After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

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Get softer, smoother skin and shop Aveeno now at Target. We'll see you next time. some of the graphics and the photos on the various sites our show Twitter does have a new name we had to remove the previous three letters from that one so it's at Amy after hours and I keep saying it wrong I even typed it wrong earlier when I was searching for it so I understand it could take a minute but yeah we've got some new photos up we're still like I say twerking no not twerking tweaking tweaking and and working it came out twerking is there a dance I'm so not cool we are tweaking and working on the graphics and the just the various ways to line up some of the header photos but yeah there's some new stuff that you can go you can check out and you can tell us what you think that sort of mean what I don't really need to know what you think of my photo just what you think of the graphics.

But thanks for joining us. This is the show in which we are once again mixing up so much variety that I can't even really tell you that, you know, like using one hand we're talking about this. No, we've already gone off the beaten path multiple times and we're about to do it even more moving forward because I cannot believe what came out of Bill Belichick's mouth on Wednesday cannot believe it. Number one.

Number two. I don't know what I should believe about Bill Belichick's desire to coach in Atlanta and why that didn't work out. Also, did you hear he might be signing. Well signing a deal or signing up to work with Omaha productions over the course of the upcoming 2024 season until there are more jobs opened up because there will be the black Monday thing is real that phenomenon is real, and there will be maybe not eight new jobs open but there'll be a handful of new jobs and according to reports Belichick is biding his time until another few openings and he believes that there will be more coaching in his future. But there is a lot of brouhaha and some reports coming out about how Bob Kraft may have played a role in Belichick not getting the job with the Atlanta Falcons.

So we'll see if we can peel back the layers a little bit but yeah I don't care about that as much as I care about I just can't believe what Bill Belichick said on Wednesday. Just no. No. How?

No. Yeah that's ridiculous. Right?

That's what I say. So we've got Twitter, Facebook, our phone number 855-212-4227 that's 855-212-4227 and still to come Kaitlyn Clark introduced by the Indiana Fever. The latest on some of the injuries that may impact the NBA playoffs moving forward and also I know we talked about the last game for the Arizona Coyotes or the Yotes as they're called. We just talked about that and the fact that they're moving to Salt Lake more than likely it's not a done deal yet but that's where all the signs are headed. But even as the NHL prepares to launch its Stanley Cup postseason and a schedule that makes a lot more sense than the NBA schedule of games. We've got a fifth player in NHL history but the second this year to record 100 assists in the course of a single season.

Pretty incredible. Likely MVP Jay do you think? Thumbs up?

Likely. Okay so potential MVP and then also Austin Matthews in a quest for 70 goals in a regular season. So we'll do a little hockey, a little Stanley Cup playoff prep, a little more basketball and oh gosh Rory loves Liv.

That's just that's alone is your tease. No he don't believe him when he says he hates Liv because apparently well maybe it's not true. We'll just let you hear from Rory. Hit Liv. Uh huh.

Where there's smoke there's fire. No I'm just kidding. I got hit Liv. I believe him when he says that he's not leaving for Liv. I do. I do believe him.

Jay do you believe him? I do. I think.

I think. Alright let's talk to Shane who's in Detroit. Shane welcome to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Shane. Producer Jay. What happened to Shane?

He had a good story too. Oh that's too bad. I wonder if he has us on mute. Now do you think his story is better than Jason Kelsey's story about how he lost his Super Bowl ring?

Probably not. Okay maybe he fell asleep. Maybe Shane fell asleep. It's so silent on his end.

It is. It's almost like we've been muted or he's been muted. He muted his end.

He muted his end because he's maybe working in a machine shop or. He shouldn't have called to be on hold for a radio show then. Yeah he's only been on hold for a couple of minutes too. It's not been a real long time. It has not been no. Just since the later stages of the last hour.

Alright sorry Shane. Let's talk to Rusty who's in Baltimore. Rusty welcome to After Hours. Good morning. Love the show. Thank you. I gotta say my day don't start till I hear the boom at the end of the show. Oh. So thank you for that. Well then why are you awake two hours before the boom drops?

