After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place to gather. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a Solo Stove Fire Pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged, football is revered, and food is enjoyed. Solo Stove. The perfect flame for the big game.

A Peanut Butter M&M's Production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll.

The Ring of Comfort. Coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. People are just stunned at the fact that I've never been to Las Vegas. I remember three years ago or four years ago when I found out that the Super Bowl would be heading to Vegas and I thought, okay, well then I don't need to go between now and then. I'll just wait until the Super Bowl gets there. And this is it.

It's finally here, which is crazy. We are very close. In fact, one week away from after hours broadcasting live in Las Vegas. Not on Radio Row. Instead, we'll be at our Las Vegas home, our CBS Sports Radio affiliate in Las Vegas. We appreciate them hosting us and appreciate Southern Recipe Pork Rinds for making this trip possible for us. Yes, pictures, videos, stories, guests, including Hall of Famers. You never know who we might cross paths with because, let's face it, it's Vegas.

It's a novelty. A lot of people will be there. The estimates say greater than 430,000 people will be in town for Super Bowl weekend.

All right. This trip is big. Yeah, it's going to be quite a sight to behold. We will be working pretty much round the clock between Radio Row and our shows and the prep that has to happen in between. We'll be doing that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And then Friday, finally get to take a breath and walk around and take in the sights and take personal photos. And also take in a show as well as see the Hoover Dam because I'm a nerd but I can't wait.

Those are excitement, like I would say anticipation, excitement for the weekend. But really the work is the thing. And that comes first when we take on these trips to the Super Bowl. If you're going to go and you're going to spend that kind of money and you're going to be on site, you have to make it worth it for the investment and for the listeners.

And that is the goal. And it's the first time for producer Jay. I cannot wait to see his reaction to what it's like on Radio Row.

It's unlike anything you've ever experienced. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Thanks so much for all your questions for Ask Amy Anything.

You can go back and check it out on Twitter and Facebook. I always answer more of your questions that don't require a novel. That's on the course of the day. It's on both of our social media sites.

I'll answer as many as I quickly can. But it happens during the time on Wednesday after I wake up on my home day. So you might have to wait just a little bit. But between your Ask Amy questions and your suggestions for Vegas and your comments about Taylor Swift, there's a whole lot of not much sport conversation going on right now on our social media. Our phone number 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Here's my theory. The NFL doesn't need Taylor Swift. All of those funky conspiracy theories or and I know most people do not believe the games are rigged. But the idea that the NFL has hitched its wagon to Taylor's star.

I'm sure they appreciated the bump in the mid-season. It makes for buzzy conversation. And let's face it, news networks have picked it up.

Entertainment Tonight, People Magazine, I see it on some of my pop culture websites. She's a phenomenon. She is. She's one of the most famous people in the world right now.

Good for her. So the NFL isn't mine, the fact that you've got Swifties who are paying attention. And Jay, I honestly have no idea how this would get figured.

But according to the research, again, I don't have any clue how they actually figure this part out. But according to the research, having Taylor Swift involved with the NFL or having Taylor attend games, has made more than $300 million in revenue for the Chiefs. I don't know if that's because of viewership or ticket sales. Chiefs merchandise, maybe.

Chiefs merchandise. So the NFL gets a piece of that. But yeah, there are estimates out there that she has been worth more than $300 million in revenue for the Chiefs since she started appearing at games. In revenue? Right.

Again, that's kind of crazy, right? That it would be that marketable. She's marketable, but it would be that much of a marketing tool just her showing up at games. I think the majority of it's got to be from just Swifties fans buying, you know, Chiefs merchandise.

Travis Kelsey jerseys, Chiefs jackets, Chiefs shirts. That's where it's got to mostly come from, right? This comes from Fortune.com. She's generated, now this is how Fortune.com put it. She boosted the Chiefs of value by $331.5 million, which is revenue, right? They've added an equivalent brand value of $331.5 million, according to a recent study from Apex. Now you can say that's some Chiefs, some NFL, because essentially it's an oligarchy and it all goes into, some of it goes into a pot.

