Carl Banks on the sidelines ahead of a Dec. 29, 2024 New York Giants game. Carl Banks on the sidelines ahead of a Dec. 29, 2024 New York Giants game. (Julian Leshay Guadal/The Bergen Record, via Imagn Images.)
NFLOriginalsPodcastsRadioBy Andrew Bucholtz on

Carl Banks has been doing media work for more than three decades. That involvement dates back to his 11-year NFL career, where he started doing his own weekly segments while playing, and has continued through a variety of radio gigs. But a big recent change for him around his since-2021 Bleav In Giants podcast is the way he’s choosing to interact with fans on social media.

Since his playing career, Banks has worked on SiriusXM’s NFL coverage, has been a regular contributor to New York City radio station WFAN, and has been calling New York Giants’ games on radio since 2007. He’s also been doing this podcast since 2021 alongside his radio partner, Bob Papa.

But the podcast work has brought something different for Banks in terms of direct engagement with fans. He’s regularly active on X in discussions of the Giants and the NFL (and other things, including his love for the St. John’s basketball program). There, Banks engages with fans (sometimes in agreement, sometimes critically) in a way not often seen from broadcasters with his history and level of prominence.

Banks recently spoke to Awful Announcing on fan engagement, his podcast, his decades of work with Papa, and more. There, he said he thinks engaging with fans is vital, and is something many in media miss.

“It’s really important. Number one, a lot of people, whatever their formula is, they talk at fans, or they speak from the mountaintop, right? Their word is gospel. There’s no opportunity for feedback or an exchange of ideas.”

Of course, part of the reason many high-profile broadcasters don’t regularly engage with fans on social media is because of the tenor of many sports discussions there. That can be further reinforced on platforms like X, where character limits can reduce nuance and engagement is rewarded, meaning that “Yelling at Carl Banks” can pay off for some. Banks said he recognizes the challenges there.

“Sometimes that doesn’t work well for me because we’re in an environment culturally where people are not, it’s not disrespectful, but, you know, people do not handle debate civilly sometimes,” he said. “It’s emotional maturity. And sometimes I know I’m talking to a kid, so I don’t lose it.”

‘I think you become a smarter person’

For Banks, the overall focus in those discussions is providing the insights he has from his decades in and around the game.

“Other times people just have a way of saying, ‘Well, you don’t know it all.’ And I’m just like, ‘Okay, I’m just giving you my experience, I’m open to your opinion.'”

And Banks said the podcast and the changes to his social media approach he’s made around it allow that back-and-forth in a way his weekly WFAN appearances (which he left in 2023 around some public back-and-forth) didn’t.

“That’s something, to be honest with you, that I couldn’t do in a 15-minute segment on WFAN. You don’t take calls, you don’t take questions, you just talk, right?

“And then you hang up, you’re off-the-air and then people get to talk. You can’t even exchange, right? So this is great.”

Banks said he enjoyed working with WFAN, but this is better for him in terms of engaging with fans.

“That’s no disrespect to WFAN, I loved those years I was there. And who knows, I may pop back on every once in a while and talk to some guys. But when it comes to talking sports or whatever topic it is, I pride myself on being present, and not just speaking and then walking away from it.”

Fan engagement has been a key emphasis around the work Banks is doing with Bleav. He said his work came from a connection with the network’s president and executive producer Eric Weinberger, formerly the executive producer at NFL Media and The Ringer.

“Eric Weinberger has been great, he has a great vision,” Banks said. “He just kind of allowed us to really create a brand and to really be engaging with the fan base. So it’s a great platform for us. I literally left WFAN without worrying about an audience to continue to communicate with, and it’s been a great platform for me.”

For Banks, there can be a lot of value to be had from that engagement for both parties.

“I think you become a smarter person a lot of times, because you get to understand people’s point of view and where they are. And if you can see where people are and kind of meet them where they are, sometimes you’re smarter and sometimes they’re smarter. Or you just respectfully say, ‘Okay, that’s your opinion, we’ll see how it plays out.'”