I'm commuting right now. Oh man. I'm from Virginia so. Gotcha. So I want to talk about the NBA and other sports entities condemning players for betting. But getting in bed with these betting sites taking their money. They're advertising money. I feel you can't have it both ways if you're going to condemn. Don't take their money.

So how would you do it? Would you say no pro athletes bet at all? Or bet not. I guess not bet. We're talking about not table games but betting on actual sports. I mean I think if they're not betting on their sport.

I think it's fine. But when you're taking advertising dollars you can't tell the guys hey don't bet on anything when you're taking their advertising dollars. Seems hypocritical to me. Gotcha.

Yeah it does. And what we've heard from Adam Silver because he was really proactive about this. What we've heard from Adam Silver is that if there's money to be made and there is right because it's not because of the leagues themselves. It's because the states around the U.S. have determined. Now the vast majority of them have determined that they would legalize sports betting so that they can make money. That money belongs to the states. They're able to use it. And so it's a changing landscape in our country.

The country where these leagues operate. So what Adam Silver is saying is we're not behind all this. But if betting is going to be this common and it's going to be this prominent around our country. And it's really going to be something that states are making money off. Then we should make money off of it too. Why shouldn't we get a piece of the pie when they're betting on our leagues?

Absolutely. I mean the safeguards are in place with these casinos and betting sites. So if those work and they catch these guys doing what they're doing. And you know if a player is going to be dumb enough to bet on his own sport or himself and he gets caught. Like Tom Bandt, you do that a couple of times players will get the hint and they won't be doing it. Yeah it is unfortunate that even after we've seen now I don't know a dozen players in different leagues get suspended or get banned.

That still there's some who will try it. But I assume that it's because they believe there's a lot of money to be made. In the case of Jontay Porter he's one of those rank and file players or was who isn't making a ton of money.

Isn't even likely to get another contract. But the lure of the gambling may not stop there. I mean if you've got a player who's as addicted as Ipe Mitsuhara. I mean that's the story.

Not everybody believes it. But if there is a player who is that addicted then what's to stop him from trying to do the same thing? I'm sure these leagues have addiction to help.

I hope so. And the guys are having problems so there's help out there that these teams are providing and leagues are providing. So if they're really up against it they can get the help.

Yeah well I hope that's the case but I think probably what is more common is that it's just so popular. And it's just so in your face all the time that maybe they don't know the rules. If you've got guys in various leagues who don't know the overtime rules. So like NFL players who don't know the overtime rules then I'm quite certain that not everybody's familiar with the rules of gambling. Oh I'm sure.

There's a lot of ins and outs there so maybe they should have seminars each week, each month, something to make sure these guys aren't doing it. Agreed agreed. Alright sir good to talk to you. Drive safely. Alright thank you. Let's talk to Shane who apparently decided that he had time and stepped out of his vehicle only to find out that we had gone to him and missed him.

Don't! Yeah I appreciate it. Thanks for taking my call. Of course. Yeah so just a comment on the gambling thing.

I love it. I think it's great for the sports. They just need to have a no tolerance policy like your friend said there. You know each league has different rules for their players and all the leagues need to come together or you know some sort of border association that you know works with Vegas or the feds who's ever in charge of it to oversee it. Like for instance the MLB they can bet on everything except their own sport. And then the NFL they can't do any of it.

So you know in order for everyone to be on the same page and for it to be successful and not really hinder or ruin the integrity of the game just a no tolerance is all they need and everyone can still benefit. I do agree with you that it's tough when the rules are different from sport to sport. Now it's still beholden on the athlete.

He's still the one responsible, he or she, the ones responsible to know the rules in their particular sport. And just so you know in the NFL you can't bet on football, you can't bet at all in your own facility but you are allowed to bet on your own time as long as it's legal. So you just can't bet at the facility. No types of betting activity while you're in the building or while you're on a team trip or you're engaging in work essentially.