But here's what they say it's based on. Print, digital, radio, TV. The highlights, the social media monitoring, however they monetize those things, it's been an increased footprint. And the fact that the Chiefs are going back to the Super Bowl means that it continues on. I don't know how you put a financial value on reach and impact. But as you point out, it would be ticket sales, it would be merchandise, it would be people maybe traveling on the road, it would be buying the products that the Chiefs are selling, those types of things.

It's hard to understand really how they monetize it. YouTube maybe or subscriptions to Chiefs, whatever. That's what I'm thinking. I don't know this answer. I don't think so. I haven't seen anything. But have the Chiefs collaborated at all with Taylor Swift directly?

No, right? So you can't go to the Chiefs YouTube and watch a video of Taylor Swift talking about the game, right? Because that would have millions and millions and millions of views.

And you would make a lot of revenue money on that. She doesn't want to be the center of attention. Yeah, so I'm wondering what would make a Swifty go to the Chiefs YouTube page or Twitter page or X page to click on videos. Because they want to know who Travis Kelsey is. It's her new man, right? So they're obsessed with finding out whatever they can about her new man.

And so here's how Apex defines it. Digital content and online news, they're creating the most value. So maybe it's because people are paying for subscriptions to read about the Chiefs, that type of thing. They were the Peacock game, correct?

A few weeks ago. So maybe they got a nice bump from that game of Swifty's buying that one, I'm sure. So she's attended 12 of the 18 Chiefs games in the regular season. And all three, well, he didn't play to start, right?

So he missed a couple of games in the beginning maybe. But all three of the Chiefs playoff games now in their run to the Super Bowl. And I'm just here to say that as much as that is interesting, the NFL doesn't need her for the Super Bowl. It is the most watched broadcast every year, regardless of genre, regardless of any other factor. You can weigh it by any other factor and it's still the most popular broadcast on TV by far.

It will generate more than 100 million viewers without blinking. However, it's not just the Super Bowl that is raking in record viewership. Get this, first three weekends of the postseason, the viewership, the number of eyeballs, if you will, highest on record going back to the late 80s when they started keeping track. The first three weekends of the playoffs, averaging.

Now this is even the crappy games. I guess there were a couple that were blowouts. Averaging 38. Oh, and keeping in mind there was one on Peacock, right?

So that one also is part of the average, which will bring it down. They averaged 38 and a half million viewers on TV and digital, which is up 9 percent from last year. Just when you think the NFL stopped growing. Get this, Chiefs Ravens most watched AFC championship game ever. Ever. Most watched ever? Until next year. I'm blown away.

It won't take a while. Guess how many people tuned in on this is average. Fifty two million. Fifty five and a half million.

Guess where it peaked. 64 million people. Our nation only has 330. Well, 330 million people that we know of. Right. That have been counted.

But 64 million people is how it peaked. That's insane. That is. That's insane. There's nothing.

There's no other show ever even come close to that. I said this last week at the conference that I was attending. Football is the only thing we agree on in this country. We agree on nothing else, but we agree on American football. We don't agree on hoops. We don't agree on pro versus college. We don't agree on any other teams. Baseball we don't.

Pitch clock people hate it. People like it. We we only agree on the NFL. That's the only thing that brings us together in this country.

It has the power to unify across every platform and culture and language and any other barrier you can come up with. 64 million people. Most watched program on CBS outside of the Super Bowls since the 94 Winter Olympics, which aired in primetime. I mean, we're talking about crazy stuff here. The NFC championship was the most watched of its kind in over a decade.

So in 12 years. It peaked at 59 million during the fourth quarter. As the Niners were coming back against the Lions. And the thing is, like, everyone's tuned in. It's not even, you know, the majority. It's not like it's just on in the background. It's everyone's locked in, watching, interesting, cared.

And we're still talking about it days later what's happening in these games. CBS has the Super Bowl, of course, that's coming up next Sunday, averaging more than 45 and a half million viewers for its postseason games. And it's the highest average for CBS since the NFL got back to the network before the turn of the century, up 12 percent from last year. That's up 12 percent from last year's CBS games, which also featured the Chiefs in the playoffs.