Passing on lessons from Parcells and Belichick

In Banks’ mind, his podcasting, radio, and social media work is all about relaying that knowledge he’s picked up over his time in football. And he said some of that comes from the people he’s learned from.

“I think I’m pretty good at that. I’ve achieved a lot on the football field and was taught by some of the best teachers ever to coach the sport, between [Bill] Parcells, [Bill] Belichick, and Nick Saban. I’m pretty good at talking football.”

But he said he tries to make it clear that his opinion’s not the only one, and that he values feedback on his perspectives from fans.

“It’s to be able to have conversations on a podcast and not hide, not run away, and to welcome feedback. And sometimes people will be like, ‘Okay, I get what you’re saying,’ sometimes people will be like, ‘I don’t care, you’re condescending.’

“I’m not condescending, I’m just kind of giving you my viewpoint. I haven’t told you that you shouldn’t have one, right? And I think that gives me the opportunity, and for the fans, those exchanges and that level of engagement are really humanizing them, right?

“It’s letting them have a voice. But not necessarily always the right voice. And sometimes things play out differently than they thought they would.”

What about Daniel Jones?

Things also sometimes play out differently than even someone with Banks’ level of experience expects. One case for him was with former Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones. There, Banks supported a player many fans didn’t believe in who was eventually cut.

“I had strong opinions on Daniel Jones and his skill set,” Banks said. “I believed in it. And people were screaming that he was no good, I was like, ‘Okay, it’s fine.’ Like, I’m okay. They cut him and I’m like, ‘Okay, he did not live up to what he needed to live up to, and I’m okay with that.’ But it doesn’t negate the fact that I’m still a believer in the kid’s skill set. I hope he puts it together.”

But Banks said part of why he’s fine with the way that played out is that his Jones take didn’t go to extremes, which is a larger emphasis for him.

“I’ve never jumped out the window on anything. With Daniel Jones, I’m not telling you you’re a liar, or that you don’t see what you see. I’m just like, ‘I believe in the skill set.'”

The Jones conversations did go to some extremes at times, and was part of what led to the eventual “goofies” post from Banks last summer.

Banks told AA he only went to that “goofies” label for the people wishing injury on Jones.

“There was a group of people that were saying very, very bad things about him. I called them goofies, and they were a little bit upset about that. But I’m like, ‘If you identify with what I said, then you are goofy, and if you don’t, don’t worry about it.’ But that’s the level of exchange I have there, and it’s cool.”

‘We don’t have those restrictions’

Banks said he values the fan conversations even when they lead to criticism for him, though. And he thinks it’s crucial to be open with fans about what he really thinks.

“For me, to be able to communicate with fans is no different than the way we broadcast our football games, right? We try to be candid, we try to be honest. If I’m on radio, I have to be the eyes to people’s ears. And so I want to be able to give them an honest assessment.”

On that honesty front, Banks said he’s felt able to criticize the Giants when needed, even in his decades on their official radio broadcasts with Papa and sideline reporter Howard Cross. Banks said that was made clear to him by former Giants’ owner Wellington Mara (who passed away in 2005) even before he regularly joined the team’s broadcasts.

“To be able to offer insight, honest insight, and not wave a pom pom, that’s the beautiful part about doing this for the Giants’ organization. And it started with our late owner Wellington Mara, who told us that he doesn’t mind us being honest about the team or its players because the fans deserve honesty.

“He said the only thing he’d ask is that we don’t make it personal. I mean, I can’t call a guy a piece of s**t, but I could say that the guy is not playing well. I can tell you why he’s not playing well. And our ownership is like, ‘Our fans need to hear the truth, we want them to understand what’s going on.'”

For Banks, that allows the Giants’ broadcasters to be more uncensored than many of their colleagues around the NFL.

