8-7-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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That's GetJoyFood.com and use the code PODCAST at checkout to get 50% off your first order. It sounds great at the movies. It sounds even better when a live symphony orchestra is performing it or better yet let's go next level here when it's the Boston Pops at Tanglewood. Maybe the best acoustics I've ever heard at an outdoor venue and I have been to a bunch. This was an amphitheater and to top it all off, John Williams conducting his own arrangement of the Star Wars theme.

I actually don't want to die yet because I would really like to get married and experience the joy of that next phase of my life. But if I said this out loud on Saturday night at Tanglewood in the Berkshires, western Massachusetts, if I did die on Saturday night, well I was gonna die happy because I finally saw John Williams in person. I finally saw John Williams conduct music that he had composed and that he had arranged and not just the music but also the program and I'm holding it in my hand right now. The program from Tanglewood 2023, the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I got to see the Boston Pops for the first time which was amazing but I'll confess I wouldn't have been there. I wouldn't have made the drive to Tanglewood if not for the fact that I was desperate to see John Williams. He's now 91 years old and still a spitfire. He's lively, he's funny, he spoke before and after every piece.

Sometimes understated, he made jokes, he tried to get the audience to hush. I gotta tell you this story because it was awesome and I will post photos. I haven't done it yet just because we've been busy and there's been other stuff going on but I will share some photos. I wanted to share them with Jay first but the fact that I got videos that sound better than what you just heard in stereo here to start this hour, just trust me, I was taking videos off my phone and it sounds as clear as what you just heard coming through your speakers on the show.

I'd say it's better. My goodness. Seriously like the videos you took, the acoustics and that, it's better than what you hear in the film or in any, it's the best version of it I've heard. Jay's now heard three videos and this is off my android. I do not have an iPhone, I have an android.

It's off my android. Okay so here's my story and I'm sticking to it. By the way, it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio where we tell plenty of stories and no we do not stick to sports so if that's what you're looking for, find a podcast. On Twitter, ALawRadio, also on our Facebook page After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Again I will share photos, I just haven't gotten to it yet but John Williams, one of my favorite composers, he's written and crafted and won awards for hundreds. I mean he's done hundreds of movie scores, he's done tv themes, he's actually done the, he did the Olympic theme for those of you who watch the Olympics so there was this incredible moment where he actually came out to conduct the whole second half and they started with the Olympic theme and he said he, NBC's a great friend and partner of his, they put up an entire montage of some of the greatest moments in US Olympic history.

Oh my goodness, it was amazing. All right but going back to the beginning, when I saw John Williams tribute concert in February, I was determined I had to figure out how to see him. He's at 91 now. After COVID though is in fact conducting again, he makes appearances but I started searching and the tickets in Los Angeles, in Chicago, in New York where they're doing a tribute to him, I think it's in September but I'm not sure, sometime this summer, thousands of dollars that you would have to spend to get to these concerts. In fact the ticket alone for what was still available for New York was well over twelve hundred dollars so there was no way that I was going to that concert and then I remembered I have some friends who are, they're VIPs or members at Tanglewood and they'd seen him multiple times because they always do John Williams film music or John Williams film night in the summer.

This is the outdoor venue Tanglewood, you can google it if you're interested but I will share some photos. So once I found out he was there, I contacted my friend, it was amazing, they got me a ticket for the Shed so it was, I had a ticket to sit underneath the Shed and I was maybe 30 rows back, tops, that's it, 30 rows back. But when I, so when I went up to Tanglewood on Saturday, this was funny, it was 133 miles from my house, I left after I took care of Penny's afternoon routine so I walked her, I fed her, made sure she had water, took care of her and then about three and I think it was a little after four o'clock eastern time I hopped in my car. I was on track for a six o'clock arrival so it was 133 miles, the traffic wasn't bad at all. For those of you who know upstate New York, I went up to New York, I went up the Taconic State Parkway into western Massachusetts, no joke, I never had any trouble. I sailed right through from the Thruway to 84 to the Taconic, I had no trouble. I get one mile and so then I get off the Taconic State Parkway and I go back roads to Tanglewood. So again, for those of you who know Stockbridge mass area, again it's way out in the Berkshires, it's up in the mountains, your your coverage is spotty. I was talking to Bob for a couple of minutes on the phone and he was losing me because the coverage is spotty, but my maps were working and it was on my phone was taking me through back roads and neighborhoods where you're essentially going 40 miles per hour tops. Within one mile, because there's essentially two roads in, two roads out, one mile from Tanglewood, dead stop. So I got the first 132 miles in about an hour and 20 minutes maybe and then it took me 30 minutes to go the last mile.