And you cannot bet on football at all but you are allowed to place bets as long as you're doing it legally just not on your sport and not while you're working. Right and like you guys said as an employee you're subject to certain rules, regulations as part of being an employee with any job and you're right as an employee you should know especially with the salary and benefits these guys make. And as the previous caller said they have every type of official and A they can possibly have nutrition, addiction so if they are doing it or know another teammate they have the help there. So I think the league should do as much as they can to get the word out there and make sure communication is clear to all their members and players and it's the responsibility of them too. But I do agree that there should be either a no tolerance or a low tolerance policy which is why we've seen guys get banned for a full season multiple times in the NFL. Why now Jontay Porter is getting banned completely and I mean he wasn't just throwing bets he was betting on the NBA and I mean he violated every rule there is out there. I just don't think you can have even one athlete who's naive enough to not understand that you can't be betting on your own sport. That one is universal around these various leagues you cannot bet on your own sport so to me he not only knew the rules but he was willing to risk it. Right it was just blatant exactly and a lot of them will try to game the system regardless so that's why I think a no tolerance is best because all these geo locations and tracking data they'll eventually find out. So whether like you said they're sitting ducks so whether they chance it or not it'll just hurt their career and the leagues in general so I think it's beneficial for both sides. Yeah I agree I mean the athletes may not realize it or not realize it until now but this is what the sportsbook do this is what they do this is how they prevent any type of fraud or I mean I'm sure they're really in it for their own profit but they want to make sure they're not getting not only getting defrauded but taken for a ride. They want to know for sure that they're not losing money too.

Right as a business they have that right I mean this is you know just in Vegas solely for that studying behavior it's only for business consultants and they go in there and all the casinos do this and that sports gambling effects on behavior so they know what they're doing so they know every little thing. All right sir I appreciate your phone call thank you so much. He went into a gas station he missed us. He was like I'm so sorry I thought I had time I tried to run in and I was like that's okay it's okay. I'm surprised he didn't take his phone in with him.

That's funny. Let's talk to Maurice who's in Atlanta. Maurice welcome to After Hours. Hey how you doing? I'm gonna be a little controversial. I'm pretty much saying is my first one of my first headlines pretty much said hey I enjoy your show. I drive truck so I can't wait to get up and show everyone. Thank you.

No problem. So I'm gonna be a little different. I understand when it comes to the gambling not you know not betting on the same team or whatnot. But at the end of the day I feel like Vegas and you know the betters they don't like to lose.

So they definitely gonna find and go after those people. But my thing is we will put our priorities messed up because we'll abandon NBA player for life for money gambling. But when the NBA player is involved in domestic violence and all these other things, it's a 20 game suspension and some type of recovery camp. It's messed up. Our priorities and what we care about more is kind of messed up. But when it comes to the gambling yeah I understand but come on now.

Let this be real. I believe there's a lot of people that's out there there's gambling but they kind of move it smart. But you have a great yeah I have a great morning. Love the show. I appreciate that Maurice. Thank you so much.

We're glad to keep you company while you drive at these hours. Yeah he makes a good point. It's not one that is foreign.

I've heard it before but I like how he spells it out. Why do these leagues care more about money and gambling than they do about guys who are convicted? I mean I would think you need a conviction in domestic violence or any type of domestic incident before they would take the extreme step of banning them.

And I don't know for sure but I this would be my guess my best educated guess knowing these leagues. They are most concerned about integrity of the game right so you may think it's a sham you may think it's a show but they're going to tell you their number one priority is integrity of the game. Largely because of the betting which is sort of ironic but they want to maintain integrity of the game because they believe the product on the field suffers. And that's what brings people to the table.

Better is for sure but just fans in general. When it comes to the NFL they will go over the top to try to prove that the integrity of the game has not been impacted. That's their number one priority. When it comes to what athletes do or what trouble they create or what trouble they get involved in off the field there is not a zero tolerance policy. Can they get punished? Sure. Has the NFL upgraded its domestic violence policy?

Sure. It's still not implemented routinely across the board and I still have issues with how they do it. But they've at least made it more of a priority. But what athletes do in their own time if it really embarrasses the league then it becomes an issue. But they're less concerned about what adult men I'm thinking about NFL NBA blah blah. They're less concerned about what adults do outside of the league even if it's something as egregious as a felony or domestic violence or domestic assault. Now here's the thing though.

It's a little bit like the federal government setting laws but the states having different laws or having different policies or states having autonomy in a particular area. The teams themselves have no excuse. Maybe the league doesn't crack down and ban someone who has been convicted, accused of domestic violence. Again I would think you'd need a conviction for something like that. But why don't the teams themselves take action?

Right? Like if the team doesn't like the fact that a guy has been convicted of a crime they can cut him. You don't have to wait for the league to ban him through some type of a behavioral policy.

Teams themselves can say, no that guy's not on our roster. And isn't that what happened with Kareem Hunt, right? Because he was in Kansas City. Now according to the Chiefs, he lied to them as they were investigating, as they were doing their due diligence about what he was accused of. And remember he was caught on tape.

The tape was not released right away. But he was accused of kicking and roughing up someone in a hotel hallway. It was a female, correct? It wasn't a girlfriend or anything like that.

It was someone, I don't know if it was a fan, just someone who was trying to get into the party they were having in this hotel room. And so there was an investigation and the details were in the police report what he was accused of. The Chiefs say that he lied to them. So when the tape came out and embarrassed the Chiefs, they cut him immediately.

So that's the thing. Individual teams can say, we're not having this guy on our roster. We don't want a guy who does this, this and this.

Another example is the Dodgers. As it turns out, I wouldn't say that Trevor Bauer is completely innocent. He certainly did make choices that are suspect and a little bit scary.

But either way, now the woman who's accused him, at least one of the women who has accused him of choking her and roughing her up and beating her, she's now facing charges herself for fabricating a story. And so baseball didn't suspend him essentially. The investigation revealed that Trevor Bauer didn't do anything criminal. And yet he can't get back into the league. The Dodgers got rid of him immediately. And one of the reasons why, he was still on their roster essentially but he was on administrative leave, he wasn't getting paid. But one of the reasons they got rid of him right away and the reason they would not bring him back despite signing him to a big deal is because the guys in the clubhouse didn't want him back. They were uncomfortable with what he'd been accused of and so the Dodgers players themselves did not want Trevor Bauer back. Even after he was cleared, they did not want him back in the clubhouse and probably that chip had sailed anyway. But that's what I'm saying, teams can take a stand, locker rooms can take a stand. It doesn't have to be up to the league to take a stand when it comes to crimes or specifically domestic violence, which is what Maurice mentioned.

But I do agree, you look at it from that perspective, it seems messed up. On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too, we're glad to have you with us. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence coming up. Jason Kelsey lost his Super Bowl ring, it's kind of crazy, and you will not believe what Bill Belichick said this week.

I may have lost all respect for the man. What do I look like? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I won't forget Nick Foles having the game of his life on the biggest stage possible and the biggest **** on the team going up to Doug Peterson and asking for the Philly special and Doug Peterson having the biggest balls in the stadium.

Say yeah, let's do it. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Jason Kelsey announcing his retirement gets choked up over the biggest balls in the stadium. I'm quoting, like legit quoting, otherwise I would never say that.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. He can tell a story, can't he? He's got a new one to share that might take the cake, it might blow you away. You would only believe it if it was Jason Kelsey too, or Travis, maybe you'd believe it if it was Travis.

But Jason tells the story of how he lost his Super Bowl ring. We had a full vat of Skyline Chili, this is actually technically a three-way, it's not just Skyline Chili. There's spaghetti in there, cheese, and chili.

The video does not do justice just how disgusting this was. I had to get away from that corner. I went to Skyline twice over the weekend, I love Skyline Chili. This chili had been sitting out for like some time period. It smelled so bad in that part of the arena. Mixed into that chili were socks with make-believe rings, and then there was actually only one real ring in there, which was my Super Bowl ring, that they had to try and find, one in each pool. But there was an unfortunate-ness, as you guys know, this game existed because I continually lose my Super Bowl ring. And I don't even know if Travis still knows this, but I legitimately lost my Super Bowl ring in this event. They could not find it. This is Jets Jake, searching through the chili to try and find the sock that had my Super Bowl ring in it. We have still yet to find it. What did you expect to happen?

