After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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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. I thought about the Lions fan base on Monday, and I was wondering if this goes down as another chapter in their painful history. I hope that's not the case because I really do believe, and I hope most Lions fans can see, that the franchise has taken some major steps forward in the last three years.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We did take some calls from Lions fans on our Sunday night show into Monday morning, and I don't know if there are any more of you who are willing to talk about it. But a few guys shared their history and how they've waited and waited and waited. One guy even talked about his father and how long they'd been fans together. And that despite the dejection and the disappointment of blowing a 17 point second half lead.

He was really excited about the Dan Campbell Foundation and the building blocks for the future. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but the fact that this team finally broke through, hosted two playoff games, and got within a stone's throw 30 minutes of reaching its first ever Super Bowl. That's the closest this team has come. Credit the San Francisco 49ers. That defense did a total 180 in the second half.

Total 180. And as I've put out there, both on Twitter as well as on the show multiple times, there should be no more questions about Brock Purdy, as in zero questions about Brock. But as we eulogize and as the Detroit Lions pick up the pieces proverbially and look ahead to the offseason, at least there won't be a ton of changes. They're not looking for a new head coach. They're not looking for a new general manager. Now they've got what they need.

Finally, they are not a team who will be making a bunch of changes in the offseason. It's after hours on our Facebook page. You can vote for TD of the week, and we did include one from each of the four teams that were left standing on Championship Sunday. Also, would love for you to weigh in on Monday MVP if you haven't yet. I saw a ton of write in votes for both Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk, who combined for one of the touchdowns of the week in our poll. Our phone number 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Dan Campbell doesn't sound quite as disappointed, not quite as emotional, but you can certainly tell the loss, the collapse in the second half is still weighing on him. This is what you hear about all the time with catastrophes. It doesn't take one or two. It takes 12 things to go wrong, and we did all 12 of those wrong in all three phases. Ultimately, where we've been so good, when one area is struggling a little bit, the other two pick them up. We've been really good about that. That was the game in the second half where all three phases, we were not good.

And we continued to make mistake after mistake after mistake in all three phases. And when that happens, that's where a game like that against a very good opponent, you know, their guys showed up, man. He talks about compounding mistakes, and he's certainly a part of that. Not only did they have moments like dropped passes, Josh Reynolds, with a couple of big drops on critical downs, including one fourth down. But also, Dan Campbell has to bear some responsibility for his decision making.

He was aggressive twice. Now, if you know Dan Campbell and you know how he has been coaching the Lions, well then you know this is him. And a lot of people would say, dance with the one who brung you. Essentially, you don't change. When you get to a big stage, well, you stick to who you are, your identity. And the identity of Dan Campbell is to be aggressive. Thus the whole biting of kneecaps.

That's what he meant. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to take charge. We're going to make it hard for the other teams.

We're going to fight our rear ends off. Now, we had talked about the situations. The first time they went for the fourth and two, instead of kicking the field goal, they had just started the second half. The Niners came out with a field goal on their opening drive of the third quarter, but that's all they got was a field goal. At that point, if Campbell kicks, well then they're back to a 17 point lead. I didn't have as much of a problem with that though, because at that point you don't know there's bleeding necessarily. You don't know that you're about to be gutted.

You don't know that everything is about to go horribly wrong. And so I understand you're still up by two scores. Though I've heard some of my colleagues say, no way, you gave up the three score lead, you should have gotten it right back.

But I understand why you're aggressive. If you can get a touchdown there and make it 21 points, well that's even better. You kind of punch right back.

So you got punched, kind of, not really a punch. You got smacked by the Niners and you gave up the three points, but you're still firmly in control, or you think you are at that point. The one that I had the issue with was the one where they're trailing by three and they eschew the field goal that would have tied the game in the late stages. I think it actually was middle of the fourth quarter. Go back and look at my notes. But it was, it was a kick that I felt like would have, again, stopped the bleeding.

At that point, you know you're bleeding, right? You recognize that this is a disaster and you've lost your entire lead. So you're trailing by three. I would have kicked the field goal then.

But what do we know about Dan Campbell? Remember the Dallas Cowboys? Now they'd already wrapped up the NFC North when they played Dallas. But instead of going for the point after attempting a tie late in the game, what do they do? They go for two.