No. It was fine, I wasn't stressed or anything, I was there in plenty of time. The gates opened at 5 30, they didn't start the concert until 8. So people, they move in to the lawn at Tanglewood. I'm not joking, there are people who have huge wagons that they pull in, not one, not two, maybe three different wagons. They set up these enormous tarps and blankets and you carve out your space and there's almost no room left on the lawn.

The lawn is very beautifully manicured, there's huge oak trees all around, you're surrounded by the mountains, gorgeous sunset actually. You know me, I love to take photos of clouds, but you can barely walk if you're in the middle of the lawn which is optimal seating because you're straight back from the stage. You can't even walk, you really can't find a path to pick your way in and out because people, it's not like the beach where people essentially will give you a little space and respect a buffer around your blanket, nah. No, there's no buffers, you have people's stuff that's right next to your feet.

I'm just trying to get as close as I can. Yeah, you just can't get in and out. So anyway, you're walking across people's stuff to get to the bathrooms, but it was amazing. So it took me a half hour to get there, I parked up at the very top corner, halfway of a mountain, the very top corner of the Upper West lot and walked down with my cooler, my blanket, my sweatshirt.

I know, crazy, it's the middle of August, right? But the temps were in the upper 50s when I left there, so I actually did wear my sweatshirt and met my friends on the lawn. We had chicken salad, we had a huge fruit salad, I made oatmeal apricot bars.

My friend Jay, who I used to work with my previous network, I met him and his family, hadn't seen them in a while, we used to live in the same town in Connecticut. So it was a lot of fun, was able to just enjoy the beautiful weather, laid back atmosphere. So we picnicked.

It's the Tanglewood version of tailgating, you're just not with your vehicles, you're out on this gorgeous lawn. What I found out was the first half of the program that was arranged by John Williams was actually conducted by the Boston Pops regular conductor, their actual hired conductor, and so I was able to stay out on the lawn for the first half. But it featured music like, and I actually heard this in February for the first time, John Williams wrote the main theme for this movie called The Cowboys, which I'd never seen before, it was pre-me.

He also did Far and Away, Jurassic Park, and Superman. And to hear that medley, those three performed by the Boston Pops all in a row, was awesome. Hooray for Hollywood, which it's a song you would know if you heard it.

And so those were the first few selections that John Williams picked himself. Then they had the intermission, and from that point I left the lawn and made my way, because I had a ticket, just one ticket by myself, made my way inside the shed and was 30 rows back, straight back from the stage or straight back from his podium where he conducts. And you can hear it building, right? So the buzz underneath the shed and out on the lawn as they give you, they clang the bell and they let you know first you've got five minutes, then you've got 60 seconds, and this hush settles over the shed and over Tanglewood until he walks out.

And he moves pretty well for being 91 years old. He smiles, he waves, he does take a hand to get on and like to take that step up to his perch where he's conducting. He spoke before and after every song, just easy going, fun, sweet. He gave little tidbits about some of the different pieces and so then he launched into the music. The very first selections that he conducted were Indiana Jones and he wrote the score.

He keeps saying he's going to retire and then he never does. So his most iconic work is, well Schindler's List is, oh my gosh, is amazing, but his most iconic works are all of the Star Wars movies. He did all nine of the Star Wars movies.

May have done Rogue One too, but I'm not entirely sure of that. He did the nine iconic films. He also did the music for the Disney World ride. If you don't know the whole Disney World area, the new Star Wars exhibit at Disney World, he did the music for that and won a, which you wouldn't, you would win a Grammy I think. He won a Grammy for that.

He's won all kinds of awards. He did do the music for going back to some of the other different projects, right, the different one-off series and then Indiana Jones. He wrote all the music for Indiana Jones. So he starts out his session with Indiana Jones and then they do, again, he spoke before and after every song, but they do a few different ones.

