After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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That's BetterHelpHELP.com slash positive. I'm joined by Hall of Famer John Smoltz. Smoltz, tell me this. What's harder, winning a Cy Young or an Emmy Award? Oh man, winning a Cy Young takes a lot longer to happen. You know, it's funny when you mention something like that, I just go back to all those years of being predicted to win and just feeling like a failure. But in 96, fortunately, I was able to at least get that off my back because that was starting to bother me.

Download the Brett Boone Podcast, available on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. One of those rare moments where I sound like a complete and total idiot. All right, fine. They're not that rare, but at least I can laugh at myself and you can laugh at me, which is the best part. People tell me, my friends, people who know me, friends and family tell me I'm so funny and I really don't feel that way. I just think I do ridiculous stuff that makes people laugh.

But that's fine. For the sake of the show, for the sake of entertainment, I do not mind if you're laughing at me or near me. Better if you're laughing with me, but then people yell at me because they don't like my laugh.

It's one of the reasons why I love my new beau. I finally found the one person in the entire United States of America who laughs louder and more obnoxiously than I do. Good morning to all of you. I'm sorry that I'm waking you up with my laugh.

You too, Bob. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So you can find us on Twitter After Hours CBS, our Facebook page, YouTube channel. If you're looking for some, oh, some inspiration, some summertime inspiration, we've got our latest video version of Ask Amy Anything and it's in a brand new locale. We never tried a video there before. I just want to give you some insight about what was happening before we recorded the video. Producer J is buzzing about looking for a place to prop up his iPad, his device that was going to tape it. And I didn't like the lighting. So then we're moving around and then he's trying to prop it up and it nearly falls off of this high camera perch where it's sitting. So then he's, well, he may have dropped a word that we can't use on the radio now and then because he's mad because it wasn't the way he thought and I didn't like the lighting. Then we had to switch microphones.

Oh yeah, it was Fury, Fury and Fuhrer. But the video turned out really well and of course he says to me after he edits it down for YouTube and it has to get my approval before it goes up on YouTube. After he edits it down and we're getting ready to post it, well, I really think this is the best location we've ever had. I really think this is the best setting we've ever had before. Well, of course it is. It better be after all the energy put into it. So he would love it if you would check out our latest summertime version, video version.

It was right around July 4th of Ask Amy Anything that's on our YouTube channel and maybe, just maybe, I'll share that with you on our social coming up later on this Friday. It's going to be a fantastic Friday. It's going to be, I can feel it in my bones, it's going to be fun. Freedom, freedom! Is that a Braveheart thing? Freedom! It's going to be a Braveheart Friday. There you go. So we're glad to have you with us. Good morning to you if you're just waking up. I'm going to drop a little bit of Kyler Murray on you this hour.

Why? Well, because he's making some pretty extensive comments for what feels like the first time. We haven't heard from him in quite a while as he's rehabbing from this torn ACL and every now and then we'll see him or a quote will pop up or it'll be on social but with the Cardinal's website and the Cardinal's flight plan, he's actually talked about what this process has been like for him and what his goal is in terms of returning from the torn ACL that he did in just December actually.

I had that surgery in early January so we appreciated hearing from him so we have to drop in on the last show of the work week. We've been talking about running backs because there's some pretty impressive running backs, a stable of free agent running backs that don't have homes yet even as we get close to the start of training camps. Now do they necessarily need to be in camp? Well maybe not except running backs are also responsible for blocking a lot of them and they do need to know if they're working with a new quarterback. They've got to have the playbook and the language and the terminology and of course the inflections and yada yada yada. If you're changing teams and you're going from a system that you were comfortable, let's say Zeke for example, a system where you're comfortable and you're starting over, Cowboys was the only place he'd ever known, Dak was the only quarterback really. I know Dak went through some injuries but Dak was this quarterback for the majority of the time. They got into the league together so wherever he ends up, different terminology, different quarterback, different style of leadership, obviously different coaches, different schemes. It's not just about taking the ball and running, it's about what the o-line is doing, it's about the blocking assignments, certainly recognizing the different run action or play action excuse me and the various wrinkles that can come out of play action which is a big tool these days in the NFL. If you're a running back who catches the ball out of the backfield a bunch, there's that element too so as much as veterans don't necessarily love going to training camp, if you're changing teams, it's paramount that you get there and yet we got a bunch of guys that are still waiting for homes.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions are defending their early draft pick. Do you, I don't know if you remember Ryan, Ryan is working with us on this edition of the show. It's great to have him for a second straight night. How comfortable do you feel Ryan? I'm chilling right now.