Not once, not twice, but three times. This is who Dan Campbell is. And he explains it and the players have all said they back him. No one's bashing Dan Campbell, at least not in his own locker room.

He's getting bashed elsewhere. But I thought it would be interesting in light of the fact that Tom Brady is supposed to be assuming the top analyst job for Fox. Now Fox is done for the year at the CBS Super Bowl.

Boom! And so Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen are done working games now. We'll see what happens next. But it's likely that Olsen's going to move to the number two analyst spot and Brady is going to pair with Kevin Burkhardt. On his radio show on Sirius XM, Brady assessed Dan Campbell's aggressive decisions. The whole team's responsible. I'll say it's ultimately a team sport. And the coach makes these decisions and you've got to go execute. And my opinion differed on all those plays too. I definitely thought that the handoff there late in the game, that was the one that I didn't understand. Unless you saw some incredible look to walk the ball in, you just can't take the chance that you're going to be stopped short and keep the clock running because you just can't get the ball back. So that was the one that I just said, I don't know what they're doing.

And I thought it was just a flat out error. And the other ones are judgment calls and they've been aggressive all year. Obviously when you're aggressive and it doesn't work, it comes back to bite you and it comes back to bite him yesterday.

And again, I would have taken the points. I've been in those situations. I look at them and I say, okay, this is the opportunity for you to continue to keep the pressure on the 49ers to make great plays.

And you're in a good position. So it's an aggressive coach, an aggressive mentality. I'm sure the players really wanted to go for it when you're on the field and you feel like you let them down. But at the same time, the coach has got to make, in his mind, the best decision to win. And it obviously didn't work out for the Lions. Can I just say that if that's the Tom Brady we get on Fox, I'm all in. He's even keeled. He's giving us his perspective as a quarterback who will go down as the greatest of all time unless he happens to get replaced by Patrick Mahomes.

But Patrick's still about four or five Super Bowls behind that. He talks about what his experience was and he explains why. He doesn't just say, this is what I would have done or this is what we did or here's why, here's the way we did it when I was a quarterback. No, he explains why that you do it that way. And also talks about the Lions aggressive decision making, acknowledges that that's what they normally do. And then says essentially the football version of you live by the three, you die by the three. You're going to be aggressive.

Sometimes it's going to come back to bite you. Yeah, no, give me that. I'll take some Tom Brady analysis. That was Sirius XM NFL radio with Let's Go. Brady also talked about falling short and as much as he's got enough bling to fill up an entire safe, he also is pretty honest about the fact that the Super Bowl losses are more painful for him than he finds joy in the wins.

Right. So he said that many times over the years. He talks about the Eagles loss and how bad that one was. But the one that he will never forget, he says, is the first loss to the Giants when they were a wild card team. And when not only did they end the run, the perfect run for the Patriots that year, but it had these these moments, these iconic moments like the David Tyree catch that you think, how the hell did that happen?

You could watch it another hundred times right now and think, I still can't believe that happened. So, yeah, Tom Brady, he's come up short and he also talks about how to deal with it. When you get to this point, you're kicking yourself all the time. It's very rare that you're walking out going, you know, it's it's I'm happy we got to the final four.

You're kicking yourself that you're not in the final two because you're so close to getting to the Super Bowl. And that's the dream for every team to start the year. Then when you make it that far, man, everyone's super excited on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Then you get to the game and both those games.

I mean, it's interesting. You know, Kansas City started so well and you knew from that point on, OK, that's going to be a battle. And then the Lions started off so well and you know, OK, it's going to be a battle. And the team that ultimately persevered made the fewest mistakes. And we'll get to the second game. But in Detroit made a lot of them in the second half. You know, you see it just you've got it.

You've got to find a way to tighten those things up in the big moments. Producer J just made the comment in my ear and I really agree with him. Brady has gotten so much better. And this does not surprise me at all because I felt like we heard his radio show really change over the past year since he retired from football, because his focus became not so much about telling stories and having fun. I mean, he does have they do have guests on their Monday show, but it became more and more about him practicing his analysis and really taking those chances and stepping out and giving his perspective about particular games and moments and teams. Whereas he couldn't do that when he was still playing because he didn't want to give bulletin board material. He wasn't in the business of revealing anything to his opponents while he was still playing. But now he's working on this balance between breaking down what he sees, what he would have done or not done and then also criticizing without ripping guys.

Right. And he's still very respectful. He understands what it's like to be in that arena. And yet you can tell he's been flexing these analysis chops and figuring out how he's going to be as an analyst.

And actually, I think it's really interesting. So this is Ravens chiefs and his assessment with Baltimore. I think the reality is these are tough games to win. And when you play less than your best in big moments, they come back to bite you.

And you're not going to play. You know, I think about Patrick Mahomes and we have Andy Reid coming on. When you think about Patrick Mahomes, he's just going to be a Patrick Mahomes led team is going to be tough to beat. So all those penalties, all those turnovers, the one at the goal line. I mean, I've been in meetings where we've said it literally a thousand times. Don't reach the ball over the goal line. And when you do it, you see what happens and the ramifications of that. Look, you may get away with it all season long. You may reach it out, you know, all season long to try to get the ball over the end zone. And it may seem like a good play 10 out of 10 times.

And then the one time it doesn't work, you realize, OK, maybe it wasn't worth it. And I think that's the challenging part about football challenges, your discipline, decision making on every single play and the teams that make the good decisions and that make the right plays. And I watched Patrick play.

He looks so comfortable from the start. He was him and Travis. You know, you think they're two best players on offense, really stepping it up in the biggest moments. And both those guys played incredible games.

And you're not going to beat them when those guys are playing great, especially if you're making mistakes. OK, sign me up. Hands in the air. I'll take all of that. I think that's really good. And again, he's gotten so much better. Why?

Because he's dedicated himself to practicing. Jay, let's do a poll. I don't know, scale of one to 10. How how interested are you in Tom Brady's TV debut?

Now, here's the issue. Well, the one that I've been thinking about, Brady, we know is headed for a Fox TV booth because they've committed a ton of money to him. But now the speculation is that Bill Belichick will end up on TV.

And I know that he's been good in the NFL Network specials. But is that weird? After all of his years of just making light or turning media sessions into a laughingstock, now he's going to be part of the media? No, it's just I don't I don't know. That just seems so odd. I guess it's definitely intentionally because, like you said, when he goes on these specials and stuff, we could see that he can definitely explain himself more. But in just his press conferences and I'm really not interested in what Bill Belichick has to say. Well, because what we know of him is 20 plus years of being Kurt and borderline rude and disrespectful when it comes to questions and always playing his card so close to the vest, believing us in the out, you know, in the cold because we're on a need to know basis and he never thinks we need to know.

And now all of a sudden he's going to open up. It's just very weird. I couldn't see that.

He would have to like Brady is I feel like almost not maybe not the point of this podcast, but part of the point of this podcast is to get him ready. Oh, yeah. Oh, definitely.

Yeah. And we're going to get him whether you like Greg Olsen or not. Greg's not going away. He's he's become a media star, a bit of an analyst star himself. But that's Brady's job.

All right. Coming up, Eric Smith, Chargers senior writer on Jim Harbaugh in the impact with the team already and the major questions they have to address in the off season. We would love to take your calls. We're going to wait till after our guest, eight, five, five, two, one, two, four, two, two, seven on Twitter. A law radio and also on our Facebook page.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening. 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. 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.

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Really not that big. Touchdown. Every job I've taken at every step of the way in coaching. There's a connection there for me. Coming back to the Chargers. The sincerity was there.

It felt like I just don't like home when I came here. It's going to be a team. Think of a family. Igniters. There's going to be leaders by example.

That's mostly what I do. We're an attack. We've got enthusiasm unknown to mankind. This is where I want to be. Nowhere else.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Wow. Raise your hand if you got chills.

Just be honest. The hype video, if you will, to introduce Jim Harbaugh as the new Chargers head coach. Oh my gosh. Did you hear what he said? He actually dropped the line, we're going to have enthusiasm unknown to mankind. And he also said there's no place he would rather be. So let's get the details even as we wait for his introduction coming up on Thursday. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're pleased to welcome Eric Smith, who is the Chargers senior writer.

Well, let's dive right in, Eric. From what you've seen so far, the hype video, his interview on CBS, what you've heard. What is your reaction to Jim taking over as the Chargers head coach? I'm fired up. People in the building are fired up. I think Jim Harbaugh is fired up. His energy that you could tell from that little pregame interview he did Sunday before the Ravens-Chief game. You can just kind of feel it on the set and on TV.

He's ready to go. And you mentioned the hype video. I had a chance to kind of see that beforehand. And even knowing it was coming, you're still looking for a brick wall to run through just because everyone's just so amped up.

I just can't even describe the energy in the building. Fans are excited. I think everyone won Harbaugh from the beginning. And once we got him in the early returns, it's just been incredible.

Why is it a good fit with him? The Chargers kind of needed to make a splash a little bit this way for a long time, as we all know. They've always kind of been right there, whether it's talent on the field. You know, the Spano family has certainly invested in everything they can do to try to win. And I think it's just time for the organization overall to take that next step.

And why not do it with Harbaugh, who's been like a proven winner everywhere he's been. You know, his message might be a little different than other coaches. You know, he's a little quirky and he obviously demands a lot. I mean, you can kind of get that vibe from him right away. I think he's used the term, you know, we're going to work like our work ethic is going to be something unknown to mankind. He's used that phrase like numerous times and it's like, I don't know what that is, but like, I'll take it. You know, so like it's just like a really big like breath of fresh air for the Chargers.

And I think they're just kind of looking to turn that corner overall. He was in San Francisco. He had success there, but there was some friction with the front office. And so he ends up going to Michigan where he ultimately wins the title and now back to the NFL. He establishes a track record of winning.

It may take him longer, but he does win wherever he goes. He does. Yeah. Yeah.

And I think that's kind of what people are hoping and expecting around here, too. I'm not going to say he's going to have a quick turnaround as he did in San Francisco. Because I mean, he I think he took them. They were, I think, a six win team before he got there. And then they won, I think, 13 games. And we're making deep playoff runs. Let's like pump the brakes on that a little bit. You know, the Chargers have a lot of offseason roster decisions and salary cap moves they got to make. But I think long term, like the next two to five years.

Yeah. I think the window is wide open and Harbaugh is not going to settle for anything less than the standard that he's kind of set everywhere he's been. You know, I mean, like you say, he's won everywhere he's been.

Even going back to like San Diego, you know, Stanford, the Niners, Michigan, like he won everywhere. He's not going to settle for anything less than that here in L.A. We're really excited to spend a few minutes with Eric Smith, who is a Chargers senior writer just back from paternity. So congratulations to him and his wife on their brand new baby girl.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Eric, there's also movement with the general manager. What do we know about the name that appears to be their choice?

Joe Ortiz. He's one of two finalists. You know, the Chargers haven't officially made an announcement on that. So there's really two people who are who are finalists.

It's Joe Ortiz, who's with the Ravens, and then there's Brandon Brown, who's with the Giants. So both guys came back for second interviews. You know, you assume like a decision is coming shortly on that.

You know, it just kind of depends on what direction the family wants to take. Both Brandon and Joe have ties to Jim Harbaugh. So I think that's something to note and that like they hired Jim Harbaugh first and then. Jim will probably probably have some good input on on who the next GM will be. I mean, obviously he knows Joe Ortiz really well.

Obviously, he's worked with his brother John in Baltimore for, I think, the last like 16 years. So no official word there, but I think both candidates are going to going to do a pretty good job. Gotcha. OK, so then what do we know, if anything, about how the power structure will work with these two guys?

As in who has the final say? That's a big question. I think that's kind of what we still need to find out answers to. And we probably will do that Thursday when Jim Harbaugh has his introductory press conference. You know, perhaps we've announced the GM by then, so we'll have and maybe we even talk to a new GM by then. So maybe we'll have answers even before Thursday. You know, obviously, you know, there was that I don't want to call it like a myth, but, you know, there's that like vibe going around like, you know, Harbaugh, Harbaugh was going to want, you know, full control and all this other stuff.