The Call of Champions, that was the one for from the Olympics. They also do some music from Star Wars The Phantom Menace and they, Jay, while they were doing Star Wars The Phantom Menace and it's music that's really the conflict between light and dark, so it features a bunch of duels and they put up this video montage of some of the most memorable moments from the Star Wars franchise, a bunch of them being duels like Darth Maul and Obi-Wan, but not just that, Obi-Wan and Anakin, even Princess Leia in there as well, her kind of back and forth with General Tarkin. I mean there's so many cool moments, lots of Darth Vader moments where he's walking in and out, moments with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, so it was really cool to see this montage. So there was the Olympics montage, but then there was the Star Wars montage as they're playing this selection from The Phantom Menace. Again, it's kind of the conflict of light and dark and it's just so different when you hear it in person and he even said, so this is something that he said when they got to the end and they did three more selections from Star Wars, this was part of the program, that very often when you watch it as part of a movie, it's muted and he said, imagine my ego, I write up this music that includes every part that you could possibly imagine because the orchestra, all of the parts, but it's muted for the film and so he said, I watched the film and my ego takes a hit because I realized that they really muted some of the best parts of the music and so he said, when I go back and I get a chance to conduct, I love it because I can bring out the various parts.

This is John, 91 years old, he's explaining his music. It was a clinic. Unreal. Oh, it was so awesome. That's amazing. Just getting it from the source itself, you're never going to get that experience from who's had more accomplished as a composer than, you know, more than him.

It was awesome. So at the end, one of the reasons that he was talking about that is because the music around the asteroid field, you know, when Han Solo and Princess Leia at the time and Chewbacca, they go into the asteroid field to avoid getting captured in Empire Strikes Back and the music there is, he's like, I wrote it with all these different parts and then you watch it in the film and it's nothing like what I composed. So he wanted us to hear it. He's very lively. He's constantly moving fingers and the wand and different arms and he's turning and he's moving and the way the Boston Pops respond to him. So he was their conductor going back to 1980.

He retired a few years ago but he still guest conducts every now and then. So they go, I've kind of skipped ahead, they do the theme from Schindler's List and the violin solo is there, is first chair. Alita Kang mesmerizing. For those of you who know the movie Schindler's List, the music is mesmerizing.

So she, and very notable, you recognize it right away. It's like Superman. It's like Jurassic Park. They don't need to introduce those pieces of music and then they get to the three selections from Star Wars. So he explains the asteroid field, then it's Anakin's theme which he says, some of you, you may know the story.

Duh. It was so, he's like some of you, you may know the story. It's a bit foreboding at the end and when I had seen the music performed by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in February, what was notable, they also did Anakin's theme. At the end it turns very Darth Vader-ish and dark and you hear that kind of foreboding music.

It's brilliant the way it's written. Finally they finish up with what was the end of A New Hope, the throne room, where they're getting their awards. If you remember the, it was after they'd blown up the first Death Star, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Chewbacca, they walk up the middle of the, you know, where all the soldiers are lined up and they get these medals from Princess Leia and then it's the iconic Star Wars music and in the movie it doesn't go on forever but the piece itself is probably a good eight, nine minutes long and Jay, I'm crying, I'm giggling, I'm taking a video and that's what I showed.

I sent it to Jay on Saturday night. It's, oh, it's incredible how clear, crystal clear and I'm sitting 30 rows back and my phone is recording it like I'm on stage. So that was awesome. He does his, I even took a video of the place with thunderous applause for John Williams, right, and this is my first time at Tanglewood. I assume he's going to do an encores but I don't know for sure. He walks off, he waves, you know, he brings the whole orchestra to his stand, to its feet.

He waves, he walks off. He's not even out of sight for five seconds before he walks back on and they do, he introduces the new music from Indiana Jones. So after he explains about Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who I guess is the new heroine in the latest Indiana Jones movie, he makes a joke too about how Harrison Ford is 80, 81.

He's like, but he's kind of a teenager to me now that I'm 91. It was really cute. So they do that selection. Then he turns to the crowd and he goes, after the thunderous applause for his Indiana Jones selection, he turns to the crowd, and I'm not kidding you, this is all he said, ET, and turns back around and they start the ET music. Oh my gosh, it was amazing. Say no more. Yes, and then, and then, so people are starting to leave now, right, because this is the second encore.

They do the Indiana Jones, then they do ET. He walks off again. People are starting to leave, but the applause, because there's about, there's just shy of 20,000 people there.