I thought that we would just go in the pool and get the ring afterwards. You're such a f***ing imbecile. Greg got a metal detector. There's actually metal in Skyline Chili. There's traces of iron within the chili itself.

Oh my gosh. So it's an impossible task to try and use a metal detector. That's so good. There's probably lead as well in there at some point.

It's just a hunk of metal. I'll just have another one made, I think. Oh my god. They can do that, right?

Let's hope. This comes from the New Heights Podcast, of course. By the way, one of my students, in response to an assignment in which they had to listen to a particular radio slash podcast segment, and come up with the target audience.

Okay, so that was the assignment. We were talking about knowing your audience and how do you do it. And so I assigned each of them to listen to a particular show or podcast and determine the target audience.

The only female in my class actually chose the New Heights Podcast. And I think it's a fascinating debate because is it more Chiefs fans? Is it more Kelsey Brothers fans? Is it more football fans? Is it more Swifties now?

And that kind of convolution of all these various types of people. And honestly, that's what makes it so popular is that it doesn't just appeal to one particular fan base or one particular segment. Anyway, so Jason and Travis tell the story after his Super Bowl ring was put in a sock and submerged in a pool of chili. And this is a live event that they hosted for fans. Together, they hosted for fans. It was a sold out show at the University of Cincinnati.

Going back to, gosh, last week, I think the week before maybe. And it was essentially for fans of their podcast because it had all these like New Heights themes in it and stuff. You'd have to be really into their podcast to get all of the all the different references.

But of course, they came up with all these crazy games. And one of the one of the events they designed for fans was having people dig through this pool, a pool of chili. Dig through a pool of chili. To find his Super Bowl ring. And he says they they came up with this game because Jason, I guess, is perpetually losing his ring from the 2017 season, 2018 Super Bowl. But he says that he actually has lost his ring for real now because they can't find it. And so there were there were fake rings in some of the socks. But then there's the actual ring that Jason was presented after winning the Super Bowl that was in a sock as well. So they tried to go through the chili, all the different socks, looking for Jason's ring even the next day and can't find it.

Still have no idea where it is. And he says all the stuff's been thrown away, meaning the chili, the pool, all of that. And so someplace in the arena, either his ring still exists or is still sitting in a sock that's, I don't know, on the ground somewhere covered by chili. Or, here's my theory, someone found it and took it. Don't you think that's more likely? Someone found the sock with the real Super Bowl ring and pocketed it.

I think that's definitely a possibility. But if you were to do that and you are the thief, then what? You just have to keep it. You can't sell it at that point. And everyone knows that that's Travis Kelsey's stolen ring.

Maybe not. You wait a little bit and maybe other members of that Eagles team have decided to sell their rings, too. It happens all the time. Athletes will do it either to make money off of it or they give it to someone and that person ends up selling it.

You hear those stories. Yeah, but I assume it says Kelsey on it, right? I'm not sure if it has his number. It may not have his name.

It may have his number. So according to Jason, the only thing he can think of is that somehow this sock with his actual Super Bowl ring got kicked out of the way. And then it maybe fell out of the pool or someone just accidentally kind of tossed it aside, not realizing that his ring was in there. And then it was then thrown away, collected with the other garbage.

I could see that happening, too. Someone's just in there splashing around and all the slop that's everywhere just kind of fell out with it. Yeah, right.

It fell out. Maybe people were slopping around, splashing around. I love chili. In fact, I'm making chili on Thursday because it's supposed to be in the 40s in my neighborhood, but there's no way I would swim in chili. This chili had been sitting out for like some time period.

And Travis said it was stunk to high heaven. Anyway, they put an insurance claim in. And so they go back and forth on whether or not the insurance company should cover the loss of a Super Bowl ring that you intentionally put into a pool of chili. This was a horrendous idea.

Horrible idea. And here's how I found the story. On people.com, I didn't even get it on a sports website. It's because it's the Kelsey's. It's because Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey's relationship has catapulted them now to pop culture stratosphere.