“We have that benefit where a lot of other broadcasters and broadcast teams don’t, where they can’t criticize the team, can’t question a coaching decision or anything like that. We don’t have those restrictions, and I think that’s what allows us to be one of the best groups in all of sports.”

Hard Knocks: Offseason: ‘Access has been given to fans’

The Giants particularly came under criticism last year due to their participation in Hard Knocks: Offseason. That was especially notable with the way the program showed general manager Joe Schoen’s conversation with star running back Saquon Barkley (who would eventually leave for the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in free agency, and take a shot at a related Hard Knocks clip of owner John Mara in a sleep aid ad). Banks said he understands the backlash over that, and that can be part of what offering increased access brings.

“It was what it was. Listen, we live in a time where access has been given to fans and whether it’s good or bad, fans have you help form their opinions. They’re informed, and then they, you know, can take it from there and think that they’re smarter than what the actual process dictates, if you will.”

In Banks’ mind, though, it’s important for fans to realize even Hard Knocks (which took criticism for being too team-controlled before it even aired, amusing considering how that played out) doesn’t show the full context of decisions and conversations.

“They could see everything that happened on Hard Knocks and form an opinion, which is theirs to have because the Giants opened themselves up to that. But what happens behind the scenes? It’s like ‘Okay, so what went into that?'”

But while Banks thinks that context matters, he personally also thought the Giants whiffed on the Barkley move.

“Now, did I agree with the Saquan Barkley decision? No, but I understood it. But if you’re asking me the things that they did not take into account, it was the impact of the player in the locker room. That’s not easily replaced. And so that is in essence, what happened with the Giants, they lost leadership.”

‘Doing game reports from the bathroom’ with Bob Papa

Speaking of leadership and chemistry, Banks has spent decades working with his podcast co-host Papa. He said Papa’s critical to Bleav In Giants.

“Bob brings everything to it. I’ve known Bob for the better part of 35 years. I owe a lot of my broadcast success to Bob, he’s the guy.”

Papa was even important to getting Banks’ media career started, which came while he was still playing.

“We were doing game reports from the bathroom in the old Giants Stadium: I went out and got a sponsor while I was still playing, Coca-Cola, it was the Carl Banks Coca-Cola Report that I did weekly. And this is before what we see today [with athletes]. But Bob was the host of that with me, and we had to go up into the bathroom at Giants Stadium, or out in the tunnel, to record some of those segments.”

The latest

The chemistry Banks and Papa have built has led to them working together in a lot of different forums.

“Bob has carried me along with him. When he was doing boxing, I was able to do a heavyweight fight with him. So it’s been great, we have a great relationship, we work well together. And it’s just a great fit, because we know each other and how to work off of each other, whether it’s on a live broadcast or on a podcast.”

And Banks said a critical part of that chemistry is similar to his thoughts on engaging with fans. He said Papa and he aren’t always in lockstep, but they always value and learn from each other’s perspectives.

“We have distinct viewpoints, but we kind of understand each other and how they all work together, right? We see sports, not just football, but we see sports from the same lens, and then he educates me on a lot of things that I don’t know a lot about.

“With golf, he covers golf a lot, I play golf, but I don’t know golf inside out. We talk through these things where I would have no idea why certain things are the way they are: I can sit up and have a conversation, I could broach a topic, and he could take it from there. And vice versa, right? He can just throw something out there and I can expand upon it.”

That’s led to a great media partnership over decades. But for Banks, the decades of media work weren’t exactly always planned. He graduated Michigan State with a communications degree, and thought he’d work in or run an advertising agency if pro football didn’t work out or after he was done.

Things sometimes pay off in unexpected ways, though. Banks said the skills he built in his communications studies combined with his football experience. And that convinced him football media work was a good path to follow.

“Being a student of the game, it just evolved into me articulating a viewpoint of what I see on the game.”

Banks has now been doing that for decades across platforms. And with this podcast and his social media engagement around it, he’s articulating his viewpoints more directly to fans than ever.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz