Peter Schrager Credit: ESPN
By Sean Keeley on

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“Welcome to Big Day with Peter Schrager. I’m thrilled to be here, live from New York City, in the city I call home, and on the sports network I grew up watching.”

The first words uttered on the debut episode of Big Day weren’t just an introduction; they were a thesis statement.

And over the course of the next hour, Schrager led viewers on a journey that combined the modern ESPN afternoon TV-watching experience with nostalgic nods and references to the version he grew up with and always dreamed of being a part of.

Since Schrager arrived at the Worldwide Leader after his time at NFL Network (ironically now an ESPN-adjacent property), rumblings and reports of a midday show of some kind began. Almost a year and a half later, the word came down that his new show would air Mondays through Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. ET through the end of the college football season and then expand to Fridays as well.

While Schrager’s NFL bona fides are strong, the pitch was that the show will cover all sports, not just football. That’s easier said than done on a network where daily discussions about the Dallas Cowboys in April are a mainstay. So the big question heading into Thursday’s debut was how much of that varied focus would come through, and what would Schrager do to differentiate this hour from the roundtable discussions of Get Up and loud debates of First Take?

We have to give Big Day a mulligan on the first question, as the debut came quite literally in the midst of the NFL’s Week 1 and college football’s Week 2. To discuss anything other than football would have been malpractice.

As for the second question, it seems the answer is for Schrager to lean into his earnest appreciation for the network he now works for, and for many of the things he adored as a kid watching SportsCenter and NFL Primetime in the 90s and 00s.

The show’s A-block, which featured a panel discussion about Wednesday night’s Seahawks-Patriots game between the host, Adam Schefter, Steve Smith Sr., and Zach Ertz, was kicked off by Schrager doing a quintessentially SportsCenter-esque recap of the Seahawks’ come-from-behind win.

Schrager also conducted two interviews during the episode: one with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and another with Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. He also did a quick check-in with Bussin’ With The Boys’ Will Compton and Taylor Lewan to break up the NFL chatter with some college football talk.

There was also a touching tribute to longtime ESPN NHL analyst Barry Melrose, which was a nice touch.

“I grew up watching this network; it solidified my love of sports.”

Much of the aforementioned content felt like classic ESPN midday programming, especially during football season. However, the third segment recaptured the childlike wonder Schrager has brought with him.

In Big Day Replay, we had the chance to go into the ESPN archives to watch a classic segment featuring Chris Berman discussing Deion Sanders’ NFL debut. Schrager then turned that into a panel conversation not just about the memories of that moment but also Smith’s and Ertz’s memories of their own debuts. That led to a fascinating personal anecdote from Smith about the overlap between his rookie season and the September 11 attacks.

The show ended with one more wistful sense memory as Schrager introduced the Big Swings segment, where he and his guests offered up a “big swing” prediction for the NFL season ahead while old-school ESPN music played behind them.

With the show complete, Schrager ended it by checking off the last box…

“I’ve always wanted to say this: SportsCenter is next!”

This was a debut episode, so there are kinks to work out. Schrager, Schefter, Smith, and Ertz brought strong “first day of school” energy as the foursome spent much of the hour feeling one another out, often going on diatribes longer than needed. Bringing on a group of guests with a standing camaraderie might give the show more energy and let the jokes land a little harder. It would also take the onus off Schrager to try to “Jimmy Fallon” things up with outsized reactions.

In fact, the episode’s energy was never more electric than when Schrager talked with Compton and Lewan. Their conversation had a familial podcast feel that would benefit the show’s flow, though one hopes future guests can offer more interesting insight beyond ‘whichever team scores more points will win the game.’

But these are the kinds of issues that tend to work out over the course of running a daily TV show long enough. Even one episode in, it seems ESPN has found what it was looking for and justified its investment in Schrager. He no doubt has a treasure trove of potential guests and interview subjects to bring on when he’s not peppering the show with nostalgia and folksy anecdotes about the NFL.

And, eventually, presumably, hopefully, other topics, too.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Sean Keeley