Right? So anything that the two of them do is documented. But that also includes Travis and his brother now because Jason, I mean, part of the family, right?

So, yeah. Anyway, Travis apparently told him the insurance company is not going to be down with this because you are now telling the story to the entire world. The insurance company is going to get wind of it. And they're not going to give you the money for intentionally putting your Super Bowl ring, your valuable into a pool of chili and expecting that nothing could possibly go wrong.

I don't blame them at all. He does not deserve to get the money back for this one. Sorry. No, it's not like he lost it or it was stolen.

No, he put it in a place where it was unlikely to ever be found again. Really, really poor idea. I get it.

I mean, but I get the bit, but come on. Your Super Bowl ring. Right. Right.

That's crazy. And he says that he loses it often. I feel like that's one thing I just would never lose.

What else? How could you lose that? Well, I guess now that I have a ring, an engagement ring that was given to me by my husband and my wedding ring that I never take off the wedding ring. But I will say I do take off the engagement ring when I work out, when I do yard work, when I'm cleaning house. I would be devastated if I lost it, but I can understand. I mean, I've lost jewelry before. I can understand how you can put it down, misplace it, how you can leave it somewhere. Someone else's house or in a hotel room or I'm just like throwing things out there.

So that part I understand. But the idea of intentionally putting it in a place where you're unlikely to ever find it again or someone else could easily find it and pocket it. There's no way that you can track all of these people in the chili. What if a guy finds it in, so he just takes a chance, a guy or a gal. They're in the chili. They find a sock.

They pull the ring out. They put it in their pocket, like in the chili. No one could see that you have picked up a sock in the chili. It's not clear water. It's chili.

Right? So you could be underneath the cover of chili. You're covered in chili. You find a sock.

You think, you know, what are the chances? This could actually be the ring. Or maybe you think every sock that you find has an actual ring. And you just, while you're still in the chili, you put it in your pocket and then you get lucky because it's his actual Super Bowl ring.

It's devious, really. It's not water. It's chili. It's chili.

You can't see through it. Ooh, and he said it had noodles in it too. The chunks of metal? Yeah, chunks of metal. That's what he was saying, that they put a metal detector onto it to try to find the ring. But that Skyline Chili has bits of aluminum or metal in it. So it was picking it up. I hope he was referring to the pool.

And like the pool. I don't know. Have you ever had Skyline Chili? I do not like noodles in chili.

I didn't even know that was really a thing until I knew Skyline Chili. People ask me every now and then, I don't like pasta in my chili. If I'm going to make pasta, I'll make pasta. And I've made pasta with meat sauce before, but not with chili. I do put beans in my chili, which that's, according to Texans, that's wrong.

My husband's a Texan. He never has put beans in his chili before me. So I put, you're going to laugh at this, but beans, bell pepper, mushroom. And lately I've started using garlic. Sorry, not garlic.

Radishes. But I also use garlic and onion. And there are times when I use chickpeas because it gives a little bit of crunch. I also put corn in my chili. So I put veggies and beans in mine along with the meat. And it's crazy, but it's delicious.

And it's a hearty meal. Just not pasta. It's just not pasta. No, there's no pasta in my chili. Gross.

I didn't think anyone would have to clarify. I don't like pasta in my chili. Gross. Gross. This seems like so in line with Jason Kelsey, though.

I can see how this would happen. All right, on Twitter, ALawRadio coming up. Bill Belichick said something that you won't believe, I won't believe. I don't think I can ever see him the same. Also, Chris in Sacramento wants to weigh in on the A's situation.

And now Coyote fans can identify because their team is about to leave. I know it's a catch-22. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Bill Belichick never asked for, in our discussions, full control of personnel or the building or anything of that nature. He was very inclusive, very collaborative.

All of these things that were being produced by the media were totally not true. I mean, he never had that as a requirement. We just felt all things considered for a variety of reasons that Raheem Morris was clearly the best choice for us. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That's the voice of Arthur Blank explaining why they went with Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick and other candidates. They'd interviewed a bunch of different guys for the opening as the head coach.