Wow. We are, we're shills for the NFL. So here's my theory. It doesn't matter whether Taylor's going to be there. In fact, there might be some other celebrities there, too. She's not going to be the only celebrity that you see on TV. There are going to be a lot of them.

It's Vegas and it's a celebrity magnet where they go to be seen. Mm hmm. That's the whole point. The point.

Yeah. So if she doesn't show up, let's say she doesn't make it back from her concert in Japan. I'm just saying something happens.

I'd feel bad for Travis. But if she doesn't make it, you never know what could happen. If she gets hung up in Japan, I have no idea. If her flight doesn't get out of Japan on time, I don't know. I'm just saying if she doesn't make it, there'll still be plenty of other celebrities. I think if she doesn't make it, she'll be talked about even more. You think?

I do. Where's Taylor? Where's Taylor? Taylor couldn't make it. Where's Waldo?

Where's Taylor? She'd fly out on time. Does she plan it right? Oh, do you think people would start speculating about whether or not they broke up? Of course. Oh, that's of course. That's rude. That's rude. I'm happy for them. Good for them. Why can't we just be happy?

Red is the color of love. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. People get so mad.

If you are bold enough to tell me why it is that you can't stand feeling seeing Taylor Swift on TV for 40 seconds out of a three-hour broadcast, I'd love to hear from you. Don't worry, be happy. See?

855-212-4227 on Twitter, ALawRadio, and then also on our Facebook page, After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Okay. I don't even know where we go from there. Oh, there's some news, and it says nothing to do with Taylor Swift. Oh, yes it does.

No, it doesn't. Wait, just for fun, should we drop the Andy Reid cut on people? So even when we try to get away from the Taylor Swift thing, people ask Andy Reid about it during his press conferences.

So he's planning for the Super Bowl. Maybe he finds this amusing when people care more about Taylor and the games and how he met her than they do about his game plan for beating the Niners. Yeah, apparently Travis doesn't like the fact that Andy knew his girlfriend before he did. I knew her before from Philadelphia.

Her dad played at Delaware and was a big football fan and a good guy. So I had met him there and her. And so that was the last thing Trav wanted to hear, that I knew her before him.

See what I mean? This is amusing for Andy Reid. He doesn't have to give away any of his trade secrets. He can just talk about Taylor Swift.

Who knew Cupid was so big? It's funny, somebody wrote to me on Facebook that, oh, by the way, we hear from Jason and Travis Kelsey today on the New Heights podcast. Somebody wrote to me on Facebook and said, how dare she be a distraction? We just want to see football.

The players are trying to do their jobs. Are you kidding me? Yeah, not just that. Right.

Not just that. But he's playing really well right now. Number one. Number two, do you think he's really upset that she came to the games and she's such a big distraction? He's feeling himself.

Have you noticed? He's like the enforcer in Baltimore. Oh, yeah. He's telling security guards where to go. His two favorite women, his mom and his girlfriend. I mean, what more can you ask for?

Audience of two. He loves it. He's soaking it all in, I think. Oh, he absolutely is. And he should.

He definitely should. Good for Travis Kelsey. Could you imagine, could you imagine if they won the Super Bowl, Travis won Super Bowl MVP? Because it happened not that long ago for Cooper Cup, right?

You can have a receiver win a Super Bowl MVP. And he got to go to Disney World. Oh, I mean, the internet might blow up. Disney World, Japan, maybe. Is there a Disney World, Japan?

There is. Oh, so I don't actually know how many Disney Worlds there are in the country. Paris, Japan. Paris. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe somewhere else. L.A. is Disneyland. Disneyland, yeah.

Right. Wait, where's Euro Disney? Is that the one in Paris? That's probably Paris, yeah. So what's it called in Japan? Disneyland, Japan. Alright. Can we be a little more creative than that?

