The Los Angeles Chargers were road darlings during NFL Wild Card Weekend, but star quarterback Justin Herbert didn’t let that momentum get in the way of his privacy.
Daniel Popper of The Athletic reported that Chargers personnel helped Herbert push CBS cameras away from the pregame huddle.
The move likely came after Amazon Prime Video aired Herbert’s pregame speech during Los Angeles’ last nationally televised game in Week 16.
Justin Herbert asked Ben Herbert to prevent the NFL’s cameraman from filming the huddle before his pregame speech to the team. Amazon’s camera caught all of Herbert’s speech before Week 16 TNF game.
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) January 11, 2025
Before that Week 16 game, Herbert rallied his teammates with a hyped-up, expletive-filled pep talk — and cameras caught all of it.
“You know what time it is,” Herbert yelled. “Do this s*** together.”
As a teammate smiled, Herbert jokingly questioned him: “What the f*** are you laughing at?”
Justin Herbert dropping f-bombs in his pregame speech 😂
🎥: @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/3zJydfQ6rh https://t.co/6yioig9wtm
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 20, 2024
That night, the Chargers took a badly needed win over the Denver Broncos and give themselves a head start on the 5-seed.
Despite significant betting action on Los Angeles this week after a poor close to the season for the Houston Texans, Herbert didn’t overlook his opponent.
We will never know what Herbert said to rally his guys this time around, but they will need every ounce of motivation and energy to pull off the road playoff win in Houston.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.