The applause is still going on and on and on. This time he's off stage for a couple more seconds, finally comes back. He waves. He's very gracious. He smiles. He gets back up to the podium. He gets a hand. He steps up. He doesn't say anything. He just, he acknowledges the crowd. He tells everyone to sit down, right. He kind of gives them a, just kind of hate, almost like a quarterback would do out in the field when they're on offense. He kind of waves them to sit down, and then he turns back around to the Boston Pops, and they launch into the Imperial March.

The whole place starts yelling. Oh, I did too. I was like, yeah. It was so great.

Like a touchdown. Oh, so I, exactly, seriously, I felt like I won the Super Bowl, and so they played the whole Imperial March. I took two more videos. I showed them with Jay. I actually have gotten chills still just listening back to them because they're so good, and then we're able to take a few more pictures before he finally departed, and the funny part was, remember the Steph Curry goodnight motion when the Warriors were winning the NBA Finals last summer, so not this past summer, and it was his signature, and then all over sports people were doing it.

Kids were doing it in their youth sports. Well, John Williams, in walking off the stage, again, he's 91. He'd already done three encores. He walks off to the corner, and he does the night night because he's like almost to say, I'm 91.

I need to get a nap. It was awesome, and so then I was able to, like I say, get some awesome pictures and videos, and I get back out, and my friends, they're waiting. They say, we just wait until, because again, one road in, one road out to each direction, and so they say, we just kind of hang out here on the lawn. It was a beautiful night. By this time, I'm wearing a sweatshirt, upper 50s.

The, well, gorgeous, gorgeous night. What I didn't account for is that when I got back to my car, I got out of the lot pretty easily. I went out of back way, so not the same way I came in because that road was gridlocked. My GPS wouldn't work on my phone, so I follow people, right? I follow people out, like out the back way, around this farm area, into the town, and then I can't get my GPS to work, so I turn on my Garmin.

Oh, bad idea. Garmin does not account for traffic or road closures. The Garmin sent me right back into the teeth of the traffic, so I'm not kidding you, Jay. I feel like I'm out. I was out. It took me five minutes to get out. I turned the wrong way because of the Garmin right back into the traffic where I got stuck. I was like, no, and I couldn't get out because it's dark.

It's all these little back roads. It's traffic everywhere, and so I can't get my phone to work, right, because I can't get service on my phone, so I can't get my maps to work. Guess what I did? I called my mother. Mom, help. I can't get out.

I'm stuck. Yes, because she was still awake. She got on her computer. She figured out where I was, and she directed me out.

Oh, yeah. Well, it's not the first time because before I had maps on my phone, I would get lost all the time, and if my Garmin wouldn't work or I just, whatever, had no idea where I was, she would get on the map. She loves to do that. She'd get on the maps, and she would help me to get out. 20 minutes I spent circling around.

I didn't get home until almost two o'clock in the morning, so my voice sounds deeper. That's why. Worth every second. Worth 20 minutes of driving around with ridiculous traffic and getting frustrated because I had no idea where I was. Worth the drive up and back. Worth all of it. Worth every cent of the $89 I paid for my ticket underneath the roof, inside the shed. Oh, my goodness.

It's an annual thing. I've already told Bob, next summer, if John is performing again or is conducting again, we're going. Okay, he said.

He kind of goes along with my schemes. So it was amazing. I will post some pictures. Can you do, I can do videos on Twitter, right? Yeah, two minutes, 20 seconds. Okay, well, it's not that long. I could definitely post which one. Should it be the Star Wars theme or should it be the Imperial March?

The theme blew my mind as the March did well. That's a, come on, that's such a tough choice. It is. It is. You're not so helpful at all, Jay.

You're not helpful at all. The theme is the one you showed me first, and I literally got goosebumps to the phone. All right, I can do that. I can post the theme. It was really sweet.

Anyway, you can certainly find me on Twitter, A Law Radio, on our show Twitter, After Hours, CBS. We're asking you, would you stand in front of a lion? He's in a cage.

Even as you feed him and know that he's going to be communicating with you, would you stay in there and take this in your face? We're feeding a lion. I'm scared.

It's a big lion, by the way. I'm trembling, honestly. Is England going to win the World Cup? That's a no, dude. That's a no. Straight up no. Is England going to win?

Would you do that? Melissa Ortiz, she was at the Sydney Zoo, and she was feeding a lion, and she asked the lion if England is going to win the World Cup, because England, the English are the lionesses. So she asked, and he didn't think so. He is right in her face. I mean, there's not even two inches between her face. Don't ask me what she was doing in his face. There was a fence there, but it does not help when there's a lion who's growling at you. Could you imagine in the wild hearing that? No.