I mean, it's probably pronounced the way I don't know, but... The internet will blow up if they go to Disney together. That would be a conspiracy for all the media people to vote for Travis Kelsey as the MVP so he can go to the Super Bowl. The photos would be everywhere. Yeah, the Super Bowl MVP and go to Disney.

That would be hysterical. Okay, fine. Some actual news then. Ben Johnson is staying with the Lions, so we'll get to that. Why did he choose to... Well, whether or not you thought it was a done deal in Washington, why did he choose to stay put with Detroit? And the new offensive coordinator for the Steelers. I didn't see this one coming, but there's a new offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh. Oh, and the Knicks one ain't in a row.

And Rory McIlroy's jumping to live. Okay, not yet, but I think he's considering it. That's my theory. Not anymore. Your tone has changed so much. Not anymore. Good morning to you. We're goofballs.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on... The Sultan of Sizzle. The Titan of Toastiness. The Kingpin of Kindling.

These are the admired ones. Those who've created the prime place together. They don't just have a backyard. They have the backyard because they know a Solo Stove fire pit is more than just the ultimate smokeless fire pit. It's a place where friendships are forged. Football is revered and food is enjoyed. Solo Stove, the perfect flame for the big game.

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring. But the runners up get nothing. One retired cop returns... That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. Um, that's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter.

But you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort. Coming soon to a Super Bowl new you. Hey, Mel. Bri here. Gotta work from home today because the whole family caught a nasty... Daddy! Hey, Mikey!

If you're gonna puke, find the popcorn bowl! But my availability is 110%. Coincidentally, so is my fever.

Kidding. Mel, I'm so cold but hot. But I'm gonna get you that budget. Just as soon as... Mikey!

Popcorn bowl! Press 1 to use Instacart and get your family sick day essentials delivered in as fast as 30 minutes. Press 2 to keep working.

Do not press 2. Just use Instacart, Brian. A new year is full of surprises.

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No long-term commitments or contracts. That's stamps.com code PROGRAM. 6 for 11 from downtown. Here's Grunson again from 3. That went off the mark no good.

Scramble for the ball. It's Di Vincenzo from way downtown. It's good. 7 for 12. It's another night to celebrate here at the Garden. The buzzer sounds and that is it. Another dominant performance for the Knicks. They led it by 7 after 1, by 8 at halftime, by 20 after three quarters. And they win it tonight here on the Garden floor. 118-103 over the Utah Jags.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The Knicks have won 8 in a row. It's been a long time since we've talked about the Knicks as a contender. In fact, other than say the Giants last year when they were a surprise run to the NFC playoffs. They were a wild card. They won a game in the playoffs. The Jets getting Aaron Rodgers and the whole Zach Wilson flap. The Nets, oh gosh, the Nets, KD, Kyrie and James Harden, I'm using my air quotations, era. The Rangers being in the Stanley Cup Final a couple times. The Devils upsetting the Rangers in the playoffs last year. I'm trying to think of all the reasons that we've talked about New York sports.

There's only a handful of them in my 11 years working at CBS Sports Radio. The Yankees got Juan Soto. That was a minute.

Oh come on. I can't remember the last time. Baseball, oh well the Mets did make the World Series. The Mets made the World Series in 16, no 15.

15, right, so we talked about them then. When was the last time the Yankees won a World Series? It feels like it's been... 2009. Yeah, it was pre-CBS Sports Radio.

So, alright. For the most part, New York sports have stunk since I've been working in Lower Manhattan. Right, so our network is national, but we're based in Lower Manhattan.

This is where we drive into work every night. For the most part, the entire 11 years, New York sports have been more the butt of a joke than they have anything else. And the Knicks have been tops on the list.

Partly because of how they're run. You thought Daniel Snyder was a drama king with the Washington Redskins slash football team slash commanders and some of the decisions he made. Well, James Dolan, he's known for being a bit of a wild card too.

And some of his choices and decisions are questionable and he's been accused of all sorts of nefarious things. And so, the Knicks, weirdly enough, because he also owns the Rangers, right? And the Rangers are great, although they hire and fire pretty quickly, but... Because he's hands off with the Rangers. That's true, he doesn't get so involved, but he loves his Knicks.

