NFL broadcasting executives are arguably more obsessed with star power than ever before, even if it means giving big jobs to former star players with little experience. From Tony Romo to Tom Brady to J.J. Watt to Drew Brees, many of the biggest games of the NFL season are now called by people who are still growing as analysts — and may not even be long for the job.
All of this is why the most experienced NFL color commentator still working today, Cris Collinsworth, tells young, recently retired players to start in the studio.
That is what Collinsworth did after a prolific career for the Cincinnati Bengals, and, he said Tuesday on The Dan Patrick Show, he believes it is great practice and a good test of a former athlete’s dedication to the profession.
“You’ve got like five or six different hits during the course of the show, you know what you’re going to talk about going into it, you can research it easily,” Collinsworth said.
“When you do the game, you are starting from scratch every single week.”
The past few seasons, recently retired players like Watt, Matt Ryan, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski have started in the studio and been praised mightily.
Collinsworth has seen enough former NFL stars dip their toes in broadcasting to realize that not all of them are cut out for it. The necessary level of preparation and communication ability are sometimes difficult for great players to adjust to, or they just don’t like the lifestyle.
The travel is even worse than a player’s grueling calendar.
“It’s work,” Collinsworth said. “You are used to playing eight road games a year. You are now going to have 22 road games.”
Collinsworth explained that game broadcasters fly into the market of their game on Thursdays for a Sunday game. Studio analysts (if they live elsewhere) fly into Los Angeles or New York on Saturday to do pregame shows on Sunday morning.
Still, Collinsworth — who recently completed his 500th broadcast — acknowledged that the thrill of calling a live game is unmatched. If players can get over the extensive travel and prep work and learn how to be entertaining and informative in the booth, they will be rewarded on game day.
But Collinsworth believes they should take the baby step in the studio first.
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.