You're chilling, all right don't be chilling so much that you're checking out back there. So Ryan was part of a group effort on our last show and trained on our last show, first time ever on After Hours and now he's running the whole show by himself. I don't know, we may decide that producer Jay can stay on vacation. Just kidding. Jay, I was just kidding. I'm sure Jay's not listening. He's probably asleep on a couch somewhere.

That's what he does, he falls asleep on the couch. Anyway, all right so do you remember draft night Ryan? Yes. When the Lions decided to go with Jamir Gibbs out of Alabama at the number 12 overall pick. I honestly took a second to remember who he was because I'm not the biggest college football fan. I was like, oh. I don't think you were the only one. Yes, I was like, why? Exactly, that was the reaction from pretty much everyone around the league and otherwise.

Why? Analyst, same thing. Well Brad Holmes is now, and he did this great conversation with Peter Schrager on I think it's called the season podcast.

He's kind of getting into that a little bit and I thought it was fascinating to hear him talk about it. But yeah, Jamir Gibbs, 21 years old, gets taken number 12 overall. But yet you've got these veteran running backs. Dalvin Cook's 28. Leonard Fournette, he's also 28 as well.

We looked that up earlier, right? Leonard Fournette's 28. I mean these guys are late 20s but people start to get nervous about running backs who have too much mileage on them. I mean Dalvin Cook, four straight 1100 yard seasons and played all of last year and yet somehow, well partly it's because of what he's asking in terms of money. Rookies are cheap cheap cheepy tins.

They don't make a whole lot, although if you're in the first round you make more. So a little bit from Brad Holmes as well which is pretty interesting and a lot of attention on the Detroit Lions, a lot of it as we get set for 2023. I know it feels weird to talk football in mid-July sometimes. Maybe, maybe it feels weird for you to hear it.

It actually doesn't feel weird to me so I should take that back or qualify it. The last few years I feel like we never stop talking about football. It never goes away and so here we are days away from training camp but I am not giving up on my some some summertime attitude. I've got the summertime tude. I've got summertime plans literally every Saturday from now until Labor Day weekend. I've got plans to be on the water, near the water, at a concert. Yeah I got plans. College roommate coming into town this weekend and we've got some big plans for the first time ever. I'm going to be up in the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

Yes I'll post some photos. So I'm not ready to give up my summertime yet but football you know that whole encroachment thing. Yeah football's about to encroach on your summer so we will do a little football before we get through this final hour of the show.

You missed it. Big news coming from now this is entertainment but it's not our sports entertainment but I still feel like it's significant and also I'm wondering if it's going to end up affecting radio which would be me. Radio hosts. It's funny because in radio the the term that is used to describe the hosts or the people who are on air and I use this term loosely. I used to laugh at it but we're called I'm using my air quotations so Ryan keep a straight face.

Talent. That's what we're called. Look at Ryan's laughing. I mean that's probably not the best way to ingratiate yourself to the host is to laugh.

You said not to and it's hard not to. I know I know. There's a power of suggestion. So yes in radio we're called talent and actually in news tv also called talent so the anchors that type of thing that's just how the delineation is done. Talent and I just I feel like it's the funniest word ever. What are the producers not talented?

The writers aren't talented? Well the union that I'm in calls us performers. All right I guess there's some level of performing. You do have to be on. You have to be a performer.

If you hadn't heard this just kicked in two hours and 11 minutes ago. The performers 160,000 of them who essentially are actors and actresses have not been able to come to a contract agreement with the producers and so now my union their union but also my union is on strike. SAG-AFTRA has authorized a strike for its performers but it says it didn't in it didn't specifically mention talent. Maybe I don't I'm not part of that. No right now this is with tv and film producers. That's that's their beef and we already have writers on strike.