I'm not really sure that's the case. I mean, he wants to coach and he's he's going to have his hand in the personnel department anyway. I mean, every head coach does not like any head coach out there just sits there and coaches and doesn't and doesn't give his input on what he wants for players and and free agents and all that. So given that both those candidates I mentioned for GM know Harbaugh and like have experience like, you know, with him or his family, it'll kind of probably be like a team effort. And that's probably what Harbaugh wants, like more like a collaborative effort.

But certainly he's going to have a noteworthy say in what the Chargers do. How would you summarize the tenure of Brandon Staley as head coach? Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. You know, obviously it was not successful because he would let go.

You know, not in the middle of the year, but towards the end of the year. And it's just unfortunate because I think all the pieces were there. It just couldn't really click. Whether that was on defense, where, like I said, the Spanish family kind of gave Staley and Tom Celesto kind of everything that they kind of asked for. You know, they traded for Khalil Mack. They signed J.C. Jackson, you know, a bunch of other free agents. Like it was all set up for the defense to have success and just never really clicked. You know, and it's frustrating because like Brandon was great to me, you know, personally and professionally. So I don't have anything bad to say about Brandon, you know, as a coach or a person at all. It's just, you know, it's a result driven business and it wasn't working and it was kind of time for a change. Eric Smith is with us from Los Angeles where he covers the Chargers, their senior writer.

It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. When you look back over the last couple of years of Justin Herbert, now his rookie year was the one where kind of took over because of an injury, thrust into duty and boom, this great revelation. And people are talking about how he could have one of the greatest careers of a quarterback in NFL history.

I mean, we got that kind of hyperbole. He certainly has the potential. There's always the flashes of brilliance and yet the team itself has not really taken those major steps forward. Where is he now in terms of his play and growth?

Yeah, it's a fair question for sure. If you ask me, like I'd still put him up there honestly within the top five quarterbacks in the league, but kind of what I just said about like is not clicking with the Chargers overall in the last three to four years. I think Herbert would kind of fall under that same umbrella too in the sense that like he's had to take on so much and he's had to kind of go out there and play Superman every week.

And it's just tough to do, you know, like you need some help at some point. And it hasn't really been there for him team-wide. It's not any specific player that's let him down or anything.

It's just like team-wide, you know, there hasn't been a ton of like supporting help for him. And if we go back to Harbaugh, I think that's really like, I mean, I mentioned the energy in the building. There shouldn't be many more people fired up I think than Justin Herbert that Jim Harbaugh is here just because Harbaugh has kind of elevated every quarterback that he's worked with, right? You go back to Andrew Luck at Stanford. He goes to San Francisco and like Alex Smith was kind of an afterthought. He turned his career around, you know, and they made deep playoff runs there. So I think that Harbaugh will get the best out of Herbert and that's something we've been, like you kind of alluded to, kind of waiting to see like that top tier level. And he's shown flashes of that for sure. But like a consistent like 17 game season of like elite, elite play with Herbert and I think Harbaugh will have a big hand in that.

It was fun to hear Jim say he was starstruck when he met Justin Herbert because I'm sure the effect goes the other way too where Herbert is really excited about having this guy as his coach. Except I just have to push back a little bit, Eric, because the Chargers do have a roster that's full of guys who are pro bowlers, even all pros. And on the offensive side of the ball, I know the tenure with Austin Eckler has been a little bit rocky and he's had some injuries. I mean, he's a guy who can make all kinds of plays, other guys they have in terms of receivers like Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.

I mean, they can make incredible plays as well. What's missing? Why didn't the pieces fit together?

Yeah, no, it's a good question. You know, it's the old cliche, but like, you know, specifically with Herbert, like injuries that play the factor. And they've kind of been like flukey things, you know, like he got fractured rib cartilage last season that he played through. He fractured a finger on each hand this year. Kind of been like weird, like weird coincidence, you know, weird circumstances. Mike Williams played two and a half games this year, but he wasn't really out there at all. You know, Keenan was banged up.

He missed the last month. So just like overall, yes, you're right, like the pieces should fit, you know, their talent and, you know, they're like on paper. It's like most years we say the charges, the charges should be right there. But the last couple of years, like I said, it has clicked.

