Severe weather is wreaking havoc on the NFL’s Super Wild Card weekend, forcing players and everyone else to adapt, and everyone could take a lesson from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
The NFL insider was on the scene at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium Saturday, eight-plus hours ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Miami Dolphins. Temperatures there were already in the low single digits, with the wind chill below zero, and things were expected to get much worse, with the wind chill plummeting to minus -30 degrees by 8 p.m. (ET) kickoff.
It is expected to be one of the coldest playoff games in NFL history, and Darlington was taking no chances. After ESPN’s NFL Countdown crew talked about the game, they called on Darlington for his report from Arrowhead.
Darlington appeared on the screen, in a heated plastic bubble tent, looking very much like the famous “Boy in a Bubble.”
“It’s actually not that bad, I’ve got my coffee and what-not,” Darlington said.
“But I’ll come out for a moment,” he added, unzipping the tent to reveal his face.
ESPN's Jeff Darlington files what may be the first ever pregame report from a heated tent in frigid Kansas City. pic.twitter.com/WLUSKvCTGa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 13, 2024
“We got 70 degrees inside, we got 5 degrees outside … I’m going to stay inside,” Darlington said.
Darlington said he got some advice from players on how to handle the cold.
“I asked Patrick Mahomes on some advice on exactly how to handle this cold weather, and he said, ‘It’s just mental,’ which I just completely disagreed with,” Darlington said. “It’s the worst advice I’ve even been given in my life.”
Darlington did reveal some interesting insight into how the teams will handle the frigid conditions, reporting that the Dolphins are bringing in an additional 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of equipment to help deal with the issue.
Don’t expect to see heated tents become a standard feature for reporters at future NFL games, but it’s hard to fault Darlington for trying to stay warm hours before kickoff.
Take it from a meteorologist, @JeffDarlington is a wise man. #ColdWeatherSucks https://t.co/BjqODCcnt9
— Alan Gerard 🇺🇦 (@Wxmanms1) January 13, 2024
Severe weather already forced one disruption to Super Wild Card Weekend, as the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers game originally scheduled for Sunday has been moved to Monday.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