And it was weird. There were a few eyebrows raised when Belichick did not get the job because he had interviewed twice. And according to a new story that's out on ESPN.com, with Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler, these are all NFL insiders, Belichick actually believed that the job was his.

This is, again, according to their reporting. Because he'd interviewed twice, including a one-on-one session with Blank on his yacht. And then another interview with Blank and different team executives at the owner's home. And so according to people close to Belichick, he thought he'd done everything right and he was close to getting hired. And he even told Arthur Blank and kind of echoed what Arthur just said there or what he said when Raheem Morris was hired, is that he wasn't looking for total control. He wasn't looking for the same setup that he had when he was with the Patriots. Belichick also knew, according to this dot com story, that Blank had called his references, which included the owner of the Patriots, Bob Kraft, and his right-hand man, his son, Jonathan. And so again, the article goes on to say, not only did Belichick think he had the job, but he was blindsided when Atlanta went with Raheem Morris. And, you know, Blank told us Raheem's the right fit for the job. He made the most sense.

We really connected. Blank apparently had had everyone in his front office, everybody who was involved in the decision-making process, rank the candidates. The various guys they interviewed for the job, and according to this ESPN dot com story, Bill Belichick wasn't even in the top three on anyone's list. Maybe it's because he's intimidating. Maybe it's because of what we heard from Matt Ruhle last month, that you're almost embarrassed when you are held up next to Belichick because of all the football he knows and because of how his mind works. Matt Ruhle, who was a coach in the NFL and is now at Nebraska, and he had Bill Belichick in for some type of an event, and Belichick said, or Belichick started talking about football, and Ruhle said he was embarrassed because of how much more Belichick knows than he does. So maybe it was that. Maybe it was the intimidation factor. But there's also a report out there, we'll call it another report, that Bob Kraft made a phone call and that that may have been what swayed Arthur Blank and the Falcons team away from Belichick.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. Jeremy Fowler, who's one of the reporters on this story, he was a guest on our Boston affiliate with Jones and Mega on WEEI, and he says, well, not so fast. It may not have been about Bob Kraft. I still think that there were enough people, can't say for sure, but I think there were enough people in the Atlanta circle that had other favorites, you know, because they essentially did take sort of a straw poll, and, you know, people had a lot of Raheem Morris, number one, and a lot of Mike McDonald, who's now the Seattle coach, and a lot of Bobby Slowik, you know.

Other guys like Anthony Weaver, who's now the Dolphins defensive coordinator, made a good impression, Brian Callahan, before he got the Titans job. So they interviewed a lot of people, and several were heavily in the mix and highly regarded. So I do sense in our reporting that the coming off of the yacht meeting that he had with Arthur Blank that first interview, that there was some momentum and that he really had a realistic chance at it. Something changed. I think what loomed large in those changes is the powers that be in Atlanta.

The people in the front office just wanted to go in a different direction. OK, so Jeremy Fowler is saying it wasn't necessarily the phone call. But still, to read this article, and I highly recommend it, but these three very well respected reporters, and that was one of them, Jeremy Fowler, on our Boston affiliate WEEI, you get deep into the story, and they report that Arthur Blank and Bob Kraft had multiple conversations, and that a close friend of Bob Kraft and someone who's also close to Bill Belichick told Bill that Bob Kraft had told Arthur Blank not to trust Bill. OK, so just to make sure that was convoluted, someone who knows both Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick and is close to both, actually told Bill that it was Bob Kraft who warned Arthur Blank not to hire Belichick because he couldn't be trusted, and that that's one of the reasons why the Falcons passed on him.

In fact, quote, it was a big part of why the Falcons passed on Belichick. Interesting stuff. So there's more to the article, and I highly recommend it.

I know it took us all the way up to the top of the hour. That's not even the most shocking thing that I've heard from Bill Belichick, well, about Bill Belichick this week, so I promise we'll get to the other after the top of the hour. There is more. It's fascinating, but it's tough, though, right, because who do you believe?

Do you believe that the Falcons' brain trust didn't want him, or do you believe that Arthur Blank was warned off by Bob Kraft? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

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