That's why they made changes. Head coach at general manager. It's a time for like a fresh start and Herbert's not going to go anywhere. You know, he's signed that extension. He's the face of the franchise.

Like I said, you asked me or, you know, most people around the league, he's still a bona fide like, you know, top tier quarterback. It's just something overall with missing. And I think that's why they went and got hardballed to try to try to find that it factor, you know, to try to push the, I guess, Herbert and the entire team. I think a little bit over the top.

All right. You mentioned that they have some questions in terms of personnel. So free agency type things.

What are the major questions they need to address about the roster? Yeah, there's really four guys that we're going to be keeping our eye on is kind of free agency hits and all that. Two guys we just talked about, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. They both have pretty large cap hits for next year.

And then on the defensive side, it's Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Their cap hits are both, I think, 30 plus million dollars. So there's a lot of money tied up to those four guys. And it just it's an unknown right now of what path the Chargers will take with that kind of quartet of guys. Are they going to are they going to run it back and find a way to bring everyone back, kind of move some money around? Do they keep two guys, you know, and let two guys go?

I don't know. You know, that's not not my decision to make. I just, you know, I cover the team and whatever they decision, whatever decision they will make will certainly be fascinating because each of those guys certainly have the case to stay.

But, you know, the dollar is only go so far and there's only a certain amount of dollars. So there's going to be some tough decisions to make for sure. You work in the AFC West, you get to see the Chiefs up close and personal, for better or for worse, with the Chargers. What's your reaction to how they're playing so far and back into another Super Bowl, Eric?

Not happy about it. Like, you know, I mean, I mean, you certainly respect the Chiefs for sure. I mean, you know, am I surprised they've made another deep run?

No, because I think as long as they have my home, they're always going to be right there, even if it was an up and down season by their by their standards. And, you know, maybe that's why the Chargers went and got Harbaugh, too, because we've heard for the last couple of years, OK, it'll be the Chargers and the Chiefs. You know, the Chargers are going to be right there to challenge Casey for the West. And they haven't really the last couple of years.

And I think I think just an entire culture shift was needed. And Harbaugh will certainly bring that, you know, and like, you know, he'll have stuff he's focused on, you know, the roster and, you know, culture and all that stuff. But I'm sure somewhere on that list, knocking off the Chiefs will be somewhere on there. He's probably not going to talk about it right away. There's more pressing pressing matters to attend to, you know, late January.

But once we get closer to the season, I'm sure that'll be something on his mind. A little bit like Michigan beating Ohio State. There you go. There you go.

Like that. We've got the big press conference, maybe general manager as well coming up on Thursday. But we will hear from Jim Harbaugh. Then you want to find Eric on Twitter at Eric underscore L underscore Smith. Chargers senior writer just back from his paternity and being away from work.

So good time with the family. Congratulations again. And thank you so much for a couple of minutes.

OK, thank you, Amy. So Jim Harbaugh introduced on Thursday. I don't know if he's going to drop one of those. We're going to work harder than any other.

I don't know something about mankind more than any other team in the history of sports. It's something along those lines and maybe a general manager. But I thought it was a bit of a news item that he says the Chargers actually haven't made up their mind. Now, we know insiders get the scoops all the time, but he says it's still a race between two different guys.

The one coming from Baltimore would be Joe Ortiz, the name that's already out there. But good stuff with Eric. And yeah, just back from he and his wife having their second baby girl, which is sweet. All right.

On Twitter, a law radio on our Facebook page, too. Seems like you all are relatively meh about Tom Brady in the booth. Oh, well, producer Jay and I were all about it. Now, Marco, what do you think? We've heard Tom Brady practice over the last year. And I kind of feel like he's gotten a lot better at it. And I'm looking forward to his insight. You? It's hard to say if he's going to be good or not. I'm curious, like everybody else. Do I think he's going to be?

And again, this is unfair, but it's what you're walking into. Do I think he's going to be better than Greg Olsen? No, I don't. I do.

I just don't know. I know he knows it. As long as he can put a sentence together about football. I know he knows it, and I know he'll work at it. I just don't know if he's going to be critical enough. He doesn't strike me as a guy that's willing to, you know, say it when it needs to be said. And that's something that he has struggled on, even in the Let's Go podcast. He dances around it. Just say it. Just say it.