Now you may have seen or maybe you don't pay attention. I do because I love serial tv. I love crime dramas. I love the Chicago Fire and PD. I love the NCIS's and all those shows. Love Blue Bloods.

Oh my gosh. Blue Bloods is one of my favorite shows with Tom Selleck that's set in New York City. So I have a lot of shows tv shows that I watch that are scripted and so I'm already starting to see where networks are taking these shows off of their fall schedule.

Now they may end up being there. Now they may end up with reruns but the fall shows that you love are now in jeopardy. My current favorite show is Seal Team. I actually got Paramount Plus just for Seal Team.

It's got a lot of other great offerings on it but I got it originally for Seal Team. It's my escape from football, my escape from sports, my escape from work. Contrary to popular belief I cannot watch Star Wars every single day. I could try it for about a month and I probably would be okay but after that I'm gonna need something else to watch. I guess I'm gonna have to pull out my stack of puzzles that I have in my closet or go to streaming. There are plenty of shows on streaming but that's part of the issue actually is that actors and actresses, performers in the case of SAG-AFTRA tv and film actors and actresses one of their major issues is that they feel like they're not being compensated properly for shows that are on streaming and along with streaming the idea of residuals right so they're not getting paid. These shows stay on streaming services for not forever always I mean they can get pulled but they do stay on these streaming services and people have access to them for long stretches of time and the actors and actresses aren't getting residuals.

So yeah streaming residuals and then this is something else that I find really fascinating. There's a lot more chatter in 2023 about AI, artificial intelligence, taking human jobs. Well that's one of the major concerns of my union and okay just just to be fair I'm not in the SAG part of it but I am in the AFTRA part of it and we merged going back probably eight or nine years ago. I know a lot of things changed our names changed of course but like our insurance and all that stuff changed because now I'm in the same union as say Jennifer Lawrence.

Or Denzel Washington it's pretty cool. So I kind of knew this was happening because we've been getting emails and actually we were asked to vote and authorize a strike even before it was was going to take into effect we were asked in June to authorize a strike to actually vote and authorize a strike because they were anticipating that no deal would be done. And so it's not just about streaming and the new world with so many original shows being offered exclusively on streaming and about the residuals. It's also about AI and artificial intelligence and feeling like a lot of the work that these actors and actresses do that performers do is not protected. It could be copied or imitated by AI or at the very least used as an inspiration for AI, artificial intelligence. And think about the number of animated films or the number of films that are sci-fi or even films with animals in them where very often they're using computer graphics and computer programs and maybe not AI but really high-tech video capabilities to to create whatever atmosphere or background.

They're not actually on location they're on a green screen or they're in a studio somewhere and all of the background is being put in by computers. So this is the major challenges they're worried about deep fakes essentially. And essentially AI taking their jobs. And then the same thing that most unions strike over would be pension, which I do pay into my pension fund, pension and insurance and all that jazz. Similar to other industries, COVID and the pandemic hit actors and actresses pretty hard. Now they make you would think a lot more money but that's really only the the upper echelon. Sure there's a lot of performers that are insulated from any type of work stoppage or the case of pandemic but for the most part they're scraping along. You've heard the whole cliche about struggling actors, struggling actors who's also working as a waitress or whatever else.

Well there's thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of those. Now it's my union right now we've not been asked to walk out. I'm a little bit nervous.

I actually warned Ryan earlier in the show, hey if they if I get an email that's I'm not checking my email right now because I'm a little bit nervous. If I get an email that says you need to walk out as a show of solidarity I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm just beware you spread the word against or with producers because beware that may be required. What if I have to cross the picket line to do my radio show? Oh even worse what if I have to cross the picket line to do my radio show during football season?

I'm not I'm not well I am not walking out during football season that's not happening but yeah we get sent emails every day about where we can join the picket lines and we can protest and demonstrate in our own markets and we were actually voting on this because it's I'm part of this union. First time since 1960 that both the writers and the actors have been on strike at the same time. So your fall tv the tv that you love it's in jeopardy and you may not think it will hit streaming now and it may not hit streaming right away but it will eventually because they use actors and actresses and writers for shows that are on streaming as well and that's part of the issue is is the performers don't feel like they're being compensated for what's happening with streaming this whole new world with streaming.