I barely call that a fence, too. That's like a little... I don't trust that.

I don't know. Especially after she had just fed him raw meat. He could have taken a chunk out of her hand.

Easily. But she feeds him raw meat through the fence, and then asks him, is England going to win the World Cup? And the lion wasn't having it.

Stop playing with me. Essentially, he was saying, also get out of my face if you don't have more. Or maybe he was saying, yes, of course my lionesses will win the World Cup. So check out the video. It's on my Twitter or After Hours CBS, and I want to know if you would do it.

Would you be able to stand there and not scream and back up when this lion came after you? That's what I'm asking. Just asking.

Simple question. Go check it out. Let us know. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. 1-1. And Meyers hits it high in the air to left field. It sends back Connor Fallefa onto the warning track at the wall. And that ball is gone. A three-run homer for Jake Meyers and a three-to-one Astros lead. That's on the way. And Meyers hits this one high in the air and deep to left field.

Connor Fallefa is back at the wall, looking up. See you later! Second three-run homer of the day for Jake Meyers and the Astros take an 8-5 lead in the Bronx.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It was a mixed bag for the Yankees and Astros this weekend, but so perfect. On the heels of the Justin Verlander trade from the New York Mets, back to Houston. What do the Astros do?

They turn around. They travel to the Bronx to take on the Yankees. Can you imagine how ticked off the Yankees must have been?

Are you kidding me? We get rid of him. He's no longer in the American League. The Mets pay him a boatload of money.

They send him back to Houston. They can't win a damn thing, so they trade him to Houston right before we face the Astros in the Bronx? Like, are you trying to make it, not only make it harder for us, but like add insult to injury, rub our noses in it, as if the Mets and Yankees fans didn't already despise each other?

It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Now, the Yankees did beat Justin Verlander on Saturday, but as you hear on Sunday on Astros Radio with Robert Ford, the Stroh's were able to avoid losing the whole series there in the Bronx with a victory on Sunday. And yes, Jake Myers, he had two three-run homers. The Yankees, though, get the best of Verlander, which had to feel good for Aaron Boone on Saturday at least. We're not all the way where we want to be, but I definitely feel like, you know, the at-bat qualities, we talk about the heaviness, or I talk about that I want it to feel heavy. You know, I think they went through a heavy lineup today.

They had to work, they had to earn everything, and that's how we need to make it. A great walk in the clubhouse, and then, you know, your routine gets thrown off a bit. You know, I had to throw the bullpen a day later and just figure all that stuff out, but, you know, throwing pitches, seeing these guys behind me making plays felt great. Overall, a month ago, a month ago, could you have imagined this being Yankee Stadium pitching a month ago when you were across town? I mean, a month? No.

You know, obviously getting closer a few days ago, yes. Justin Verlander reconnecting with his Astros teammates, re-acclimating himself to the Astros culture and routine, and then turning around and going right back to New York, because he was introduced in Houston after the trade was made, and then they turned around and traveled to the Bronx. Right, they make him come back.

I guess he didn't need more than his mini suitcase, because he already has an apartment there in New York. Oh my goodness. Yeah, nutso. As for the standings, I don't know that we need to be scoreboard watching at this point, but we talked about it with the Dodgers and Padres because of Sunday Night Baseball, and if you missed Sammy Levitt, he joined us from San Diego about 90 minutes ago to talk about what's been a surge for the Padres to within three of the last NL wildcard spots. While we're talking wildcards for the Yankees, they're four and a half out, so they're above 500, but they're actually trailing the Mariners now. The Mariners have won five in a row, eight of their last 10. Remember last year they ended that baseball postseason drought.

It was the longest playoff drought in sports, not just in baseball. So the Mariners get off the schnide, but they have not followed up. They haven't had a great encore until now. They just swept the Angels over the weekend.

It was a four game set, right? They swept the Angels in a four game set, so they have taken the lead when it comes to trying to grab that third wildcard spot. But as for the Astros, right now they're sitting in the second wildcard spot.

They're 15 games above 500. The Blue Jays have the third spot, and then it's Mariners two and a half out, Yankees four and a half out, Red Sox five out, and the Angels have faded to seven back of that third wildcard in the American League. So both the Astros and the Yankees still have a lot on the line, and Astros have been the nemesis for the Yanks in the postseason. They cannot figure out how to hit Houston pitching in the last couple post seasons, or really any pitching for that matter, but the Astros have have been the team that they, you know what, the Astros have been to the Yankees, what the Yankees have been to the Twins for years in the playoffs, and now they've got Justin Verlander back, even as Fromber Valdez throws a no-hitter, whatevs. It's just, it's got to be brutal for New York, and this is even if the Yankees make the playoffs. So that's where we stand right now, early August, actually August 7th on this Monday morning.

How? And we are just over a month away from the NFL season kicking off. The first day of the NFL regular season, I believe is the 7th, we have to look it up because it's a Thursday, and then the first month of the season. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're exactly one month out.

Monday, August 7th, we're one month out from Thursday night, opening night for the NFL. Poor baseball, poor baseball. All right, on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, not only did the lion roar at Melissa Ortiz when she asked him whether or not the lionesses England will win the Women's World Cup, but I had forgotten, I watched the video again, the lion lunged at the fence and put a big old fat paw right at her face. And as Jay said, what? Oh, it was trying to eat her. The lion was going to eat her 100%.

So I forgot about that part. It wasn't just the fact that the lion, like the lion let out this loud. Yeah, so the lion actually lunged and put a big paw on the fence right across from her face. And she's standing within inches of the lion.

Inches, I have it on a still frame right now. It is like that little, little fences there. I'm sorry, I do not trust that. It's like a chain link for God's sakes.

I don't know, it sounds like that would maintain like weeds in a garden, like they don't grow past it. Not a lion, I don't know. Oh, so check out the video on our show Twitter. You put it up on Facebook as well, right?

Yeah, the link is there on Facebook too. We just simply want to know, would you do this? That's all we're asking. Michael responds with nope, nope, nope.

I mean, no doubt you might pee your pants, if not actually have a number two accident, a poop emoji. Oh my goodness. No, no. Down goes Anderson. Oh, down goes Ortiz. Down goes Ortiz. Down goes Anderson. Down goes Anderson. Oh my gosh.

All right, coming up. We'll let you hear from the Hall of Famers. They deserve to be Hall of Famers now. An emotional weekend in Canton, of course, as the brand new Class 9 Pro Football Hall of Famers receiving their busts and their yellow jackets in Canton, Ohio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Everything that I wanted to be as a player was just a great teammate, but you could always count on me. That's what I always said. You can count on me. When things get hard, when it's snowing and sleeting and it's minus 10 degrees on the shores of Lake Erie, count on me. I'll be there. I'll be there and I'll be at my best. If it's 90 degrees and we're in Tampa, Florida in September, I'll be there. If it's 90 degrees and we're in Tampa, Florida in September, I'll be there.

If it's 90 degrees and we're in Tampa, Florida in September, I'll be there. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Joe Thomas, the last of the Hall of Famers to be introduced and to share his story and to say his thank yous and receive his bust and then his gold jacket on the stage in Canton, Ohio on Saturday and Sunday. These Hall of Famers were honored and really neat because of the proximity to Cleveland. It was a bit like a home game, if you will, and that was Joe speaking on the field to NBC on Thursday night as part of the Hall of Fame game.

The actual festivities were over the weekend and it was much more emotional, right? Because then they had to deliver their speeches. I had to hear someone introduce them. It was about sharing the experiences and sharing the people who helped them get to the point at which they are now identified forever as Hall of Famers.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I love that Joe Thomas talked about reliability and accountability and wanting to be someone that his teammates could always, they could always be sure that he would line up where he was supposed to and do his job and of course that the focal point for his acceptance speech in Canton. To my quarterbacks, all of them, 20. Yes, I block for more different starting quarterbacks than any player in NFL history.

What an honor. 10,363 consecutive snaps and you know what my favorite thing about Joe Thomas, not just his reliability, but the fact that he is unabashedly a Cleveland Brown. He will identify as a Cleveland Brown forever. He's proud of being a Cleveland Brown. Cleveland, you guys, you understood me from day one. When I stepped off that plane, Randy Lerner's private jet smelling like fish guts, probably the first time he ever had fish guts in his plane, I felt like I was at home and for me the values and the priorities in Northeast Ohio were the same and that's what made me fall in love the second I got there. Family, faith, and football.