And so, they've been a laughingstock more than anything. Some of their moves they've made, and yet, crazy enough, they sell out Madison Square Garden as though they have won 8 championships in a row, not just 8 games in a row. People love MSG for Knicks games. You cannot get in there for anything less than 200 bucks. And that's if you can find a ticket.

You have to get it on a secondary market. That's literally the worst seat in the arena. And there's actually not a bad seat in the house, but I've been there on press passes for games and I've been there for two Billy Joel concerts. Otherwise, I couldn't afford to buy a ticket for a Knicks game.

Talking about being seen, that's what it's all about. And finally, the Knicks are putting on a show. Dante DiVincenzo with a career high 9 threes last night. He goes 9 at 15 from beyond the arc. 33 points overall. Led the Knicks in scoring.

So he and Jalen Brunson with quite the backcourt combination. And yeah, they've won 8 in a row. We're just playing together. We have a joy to us and we have the best fans in the league. So whenever we go on the road, they're following us and we come home and we've got to protect home court. Longest win streak in the NBA right now and they've moved into third place in the Eastern Conference. Also, you have to go back to the days of Carmelo Anthony for them to be any higher in the Eastern Conference. They were a two seed one year, right, when he was with the Knicks.

I think so. They lost in the second round to the Pacers. They did, but they were a two seed when he was in town. So this is the best Knicks team since then, by far.

So good for them. McCall there on Knicks radio. And if you know anything about Tom Thibodeau, you know that he starts and ends with defense and Josh Hart says that's what's working. We've been making them have tough shots and, you know, we're finishing rebounds, finishing possessions with rebounds. And, you know, when we do that, we're able to play in transition, have fun and kind of play the style that we want to play. That is music to Thibodeau's ears. That is what he cares about. The offense can be the ugliest thing on the planet.

It can be, I'm trying to think, like my dancing. It can be that ugly and he would be thrilled because of the defense. So, yeah, his style, his culture now. Julius Randall, although he's injured, right, but at the same time, yeah, shoulder. He's been great with Jalen Brunson. Now, remember a couple of years ago, he was grumpy and he was nasty and he was wanting out and he was disgruntled, but nobody would take his contract because it's an albatross of a deal. Now with Jalen Brunson, who's become a legit superstar since he got to the Knicks, yeah, it's been amazing to see the two of them and some of the other pieces they put around them. Finally, they have a point guard because that's been their, it's been their goal is to find someone who can run point for them. And the number of bad draft choices they made and everything else. So it's been a disaster for the Knicks for years, but there's a lot of hope in New York around that team.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Last night, the Warriors won just their fifth game in their last 15 tries. They beat the Sixers. Now, the Sixers had Joel Embiid for the majority of the game, but late in the game, he hurt his knee. There was a collision. He ended up leaving the game and Nick Nurse is actually saying it's not the same thing that he's been dealing with. Obviously got landed on. So they're going to do an MRI tonight or tomorrow.

It's kind of unrelated to what's been bothering him. So we just wait on that. Yeah. So you guys saw the plays land there and he got landed, landed on. Yeah. That's his worst nightmare.

The idea that Joel Embiid might miss time because of injuries. And remember the size. He's seven feet plus. He's a big dude. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Oh, yeah. He fell hard.

And so they're waiting. We'll wait to get the results of the MRI. But he did limp to the locker room after he and Jonathan Kaminga of the Warriors had a collision. Kaminga kind of landed on him. So that was tough.

Although Embiid's a lot bigger than, well, not taller than Kaminga, but bulkier than Kaminga. He got landed on. He did.

I don't know why that sounds so awkward to me. He got landed on. Jay's in there chortling away behind the double pane glass and I have no idea why he's laughing. I'm assuming it's not because Joel Embiid got hurt. I'm just going to go ahead and make that statement so no one gets upset at producer Jay. Obviously he got landed on.