So it's happened it's a done deal now three hours and 15 minutes ago and according to the leaders of the union they are nowhere close to a deal. Kind of a kind of stinky maybe takes us back to what it was like in the pandemic where there weren't a whole lot of new shows and and you remember and you were missing what you love to watch on tv. I know there are a lot of people who don't watch tv nearly as much I love tv tv is my outlet my escape and tv the more than movies I do love movies but I really love my crime dramas that's where I'm gonna feel it crime dramas oh dear. So let me know what you think is it gonna bother you at all maybe you didn't know about it but now you do it's gonna affect you at some point if you like tv other than sports of course because they're not scripted they're not scripted they're not rigged just to put your mind at ease could you imagine Ryan if all of a sudden sports stopped too and it was because the writer's strike affected the sport I wouldn't be surprised oh stop it you would too could you imagine that was like it was the best kept secret in sports no one knew people people suspected but no one knew and all of a sudden an entire sport comes to a grinding halt because there are no writers to write up the drama the golf go pickleball oh the wwe don't they have writers oh they do oh my gosh it could come to a grinding halt soon soon it could it's a good thing they have like libraries entire rooms full of libraries of old events man all right let's see what do we want to do next a little bit about uh about what did I say before oh a little bit more with Kyler Murray and then back of the hour I don't know why hard knocks would be a negative so I thought I would ask a former nfl wide receiver why hard knocks would be a negative it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS sports radio you are listening to the after hours podcast you know when you see somebody you heard on tv and like you see everybody come dab them up and like give her love and like it was like all that happened in a blur but it was all like the trainers came up to me I'm on the ground I wasn't in shock I was just more so like I've been hurt before but not like this and I knew something was wrong you don't say I knew something had to be up this is after hours on CBS sports radio the voice of Kyler Murray some real extensive comments to the Cardinals website Cardinals flight plan about his initial injury so the torn ACL that happened on December 12th of last year against the New England Patriots and then what the recovery has been like and of course the target as well so yeah first time we've really heard him kind of dive into this whole process and year four was was a mess for him for a lot of reasons not just for the injury and it was a mess for the cardinals and man you look at the big picture with them and the fact that he got that massive contract right before the season started and then it really they never to use their flight plan uh kind of title for this series they never really got their flight off the ground and for Kyler it's been not just the pressure of the contract and the expectations and feeling like he had something to prove and everything that happened with Cliff Kingsbury last year that was reported but also having to deal with the the pain and the frustration of recovering from the injury after the injury happened I rehabbed for like two weeks or whatever and that wasn't that bad but after the surgery at first like two weeks was terrible you know moving was tough and then you're just kind of helpless like you you're depending on everybody but luckily I have you know people around me that help me out yeah the best rehab the best recovery technology and certainly personnel that money can buy for professional athletes as it should be since they get hurt uh when they're on the job if you will it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS sports radio Kyler Murray to cardinals flight plan when when will he be back that is the question that everyone wants answered when you look I look further down the line it seems like we got a long way to go ideally you know I want to be back by week one but that's the goal at the end of the day that's the goal but I can't really look that far ahead because gotta take it one day at a time he had a surgery in early January and the cardinals kick off the season on September 10th nine months essentially that's pretty quick for a torn ACL a few guys have done it I'm not saying it can't be done but that is pretty quick I would think with the cardinals investing what is 160 million dollars fully guaranteed into him that they would probably be okay with waiting a little extra but it's not clif kingsborough anymore now it's Jonathan Gannon they made a lot of changes and he's having to start fresh too at the very least he can be learning playbook and and all that kind of stuff last year was not easy in any way shape or form and he certainly does bear some responsibility for that the leadership was a disaster there were a lot of issues it's not fair to blame the quarterback specifically but he knows he knows that after the two pro bowl seasons plus the rookie of the year before that that year four was the dud oh yeah it's frustrating it's frustrating especially when you know I feel like since I've been in the league all we've done is go up you know I got better every year and then to take like a you know hit it hit a wall year four after especially