HOUSTON, TX – AUGUST 28: Calais Campbell #93 of the Arizona Cardinals warms up before a preseason game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on August 28, 2016 in Houston, Texas. The Texans defeated the Cardinals 34-24. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
2016By Ian Casselberry on

Calais Campbell isn’t just a star Pro Bowl defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, notching two sacks and a safety five games into the 2016 NFL season. He’s also now an executive producer in the TV business with a project in development at CBS.

Campbell’s life story is the inspiration for The Whole Nine, a multi-camera sitcom about a pro football player who buys a house in a gated community and is soon confronted by his family wanting to move in with him. In real life, Campbell is one of eight children with five brothers who also play football.

Though he won’t be playing himself on the show, Campbell has some TV experience, filming a guest appearance on FX’s The League, along with being a part of Amazon’s All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals.

The NFL is not involved with the development of this series.

One of the writers for The Whole Nine is Chris Case, who has some experience developing sports-themed scripted television. He helped create basketball comedy Sin City Saints for Yahoo and wrote a pilot for Fox titled Havoc, which followed a black football player who moves in with his white wife and her two sons. (The show was based on Case’s own experience growing up with an ex-football player stepdad.)

Sports-related sitcoms and dramas seem to be having their moment with Pitch currently on Fox, along with HBO’s Ballers and Survivor’s Remorse on Starz. DirecTV also has Kingdom, which takes place in the world of MMA.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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