a deep foul ball.

He wasn't sure if it was going to be fair or foul, so of course he began running. But mid at bat, after a foul ball, Finn the bat dog ran out and snatched the bat, and the batter's saying, hey, I need that. My bat's not done yet. That's great. And one of the things that I love about the book as well is that you include a ton of history, which goes back to the beginning of baseball and its inception in minor leagues, but you also have more recent stories like 2021 and the double-A Hartford Yard Goats, who actually had goats there at the stadium, but also going back a few years before that, the Gwinnett Braves, who did goat yoga, which has now become all the rage around the United States for some fufu yoga people.

I just prefer regular yoga. Have you been in a ballpark where the goats have been roaming the outfield? Well, recently I was in Albuquerque, actually, and they had post-game yoga on the field, but they did not have any wildlife.

That's too bad. No, the Hartford Yard Goats, yeah, they've really leaned into that team name. Evidently, Yard Goats is a railroad phrase, but their logo is a goat, and they had goats, as you mentioned, at the ballpark, and then the Gwinnett team had the goat yoga on the field.

The book has some illustrations, and I liked what they came up with on that one, where you see some people doing their yoga on the field, also with some goats eating grass around them. That's great. Only at Minor League ballparks.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Tim Haggerty is joining us from Albuquerque. He's got a brand-new book called Tales from the Dugout, 1001 Humorous, Inspirational, and Wild Anecdotes from Minor League Baseball, 10 years in the making. Why 1001, Tim?

Yeah, that's a good question. I had about 1,100 stories, and I reached a point where I had to determine what the format's going to be, and one day I was walking by my wife's cookbook, and on the spine of it, it said 1,001 recipes, and I thought, that's the number. I like that number. Perfect. It was a sign.

Exactly, yeah. I actually had to condense some things, so there's a story in the book. 1907, there was an umpire who got arrested for swearing on the field, and in the 1930s, there was a player who got arrested for swearing on the field. So instead of two stories, that became one.

That's how I narrowed it down. And by the way, not just ejected, but actually arrested for using bad language on the field. I also saw one story, and I'm trying to look for it again, but I didn't mark it like I did some of the others, where one player had been stealing coins from somewhere in the ballpark, and he ended up giving himself away because as he's out there on the field, all the coins are falling out of his socks.

Yeah, that was in 1904. That was a Class C team, the Jacksonville Jays, and they released this pitcher. Back then, there were fewer ballpark employees, so sometimes the players actually assisted in some areas like taking tickets, and this guy was swiping money. So he takes the mound later that day and dimes in nickels that he stole from the ticket window, fell out of his socks and onto the field during the game. So they said, you're out of here. You're not only ejected, but you are released from our team.

So good. All right, and I have a special place in my heart for grandmothers, and I came across this one, Anne Kenyon, 91 years old when she caught a foul ball barehanded in San Jose. It was a Giants game going back just over a decade ago. The team had her come back three weeks later to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, even though at the time she had 15 great grandchildren.

That is amazing. And once again, I love the fact that minor league ballparks and minor league baseball in general appeals to families of all ages, shapes, and sizes, Tim. Yeah, and I absolutely love the fact that they invited her back to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

They recognize that this is somebody that we have to draw attention to her achievement. A great grandmother catching a foul ball, hit with a little bit of speed, by the way, at a professional baseball game. Similarly, around that same time, the single-A team at Bakersfield, California, had a cat throw out a first pitch.

No! There was a viral video of a cat that saved a little toddler from an oncoming angry dog, and the cat got a lot of attention. The cat's name was Tara. So they somehow used a veterinarian and this device and actually had the cat use its paw to push the ball toward the catcher.

My goodness. You know the story about Babe Ruth and how he got traded to the Boston Red Sox and how it was a steal and it was a fleece. And then sometimes we make jokes about wanting to move a player off a team and, hey, we'll trade you for a bat and a bag of balls. And so I saw this story in your book from Chattanooga. They bought two players and a case of whiskey from another team for $2,000 in 1920.

I mean, in 1920, $2,000 is a lot of money! That's right, and I read in the newspaper archives that this is during Prohibition, so they had to secretly smuggle that whiskey from Peoria, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Where did you find all these stories, Tim? There were a lot of sources. For the more modern stories interviewing players, managers, coaches, and scouts, the wonderful thing about being accessible to the internet is how many newspaper archives are available with certain subscriptions. So many came from newspaper archives. There was old Spaulding and Reach baseball guides. I made a research trip to Cooperstown in the Baseball Hall of Fame library. They're so helpful there.