I don't know why that makes me laugh. He got landed on. And he was kind of sucking it up. He got cleared to play and he was out there, but he wasn't right even before that.

So a little bit of baited breath. Some cool news for those of you who love college hoops and are big fans of Tom Izzo. Even if you don't necessarily love Michigan State, you're big fans of Coach Izzo who's been there for a long time on his birthday. So happy belated birthday to Coach Izzo.

His birthday was Tuesday. And he celebrated 700 career wins. All of them coming in East, well not in East Lansing, but with the Spartans.

You want a few here and a few there and a few here and a few there and then a lot at one place. But we, we, the players, the assistant coaches I've had, we've won all of ours right here at Michigan State. And I am really, really honored, proud and feel good. And like I said, we're not dead yet. We got, we got some more wins. We got some more years to go and just going to keep fighting the fight.

I heard the press conference and I should have said that better. He's talking about Mike Krzyzewski and how many more wins Mike has than he does. But then he goes on to say, however, I'm really proud of the fact that I've only been one place or we, we've just been here.

We've gotten all these wins as Spartans. So that part I appreciate and I know that it matters to him. He is ingrained in the culture there on campus. And last year after they had the tragic shooting, he was really the bright light for the campus. And he was so authentic and genuine and sincere and emotional. He's a very emotional guy anyway. But to see him out at the vigils, to see him comforting people and speaking on behalf of the campus and how wonderful a community it is, even more so people respected him. He's not just about basketball. He's a part of the culture there at Michigan State.

So I really admire him a lot. All right. Coming up, Ben Johnson staying put. So the commanders are still looking for a head coach as are the Seattle Seahawks. And then the Steelers have a new offensive coordinator.

I didn't see this one coming. But I trust Mike Tomlin. I trust Mike Tomlin. And yeah, I'm trying to start the rumor. I'll just be honest. It's me starting the rumor that Rory McIlroy is about to bolt to live. I just I can feel it. Jay, in my gut, I can feel it. Are you with me?

No, I mean, I don't know. He's changed his tune so much. I think he misses the guys who keep leaving. I think he misses his friends. He misses his friends. Do you think that he's happy that they're making a lot more money than he is? No.

No, you don't think so? I think he's upset with everything that happened and he hates everything. And I think if Rory McIlroy could like be like click or replay, rewind and go back. You haven't heard him? I mean, he sounds like he's softening. He's warming up to the idea. He misses his friends. He just wants to play golf with his friends. Like all of us. Right. I just want to play golf with my friends. It's not so different.

On Twitter, ALawRadio and then on our Facebook page too. Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning. It's Wednesday. It's After Hours. CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The people have spoken and one score stands above the rest. Here is your TD of the Week.

The San Francisco 49ers. Purdy sends Kittle in motion right. Purdy, out of the shotgun, drops a couple of steps. Going to take a deep shot to Brandon Iuke.

It's the flush. Oh, he caught it. He caught. Iuke caught it out of the air.

A flag is also down. Did Iuke score? He got touched down on the two-yard line. McCaffrey runs around Purdy.

Pressure. Purdy throws. Caught by Brandon Iuke. Touchdown San Francisco. Oh, we didn't hold it long enough. I was surprised.

I felt like the look before pretty snapped. I had a chance to get the ball, but they were just on top. I don't even know. Okay, so Jay cheated this week. He actually put a two-fer. Two plays, two receptions, one touchdown for Brandon Iuke, but the thing is, they're not down there inside the 10-yard line, if not for Iuke, catching a ball off the face mask of his defender.

He just kept running. Diving catch as the ball bounced off the defender's face back. Vildor, I'm sure that was one of, well, had it been a different circumstance where it didn't end the Lions' season this game. Maybe that's one that they tee up in the film room and they watch over and over again. You know if these guys get ribbed. Anytime you get strong-armed and stiff-armed by Derrick Henry or Christian McCaffrey, that gets shown in the film room over and over again.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Let's see, Greg Papa, Tim Ryan on Niners Radio. Yeah, we're Brock Purdy fans around here. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we're holding a Purdy party come Super Bowl night. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if either of these teams wins. They're both great stories, whether it's the continuation of the Chiefs building this dynasty or whether it's the Niners finally winning a Super Bowl for the first time since the mid-90s.