after going through the whole contract thing like I got COVID in camp I hurt my wrist in camp so I missed a lot of those reps um and then trying to play catch up during the season it was just like it was just kind of like a compilation of things going on but you work your whole life to kind of I've done everything right as far as off the field on the field you know I'm saying I try to try to treat people the right way but it is what it is you know I'm saying I think winning winning cures all from Cardinals flight plan Kyler Murray with some pretty it was a pointed comments some emotion behind that as well about this process but but also year four and and how bad it was and the Cardinals were there dead last in the NFC west again it's after hours here on CBS sports radio yeah you know what the lions used to be the butt of the NFL jokes and they're just not anymore they are one of the teams that everybody's going to be watching as we get ready to start training camps and even as we're talking about the Cardinals they don't have their rookies and veterans report until July 25th to Glendale so they all report together the lions that is not the case July 19th next Wednesday rookies which includes Shamir Gibbs the running back out of Alabama and Brad Holmes the the GM of the Detroit Lions he'll admit that there was a lot of pushback about or maybe not a lot of pushback a surprise reaction maybe even stunning when the lions decided to take Gibbs a running back at the number 12 pick and he was a guest Brad was a guest on the Peter Schrager podcast it's called the season uh and he Peter brought that up and said did you realize that people were were just thrown they were just thrown for a loop when you drafted a running back number 12 man it's funny that she said you heard that about him going that early because I was sitting here thinking uh I was like nobody's gonna do this and then after we picked him then I heard all these other oh yeah yeah no that's who we wanted I'm glad you picked him because he wasn't gonna make it I love that I love that Brad's laughing about it too he and Dan Campbell have such great personalities so they take a running back at number 12 people go crazy over it as the draft is playing out in the broadcast of it all of that you remember analysts they freaked out over it uh running back out of Alabama but Brad says yeah he heard from other teams oh we were gonna take him we were gonna take him so why then why take Gibbs that high running back at number 12 I went to that Texas Alabama game uh or earlier in the year I saw his body type in playing this guy looked intriguing then I kind of saw what he was doing in both phases um yeah I mean he can run it but what he was doing as a receiver and the explosiveness and everything about him and we just kept doing work on him and like I said kind of do some draft prep during the season and kept doing work on him and that was just kind of it for me he's a weapon and um you know we talk about all the running backs going in the first round and all that kind of stuff um you know I always say like if he's a weapon then forget the rb we thought he was a multi-phase elite explosive positionless weapon you know the funny part that I remember is that Jamir Gibbs himself said he was surprised that he got taken that high in the draft but he was just that he was just hanging out with some friends during the draft and that the phone rang and it was the lions he was shocked himself and actually it's funny that Brad Holmes mentions the Texas Alabama game because the other running back that was taken in the top 12 was from Texas Bijan Robinson other than Saquon Barkley hadn't had running backs taken that high they don't generally go in the top 10 but Saquon did remember the Giants picked him number two overall uh going back to 18 and boy was there some backlash then so the Falcons and the Lions they stirred the pot by taking running backs in the first round there so kind of kind of fun with Brad Holmes on the Peter Schrager podcast all right coming up part of my conversation with a former NFL wide receiver who answers my question of why is hard knocks a negative I actually think it's kind of cool it's after hours cbs sports radio you are listening to the after hours podcast hola it's me Amy Lawrence the host of after hours and by now maybe you've heard Aaron Rodgers trash hard knocks and grudgingly agree that they're gonna have to do it but he said the NFL forced it down their throats I don't get it though why is hard knocks such a bad thing I decided I would ask former NFL wide receiver Mike Pritchard who joined us from Vegas earlier in the show it won't be a negative I mean I think what what people need to realize is hard knocks and the Jets they're gonna have to create some storylines you know I think they potentially had a big storyline but it got resolved with the Quinn Williams signing and the deal for him so you know they're not going to have to deal with that much like Rex Ryan had to deal with Darrell Reberts back in the day when the hard knocks was was participating with the Jets so that storyline is out the way Aaron Rodgers is a storyline himself there's a lot of characters on that roster too so you know it's going to be interesting because I think players today's players are all about branding and and it's going to be a great opportunity for a lot of those players on that team in that market to be able to brand themselves a little bit so I'm looking forward