So really compiling from all kinds of sources. Good stuff. And there are many of you that will reach out to me about minor league baseball. It's a niche, and yet it's enjoyable, it's fun, it's affordable. It's a lot less stressful than trying to access major league ballparks in terms of the commute. Very often these stadiums are in communities that are a little bit smaller. And it's a relaxed atmosphere with a lot of different theme nights or activities that are designed for families, as you can imagine, on July 4th.

And what Tim told us in the conversation that we had with him is that every single minor league team has a home game on either July 3rd or 4th so that they can all really lean into the Independence Day festivities. And so if you're heading to a minor league baseball game on Tuesday, no doubt there will be fireworks and a red, white, and blue flare. Because, you know, as Americans we spend over $1 billion on fireworks every 4th of July.

Over $1 billion. Do you know I've never once spent a dime on fireworks? I've been to places, parties, where other people had their own fireworks. And certainly, going back to when I was a kid, we had sparklers and that type of things that my mom or other family members had purchased. But I've never actually spent any of my own money on fireworks. Have you, Jay? I have, yeah.

Really? What kind of fireworks? Just like your regular bottle rockets or stuff. So me and my family used to drive down to Florida every single summer or spring break, like all growing up. So every time we'd drive by like south of the border, if you know that area, they have all the fireworks stands.

Or like in Florida we'd pick up something. Never anything crazy. Just like some bottle rockets and sparklers because we were young. But I miss them. They're a lot of fun. They are expensive though. They can get up there.

Yeah. And there are these humongous Independence Day fireworks displays that take place all over the country. Some of the biggest cities, but there are also little small towns that do them. Depending upon where you live, I know in the town, one of the towns near me in northern New Jersey, people go out. This is a tradition and you don't mess with people's chairs. People go out the day before, sometimes two days before, and put their chairs down on the town streets so that they can mark their spot where they're going to watch the fireworks displays. And as you're driving through that town, the couple days leading up to it, people already have their spots all carved out and you better not move them. It's usually frowned upon. Right, but it's a tradition in this town next to me. And in some cases, they have the chairs tied to fences. So along the town beach, they tie their chairs to the fences so that people can't move them. But yeah, you best not.

You best not mess with people's chairs. Because that's a no-no. There'd be fistfights and no doubt loud arguments over that. See, I've seen in resorts and on vacation and stuff, on the beach, people get in fights for reserving the spot. They're like, hey, if you want to be there, you get there early. You can't put there three days beforehand, but if that's the rule, then hey, get there early and preserve it. And apparently you're supposed to respect someone else's chairs and someone else's attempt to get there early and stake out their spot. That would totally lead to a fight.

If I had my spot there and that was the way it went and someone moved it, we're scrapping. Oh, dear. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on YouTube. We've got a brand new video version of Ask Amy Anything on our Facebook page, too. Also on Twitter, After Hours CBS. Coming up next, it's QB News.

What's more American than Football De Americano and quarterbacks? See? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on, let's see, it's time for our update. I know this.

It's only been 11 years. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Kansas City. No, Herbert keeps it in. Touchdown, charges. Herbert with his second of the day.

Here's the snap. Josh going to keep it himself and run it again inside the five into the end zone. Touchdown, Buffalo. Josh Allen, nine yard touchdown run.

The Bills respond and then some. It's time for QB News on After Hours. This portion of the show, which is so American, featuring our brand of football and its quarterbacks, it's brought to you by Wesley Financial.

If you're stuck in a timeshare and you want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at WesleyFinancialGroup.com. Yeah, yeah, we're obsessed with our quarterbacks. What can we say? Haven't heard from Peyton Manning in a while. Except for when the College World Series was going on in Omaha and we trotted back his iconic call at the line of scrimmage. Peyton in New Orleans, which is the area that he considers to be home. His family's home. He lives in Denver, but he was asked about the Broncos going to get the other Peyton, Sean Peyton from New Orleans, who will now be coaching the Broncos. I could tell he wanted to get back in it. I could tell he was looking for a committed organization, ownership. They gave him the great support that he got here in New Orleans from the Benson family. And I think he definitely found that with the Broncos new ownership that they're going to give him what he needs and what he wants.

The thing about Sean is that he knows exactly what he wants and needs. He knows the kind of tight end he wants and what he's looking for in that left guard. You can hear Bill Parcells coming out of his voice when he talks. I know you guys are hearing that.

I'm kind of excited about the players that the Broncos brought in and I think it's going to benefit them. This is going on during the Manning Passing Academy, which takes place in Louisiana. So Peyton is there. It's a family affair and there are a bunch of cameras and microphones in his face. Need to be able to hear from him and he's so laid back. This is not Monday night Manning's where he's breaking down plays.

Just more informal. And in addition to being asked about the Broncos and their brand new head coach from the New Orleans Saints, kind of with a broadcasting detour. What about the Saints and their new quarterback, Derek Carr? I really enjoyed this past January, February at the Pro Bowl. It's a flag football game, but Derek was great to spend time with. We had a lot of fun, but he loves football.