Family, faith, football. That sounds like something I would say about Thanksgiving and no doubt Joe Thomas thankful for the clan, the fans, the Cleveland fan base, the dog pound if you will and even though he never made it to the playoffs, that's the part that stinks, right? He got hurt earlier in the season in which they finally ended the playoff drought but he couldn't play in that game because he was dealing with, it was a tricep, right? He was dealing with a tricep injury and so he was done at that point. He did see his team finally get to the playoffs but he was unable to participate so I rue that.

I rue that for him but he does not seem to to be bitter or I don't want to say he's not upset but he doesn't seem to be bitter or to be fixating on the fact that he never competed in a postseason game. Now, Rondae Barber was introduced by his brother, our colleague here at CBS Sports Radio, Tiki Barber and they both have talked so extensively about how their mom was such a huge influence in their lives and in their football careers. Mom, you always told us to play proud, right? I know you're proud right now.

Tiki and I received that same text every single Sunday. Play proud. I'm proud of being uncommon and doing uncommon things, reinventing what it means to play cornerback in the NFL but y'all know I am most proud to call Geraldine Brickhouse, Barbara Hale, my mom. Love that. Where would we be without our mamas?

A lot of us, not everybody. I know that not everybody's family experience is the same but for Tiki and for Rondae, the two of them there, it was kind of cool to see them sitting side by side and they've done some broadcasts together too, some football games. It was all about their mom and the sacrifices that she made.

If you haven't heard their story, definitely look it up because they've talked extensively whether in written interviews or in spoken interviews. Zach Thomas and he had an experience that he reminded people about nearly three decades ago. 27 years ago today, August 5, 1996, Jimmy Johnson named me the start mill linebacker for the Miami Dolphins. All you need is one chance and Jimmy gave that to me. I was a kid who didn't look the part and I was a 154th draft pick.

Yeah, crazy right? These are not all guys who are highly touted coming out of college. They weren't all expected to be Hall of Famers or even incredible players in their own right and yet they excelled and I mean Zach Thomas, he had to wait a bit to get into the Hall of Fame but on Saturday, he can pinpoint the exact moment that this journey in the NFL took off and many people emotional about not just their families but also about the people they played with right?

So Demarcus Ware, he was one. He told us he sang the national anthem on Thursday before the Hall of Fame game because it was an experience. It was something he always shared with his ex-teammate Demarius Thomas of the Broncos who passed away last year and and he's not forgotten and I appreciate that so much about Demarcus. Loved his teammates. Loved the experience of being in the locker room. I thank God and I think it's just so good that for the memories that he gives us because we lost some guys too soon. Demarius Thomas, Ronnie Hillman, Marion Barber. I held some seats in my heart for you guys here today.

Keep resting in peace fellas. Always so impressed by Demarcus Ware was when he was with the Cowboys and even more so when he got older in his career and became so inspirational for the Broncos and still follow him on social media. His smile, megawatt smile that lights up a room. It's awesome. Darryl Revis, he said he was inspired by another cornerback Deion Sanders though he admits that he never thought football would be his path. Basketball was my first love.

I was nice now. So it's kind of surreal that I'm here today being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. People back at home from Aliquippa know I'm a Hooper at heart.

Now I can't leave without acknowledging my faithful jet fans. Fireman Ed, where are you? Ed, where are you? All right, I'm gonna handle it.

You guys ready? There he is back there. Thank you. The reason I put Darryl Revis and Joe Kletko back to back is because they both starred with the Jets and go in as Jets and I get chills. I'm not a Jets fan but hearing those roars and those chants led by Fireman Ed, our friend Peter Schwartz and his entire family made their way to Canton for the ceremony so they could be there when Darryl Revis and Joe Kletko were inducted.

Get this, if at first you don't succeed right or how many times failure may feel like a closed door and yet you don't give up or you never know when your dreams might be realized long after they feel dead and gone. Joe Kletko waited 30 years to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 30 years.

How about that? Un-recruited out of high school. This is a guy who waited 30 years but is finally in. Congratulations to the new Hall of Famers. The official Winning Time podcast from HBO is back. I'm Rodney Barnes, executive producer on the show. Magic and the Lakers are back to defend their title. Join me as I break down each new episode with sportswriter Jeff Perelman and the actors, directors and key collaborators who brought the 1980s Showtime Lakers to life. It's not about basketball. It's about winning. Listen to HBO's official Winning Time podcast on Sundays after the show airs on max.