And some people struggle with that. Interesting, because I don't think Greg Olsen is particularly critical. He breaks down plays.

He doesn't criticize players. No, he'll let you know when somebody makes a mistake. He'll be quick.

He'll be jumping all over it. I feel like Brady dances. I feel like he doesn't. Have you heard what he had to say about Dan Campbell's aggressive decision-making? I kind of thought he said it. I don't need him to be like, that was trash!

Which some people do. I think that would be bad form. No, but at real time, is it going to be the... And again, everybody does it a little different.

Tony Romo's more of the, he tells you a lot of different ways, and then, well, let's see. I kind of want my guy to let me know. This is a bad decision.

This is a good decision. And I don't know if he's going to be willing to do that in real time. We'll find out. We definitely will, and they're paying a lot of money to find out. That poll is up on Twitter after our CBS or our Facebook page. Seems like a somewhat tepid reaction at this point, but like it or not, Brady is headed for the broadcast booth.

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I don't pull it myself, but I don't know. It's typical Jerry. 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. TJ is listening in Miami. TJ, welcome to the show. Good morning, Amy.

Hey there, how are you? My friend and co-worker were talking about the viewers. You said that the NFL got more viewers than the World Cup. Do you do it in the United States or in the world? Well, obviously in the United States. I was comparing sporting events in the U.S. and not around the world. Because in the United States, as you know, I hope, as wall soccer is the world's favorite sport in the United States, American football is king. Yeah, but the World Cup is king all over the world.

Yeah, I got you. It's because other countries don't, well, part of the reason is because other countries don't have as many options. But you see what happens when the NFL goes international, whether it's Mexico, whether it's Germany, whether it's England. I mean, it's really popular.

But yeah, I can only compare apples and apples. I can't compare a world audience with the United States and its NFL viewers. Yeah, because I remember you said one time you went to the country, the Spanish country. Your country was not in the World Cup, but you're still there watching the World Cup. Yeah, I was in Ecuador, actually. I was on a humanitarian trip in the Quito area. Actually, we flew into Quito and then we drove a couple hours up into the Andes Mountains.

I was working with kids and playing soccer and taking school supplies and that kind of stuff. But yeah, on our way back, as we were spending a couple hours in Quito in an open-air market, it was during the World Cup. And every single booth had a little black and white TV or a radio that was turned to the World Cup broadcast. Right. That's what I'm saying, comparing. And I'm saying that the World Cup generates more money than NFL combined. Well, right, of course, around the world, sure. I mean, there's a lot more countries. So, yes, I would agree with you about that. I was just simply talking about the United States and how there isn't anything that rates or compares to the way that Americans are not so about their football. Yeah, so I ran my best with my friends then because I tell them, because they listen to you and they said, you said that the World Cup don't generate more people. And I said, no, you must be crazy. I'm not sure if you're referring to me or your friends.

My friends, my friends, my friends. I can be a little bit crazy, but right, I was just going American viewership. Right, right. Because they said the World Cup, they said, what?

NFL is more people than the World Cup? That's what it, you know? Got you. I didn't really straighten that out because now I can collect my money. There you go.

Oh, you had a bet riding on it, huh? Yeah. All right. Well, I hope they're listening so that they can hear you are correct. All right, TJ, thanks so much for your phone call. Thanks for listening. No problem.

Thank you. Not the first person I've ever heard from who had a bet riding on the show or a bet over some type of opinion or topic that we had on the show. Some of you are responding about Tom Brady. Melvin says this on Twitter, ALawRadio. I don't want to see Brady anymore.

Unlikely to watch unless he's doing a game for my team and even then may turn the sound off and use the radio for audio. I'm going to guess, and I'm not going to look at his profile, I'm going to guess that Melvin has some personal vendetta via his team against Tom Brady. Maybe a Buffalo. Maybe a Rams fan. Maybe a Bills fan.

Maybe who else would you say? Oh, Falcons fan. I'm going Falcons fan. Chris says if it's a scale of one to ten, you can't be less than one, so he doesn't like your poll.

At any rate, I'm not excited, but I am curious. I think that rate's about a three out of ten. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. 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 near you. OK, picture this.

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