Either way, it's a good story, great guys, a lot of really cool elements. Trent Williams, who's never been in a Super Bowl and he's in his 14th season, he's 35 years old. There's all kinds of different angles that we can analyze the game from and we'll get to that part. But the Purdy element to this is fascinating because I feel like people forget that he's only been a full-time starter for a year and he's still growing into it. This was the first year and it was actually his job. And so he takes a ton of criticism and I don't really understand why. He doesn't respond to it as much as his teammates do.

So, they stump for him on his behalf. I mean, what did Christian McCaffrey tell us after Sunday's game? I can't say enough good things about Brock Purdy. Fred Warner, defensive captain, and he can't stop raving about Brock. Heck of a game manager, wow.

Right, lots of sarcasm there. Well now, this happened after seeing a bunch of the Niners show up at the Warriors game on Tuesday night. Now, you've got guys like Draymond Green who are taking up Brock Purdy's cross and battling for him. He tells NBC Sports Bay Area, enough is enough with Brock. But he actually says no matter what he does, people are still going to find a reason to criticize him. There's been a lot of Brock Purdy slander over the last couple years and the way he showed up in that second half of that conference championship game. I know better than that because he can show up in the Super Bowl and if he starts off the season bad, four bad games, they're going to be like, he's a game manager. The entire Bay Area is now taking up the case of Brock Purdy. It's one of those, you come at Brock, well you got to be prepared to deal with all of us.

You're a clown. By the way, Draymond Green is different since he returned from his suspension. You may think it's temporary, you may think it's fake. We talked to a Warriors beat reporter, actually in our second hour he joined us following the game between the Sixers and the Warriors because they're about to hit the road. Golden State is still four games below.500 and they've got 23 of their final 38 games on the road.

They've been wildly inconsistent. But Draymond is back and I heard Andrew Wiggins call him the mastermind last night. That's quite the compliment. Anyway, Sam Gordon joined us from Chase Center and we had the chance to ask him about these Warriors and what the second half might hold. And I asked him about Draymond and if he's any different. His answer may surprise you. So check out that conversation on our podcast.

The link is always shared right after the show on our Facebook page or on our show Twitter After Hours CBS. Ben Johnson is staying put. He's decided, similar to Dan Quinn a year ago, not to take a head coaching job should it be offered to him. In fact, he's pulled his name out of the commanders and Seahawks interview process. Now, this is interesting.

Some sources out there, I don't know if it's true or not, but some NFL insiders are saying that Ben Johnson wanted a lot of money to be a head coach and that a couple of teams didn't want to pay as much as he felt he should be paid. Now, you know what you do when you have a job you love? You make extraordinary demands. You push the envelope because you're happy staying where you are. You're okay if those teams bulk, in this case teams or employers bulk because you're okay staying where you are.

You don't need a new job. But hey, if I ask for the moon and they give it to me. Well, all right. But Johnson decided that he would stay there with the Lions. And even though there was a few eyebrows raised over it, actually, according to Ian Rappaport, this is kind of interesting. He was never a lock for the commander's job. That was kind of the rumor, the speculation that was making the rounds. But the commanders are actually meeting with the defensive coordinator of the Lions, Aaron Glenn, and he's one of their strong candidates. So no Ben Johnson as a head coach in the 2024 season, which means Washington and Seattle are still looking for head coaches. They're interviewing some of the same guys too, which is interesting. That's a bunch of crap. I am definitely floored that Mike Vrabel is still available.

I really am. I can't even adequately express my surprise that Bill Belichick is still available unless it has to do with his age, meaning they couldn't get, I don't know, a seven year commitment out of him. Tom Brady said on the herd with Colin Cowherd on Tuesday, though, that he doesn't think Belichick is done with coaching. I think the fire burns with him because he's got he loves the sport. He loves the preparation. He's been doing it for decades. And in my mind, there's nobody better than him at it. So whoever gets him at some point is going to have, in my opinion, the greatest coach ever.