to it I think it's going to be very interesting a hard knocks situation this uh this coming season I think with the personalities like sauce gardener Garrett Wilson they've got some real personalities there not to mention Robert Sala and of course Aaron Rodgers plus the Zach Wilson component of the whole thing yeah it feels like they got plenty for the cameras to focus on absolutely and the focus is not going to be all on Aaron Rodgers too right because I mean I know he is the hall of famer in waiting he is supposed to be the difference maker as a quarterback for that franchise now but like you just mentioned I mean there are so many different ways that hard knocks can go the interesting stories the interesting backgrounds you know just the interesting characters like you mentioned I think it I think the whole situation is right I mean that market too back in New York with that team a lot of people are excited from a betting standpoint about the Jets as well as from a fandom standpoint as well well I'm glad you bring that up because I'm wondering how do you see this new look Jets team impacting the division the AFC East as a whole they're a complete team I think coach Sala did what has not been done in a lot of years um you know you can go back to Bill Parcells when when you can change a culture and that's what needed to happen I mean the Jets routinely was picking at the top of the draft they were drafting excellent player a lot of talent but their culture was not at a level where it needed to be and and I think Robert Falaf coming into the organization and kind of changing that you remember the I'm taking the seats comments at the podium I mean that right there is something that as a player one you respect the fact that your coach your head coach put that out there now we got to back them up but then also the willingness for head coaches to do that knowing that his players will back him back them up so that spoke volumes to me about the Jets and now assimilating the talent that they've had over the last two years and that you add in this type of quarterback I think it has the makings of being very very special I did something on vcent in which I did track record of quarterbacks that are hall of fame in waiting in other words these are quarterbacks that are hall of famers already but they're just still playing and their track record has been outstanding in terms of getting to the playoffs and even winning super bowls I mean that's Tom Brady that's Pete Manning that's Warren Moon that's Joe Montana you know quarterbacks that left their other situation or other team for whatever reason Brett Farr for whatever reason and yet they go on and have success with their new team even though they're in the twilight of their career so I think Aaron Rogers fits that description as well and you know I think he's going to incorporate himself and be very comfortable with that culture up there in New York as well Mike Pritchard's a former NFL wide receiver and spent years both in Denver as well as in Seattle and Atlanta as you talk about hall of famers you cross paths with one when you were in Denver how much does that change the depth of the offense how much does it change the knowledge and just the way that the offense is approached when you have a guy who is of that caliber like an Aaron Rogers oh yeah it is outstanding I mean I got the privilege to play with Brett Favre at the beginning of his career not quite a hall of famer at that point but we all know how that story ended and then you know my journey continued with John Elway and certain Warren Moon these guys are just on a different level I mean I was going into my fourth year in the National Football League when I linked up with John Elway and I thought I knew a lot at the receiver's position but I didn't know half as much as I needed to know and John Elway kind of brought that out for me and same thing similar to Warren Moon you know I'm going into the latter years of my career but yet I'm still learning from these great quarterbacks but it just they're so meticulous they want to strive for perfection on each and every play each and every competitive situation and not everybody's wired that way right but I think when you get to that level when you're when you've had that much success you have to find ways to motivate yourself you have to find flaws so you can still get better all right and I think you know the fact that Aaron Rogers is still playing there's something out there that he's chasing and as a better I'm focused and on that I really want to know and I think it's another Super Bowl because he could hang it up he could just walk away and he could have hosted Jeffery Jeffery right I mean he could have done he can still do a lot of things but he's still playing his game that he loves and something's motivating him and if you give me a great player that's motivated then usually positive things will happen. Did you also cross paths with Mike Shanahan when you were in Denver because he is now a semi-finalist for the Hall of Fame? Yeah I did so I started with Wade Phillips he was a head coach when I got traded to Denver and then Pat Boland moved on from Wade Phillips to Mike Shanahan so I was able to get coached by Mike Shanahan Gary Kubiak as well and that was the beginning or the new beginning of coach Shanahan as a head coach and that led to what I believe is a Hall of Fame career he absolutely should be in Hall of Fame. What made him a special coach?