He loves the game. I was just pumped when he signed here and reached out to him and connected with my dad and answered some questions about New Orleans. It's a great pickup for the Saints. I get excited for these quarterbacks when they have a chance for a second chapter.

It can be rejuvenating for him. He gave the Raiders everything he had, but obviously he and Dennis go back and I think it's a good marriage. He refers to Dennis Allen, of course, who was with the Raiders going back to the early stages of Carr's tenure there. And man, there could be shades of Peyton, right? A quarterback who has a second stage, a second opportunity in his career. He was wooed by multiple teams.

He ends up choosing New Orleans. And could he do what Peyton Manning did in Denver, helping them win a Super Bowl? Or what Drew Brees did in New Orleans, helping them win a Super Bowl?

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Now, the same AFC West division where the Broncos and the Raiders reside also features a new offensive coordinator in the Chargers. Kellen Moore doing an extensive interview on the season with Peter Schrager. He's thrilled to be working with his new QB, the one that the head coach, Brennan Staley, calls the gangster quarterback. A gangster quarterback? Justin Herbert. Justin's been phenomenal. I think, A, the person, awesome person, one of the simplest people I've ever met.

Explain that, because I kind of know, but I don't see it day to day. I just see one of the simpler people in the world for his situation and the potential out there for him as a person off the field. Very simple person. I mean, came in when I got here. I mean, he just basically did rehab. He'd come in for a couple hours, do rehab. You'd run into him. He'd head out.

Maybe he'd go up to Eugene and be back in the hometown, and other than that, he didn't explore a whole lot. He's been awesome, awesome to work with. He's been a ton of fun just collaborating on this thing. When you step on the field, certainly you see the physical ability. I laugh because as a coach, you teach this is the install, this is the progression, here's some alerts if you get these certain looks. And then he just goes out there and rips a throw in the back of QBs and says, hey, first of all, don't try that.

Second of all, I would have never considered throwing that, but maybe we should start considering that. Kellen Moore coming from Dallas heading to LA. And remember, he had multiple opportunities, or at least interviews, in which he was considered a head coaching candidate. He left Dallas for another OC job, but gets to work with a very talented quarterback. Although to hear him tell it, there's more that people need to know about Dak Prescott.

Again, this is from the season with Peter Schrager. The best person. I think the best leader I've ever been around, easily, and in all honesty, player or coach or anything. I think his ability to connect with a team in all spectrums is rare, and I've never seen it in any other way. His work ethic, his command, I think he's incredible. I know we've all been through that Dallas journey. He has a phenomenal way of dealing with probably more than your average NFL starting quarterback.

He handles it beautifully, and he's certainly a guy you forever root for. What kind of pressure is on Dak Prescott this year? Man, we'll talk about that at some point as we get closer to training camps, which, by the way, will be completely open and full-blown come the end of July.

Whoa. You know, Aaron Rodgers, he'll be with the Jets this year, duh. Laken Tomlinson is on that offensive line. What was his reaction when he heard about Rodgers joining the Jets?

I can't really explain it. Obviously, I've never played with a caliber player like that for that position in my career. But it's a true honor to have someone like that play in the position on this team. And, man, if anyone was excited, I'm sure the guys up front were super excited, man. Everybody was excited. Everyone was excited, man, because he's a fantastic player. And the fact that he chose to stay in the league and chose to be a New York Jet goes to show that he wants to do something special. And we want to do something special with him as well.

Laken Tomlinson is actually 31 years old, so a little closer in age to Aaron than a lot of the guys who are on that Jets roster. One more with him. What's Aaron like when there's no spotlight? He's really cool, man.

Extremely smart and diligent. Keeps everybody on their toes when it comes to the playbook, which is great, man. You expect that from a quarterback.

You expect that from a leader. So it's a lot of fun working with him every day, man, and seeing his offense come a long way with his leadership. From Jets YouTube. We keep hearing the other members of the Jets rave about Aaron Rodgers. That includes Robert Sala, though he raved about Zach Wilson as well, just to be fair. Oh, and also raved about Mike White. So he loves him some quarterbacks, regardless of age, ability. He's a big-time cheerleader for his guys. People are coming here to play with me.

I appreciate about Robert Sala. Rodgers changes everything, and he does change the temperature in the room as well as the attention on the Jets. They can't be the bad-news Jets anymore because that wouldn't do for the end of Rodgers' Hall of Fame career.

So I'm actually pretty excited. The shift in not just the balance of power potentially in the AFC East. It's still the Bills division. So the way that there are, what, 10 nationally televised games featuring the Jets, we're going to get stuffed with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. limited availability in select areas. Visit act.com slash hyper gig for details.