And and I know he's as competitive as can be. He wants to be out there winning football games as a coach. Colin asked Tom Brady. About the process of getting ready to be a broadcaster, and Tom admits that he never thought TV, well, being in a broadcast booth was his future. He's got a production company. He's done documentaries.

They've done the movie 80 for Brady. I mean, he's obviously comfortable in front of a camera. And it makes me laugh so hard when people say he needs to earn his chops as a broadcaster. Do you know how many freaking press conferences that guy did over the course of his career? More than anybody else. He's comfortable talking about football. He's good. And now he actually can say what he wants to say without worrying about locker room or bulletin board material. Anyway, I've had some people suggest he needs a coach, a broadcasting coach.

Well, Brady's pretty maniacal about his preparation. So I think he's on the right track. For me, it's about getting really comfortable in a new role. But I also know that going into it, I'm not a finished product. And I've reached out to a lot of different people.

This football season and had a lot of phone conversations with people who have really helped me out. And I'm looking forward to continue to do that over the next eight months. I don't have to go on air till September of next year. But I really want to be prepared for that first time out.

But I also know I'm going to improve and grow as it goes over the next 10 years. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Tom Brady's practicing. That's the herd with Colin Cowherd.

I bet we'll see him in Vegas or I'll see him in Vegas. Jay, would you know him if he walked down the hall? Colin Cowherd? Yeah. I think so.

I think so. Alright, I'll point him out. He usually comes to say hello whenever I see him since we worked together.

I would know him. An age ago. Okay, so I don't want to forget about the Pittsburgh part of this because while we're talking about surprises a little bit, I am interested to know how Steelers fans feel about Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator. Remember Matt Canada was let go part way through the year. Once Mason Rudolph took over, well, the offense really, it opened up. They started running the ball more, but that also helped out with Mason Rudolph. But it wasn't a great offensive year for the Steelers. Arthur Smith, fired by the Falcons earlier this month, didn't have any playoff runs in Atlanta. But he was the Titans' offensive coordinator for a couple seasons as well. Do you think this was the splash that Steelers fans were hoping for? I don't think it's a bad move. No? Ken Dorsey got gobbled up, so there was no Ken Dorsey available.

Interesting. I feel like Steelers friends are never happy. Oh, some of them don't like Mike Tomlin. They're ready to get boot him. I'll take Mike Tomlin. Like tomorrow.

Any day. Yesterday. Okay, we're wrapping up with our rumor about Rory McIlroy. Have you noticed that he's changing his tune on live golfers? He actually says they should be allowed back to the PGA Tour.

To me, the faster that we can all get back together and start to play and start to have, you know, the strongest feels possible, I think is great for golf. At first, when I heard that, I thought he said the strongest feels possible. Feels as in F-E-E-L-S. And I thought, oh my gosh, he's admitting to his emotions. He's sad that they're leaving. Jon Rahm's out recruiting guys for his live team. And Rory's waxing poetic about the fact that everyone's leaving. They should be allowed back on the PGA Tour.

We shouldn't hold it against them. I'm sorry, who are you and what have you done with Rory McIlroy? This is why I'm starting this speculation.

I'm just speculating personally. I think he might be considering it. He hated live. He was Mr. PGA. He couldn't wait. Yeah, he was the self-described defender of the PGA Tour. He couldn't wait until live went belly up. He went after Greg Norman with all of his teeth and his fangs out. And now he says, oh, we should let them back on the tour.

I miss them. I'm telling you, he may be softening. It may be the bombshell of 2024.

Mark my words, you heard it here first. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Boom!

A peanut butter M&M's production. In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and a fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired cop returns. That's one retired quarterback. Read the script.

Oh, sorry. One retired quarterback returns to claim what's his. That's claim a ring with diamonds made from M&M's peanut butter, but you're on a roll. The Ring of Comfort, coming soon to a Super Bowl new you.

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