Attention to detail meticulous it's the same qualities as a player that the competitiveness too you know you were not going to out coach or out scheme Mike Shanahan he was going to have an answer for something he was going to know exactly what you were trying to do against his offense and we had a saying you know when somebody you know that that person it could be a family member it could be a friend but they come over to your house and you know they get into your kitchen right they they start opening up your refrigerator they start going through your covers and seeing what you got we all know some people like that well that there was a term that we use with Mike Shanahan coach Shanahan that he would get into the kitchen of the defensive coordinator on the opposing team and he would know their schemes he would know their tendencies he would know them inside and out and that would just make the game so much easier for everybody so yeah absolutely well deserving as a finalist but I hope he gets into the Hall of Fame. We're excited to have Mike Pritchard back on the show former NFL wide receiver is also now part of Visa as he's mentioned he's their lead NFL analyst it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio so here we are we're just days away from the start of training camps which blows me away because I feel like the summer just began Mike what goes on with a player what type of emotions what type of last second preparation before you get to camp? Well you know Amy I think at this point everybody you know they had their vacation after the mandatory mini camps and everything and so you had about a good a good mental break at least in terms of about four or five maybe even six weeks but you also needed to stay in shape because you have these conditioning tests that you have to pass because you want to get off on the right foot and make that impression impression once you get back in and certainly be in shape too and you know there was a time where training camp actually helped you as a player get into shape but with three preseason games and the rapid nature and the veteran players they're not going to play that much as we know so it's important it's vital that these guys even though they had a break still stayed in tip-top shape so you want to make sure that once you get to camp that you're going to pass these conditioning tests and and you're really going to hit the ground running and and also avoid injury if you can't right I mean that that's the nature of the beast I think for a lot of players you don't want to get nicked up you don't want to have a pulled muscle you don't want to have anything that could um handcuff you for the beginning of the year so uh absolutely I think everybody's excited but at the same time making sure that uh everything is kosher when it comes to being in shape for your team. All right I need to know for real Mike what was the attitude among veterans about training camp because we hear all these jokes about how guys have been in the league a few years they don't really want to go back to dorms if that's the case they don't really want to be there at the beginning of camp but it's a lot of conditioning and it's freaking hot so when you were a veteran how did you actually feel about camp? Well I mean back in the day back in my day I mean you know way back when I mean it was really two days right I mean we we had what we called it hell hell week and then we would go out there 10 days in a row with double up practices padded up uh and then we would get physical we would hit and both of those practices so uh it was hell week I mean it was uh it was grueling uh now because of player safety uh and and uh you know better minds are prevailing here in terms of we don't need to have that type of punishment on our bodies and get ready for the season so it is grueling because you are away from your families but I think too when you look at certain teams and the facilities that they have like for instance the Las Vegas Raiders I would love to go to training camp for the Las Vegas Raiders because you have everything you have virtual reality you have every equipment um I would spend the night actually in the facility I wouldn't go back to the hotel if I didn't have to because it's so exquisite uh so it's so different than you know staying in the best western not to knock a best western or dorm but yeah I mean I think today's players they have it so much better so much more comfortable Mike Pritchard makes it sound like it's a five-star hotel a five-star resort to go to NFL training camp wow I asked him which mode or which version of training camp better prepares you for what's to come during the season and he did acknowledge that the season is longer now but he says that he felt more prepared when they would go out and that would practice in pads and and even though there is the risk of injury that's pretty much the case all the time I just saw this tweet from a friend who listens in Canada hurry up September no no no hurrying up September do you know that the first Sunday of the NFL season is exactly two months away what what what well not exactly it's two months away give or take a couple of days but that's crazy no hurry up September we gotta take our time and get there because I need more some some summertime all right all of our show is podcasted find it on our the odyssey app on the CBS sports radio website soon after the show is done we're back sunny I have a great summer weekend it's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS sports radio boom you